Click to play videoNew Delhi: Mahatma Gandhi’s birthday has been declared as the International Day for Non-violence.
In a tribute to Gandhi's philosophy of brotherhood and peace, the UN General
Assembly declared October 2, his birth anniversary, as the International Day of Non-Violence on Saturday.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh welcomed UN’s support for India's resolution declaring Gandhi's birthday as International Day of Non-Violence, saying it is a "proud moment" for India.
"A great tribute to Mahatma Gandhi and a proud moment for India", Singh was quoted by his Media Adviser Sanjaya Baru as having said on Friday night.
Introducing the resolution in the 191-member Assembly, Minister of State for External Affairs Anand Sharma stressed the importance of the Mahatma's message that, he said, encompasses the rejection of violence against oneself, against others, against other groups, against other societies and against nature.
Non-violence "has no room for cowardice or even weakness," he said quoting Gandhi, and added that it also "necessitates complete abstention from exploitation in any form.
The resolution, which urged member States to observe the day each year in appropriate manner to disseminate the message of non-violence, was co-sponsored by 137 of the 191 members and was adopted without a vote.
Promoting the principle of non-violence in such a focussed manner, he said, would significantly contribute to the realisation of the goals set out in the 1999 UN Declaration and Programme of Action on a Culture of Peace.
Sharma said the declaration would also advance the implementation of the goals of the International Decade for Culture of Peace and Non-Violence for the Children of the World being observed from 2001 to 2010.
He recalled that Mahatma's "novel mode of mass mobilisation 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, inspiring leaders like Badshah Khan, Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King Jr and many others.
The idea of promoting such a resolution, Sharma said, originated from the declaration adopted at the international conference on "Peace, Non-Violence and Empowerment – Gandhian Philosophy in the 21st Century" convened in New Delhi in January this year to commemorate the centenary of the Satyagraha Movement launched by the Mahatma in South Africa.
Attended by representative leadership delegations of 91 countries and 122 organisations besides many eminent personalities, including philosophers and Nobel laureates, the participants in that conference, he told the UNGA, solemnly
vowed to nurture the values espoused by Mahatma Gandhi.
It also articulated the "collective yearning" for a new way forward to address the problems of hunger and "dehumanising poverty," which continue to plague humanity, to build a just and equitable world where people live with dignity and in peace and harmony with each other in diverse and pluralistic societies.
The wide and diverse co-sponsorship of the resolution, Sharma said, reflects the universal respect that Gandhi commands and the enduring relevance of his humane philosophy.
(With agency inputs)
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