Regrello: Gandhi changed the world without firing a gun

At a press conference held on Monday, Persad-Bissesar called for several measures to address the crime situation, including a change in the regime for licensing firearms so that access for citizens is made easier.

“We are here to celebrate the life of a man who made a significant contribution to the Commonwealth in particular,” said Regrello, speaking at the opening ceremony of a photographic exhibition titled “The Life and Times of Mahatma Gandhi” held by the Mahatma Gandhi Institute for Cultural Co-operation of the Indian High Commission in collaboration with the San Fernando City Corporation on Monday evening at City Hall.

“His mannerism, his attitude, his approach to politics, without picking up a gun, without firing a bullet, he transformed India and transformed the Commonwealth, and he triggered off a string of independence across the commonwealth countries that followed.” The exhibition was held on the 69th anniversary of Gandhi’s passing in 1948 and displayed photographs depicting moments across the life of the celebrated Indian civil rights leader.

Asked whether he believed Ghandi would have supported Persad-Bissessar’s call, Regrello responded , “Gandhi showed that it was possible to change a society without ever picking up a gun.

Guns can’t be the answer.

Gandhi is of the same ilk as Martin Luther King and Nelson Mandela who preached non-violence as a force for change. We can do it by taking a non-violent approach.” Also present at the exhibition was Indian High Commissioner, Bishwadip Dey.

Dey declined to comment directly on the internal affairs of Trinidad and Tobago, but he said, “Gandhi becomes much more relevant when his teachings of truth, non-violence and co-existence comes in. When you practice non-violence, when you practice truth, when you practice peace, there can be no crime situation.”