By IANS,
Kolkata : Championing the cause of non-violence like his father did, Martin Luther King-III Thursday said that a nation should spend as much on public services as on defence and that India’s younger generation was the country’s greatest asset.
“The children and our young generation are the greatest resources available in India. But they must be taught how to practise non-violence. The children whom I met during my short visit to India are extraordinary,” Martin Luther King-III told the media at the the American Center here.
His India visit Feb 13-26 was meant to commemorate the tour by his father, civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr, who came to India 50 years ago to study the teachings and works of Mahatma Gandhi.
King, the second child of Martin Luther King Jr and Coretta Scott King, has been actively involved in significant policy initiatives to maintain social equality and justice at home and abroad.
King said: “The future of any nation depends on how we raise our children and provide them with proper education. We spend a large amount of our budget in defence-related activities rather than spending that money in public service. I think it should be, at least, equal.”
Talking about warfare and the relevance of peace in the modern world, he pointed out that non-violence was just not a “concept” but “a philosophy which is available and can be utilised easily for mankind.
“I am against war as my father was also against this. I certainly believe that non-violence is the way which can be embraced.”
Stressing that the authorities also have to find out ways to communicate with the terrorists, King III said: “We should also communicate with the terrorists to get their views, instead of harbouring hatred.
“They also have children, we’ve to find out ways to set an example.”