NEW DELHI, OCTOBER 2: As the UN general assembly observed Mahatma Gandhi’s birthday as the International Day of Non-Violence, UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi spoke of the international community’s “collective failure” to move towards universal nuclear disarmament.

Addressing the UNGA in New York, she also spoke of the “violence against earth” reflected through man-made climatic change and of the “disturbing emergence” of non-state players in the spread of terrorism. Sonia said the world is facing violence of various kinds and there was a collective failure of the international community in tackling terrorism and checking nuclear proliferation. “Violence has come to be regarded as a norm and non-violence an aberration,” she rued.

“It is not the relevance of Mahatma Gandhi that is in question today. It is whether we have the courage to emulate his preaching and what he lived and died for,” she said. She also had a word of caution for representatives from across the world asking them not to make Mahatma Gandhi’s birth anniversary another annual ritual. Among her audience were External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, his deputy Anand Sharma and Amethi MP Rahul Gandhi.

In New Delhi, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh underscored the relevance of Gandhi’s Ahimsa and said Gandhi was not a lofty saint but a political leader who practised what he preached. “Let us not forget that Gandhiji was not some lofty saint. He was a political leader. He was regarded as a Mahatma because he practised what he preached, because he cared for the poorest of the poor, the weakest of the weak,” he said.

“Many a time I feel that we have forgotten the importance of Ahimsa. But it is a weapon that can make anybody powerful and strong,” the PM said flagging off the Ahimsa Divas Yatra, a march from Congress headquarters to Gandhi’s samadhi at Rajghat, to mark the 138th birth anniversary of the Mahatma. The PM also led the nation in paying homage to Gandhi at Rajghat.

“People may wonder of what use is non-violence in today’s times. But it is relevant even today as a way of life and in governing the country,” he said, adding that using non-violence Gandhi had turned the Independence movement into a fight of the common man.

Releasing a commemorative stamp, he expressed the hope that the global community will rediscover the relevance of the eternal message of Gandhi for fighting conflict, violence and terrorism. “Mahatma Gandhi’s message of love and peace, of non-violence and Satyagraha, of the equality of all people, of harmony between all religions, is a universal message. It is a message for all times, for all societies, for all peoples,” Singh said.

“As long as there is strife and injustice, as long as there is inequality and indignity in the human condition, as long as there is pain and suffering, as long as there is violence and hatred, the ideas and ideals of Mahatma Gandhi will resonate and find followers,” said the PM.

“Gandhiji’s message is more important today than ever before since nations across the world continue to grapple with the threat of conflict, violence and terrorism. For as long as there is temptation to resort to violence in the human mind, the Mahatma’s message of non-violence will tug at our hearts,” he said.

“Gandhiji’s saintliness was a manifestation of his materialism. That is, his deep concern for the material conditions of the poor and under-privileged. It was his yearning and his determination to alter the material world he confronted that made him appear saintly to his followers. In that sense, Gandhiji was a true karma yogi,” said the PM.

“The fact that the international community has today come to observe this day as the International Day of Non-Violence, in memory of Mahatma Gandhi, should ensure that generations to come would never forget the eternal message of the Mahatma.”