Thiruvananthapuram: Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday hit out at the communal outfits for trying to hijack Sree Narayana Guru’s legacy to create social divide and capture power.
“The designs of such forces should be countered with Guru’s teachings,” said Ms Sonia Gandhi while inaugurating the 83rd annual pilgrimage at Sivagiri.
She used her maiden visit to Sivagiri to launch a veiled attack against the BJP and SNDP Yogam and said there were attempts to communalise Guru’s teachings betraying the great social reformer.
"The motive of such forces is to capture political power by spreading prejudice, bigotry and splitting our diverse society. Guru respected all faiths and taught his followers to do it,” said Mrs. Gandhi.
She was targeting the alliance between the BJP and SNDP Yogam in the run-up to the state Assembly elections.
She said that Guru’s teachings of equality, liberty and social justice were relevant even at this age. “At a congregation in Aluva in 1924, Guru had stressed the need to abstain from religious conflict and to promote universal peace, harmony and prosperity of all religions. Guru established the Sivagiri Mutt as a symbol of social reformation and equality,” added Ms Sonia Gandhi.
Sree Narayana Dharma Sangham Trust president Swami Prakashananda, general secretary Swami Rithambaranada and other members gifted Mrs. Gandhi an elephant caparison with the pictures of Guru and other reformers like Dr. Palpu, Tagore and Kumaran Asan inscribed on it.
Sonia opens rajiv institute silver jubilee
Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday hailed the contributions made by her late husband and former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi in bringing India to the forefront of IT industry. Inaugurating the silver jubilee celebrations of the Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Technology (RIT) at Pampady near here, she said, “Rajiv Gandhi brought India into the IT age. Today our country is recognized the world over as a leader in IT. The basic infrastructure for science and technology and higher education that has made this possible was established during Jawaharlal Nehru's tenure as Prime Minister,” she said.
The RIT was presented in the budget of June 12, 1991 after the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi. Though the first phase of the project was completed in 2004, a formal function was held for the first time after the establishment of the college.
‘Research centre on guru soon’
A research centre for the study of the life and teachings of Sree Narayana Guru will be started soon, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy said on Wednesday. Speaking at the inauguration of the 83rd Sivagiri pilgrimage, he also said that the government had decided to establish a fellowship in Guru’s name.
“The director of Sree Narayana Guru Study Centre has been entrusted to establish a fellowship in Guru’s name,” Chandy said. His life and teachings are already part of the curriculum of students from class 3 to 12.
Guru wanted that people should not be divided in the name of caste or religion, Mr Chandy said and urged that those trying to create divisions in the name of caste should learn the ethics of Guru.
