Describes visit to country as a ‘mountain-top experience’
CHENNAI: Martin Luther King III, who is in India to commemorate the 50th anniversary of his parents’ (Martin Luther King Jr and Coretta Scott King) visit here, exhorted Indians to work diligently to abolish the caste system.
Addressing journalists ahead of a grand musical tribute event, Mr. King said whether we acknowledged it or not, the complex caste system that treated some people differently existed. “My father used to say, ‘Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.’ ”
Establishing a parallel with the treatment of people of colour in the United States around the 1960s, he said facilities were often available, separate but not equal. “We should do something about this.” However, he added that people who were affected should demand their rights and justice.
Mr. King expressed the view that there was a new administration in power in America hoping to make a difference. Granting that every nation must have a strong defence, he said the question was how a nation used that defence force.
While President Barack Obama had the opportunity to be one of the greatest Presidents of America, if at some time he took the decision to go to war, he personally would feel compelled to challenge that. “One day, we will get to the point when we will lay down our shields and swords and study war no more.”
Over the last 10-11 days, he had been honoured and humbled to be in India, describing it as a ‘mountain-top experience.’ Earlier, he visited Mumbai, New Delhi and Thiruvananthapuram. The last leg of the tour would see him in Kolkata.
During the first week, he was accompanied by his wife Arndrea Waters King and a Congressional delegation. He said he had been talking about the philosophy of non-violence — its redemptive and transformative qualities.
courtesy..hindu.com
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