A little over a year ago, on June 15, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution declaring October 2 International Day of Non-Violence.

flickr: Liz Highleyman

October 2 is a national holiday in India, marking the birthday of Mahatma Ghandi. No doubt, Raj Ghat — Ghandi’s memorial on the Yamuna River pictured above – will play host to a day of prayer services and tributes.

In her official message, India’s President, Smt. Pratibha Devisingh Patil said:

“The life and philosophy of Mahatma Gandhi are a lesson in tolerance and respect for humanity. The significance of Gandhiji’s philosophy of non-violence and peace is relevant today as never before. On this day each one of us must spread the idea and thought behind his philosophy of pacifism whose goal was to solve problems of conflict and violence. Mahatma Gandhi was always trying to find peaceful means to resolve them. He knew that the key was to restructure the world by liberating the human mind from dogmas of various kinds. On the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti, let us dedicate ourselves to the ideals and work of this great soul.”

Appeals for world peace have also come from The Times of India; they launched a peace campaign of sorts, requesting spiritual and religious leaders from various faiths to endorse an appeal for action.

In Nagpur, over 150,000 people are expected to participate in a huge peace march to mark the International Day of Non-Violence.

Closer to home, the India Club of Vancouver, the Institute for the Humanities at Simon Fraser University, and The Thakore Charitable Foundation have joined together and will celebrate Gandhi Jayanti by presenting biographer and Governor General’s Literary Award winner (poetry, 2002) Roy Miki with the Thakore Visiting Scholar Award for Truth, Justice and Non-Violence at Simon Fraser University. Miki is a third generation Japanese-Canadian, and has been active in that community, fighting for redress from the federal government for the Japanese-Canadians interned during the Second World War. Some details on this event can be found on NowPublic.org, by clicking here, or at the Simon Fraser Institute web site by clicking here.