Youth are India's greatest resource: Martin Luther King-III

Kolkata, Feb 26: Championing the cause of non-violence like his father, Martin Luther King-III Thursday said here that a nation should spend as much on public service as on defence and that the younger generation was India's greatest asset.

"The children and our young generation are the greatest resources available in India. But they must be taught how to practise non-violence. The children, whom I met during my short visit to India, are extraordinary," Martin Luther King-III told the media at the

American Center here on the last day of his India visit.

He was visiting India from Feb 13-26 was part of a delegation to commemorate the tour by his father, the great civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr, who came to India 50 years ago to study Mahatma Gandhi.

Martin Luther King-III is the second child of Martin Luther King Jr and Coretta Scott King. He has been actively involved in significant policy initiatives to maintain social equality and justice at home and abroad.

King-III said: "The future of any nation depends on how we raise our children and provide them with proper education. We spend a large amount of our budget in defence-related activities rather than spending that money in public service. I think it should be, at least, equal."

Talking about warfare and the relevance of peace in the modern world, he pointed out that non-violence was just not a 'concept'. "It's a philosophy which is available and can be utilised easily for mankind.

"I am against war as my father was also against this. I certainly believe that non-violence is the way which can be embraced."

The delegation members tried to retrace the enduring importance of the King-Gandhi legacies on non-violence. The trip was supported by both the US and Indian governments.