Spiritual democracy is India's contribution to the world: Prafulla Ketkar

Mangaluru: India's contribution to the world is spiritual democracy and the 'idea of Bharat' is more about reality and realisation rather than research, 'Organiser' editor Prafulla Ketkar said Saturday.

Delivering the keynote address at the two-day 'Mangaluru Lit Fest 2018' on the theme 'idea of Bharat' here, he said the country's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru's idea of Bharat was based on research and not on a realisation of India. "India contributed spiritual democracy to the world, while Europe taught parliamentary democracy and the United States, economic democracy," he said. Ketkar said that in India, every community had the right to worship their Gods. People here respected the faiths of others and problems cropped up only when a section claimed that their God or way of thinking was supreme and ultimate, he said.

'Taranga' editor Sandhya Pai, in her inaugural address, said the idea of Bharat was that of a vibrant energy. Future generations should be taught about the vast culture and traditions of the country, she said. NITTE education trust chairman N Vinaya Hegde said it was a good sign that a lot of young people had turned up for the Lit Fest to learn more about the idea of Bharat"at a time the country is witnessing increasing hatred, violence and negativism."

The festival was organised by the Mangaluru Literary Foundation. Panel discussions on different topics, book reviews, symposiums, art and book exhibitions have also been arranged.

Vivek Angnihotri's movie on the death of former Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri is likely to hit the screen shortly. Though Vivek did not wanted to give much details about the movie, he said that the movie was about the death of Shastriji at Tashkent was based on research for about five years.