‘Gandhi, Mandela advocated non-violence for change’

UNITED NATIONS: The achievements of Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King and Nelson Mandela demonstrate that the outcome of nonviolent change, achieved through persuasion rather than coercion, are durable...

SYED AKBARUDDIN, India’s permanent representative to the UN

The legacy of Mahatma Gandhi, Dr Martin Luther King and Nelson Mandela is that they were exemplars of the fundamental belief that the drivers of conflict are all amenable to non-violent solutions, India’s permanent representative to the UN, Syed Akbaruddin has said.

At an event held at the UN headquarters in New York to commemorate the International Day of Non-Violence, the top Indian diplomat said the three leaders advocated non-violence to usher social and political changes that were national in nature.

Yet their approach of peaceful, non-violent resolution of differences resonates globally, he said.

“The legacy of Mahatma Gandhi, Dr Martin Luther King and Nelson Mandela is that they were exemplars of the fundamental belief that the drivers of conflict are all amenable to non- violent solutions A belief that underpins the activities of the UN,” Akbaruddin said.

“The achievements of Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King and Nelson Mandela demonstrate that the outcome of nonviolent change, achieved through persuasion rather than coercion, are durable,” Akbaruddin said at the meeting which was addressed by representatives from several countries in addition to Miroslav Lajcak, President of the 72nd Session of the UN General Assembly.

The UN General Assembly on June 17, 2007 voted to establish October 2 — the birth day of Mahatma Gandhi — as the International Day of Non-Violence.

Referring to the remarks made by other leaders at the UN’s commemorative event, Akbaruddin said the discussions are an effort to seek pathways to tackle situations the world is confronted with.

It is imbued with the hope that the concept of non- violence, which is as old as civilisation, can provide a path forward, he said.

As Mahatma Gandhi once said, “I have nothing new to teach the world. Truth and Non-violence are as old as the hills. All I have done is to try experiments in both, on as vast a scale as I could,” he said.

Observing that the message of non-violence is therefore needed more today than ever, Lajcak said, “Unfortunately, we are not yet living in the world that Gandhi dreamt of...”

“Intolerance and hate speech are features of our world and International human rights and humanitarian law are constantly violated,” Lajcak said.

“Conflicts, violent extremism, and terrorism don’t show any signs of decreasing. Even the planet is suffering from a violence of sorts, due to the harmful impact of human activities,” he added. The Gandhi Memorial centre in Washington DC had a special evening of celebrations to mark the 148th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.