Gandhiji and Environment

Gandhi was a visionary with rare foresight and insight. He took utmost interest on the environment that man lives and exhorted his fellow-men to conserve it as his sacred duty.In this aspect, he was almost a century ahead in his thinking and forecasting. Gandhiji pointed out the catastrophic impact of neglecting the environment way back in 1909 i.e decades before the Earth Summit at Rio-de-Generio adopted AGENDA-21 in 1992.

Gandhiji used to say that the world is enough for man’s need but not man’s greed.He believed that as a superior living being on earth, man has the utmost responsibility to protect the lesser beings and environment.But,man has forsaken his sacred duty in his quest for personal greed and power.He has become an annihilator of environment  instead of a protector.

Gandhiji was fiercely critical of western nations pertaining to the plunder of the natural resources.He likened the rampant industrialization to an unmitigated evil which need not be emulated by other nations for development purposes.However,it would be unfair to label Gandhiji as an outright opponent of materialistic development.It is because Gandhiji was supportive of development as long as it was equitable and environment-friendly.

Gandhiji’s views on environment was intricately related to the idea of peace and well-being of an individual.Gandhiji felt that the modern age has robbed man of physical labour in his bid to attain a life of maximum comfort.This emerging lifestyle paved the way for diseases and health-hazards.Consequently,a whole set of hospitals and medical care units cropped up to cure for the man’s illness.In a way,on the one hand man paid for the lifestyle devoid of physical labour, while on the other hand,spent the hard-earned money on curing diseases that are a product of his own creation.

It is ironical that the century-old views of Gandhiji on environment still holds much relevance today,than ever before.The modern day world would do well to take a leaf out of Gandhiji’s book.