About the Centre
The International Centre for Gandhian and Peace Studies (ICGPS) was established in the year 2019 during 23rd Academic Council (AC) Meeting dated 14 March, 2019. The Mahatma Gandhi remains a critical reference point to discern plurality of ideas not only in the context of India, during the Indian freedom struggle and post-independence period, but in the entire world which increasingly faces today a real possibility of a nuclear holocaust threatening the human existence.The efforts to transform the culture of war and violence into culture of peace and non-violence have so far not succeeded. There is increasing realisation that peace is not merely an absence of violence but is intimately linked with issues of justice as reflected in the several struggles for justice waged in different parts of the world. The challenge is to transform violent struggles into non-violent onesaimed at stirring society into a wider dialogue on the fundamentals and ethical questions. This debate has to be converted into a critical mass so asto sensitise the international agencies, educators, academicians, activist- members of civil society and policy makers. Mahatma Gandhi changed the very meaning of peace and non-violence. He revolutionized these conceptsand practically demonstrated its use on a massive scale. No wonder, he is rightfully acknowledged as one of the precursors on the techniques of conflict resolution. For him non-violence was an article of faith and his adherence to it was based on principles rather than opportunism or cost benefit considerations.
ICGPS is proposed to be an interdisciplinary teaching and research body within the Department of History, Rajiv Gandhi University, Doimukh, engaged in promoting interest to study Gandhi as an institution. Gandhian thoughts and peace studies are mutually reinforcing categories and share a similar domain in the thought processes of human society. Mahatma Gandhi remains an area of critical analysis even today to protrude plurality of ideas across nations and his views on conflict resolution still stands a panacea to the world under rising threat of nuclear holocaust. The centre will offer an integrated programme in M. Phil., and Ph.D. and short duration certificate and diploma courses besides organising seminars, symposia, workshops and extension works in Arunachal Pradesh, Northeast India and abroad.
Stretching across south-eastern Himalayas and having a long international boundary with Bhutan to the west, China to the north and north-east and Myanmar on the south-east, the state of
Arunachal Pradesh is one of the culturally most important and strategically highly sensitive states of India. Known previously as North-East Frontier Tract (NEFT) till 1964 and later as NEFA (North East Frontier Agency), it acquired the status of a Union Territory in 1972 with a new political identity as Arunachal Pradesh. There are numerous tribes inhabiting the state and each tribe is distinct for its indigenous and traditional institutions: social, political, economic, religious and cultural. The people of the state escaped the experiences of the colonial rule and had not much of the experience of the freedom struggle. They know about Mahatma Gandhi and his contributions in the struggle for independence of India. But a centre like the one proposed will keep the Gandhian thoughts, ideals etc.alive among them once it comes to reality in this extreme eastern part of the country.
Objectives
The centre envisioned following broad objectives:
- Teaching & Research in Gandhian Ideas;
- Dissemination of Gandhian Thoughts and Ideals;
- Short-term Certificate and Diploma Courses;
- Promotion of Peace and Harmony; and
- Develop Mechanisms for Peaceful Resolutions of Societal Conflicts.
Events
1. Two-day National Seminar on Perspectives on Mahatma Gandhi held on 27- 28 September
2019 at Rajiv Gandhi University Campus.
2. One-day Online International Symposium on Revisiting Mahatma Gandhi held on 11th August
2020 at Rajiv Gandhi University Campus.
3. Three-day Lecture Series through Blended Mode on Nation, Icons and Peace held on 18-20
March 2021 at Rajiv Gandhi University Campus.
