The Hindu : Karnataka News : `Spread Gandhiji's message among youth'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Oct 03, 2004

Karnataka

Karnataka

`Spread Gandhiji's message among youth'

By Our Staff Reporter

BANGALORE, OCT. 2. Speakers at a function organised by the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) to mark the 135th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi here today extolled the values the Father of the Nation stood for and exhorted Congressmen to inculcate them in their lives and spread his message all over the State.

Forgotten

The Chief Minister, N. Dharam Singh, who returned from Bidar where he had gone to campaign for the Lok Sabha byelection, inaugurated the function and advised the party workers to spread the message of Gandhiji and the spirit of patriotism among the youth as the values championed by the Mahatma were being forgotten these days. He said the Youth Congress should transform itself into a cadre-based organisation to effectively face the onslaught of the reactionary forces.

Mr. Singh said that the world knew that it was the Congress that first came out with a flag that was later adopted by the Constituent Assembly as the national flag with some modifications. Again, it was the Congress that was in the forefront of all national struggles for independence.

Sacrifices

Its workers had made great sacrifices for the freedom of the country, and it was the duty of every Congress worker, particularly the Youth Congress, to educate the people about all these achievements.

He regretted that the former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Uma Bharti took out a `Tiranga Yatra' and BJP leaders such as A.B. Vajpayee and L.K. Advani were "teaching the Congress party about patriotism and nationalism." The `Tiranga Yatra' had failed to evoke any response, he said.

The Deputy Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, K. Rahman Khan, said he was unhappy that many Congressmen did not respect the values that Gandhiji stood for.

The Union Minister of State for Planning, M.V. Rajashekaran, said Congressmen right from the Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, to a party worker should eschew the "sapta sutras" that Gandhiji had spoken about: politics without principles, wealth without work, commerce without morality, pleasure without conscience, worship without sacrifice, science without humanity and education without character.

The former Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister D.B. Chandre Gowda said the Congress was the mother of all political parties in the country. Some of its leaders, who left the party, started other political parties.

Reformer

The former Minister and freedom fighter Harnahalli Ramaswamy said that Gandhiji was not just a leader who gave us freedom, but also a great social and economic reformer who fought against untouchability.

Speakers also recalled the services of the late Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri, whose birth anniversary was also observed today.

The former Minister B.S. Patil Sasanur presided over the programme.

Gandhi Bhavan

Our Tumkur Staff Correspondent reports:

The District Congress Committee (TDCC) today proposed that a Gandhi Bhavan be built in Tumkur.

The KPCC secretary S. Shafi Ahmed and TDCC leaders said the party would forge a consensus among all parties on the issue.

Siddalinge Gowda, chairman, Tumkur Development Authority; Sarvamangala, president, Tumkur District Mahila Congress; Y.N. Nagaraj, president of Tumkur City Congress; H.S. Hemanthkumar, TDCC Secretary, and Hutchaiah, block Congress leader, spoke.

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