|
Celebration of Mahatma Gandhi’s birthday, 2nd October,
established by the United Nations as the International Day of
Non-Violence, was organized by the Indo-Hellenic Society for Culture
and Development (ELINEPA) and the Embassy of India in Greece and
held in the Cultural Centre of Municipality of Athens.
 The
event drew attention of many friends of Gandhi. For the first time
many Indians who live and work in Athens attended the celebration.
The celebration started with Mahatma Gandhi’s favourite songs, sung
in Hindi by a distinguished musician Kostas Kalaitzis, that evoked
the audience’s deep emotions.
H.E. the Ambassador of India Mr. Dilip Sinha talked in his speech
about the ever-lasting values of Mahatma Gandhi, especially in the
issues concerning ecology and his firm concentration on
non-violence. The values of Gandhi remain especially important in
our times when we face serious ecological problems as well as
social, like terrorism, social inequality and injustice, the
Ambassador emphasized.
 The
next speaker was emeritus professor of Aegean University Nikolas
Vernikos who highlighted Gandhi’s ability to unite and inspire all
Indians against the British colonial yoke. Today’s Europe needs such
inspirer, who will be able to unite it and smooth out the
differences which separate its member-states, he stressed.
The last speaker was President of ELINEPA and Indologist Dr.
Dimitris Vassiliadis who analyzed the formation of the universal
character of Mahatma Gandhi, pointing out how ideological trends of
India and other major world personalities influenced him. Gandhi in
his turn, influenced the whole world and especially the movement of
the civil rights in America . The President of ELINEPA announced as
well that with the support of the Indian Embassy and the Indian
Council for Cultural Relations the ELINEPA had started preparation
of a book entitled “The Values of Mahatma Gandhi through his
Writings” which aspires to present the selected texts of Gandhi
translated into Greek for the first time.
 Thereafter
a documentary “Mahatma Gandhi – the Great Personality of the 20th
Century” with original scenes and films from his life was shown. The
documentary was provided by the Indian Embassy in Athens . Reception
followed at the hall of the Cultural Centre.
|
