GUWAHATI, April 22 - �We must talk about cosmopolitanism as we are living in an extremely difficult time when sectarian identity assertion and fundamentalism of different form, including nationalism, are raising their ugly heads and challenging the very foundation of humanity.�
This was observed by Prof Saugata Bhaduri, of Centre for English Studies, Literature and Culture Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University while addressing the inaugural session of a two-day national seminar on �Challenges of Cosmopolitanism in English Literature� at the Department of English, University of Science & Technology, Meghalaya (USTM) on Friday.
In his keynote address, Prof Bhaduri referred to Immanuel Kant�s essay Perpetual Peace and said that with increasing trade and commercial relationships among Nation States, soon war would become a thing of the past because the need for economic growth would require nations to be hospitable to each other, leading to a certain type of mutual tolerance and cosmopolitanism.
Speaking at the inaugural session, Mahbubul Hoque, Chancellor, USTM said that literature had a great role to play in society. The North East is a mosaic of tribes, ethnicity, languages and dialects where the cosmopolitan approach in literature finds validity, he said.
