Mumbai colleges set for Bapu’s 150th birth anniversary celebrations

In October, the country will begin two-year-long celebrations to mark 150th birthday of Mahatma Gandhi. However, a few Mumbai colleges have already chalked out programme they will be organising for the next two years . Although Gandhi’s 150th birth anniversary falls on October 2, 2019, the Centre has created a committee to plan events between October 2, 2018 and October 2, 2020 .

Thadomal Shahani Engineering College, Bandra, has a permanent exhibit called ‘Gandhi Wall’ that displays information on the lives of Mahatma Gandhi and the late former president and Gandhian APJ Abdul Kalam. The college has plans to make additions to the exhibit to mark the birth anniversary.

Rizvi College and RD National College, both in Bandra, have set up an exhibit featuring a banner highlighting Gandhi’s ideas on communal unity, removal of untouchability and education for women, among others.

Students said they are focussing on new voters, who will be eligible to take part in the 2019 elections.

“The idea is to inform youngsters about the relevance of Gandhiji’s teachings in today’s era because most of these students are first time voters. So they can set an agenda that can be incorporated in the manifestos ahead of the elections. But for now, there is no political leaning. The whole idea is to speak about Gandhi’s constructive programme,” said Arun Bhaskar, member, Indian Political Action Committee (I-PAC), a group comprising students and young professionals.

Bhaskar added in the coming week, sessions will organised in five city colleges asking students to vote online for the top-10 priorities they think should be addressed by the government and which political leader would be best suited to carry their agenda forth.Currently, 821 student from colleges in the city and suburbs are part of the group.

“We have a wall in our college, which has details about Gandhi and APJ Abdul Kalam. So we organised a session explaining students about the teachings of Gandhiji and asking them to vote because earlier when I would tell my classmates about the whole idea they wouldn’t take it seriously. Even if I’m able to spread awareness about it among 1,000 people, I would have done a small bit for my country,” said Yash Chawla, chemical engineering student, Thadomal Shahani Engineering College.

Most students are speaking about the voting process and initiating discussions on Gandhi’s ideology on various social media platforms by specifying they are doing so ‘as their contribution towards a better country ahead of August 15’.

“We have installed a banner in our college highlighting Gandhi’s teachings. I believe if we promote them, we could take forward the idea of having a peaceful nation. The idea has appealed to a lot of my fellow students too, as they have also voted to set the agenda. Instead of having religious fights, we could follow Gandhi and live peacefully together,” said Amir Bana, head of department, cultural committee, Rizvi College of Arts, Science and Commerce.

First Published: Aug 12, 2018 23:12 IST