NEW DELHI: The government may push for a special session of the United Nations to mark the 150th birth anniversary celebrations of Mahatma Gandhi beginning on October 2, this year after the proposal found resonance at the first meeting of a committee set up to plan events related to the occasion.

The suggestion, mooted by external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj and backed by leader of opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad was aired during the meeting of the national committee to commemorate the anniversary on Wednesday.

The meeting also saw three opposition chief ministers suggesting that Mahatma Gandhi’s message of peace and non-violence must be reasserted during the year-long celebrations in what some saw as a political message at a time when BJP and its opponents are trading charges of abetting divisiveness. However, with the President chairing the meeting, the scope for politicking was limited.

Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik suggested ‘Ahimsa’ (non-violence) should be included in the Preamble of the Indian Constitution. Quoting Gandhi, he said, “As long as poverty exists, freedom is only a wooden loaf. To remove poverty is the greatest task faced by any government. This cannot be achieved without following Gandhiji ’s principle of Ahimsa (Non-violence).”

J&K CM Mehbooba Mufti suggested that the 150th anniversary be declared as the ‘Year of Peace and Reconciliation’ and the government should use internet and social media to engage with the youth and teach them about the Mahatma’s truth and non-violence. West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee said the occasion should serve India to send out a message of harmony; that the country has risen above the differences of religion and caste.

PM Narendra Modi said the celebrations should not indulge in tokenisms and should be a ‘karyanjali’ (call to action) rather than ‘shraddhanjali’. Among other suggestions, Swaraj said Bapu’s birth anniversary celebrations can be held across 193 countries with a standard programme. She also said convention centres being built by the Indian Mission in Africa will be named after Mahatma Gandhi.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, one of the members of the committee, recommended that a chair on human values in memory of Gandhi be set up in various universities across the world. It was also decided that a smaller executive committee, chaired by the PM, will be formed and will take the preparations for the commemoration, forward.

