Defeat Savarkar’s ideology, or face German’s suffering:Prasanna

Bengaluru: “If we do not defeat Savarkar’s ideology, we will have to face the suffering experienced by the Germans. Therefore, all of us must come together to defeat Savarkar’s ideology,” called upon Gandhian and renowned theater person Prasanna.

Speaking on the cultural crisis at a seminar on “Gandhiji in Today’s Crisis Situation” organized at Gandhi Bhavan in Bengaluru, he said that if we stubbornly cling to “my Communist ideology, my Lohiaite ideology, my Socialist ideology, and my Congress ideology,” we must remember that it will be impossible to defeat Savarkar’s ideology.

Stating that political power alone is not the solution to the cultural crisis, Prasanna noted that the thoughts of Gandhiji and Ambedkar are extremely crucial on the issue of the annihilation of caste.

“The reason we all respect Ambedkar is because of the bugle he blew for the annihilation of caste. There is no other Indian leader who stated so firmly that caste must be eradicated. However, it is a matter of regret that Ambedkar, who blew the war trumpet for the annihilation of caste, is being portrayed as a leader who created caste,” he said.

He mentioned that upper castes such as Brahmins, Lingayats, and Vokkaligas are a thousand times more powerful. “When we observe what is happening among such upper castes today, we are able to understand the cultural interest that Gandhiji spoke of,” he added.

Speaking on the economic crisis at the same event, CPI(M) State Secretary Dr. Prakash K. said that the central government is destroying Gandhiji’s vision of decentralization and stripping states of their powers. By moving education from the state list to the concurrent (central) list and implementing the National Education Policy, the central government has completely stripped the states of their authority, he noted, adding that the NEET examination is a prime example of central policies snatching away state rights.

He stated that these attempts to directly centralize Gandhiji’s concept of decentralization are a conspiracy to turn education into a commodity. “We need to understand that the central government’s Jal Jeevan Mission, which sets out to provide water connections to every household, follows the same pattern,” he said.
Speaking on the climate crisis, Prof. G.S. Jayadev stated that we are currently witnessing a strange amnesia, having created a situation where Adivasis (indigenous people) are losing their very roots. GDP is not merely an index of financial transactions; it acquires true meaning only when the earnings of farmers and wage laborers are taken into consideration, he explained.

Retired professor Dr. A.R. Vasavi spoke on the rural crisis. During the same event, two books were released: Mahatmana Magalu, an autobiography of Mira Behn translated by journalist and novelist Manjunath Chand, and a publication about centenarian and freedom fighter Sangappa Mante.