The Federation of Indian Associations in New South Wales is leading the call for an annual tribute on 30th Jan. to bring to life the messages of Mahatma Gandhi.The group's President, Dr Yadu Singh says the Father of the Nation can never be forgotten. He says the values he stood by are something that every Indian - no matter where in the world - should remember. Anita Barar presents a report packaged by Sonja Heydeman.
Indians around the world have commemorated Martyr's Day .. the anniversary of the assasination of Mahatma Gandhi.
The pre-eminent leader of the Indian independence movement was murdered 68 years ago on 30 January, 1948. And now, an Indian Australian group says it will start campaigning to have Martyrs Day more formally recognized in Australia.
The Federation of Indian Associations in New South Wales is leading the call for an annual tribute (Jan 30th) to bring to life the messages of Mahatma Gandhi.
The group's President, Dr Yadu Singh says the Father of the Nation can never be forgotten. He says the values he stood by are something that every Indian - no matter where in the world - should remember. "The non-violence message is so much more relevant today. In society there is a lot more violence these days and the message from Mahatma Gandhi - the message about non-violence is really, really relevant today - more relevant than ever before. So that's one thing which we always talk about in the families - particularly with the younger kids - that look, we can resolve problems - in our lives, around us, using non-violent methods - debates, discussions - rather than resorting to violent methods."
Dr Singh says in Australia, people have turned to social media to commemorate the day. "There are a lot of Facebook posts mentioning about Mahatma Gandhi's teachings and values. So we know what happened in 1948 .. but I do accept one more thing. I think we as adults have a responsibility to talk more about the values he propagated and the values which came from his life and actually make this a discussion point in a much more vigorous way so that our younger people for whom 1948 was too distant actually do not forget."
In India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid tribute and urged people to remember the "valour of all martyrs who gave their lives for the nation". A two minutes silence at 11 am local time marked the day .. with schools particularly being urged to pause for reflection.
Dr Yadu Singh says the Indian schools program is helpful in keeping Gandhi's messages alive. He says it would be wonderful to bring in a two minutes silence here, especially for young Indian Australians. "Mahatma Gandhi is actually a global phenomenon .. with values and principles and messages .. so look, next year I can tell you that I will be running a campaign for the same thing which is happening in India, happening in Australia as well."
Second generation Indian Australian lawyer and lecturer Pallavi Sinha says it's an important day for reflection.
She says increasing the day's profile in a potentially positive step. "Certainly, the Indian Australian community is the fastest growing community in Australia from some reports so observing a minutes silence to commemorate something that's significant to people from India is something that we should certainly consider."
Ms Sinha says actively commemorating the day will become more important for the Indian Australian as time goes on. "Anything which pays homage to people who make sacrifices and do things for their country I think are very important and certainly for the second generation, or third or fourth generation as they come .. to then also increase their awareness it's very important to do something so that brings this day to their attention."
Dr Singh agrees .. committed to raising awareness in the long term. "For Indian Australians in the community because they do this in India - I know that because I have done that myself as a kid - as a student and I think it would be very good that something of that nature should happen among ourselves, particularly of our kids. We need to bring his values more into the community, more into the system and around us so that his messages are never diluted - are not forgotten - because he's needed today more than in 1948 and before."
