January 30th commemorates Mahatma Gandhi’s death anniversary. Celebrated as Martyrs’ Day in India, also known as Shaheed Diwas is a day when Gandhi was shot dead by Nathuram Godse in the Birla House.
To pay homage to Gandhiji, the President and the Vice President, Prime Minister, Defense Minister and Three Service Chiefs, offered flower wreaths at his Samadhi at Raj Ghat in Delhi. At 11 a.m. the country had to follow a two-minute silence in the memory of the Indian Martyrs.
Gandhi uttered these lines just a few days before he was shot dead “Hey Ram”. “Have I that non-violence of the brave in me? My death alone will show that. If someone killed me and I died with prayer for the assassin on my lips, and God’s remembrance and consciousness of his living presence in the sanctuary of my heart, then alone would I be said to have had the non-violence of the brave,” Godse had shot him thrice in the chest and abdomen.
The President Of India took to Twitter early this morning to pay homage to the Father of the Nation on Martyrs’ Day.
The tweet read – “On behalf of a grateful nation, my humble tributes to the Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi who embraced martyrdom this day. We should adhere to his ideals of peace, non-violence, simplicity, purity of means and humility. Let us resolve to follow his path of truth and love.”
Vice President Venkaiah Naidu also remembered ‘Bapu’ on his death anniversary. He took to Twitter paying tribute to ‘Bapu’.
“Ahimsa is the highest duty. Even if we cannot practice it in full, we must try to understand its spirit and refrain as far as is humanly possible from violence.”
