The Nation pays homage to the Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi on his 150th birth anniversary today. A series of activities are being organized across the country and by Indian Missions abroad. A Sarva Dharma Prarthana Sabha was organised at Rajghat, the Samadhi of Mahatma Gandhi in the National Capital. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman Harivansh, BJP veteran L K Advani, BJP working president J P Nadda paid floral tributes to Bapu at his Samadhi.
In the evening, the Prime Minister will visit Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad and take part in plogging to make the ashram free of single-use plastic. The Prime Minister drew the nation’s attention towards plogging in his Mann Ki Baat address on Sunday. Later, the Prime Minister will go to the Sabarmati riverfront where he will declare the country open defacation-free in the presence of over 20,000 village heads.
Apart from launching a book titled ‘My Life is My Message’, Prime Minister Modi will also release commemorative postal stamps and coins to mark 150th Birth Anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. In a message last evening, President Ram Nath Kovind said, Mahatma Gandhi is a global icon revered across continents and he showed everyone the path to communal unity, removal of untouchability and upliftment of women.
The President in his message said, it is a special occasion for everyone to rededicate to the values of truth, non-violence, harmony, morality and simplicity. He added that ‘Satya’, ‘Ahimsa’ and ‘Sarvodaya’ formed the bedrock of Gandhi’s numerous messages to humanity.