On 70th Martyrdom Day of Mahatma Gandhi, rich tributes were paid to ‘Father of the Nation’ in a programme organized at Deewan–e-Aam by Gandhi Global Family (GGF) and Gandhi Peace foundation under the aegis of United Nations Information Centre India and Bhutan. Deputy Chairman Legislative Council Jahangir Hussain Mir, Legislators Naresh Gupta, Jugal Kishore Sharma, Rajesh Gupta, Mohd. Yusuf Tarigami , Divisional Commissioner, Dr Pawan Kotwal, IGP Danish Rana, Director School Education Babila Rakwal, Former Advisor to Governor Khursheed Ahmed Ganai and General (Retd.) Goverdhan Singh Jamwal were present on the occasion.Speaking on the occasion, Jahangir Hussain Mir exhorted the youth to follow the footsteps of Gandhiji for promoting peace, liberty and justice in the society by removing the evils of discrimination, communalism and inequality.Tarigami expounded on the virtues of Gandhi’s noble thoughts and asked the people to work against poverty, hunger and inequality by emulating the core values given by Gandhi.
Paying tributes to Mahatma, Naresh Gupta said the whole world has adopted the teachings of Gandhi so refocusing on these teachings will help us overcome the problems of everyday life.Jugal Kishore Sharma described Mahatma Gandhi as an epitome of peace which every citizen of the country should study and follow.While paying his tributes Khursheed Ahmad Ganaie said J&K is a beautiful amalgam of various faiths. "Let us educate our children about the sacrifices made by our freedom fighters for upliftment of human kind from misery and sufferings, he said.Highlighting the relevance of Mahatma’s teachings in modern times the Divisional Commissioner urged the youth to adopt Gandhiji’s mantra of ‘Be the change you want to see in the world.While addressing the participants IGP Danish Rana, said present day conflicts and disputes can be resolved by following Gandhiji’s teachings which can further lessen sorrow and destruction in the world.
Educational institutions including schools and colleges, volunteers / functionaries of Gandhi Global family from and prominent citizens from across the state were part of this event.The programme included all faith prayer, pledge, bhajans and skits that were presented by various schools. It is pertinent to mention that GGF was founded in Jammu and now has branches in 45 nations. GGF in its support UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) has adopted 17 schools in the city with each school following one of the chosen goals meticulously.The theme of the programme was introduced by Padamshree S P Verma President Gandhi Global family.Present Members of GGF, Narendra Singh, Azhar Afzal Rather, Sadakat Malik, Bimla Slathia, Ghulam Mohammed Khan, Riaz Ahmed , Mohinder Singh Rasila, Waqar Shamas, Dr Karan Singh and Manish Joshi were also present in the programme.