International Day of Non-Violence 2nd October 2020
It’s exciting to note that Gandhi Jayanti and the international day of non-violence fall on the same day. If you’re pondering over the reason for this coincidence, it’s pretty simple. The day marks the promotion of peace and non-violence, something that Gandhiji preached throughout his life.
United Nations internationally recognize this day and thus celebrated to create awareness on peaceful co-existence. The international day of non-violence is celebrated on October 2nd every year.
This article discusses in depth about various parameters of International day of non-violence concerning its history, significance, themes over the past few years, celebration and essential FAQs. Let’s go through each section in greater detail.
International Day of Non-Violence 2020 – History
The first-ever international day of non-violence was celebrated on October 2nd, 2007. The day was perfectly aligned with Mahatma Gandhi’s birthday celebrations. Two main mediums were identified to propagate Gandhi’s ideals to the world.
Education and use of public awareness mediums were sought out to send out messages of universal brotherhood and peace throughout the world. The United Nations launched this intellectual endeavour.
With much appreciation around every corner of the world, they themed their celebrations to highlight the relevance of non-violence even in present times. Nations who were at war with each other were especially focused to bring in cultural transitions between them and establish peace and communal harmony at all levels.
Significance of International Day of Non-Violence
Mahatma Gandhi, the father of India, is well known for his relentless fight and struggle, which eventually led to India’s independence from British rule. Indians had to put up a stiff battle against every strike from the British to secure freedom from the clutches of British dominated law.
Such was the poignant role of Mahatma Gandhi that people celebrate his father figure even today. He is internationally known for fighting against racial discrimination and facing oppression’s throughout his life in a peaceful manner.
Mahatma protested against British rule but maintained his act of non-violence. He conducted marches, movements, protests, hunger strikes, all this while not crossing the path of non-violence. He intervened and spoke against many of the acts and rules passed by the British.
The Non-cooperation movement, Dandi march, Salt Satyagraha, Quit India movement are examples of his unstoppable spirit in his fight against foreign rule. To celebrate his vigour and continue to preach the message of non-violence to the world, the UN-recognized his efforts and set up the International Day of non-violence.
The international body intends to spread the word of solving disagreements between nations by establishing peace talks with each other. They want to communicate to governments that war is not the only solution to end disputes between countries. Still, peace talks and peaceful resolutions could avoid the majority of people’s problems.
International Day of Non-Violence 2020 Themes
The common theme which surrounds the International day of non-violence is the ideas of peace, non-violence, service in the name of humanity, spreading love and bringing social reforms.
Positive messages are circulated on this day on social media to get people’s attention towards commonly celebrated themes. Some of the standard quotes that rule the day include “Peace is cheaper when compared to costly wars”.
Some of the other common theme-inspired quotes include “Violence spreads more violence, lets spread love and peace everywhere”. “It’s important to teach peace to attain peace” is another famous themed quote.
Talking about peace as a universal theme, many nations have adopted peaceful living as the only beautiful religion to preach and follow. Finding peace within ourselves and overcoming hatred is key to a nation’s growth and development.
Any other external force cannot shake a country that works together and stands on unified spirits of harmony and brotherhood. But we can make a mark on the world through our gentle touch, by adopting a peaceful path, making peace our dream and finding peace within ourselves.
International Day of Non-Violence 2020 Celebration
There are thousands of ways in which this day is celebrated worldwide. The most popular and significant form of celebrating the international day of non-violence is by spreading the message of Mahatma Gandhi.
We can volunteer and campaign his preaching and beliefs. We can make slogans and placards displaying messages of peace and love and host walkathon to create awareness amongst people.
We can visit schools and colleges and address the student community to tell them about Mahatma Gandhi’s teachings. We can create a short documentary on Mahatma Gandhi’s life and showcase it to educational institutions.
An exhibition that talks about Gandhi’s life, teachings, his ideals and beliefs can be stalled for a month. This way, people of all age groups could re-visit his experience and learn more about the challenges and oppression he faced during his lifetime.
Schools could instil values of non-violence in children by organizing small skits involving children in different roles. Spreading the message of love in little minds could leave an impact for a lifetime and make them adapt to values of living in peace and calmness.
Television channels and cinema halls could hold a special screening of Mahatma Gandhi’s documentaries to spread public awareness on Mahatma Gandhi, the father of our nation.
Conclusion
October 2nd of the year 2020 will be a Friday and this year is going to be a big celebration for Mahatma Gandhi’s sacrifices for our nation. His values and ideals will be celebrated at the international level.
The UN hasn’t conceived a particular theme as yet. His message of peace, non-violence and living in harmony need widespread propagation to unify people across all nations.
Non-violence should be the only universal religion of people. We must value human lives; we must strive for humanity and establish a peaceful order.
In this process, we should stop wars and detest people from spreading hatred towards each other. Let us build nations on the foundations of love for humanity. Let’s serve humanity at its behest and hold back any apprehensions on forging disruptions and economic progress through nuclear warfare’s.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. When is the International Day of Non-Violence?
The international day of non-violence is celebrated on October 2nd every year to commemorate the birthday of Mahatma Gandhi.
2. Why is World Non-Violence Day celebrated?
The United Nations recognized Mahatma Gandhi’s efforts towards building a peaceful world order and dedicated a day of celebration on his birthday. This day is called the international day of non-violence and is observed to spread public awareness on peace, love and harmonious co-existence.
3. How vital is non-violence in today’s world?
In today’s world, every other nation is at loggerheads with each other. Countries are forging war against each other to establish supremacy over economies and nuclear superpowers. In this need of the hour, the principles of non-violence help nations to address their external and internal problems through peaceful resolutions and peace talks cum treaties.
4. How do we celebrate International Day of non-violence?
It is through education and public awareness that the international day of non-violence can be successfully celebrated. Schools and colleges encourage skits to spread the word on the importance of non-violence. Public awareness campaigns, walkathon, sponsored runs themed around struggles and life of Gandhi could be a great idea too. Cinema halls could run free shows and documentaries on Mahatma Gandhi to mark the special day. Social media channels can propagate essential messages on the international day of non-violence and gather a greater audience to talk about Gandhian values.
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