Sonia Gandhi: Thoughts of Swami Vivekananda have more relevance today

New Delhi: Congress President and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi said that the thoughts and vision of Swami Vivekananda have more relevance at present in the wake of growing fanaticism all over the world as well as in India. “Swamiji’s words have all the more weightage today as the religious fanaticism of all sorts, threatens the piece of many nations and of our region. His ideas must be taken to the hearts and minds of our new generation of young Indians who will and must battle against fanaticism”, said the congress President while speaking on the occasion to celebrate the 150th birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda. “Today a year long period of commemoration and celebration comes to a formal close but only in name for how can anything connected with Swami Vivekananda come to an end. He lives on his radiance undeemed over the years. He lives on his capacity to illumine our past undiminished by the passage of time” said Sonia Gandhi and added, “Today, we gather again to recall mesmerizing icon, that magnetic personality, who made the world sit up and take note of all that the terries in our ancient culture and in our tradition. Today, we assemble here to remember a courageous crusader against traditions’ social evils, a relentless champion of universal education, a tireless advocate of gender equality and a steadfast believer in communal harmony”. “Friends, all over the world, the populations are ageing but the profile of our nation remains young. The India of the 21st century is a known society with young population – a society with high expectation and aspiration. They want to be educated better, they want to be governed better; they want to find employment that meets their aspirations; we should not and cannot fail them”, said Sonia Gandhi. “In our long and glorious history, India has given birth to many men and women who have transformed the way we think, the way we act, the way we live, men and women who have given a whole new direction to our society. Swami Vivekananda is amongst the most luminous among of the more” further said the Congress President. Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh, who was the chief guest on the function, and Defence Minister A.K. Antony also paid tributes to Swami Vivekananda - a philosopher and a religious scholar. Full text of Mrs. Sonia Gandhi’s speech at the function to celebrate 150th birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda Today a year long period of commemoration and celebration comes to a formal close but only in name for how can anything connected with Swami Vivekananda come to an end. He lives on his radiance undeemed over the years. He lives on his capacity to illumine our past undiminished by the passage of time. Today, we gather again to recall mesmerizing icon, that magnetic personality, who made the world sit up and take note of all that the terries in our ancient culture and in our tradition. Today, we assemble here to remember a courageous crusader against traditions’ social evils, a relentless champion of universal education, a tireless advocate of gender equality and a steadfast believer in communal harmony. Swami Vivekananda died young, in his thirties, long before our independence movement took shape and gathered momentum. But he exercised a profound influence of each and every one of the luminaries who came to shape our nationhood. Among them were Sh. Aurobindo, Lok Manya Tilak, Rabindranath Tagore, Motilal Nehru and Chittaranjan Das, Mahatma Gandhi himself, Jawahar Lal Nehru and Sardar Patel, Rajaji and so many other shining stars of that wonderful galaxy. From Swami Vivekananda’s example they learnt to draw inspiration from our country’s past in order to correct its present and built its future.

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