The two-day seminar, held to mark centenary of the work, was an effort to re-interpret and re-evaluate Mahatma’s perspective in Hind Swaraj.
The two-day seminar on Gandhiji’s significant work, ‘Hind Swaraj’, organised by Sahitya Akademi at the Gujarati Sahitya Parishad (GSP), concluded in Ahmedabad on Sunday with the address of Narayan Desai, a Gandhian scholar and president of GSP.
The seminar, held to mark centenary of the work, was an effort to re-interpret and re-evaluate Mahatma’s perspective in Hind Swaraj through various speakers’ presentations and discussion with the audience present.
Poet and critic Chandrakant Sheth initiated the second day’s session. He said, “Hind Swaraj doesn’t mean ‘self-rule’ but ‘truth-rule’. Gandhiji sees his betterment in others’ good; he insists that swaraj means self-control, self-discipline and self-reliance.”
Other eminent speakers on the occasion were Sharifa Vijaliwala, Shirish Panchal, Ghanshyam Shah and Narayan Desai. Every speaker examined the usefulness of ‘Hind Swaraj’ in solving today’s problems - especially, self-centred attitude of an individual and his total dependency on machines, which Gandhiji avoided throughout his life.
“Hind Swaraj seems to be a text written for world betterment because it disapproves of development at the cost of human values. Gandhiji puts stress on physical labour and believes that body should remain flexible, avoiding lethargy and it should not totally depend on machinery,” said Shirish Panchal, the well-known critic.
Ghanshyam Shah, eminent sociologist, said, “Gandhiji firmly believes that materialism is the root cause of all wrong doings prevailing in human society. The base of all religions is just human values. Hind Swaraj is the moralistic virtuous piece of a moral person.”
Celebrated Gandhian Narayan Desai was the last to speak. He said, “Face-to-face communication is the best type of communication. That is what Gandhiji has done in Hind Swaraj. Gandhiji had faith in his people and so can uplift them as a people’s leader. I personally believe that the language written in his autobiography is more developed and simple than in Hind Swaraj. Gandhiji is faithful to himself and only a faithful can be transparent.”
Referring to a statement made by one of the speakers, he said, “I have firm faith that both India and Pakistan will become one some day. If we follow Hind Swaraj, then real progress and real development is certain.
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