Consulate General of India
Chicago
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Press Release
Gandhi Jayanti celebration
On the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti, the Consul General of India Consul General Amit Kumar paid homage to Mahatma Gandhi at the Gandhi statue in Memorial Park in Skokie at an event organised in collaboration with Gandhi Memorial Foundation.
Consul General Amit Kumar, Ms. Santosh Kumar, the President of the Gandhi Memorial Foundation, Mayor of Skokie George Van Dusen and Illinois Senator Ram Villivalam addressed the participants.
The Consulate also organised a separate event at its own premises to commemorate Gandhi Jayanti, where Consul General Amit Kumar, Dr Bharat Barai, PBSA awardee and Ms. Santosh Kumar, President of the Gandhi Memorial Foundation addressed the participants. The event was live-streamed on Consulate’s Facebook page.
CG Kumar in his remarks at the two events recalled the legacy of Mahatma Gandhi and it’s impact across the world including in the United States. He underlined the continuing relevance of Gandhi ji’s philosophy. Ensuring that our country moves forward on the path of all inclusive, integrated, equitable and sustainable development through our collective efforts would be a suitable way to pay tribute to Mahatma Gandhi as we celebrate Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav. He also referred to several initiatives of the government such as Ayushmann Bharat scheme, Jandhan Yojana, Jal Jeevan Mission, digitisation of land records COWIN platform etc. to empower our citizens by promoting health equity, financial inclusion, social and digital empowerment.
The event also saw recital of Bhajans in Hindi, Sanskrit and Tamil by students of the Chicago TyagarajaUtsavam (trained by Ms. MargathamSundaresan), Bharatanatyam performances by the students of Nrithyanjali (choreography by Ms. Sushmita Arunkumar) and saxophone (Carnatic music) by Ms. Anvita Hariharan. A short video on Gandhi Peace Program organised by the National Indo-American Museum (NIAM) was screened. A photo exhibition on the life of Mahatma Gandhi contributed by Dr Sriram Sonty, a Gandhi Scholar, was also organised at the Consulate.
At the Skokie Event, The Gandhi Memorial Foundation presented a set of collected works of Mahatma Gandhi to the Skokie library. The Foundation also initiated a programme involving high school children to promote understanding of Mahatma Gandhi. Four High school students selected one of Gandhi Ji’s quotes and shared their understanding and the lessons that they drew from it.
The Consulate live streamed virtual narration of Mahatma Gandhi’s Global Pursuit for Truth, Non-violence & Peace by Dr. ShobhanaRadhakrishna on Consulate’s Facebook page.
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