Deendayal Memorial Lecture in New Delhi
Pramod Kumar
“INDIA has to lead the world. There is no harm in imbibing the best from both the East and the West. But what can be produced in the country should not be bought from abroad and what is bought from abroad should be adopted only after making it suitable to our needs,” said RSS Sarsanghachalak Shri Mohan Bhagwat, while delivering the 12th Deendayal Memorial Lecture in New Delhi on October 3.
The topic of the Lecture was Bharatiyata Aur Adhunik Chunautiyan. It was jointly organised by Deendayal Research Institute (DRI) and Ekatma Manavdarshan Vikas Evam Anusandhan Pratishthan at jam-packed FICCI Auditorium. Chairman of DRI Shri Virendrajit Singh and head of the Pratishthan Dr Mahesh Chandra Sharma also shared the dais.
Many distinguished people of the national capital including former Secretary General of Lok Sabha Dr Subhash Kashyap, former Governor and Comptroller & Auditor General of India Shri TN Chaturvedi, NDA convener Shri Sharad Yadav, former Chief Minister of Rajasthan Smt Vasundhara Raje, senior journalists Dr Nand Kishore Trikha, Shri Vedpratap Vaidik, Shri Ram Bahadur Rai, Shri Rajendra Sharma, BJP leaders Shri JP Nadha, Shri Balbir Punj, Shri Anantha Kumar, Shri Vijay Goel, Shri Murlidhar Rao, Dr Harsh Vardhan, Prof. Jagdish Mukhi, noted economist Dr Bajaranglal Gupt, former IPS Shri Ajit Doval and Shri Prakash Singh, etc. were also present on the occasion.
Shri Bhagwat further said majority of the world scholars are today unanimous that the only country which can show a viable and sustainable path to the entire problems-ridden world is Bharat. The reason of it is that the traditional Indian thinking, known worldwide as Bharatiyata, Hindutva or Sanatan Sanskriti, has solution to majority of the problems the world is confronted with today. The time might have changed the map of India during the last few centuries, but the original nature and thinking of the Indians is still nature-friendly which treats the whole world as a family.
“This is a fact that progress made by science during the last 200 years or more has empowered human beings immensely, but exploitation of natural resources has taken a huge toll on environment and nature. Wherever there is development, maximum agitations by environmentalists also take place. If the world thinks that if there has to be development, one cannot worry too much about environment… progress may be having its benefits, but problems also arise and a lot of damage is done to the air, land and water,” he said adding that the faulty process of development also displaces traditional inhabitants of that area. They are not properly rehabilitated and dissatisfaction and strife remain. On these issues politics moves, but also does terror and restlessness. It is happening all over the world. “We should not forget that we are part of the Nature and certainly not its masters. The faster we are trying to become master of Mother Nature, the faster the troubles come around the world,” he added.
He further said in the name of development people have forgotten their limits and are exploiting their natural resources unreasonably. Questioning the idea of development, being it anti-environment, he asked the people to be judicious and wise when they pursue progress, which should be in accordance with the nature and certainly not against it. “To be a world family and not the world market, the development should be handled correctly,” he said adding that the only solution to the present challenges is integral humanism propounded by Deendayal Upadhyaya.
Describing globalisation as nothing but Westernisation, he said globalisation has definitely reduced the distance in the world but this has also resulted into a conflict between diversity and globalisation forces. “What may be in my interest may not necessarily be in the interest of a forest dweller. The excavation of mineral buried in a forest may suit me, but it will displace the inhabitants of that area. This has to be understood by all. The forest dwellers may be told by urban residents that their way of life is superior, but they may not wish to agree. It is like a circus lion telling a jungle lion to join him,” he said adding that all-round development does not mean devastation of people.
Reiterating that over-use of resources and chasing progress relentlessly will only result in the destruction of the world, he opined that Indians have to teach the world manushyata (humanity), which the world has today lost. He said it is a challenge how to create a practical society that is not selfish and thinks for the welfare of mankind. He said ultimate goal of the human life should be propakaar (welfare of others) and not upabhog (consumption). To make our own life happy, we have no right to turn the life of others into hell. If the world follows these values, there will be no conflict. Therefore, the biggest challenge before all of us is to make ourselves true Bharatiya. Eveyone of us should develop Bharatiyata in us, he said.
The RSS chief said the conflicts to create uniformity in a globalised world are driving politics and terrorism. The challenge is to accommodate diversity in a globalised world. Science has made man very powerful, but this knowledge also has huge negative implications. It is even trying to do the works, which are finished only by the God. “We believe that knowledge is a double edged sword. Therefore, we have always been in favour of an ethical restriction on it. Had the creator of nuclear bomb thought of destroying the world by his creation? The bomb was invented for the benefit of the humanity, but when it reaches into the hands of terrorists, its misuse is imminent. It all is happening only because of lack of ethical restriction on knowledge,” he said.
Invigorating the youth he said, “The nation should be the priority and not the personal careers. Only then can we hope to build a successful and powerful nation. We should believe that we have to show a new path to the entire world—not being an incharge but as a friend, brother. Our values and methods are different and they can lead the world to peace and eternal happiness. It is the duty entrusted to us by the God,” he added.
In the beginning, Dr Mahesh Chandra Sharma introduced the topic and pointed out that the first lecture was organised in the year 2000 and was delivered by noted scholar Shri Vishnukant Shastri. After that noted journalist Dr Vidyaniwas Mishra, the then RSS Sarsanghachalak Shri KS Sudarshan, RSS Sahsarkaryavah Shri Suresh Soni, noted Jain saint Acharya Mahapragya, Acharya Dayananda Bhargava, Dr Deepak Shukla, Prof. Balwant Parasuram Apte, former Deputy Prime Minister Shri LK Advani and Gujarat Chief Minister Shri Narendra Modi delivered the lectures organised at different places and on different topics. He said today when all efforts world over are focusing on making the world a market, the biggest challenge is to make the world a family. “Deendayalji would say that both the scarcity and abundance of money create perversions and eradicating those perversions is the biggest challenge today,” Dr Sharma added. Chairman of DRI Shri Vijendrajit Singh proposed a vote of thanks.
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