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Dr. Karan Singh Member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha) & Chancellor, Jawaharlal Nehru University
सत्यमेव जयते
FOREWORD
Jain Education International
The realisation that the survival of the human race is inextricably interlinked with ecological security of our planet has gathered strength over the last few decades. The perception that development can take place without any concern for the appalling devastation that we have visited on our fragile biosphere over the past many decades is no longer acceptable. Humanity, in its long and tortuous journey through the millennia, is now poised at a critical crossroads. While science and technology have achieved unbelievable progress and breakthroughs, continuing environmental degradation, extinction of hundred and thousands of plant and animal species, global warming, attenuation of the ozone layer that are looming menacingly over us have become major threats to the future of human race.
The present paradigm of development has accentuated the asymmetry between technology and the environment, inflicting virtually irreversible damage to our ecological security. The emerging ecological crisis is, undoubtedly, the end result of a deeper cultural crisis. The fast spreading consumerist culture tends to reduce nature to an object shorn of its sacred purpose. It is increasingly clear that the survival not only of human race but also of all life forms on this planet now turns on a deeper spiritual and moral reawakening. There is the urgent need for humanity at large to draw upon the resources of its accumulated wisdom and cultural heritage that have for millennia guided great civilisations around the world.
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