The 25th anniversary celebrations of Bharatiya Vichara Kendram, the ideological back-up of the Sangh in Kerala and centre for national reconstruction, were held on April 28 and 29 at ?Samskriti Bhavan? in Thiruvananthapuram. The highlight of the meet was the formal inauguration of the Bharatiya Institute of Advanced Study and Research (BIASR), the tie-up between BVK and Maharishi Dayanand Saraswati (MDS) University, Ajmer, Rajasthan for doctoral studies in seven subjects including culture, Sanskrit and philosophy.
Delivering his address to the packed and distinguished audience, Padmashri P. Parameswaran, Director, Bharatiya Vichara Kendram, said it is a divine dispensation that the research institute is being inaugurated during the rajata jayanti and Guruji'sbirth centenary. He said it is more than a coincidence that Maharishi Dayananda Saraswati representing the north and Shri Narayana Guru from far south, who are also revivers of Bharatiya culture and architects of renaissance, teamed up like a sangam of two sacred rivers, for glory of Bharat. The teaming-up of BVK and MDS University is also a similar sangam for Bharatiya research.
?During the past 25 years, the BVK has created an intellectual aroma in Kerala. With the status of a university approved centre, the Kendram will be able to move forward on the path of significant research activities, on the solid foundation of intellectual dynamism already laid upon. The research activities currently being carried out are mostly job oriented. All our research works are pale imitations of western ideology, which have no relevance to actual conditions prevailing in the state?, he said.
Delivering his keynote address Ghanashyam Tewari, Rajasthan Minister for Higher Education, said that he was happy in BVK getting approval from MDS University on its 25th year fete. He said MDS university is doing good work for promotion of Bharatiya culture and values.
Inaugurating the institute by lighting the lamp, Dr. V.N. Rajasekharan Pillai, Vice-Chancellor of IGNOU, said the standards of research in Indian varsities are coming down since it is being done for employment and promotions.
Shri Mohan Lal Chippa, Vice-Chancellor of MDS University said man'sgreed in plundering nature and ecology will leave earth only with humans. ?During past 30 years 30-40 per cent of forests, water sources and species have been lost. Consumerist culture is destroying the world. Only Bharat has a message for protecting the world from disaster. This is the message of Vedas, Puranas, the Bhagavad Gita, the Ramayana, the Mahabharat etc.?
Several former diplomats, IAS/IPS officers, Shri O. Rajagopal, senior BJP leader, educationalists and Sangh adhikaris attended the function.
The valedictory session of the rajata jayanti meet was addressed by Padmashri P. Parameswaran, Shri S. Gurumurthy and Princess Gouri Parvathy Bai of Travancore.
Shri Gurumurthy said the credit for defeating western consumer culture goes to Indian women ?Moreover India'slow-risk capital is because they force households to make only safe investments. Only 2.5 per cent of India'shousehold budget goes to stock markets. The heightened individualism of the west has made it unsustainable. Follow ?the west as the best? thinking is getting shattered.? He concluded by saying the rise of India as a world power is the re-rise of a great civilisation and by 2025, there will be only three powers, India, America and China.
