Indian Council of World Affairs

The Indian Council of World Affairs held a two day International Webinar on “Gandhi and the World” on October 1-2, 2020 to mark the culmination of the two-year celebration of 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. 25 scholars from 14 countries and India participated in the webinar. The Webinar had multiple components: a conversation; a book discussion; a Gandhi Katha, panel discussions on three themes viz., ‘Gandhi and his contemporaries’, ‘Gandhi and the World: Different Geographies’ and ‘Studying Gandhi in a Globalized World’ and a separate session on Voices from Latin America. The Valedictory Address was delivered by Hon’ble Vice President of India and President, ICWA, Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu on October 2, 2020.

2.  Welcome remarks were given by Dr. T.C.A. Raghavan in the Inaugural Session which was followed by a conversation between Dr. Arvind Gupta, Director, Vivekananda International Foundation, New Delhi and Dr. Makarand Paranjape, Professor and Director, Indian Institute of Advanced Study, (IIAS), Shimla on ‘Mahatma Gandhi in the 21^st Century: A New Wave’. It was stated that Mahatma Gandhi was a philosophical gift to the mankind. Appeal of Gandhi’s philosophy is not confined to India alone but its influence is felt across the world. In the conversation it was stated that in today’s time, it is not easy to become a Gandhian. We are in the era of post-truth while for Gandhi, the truth was absolute. Today’s Atma-nirbharta is directly influenced by Gandhi’s belief in Swadeshi which was the expression of faith in in its own capacity. It is an era of neo-Gandhi which means the need of the return of Gandhi’s vision. The more we question Gandhi, more he provokes us.

3.  The first panel was themed ‘Gandhi and his Contemporaries’. It was chaired by Dr. Arvind Gupta, Director, Vivekananda International Foundation, New Delhi and the panelists were: Dr. V. Ragupathy, Professor and Head, Department of Political Science and Development Administration, Gandhigram Rural Institute, Gandhigram, Tamil Nadu, who spoke on “Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr.”; Dr. Makarand Paranjape, Professor and Director, Indian Institute of Advanced Study, (IIAS), Shimla, who spoke on “Gandhi and Swami Vivekananda”; and Dr. Imraan Coovadia, Professor, University of Cape Town, South Africa, who spoke on “Gandhi, Mandela, Tolstoy: The Radical Tradition in the Twentieth Century”.

4.  Panel two themed ‘Gandhi and the World: Different Geographies’ was divided in two parts. The first part was chaired by Dr. Makarand Paranjape, Professor and Director, Indian Institute of Advanced Study, (IIAS), Shimla and the panellists were: Mr. Pulatov Sherdor Nematjonovich, Tashkent State Institute of Oriental Studies, Faculty of History and Philosophy, lecturer of the Department of Oriental Philosophy and Culture, Tashkent, Uzbekistan, who spoke on "The influence of the socio-philosophical views of Mahatma Gandhi on Central Asia, in particular Uzbekistan"; Dr. Rajesh Rai, Professor and Head, South Asia Studies Program, National University of Singapore (NUS), Singapore, who spoke on “Gandhi, Southeast Asia and the Indian Diaspora”; Mr. Eric Itzkin, Head, Immovable Heritage, City of Johannesburg, South Africa, who presented about "The Trials of Gandhi Square, going into the historic significance of thät site, and recent struggles around this important public space in Johannesburg”; and Dr. Houchang Hassan-Yari, Head of Political Sciences Section, College of Economics and Political Sciences, Sultan Qaboos University, Muscat, Oman, who made an interesting presentation on “From one crisis to another: the Middle East misses Gandhi”.

5.  It was followed by a Book Presentation cum Discussion- “Gandhi: The Soul Force Warrior: Revolutionized Revolution and Spiritualized it” written by Amb. Pascal Alan Nazareth. The session was moderated by Dr. T.C.A. Raghavan, Director General, ICWA and had Mr. Ashok Malik, Policy Advisor, MEA, GOI as a discussant. It was stated that principle take away of the book is its disaggregation of the Gandhian praxis into six principle strands- satyagraha, sarvodaya, swaraj, swadeshi, sanskriti and trusteeship. The book presents Gandhi as a revolutionary and theoretician of revolutionary action. It’s important to separate the man from the idea to evaluate the contemporary relevance of his ideas.  An important aspect of Gandhian revolution is its emphasis on the transformation of the nature of relationship between oppressed and the oppressor from enemy to friend. Gandhi’s practice of elevating religion to the level of spirituality is something that is required to deal with the problems of contemporary world. The contemporary interpretation of Gandhian ideas and they becoming inspiration for new social movements including feminism, environmentalism is a testimony to how Gandhi remains relevant in 21st century.

6.  The next panel had participants from Latin America. It was themed “Voices from Latin America”. The session was chaired by Ambassador R. Viswanathan, Former Indian Ambassador in Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and Venezuela and was Consul General in Sao Paulo, Brazil and the panellists were: Dr. Lia Diskin, Writer and Founder of Associação Palas Athena, Brazil, who presented on “Gandhi and the Ethics for the Coexistence”; Dr. Óscar Álvarez Araya, Former Costa Rican Diplomat, Costa Rica, who spoke on “Gandhi and Latin America”; Dr. Lía Rodriguez de la Vega, Working Group on India and South Asia, Asian Affairs Committee, Argentina Council for International Relations, Buenos Aires, Argentina, who presented on “Gandhi’s reach in the enunciations and practices of peace in America”; and Dr. Beatriz Martinez Saavedra, Historian, National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), Mexico City, Mexico, who spoke on “Gandhi and gender equality: A reading from Mexico”.

7.  Day Two began with second part of Panel Two themed ‘Gandhi and the World: Different Geographies’. The session was chaired by Mr. Ashok Malik, Policy Advisor, MEA, GOI and the panellists were: Dr. Raj Sekhar Basu, Professor, Calcutta University, who presented on “Gandhi and the Indentured labour question in the Pacific : The Fijian Story”; Mr. Maung Maung Oo, Scholar from Myanmar, who presented his views on “Gandhi and Myanmar”; and Dr. Sandagomi Coperahewa, Professor, University of Colombo, Sri Lanka, who presented on “Gandhi's ideas on language and its influence on language policy making in Sri Lanka”. Speakers were unanimous in the view that Gandhi and his ideas are universal across geographies and have influenced various liberation movements and leaders.

8.  Panel Three themed ‘Studying Gandhi in a Globalized World’ was also divided in two parts. The first part was chaired by Dr. Raj Sekhar Basu, Professor, Calcutta University and the panellists were; Dr. Huang Yinghong, Professor, Sun Yatsen University, Guangzhou University, China, presently teaching at OP Jindal, who presented on “Gandhi’s Ahimsa and the Theory of Justice”; Dr. Arun Bandopadhyay, Asiatic Society, Kolkata, who presented on a vibrant topic on “Gandhi's Environmentalism”; Mr. Fabio Scialpi, India Desk, ISMEO, Rome; Former Professor Sapienza University of Rome, Italy, who spoke on “Mahatma Gandhi and the World: Foundational Ethical Principles; Contemporary Relevance”; and Dr. Galina Alekseva, Head, Research Department, Tolstoy Estate, Yasnaya Polyana, Russia, who presented on “Gandhi and India as reflected in the Tolstoy Personal Library at Yasnaya Polyana”.

9.  The last Panel Discussion, Part two of Panel three themed ‘Studying Gandhi in a Globalized World’ was divided into two presentations and a Gandhi Katha. The session was chaired by Dr. Arun Bandopadhyay, Asiatic Society, Kolkata. The two panellists were: Dr. Martin Arnold, Former Professor, University of Marburg, Germany, who spoke on “700 years of powerful concepts of nonviolent action”; and Dr. Papia Sengupta, Assistant Professor at Centre for Political Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, who presented her views on “Satyagraha, Truth and Communication: Gandhi in the time of ‘Fake News”. It was followed by a Gandhi Katha, a unique presentation following the Indian oral history tradition delivered by Dr. Shobhana Radhakrishna, Chief Functionary, Gandhian Forum for Ethical Corporate Governance, SCOPE, New Delhi. The Gandhi Katha was themed on “Transformational Leadership of Mahatma Gandhi and its Global Relevance”.

10.  The Valedictory Session had opening remarks by Dr. TCA Raghavan, Director General, ICWA. He stated that the two-day international webinar has shown that Gandhiji continues to inspire the contemporary world. If we are to develop a model of sustainable development, Gandhiji’s philosophy and ideas are relevant and his philosophy is indispensable for our contemporary world. The Valedictory Address was delivered by Hon’ble Vice-President of India and President, ICWA Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu. He stated that Gandhiji’s philosophy remains timeless even today. He mentioned that the world is facing the biggest pandemic in history. Our world faced a similar challenge in 1918. Gandhiji’s sayings during that phase about following rules for safety remain relevant today. Gandhiji’s ideas are a beacon of light for oppressed people and his principles of non-violence and satyagraha paved the way for our country’s independence. Gandhiji’s ideas are relevant beyond class, creed, gender, race and geography and he had an unwavering belief in the innate goodness of people. He believed that there are no bad people and that there are only bad deeds. Hon’ble Vice President of India and President, ICWA Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu appreciated the initiative taken by ICWA and congratulated speakers from 14 countries and India who presented their views and experience in the two day event.

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