Big plans for grand Vivekananda Jayanti

BENGALURU: Hauled over the coals by Opposition parties for organizing celebrations to mark the birth anniversary of Tipu Sultan, the state government is set to celebrate the birth anniversary of Swamy Vivekananda on January 12 which was declared ‘National Youth Day’ by the late prime minister Rajiv Gandhi.

“It is not being celebrated to resurrect the party's image post Tipu jayanti celebrations but to take the message of Vivekananda to youth in the wake of growing intolerance in the society. By doing this, we are not trying to appease Hindu voters,” food and civil supplies minister Dinesh Gundu Rao told DC. He said one round of meeting was held on Wednesday and another meeting would be next held sometime next week to chalk out the birth anniversary of Swamy Vivekananda, an icon of youth, in a befitting manner throughout the state. CM Siddaramaiah has given the green signal to organize the celebrations on a grandscale. The birth anniversary would be celebrated as a government sponsored programme across the state.

The minister contended that BJP and RSS had branded Swamy Vivekananda as the champion of Hindutva. In reality, he was the most secular and had respect for all religions. Unfortunately, all these years the communal forces had 'misled' people claiming that Vivekananda's philosophy was akin to Hindutva and he was a strong propagator of Hindu philosophy. No doubt, Vivekananda was a Hindu but he never hated other religions. There was lot of difference between Hindu philosophy taught by Swamy Vivekananda and the one propagated by right wing groups. In the light of this, the state government has decided to take a right message to present youth sans 'distortion' by RSS and BJP leaders. All these years, the ‘National Youth Day’remained a low-key affair but the Siddaramaiah government had now decided to celebrate January 12 as Swamy Vivekananda Jayanti every year. Through this celebration, the government wants to remove intolerance and superstition that have gripped the society. The principles and ideology of the great

saint would be given a wide coverage, so that youth could imbibe them, added the minister.