THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: At a time the Russia-Ukraine and Israel-Hamas wars have brought grave sufferings, especially to children, Nobel laureate and champion of child rights, Kailash Satyarthi lamented the lack of moral leadership of the United Nations. Children are not responsible for wars, but they remain the worst victims of it, he said during a talk held in connection with the Kerala Legislature International Book Festival (KLIBF-2) in Thiruvananthapuram on Wednesday. He said it is time for global compassion and not for preaching with hollow words.
Speaking on the power of compassion in literature, Satyarthi spoke about the impact on the writings of Rabindranath Tagore, Munshi Premchand, and Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay and his favourites in Malayalam literature, namely Vaikom Muhammad Basheer, O N V Kurup and Sugathakumari.
“Their writings could touch a chord with the people, not just to stoke tender emotion, but made us to think, in order to make a better society,” said Satyarthi.
He spoke highly of Kerala, especially its role in improving education standards which in turn helped in improving indices of human development. Kerala is a model not only to India but to many countries which are debating about universalising education in the face of dearth of resources, he said.
“The world was not rich as it is today. We are more technologically and legally advanced now. Despite this we are facing cruel inequality between countries, among people within the country,” said Satyarthi. He criticised hypocrisies of developed countries and their serious lack of moral compass. Drawing from the studies of neurosciences and epigenetics, Satyarthi went on to explain what he meant by compassion. Compassion is not mercy, empathy or kindness. It is a selfless action to solve other’s problem, he said.