King III, himself a noted civil rights activist said, “The US has made great progress, but certain prejudices of racism still exist.”

He was interacting with media persons, Gandhians and students of the Gujarat Vidyapeeth in the Sabarmati Ashram premises.

Supporting his arguments, he referred to an offensive cartoon drawing an implicit comparison between a chimpanzee, which was shot dead by two police officers after the animal brutally attacked a friend of its owner, and President Obama having signed a package to revive the US economy that plunged into shambles during the Bush regime.

He said the cartoon carried by the New York Post mocked the economic package written by Obama.

“Had it been a white president, such a caricature would not have appeared,” he said.

He said it was a different thing though that the publishers tendered an apology after the cartoon drew a lot of criticism from rights groups and activists.

King III said it was in this context that he had committed that his dream was to end racial discrimination from the US and the rest of the world — a dream of racial equality as cherished by his father.

Obama's ascendancy as the US president is considered to be the realisation of the dream of his father, he added.

King III, who visited the Sabarmati Ashram to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the visit by his father in 1959, pointed out that war and conflict were not the solution to violence in different parts of the world.

He said the Gandhian philosophy of peace and non-violence that won lasting freedom for India could be a beacon of hope to end the ongoing turmoil in the world.

Abstaining from mentioning any group or organisations involved in acts of terror, he categorically stated that terrorism needs to be destroyed. "Terrorists create fear and it is important to end fear; we would like terrorists to be destroyed," he said.

He said violence was an obsolete idea as a matter of policy, and non-violence was not a technique, but a way of life.

"You should study the messages of Martin and Gandhi as much as possible and spread it all over to promote peace and non-violence," he said, adding that he had committed himself to promote the Gandhian message wherever he went in the world.

"By working to foster peace through non-violence, I hope this pilgrimage will inspire others to end the dependence on violence for a change, and instead look to the reconciliatory power of non -violence," he added.

He said the impact of Gandhi's life was quite profound on his father.

"I got a very emotional experience during my journey to Gujarat and I will go back more committed to the philosophy of non-violence as taught by Gandhi to the world," he said.

Congressman John Lewis (80), who worked with King Jr to fight for racial equality in the US, and is now considered as the "conscience of the US", said that war is no solution to world problems.

"As an American citizen, I say it was wrong to send the Army to Iraq and Afghanistan and we should all find a way to withdraw it," he said, adding that the solution to world conflict must be found in the concept of non-violence as taught by Gandhi and Martin.