PURPOSE: The International Day of Non-Violence is observed on 2 October, in honor of the birthday of Mahatma Gandhi and celebrate the legacy of this honorable man. The ResolutionA/RES/61/271 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". Mahatma Gandhi was the primary leader of India’s independence movement and also the architect of a form of nonviolent civil disobedience that would influence the world. He was assassinated by Hindu extremist Nathuram Godse. While non-violence is frequently used as a synonym for pacifism, since the mid-twentieth century the term non-violence has been adopted by many movements for social change which do not focus on opposition to war. One key tenet of the theory of non-violence is that the power of rulers depends on the consent of the population, and non-violence therefore seeks to undermine such power through withdrawal of the consent and cooperation of the populace.

FORUM: “Gandhian values and the UN charter.” International Day of Non-Violence 2024. Non-violence has “active” or “activist” elements, in that believers generally accept the need for non-violence as a means to achieve political and social change. In general, advocates of an activist philosophy of nonviolence use diverse methods in their campaigns for social change, including critical forms of education and persuasion, mass non-cooperation, civil disobedience, non-violent direct action, constructive program, and social, political, cultural and economic forms of intervention. In modern times, non-violent methods have been a powerful tool for social protest and revolutionary social and political change. There are many examples of their use. Fuller surveys may be found in the entries on civil resistance, nonviolent resistance and nonviolent revolution. Gandhian values has been recognized globally as a powerful tools for seeking Justice, equity and growth. These have also inspired people’s movement worldwide, including those led by figures like Martin Luther King JR. and Nelson Mandela. In the context of the United Nations, the gandhian values resonates in one way of the other in three pillars which are: Sustainable Development, Human Rights and Humanitarian Issues; Peace and Security. Follow the conversation with the hashtags: #2october, #NonViolenceDay, #Ghandhi.

EVENTS: Commemorating Mahatma Gandhi (1869-1948). Join us on October 2nd for the celebration of Mahatma Gandhi 155 birth anniversary and for the observance of the International Day of Non-Violence 2024. The Permanent Mission of India to the United Nations is organizing a special event to commemorate the birth anniversary of Gandhi on October 2nd, 2024, from 15:00 to 16:00 in conference room 8 at UNHQ. All are cordially invited. Get the invitation or Watch the livestream!

Special activities: Film shows on Gandhi and his contemporaries, occasional special exhibitions, seminars, conferences on various topics is being planned.

EXHIBITS: To promote and propagate the life, work and philosophy of Mahatma Gandhi, the father of the Nation, through visual arts, photographs, paintings, manuscripts and display of his worldly possessions (relics). Also to set up memorial pillars, tablets; Visit the National Gandhi Museum and Library, New Delhi.

Galleries: 09.30 a.m. to 05.30 p.m. Mondays closed.

Library: 10.00 a.m. to 05.00 p.m. closed on Mondays, Gaz. Holidays & 2nd Sunday of the Month.

STATEMENTS: Read the Statement of the United Nations Secretary-General on the International Day of Non-Violence 2024; October 2nd.