The Hindu : National : U.S., U.K. can learn from the Gandhian way: Amartya Sen

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Saturday, Nov 05, 2005

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U.S., U.K. can learn from the Gandhian way: Amartya Sen

Staff Reporter

The Mahatma's response towards terrorism was not soft, says economist

— Photo: Vivek Bendre

FITTING REWARD: Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen presenting the Jamnalal Bajaj award for the welfare of women and children to Arunaben Desai in Mumbai on Friday. Chairman of Bajaj Auto Limited Rahul Bajaj is also seen.

MUMBAI: "In fighting terrorism, the Gandhian response cannot be seen as taking primarily the form of pleading with the would-be terrorists to desist from doing dastardly things," said Nobel laureate and economist Amartya Sen.

"Gandhiji's ideas about preventing violence went far beyond that, and involved social institutions and public priorities, as well as individual beliefs and commitments ... I ask the question: Is there something that America and Britain in particular can profitably learn today from Gandhiji's political analysis?" he asked. Professor Sen was speaking at the annual Jamnalal Bajaj Awards presentation function held on Friday on the birth anniversary of Jamnalal Bajaj.

`Magnificent work'

Speaking about the role of Gandhian values today, he referred to a range of events and processes in India as well as abroad, including the 1992-93 riots in Mumbai and those in Gujarat in 2002, the incidents at the Guantanamo Bay detention centre and the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, as well as the extension of state-supported faith-based schools in the United Kingdom.

Prof. Sen applauded the work of this year's awardees: P. Gopinathan Nair, Rajendra Singh, Arunaben Desai and Daisaku Ikeda, for "their magnificent work and contributions to humanity."

Each awardee received a trophy, a citation and Rs. 5 lakhs. The award for outstanding contribution in the field of Constructive Work was given to P. Gopinathan Nair, the award for application of Science and Technology for Rural Development was given to Rajendra Singh, the award for Uplift and Welfare of Women and Children was given to Arunaben Shankarprasad Desai, and the International award for Promoting Gandhian Values outside India to Daisaku Ikeda. As Dr. Ikeda could not attend the function, a response on his behalf was read by Akash Ouchi.

Rajendra Singh emphasised the inspiration that he got from the local farmers, rather than highly qualified engineers.

"My technology was not about exploitation of resources with the help of engineers and water resource departments," he said. "My teachers are illiterate, they plough the land and take less from the soil and give back more."

Gopinathan Nair spoke of the role of constructive work in contemporary India. "Today money and mechanism rules our society. We are living in a limited world with unlimited wants. Free Trade is the modern avatar of slavery," he said. "The youth of India, fortunately, do not look down upon Gandhi." He also praised the Jamnalal Bajaj Foundation as these awards are "bound to attract the younger generation to take Gandhi's path."

Arunaben Desai said that though it was now possible for women to work in each and every field "the status of women in society has not changed much." Destitute women and orphans remain at the receiving end, she said. Addressing Prof. Sen, she said social institutions had many economic problems and he could guide them in solving those.

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