Report of Universal Brotherhood Day (U.B. Day 2010
Vishwa Adhyayan Kendra (VAK) celebrated the Universal Brotherhood Day on Friday 27th August 2010. The function was held at the Galaxy Hall of MIG Club, Bandra East, Mumbai from 6 to 8.30 pm.
The reception area and the auditorium were beautifully decorated with rangoli giving a colourful and festive look.
Rakhis were tied to all the guests on arrival. After registrations guests were served refreshments.
Shri K. Narassimhan, CEO of CommIT Group was the MC of the programme and conducted the proceedings very professionally by his superlative skills in communication.
Shri Sanjay Kelapure, President of VAK in his Welcome Address highlighted the objectives of the VAK. He mentioned that VAK organises the U B Day every year to foster friendship and goodwill with various consulates and foreign nationals in Mumbai. He concluded that VAK aspires to become a think-tank that wishes to give a Bharat-centric outlook and an alternative viewpoint on international issues.
Shri Vishal Chavda, Coordinator - U B Day 2010 Paper Presentation Competition, informed about the Paper Presentation Competition (PPC) which was held among students of Technology, Management and International Studies from 27 institutions of Mumbai on the topic ‘Challenges to Universal Brotherhood ’. He also introduced the panel of judges viz. Dr. Satish Modh, Dr. Madhavi Pethe and Shri Nitin Raut.
Dr. Madhavi Pethe, Principal of M. L. Dahanukar College summarized her feelings about the competition and also shared her opinion about the views expressed by the participants. “I am happy to note from the views expressed by the participants in the PPC that they too are concerned about the burning issues of today whereas the general perception about the youth is they are self oriented and self focused. One participant has stressed the need for maintaining human bonds and feelings of brotherhood with the help of education and more importantly IT.”
“I am reminded of Martin Luther King’s famous quote that tells that we all are trapped in an inescapable web of mutuality and only by being helpful mutually can we help ourselves.” she concluded.
Shri Ajit Doval and Prof. Vijay Page later distributed certificates and cash prizes to the winners of PPC.
Shri Venkati Muthappa, second year PGDM student from MET who bagged the first prize presented the synopsis of his paper. He felt that the only solution one can think of in the present food crisis is pooling resources available all over the world and providing them to the needy. This is one form of “Universal Brotherhood” where the concern for the fellow human beings goes beyond the territorial boundaries he said. He added that with the quality of appreciating diversity being the hallmark of Indian value system, Bharat can be the front-runner of not only upholding but spreading the value of Universal Brotherhood.
The Keynote Address was given by Shri Ajit Doval - a highly decorated police officer who had an illustrious career and retired as Director, Intelligence Bureau. He started saying that be it the faith based religions or the
science based theories like Darwin’s Theory or Primordial Soup Theory, we are increasingly converging to the idea that the entire living beings including human beings came from the same evolutionary process and hence have same heritage.
“When we talk of Universal Brotherhood as a value system that can end the sufferings, strife and conflicts that we see all around us, we are operating on a presumption. The presumption is that, the cause of the entire conflict is due to the fact that we have forgotten that we are brothers and sisters after all.”
“We believe it is a crisis of knowledge about our commonality, our ancestry and our progeny that is causing this infirmity and if you spread the message of universal brotherhood, this infirmity will cease to exist and if the infirmity ends; that will bring in peace, prosperity and development. As a logical thought it looks very correct.”
“Most of us formulate our ideas based on logical thoughts and not on empirical data. Actually, more of
bloodshed in this world has happened among those who knew each other and not among strangers.” he
exclaimed.”
“River Mother Ganga is pure and we cannot purify it further what needs to be done is just stop pollutants and sewage water getting mixed with it. Universal brotherhood too is a value that is noble but will not succeed until we identify, stop, fight, kill, conquer and succeed over the forces that vitiate the values of universal brotherhood.”
“We have been taught since thousands of years that dharma has to be upheld and adharma has to be eliminated. Therefore the need of the hour is not just to spread the message of universal brotherhood but also to conquer and vanquish the forces that are out to vitiate the values of universal brotherhood” he said.
He narrated the example of Adam Yahiye Gadahn, the US-born media advisor of Al Qaeda who said that the day he converted to Islam all his blood relatives became enemies as they were non-Muslims and hence kafirs. He may be right in having such a view but he questions the very existence and freedom of faith of others he opined.
“Weakness is the greatest provocation for violence and that is why the invaders attacked us so easily, even though we as a nation possessed some of the the greatest virtues including universal brotherhood” he explained.
Referring to the ceaseless overt and covert efforts of Pakistan to destroy and demolish India, he said that the best response from us in the true spirit of universal brotherhood is to increase our defence and nuclear capabilities to the fullest extent but restrain from using it first. However, the preaching and practice of the values of universal brotherhood should come from a position of strength and not from the fear of being defeated or destroyed he added.
He gave a detailed account of how in 2001, USA enlisted our support in their fight against terror and after our sincere efforts of building Afghanistan’s infrastructure like schools, bridges and roads and also sending our troops along with other countries, we have been left out from the group of countries that will decide the future of Afghanistan after the withdrawal of forces in July 2011 due to a secret deal with Pakistan.
According to him the deal ensures the West from being not targeted by jihadi groups and Pakistan being given a freehand to have their say in deciding who will rule Afghanistan. This will put us in a more vulnerable and difficult position he added with a worry.
He explained that Universalism and Nationalism do not go together and so, along with having a universal outlook, we should take utmost care to uphold our national interests too. Everything that will come in the way of national interest should be defeated by all means and this has been uttered by no less a person than Lord Krishna he said.
He felt that in our pursuit of preaching our noble values of universal brotherhood, we simply cannot and should not ignore to build our fighting capabilities as it is most essential for our very survival. It is only to establish righteousness and only to establish universal brotherhood that we need to be ever prepared to fight for it he concluded.
His speech was a perfect blend of logic, caution and motivation.
The inspiring, interesting and captivating Keynote Address was followed by an interesting Q/A session.
On how to deal with China
“China’s comprehensive nationl power is three times that of ours and in the next 50 years we cannot equal it unless a turmoil happens in China. This is the reality and we have to accept it. The best strategy will be to develop our missile technology. China’s comprehensive national power will be in jeopardy if its economic installations are targets of our missiles. If China understands that our missiles are of sufficiently long range as to target the most sensitive economic installations there, it will think twice before taking any step in Arunachal Pradesh. We also have to identify those critical areas in economy where we can beat them. IT is one such sector but they are fast catching up. We can also have an edge over them in Banking and Insurance sectors.
Though our manufacturing sector cannot match theirs’ in size we however have a greater goodwill with the international trade community. Therefore we can only achieve some success over them by challenging them with superior missile technology and in critical economic areas”.
On the effect of abrogation of Article 370 in solving Kashmir issue –
“Pakistan’s military as well as political leaders have clearly stated that even after a amicable solution of Kashmir we will have scores to settle with India. Abrogation of Article 370 will send a strong message to Pakistan as well as the people of Kashmir that we consider it as a totally integral part of Bharat and want to give them the same status as other states. For 60 years we have kept them in docks. When we send a strong
and clear signal to Pakistan and the separatists that Kashmir is not negotiable, things will settle in a few years”.
On sending our officers to mercenary schools in US for special training –
“We have the best police training facilities that are second to none. Our police and para- military forces are not restrained by training or equipment but by having to confront a situation where they have to minimize the collateral damage and political fall-outs”.
On the relevance of conventional armies and warfare from India’s perspective –
“There is a doctrine that all strategic weapons are for enforced budgets and wars will be fought only by conventional means. The fourth generation warfare is a very difficult one because the enemy is within the civil society and the civil society has to be protected”.
He also answered questions on biological warfare and promulgating common civil code.
Prof. Vijay Page, Director General of MET Institute of Management in his presidential address complimented VAK for organizing the event every year to foster friendship and harmony. Though it was a small step it is a significant one he added. He felt that through the forums like these a beginning is made by the society to unite as one and cherish the values of Universal Brotherhood. He said brotherhood means conformity to a commonly held righteous path and a path to success at a nation-state level.
The Vote of Thanks was delivered by Shri Vidyadhar Phadke, Treasurer of VAK and the dignitaries were presented with VAK mementos.
The programme came to a close with the reciting of shanti mantra by Aditya Pandey.
The event was sponsored by M/s KisaN Group of Companies who have been sponsoring the event since 2007 and co-sponsored by M/s Geeta Shipping and Clearing Services.. We are very grateful to them for their generosity and commitment to support a social cause being pursued by VAK.
The programme was attended by 150 distinguished audience from various walks of life ranging from students to CEOs and included 65 who attended for the first time.
The highlight of the programme was that despite heavy rains through the day invitees had resolved to attend the function in a good number. Another was that the programme commenced and closed on time.
