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Jainism: The Cosmic Vision
proclaim, "That which exists is only One; the sages speak of it variously.' The Koran affirms, 'All creatures are members of the one family of God.'
106 years ago, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was thrown out of a railway carriage at the Pieter Maritzburg railway station in South Africa by a white officer. The apparent provocation for the whiteman was that the colour of Gandhi's skin was black. At that time Gandhi said, "I will no longer tolerate this." And this one utterance from a man with a frail body, but with an indomitable will, became a turning point in the history of mankind. It was the beginning of a struggle against injustice and discrimination which later spread through out the world. Great national leader like Martin Luther King and Nelson Mandela took up on the task of making the world more just and more humane.
Mahatma Gandhi's spiritual mentor was Shrimad Rajchandra from whom he sought spiritual guidance. He fought against the white regime in South Africa so as to free the Indians from the scourge of slavery. At the roots of this struggle lies the fundamental principles of Jainism. The biggest violation of human rights is reflected in racism which indulges in blatant discrimination on the basis of race or colour. The Jain religion strongly protested against such discrimination and tried to banish slavery and thus did a great service to the cause of human dignity and justice.
Taking a cue from Mohandas Gandhi, who later came to be known as a Mahatma, Nelson Mandela fought to banish apartheid from South Africa and fought for human rights. For that he had to spend 28 years in jail. And yet he was determined to end racial discrimination in his motherland.
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