The Remarkable legacy, Mahatma Gandhi.

Language Level: Intermediate

Standard: American Accent

WHAT WOULD GANDHI THINK?

2008 marks the 60^th anniversary of the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi, the father of the Indian Nation, but also of the movement for non-violent resistance. Every year on January 30^th, India stops for a two-minute silence in his memory and this year’s ceremony was particularly intense. Indian communities throughout the world also held silences. Indian has certainly changed in the 60 years since Gandhi’s death and today the country, like China, is seen as an economic powerhouse.

Speak Up asked the Indian Consul general Sarvajit Chakravarti, what Gandhi, who preached both independence and self-reliance, would make of the country’s current boom:

Servant Charkravarti

(Indian Accent)

I think he would have been quite proud, but not entirely so because he said, and his message to all of us, not only in India, but all over the world, it that our work of improvement of society is never done until we have succeeded in wiping every tear from every eye. So, as long as that does not happen, we haven’t fished. So we have to continue our efforts to improve the quality of life of our people, in a way that improves the life of the planet as a whole, as well.

INCLUSION

India’s annual economic growth rate is said to be in the region of 9 per cent, but how long will this last?

Servajit Chakravarti:

Well, we started our economic liberalization in 1991, more or less, and we expect to keep it going as long as is necessary, but to keep it going in a way that is socially inclusive, that doesn’t create even more disparities between our various economic classes. People who have should not have so much that they deny others the right to have anything at all, so the effort now of the government of India, and of the people, is to continue to move ahead, maintain the growth levels, if possible improve the growth levels, but in a socially inclusive manner which does not cause material harm to those who have not yet benefited fully from this process.

GLOBAL REFERENCE

In conclusion we asked the consul general to talk about Gandhi’s status as a global icon:

Sarvajit Chakravarti:

Well, he was, I think, a global citizen. All his idea about political change and social change evolved as a result of his experiences in India, in Britain and in South Africa. He spent 21 years of his life in Africa. And that is why he not only succeeded in creating a mass political movement that brought India her Independence, but also initiated a system, a force, a philosophy that brought freedom to much of the rest of the world, the latest example of which, politically, has been South Africa. So Gandhi to us, and in my personal belief, is a remains a global icon.