Ever shining light

It is now half a century since Mahatma Gandhi, the messenger of nonviolence, died. Harvey Stockwin deserves congratulations for his excellent essay Great Mahatma Gandhi: Light that doesn't go out (Feb. 5 and Feb. 6).

Gandhi's belief in truth and nonviolence was unshakable. It was a sad irony that a Mahatma who advocated and practiced the principle of nonviolence himself fell victim to violence.

Although Gandhi was against the British rule in India, he didn't hold any grudge against English people. Stockwin quoted Gandhi's words: "Hatred ever kills, love never dies... What is attained through love is retained for all time." Proof of this can be seen in an anecdote from Gandhi's biography.

Gandhi spun a table cloth as a gift for the wedding of Prince Philip and Princess Elizabeth. Mountbatten, the then viceroy of India, sent it to the princess with this note: "This you lock up with the Crown jewels... for it was spun by a man who said "the British must depart as friends!"

Gandhi drew his strength from India's age-old moral values and its rich cultural heritage. He used to say: "I have nothing new to teach the world. Truth and nonviolence are as old as the hills."

Mahatma Gandhi insisted that his philosophy was evolutionary, subject to modification but not mutilation.

My view is that India's objections to the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty arose from the roots of Gandhian values and idealism. The nuclear powers lack moral rights in advancing nonproliferation, while they continued to retain their arsenals in their backyards. It was like an alcoholic advising abstinence.

Mahatma Gandhi's unique contribution to the world was a workable ethical framework which could be accommodated within the domain of day-to-day politics. The relevance of Gandhian philosophy will continue to remain a yardstick for measuring the degree of social consciousness exhibited by the present-day politicians.

Gandhi's teachings transcend the boundaries of nationality. In 1994, the executive board of Unesco rightly recognized Mahatma Gandhi as a "world personality of great spiritual, political and cultural dimensions whose thought and action continue to profoundly influence contemporary society in significant ways."

Yes, the light will continue to shine for generations to come.

D. CHANDRAMOULI

Jakarta