Indian Political Leadership
Wednesday December 1 2004 08:50 IST
By Karmayogi
The World Academy of Arts and Science was founded in the sixties by the
leading scientists of the day so that it could pronounce on matters of
vital importance to the world. Among its 500 Fellows there are about 90
Nobel Laureates. Generally, their Congress is conducted once in five years
on themes relevant to the world society.
Their next Congress is coming in Zagreb, Croatia in 2005. Its central
theme is The Future of Knowledge. As part of it, they are considering
several themes. Rationality is one of those themes. To eradicate terrorism
and minor conflicts of military nature, to grant employment guarantee are
their major interests. Their President, Walter Anderson, past President
Harlan Cleveland, and the organiser of Zagreb Congress, Ivo Slaus,
attended a symposium in New Delhi this month. The Symposium was
inaugurated by the President of India.
A day prior to that was the inauguration of the annual Indira Gandhi
Conference, at which the Prime Minister spoke. The delegates of this
Symposium were invited to that function. After his address, the Prime
Minister was introduced to some of the delegates. One comment of these
delegates was, ёIt is a pleasure to listen to a committed speech
delivered with such clarity. It is not usual for us to hear our own
President with such satisfaction.Ғ That impression was reinforced the
next day when the President of India delivered the inaugural address of
the Symposium.
Harlan Cleveland was the US Ambassador to NATO during President John F.
Kennedys administration. Earlier he helped administer American foreign
aid to Taiwan. While in Taiwan, his observation of the change in life
there led him to the conclusion that a SILENT revolution was taking place,
without any armed uprising or political upheaval. His diagnosis was that
the expectations of common people were rising everyday, and that
aspiration urged them to bring about a Revolution imperceptibly. He called
it, The Revolution of Rising Expectations. The world perceived it a couple
of decades later in the phenomenon of Asian Tigers. One hundred and fifty
years ago, the Communist Manifesto was announced, calling the proletariat
of the world to rise up in arms. It resulted in the Russian Revolution in
1917. The world readily received that great message of Socialism as a
warning signal of a coming death knell. Conditions of workers vastly
improved all over the Western world to avoid a socialist revolution.
During the entire 20th century, that Revolution took a different turn. It
was done not by armed uprising but by the urge of mental aspiration for a
better life. The prophet of that perception was Harlan Cleveland, an
eminent thinker of the world.