CASTE IS THE COUNTRY’S CANCER-

CASTE IS THE COUNTRY’S CANCER-TUSHAR GANDHI

A nation comes into existence because there are a group of people who believe that they are one, Tushar Gandhi, great grandson of Mahatma Gandhi and chairman of the Mahatma Gandhi Foundation, says.“When they are truly united, a nation is born and this is the basic truth all political parties have to understand,” he said.Addressing a gathering here on Saturday after inaugurating a seminar on “Dangers of Casteism,” organised by the Gandhi Peace Foundation, he said people of the country had a duty to see that politicians worked for the betterment of the nation and not for the betterment of their political parties.

But people of this country had accepted casteism as an institution in their lives and this was unfortunate, he said.The prejudice of caste was being injected right from childhood and that was shameful, Mr. Gandhi said.“Seventy years after Independence, we still suffer from the same curse. If we discriminate people on the basis of caste and religion in the name of cultural traditions, then ours is not a healthy culture.”“Caste is cancer and if we are infected by a disease and if it is not cured, it will eventually kill us,” he said.Incidents of discrimination are similar for a nation for it will destroy society.

Mr. Gandhi said the suicides by farmers had only increased during the past two years of the NDA rule while red carpets were being spread for foreign direct investment.M. Noushad, MLA, and Gandh Peace Foundation chairman S. Pradeep Kumar spoke.It is unfortunate that people have accepted casteism as an institution, says Tushar Gandhi.

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Prof. John Kurakar

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