Nation remembers Gandhi on his sesquicentennial
Prime Minister, Narendra Modi paying his respects on the ocassion of Mahatma Gnadhi's 150th birth anniversary on October 2. (Photo Courtesy: PMO/Twitter)
New Delhi, October 2 (IANS): India remembered the father of the nation on his sesquicentennial on Wednesday with various events and ''padyatras'', even as the day saw the BJP and the Congress trying to claim the legacy of Mahatma Gandhi in their tributes to him.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi led the nation in paying tribute to Gandhi, with an early morning visit to Raj Ghat. Later, Congress interim President Sonia Gandhi and President Ram Nath Kovind, and Vice President Venkaiah Naidu followed in offering their respects at the samadhi.
Later, in the evening, Modi visited Sabarmati Ashram in Gujarat where he said that Gandhi''s teachings offer solutions to any problem the world faces.
He also penned an op-ed in The New York Times, calling Gandhi as the "best teacher" and invited thinkers, entrepreneurs and tech leaders to be at the forefront of spreading Gandhi''s ideas through innovation, as part of the "Einstein Challenge".
Sonia Gandhi while addressing party members outside Mahatma Gandhi''s memorial Rajghat here, said Gandhi is the symbol of India "but those who want RSS to become India''s symbol will not understand what Gandhiji thought about multiculturalism."
Various programmes were conducted in different parts of the country including in West Bengal, Odisha and Tripura. Himachal Pradesh launched a scheme to buy back non-recyclable, single-use plastic waste with a minimum support price of Rs 75 per kg.
As a mark of respect to Gandhi, Goa discontinued the practice of bursting firecrackers during Gandhi Jayanti celebrations observing that Gandhi was a true environmentalist while the Rajasthan government announced a ban on the use of pan masala.
Besides BJP and Congress, other parties also paid homage to the father of the nation. AAP leader and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal with his deputy Manish Sisodia paid tributes to Gandhi at his ''samadhi''. Former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and Samajwadi Party President Akhilesh Yadav led his party leaders and workers to the Gandhi statue at the GPO Park in Lucknow and offered floral tributes to the Mahatma.
Secretary-General of UN Antonio Guterres also remembered Mahatma Gandhi saying that the leader pioneered successive non-violent movements that changed history whereas The Ahimsa dialogue, held on Tuesday at the UNESCO Headquarters in Paris, commemorates the International Day of Non-Violence on October 2 which marks Gandhi''s 150th birth anniversary.
Rural India has declared itself open defecation free: PM
In Gujarat, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said rural India has declared itself open defecation free.
"Today rural India, its villages have declared themselves open-defecation free. They have used self-inspiration, self-will and co-operation to achieve this through the Swachh Bharat Mission," he said at an event near Mahatma Gandhi's Sabarmati Ashram in Gujarat in the presence of over 20,000 village heads.
The Prime Minister said that Indians have shed their hesitation for talking about sanitation and it has become an integral part of their "thought-process".
"In 60 months, we have provided toilets to over 60 crore people by constructing over 11 crore toilets. The world is amazed at our success," PM Modi, who launched the 'Swachh Bharat Mission' in 2014, said.
He said the centre's flagship sanitation scheme had created over 75 lakh jobs. The Prime Minister Modi made his "latrines for all" pledge when he first took office in 2014, winning him plaudits abroad - including an award last week from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
