''Thoughts of Gandhi, Deendayal were matching in many issues'

BELAGAVI: Thoughts of Mahatma Gandhi and Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya were similar in several issues like joint family concept, grassroots democracy (gram swarajya) by decentralization of power, education in mother tongue etc, said Manendra Pratap Singh, Member Secretary, Indian Council of Philosophical Research (ICPR), New Delhi.
He was delivering keynote address at the inaugural day of three-day national conference here on Saturday on ‘A Paradigm of Integral Human Development in the Thoughts of Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya’.Programme organized by Academy of Comparative Philosophy & Research (ACPR) in association with Rani Channamma University. ICPR has sponsored the event.
Singh said Deendayal was against preparation of constitution at one time. He wanted it should be revised after every five years keeping the changing needs in the mind. However, after constitution was introduced, many people came to know that Deendayal was right, as so far 118 amendments have been made to the constitution. He said, “today we are experiencing triple crises- modernity, development and governance. We must be able to cope-up with them with the help of learning from our elders”, he said.
Vice-chancellor of KLE University Dr Chandrakant Kokate said India is the spiritual capital of the world. Saints of India have contributed immensely to philosophy. “Humans are mere mortals yet we fail to understand the essence of life” he said, adding that “in the rush to becoming more ambitious, we are becoming increasingly selfish and in turn losing our identity and spirit of humanism”.
ACPR vice chairman Ashok Potadar, secretary advocate MB Zirali, registrar IS Kumbhar, contributors Swatee Jog, Prof Harshavardhan Kamble and Prof Vishnukant Chatpalli of Rani Chhannamma University, Shahid Memon of PES Society, Vinod Doddannavar, trustee of Bharatesh Education Trust were present.
Delegates and contributors from several universities across India including Siwan (Bihar), Guwahati, New Delhi, Goa, Mumbai, Chennai etc. were present for the conference. The conference shall witness deliberations, invited talks by eminent persons, panel discussion and research paper presentations across three days.