Vijay Phanshikar delivers Padma Bhushan Maulana Abdul Karim Parekh Memorial Lecture on ‘Role of Religion in Character Building’ 

 

 

“Just as flowing is Dharma of water and rising upwards is Dharma of fire, character is Dharma of humans”, said Vijay Phanshikar, Editor, ‘The Hitavada’. He was delivering the annual ‘Padma Bhushan Maulana Abdul Karim Parekh Memorial Lecture’ on the topic ‘Role of Religion in Character Building’ held at the Convocation Hall of Rashtrasant Tukadoji Maharaj Nagpur University (RTMNU) here on Friday. Dr Shamrao Koreti, Dean, Faculty of Humanities, presided over the lecture programme. Abdul Majid Parekh, Chairman, Humanity Charitable Trust; and Dr Vijay Khandal, Director, Knowledge Resource Centre, RTMNU, shared the dais on this occasion. At the outset, Dr Veena Dadhe, former Head, of the Post-Graduate Teaching Department of Hindi, RTMNU, made introductory remarks. Phanshikar spoke on his close association with Late ‘Padma Bhushan’ Maulana Abdul Karim Parekh and recalled that a huge sea of people from all walks of life had turned up at the funeral of Maulana Abdul Karim Parekh because of his character. He also remembered how the Maulana introduced him to 75 commandments of behaviour in the Holy Qu’ran to build a good character. Instead of using the word ‘religion’, Phanshikar said that he would use ‘Dharma’ to drive home the message of character building. “Lord Ram stayed committed to his wife. It was his Dharma. A king takes care of his subjects.

 

It is his Dharma. Good qualities are common to humanity and every religion has described these in different ways. Use of word religion limits the idea while Dharma expands it,” he observed. Phanshikar listed some traits that defined character of a person -- do not tell lies, do not waste, do not backstab, do not loosetalk, do not gossip, do not take items over which one has no right, feed the poor. “What have good qualities got to do with religion?” he asked. He quoted anecdotes from the life of Swami Vivekananda and Jesus Christ, and also cited ‘Shreemad Bhagavad Geeta’ and Holy Qu’ran to elaborate the message.

 

He said that one had to be free of pride and prejudice to achieve great things in life. “Character is defined by the choice one makes when mind oscillates between two inner selves -- one pulling towards sins and another keeping conscience alive. Which person one listens to defines his character. Mind is like a headless chicken in absence of character. Process of controlling the wandering mind is character building,” he concluded. Abdul Majid Parekh felicitated Phanshikar with a memento. Earlier, Abdul Majid Parekh appealed to the people to leave religious animosity behind and fight for social problems together instead of fighting each other over religious identities. He added that the countries that had left religious extremism were now developed. Dr Shamrao Kareti said that character of a person built character of a society, which in turn represented character of a nation. He said that ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbkam’ represented the character of India based on unity in diversity. Dadhe conducted the programme, and Dr Vijay Khandal proposed a vote of thanks.