The campaign includes a 'Gandhi March' from the Peace Palace to the Grote Kerk in The Hague on the afternoon of October 1. Around 1,500 people, including people of all nationalities, are expected to join this march which will be the first such event to be held on such a large scale in The Netherlands.
A bicycle used by Mahatma Gandhi will be displayed at the Grote Kerk in The Hague as part of the activities. The bicycle has been sent by the Gandhi Memorial Trust of India as a special gesture in view of the popularity of cycling and the fact that cycles are part of the Dutch cultural heritage. It is currently part of an exhibition on Gandhi, King and Mandela at the Nieuwe Kerk, Amsterdam.
An excerpt of an opera titled 'Satyagraha' (the instrument of Non Violence used by Mahatma Gandhi) composed by renowned musician Philip Glass will be performed at the Grote Kerk by the Korzo Theatre. Also, a new book in Dutch titled "Gandhi - An illustrated biography" published by Lannoo of Belgium and authored by Indian author Pramod Kapoor will be released on the occasion.
The 'Follow the Mahatma' campaign will continue on October 2 with volunteers fanning out to schools of The Netherlands to spread the message of non violence, tolerance and peace. Eight schools including International School in Den Haag & Rotterdam, British School, Albeda ROC and Zadkine College have already agreed to be a part of this campaign.
People across the Netherlands are also being invited to mark that day with diverse activities focusing on the theme of non violence and Mahatma Gandhi, including a special social media campaign. An events page titled International Day of Non Violence 2017 has been created on Facebook for the purpose.
The Netherlands is a country which cherishes and keeps alive the memory of Mahatma Gandhi as is evident from the fact that over 30 streets in this country are named after Mahatma Gandhi. There is probably no other country in the world other than India which has as many streets named after Mahatma Gandhi. There are also three statues of Mahatma Gandhi in the cities of The Hague, Amsterdam and Utrecht.
October 2 is the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi and has been declared by the UN General Assembly as the International Day of Non Violence. An Organising Committee headed by Theo Henrar, Chairman of Board of Tata Steel Europe, and including amongst its members Prof Vinod Subramaniam, Rector Magnificus, VU University Amsterdam, former MPs R. Ramlal and Tanja Jadnanansing is supervising the activities on the above days.
(This story has not been edited by Social News XYZ staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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Doraiah Chowdary Vundavally is a Software engineer at VTech . He is the news editor of SocialNews.XYZ and Freelance writer-contributes Telugu and English Columns on Films, Politics, and Gossips. He is the primary contributor for South Cinema Section of SocialNews.XYZ. His mission is to help to develop SocialNews.XYZ into a News website that has no bias or judgement towards any.