Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

Research should benefit poor: Sonia

Photo: S. Mahinsha

Research agenda: UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi with Defence Minister A.K. Antony, Leader of the Opposition Oommen Chandy and Santhigiri Ashram director Swami Guru Rethnam Jnana Thapaswi at a function held at the ashram at Pothencode in Thiruvananthapuram to lay the foundation stone for the Santhigiri Research Foundation on Friday. -

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Advancements in science and technology should help to ameliorate the conditions of the less-privileged and should not widen the chasm between the rich and the poor, United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Chairperson Sonia Gandhi has said.

Laying the foundation stone for the Santhigiri Research Foundation at the Santhigiri Ashram at Pothencode, near here, on Friday, Ms. Gandhi said that research should widen the frontiers of knowledge and bring about tangible differences in the life of the poor.

While cultivating a scientific temper among the youth, they should be made to inculcate social values and basic principles of secularism too.

Ms. Gandhi said that the research institute of the ashram had been blending spirituality and tradition with science. Karunakara Guru, founder of the ashram, was one of the remarkable personalities of the 20th century.

He was a social reformer and spiritual leader who rejected customs and fanaticism.

While religion had become a cause for triggering conflict, Kerala had set a unique model in religious amity. Beliefs and religions peacefully coexisted in Kerala. This was mainly due to the teachings of social reformers such as Karunakara Guru, she said.

The international Ayurveda and Siddha research centre of the ashram at Kottayam, which was dedicated to the nation by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in February 2006, has given a scientific base to both disciplines. The rich repository of traditional medicines should be effectively used for curing maladies, she said.

Defence Minister A.K. Antony, in his presidential address, said that the Guru had made spirituality palatable to the common man through his teachings.

Ashram director Guru Rethnam Jnana Thapaswi, in his welcome speech, said that the ashram was focussing on social and scientific research since fanaticism was eclipsing spirituality.

A crisis had arisen owing to the misinterpretation of spirituality. Hence, the foundation would attempt to give a spiritual base to scientific and social research and create a new social order.

While no one was willing to miss an opportunity to seek power, Ms. Gandhi had rejected the highest office and had become an epitome of sacrifice, the swami said.

Ms. Gandhi offered prayers at the ashram and also met the head of the ashram Janani Amritha Jnana Thapaswini.

Health Minister P.K. Sreemathy, Leader of the Opposition Oommen Chandy, Varkala Radhakrishnan, MP, J. Arundhathi, MLA, K.V. Thomas, MLA, and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader Koliyacode Krishnan Nair offered felicitations. Swami Guru Rethnam presented a memento to Ms. Gandhi. J. Ramachandran Nair proposed a vote of thanks.

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