On Wednesday, celebrate the Day without Violence

The Gandhi International Peace Institute, founded on September 11, 2001, seeks to raise awareness of nonviolence in Hawaii. One of the main goals of this Institute of Peace is to promote world peace.

Peace is not the absence of war. Peace is an internal experience; without inner peace there is no peace in the outer world. When we cultivate peace within ourselves, in our families, and in society, it becomes the first step towards the broader adoption of nonviolence in the world.

Gandhi practiced and preached non-violence (Ahimsa) to his followers. He led a nonviolent movement known as Satyagraha (insistence on truth) through mass civil disobedience and succeeded in removing the British Empire from India in August 1947.

Since 2006, the Gandhi International Peace Institute has held an annual peace event, building bridges with various organizations and churches to support and encourage youth to practice nonviolence in Hawaii.

In 2007, the United Nations designated October 2 – Gandhi’s birthday – as the Day of Nonviolence.

A beautiful statue of Mahatma Gandhi sits under a banyan tree near the entrance to the Honolulu Zoo in Waikiki. The Gandhi statue is a symbol of peace, non-violence, equality, justice and freedom. It reminds us that peace is possible even in the midst of confusion.

Over the years, there have been several notable events related to Mahatma Gandhi Day celebrations in Hawaii.

In April 2013, Arun Gandhi, grandson of Mahatma Gandhi, visited Hawaii and shared Gandhi’s teachings with teachers, students, political leaders, community leaders and interfaith leaders.

The following year, former senator Suzanne Chun-Oakland and Brian Taniguchi introduced a bill in the Hawaii Legislature. Senate Bill 332 was passed unanimously by the Senate and House and became law as Act 5 by Governor David Ige on April 9, 2015, making Hawaii the first state to proclaim October 2 as “Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi Day.”

GIIP has participated in various peace events hosted by the Honpa Hongwanji Mission, the Pacific Center for Justice and Reconciliation, Interfaith Alliances in Hawaii, the Spark Matsunaga Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution at UH, the Iolani School, Families of Peace, and most recently the Buddha Peace Festival.

GIIP will celebrate its 19th annual event commemorating Mahatma Gandhi’s 155th birthday on Wednesday from 5 to 6:30 p.m. in front of the Honolulu Zoo in Waikiki.

The event is free to the public. The event will include a Hawaiian blessing, an Indian spiritual invocation and speeches by prominent community leaders on world peace. There will also be cultural dances and peace music performed by the Royal Hawaiian Band.

Mahatma Gandhi said: “Nonviolence is not a garment that can be put on and taken off at will. Its seat is in the heart and it must be an integral part of our being.”