 Early Times Report
JAMMU, Sept 30: Karan Singh, the nonagenarian philosopher, politician, diplomat, author, thinker and scholar today said, "We rightly celebrate our Independence Day but I always say do not forget the price that was paid for Independence. We were not so violent against the British as we were against each other during the partition."
Singh participated in a virtual session of Ek Mulakat Visesh organized by Prabha Khaitan Foundation and presented by Shree Cement and engaged in a lively conversation with Lady Mohini Kent Noon, author and founder-chairperson of LILY Against Human Trafficking, which covered a wide range of topics from religion, education, Vedic wisdom, quantum mechanics, Sufism to The Partition. The event was conducted by Swati Agarwal, Ehsaas Women of Mumbai.
Responding to a question on the role of religion in society, Singh said, "I have been involved in the interfaith movement for the past four decades. The problem is that people spend crores of rupees building mosques, temples and gurudwaras but interfaith meetings are nobody's baby. We are still continuing our efforts to bring people together and spread understanding (among different faiths). The prototypes of religion we have in our minds are very rigid and the only way you can get over those prototypes is by meeting with each other and talking to each other. Interfaith prayers are very important."
"I wish we could stress Sufism in India so that the other face of Islam which is becoming something of a prototype which makes you think of Taliban and the fanatical side of Islam. This is very unfortunate. The softer and loving part of Islam is forgotten. Sufi shrines are the essence of Islam," Singh said.
Referring to the Vedic wisdom and Upanishads and their relevance in the modern world, Karan Singh said, "It seems to me that Noble laureates and post-Einsteinian and post-Heisenbergian quantum mechanics researchers have begun to reflect some of the insights of Upanishads which have the same sort of descriptions which now define what these people are looking into atoms." |
