Monday, Jan 31, 2005
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By Our Special Correspondent
NEW DELHI, JAN. 30. The Congress will re-enact the famous Dandi March of Mahatma Gandhi by organising a 26-day march from Sabarmati Ashram to Dandi in Gujarat from March 12 to mark the 75th anniversary of the historic event. Announcing this, the AICC treasurer, Motilal Vora, told presspersons that the Congress president, Sonia Gandhi, would flag off the march from Sabarmati Ashram and will participate along with the Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh.
Committee set up
The party has formed an organising committee with Ms. Gandhi as the patron-in-chief and Dr. Singh as patron for the programme. The Union Minister, Sunil Dutt, will be the chairman of the committee and Tushar Gandhi, the Mahatma's grandson and managing trustee of the Mahatma Gandhi foundation, its vice-chairman. Ashok Gehlot and Mukul Wasnik, AICC general secretaries, will be its coordinators. The aim of the march is to make the younger generation appreciate the great legacy that the country has inherited from the "father of the nation," Mr. Vora said. This legacy is "constantly under threat from forces that seek to divide and polarise our people." The Congress called upon all organisations and people, who shared its commitment to the values bequeathed to the nation by Gandhiji, particularly the values of religious tolerance, understanding, and amity, to participate in the programme. The activities during the march will include holding street plays with themes based on values dear to the Mahatma. In the evenings, there will be cultural programmes exhibiting the culture of different States and regions. The idea is to promote the concept of national unity.
National event
Mr. Vora said the march would be a nation-wide celebration. For instance, when Ms. Gandhi flags off the march at Sabarmati and administers a pledge to the participants, similar pledges would be administered in other parts of the country. On the occasion, the Congress will re-affirm its commitment to the welfare and well-being of all people and also re-establish its resolve to protect and promote Gandhian values and those enshrined in the Constitution, especially those relating to social harmony and social justice. It will also be an occasion for re-dedicating the party to realise `poorna swaraj' through `gram swaraj'. Mr. Tushar Gandhi said that several individuals and groups outside India had also evinced interest in the programme and they would be organising marches and other such activities in their own countries. Messages of support have come from a large number of countries including the United States, the United Kingdom, South Africa, Japan and Canada. The grandson of Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, popularly known as Frontier Gandhi, is expected to participate towards the end of the march. A march is expected to be organised in South Africa. Though the programme is being organised by the Congress, anyone can participate as the Mahatma belongs to the entire country. The march will be followed by an international conference on "Women against violence and war."
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