Invitation - Tribute to Mahatma Gandhi on the Occasion of 150th Birth Anniversary by Sulabh Family

INVITATION Tribute to Mahatma Gandhi on the Occasion of

150th Birth Anniversary

by Sulabh Family

on October 2, 2018, at 3:30 pm at Constitution Club Annexe, Rafi Marg, New Delhi

Dr. Bindeshwar Pathak will deliver the keynote address on Fundamentals and Secondaries of Gandhi and Relevance of Non-violence

Dr. Bindeshwar Pathak, Founder, Sulabh Sanitation and Social Reform Movement and Member, National Committee for Commemoration of 150th Birth Anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, Government of India and the entire Sulabh Family cordially invite you to pay

Tribute to Mahatma Gandhi on the Occasion of 150th Birth Anniversary

Hon'ble Shri Ram Bahadur Rai

Chairman, Indira Gandhi National Centre for Arts, New Delhi will be the Chief Guest

Hon'ble Shri Qaisar N.K. Jani Living Statue of Mahatma Gandhi

will be the Special Guest of Honour

dr. bindeshwar pathak Founder, Sulabh Sanitation and Social Reform Movement will deliver the keynote address

Hon'ble Dr. bhashkar chatterjee, IAS (Retd.)

former Director General and CEO, Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs will preside over the function

on October 2, 2018; Time : 3:30 pm Venue

Constitution Club Annexe Rafi Marg, New Delhi-110 001

Visit at the photo exhibition featuring on Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi RSVP :

Suresh Prasad : 09810399293, Aarti Arora : 09899855344 Office : 011-25031518, 25031519, Fax : 011-25034014 Email : sulabhinfo@gmail.com/info@sulabhinternational.org Sulabh Gram, Mahavir Enclave, Palam-Dabri Road New Delhi-110045

Kindly join us for High Tea after the function

Dr. Pathak along with the former human scavengers from Alwar and Tonk, Rajasthan paying tribute to Mahatma Gandhi at Phoenix Ashram, Durban, South Africa

Hon'ble Smt. Ela Gandhi, Granddaughter of Mahatma Gandhi with the former untouchables during her visit at Sulabh Gram along with Mr. Iian Sinclair Thomas, Writer from South Africa

Dr. Pathak and Mrs. Amola Pathak along with the former untouchables offering homage to Mahatma Gandhi at Raj Ghat, New Delhi

Hon'ble Smt. Tara Gandhi Bhattacharjee, Granddaughter of Mahatma Gandhi with the former untouchables along with Dr. Pathak

Prof. Rajmohan Gandhi dined with the liberated untouchable women and the families where they did scavenging and priests along with Dr. Pathak at Sulabh Gram, New Delhi

Please join us to pay homage to Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi

Baa and Bapu

on October 2, 2018, at 10:30 am at Rajghat Samadhi, New Delhi

Tribute to

Mahatma Gandhi on the Occasion of

150th Birth Anniversary

The 150th Birth Centenary Celebration of Mahatma Gandhi:Tribute Ceremony from the Sulabh Family Mahatma Gandhi was born on October 2, 1869 at Porbandar of Kathiawad district in Gujarat. After doing his basic education in India, he travelled to England in 1888 to study law. He studied law there and returned to India. He practiced law in India for some time and then went to South Africa in 1893. He established Phoenix Ashram in Durban and started his public work.

While staying in South Africa Gandhiji started a movement against injustice and colour discrimination. He developed and disseminated the philosophy of Satyagraha and launched a campaign for a discriminationfree society. He constituted the Natal Indian Congress in 1894. This forum opposed in a non-violent way the repressive behaviour of the white people against the Indians settled there and the native African people.

In 1906 Gandhiji conducted his first satyagraha against the Transvaal Asiatic Registration Act that was targetting the local Indians. In 1907 he started the satyagraha afresh against that black Act. In 1908 he was sentenced to jail for organising non-violent movements. But he was set free after he met General Smuts, a prominent leader of the British Commonwealth. In 1913 he raised his voice against the annulment of non-Christian marriages. In Pargaman he led a non-violent protest for the better treatment of the juvenile Indians. He led a crowd of 2000 Indians at the Transvaal border.

In 1901 during the Calcutta session of the Indian National Congress, he picked up the broom that foreshadowed his lifelong passion for cleanliness. After this he kept on visiting India, and finally he returned to India in 1915.

During the freedom struggle, Gandhiji advised people to construct trench latrines in their homes and use them, thus suggesting them to desist from the habit of going outside for defecation. He also advised people that after defecating they should cover it by mud so that flies should not sit on that, thus preventing the spread of diseases. For this, he used the phrase “Tatti pe Mitti” that became quite popular.

Mahatma Gandhi was extremely distressed by the pitiable condition of the untouchables and the cruel social discrimination that they had to face. He wanted to relieve the scavenging untouchables from the manual cleaning of excreta, as he wanted to bring them into the social mainstream.

Extremely moved by the plight of scavenging untouchables, he once said, “I may not be born again, but if it happens, I will like to be born in a family of scavengers, so that I may relieve them of the inhuman, unhealthy and hateful practice of carrying night soil.”

Gandhiji was an impassioned advocate of cleanliness and he wanted to see India as a clean country, so much so that he said during India’s freedom struggle, “A clean India first, Independence later.” But, as is well known, his dream of a clean India could not be fulfilled during his lifetime.

Many social workers and NGOs, semi-government and government organisations engaged themselves in fulfilling Gandhiji’s dream, but they failed to achieve their objective. To fulfill Gandhiji’s dream many committees were formed to take people’s opinions on the subject.

Among such committees, two became quite famous—Barve Committee, Maharashtra, (1949) and Malkani Committee (1957). The head of Malkani Committee was a Member of Parliament. Their report came in 1960. These committees suggested many ways to improve the conditions of Valmikis (scavenging untouchables), but no effective outcome vis-à-vis liberation of scavengers came out of those suggestions.

In 1968, to celebrate the Birth Centenary of Mahatma Gandhi, a national committee was formed under the leadership of the President and the Prime Minister with many renowned public figures as its members. Similarly, at state level many such committees were formed under the stewardship of Governors and Chief Ministers.

In Bihar too, such a committee was formed—Bihar Gandhi Birth Centenary Celebration Committee. The Governor and the Chief Minister of the state headed this Committee. The Committee decided to take up four programmes to celebrate Gandhi Birth Centenary Year, and for this purpose the four sub-committees were formed— 1.

Gandhi Sandesh Prachar Upsamiti

3.

Mahila Bal Kalyan Upsamiti, and

2.

4.

Bhangi Mukti Upsamiti

Tarunshanti Sena Upsamiti

In 1968, Dr. Bindeshwar Pathak formally joined the Bihar Gandhi Birth Centenary Celebration Committee as a social worker. After working for some time in the Gandhi Sandesh Prachar Upsamiti, he was given the responsibility to look after public relations in the Bhangi Mukti SubCommittee. After serving for two years in the Committee, Dr. Bindeshwar Pathak founded the Sulabh Swachh Shauchalaya Prashikshan Sansthan and started a movement which subsequently became famous as ‘Sulabh Movement’.

Working from 1968 to 2018, Sulabh has completed 50 years of its engagement in the field of sanitation. During these 50 years, Dr. Bindeshwar Pathak has served the society and country with extraordinary dedication.

Through his exceptional service to the nation, Dr. Pathak has embodied what John F. Kennedy, the former US President, had famously said about the true hallmark of patriotism, “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.” We will discuss about our achievements during the last 50 years on the occasion of tribute-paying ceremony to be held on October 2, 2018 in Constitution Club Annexe, New Delhi. At the same time, we will discuss the upcoming events on the occasion of 150th Birth Anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.