Ideals of Tagore and Gandhi best to deal with intolerance and terrorism: Pranab Mukherjee

By NewsGram Staff Writer

Ideals of Tagore and Gandhi provide the best way forward for a world confronted with intolerance, bigotry and terrorism, President Pranab Mukherjee said at a public lecture yesterday, in Uppsala University, Sweden.

Speaking on 'Tagore & Gandhi: Do they have Contemporary Relevance for Global Peace?', the President said that the ideas of truth, openness, dialogue and non-violence espoused by the thinkers are more relevant today than any time before. He said that the world is desperately in search for a permanent solutions to conflict and tensions and therefore theses ideals need to be propagated far and wide, especially amongst the youth.

Mukherjee said that with its population of 1.25 billion, India has been home to a harmonious mingling of many ethnic and religious communities for centuries. He further added that lasting peace can be built only on a foundation of mutual respect which was consistently and eloquently advocated by both Tagore and Gandhi.

"Enduring peace can only be established on the basis of humanity's moral and intellectual solidarity. Political and economic agreements will not on their own build lasting peace. Peace has to be founded on the belief that there is only one humanity." Mukherjee said.