Gandhian ways even more imp now, says former CEC Naveen Chawla at Sanawar’s founder day

Former chief election commissioner of India, Naveen Chawla, while addressing the students at The Lawrence School, Sanawar, on Wednesday said that Gandhian ways about dialogue and conflict resolution have become more important for humanity now.

Chawla, who is an alumnus of the school was addressing students at the school on the first day of the 177th founder’s day celebrations, which kicked off on Wednesday.

Talking about Gandhi’s life, he said, the struggle for freedom was spearheaded by a young barrister, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, who had experienced the horrors of apartheid in South Africa, where he was once thrown out of a first- class compartment, although he had a ticket for first class, only because his skin colour was brown and not white. “These and other experiences shaped his thinking and made him determined to return to India to start a movement to overthrow the harsh British rule. He began to experiment with satyagraha in order to create a mass movement. He did the Dandi March with this strong intent to walk his own path. Others slowly joined him. Without the use of violence but by using peaceful methods, he was able to challenge the mighty British empire,” he further added.

Chawla emphasised that Gandhi and his followers were imprisoned and lathi charged and beaten on innumerable occasions but endured jail with peaceful methods of protest. “Every student should read about our freedom struggle and the ethical values embedded in that movement,” he stressed. Chawla’s message was read out by the headmaster, Himmat Singh Dhillon at the beginning of three-day founder’s day celebrations on the school premises, which commenced amid Gandhian thoughts, nostalgia of yesteryears and old memories at the school premises. On the first day, as many as 80 alumni of the 1954, 1959, 1964 and 1999 batches refreshed their memories with the students.