Gandhi has played a leading role in a vigorous Telecom advertising campaign, which resulted in the idea of creating Avoicomunicare.it, a website that is inviting its users to address contemporary communications and dialogue between cultures. In such a project an important role had to be played by the philosopher Jahanbegloo, a professor at New Delhi University, a member of the Board of Directors of Reset Dialogues on Civilizations and a man who for a long time has addressed the relationship between western and Indian philosophy. He also dedicated his most recent book, Reading Gandhi in Teheran (about to be published by Marsilio, for “I libri di Reset” collection) to the legacy of the Mahatma . Imprisoned for 5 months in 2006, in the ill-famed Iranian prison called Evin, Jahanbegloo had already written a book about India in 2008 (The Spirit of India), and has adopted Ghandi’s non-violence as one of the bases for his political philosophy.

“My experience in prison taught me that revenge is pointless”, he said during the live link-up with Toronto University, where he is teaching for this semester. According to Jahanbegloo, who spoke of the friendship and cultural closeness that bind him to Resetdoc, Gandhi’s legacy is mainly the following: non-violence as the answer to the world’s violence. “Violence is not the solution, that is why we must isolate the spirit of terrorism and overcome the fear that dominates both ordinary Muslim citizens and potential terrorists, incapable of integrating in western societies”, explained Jahanebgloo, who then reminded is of Gandhi’s idea of democracy: not only a form of government, but also as “democracy experienced” by citizens. This was why the great Indian thinker was critical of European democracies, which denied equality behind the formality of voting, and for this reason even the world economy could learn a great deal from Gandhi.

Jahanebgloo in fact explained how the current American crisis proves that the economy has “escaped our control”. The Indian pacifist perceived the slavery of industrialisation, of the negative effects of the hyper-capitalist model, today clearly visible for everyone to see: from the loss of spirituality in our societies to the destruction humankind has inflicted upon the environment. But it is not only industrialisation that has damaged contemporary society. “We need dialogue, and we must ensure that it never becomes a monologue – the Iranian philosopher warned – We must know how to implement the “three Ls”, Listen, Learn and Lead, listening learning and leading the world”. An excellent way of encouraging dialogue is to have a “soft” vision of one’s own culture, and especially of one’s own religion. However, for Gandhi’s spirituality and non-violence to take the lead in contemporary society, there is the need for young people, who represent hope for the future also in Jahanbegloo’s Iran: “The media portray my country in black and white – said the philosopher when answering question posed by those who had registered with the chat room – But Iran is not represented only by its politicians, but also and above all by civilised society, by the young”.

Translation by Francesca Simmons