M.N.

Roy, who founded Radical Humanism, said: When a man really wants freedom and to live in a democratic society he may not be able to free the whole world . . . but he can to a large extent at least free himself by behaving as a rational and moral being, and if he can do this, others around him can do the same, and these again will spread freedom by their example. I dont think I can put it any better. If that is the goal, then Gandhi is more relevant than ever.

The supreme difficulty facing a serious analyst of Gandhi is that almost every statement made about him is little more than a half-truth and the trouble with halftruths is the other half. There is an additional difficulty; every statement made by Gandhi himself is also a partial truth, made deliberately so as to take anew step towards some larger truth. The half-truths distort Gandhi and Gandhis partial truths demand a massive intellectual effort to comprehend him.

One of the crises facing the world today, as I said earlier, is the crisis of values and no prevailing social order is free from it. In some countries the crisis is reaching the breaking point; in others it may seem less serious because it is kept suppressed by force. One indication of this crisis is the sudden, massive and rather dangerous return to organized and codified religions even though history tells us that organized religion has not found solutions to human crises. Science which tried to replace religion, opened new vistas for humanity but is now faced with its own crises, because of its one-sidedness and its appropriation by a few. Both organized science and organized religion are failing the world, and this provides the occasion for us to review Gandhi afresh since he developed his own scientific practice and also distilled an ethical religion or value system from all major religions, rendering their canonical and dogmatic theologies and customary injunctions utterly superfluous. In doing so he gave science a new dimension, a moral dimension. He was, what I would, for want of better phrase, call a moral social scientist, whose unique approach may provide us with answers to the multiple crises with which mankind is faced.
Gandhi, today, is on the currency note and yet the same currency note is used for murky transactions! The principles of Gandhi- Truth, Non violence,austerity have all gone for a toss and what remains is nothing but a muddy ditch of a fallen civilisation. A politician reprimands a woman on entering a temple merely because she is poor! Where is Gandhi's egalitarian policy? Protesters demanding answers to their questions,peacefully, are battered! Where is Gandhi's non violence and fair play? Corruption, bribery, debauchery rules this country. Where is Gandhi's truth and honesty? In scams? please encourage Indians to spread cleanliness beyond themselves and their home , people are afraid or put off by how Indians accept living in dirty and filthy surroundings, teach people to recycle , bag and burn their trash , create incinirators at street corners where every household can go & burn their thrash , only then will the rest of the world have some respect for you ! Indians always talk of high morals & values.....Gandhi taught basics too ! if your basics are correct , only then can one truly move on to bigger & better! Later one can move on to Gandhi's values & teachings.