'Summon values of Mahatma Gandhi in highly-charged times': UN chief
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called on Friday to summon the values of Mahatma Gandhi in a time of global conflict and divisions.
IANS
Oct 2, 2026 09:45
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United Nations, Oct 2 (IANS) United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called on Friday to summon the values of Mahatma Gandhi in a time of global conflict and divisions.
“In these highly charged times, let’s summon the courage, empathy, dignity and shared humanity that Gandhi exemplified throughout his life", he said in a message for the UN's International Day of Non-Violence, which commemorates Gandhi Jayanti.
Guterres took a sweeping overview of the challenges that the UN and the world are facing in calling for Gandhi's prescriptions of dialogue and non-violence.
“People are suffering,” he said. “Poverty and inequality are driving a wedge between the haves and have-nots. And the very foundations of peace and development — the UN Charter, human rights, international law and diplomacy and dialogue — are being ignored and flouted with impunity”.
“In this time of rising division, tension and conflict, Gandhi’s lessons speak to us with renewed urgency”, he said.
Deploying the weapons of peace that Gandhi developed, Guterres said, will be the effective way to counter the challenges to humanity.
“He showed that the best way to counter injustice is not to mirror the cruelty and violence of systemic discrimination and oppression — but to employ instead the tools of dialogue and non-violence to build bridges of understanding, deliver dignity and create lasting change”, Guterres said.
“Let’s work to heal divisions through genuine dialogue and diplomacy, end suffering, and build a peaceful world through non-violence”, he said.
"Mahatma Gandhi set an inspiring example of how to create deep, lasting change while holding fast to the principles of peace. Amid rising tension and conflict, his lessons speak to us with renewed urgency. Let’s heal divisions through genuine dialogue and diplomacy, end suffering and build a peaceful world through non-violence," the UN Chief stated on X.
In 2007, the General Assembly declared October 2 the International Day of Non-Violence through a resolution sponsored by 141 countries.
--IANS
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