World Celebrates Gandhi Birthday

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Here we are again. Its October 2nd, and time to celebrate the birthday of Mahatma Gandhi. Naturally, India is celebrating the birthday of the spiritual and philosophical leader of the nation who led millions of Indians to freedom from British rule. Here is a new report about the celebrations in India. Is it ironical that the clebrations in New Delhi were led by President Abdul Kalam, a man who led the development of guided missiles in India. Some would say that it is these missiles that have prevented the war with Pakistan, and hence led to peace with that country, a Gandhian ideal. It is also a testament to Indian democracy's adherence to Gandhian ideals that the President of a Hindu country is a Muslim, and the Prime Minister (Manmohan Singh) is a Sikh. Vice President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat led the celebrations in Bucharest, Romania

Meanwhile, the rest of the world goes about its day completely ignoring the teachings of Gandhi. As if on cue, the Islamic terrorist demonstrated the power of rifle over love by killing 29 and injuring another 130 in Bali.

The fact that the attack occured in Indonesia - the largest Islamic country in the world may lead some to believe that the terrorist are equal opportunity terrorists, but that is not so. The heinous attacks in Indonesia - both this one and the previous one - occured in Bali, a Hindu majority island in Indonesia. So it is natural to think that Islam is a religion of hatred and all Muslims are "bad". But we know that this is not true; there are many moderate muslims, and on this day in particular, we need to recognize this and acknowledge this. Gandhi tried to overcome religious bigotry by preaching the word of tolerance. His famous hym goes like this, "Ishwar Allah Tero Naam, Sab Ko Sanmati De Bhagwan" tranlated "Ishwar and Allah are both your names, Oh God, please give us humans the wisdom to realize this."

What the world needs more than ever is a leader of Gandhian stature, who would put some sense back in this increasingly insane world. What we need is another Gandhi.

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