PM Modi suggests 150 universities should be involved in writing papers on Sri Aurobindo

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday chaired the first meeting of the high-level committee (HLC) constituted to commemorate the 150th Birth Anniversary of Sri Aurobindo. According to the Ministry of Culture, PM Modi said that two aspects of Sri Aurobindo's philosophy of 'revolution' and 'evolution' should be emphasised as part of the celebrations.

Speaking on the occasion, the PM said that youth should be encouraged towards the concept of greatness as embodied in the philosophy of Nar to Narayan to create a MahaManav as propounded by Sri Aurobindo.

"The Prime Minister further added that it is the responsibility of India as a spiritual leader of the world to contribute in terms of spiritualism to nations across the globe. He suggested that 150 universities across the country should be involved in writing papers on different aspects of Sri Aurobindo’s life and philosophy and the 150 papers to be published on the occasion," the Ministry of Culture said.

PM Modi proposed to launch the commemoration celebrations to mark the 150th Birth Anniversary of Sri Aurobindo coinciding with the celebration of National Youth Day. "This will encourage the youth to visit Puducherry and learn about his life and teachings, where Sri Aurobindo spent his life from 1910 to 1950," he said.

PM Modi recalls conversation with Sri Aurobindo's disciple

PM Modi also recalled his discussion as Chief Minister of Gujarat with Sri Aurobindo's disciple Kireet Joshi. "He (Modi) said that these discussions enriched him with the thoughts of Sri Aurobindo, which were deeply reflected when he was working on preparing the National Education Policy," the statement added.

A 53 member committee has been constituted to discuss ways to commemorate the birth anniversary of Sri Aurobindo on August 15 next year, as part of the 75th Independence Day celebrations. The committee headed by PM Modi also includes Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, former PMs HD Deve Gowda and Manmohan Singh, Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Tamil Nadu CM MK Stalin. Opposition leaders Adhir Ranjan Choudhary and Mallikarjun Kharge among others were part of the committee.

(Image: PTI)