Prime Minister of India - Dr. Manmohan Singh

PM's remarks at the inauguration of the exhibition 'M.K.Gandhi : Prisoner of Conscience'

137 years ago today a man was born in India about whom Albert Einstein said that "generations to come will scarce believe that such a one as this ever in flesh and blood walked upon this earth". This Indian, who often said that it was South Africa that transformed him - was, of course, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, whom the world has come to call Mahatma - the great soul. This exhibition which has been opened today will go a long way in ensuring that generations to come will remember that there was indeed such a man, who rose to greatness, without seeking it, in this country. I hope they will come to understand his life and work, and be inspired to follow his ways, though the Gandhian path is not an easy path. This exhibition makes that obvious.

Gandhiji would be elated to see the fulfillment of his aspirations for peace and reconciliation in the transformation South Africa underwent under the leadership of Madiba, on whom, in the eyes of the world, the mantle of the Mahatma seemed to have descended.

Another follower of the vision of the apostle of peace South Africa can boast of proudly is, Archbishop Desmond Tutu. I have great pleasure in announcing that in recognition of his invaluable contribution towards social and political transformation through dialogue and tolerance - truly Gandhian values - the Government of India has decided to award the 2005 Gandhi Peace Prize to him.

As a prisoner in South Africa, Gandhiji made a pair of slippers for General Smuts, who had sent him unjustly to jail. I believe those slippers are in the exhibition today. They symbolize so effectively all that the Mahatma stood for, refusing to demonise even the oppressor. The Mahatma never compromised in the fight against injustice, or in pursuit of the truth. But there was no room in his credo for hatred or violence.

Ladies and Gentlemen, this year is the centenary of the movement which the Mahatma launched in South Africa, which contributed to India's freedom, influenced many liberation struggles in Africa, gave inspiration to the American civil rights movement. But the question is sometimes asked �are the Mahatma and the practice of satyagraha relevant today?

The answer was given five years ago when the date on which satyagraha was launched became known almost universally as 9/11. That day thousands of innocent persons lost their lives in the terrorist attack that brought down the World Trade Towers in New York. 9/11 has come to symbolize the twin evils of violence and hatred that the Mahatma rejected. September 11 therefore now symbolizes a choice that the world has to make. Which is the path we should take - the path of a peaceful struggle for justice, or the path of a brutal violence that targets innocents?

As always, the Mahatma summed it up. "An eye for an eye", he said, "will make the whole world blind." On Constitution Hill, we must remember that only justice should be blind. The rest of the world must learn the lesson of Gandhiji's life of non-violent, peaceful struggle in the service of humanity.

This is the legacy that the City of Johannesburg has sought to preserve in this permanent exhibition and I would like to thank all those who have been involved in this initiative.