(Paul Ciniraj, Kottayam-686038, India)
New Delhi, SVM News, 28 September 2008: October 2, the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi is the International Day of Non-Violence.
The decision made by the United Nations General Assembly on 15 June 2007 to observe the International Day of Non-Violence every year on 2 October – the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, who helped lead India to independence and inspired movements for civil rights and freedom across the world. This day is referred to India as Gandhi Jayanthi.
According to the United Nations General Assembly resolution A/RES/61/271 of 15 June 2007, which established the commemoration, the International Day is an occasion to "disseminate the message of non-violence, including through education and public awareness." The resolution reaffirms "the universal relevance of the principle of non-violence" and the desire "to secure a culture of peace, tolerance, understanding and non-violence."
Introducing the resolution in the General Assembly on behalf of 140 co-sponsors, India's Minister of State for External Affairs, Mr. Anand Sharma, said that the wide and diverse sponsorship of the resolution was a reflection of the universal respect for Mahatma Gandhi and of the enduring relevance of his philosophy. Quoting the late leader’s own words, he said: "Non-violence is the greatest force at the disposal of mankind. It is mightier than the mightiest weapon of destruction devised by the ingenuity of man".
The late leader's "novel mode of mass mobilization and non-violent action" brought down colonialism, strengthened the roots of popular sovereignty, of civil, political and economic rights, and greatly influenced many a freedom struggle and inspired leaders like Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King Jr., Minister Anand Sharma stated.
The UN General Assembly, "desiring to secure a culture of peace, tolerance, understanding and non-violence," invited States, UN bodies, regional and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and individuals to commemorate the Day, including through education and public awareness.
The first ever celebration of the International day of non violence was observed in Bangkok by United Nations ESCAP. Mr. Mani Shankar Aiyar, Minister for Panchayati Raj, Youth Affairs & Sports and Development of North-Eastern Region of India presided over the programme.
In January 2004, Iranian Nobel laureate Shirin Ebadi had taken a proposal for an International Day of Non-Violence from a Hindi Teacher in Paris Akshay Bakaya teaching International school students in Paris to the World Social Forum in Bombay. The idea gradually attracted the interest of some leaders of India's Congress Party ("Ahimsa Finds Teen Voice", The Telegraph, Calcutta) until a Satyagraha Conference resolution in New Delhi in January 2007 initiated by Sonia Gandhi and Archbishop Desmond Tutu called upon the United Nations to adopt the idea.
Gandhiji was a proponent of non-violent civil disobedience in India's fight against the British colonial rule, which ended in 1947.
He was born on October 2, 1869 and shot dead by a Hindu nationalist in 30 January, 1948.
Mahatma Gandhi was a practitioner of non-violence and truth, and advocated that others do the same. He lived modestly in a self-sufficient residential community and wore the traditional Indian dhoti and shawl, woven with yarn he had hand spun on a charkha. He ate simple vegetarian food, and also undertook long fasts as means of both self-purification and social protest.
New Delhi, SVM News, 28 September 2008: October 2, the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi is the International Day of Non-Violence.
The decision made by the United Nations General Assembly on 15 June 2007 to observe the International Day of Non-Violence every year on 2 October – the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, who helped lead India to independence and inspired movements for civil rights and freedom across the world. This day is referred to India as Gandhi Jayanthi.
According to the United Nations General Assembly resolution A/RES/61/271 of 15 June 2007, which established the commemoration, the International Day is an occasion to "disseminate the message of non-violence, including through education and public awareness." The resolution reaffirms "the universal relevance of the principle of non-violence" and the desire "to secure a culture of peace, tolerance, understanding and non-violence."
Introducing the resolution in the General Assembly on behalf of 140 co-sponsors, India's Minister of State for External Affairs, Mr. Anand Sharma, said that the wide and diverse sponsorship of the resolution was a reflection of the universal respect for Mahatma Gandhi and of the enduring relevance of his philosophy. Quoting the late leader’s own words, he said: "Non-violence is the greatest force at the disposal of mankind. It is mightier than the mightiest weapon of destruction devised by the ingenuity of man".
The late leader's "novel mode of mass mobilization and non-violent action" brought down colonialism, strengthened the roots of popular sovereignty, of civil, political and economic rights, and greatly influenced many a freedom struggle and inspired leaders like Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King Jr., Minister Anand Sharma stated.
The UN General Assembly, "desiring to secure a culture of peace, tolerance, understanding and non-violence," invited States, UN bodies, regional and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and individuals to commemorate the Day, including through education and public awareness.
The first ever celebration of the International day of non violence was observed in Bangkok by United Nations ESCAP. Mr. Mani Shankar Aiyar, Minister for Panchayati Raj, Youth Affairs & Sports and Development of North-Eastern Region of India presided over the programme.
In January 2004, Iranian Nobel laureate Shirin Ebadi had taken a proposal for an International Day of Non-Violence from a Hindi Teacher in Paris Akshay Bakaya teaching International school students in Paris to the World Social Forum in Bombay. The idea gradually attracted the interest of some leaders of India's Congress Party ("Ahimsa Finds Teen Voice", The Telegraph, Calcutta) until a Satyagraha Conference resolution in New Delhi in January 2007 initiated by Sonia Gandhi and Archbishop Desmond Tutu called upon the United Nations to adopt the idea.
Gandhiji was a proponent of non-violent civil disobedience in India's fight against the British colonial rule, which ended in 1947.
He was born on October 2, 1869 and shot dead by a Hindu nationalist in 30 January, 1948.
Mahatma Gandhi was a practitioner of non-violence and truth, and advocated that others do the same. He lived modestly in a self-sufficient residential community and wore the traditional Indian dhoti and shawl, woven with yarn he had hand spun on a charkha. He ate simple vegetarian food, and also undertook long fasts as means of both self-purification and social protest.
No comments:
Post a Comment