United Nations, Oct 02: Seeking united, determined and decisive action against international terrorism, India on Thursday asserted that no cause or religion
justifies the menace whatever be the objective.
Addressing the 192-member United Nations General Assembly on the occasion of Mahatma Gandhi's 139th birth anniversary, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee also called on world leaders to take steps to move towards the goal of complete nuclear disarmament.
Since last year, the United Nations observes Mahatma Gandhi's birth anniversary as a "Day of Non-Violence."
Gandhi's message of non-violence, Mukherjee said, is applicable in all fields from terrorism to non-proliferation to economic disparities and the world could ignore his principles at its own peril.
Pointing to Gandhi's firm belief that means are as important as the ends, he asserted that the principles could not be flexible, truth is not a convenience and conviction could not be bartered on the altar of expediency.
Gandhi's moral arguments, he told the delegates, continue to be relevant in two vital areas affecting the world terrorism and nuclear non-proliferation.
"If we accept the premise that a worthy objective can be achieved only through the most carefully considered measures, we should never be able to condone our failure to act unitedly, determinedly and decisively to stop international terror once and for all," he emphasised.
The minister said that no cause or religion justifies the course of terror whatever be the objective.
Stating the world has moved far away from the objective of nuclear disarmament, Mukherjee added that dichotomy between means and ends explains that.
"The core difficulty is the notion that some may retain nuclear weapons while others may not. Unless we begin to move towards a genuine, comprehensive disarmament programme, we will not be able to achieve our objective," he said.
Mukherjee said that current political and economic order based on "unjust methods and stark inequalities too is a "form of violence" and added that this too required urgent resolution.
In this globalised age of instant communications, he warned, the world cannot continue to indefinitely maintain islands of prosperity in a larger sea of poverty.
"The Mahatma's message reminds us of the need for a moral compass that would guide all our actions, to enable us to evaluate the impact of our deeds upon the poorest person in our memory. He called this his 'talisman', and as history affirms, it never failed him," he told the delegates.
In this context, he called for display of "greater collective urgency" to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) set by world leaders to eliminate or sharply reduce several economic and social evils including absolute poverty and disease by 2015.
"The chasm between our enormous collective capacity and our modest action on the ground, should stimulate us into greater efforts in the seven years that remain to achieve the MDGs," Mukherjee stressed.
That 60 years after Gandhi's death, the Assembly has decided to commemorate his legacy is "eloquent testimony to the fact that the message for which he lived and died cannot be extinguished," he said.
Non-violence or 'Ahimsa' advocated by Gandhi, Mukherjee said, is not a 'mantra'.
"It is not simply the opposite of violence, although it is fundamentally opposed to violence. Non-violence is about the absence of hate, and the victory of love and compassion. It stands for principle in the face of expediency. It is about changing people's hearts and minds," he said.
Bureau Report
First Published: Thursday, October 02, 2008, 00:00