India to organise 'Gandhi March' in Netherlands

India will organise 'Gandhi March' from the iconic Peace Palace at the Hague to Grote Kerk on Sunday to launch the two-year long celebrations of the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.

The 'Gandhi March' will see participation of people of all nationalities and around 20 ambassadors of different countries, according to a statement issued by the Indian Embassy here on Monday.

Spiritual guru 'Sri M', India's ambassador to the Netherlands Venu Rajamony, deputy mayor of The Hague and ambassadors of the US, Indonesia and Afghanistan will address the marchers.

The march will conclude with multinational cultural performances highlighting the message of non-violence, a special exhibition mounted on a Khadi Scroll (curated by Pramod Kapoor of Roli Books, India) and a movie on the life of Mahatma Gandhi.

On the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti on October 2, marked as International Day of Non-Violence, five other events will be held in The Hague, Amsterdam, Utrecht and Zoetermeer.

Special commemorative stamps issued by the Indian postal department will be released and a meeting will be held at the Peace Palace complex to discuss the relevance of Mahatma Gandhi's teachings to address the challenges of the modern world.

A 'Gandhi Walk' will also be held in the capital city the same evening.

The Indian Embassy along with community organisations will conduct an outreach programme called "Follow the Mahatma" from October 1-5 under which over 100 volunteers will fan out to around 20 schools of the Netherlands to spread the message of non-violence and to educate students about the life of Mahatma Gandhi and how India won freedom through a non-violence movement, the statement said.

A social media campaign with the hashtag #followthemahatma will be conducted during the period, inviting people across the Netherlands to post messages reiterating their commitment to the principle of non-violence.

The Netherlands has a special connection to India and Mahatma Gandhi. There are around thirty streets in the country named after Mahatma Gandhi, perhaps the largest after India anywhere in the world.