Tributes paid to Mahatma Gandhi

Mahatma Gandhi’s life and soul continue to animate humanity, transcending time and space, said Indian Ambassador Alok Kumar Sinha yesterday.

Mr Sinha was speaking on the occasion of the celebrations to commemorate the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi organized by the Indian Embassy at its premises in Seef last night.

“His contribution to human development is far too great and varied to have been forgotten or to be overlooked. Mahatma Gandhi believed that ‘best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others’.

“On several occasions, Gandhiji personally led the drive for Swachhata or cleanliness linking removal of dirt to an act of a discipline and promoting physical and mental hygiene. Many were puzzled at that time and questioned what does all this have to do with freedom. For Gandhiji, they were the centre-piece of the quest for freedom.

“This was a struggle according to him not just for political power but for empowering the poorest of the poor, educating the uneducated, ensuring the right to a dignified life and a feasible livelihood for every village, for every neighbourhood, for every family and for every individual. The life of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi is a story of heroic effort to establish the values of truth and non-violence in human life.