The Hindu : Rekindle ethos of tolerance: Shekhawat

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Sep 28, 2003

Southern States

Southern States - Kerala

Rekindle ethos of tolerance: Shekhawat

By Our Special Correspondent

Followers of Mata Amritanandamayi (centre), perform a ritual to celebrate her 50th birthday in Kochi on Saturday.

KOCHI SEPT. 27. The Vice-President, Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, called for harmonising the material values with the spiritual ones in this era of globalisation, as the curtain came down on the four-day-long 50th birthday celebrations of Mata Amritanandamyi here today, with the launching of several social service projects.

Mr. Shekhawat, who lauded the Mata for taking up projects which reflected her concern for the suffering humanity, said that without a "speck of the divine, man was no more than a higher primate.'' The ethical context was relevant in today's world, which was witnessing cut-throat competition, he said.

India, which was home to many religions, had an ethos of tolerance and universal acceptance. This ethos needed to be rekindled in this era of rapid change driven by science and technology. Material progress had to be combined with spiritual awakening, he said.

He presented the Amritakeerthi National and State awards for outstanding contributions to Indian culture and Vedic tradition, respectively, to V. S. Abhayankar, writer, and M. H. Sastri, retired professor, Sanskrit College, Thiruvananthapuram. The award includes a purse of Rs. 1,23,456. One of the highlights of the concluding session was the launching of the Amritakuteeram Housing Project for the poor by the Revenue Minister, K.M. Mani. He said the project would be implemented jointly by the Mata Amritanandamayi Math and the State Government.

The Minister handed over the keys of 10 Amritakuteeram houses to the beneficiaries. This was followed by the handing over of keys of 15 of the 108 houses built with the support of the Greater Cochin Development Authority (GCDA) to the beneficiaries by its chairman, Antony Isaac.

The Minister of State for Communications and Information Technology, S. Thirunavukkarasu, released a postal cover marking the `Amritavarsham-50' celebrations. The Amrita Kripa Neethi Prathistan, a cell to provide legal aid to the poor, was launched on the occasion.

The cell, with 1,008 lawyers from different parts of the country, was inaugurated by the Kerala High Court Chief Justice, Jawahar Lal Gupta. A pledge was taken in the presence of the Minister of State for Law, P.C. Thomas, who addressed the gathering.

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