INDIA’S PRESIDENT ABDUL KALAM TELLS PEACE AND PROSPERITY IN THE WORLD COULD ONLY BE ACHIEVED BY FOLLOWING BUDDHISM

By Walter Jayawardhana

Reminiscent of former Indian leaders like King Ashoka, Pandit Nehru and Dr.Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan India’s scientist President Dr. Abdul Kalam praised Buddhism and said peace and prosperity in this world could be achieved only by following Buddhism.

“Today, several countries, the President said, “ were adopting the principles of Buddhism and people were being attracted towards the values and ideals preached by the great Buddha.”
Peace and prosperity could be achieved in the world only by following the path shown by Lord Buddha, India’s President Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam further said.

"In the present times,” said Abdul Kalam, “there is an urgent need for peace and this could be achieved only by following the ideology and path shown by Gautam Buddha."

He was addressing the concluding ceremony of '2550th Mahaparinirvan Jayanti' function of Lord Buddha or the Vesak celebration at Kushinagar in Uttara Pradesh.

He said violence, theft and use of liquor always led to bad results in the form of loss of money, health and prestige.

Addressing the ceremony, Dr Kalam observed that 'mean mentality' was the root cause of grief, therefore, we should get above all this Earlier, on May 2 Kalam had visited and viewed the Ramabhar stupa, inaugurated a Thai polyclinic and released a postal stamp on Lord Buddha. He planted a sapling at the Thai temple and took blessings of Buddhist monks.

The President mingled with the children who sang the national anthem and signed autographs for them.Union Minister for Culture Ambika Soni, who was also present, said the government would extend all help to Buddhist institutes. A Sri Lankan Minister also participated.

Interacting with children in 'Lala ki Bagh', Kalam asked them to take a pledge for completing their education and planting at least five saplings, besides working to ease the sufferings of the poor and the needy.

The President exhorted the children not to discriminate against anyone on the basis of religion, caste or language and by following the path of honesty establish a society free of corruption and take pride in the achievements of the country and the countrymen.

Addressing the farmers and women present on the occasion, Kalam asked them to take a similar pledge.

He asked them not to discriminate between boys and girls and provide them equal opportunities and education.

"Hard-earned money should not be misused on liquor and gambling," he said, asking them to keep their families small for good health and prosperity.

Highlighting the importance of green cover, he asked them to protect forests, reduce pollution levels and plant five saplings each.

Breaking the security cordon, Kalam mingled with people freely. Though Buddha was born in India , Buddhism was later wiped out from India as a major religion as it preached against caste and gender discriminations