Gandhi Legacy Tour made the following press announcement today.
120th Anniversary of Racist Discrimination that changed the World
In its 16th year, and on the 120th anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi’s first act of non-violent civil resistance, Gandhi Legacy Tours has announced two new philanthropic travel missions in India and South Africa to be led by Arun and Tushar Gandhi
Dana Point, CA June 5, 2013: “It was exactly 120 years ago on June 7 that Mohandas K. Gandhi was thrown off a train in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, in a racist act that transformed a lawyer into a Mahatma — Great Soul,” said Dr. Arun Gandhi, grandson of Mohandas K. (Mahatma) Gandhi today.
To mark the occasion Dr. Gandhi, president of Gandhi Legacy Tours and Gandhi Worldwide Education Institute, announced two additional educational tours to South Africa and India, to understand the philosophy of nonviolence and its application in the 21st century, which is rapidly becoming the most violent in history. “If this world is to be saved from self-destruction,” Dr. Gandhi said. “Nonviolence is inevitable.”
The proposed two new tours are the Gandhi Legacy of Love Tour of India and the Gandhi Satyagraha Legacy Tour of South Africa. The original Gandhi Legacy Tour was started in 1998 and over 16 years a few hundred students later, young and old have been exposed to the many facets of the philosophy of nonviolence. Apart from visiting key places where Gandhi lived and worked, the tour includes projects started by young individuals inspired by Gandhi’s applied philosophy and writings.
The racial incident that occurred on June 7, 1893, was traumatic enough to change the life of Gandhi. As President Nelson Mandela said: “India sent a man to South Africa and we sent back a Mahatma.”
Dr. Gandhi, noted peace and human rights activist, not only personally leads the group every year but also participates in dialogues and discussions throughout the tour.
2013-14 Gandhi Tour Dates:
Gandhi Legacy: Dec 29 2013 – January 13 2014
Gandhi Legacy of Love: Dec 2 2013 – Dec 15 2013
Gandhi Satyagraha Legacy: 2014 TBA Itinerary
For registration, tour pricing and further details, please see the Gandhi tours video and travel pages.
About Arun Gandhi
Born in 1934 in Durban, South Africa, Arun is the fifth grandson of Mohandas K. “Mahatma” Gandhi. Growing up under the discriminatory apartheid laws of South Africa, he was beaten by “white” South Africans for being too black, and “black” South Africans for being too white. However, he learned from his parents and grandparents that justice does not mean revenge, it means transforming the opponent through love and suffering. Having spent nearly two years with his Grandfather Arun learned to understand nonviolence through understanding violence. “If we know how much passive violence we perpetrate against one another we will understand why there are so much physical violence plaguing societies and the world today,” the Mahatma told Arun.
For the past decade, Arun has participated in the Renaissance Weekend deliberations with President Clinton and other well-respected Rhodes Scholars. Arun shares the lessons he learned from the Mahatma with audiences all over the world.
About Tushar Gandhi (co-Leader of the tours)
Tushar was born on January 17, 1960. In 1996 Tushar was appointed President of the Lok Seva Trust, a voluntary organization working for the economically weaker sections of Mumbai. He established the Mahatma Gandhi Foundation to make Gandhi’s message available globally on the Internet. Tushar was also invited to join the Advisory Committee on Cyber Crime. He was appointed by the Prime Minister of India to the subcommittee of the Gandhi Smriti and Darshan Samiti (Gandhi National Museum).
Tushar is involved with the US based peace organization ‘Seeds for Peace’ which works with children from troubled areas of the world. In 2005, to mark the 75th Anniversary of the 1930 Salt March, Tushar organized a 241-mile walk for Peace, Justice and Freedom along with 600 marchers from India, Pakistan, the US, UK and other parts of the world. The Mahatma Gandhi Foundation was awarded the 1st ‘Mahatma Mahaveer Award’ for promoting the ideals of Gandhi.
Tushar is the author of Let’s Kill Gandhi: A definitive study of the Hindu Fundamentalist plot to assassinate Gandhi.
For interviews with Dr. Arun Gandhi or Tushar Gandhi, press inquiries and interested travellers, please contact Lynnea Bylund: lbylund@gandhitour.info