Abolish poverty to attain spirituality

Without alleviating poverty, it is hypocritical to talk of being spiritual and moral. All of us can, in our own little way, help in this process by taking action to raise awareness about the reasons for poverty and participate in global conversations about the critical issues facing our generation.
To collectively face the problem of hunger malnutrition, more than 173 million people smashed the Guinness world record for largest human mobilisation when they gathered in October 2009 at over 3,000 events in more than 120 countries to demand that their governments eliminate extreme poverty and achieve the millennium development goals (MDGs) set by the United Nations.
So far, this year’s record is held by the global campaign "Stand Up, Take Action, End Poverty Now!" In 2006, 23 million people stood up. In 2007, 47 million people stood up. Last year, 116 million people stood up and took action. The mobilisation was organised globally by the United Nations Millennium Campaign (UNMC) in partnership with the Global Call to Action Against Poverty. "The more than 173 million people who mobilised this weekend sent a clear message to world leaders that there is massive, universal, global demand for eradicating poverty," said Salil Shetty, head of the UNMC.
There’s an online campaign, too, which was officially launched worldwide in different parts of the world. The partnership brings together high-profile speakers to discuss poverty with citizens around the world in 30-minute interactive online conversations. Several of these discussions are recorded and include talks by Grammy award-winning singer Angelique Kidjo, who spoke with youth in Uganda about education, and award-winning Nigerian singer Femi Kuti, who spoke with school children in Kenya about poverty. In fact, anyone can join the conversation about poverty and its root causes on these powerful social networking platforms.
There events happening offline as well. Celebrities and ordinary citizens are coming together on social networking sites to participate and engage in live discussions with world leaders and decision makers.
The mobilisation this year is giving particular emphasis to telling world leaders that their track record on women's rights, maternal mortality and hunger was unacceptable. Citizens refuse to accept the fact that 70 per cent of the people living in poverty are women and children and 500,000 women continue to die annually in the process of giving life, and are demanding urgent action from their leaders.
It is ironical that we have the technological resources to feed everyone and to end world hunger, but “what we lack is not food but justice”, say some participants. So, in effect, what is in short supply is spiritual hunger that cannot rest unless we feed everyone physically and emotionally. In fact, the tragedy of our world is that both the overfed and the undernourished are unhappy. Only when we learn to live with each other, respect ourselves and share the resources equitably and fairly, will we – both the rich and the poor – be satisfied in the true sense.
So, the stand we take to end poverty is, in fact, a stand for our own spiritual dignity and moral depth. For, only through spirituality and morality can we abolish poverty. That precisely was Mahatma Gandhi’s vision.

The writer is professor of science and religion and author of Tamas: There Are Many Alternative Stories