‘Gandhian philosophy and thoughts are relevant even today,’ said Assam Governor Prof Jagdish Mukhi at a function held on the eve of 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi at Raj Bhavan in Guwahati on Monday.
While remembering the contributions of Gandhi, Prof Mukhi said that Mahatma Gandhi was the personality who led a successful non-violent movement to free India from British colonial rule.
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While he inspired his countrymen to unite against a foreign power that had dominated them for 190 years, he also waged a heroic and tireless battle on the home front to give swaraj to the people of the country.
He fought hard to rid Indian society of the age-old and deep-rooted prejudice against the untouchability, the Governor said.
Gandhi condemned the idea of untouchability. He called it a crime, an evil, a blot on the name of Hinduism. He sincerely believed that the curse of oppressive British rule was a just punishment for the sin of untouchability that high-caste Hindus had shamelessly practiced for many centuries, the Governor retorted.
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The Governor also observed that Gandhi condemned alcoholism and all its manifestations. Gandhi declared that indiscriminate drinking was a dire threat to the very existence of the society.
Professing Mahatma Gandhi’s mantra that ‘Cleanliness is Godliness’, Prof Mukhi said that Gandhi demonstrated, propagated and insisted on cleanliness for individual and community as a whole throughout his life.
Following his footprints, Government of India launched Swachh Bharat Abhiyan on October 2, 2014 with a vision to dedicate Clean India on 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi in 2019.