Celebrations across America on Mahatma Gandhi’s 153rd birth anniversary

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Washington: Rich tributes were paid to Mahatma Gandhi across America on the occasion of his 153rd birth anniversary on Sunday. Gandhi’s message of non-violence, respect and tolerance matters the most today, said many people celebrating his birth anniversary across cities.

In Washington, Gandhi Jayanti celebrations resonated with a special event at the Gandhi Memorial Center (GMC) with the recitation of Gandhi’s famous Bhajans by several Americans and members of the Indian diaspora.

Gandhi Jayanti is celebrated every year at GMC since 1959.

Gandhi never traveled to the United States, but it is perhaps the only country that has the largest number of statues and busts of India’s father of the nation.

Floral tributes were paid at several installations of Gandhi’s statue including in Washington, New York, Atlanta, San Francisco and Chicago.

“Happy Gandhi Jayanti! Delighted to celebrate #GandhiJayanti in the presence of Ambassador Shri Taranjit Singh Sandhu @SandhuTaranjitS at Union Square Park, New York,” India in New York tweeted.

“Glimpses of the celebration of #GandhiJayanti at Mahatma Gandhi Statue, Hermann Park, Houston,” India in Houston tweeted.

“On the auspicious occasion of #GandhiJayanti, CG @nagentv & members of Indian diaspora paid rich tributes at the Mahatma Gandhi statue #Embarcadero, SF. Consul General recalled contributions of #fatherofthenation and his enduring legacy,” the Consulate General of India in San Francisco tweeted.

The teachings and philosophy of the apostle of peace have deeply influenced America’s civil rights movement, in particular, that led by Martin Luther King Jr. The two men never got a chance to meet. However, King learned about Gandhi through his writings and a trip to India in 1959. He drew heavily on the Gandhian idea of non-violence in his own activism. King wrote that Gandhi was a “guiding light” for him.

Born on October 2, 1869, in Porbandar town of Gujarat, Mahatma Gandhi or Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi believed deeply in the principles of non-violent resistance and was at the forefront of the freedom struggle against British colonial rule.