Secretary-General of the United Nations, Kofi Annan

Delivered by Gillian Martin Sorensen
Asst. Sec. Gen. For External Affairs

"Nonviolence is the first article of my faith. It is also the last article of my creed." Thus Mahatma Gandhi summed up his defense when charged with agitation against the State in 1922. Thus Gandhi himself embodied the movement we are here to celebrate today.

And this season of nonviolence, which we are lunching here, sums  up the continuing legacy of Mohandas Gandhi. I t sums up what I like to think of as the passing of the torch.

It is a moving fact that the two deaths whose anniversaries open and close this season occurred 50 and 30 years ago this year. Martin Luther King received the torch from Mahatma Gandhi, before his assassination in 1948, and held it high until his own three decades later.

The torch was carried by many hands. They included Dr. Benjamin Elijah Mays, the principal of Morehouse College, who returned from India as one of the growing number of African-American disciples of Mahatma Gandhi. When Dr. King entered Morehouse at the age of 15, Mays became one of the great influences in his life. And there, the torch was passed on. It was kept burning by the civil rights movement here. Who will carry it for future generations? Part of the answer can be found before us right here today.

Over the next 64 days, you will honor those who have championed nonviolence as a way of life and struggle; you will bring together communities, groups and individuals who are making non-violent choices in meeting challenges; you will use media, education and dialogue to spread the message; you will light hundreds and thousands of new torches along the way.

This year also marks the 50th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. We in the United Nations will be using a strategy very like your own to bring home the message that human rights are the common language of humanity.

I believe that our two messages are voices that will speak in unison. I believe this is one of the best tributes we can pay to Mahatma Gandhi, and to those who followed him.

The torch is ours now to hold high. This is our way of ensuring that their deaths were not in vain. Let us begin; for we have many miles to go, and many torches still to light.
 
 

The Vice President of the
United States, Al Gore

Delivered by The Hon. Bob Clement, U.S. Representative, TN

Dear Friends:
I am honored to have this opportunity to extend my personal greetings to everyone participating in the M.K. Gandhi 50th Memorial and "Season" Commencement Celebration at the United Nations. While I regret that I am unable to join you in person, I do want to offer my best wishes on this special occasion.

Certainly, this memorial service will be a unique opportunity to honor the lifelong efforts of Mahatma Gandhi, for he was a true champion of nonviolence and social reform.

All of us should remember the honorable sacrifices he made through nonviolent means to live in a peaceful and united country, and his program of tolerance for all creeds and religions is an enduring example that all citizens of the world should continue to follow.

Once again, please accept my best wishes for all of those in attendance along with my hopes for a  peaceful future.

Sincerely,
Al Gore
 

FEDERICO MAYOR; FROM HIS OFFICIAL VISIT TO INDIA: GANDHI'S MESSAGE LIVES ON AND IS MORE RELEVANT THAN EVER
Delivered by Mrs. Nina Sibal,
UNESCO Repr. to the United Nations

New Delhi, January 30 - On an official visit to India, UNESCO Director-General Federico Mayor today issued a declaration expressing his adherence to Mahatma Gandhi's ideals which are also the ideals underpinning UNESCO.

As he took part in the commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the assassination of the apostle of non-violence, alongside President K.R. Narayanan, Prime Minister Inder Kumar Gujral and many other senior officials, Mr. Mayor stressed that the message of Mahatma Gandhi lives on and is more relevant than ever. It is universal, he said.

Here is the full text of Mr. Mayor's declaration:

We are commemorating today the tragic demise of Mahatma Gandhi and we celebrate his contribution not only to the liberation of India but also to the progress of humanism throughout the world. The message of Mahatma Gandhi lives on and is more relevant than ever. It is universal.

Through his wonderful example, Mahatma Gandhi showed that it is possible to fight injustice while respecting the life, rights, integrity and dignity of the adversary. He showed that his concept of non-violence does not imply passivity and indifference - far from it - but actions that are powerful, creative and brave, a daily radical engagement in the struggle against the ills besetting the human community.

Today still, Mahatma Gandhi teaches us that tolerance is consonant with the highest aspirations of humanity. No submissiveness, nor violence or terror. Accepting the diversity which is our main richness means accepting reality. Sharing the same intrinsic values is our future. Humanity is manifold by nature, and if it wishes to survive and to develop, we must learn to live together, in nonviolence.

On January 30 as we celebrate the memory of Mahatma Gandhi, apostle of nonviolence, our thoughts also go to two other great figures of our century, Dr Martin Luther King and Mother Teresa. By virtue of our specific mandate in the UN system, UNESCO is actively involved in today's commemoration and my presence at Mahatma Gandhi's Samadhi in New Delhi testifies to the importance of this involvement. On this occasion, to show our attachment to Mahatma Gandhi's ideals, and to continue contributing to the transition of humanity from a culture of war and violence to a culture of peace and nonviolence, I am happy to announce that from now on UNESCO's Culture of Peace Programme will be known as the Programme for a Culture of Peace and Non-violence.

The UN General Assembly declared the year 2000 International Year for the Culture of Peace. We hope that the first decade of the next millennium will be devoted to education for peace and nonviolence, thus tying in with the proposal made by the Nobel Peace Prize laureates with the support of UNESCO, hundreds of NGOs and thousands of people world-wide. We hope that in the third millennium the wisdom of non-violence and love, which is at the heart of all religions, will prevail all over the world.