<p class="bodytext">Even as the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi is being observed, it is important to give a thought to Gandhi’s idea of democracy, scholar Prof G N Devy stressed on Monday.</p>.<p class="bodytext">“Let us do what he wanted for a change in India,” he said, while delivering a talk on ‘Gandhi, Democracy and Dissent’, organised by the Nehru Study Centre of Mangalore University at the University College on Monday.</p>.<p class="bodytext">He laid emphasis on the fact that dissent is a part and parcel of a democratic setup. “Gandhiji wanted citizens who expressed dissent against tyranny and violence. His idea of democracy was a discrimination-free India, based on the philosophy of fearlessness and ‘Aparigraha’, which inspired Gandhiji to coin the term ‘Satyagraha’,” Devy added.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Speaking further, he said, “It is worth mentioning that Gandhiji’s wife Kasturba played an important role in making the Satyagraha movement successful. Gandhiji was aware that Satyagraha was a concept where men and women would come together by crossing gender barriers and fight for a single cause.”</p>.<p class="bodytext">The scholar expressed concern on the casual attitude among people in power towards heinous crime against the oppressed classes. “We have been witnessing a process of curtailing free speech,” he pointed out.</p>.<p class="CrossHead">‘Serious thinker’</p>.<p class="bodytext">Prof Valerian Rodrigues said that Gandhi was a serious thinker of democracy. “The irony today is that even a dictator wants to be valued as a democrat. Democracy should be seen as an association of free and equal citizens who think about the future,” he stressed.</p>.<p class="bodytext">“Swaraj was Gandhiji’s idea of democracy and Gandhiji disagreed with the version of democracy that defined the state as a sovereign power. He believed that democracy should sustain the value of non-violence,” said the professor.</p>
<p class="bodytext">Even as the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi is being observed, it is important to give a thought to Gandhi’s idea of democracy, scholar Prof G N Devy stressed on Monday.</p>.<p class="bodytext">“Let us do what he wanted for a change in India,” he said, while delivering a talk on ‘Gandhi, Democracy and Dissent’, organised by the Nehru Study Centre of Mangalore University at the University College on Monday.</p>.<p class="bodytext">He laid emphasis on the fact that dissent is a part and parcel of a democratic setup. “Gandhiji wanted citizens who expressed dissent against tyranny and violence. His idea of democracy was a discrimination-free India, based on the philosophy of fearlessness and ‘Aparigraha’, which inspired Gandhiji to coin the term ‘Satyagraha’,” Devy added.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Speaking further, he said, “It is worth mentioning that Gandhiji’s wife Kasturba played an important role in making the Satyagraha movement successful. Gandhiji was aware that Satyagraha was a concept where men and women would come together by crossing gender barriers and fight for a single cause.”</p>.<p class="bodytext">The scholar expressed concern on the casual attitude among people in power towards heinous crime against the oppressed classes. “We have been witnessing a process of curtailing free speech,” he pointed out.</p>.<p class="CrossHead">‘Serious thinker’</p>.<p class="bodytext">Prof Valerian Rodrigues said that Gandhi was a serious thinker of democracy. “The irony today is that even a dictator wants to be valued as a democrat. Democracy should be seen as an association of free and equal citizens who think about the future,” he stressed.</p>.<p class="bodytext">“Swaraj was Gandhiji’s idea of democracy and Gandhiji disagreed with the version of democracy that defined the state as a sovereign power. He believed that democracy should sustain the value of non-violence,” said the professor.</p>