“Violence and the products of modernity have added to the growth of ‘hegemony’, ‘consumerism’ and ‘hedonistic pleasures of Individuals’. There is a need to revitalize the moral, social and political philosophy of Mahatma Gandhi,” Said, Babbaldeep in the seminar on ‘Reading Gandhi’s Hind Swaraj in the Times of Global Violence and Modernity’ organized by Critique Ferozepur Chapter and Philosophical society: A students’ Discussion forum of the Dev Samaj College for Women, Ferozepur
In the first session Babbal and Komal in their presentation shared their views on the concepts of Civilization, Swaraj as stated by Gandhi in the Hind Swaraj. They agreed with Gandhi that true Swaraj does not mean political independence but freedom from the mean and other vicious thoughts that corrupts the mind of individuals.
They further added that Gandhi’s swaraj represents a genuine attempt to regain control of the 'self' - our self-respect, self-responsibility, and capacities for self-realization - from institutions of dehumanization. As Gandhi states, "It is swaraj when we learn to rule ourselves." The real goal of the freedom struggle was not only to secure political azadi (independence) from Britain, but rather to gain true swaraj (liberation and self-rule).
They said that today we are enslaved by the products of modernity. People have sidelined the ethical values and minds have become more money and body comfort centric. Education is also largely affected. The need is to shun the modernity offered by the colonialists and think about the philosophy, Gandhi taught.
In the second session, Focusing on the current Global violence which is apparent in the forms of terrorism, fight for territory, and other forms of exploitations Atinder and Mahi called for the Gandhian view of non-violence and civilization for its rescue. They said that Gandhi is a fine example of the activist who actually followed what he preached. The seminar was followed by the discussion in which Amarjeet, Navdeep, Daljeet, Gurmeet asked relevant questions.
