Bhubaneswar: Governor S.C. Jamir invoked Gandhi, stating that his teachings were as indestructible as the laws of gravity.
Jamir was speaking at a two-day national conference on "Remembering Mahatma Gandhi: Compassion and relevance for our times". The Xavier University's Centre for Humanities and Compassion Studies had organised the meet here.
In his keynote address, Jamir spoke on Gandhi's relevance in today's time. He quoted Gandhi's famous words - "Hate the sin; love the sinner"- and emphasised on how non-violence was a basic and eternal value; the genesis of humanity, and its progression.
Major-general Chris J. Eze, high commissioner (retired), Nigeria, Odisha State Higher Education Council vice-chairman Ashok Das and former officer on special duty and press secretary to former President, K.R. Narayanan, S.N. Sahu inaugurated the conference, which ended on Wednesday.
Sahu also spoke about the application of Gandhian worldview in today's world. Das, with his background in academics, elaborated on how the current education system, including at the best institutions in the country, had failed to produce job creators.
Eze highlighted the impact of Gandhi's teachings and values across the globe, especially in the South African peninsula. Gandhi lived in South Africa for several years during his time as a barrister.
As the session ended, the varsity students held a debate on "The relevance of Gandhian perspective", especially the "Seven deadly social sins". Human resources dean of Xavier School Snigdha Pattnaik and Xavier School of Sustainability Management dean S. Peppin chaired the event.
The conference was held to commemorate Gandhi's 150th birth anniversary.
The event included Brij Ballav Udaiwal's indigo dyeing workshop and Ankit Chadhha and Vedanth Bharadwaj's Urdu recitation - Dastangoi - on his Sabarmati experience.
A technical session on "Satyagraha, non-violence and humane development" was also held. Shiv Viswanathan, D. Jeevan Kumar and Rajsekhar Basu, who were on the panel, interacted with the students on various Gandhian principles and its applications.
