while addressing a discussion on “বর্তমান বৈশ্বিক প্রেক্ষাপটে গান্ধী দর্শনের প্রাসঙ্গিকতা,’ organised by Gandhi Ashram Trust on the occasion of the International Day of Non-Violence and 145th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi on 11 October 2014.
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Gandhi’s economic ideals recalled
Staff Correspondent
Small cottage industries promoted by today’s economists were envisaged decades ago by Mahatma Gandhi, said speakers at a discussion yesterday.
Gandhi believed that economic emancipation can be achieved through small and medium enterprises and rural village based economic activities, they added.
Like most of Gandhi’s philosophies, his thoughts on economy have transcended the barriers of time, they said.
The discussion was organised by Gandhi Ashram Trust at Brac Centre Inn in the capital on the occasion of the International Day of Non-Violence, which is marked on October 2, when the 145th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi was observed this year.
Addressing the event, Dr Debapriya Bhattacharya, economist and distinguished fellow at the Centre for Policy Dialogue, said the economic principles propagated by Gandhi are returning to the modern books of economic theories.
Gandhi cherished hand woven clothes made from thread spun on a charka (spinning wheel powered by hand) as a symbol of local products, he explained.
Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader said all disputes between India and Bangladesh can be resolved by following Gandhi’s principles of non-violence.
“The common enemies of both countries — poverty, bigotry, extremism and terrorism — should be resisted through following Gandhi’s teachings,” he added.
Indian High Commissioner in Dhaka Pankaj Saran said although Gandhi was born in India, he is a universal leader.
“Go to South Africa and ask people about him. They would tell that Gandhi belongs to them,” he asserted.
US Ambassador Dan W Mozena said leaders like Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King Jr were Gandhi’s philosophical disciples.
The US bears Gandhi’s legacy as Martin Luther King Jr, a leader who changed the US forever through movements for civil rights and social change, was his follower, he said.
Eminent social worker and Gandhi Ashram Trust Secretary Jharna Dhara Chowdhury; eminent scholars Prof Anisuzzaman and Prof Syed Manzoorul Islam; and Adviser to the BNP chairperson Inam Ahmed Chowdhury, among others, spoke at the event.