Mangaluru: Ego-driven and self-serving narratives cannot be treated as truth, said Srikrishna Gajanana Kulkarni, great-grandson of Mahatma Gandhi, while delivering a special lecture on “Gandhi and World Peace” at Ravindra Kalabhavana, University College, here on Thursday.Kulkarni was delivering a lecture and participated in a book release programme commemorating the life and contributions of Gandhian and freedom fighter Kumbra Jathappa Rai. The programme was jointly organised by Karnataka Gandhi Smaraka Nidhi, University College Mangaluru, Tulu Adhyayana Peetha, Kumbra Jathappa Rai Pratishtana and the National Service Scheme of Mangalore University.Kulkarni said he was often viewed through the prism of being a member of Gandhi’s family, but should instead be seen as an individual. He said his understanding, after undertaking a 16-month padayatra from Kanyakumari to Srinagar in 2015, was that the “life breath of Bharat Mata” was Sanatan Dharma.Explaining Gandhi’s understanding of truth, he said: “If the entire world stands against you, and you believe that what you are standing with is the truth, then you must stand only with that.”He warned against self-serving versions of truth and said, “Truth cannot be confined to Left nor to the Right… Truth lies beyond all rigid ideological boundaries.”Kulkarni also said the original version of “Raghupati Raghav Raja Ram” did not contain “Ishwar Allah Tero Naam”. While the original should not be altered, he said Gandhi added the phrase to convey that the divine could be known by different names.Nadoja Dr Wooday P Krishna, president of Karnataka Gandhi Smaraka Nidhi, said India had to be protected in accordance with the dream of freedom fighters and encouraged students to enter politics to eliminate corruption.Prof BA Viveka Rai released the Tulu-translated book, ‘Gandhi Pathada Sadhaka – Jathappa Rai Jivanagathe’. Pramod Kumar Rai, founder of Kumbra Jathappa Rai Pratishtana, MU VC prof PL Dharma, L C Mallaiah VC of Dravidian University in Kuppam, and others were present.
