New Delhi: Prof. Manoj Kumar Jha, a Rajya Sabha member of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) has called for a special joint session of Parliament on October 2 to honour the memory and legacy of the Father of the Nation, followed by five committed days to recall Gandhian ideas and values.
He has written a personal letter to Prime Minister Modi for summoning a committed session of Parliament to commemorate and recall Gandhi's ideas on his 150th birth anniversary in view of 2018-19 being officially celebrated as his 150th birth anniversary.
The letter says there are various continuing ways to celebrate the birth anniversary, the most appropriate way for a grateful nation to show its respect to the Mahatma is through a special and committed session of Parliament.
"Of all the people ever born in this great country, Gandhi is arguably the individual who has most impacted India and its destiny as a sovereign nation in his life as well as in his death," Jha wrote, noting that "so many movements (national and otherwise) have taken inspiration from the Gandhian ideas of resistance.
He underlined that while Gandhi strove to live a simple life, he had complex ideas and was extremely dynamic in his approach, "constantly in dialogue with his contemporaries -- Ambedkar, Rabintranath Tagore, Bhagat Singh -- it did not matter whether they agreed or not."
Jha added: "Gandhi commanded respect in a way comparable only to religious figures. This is impossible for a politician now but even in those days it was very rare....He inspired many generations of thinkers and leaders from across the world -- Martin Luther King Jr, Albert Einstein, Nelson Mandela, Dalai Lama, Al Gore and Barak Obama."
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