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The President of Indo-Canada Chamber of Commerce (ICCC) Mr. Sanjay Makkar was among the speakers at the program. In his remarks, Mr. Makkar described the former President as a knowledge activist, who had enabled the knowledge revolution in India. He said, “When one thinks of Dr. Kalam, the image that comes to mind is of an activist. He was India’s first knowledge activist. India’s post-liberalization surge in the knowledge sphere in the late 1990s coincided with Dr. Kalam’s term as the President.
Providing a perspective to Dr. Kalam’s contribution to the making of the postmodern Indian mind, Mr. Makkar said, “In a world where knowledge economies are reshaping the new world order, India has a fighting chance to emerge as one of the leading nations if it is able to retain and build upon its lead in the knowledge sector. Dr. Kalam epitomized the best of what India stands for and what it offered – a scholastic mixture of the science and culture, heritage and progress, inclusive ethos and forward thinking.”
Describing the former Indian President as “soft-spoken and unassuming scientist” Mr. Makkar said that he (Dr. Kalam) “gave India and Indians a vision for the future – something that the country and its people could aspire to achieve if all Indians worked together. In a large measure, India has seized Dr. Kalam’s vision for its future. Indians are working in a myriad different ways to bring to fruition a grand dream.”
Giving reference to a previous visit of Dr. Kalam to Canada, Mr. Makkar noted, “A few years ago, Dr. Lakshmanan released a slim volume of a compilation of Dr. Kalam’s speeches. The book is a gem because it gives insights into the depth of knowledge that the former President of India had of the Indian society, and his vision for the world. The book contains a lecture that he gave at the Sringeri Community Centre on 26th September 2010 on Tolerance and its universal relevance.”
The ICCC President then proceeded to read from the book:
“Tolerance is the foundation of sustainable development and peaceful society. It will be appropriate to have introspection by all of us about the social awakening needed for the national and international development. Every civilized society exists not for day-to-day, but with a clear perception for the future and the generations to come.
“Such a situation would pre-suppose that each individual in such a society would cherish and translate into practice noble ideals of constructive tolerance, positive fellow-feeling and a total commitment to live and let live.
“Albert Einstein could not have expressed this better, when he said: “Laws alone can’t secure freedom of expression; in order that every man presents his views without penalty, there must be a spirit of tolerance in the entire population.
“We have to evolve a society that will respect differences and celebrate differences. What are the various issues on tolerance?
1. Tolerance for people’s opinion
2. Tolerance for people’s culture
3. Tolerance for people’s belief system
4. Tolerance for people’s styles
“In fact, such an attitude, be it that of an individual or a collection of them i.e. society, is the hallmark of civilization and that is what characterizes and differentiates life from sheer existence. Honesty and integrity – both in thought and action, independence and inter-dependence – in their wholesome and positive manifestations, would distinguish a civilized society in its true sense. It is for each individual to strive to inculcate these external values in him or her, and that alone would be the surest path and unfailing guarantee for a civilized society and its future.”
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