18 September 2009

21st Century peace-making: The Gandhi Way

Arun Gandhi, grandson of the famous Indian political and spiritual leader and himself a renowned activist, will visit the University of Dundee next month to talk about how to bring lasting peace to the world.

Mr Gandhi will deliver the Margaret Harris Lecture on Religion, entitled '21st Century Peace-Making: The Gandhi Way' at the University’s Dalhousie Building on October 7th.

In his lecture, Mr Gandhi will argue that in a materialistic society we have built a whole culture of violence that seeks to exploit people for personal gains at individual and national levels. He says that this too is a form of violence, and that if we choose to swim in muddy waters we must get dirty.

'Peace is not the absence of war or fighting,' he continued. 'Peace is where people of all cultures, religions, nationalities learn to live in harmony.'

'If we choose to practice violence in all aspects of life we must be prepared for strife and even war. So, peace in the Gandhian sense means building friendships, relationships that are based on respect, understanding, compassion and love, which is much more lasting than weapons of mass destruction.'

Prior to the lecture, Mr Gandhi will officially open an exhibition of rarely seen photographs by the renowned 1960s photo-journalist, 'India in Close Up', which will go on display in the Dalhousie foyer. The exhibition features stunning images of everyday life in India in the 1960s along with private portraits of Indira Gandhi and her father, Jawaharlal Nehru, two of India's most charismatic Prime Ministers.

The lecture is co-hosted with Dundee University Students Association as part of their 'Year of Democracy', which will see several attention-grabbing events aimed at raising political awareness amongst students take place.'

The opening of the exhibition will take place at 5pm, followed by the lecture itself at 6pm. A drinks reception will take place following the conclusion of the lecture. Tickets for this free event are available from www.buyat.dundee.ac.uk/ and from the Tower Building Reception.

For media enquiries contact:
Grant Hill
Press Officer
University of Dundee
Nethergate, Dundee, DD1 4HN
TEL: 01382 384768
E-MAIL: g.hill@dundee.ac.uk
MOBILE: 07854 953277