On this second day of the ongoing G20 summit in India, the bloc leaders drove to Delhi’s Rajghat to pay homage to Mahatma Gandhi and lay a wreath.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi led other leaders to the site including; US President Joe Biden, UK PM Rishi Sunak, Australian PM Anthony Albanese, Canadian PM Justin Trudeau, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and other Heads of state and government and Heads of international organizations at Delhi’s Rajghat to pay homage to Mahatma Gandhi and lay a wreath.
Modi noted that as diverse nations converge, Gandhi Ji’s timeless ideals guide our collective vision for a harmonious, inclusive and prosperous global future.
All the G20 leaders were bare foot when the Mahatma Gandhi’s favorite song ‘Vaishnav Jan To’ was played.
They also observed a minute of silence and laid wreath at Delhi’s Rajghat to pay tribute to Mahatma Gandhi- the beacon of peace, service, compassion and non-violence.
After paying homage to Mahatma Gandhi at Rajghat, leaders and Heads of delegations will then move to Bharat Mandapam.
A tree plantation ceremony will be held at Bharat Mandapam. The leaders will then participate in the third session ‘One Future’ of the G20 summit.
Mahatma Gandhi
Born Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, he was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist and political ethicist who employed nonviolent resistance to lead the successful campaign for India’s independence from British rule. He inspired movements for civil rights and freedom across the world.
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was known to his many followers as Mahatma, or “the great-souled one.”
He began his activism as an Indian immigrant in South Africa in the early 1900s, and in the years following World War I became the leading figure in India’s struggle to gain independence from Great Britain.
Known for his ascetic lifestyle–he often dressed only in a loincloth and shawl–and devout Hindu faith, Gandhi was imprisoned several times during his pursuit of non-cooperation, and undertook a number of hunger strikes to protest the oppression of India’s poorest classes, among other injustices.
After Partition in 1947, he continued to work toward peace between Hindus and Muslims. Gandhi was shot to death in Delhi in January 1948 by a Hindu fundamentalist.
