HÀ NỘI  A celebration of Mahatma Gandhi’s 150th birthday took place yesterday in Hà Nội paying tribute to the great leader of India and recalling his contributions to global peace and human development.

An exhibition of photos reviewing the life, historical events and career of Gandhi (1869-1948) kicked off the celebration which was held by the Indian Embassy at the Radio Voice of Việt Nam.

As part of the activities, paintings of Gandhi by Văn Dương Thành, Nông Tiến Dũng and Hoàng Dự were on display. They portrayed the leader with compassion, tolerance and mercy.

In his speech, Ambassador Pranay Verma highlighted the relevance of Gandhi’s messages in contemporary times.

“He was a lawyer, politician, social activist and writer who became the leader of the nationalist movement against the British rule of India. As such, he came to be considered the father of his country. In the eyes of millions of his fellow Indians, Gandhi was the Mahatma (Great Soul). His fame spread worldwide during his lifetime and even after his death.”

“The Ideology of Gandhi about the truth, peace and non-violence inspired many struggles in Asia and Africa to fight against invaders including the revolution in Việt Nam led by President Hồ Chí Minh,” Verma said.

“The leadership and messages of freedom and humanity of Mahatma Gandhi and Uncle Hồ encouraged people of the two countries to gain independence.”

To mark the occasion, Việt Nam Post under the Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC) issued a Mahatma Gandhi stamp set.

With creativity and innovation, the artist has painted a portrait of Mahatma Gandhi that is humble but still shows his compassion, kindness and mercy, said MIC Deputy Minister Phạm Anh Tuấn.

“I hope that, with its own language, that embodies layers of meaning and information, the stamp will be a multi-dimensional message, contributing to co-operation in information and communications between Việt Nam and India as well as in other fields, such as politics, diplomacy, economics, commerce, defence, security, energy, culture, education, science and technology and people-to-people exchange.”

On the occasion, the Việt Nam Institute for Indian and South-West Asian Studies under the Việt Nam Academy of Social Sciences issued a special edition of its journal on the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.

The embassy organised several events last year to celebrate Mahatma@150 throughout the country. One of the events that was well received by students was the Mahatma Gandhi Online Quiz Competition.  VNS