Congressman Jim McDermott, Washington state Democrat, and co-chair of the Congressional Caucus on India and Indian-Americans, October 2, took to the House floor to laud Sonia Gandhi [Images] for inspiring the UN resolution designating Mahatma Gandhi's [Images] birthday as the International Day of  Non-Violence.
 
McDermott, informed his Congressional colleagues, "Today, is a very special day. Today, October 2, marks the birth date of Mahatma Gandhi. To honour him, the United Nations approved a resolution that, beginning today, designates October 2 as the International Day of Non-Violence."
 
"It's a start--one that was inspired by Sonia Gandhi after she successfully led an international conference called Peace, Non-Violence and Empowerment--Gandhian Philosophy in the 21st Century,"  in January 2007,the lawmaker said.
 
McDermott, who holds the record for having visited India the most number of times--more than 20--and during a time it was not usual to do so--spoke of there being "a yearning for peace, for an end to world hunger and poverty, and for a world in which peace and justice for all is not a dream, but a reality".
 
"Gandhi showed us the way," he said, and quoted the great Indian leader--who inspired the likes of US civil rights icon, the late Rev. Martin Luther King Jr�saying, 'Non-violence is not a garment to be put on and put off at will. Its seat is in the heart, and it must be inseparable part of our being."
 
McDermott, a physician by training, who visited India initially nearly two decades ago, particularly the red-light districts of Mumbai and Kolkata, with Indian-American physician from Michigan Dr Raj Bothra, to bring about sensitivity about a looming HIV/AIDS pandemic in India--said "Gandhi's philosophy is a legacy he left to benefit the whole world."
 
"It's up to us to preserve this great gift6. To do my part, I've introduced House Resolution 653 to express the Sense of the House of Representatives that the concept of nonviolence and the teachings of Gandhi remain relevant in today's world."
 
McDermott, continuing to quote Gandhi said, "Non-violence is the greatest force at the disposal of mankind. It is mightier than the mightiest weapon of destruction devised by the ingenuity of man.'"
 
He said the UN resolution "itself shows Gandhi's remarkable ability to change the world", and pointed out that "a record 143 nations co-sponsored the UN resolution", and noted that this was once again a case of " Gandhi uniting us again".
 
"Let us resolve to honour his memory by dedicating ourselves to Gandhi's philosophy of peace through non-violence," he said.

"It is the only path to true peace in the world," he said.
 
McDermott's resolution, that was co-sponsored by Congressman Joe Wilson, South Carolina Republican, and GOP co-chair of the India Caucus, expressed the Sense of the House of Representatives that "the concept of nonviolence and the teachings of Gandhi remain relevant and instructive in today's world and the United States should take an active role in disseminating the message of nonviolence through education and public awareness".
 
In the preamble of the Resolution, he said nonviolence was most famously instrumental in the struggle for Indian independence and the civil rights movement in the United States and said it had been advocated in some form by many of the great leaders of the 20th Century, who besides Gandhi, included Martin Luther King Jr, Cesar Chavez, Leo Tolstoy, Albert Einstein, and Dorothy Day, among others.
 
The resolution resolved that "the President should issue a proclamation calling on the American people to observe the International Day of Nonviolence with appropriate ceremonies and activities".
 
Mike Decesare, press secretary to McDermott told rediff.com that his boss had taken to the House floor and introduced the resolution of his own volition and not at the urging of anybody because "Gandhi is one of Jim's heroes and he wanted to ensure that the world never lost sight of his wisdom and the power of nonviolence".