Bengaluru,(DHNS): American social rights advocate Martin Luther King III said Prime Minister Narendra Modi should listen to the voices of the oppressed while calling on people to come together and rise against injustice.

Drawing parallels between the fight against racial discrimination in the US and the quest for social and economic equality for minorities and oppressed in India, King said Modi should change his functioning and listen to the voice of the oppressed.

“The pain of Dalits in India and the black people in the US are not different. Many white people who were sympathetic towards the black rights supported the movement. Dalits should include caste people in their fight to bring a transformation in society,” he said.

To a question from journalists, King said the fight for justice and equality should be peaceful and non-violent. “We have the example of the struggle for freedom by Mahatma Gandhi or the fight for equality by Martin Luther King, which were peaceful,” he said.

Warning against an eye-for-an-eye approach, the activist said the American war against terror following the World Trade Centre attacks was unnecessary. “Instead of arriving at a solution based on the reasons for the terror attacks, wars were declared against countries,” he added.

He said people should find common ground and build movements based on them to bring real change in society. “Once the willingness is apparent at the people’s level, governments will then step in to implement policies that would help sustain such change.”