Celebration of 144th Gandhi Jayanti and International Day of Non Violence at Diphu- A Report 144th Gandhi Jayanti and International Day of Non Violence was celebrated at Diphu on 2nd Oct. 2013 at the initiative of a group of citizens of Diphu from different community and strata of the society who collected together and decided to observe the day with its significance. Atanu Dey, one of the Co-organizer of the programme said, he was motivated to go for the celebration, because perhaps there is no other alternative left to give piece and non violence a chance. He viewed that, with every passing day, our grievance or dissatisfaction getting increasingly non-tolerant to others and more violent in expression. So, perhaps this is the time to think and act seriously. The group which was very newly formed with the Gandhi Jayanti knocking ahead, was named simply as ‘Citizens of Diphu’ and open to any one inclined to join. The programme targeted mainly the school and college students to spread the Gandhian ideas and principles among them through competitive events like essay, quiz and drawing competition etc. While drawing and painting competition was for Class I upto V only, essay competition was for students from Class VI to Degree 3rd Yr. divided in three groups. Topic for Class VI to VIII was Gandhiji and his punctually mainly to inculcate in our young minds the importance of punctuality in our personal and nation life and let them understand it from the life of our leader like Gandhiji. In the other groups, topic was Gandhiji and Indian Freedom struggle for Class IX and X and for HS and Degree level it was Contemporary world and efficacy of Gandhism. There was a quiz competition on the subject Indian Freedom struggle and Gandhiji among students of Class VIII to X from different schools in the area with an intention of triggering quest about Gandhiji’s life and his philosophy and also to revive and nurture a culture of quiz and competitive spirit among the students which had been missing for quite sometimes lately. The quiz was conducted in three rounds like screening, qualifying and final round to accommodate any one willing to participate yet screening only the bests to the final. There was overwhelming response in all these events which Organisers found to be very satisfactory in their main object of spreading Gandhian ideas and philosophy among the students. Programmes on the day of 2nd Oct. was organized at Diphu Club, one of the prominent public halls at Diphu and started with paying homage to Gandhiji by the Organisers and citizens of Diphu whoever turned up. The day also happens to be birth day of Lal Bahadur Shastriji, one of our honest and efficient leaders and was remembered and paid tribute in the same function. An all religion prayer and reading/ chanting from holy texts followed where heads of religious institutes from Christianity, Islam, Hinduism and Sikhism chanted and highlighted oneness of the Almighty and messages of peace, love, non violence and universal brotherhood from their respective Holy Books. Drawing and painting competition among young children from Class I to Class V was conducted next which attracted a very good and encouraging response. Subject matter for Class I to Class III was A Portrait of Gandhiji, which was given beforehand and for Class IV and V, they were required to draw An Environment of Peace which was given on the spot. At 10.30 AM a procession of students, teachers and individuals marched out from Diphu Club with colourful placards printed on flex bearing quotations of Gandhiji in English and translated or interpreted in Assamese, Bengali, Bodo, Dimasa, Hindi and Karbi. A large number of students from different schools and senior schools participated in the procession which covered through the main roads of Diphu Town and created awareness for importance of peace, love and non violence in our life. In the second half of the day, the programme resumed with screening of a documentary film A Force More Powerful by Steve York which highlights six different movements across the world in different times of 20th century fought without arms and on the Gandhian principles of non violence and finally own. The story begins with a young Mohandas Gandhi in 1907, the most influential leader in the history of civil resistance, as he rouses fellow Indians in South Africa to a nonviolent struggle against racial oppression. The series recounts Gandhijis civil disobedience campaign against the British in India; the sit-ins and boycotts that desegregated downtown Nashville, Tennessee; the nonviolent campaign against apartheid in South Africa; Danish resistance to the Nazis in World War II; the rise of Solidarity in Poland; and the momentous victory for democracy in Chile. A Force More Powerful also introduces several extraordinary, but largely unknown, individuals who drove these great events forward in a non violent way. After that a felicitation was conferred on to veteran Gnadhian Shri Janardan Pathak by eminent Litterateur and former President of Axom Xahitya Xabha Shri Rongbong Terang. Shri Pathak who is now frail at an age of 93 years had joined Indian Freedom Struggle in his early youth and came in direct contact with Gandhiji at his Ashram at Sevagram (Wardha) in 1946 and Gandhiji advised him to take to the service of the tribal and the tea garden population of Assam. Shri Pathak finally set up his centre of service which was later named as Sariahjan Seva Kendra at Sariahjan, a small village near Bokajan in Karbi Anglong District. Foundation Stone of the mission was laid by Late Gopinath Bordaloi, the first Chief Minister of Assam from where he worked relentlessly and silently among the tribal and tea communities of the district by running schools, services to lepers, rural reconstruction and value reorientation and the felicitation was just a small acknowledgement of all that on the right occasion. A Panel Discussion followed with the topic Ever increasing relevance of Gandhism in mitigating crisis in India and across the world in different fronts in which eminent Gandhians and Gandhi Scholars from the region as well as from other part of the country participated. Shri Tom Mangattuthazhe, a peace activist from Diphu itself moderated the session and explained relevance of Gandhian ideas and principles in present times. A message from Shri Natwar Thakkar, veteran Gandhian and Founder Secretary, Nagaland Gandhi Ashram was read in absentia as he was unable to attend the programme due to physical problem. In his message, Shri Thakkar mentioned threats like man made causes of global warming to religious fanaticism which together take the world to the brink of disaster and called upon to search for the solutions in Gandhian teachings. He pleaded to renounce violence in all walks of life and look for the solutions in the avenues of peace. Shri Rongbong Terang opened the discussion with his speech and called for change in perception from settlement through violence to settlement through non violence. Speaking next, Acharya Shri Bhrigugiri from Guwahati explained that very nature of human being is non violent and it evolves with time. Shri Manindra Roy, a senior journalist from Guwahati highlighted necessity of introduction of Gandhian principles and ideas in school and college curriculums. Smt. Joya Mitra, noted social worker from Asanshol in West Bengal pointed how competition in academic institutes and everywhere in day to day life triggering rat race without judgment. Shri Neilh M Gautam, a scholar with studies on Gandhain philosophy from the Deptt. of Management Studies, NIT Silchar emphasized desisting from the sevens sins mentioned by Gandhiji namely wealth without work, pleasure without conscience, knowledge without character, commerce without morality, science without humanity, religion without sacrifice and politics without principle. Dr. Arenla Mollier, another Gandhi Scholar from Mokokchang Campus of Nagaland University who was the last speaker of the session spoke about increasing relevance of Gandhian Studies and to look for solutions in that ambit. In the interacting part of the session, it was asked if there was solution to many present day’s crisis in Gandhian way like the Kashmir problem etc. and the Panelists reiterated in affirmative. In the evening, a cultural programme was organized befitting the occasion where Gandhi Bhajans, patriotic songs, and songs of devotion and prayer of all religions were presented by renowned artistes from Diphu like Smt. Pokhila Lekhtepi, Shri Deuri Rongpi, Shri Kumar Daimari, Md. Samsuddin Ahmed from Golaghat and others. At the fag end, the programme was concluded with the final round of interschool quiz competition conducted by Shri Atanu Dey where top groups from Don Bosco Higher Secondary School, Badan Memorial English School, Mt. Calvary English School and Aturkimi Academy participated. The quiz was on Gandhiji and Indian Freedom struggle and full with informative and relevant questions with audio and video rounds as well. As a whole, the day of 2nd October at Diphu this year was a different one full with Gandhian thoughts, discussions and culture spreading the message of peace, love and non violence among all.
Posted on: Sun, 27 Oct 2013 16:14:15 +0000
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