Real dirt is in the minds: Prez Pranab Mukherjee

 

"The real dirt of India lies not in our streets but in our minds and in our unwillingness to let go of views that divide society into 'them' and 'us', 'pure' and 'impure'. We must make a success of the laudable and welcome Swatch Bharat Mission. However, this also must be seen as just the beginning of a much larger and intense effort to cleanse minds and fulfil Gandhiji’s vision in all its aspects," said the President on the occasion of inauguration of the archives and research centre at Gandhiji's Sabarmati Ashram.

"We live in times when the world needs Gandhiji more than ever. The Archives and Research Centre of the Ashram which I inaugurated today is a concrete effort to conserve and disseminate Gandhiji’s legacy. The responsibility we shoulder to spread his word and message is more pressing now than ever before," he said.

"Every day, we see unprecedented violence all around us. At the heart of this violence is darkness, fear and mistrust. While we invent new modes of combating this ever spiralling violence, we must not forget the power of non-violence, dialogue and reason.

"Ahimsa [non-violence] is not a negative force. It is not just non-injury. Ahimsa is that moral possibility which can dispel the darkness and make us aglow with light. Gurudev Tagore and Mahatma Gandhi were bearers of this light and that light must continue to guide us," he said.

"Hriday Kunj [Gandhi's visitors' room] both inspires and challenges us. It tells what one man’s dedication, determination and ideals can achieve. At the same time, it also reminds us of the road we still need to traverse in order to realise Gandhiji’s dream of an India free from want, oppression and injustice," he said.

"This is a hallowed place which each one of us should visit again and again to draw strength and launch forth in the task of building the India that our founding fathers envisioned and made provision for in our great Constitution," he said.

"Gandhiji is not just the Father of our Nation. He was also the maker of our Nation. He gave us the moral vector to guide our actions, a measure by which we are judged.

"Gandhiji saw India as an inclusive nation where every section of our population lived in equality and enjoyed equal opportunity. He saw India as a country which would celebrate and constantly strengthen its vibrant diversity and commitment to pluralism. Gandhiji wanted our people to move forward unitedly in ever widening thought and action. And most of all, he did not want us to convert the celebration of his life and message into a mere ritual," he said.

He said Gandhiji taught us to be morally innovative. "If India leads in moral innovation, all other forms of creativity which we have in abundance - would automatically fulfil the Talisman that Gandhiji gave us, namely, wiping every tear from each eye," he said.