Andhra Pradesh: Gandhi’s thoughts shaped by both eastern and western ideologies, says German researcher

Christian Bartolf of the Gandhi Information Centre, Berlin delivers special lecture on the Mahatma at AU

Prasad Gollanapalli, managing trustee of Gandhi King Foundation, Christian Bartolf, president of the Gandhi Information Centre, Berlin and former Rajya Sabha MP Yarlagadda Lakshmi Prasad releasing a book on Gandhi at a programme organised by the Gandhian Studies Centre of Andhra University, in Visakhapatnam on Thursday. | Photo Credit: V. RAJU

Gandhian thought is a confluence of both eastern and western ideologies, said Christian Bartolf, president of the Gandhi Information Centre, Germany.

Dr. Bartolf was in the city to deliver a special lecture on the Mahatma at the Gandhian Studies Centre, Andhra University on Thursday. “Mahatma Gandhi drew his concepts of satyagraha, ahimsa and sarvodaya not only from ancient Indian culture and tradition but also from western writers and thinkers who he was influenced by,” Dr. Bartolf said.

The Gandhian expert released a book titled ‘Mahatmabapusinga- a Life Without Fear and Hatred’ authored by Dr. Challa Krishnaveer Abhishek, a Gandhian researcher.

Dr. Bartolf said western thinkers like Leo Tolstoy, Martin Luther King, Henry David Thoreau and John Ruskin had a tremendous influence on Gandhi. He drew an analogy between Gandhi’s ‘Sarvodaya’ movement and the three slogans of the French Revolution: Liberty, Equality and Fraternity. He underlined the need to apply Gandhian principles in daily life.

Former Rajya Sabha MP Yarlagadda Lakshmi Prasad recalled his visit to the railway station in South Africa where Gandhi was thrown out of a train on June 7, 1893, and his meeting with Gandhi’s grandson there.

Managing Trustee of Gandhi King Foundation Gollanapalli Prasad said that Gandhi had influenced the world through his powerful weapons of non-violence and peace.