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Mahatma Gandhi’s message of nonviolent resistance is still relevant in today’s society, his grandson and biographer told an audience at Sexson Auditorium on Friday.”Gandhi provided a weapon for all of us. Wherever we are, wherever there is injustice, we have Gandhi’s message available,” said professor Rajmohan Gandhi, a visiting professor at the Center for South Asian and Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champagne.

In a lecture titled “Relevance of Gandhi in the 21st Century,” Prof. Gandhi discussed post-Gandhi India, the current significance of nonviolence and his newly published biography, “Gandhi: The Man, His People and the Empire.”

On choosing PCC as the launching site for his book, he remarked, “Something tells me my grandfather would have liked this.”
“I wanted to select a place where all of humanity could be found in one place. This is the place,” he said to a burst of applause.

In a post-lecture interview, Prof. Gandhi remarked, “The PCC community has a unique opportunity to advance the message of nonviolence.

“Because of the incredible coming together of races, people here can speak with authority to others. In short, they should realize their significance,” he said.

He called the visit “a wonderful coincidence” resulting from a break in his teaching schedule and a request from the campus. Later in the day, he gave a lecture to a UC Riverside audience.

“We’re a working class school and funds are down,” said Susie Ling, associate professor of history and a coordinator of the event. “Prof. Gandhi was very generous in coming.”

“I am touched by the spirit I found here in my brief visit,” said Prof. Gandhi.

Employing the philosophy of satyagraha – nonviolent resistance – Mahatma Gandhi was instrumental in bringing about Indian independence from colonial Britain. He developed the idea earlier as a barrister in South Africa during the struggle for basic rights for the Indian minority. His message was later adopted by Martin Luther King Jr. in the American civil rights movement.

“The violent fighter gets headlines and their people suffer. The nonviolent fighter receives a prison sentence, but their people benefit,” Gandhi said of the practicality of nonviolence.

Gandhi’s gift, he said, was “infusing compassion into the brave and bravery into the compassionate.”

Prof. Gandhi saw India’s embrace of the atomic bomb as a “repudiation of Gandhi’s world.” The bomb, he said, has in a way “superseded” the spinning wheel, the symbol Gandhi used to represent India’s self-reliance. To break Indian dependency on foreign textiles, Gandhi encouraged the use of the spinning wheel in the creation of khadi, or homespun clothes.

Because of her support of India’s lower castes, Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, the first woman chief minister of Punjab, is very much in line with Gandhi’s message, despite her criticism of the spiritual leader, Prof. Gandhi said. Many believe she could one day be the prime minister of India. “Let her continue to attack Gandhi,” he said, “as long as she builds a coalition.”

Prof. Gandhi, who was 12 years old when his grandfather was assassinated, has served as a member of India’s Parliament and led the Indian delegation to the United Nations Human Rights Commission in 1990.

He recalled walking with his parents and grandfather to the daily multifaith prayer services the spiritual leader held. They were mostly peaceful affairs, but on a few occasions, angry attendants, bruised from Muslim-Hindu conflict and by Gandhi’s inability to prevent partition between a Muslim state, today’s Pakistan, and a largely Hindu state in India, objected to his inclusion of verses from the Quran. He took the issue to the entire group in order to settle the dispute. Overwhelmingly, they favored continuing the prayer.

One audience member wondered what the professor’s childhood was like. Were toy guns allowed in the household? Prof. Gandhi recalled that a bow and arrow set, the toy of the day, was strictly forbidden by his parents.
Growing up, he said, the children were never taught that they were the carriers of his legacy.

“While I absolutely realize I have a responsibility to protect and carry on his message, mercifully, it is not my own,” Prof. Gandhi said.

“So many felt a personal bond with Gandhi and feel that the duty [of preserving his legacy] is theirs. Gandhi belongs to all of us,” he said.

Along with PCC students and staff, locals and visitors from neighboring colleges were in attendance.
“I thought it was interesting – what he had to say about nonviolence today. I came in late from class, but luckily I got to hear some of the speech. I’m glad I came,” said Andrew Gonzales, 19, undecided.

“When will you have the opportunity to hear professor Gandhi speak like this? This is a once in a lifetime opportunity.

Hearing his lecture inspires you to continue Gandhi’s work and tell others about it,” said Kimberly Mendoza, a 20-year-old International Developmental Studies major.

Mito Manalastas, 19 years old and also an International Developmental Studies major, was equally impressed.

“It was remarkable. There’s this perception that this is just a quote, unquote community college, but I think hosting such a distinguished speaker lends the school such credibility.

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