Address by
Her Excellency Mrs. Ameenah Gurib-Fakim,
G.C.S.K., C.S.K., PhD., DSc
President of the Republic of Mauritius
on the occasion of the
147th Birth Anniversary Of Mahatma Gandhi
on
Sunday 2 October, 2016 at 09 30 hours
Indira Gandhi Centre for Indian Culture, Phoenix
Distinguished Guests
Ladies and Gentlemen
Good morning!
Thank you for having invited me to celebrate together with you the Birth
Anniversary of a great human being, whose life and achievements have
inspired millions of people around the world and who continues to remain
a legend, even 68 years after his death.
You can imagine therefore how difficult a task I have to-day; to talk on such
an outstanding and unique personality as Mahatma Gandhi.
I am reminded of what James Martineau, the English Religious philosopher,
once said and I quote:
“We forfeit the chief source of dignity and sweetness in life…….if we
do not seek converse with the greater minds that have left their
vestiges on the world” (Unquote)
Mahatma Gandhi was such a great mind, who has left an indelible print in
the history of mankind.
The celebration of his Birth Anniversary is no doubt an excellent way to
seek converse with the great mind that he was, the ideals he stood for, and
the values and principles he epitomised during his living.
My message to-day is however, solely dedicated to our younger generations.
Because Gandhi is not only a legend, but a living legend.
It is crucial for our young people to know that such a man ever existed on
earth.
Mahatma Gandhi was such an outstanding personality and lived such a
fascinating life that he has inspired and influenced millions of people in
India and around the world.
We can therefore understand why his struggle against British colonialism
and tyranny as well as his quest for independence and social justice is today
still remembered around the world and more especially, in Mauritius.
Gandhi’s philosophy and actions have greatly influenced many of the great
social and political figures of the world.
In Mauritius too, many elder political leaders have been deeply inspired by
him in their quest for emancipation and independence from Great Britain.
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We are also proud that this iconic figure, spent a few days on our island in
1901, when his ship made a stopover in Port Louis during his voyage to
South Africa.
The memory of this small island in the Indian Ocean seemed to have
remained in his heart as Mauritius is mentioned in many of his writings.
In his autobiography, “The Story of My Experiment with Truth’, he wrote:
“So I sailed for home. Mauritius was one of the ports of call, and as
the boat made a long halt there, I went ashore and acquainted
myself fairly well with the local conditions. For one night, I was the
guest of Sir Charles Bruce, the Governor of the Colony”.
Many historians have also recalled a number of encounters between
Mahatma Gandhi and some well-known local political figures such as R.K.
Boodhun, Pandit Sahadeo, Dr Maurice Curé as well as the Bissoondoyal
brothers, Basdeo and Sookdeo.
It was Mahatma Gandhi, who after witnessing the plight of the Indians in
Mauritius, the treatment that was being meted out to them by colonial
masters and their lack of organisation in demanding their rights as citizens
of the British Empire, strongly encouraged Manilal Doctor to come to
Mauritius to assist the indentured labourers in improving their social and
political situation.
Manilal Doctor, a British-Indian lawyer, who travelled to numerous
countries to help the Indian population, arrived in Mauritius on 11 October
1907, and began to work as a barrister to provide legal assistance to the
local ethnic Indian population.
He represented many Indo-Mauritians in court and edited at that time a
newspaper, the “Hindustani” which defended the views of the Hindu
community.
The greatest symbol of the gratitude and respect that Mauritius paid to the
legacy of the Mahatma Gandhi, is the choice of the 12 March to mark the
independence of Mauritius from Great Britain.
Indeed, the political leaders of the country chose the 12th March 1968 in
memory of the 12 March 1930, when the Mahatma Gandhi launched the
“Salt march” also known as the Dandi March, an unprecedented act of
nonviolent civil disobedience to challenge British rule in India.
Gandhi set in motion one of the most famous anti-English action that
gathered hundreds of thousands of people.
They all marched towards the Indian Sea to extract salt from the ocean to
react against England’s unreasonable tax on salt.
Gandhi succeeded through a simple message by grasping a handful of salt
on the beach at Dandi, in “shaking the foundations of the British Empire.”
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The long expedition to the sea had galvanized Indian resistance, and its
international coverage had introduced the world to Gandhi and his
followers’ impressive commitment to nonviolence.
Martin Luther King Jr., Civil Rights leader in the United States, would some
years later, admit that the Salt March had a crucial influence on his own
philosophy of civil disobedience.
Mahatma Gandhi remained at the forefront of India’s quest to free India
from the oppression of British colonial domination.
He started his non-violent movement in combatting apartheid and the evils
of racial discrimination in South Africa, where he was then practicing as a
barrister.
His concept of non -violence and peace was inspired by the Bhagavad Gita
but also by the pacifist message of “love thy enemy” and “turn the other
cheek” from Jesus in the New Testament, along with Tolstoy’s “The
Kingdom of God is Within You”, and Thoreau’s “Civil Disobedience.”
Once back to India, Gandhi inevitably joined the battle against British
Colonialism.
He led civil disobedience against colonial policies implementing his
philosophy based on “satyagraha,” which sought to reveal truth and
confront injustice through nonviolence.
He instituted the Non Co-operation Movement in 1920 and encouraged
Indians to boycott British goods and to use only goods that were
manufactured in India.
Everything and every institution that was British was boycotted.
Gandhi became one of the most charismatic figures in Indian politics and
a friend to India's multitudes through his espousal of numerous causes dear
to agrarians and simple labourers.
He was arrested during this period by the English administration and served
two years in prison on charges of sedition.
However, the British could not ignore the influence of one of the most
charismatic figures of the Indian opposition to their rule.
Mahatma Gandhi did not only struggle against British colonialism and
tyranny but asserted his quest for independence and social justice for the
“upliftment of all”, through “Sarvodaya” which was one of the three
foundations of his action.
He considered that democracy, the system of governance in place in the
western world was based on the rule of the majority.
He wanted to serve the interests of each and every one as he did not want
any division between majority and minority.
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This concept included also the care of the earth; of animals, forests, rivers
and land.
For Gandhi, life was sacred and he advocated reverence for all life.
The second foundation of the Gandhian philosophy was Swaraj (selfgovernment) which aimed at bringing social transformation through smallscale, decentralised and participatory structures of government.
It also implied self-transformation, self-discipline and self-restraint.
“There is enough in the world for everybody's need, but not enough for
anybody's greed”, he once said.
He believed that a moral, ethical, ecological and spiritual foundation was
necessary to build good governance.
The final aspect of his trinity to achieve his vision of a new, nonviolent social order was Swadesi (local economy).
Gandhi opposed "mass production" and favoured production by people.
Work, for him, was as much a spiritual as an economic necessity.
He insisted on the principle that every member of society should be
engaged in manual work.
Manufacturing in small workshops and adherence to arts and craft has an
excellent way to feed the body as well as the soul, professed Gandhi.
He believed that long-distance transportation of goods, competitive trading
and relentless economic growth was a good recipe to destroy the fabric of
human communities as well the integrity of the natural world.
Gandhi was also a great champion of interreligious solidarity.
We all love to refer to the wonderful answer he gave when he was asked if
he was a Hindu. “Yes I am, I am also a Muslim, a Christian, a Buddhist, and a
Jew”, he replied.
“An eye for an eye only ends up making the world blind”, he used to argue.
It is also fitting to share with you one of his most beautiful quotes, and this
is what he said:
(Quote)
“Hatred ever kills,
Love never dies
Such is the vast difference between the two.
What is obtained by love is retained for all time.
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What is obtained by hatred
Proves a burden in reality, for it increases hatred.” (Unquote)
Unfortunately, despite all his efforts, he could not prevent India being
portioned across religious lines upon Independence, with a disastrous
impact on the lives of many families.
Gandhi was also passionately pro-education.
He developed firm views on education over and above his values and vision
of what should be a free India.
He rejected colonial education as he thought that. ‘real freedom will
come only when we free ourselves of the domination of Western education,
Western culture and Western way of living which have been ingrained in us
… Emancipation from this culture would mean real freedom for us’
Gandhi’s basic education was an embodiment of his perception of an ideal
society consisting of small, self-reliant communities with his ideal citizen
being industrious, self-respecting and generous, living in a small cooperative community.
Education was for him a highly moral activity and his model aimed at
educating the whole person, rather than concentrating on one aspect.
Mahatma Gandhi believed in the dignity of man, love and tolerance.
His life was guided by a search for truth.
For him truth was God .
His aim in life was to achieve truthfulness in thought, word and deed.
By non-violence, Gandhi meant not merely the absence of violence but also
a loving concern for all life.
He taught that to be non-violent required great courage.
Unfortunately, he was himself a victim of violence as he was assassinated
on 30 January 1948, just six months after India's independence.
Mahatma Gandhi held no office, pursued no career, accumulated no wealth.
He inspired so many because he practiced what he preached, he lived the
change he wanted to see in the world and his message was none other than
his life itself.
He was an honest seeker of truth, a fearless defender of the weak and
uncompromising advocate of non-violence.
As he rightly said:
(Quote) “You must not lose faith in humanity.
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Humanity is an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty,
the ocean does not become dirty”. (Unquote)
Mahatma Gandhi is no more but he is still very much alive in our hearts
and in the hearts of millions of people around the globe.
His life and achievements continue to pervade history and remain a model
for the younger generations to emulate.
As Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, the American poet and philosopher put it
so beautifully and I quote:
“Lives of great men all remind us we can make our lives sublime,
And departing, leave behind us footprints on the sands of time.”
“Footprints, that perhaps another sailing o’er life’s solemn main,
A forlorn and shipwrecked brother, seeing, shall take heart again.”
(Unquote)
I thank you for your attention!