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Mainstream, VOL L, No 40, September 22, 2012

Uphold Swami Vivekananda’s True Legacy

Friday 28 September 2012

#socialtags

COMMUNICATION

It is well-known that Swami Vivekananda was unswervingly opposed to communalism and stood firmly for the harmony of all religions. This is apparent, above all, from his famous Chicago speech at the World Congress of Religions in 1893.

So it is very disturbing that people tainted with very serious allegations of communal vio-lence are using the name of Swami Vivekananda on a large scale. This should be opposed by the true followers of Swami Vivekananda as this damages his true legacy.

In this context I would like to draw the attention of the readers of Mainstream to the following report in The Times of India dated September 13, “Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi is seeking to boost his electoral prospects by using the image and inspiring words of Swami Vivekananda. Modi, who kicked off his Assembly election campaign—called the ‘Vivekananda Yuva Vikas Yatra’—on Tuesday, plans to score poll points by distributing volleyballs with Vivekananda’s photos and quotes among the youth.

“The Department of Youth, Culture and Sports of the Gujarat Government has placed orders worth around Rs 15 crores with four Meerut-based companies for supplying 35,000 cricket kits and 70,000 volleyballs with photos and messages of Vivekananda—and also some messages by Modi—printed on them.â€

All followers and admirers of Swami Viveka-nanda should carefully consider how damaging all this can be for the true legacy of Swami Vivekananda.

Bharat Dogra
C-27 Raksha Kunj,
Paschim Vihar
New Delhi-110063

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