Beyond Walls: Cultivating Fearless Love and Global Citizenship
Ashaben Bothra, President, Sevagram Ashram Pratishthan
Namaste. A very warm greeting and a heartfelt welcome to everyone. Today, October 2nd, marks the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. We should look at this day as a new dawn for ourselves as well—a day to launch our own journey of inner transformation. "My life is my message"—how do we carry this truth forward?
As our sister, Prof. Dorcas Ettang, was mentioning regarding youth and non-violence—she is completely right. Love and fear can never coexist. Until we cultivate absolute fearlessness, we can never truly establish non-violence. Therefore, to instil non-violence in our youth, in our schools, and in our children right from childhood, we must guide them and walk alongside them from the very beginning. As they grow into adulthood, if they carry love and affection instead of hatred, this nation and this entire world will rise together, united by the spirit of Jai Jagat (Victory to the World).
When we envision global citizenship, I feel that all walls must be torn down. The doors and windows of our homes should stand wide open, allowing the pure breeze of the world to flow in and letting all impurities escape. Instead, we have shut our doors; we have stopped speaking to one another, and we have abandoned our core values for petty, short-sighted battles. Until we hold fast to our values, we cannot achieve anything meaningful. Therefore, we must honor these values. Wherever we step into the community, we must ask: What can we do for this community? How do we foster true community ownership? How do we build genuine community partnerships?
When we look at the community and speak of human rights—whenever I visit villages, I witness the oppression and atrocities committed against women, and the violence within homes. How do we tackle this first? It begins right inside our own homes, and from there, it ripples out into society. We must reflect on how to build our society, how to shape its culture, and how to elevate it. Because the culture that defines us is created and gifted to us by society, we must deeply consider what our relationship with this society should be.
Gandhi is not merely a person; Gandhi is an ideal, an action, and a conduct. Why do we celebrate someone’s birth anniversary? We must remember that when Gandhi spoke of freedom, it meant that while we will claim our independence, we must also grant freedom to others. Freedom means the liberty to speak one's mind—the absolute right to agree or disagree. Today, we lose our temper over trivial matters. Our tolerance has eroded; we do not listen to each other, and children do not listen. There is an urgent need for prayer within our families—prayers to become good citizens, good human beings, and to serve humanity. We must think about how to forge a unified global family, both at home and across the world.
How do we become a collective whole? There should be absolutely no room for discrimination within us. Leaving this world of hatred behind, how do we march forward together in love? I wish you all the best in your journey of non-violence and peace, and it must be our joint endeavour.
Thank you all very much.
Note: This address was delivered on the occasion of the launch of the fifth International Online Fellowship Program on Nonviolence and Peace (IFPNP) on October 2, 2026. IFPNP is an initiative of Sevagram Ashram Pratishthan, Wardha, India in collaboration with global partners and coordinated by Sri Jamnalal Bajaj Memorial Library and Research Centre for Gandhian Studies. The original speech was in Hindi and translated by Dr. Siby K. Joseph, Director of International Online Fellowship Program on Nonviolence and Peace.
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