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Hello All,

I wish you and your family, friends, near and dear........

A very happy, honoring and peaceful Non-Violence Day wishes (02/10/09).

The International Day of Non-Violence is observed on 2nd of October, the birthday of Mahatma Gandhi, the day is referred to in India as Gandhi Jayanti. Gandhi Jayanti is a national holiday celebrated in India to mark the occasion of the birthday of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, the "Father of the Nation". It is celebrated on October 2nd, every year. It is one of the three officially declared National Holidays in India (Republic Day/Jan 26, Independence Day/Aug 15 and Gandhi Jayanti/Oct 2) and is observed in all its states and union territories. Coincidentally, 2nd of October is also the birthday of Lal Bahadur Shastri, the third Prime Minister of India, who was a great follower of Mahatma Gandhi and he dedicated his life to the service of the country.

On 15th June 2007, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) voted to establish 2nd October as the International Day of Non-Violence. The resolution by the General Assembly asks all members of the UN system to commemorate 2nd October in "an appropriate manner and disseminate the message of non-violence, including through education and public awareness". The first ever celebration of the International day of non violence was observed in Bangkok by United Nations ESCAP, the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP or ESCAP), located in Bangkok, Thailand, is the regional arm of the United Nations Secretariat for the Asian and Pacific region. It was established in 1947 (then as the UN Economic Commission for Asia and the Far East) to encourage economic cooperation among its member states. The name was changed to the current, ESCAP, in 1974. It is one of five regional commissions under the administrative direction of United Nations headquarters.

In January 2004, Iranian Nobel laureate Shirin Ebadi had taken a proposal for an International Day of Non-Violence from Akshay Bakaya, a Hindi Teacher in Paris teaching International school students in Paris, to the World Social Forum in Bombay. The idea gradually attracted the interest of some leaders of India's Congress Party until a Satyagraha Conference resolution in New Delhi in January 2007, initiated by Sonia Gandhi and Archbishop Desmond Tutu called upon the United Nations to adopt the idea of World Non-Violence Day. This is not to be confused with World Peace Day, the International Day of Peace, which is on September 21st of every year (since 1981) and calls for a full day of peace and ceasefire throughout the world.

Many many happy returns of the day.

All the best and take care….

With thanks, regards and best wishes,
G.Srikanth.