Res 1098-2019

By Council Member Ulrich Whereas, Mahatma Gandhi was born Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi on October 2, 1869 in Porbandar, India to a wealthy family as the youngest of four children; and Whereas, In May of 1883, as was the custom, a 13 year old Gandhi was married to a 14 year old Kasturba Makhanji in an arranged child marriage; and Whereas, At the age of 19, Gandhi pursued the study of the law in London and, upon completion of his education, returned home to Bombay where he struggled to build a successful legal practice; and Whereas, Hoping for a better work life, in the late 1890's Gandhi moved his wife and children to South Africa where he began to practice law for the next 20 years; and Whereas, As an Indian immigrant working as a barrister in South Africa, Gandhi would experience the common practice of racial discrimination and often suffer humiliations such as being asked to remove his turban in the courtroom by an English magistrate, and being thrown out of a first-class rail compartment only to be beaten by a white stagecoach driver after refusing to give up his seat to a white European passenger; and Whereas, By the age of 25, Gandhi had become a political activist who garnered public attention and emerged as a voice of the Indian community in South Africa when he founded the Natal Indian Congress to fight discrimination against Indians in South Africa; and Whereas, In opposition to a 1906 South African law requiring all male Asians to be fingerprinted, carry an identification pass, tolerate non-recognition of their marriages by the state and pay a special Indian Relief tax, Gandhi urged his fellow citizens to peacefully protest and disobey the laws which, for the next seven years, resulted in thousands of Indians being beaten, jailed and sometimes shot, until a 1914 public outcry against their treatment resulted in the enactment of the Indian Relief Act which repealed the aforementioned restrictions and penalties; and Whereas, In 1915, upon his return to British ruled India, Gandhi led Indian farmers in non-violent civil disobedient protests against British landlords who, in addition to imposing harsh taxes, forced farmers to plant cash crops in lieu of food, which sold at low fixed prices, leaving farmers both hungry and impoverished until British landlords agreed to grant them more control; and Whereas, In 1918, after floods and famine led to crops in India yielding far less than expected, Gandhi again organized farmers and led them in a tax revolt, demanding relief though civil disobedience that would later result in the suspension of property being confiscated and a repeal of tax increases; and Whereas, Following World War One, Gandhi became a leading figure in India as he and fellow Indian citizens continued the struggle to gain independence from Great Britain; and Whereas, In 1919, during the event known as the Jallianwala Bagh massacre, British soldiers fired upon a crowd of nonviolent protesters prompting Gandhi to begin what was known as the Non-cooperation movement, in which Indians began to boycott British made goods, British educational institutions, and renounced British titles and honors; and Whereas, When, in response to the Jallianwala Bagh massacre, the demonstrators set fire to a British police station and killed 22 of its occupants, true to his principles, Gandhi called for an end to the violent actions against British soldiers; and Whereas, In opposition to the British Salt Act of 1882, which prohibited Indians from collecting or selling salt, Gandhi was joined by thousands of Indians in peaceful protest known as the Salt March of 1930, which lasted 24 days and resulted in over 80,000 Indians being jailed; and Whereas, The Salt March was covered heavily by the press and would serve to influence political activists such as Martin Luther King, Jr., while bringing world-wide attention to the Indian struggle for independence from Britain; and Whereas, The Quit India Movement was launched by Gandhi in 1942 when he called for immediate independence from Britain through acts of civil disobedience and passive resistance in response to the British government unilaterally having entered India into World War II without consultation; and Whereas, Gandhi's speech entitled Do Or Die, urged the Indian masses to act as independents and, while members of the India Congress Committee leadership were arrested within twenty-four hours of the speech, ultimately signaling an end to British rule that would not be fully realized until 1947; and Whereas, Gandhi had come to be known as "the great-souled one" by his followers and would become revered the world over by many for his nonviolent philosophy of passive resistance in support of human rights; and Whereas, On October 2, 1986, a bronze sculpture of Mohandas Gandhi was placed in Union Square Park in New York City as part of a quartet of works honoring defenders of freedom joining monuments to George Washington, Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette and Abraham Lincoln; and Whereas, According to the New York City Parks Department, the sculpture of Gandhi became an annual pilgrimage site with a ceremony occurring on Gandhi's birthday each October 2; and Whereas, In June 2007, a United Nations General Assembly resolution established October 2nd as the International Day of Non-Violence to affirm the universal relevance of the principle of non-violence and the desire to secure a culture of peace and tolerance echoing Gandhi's own words that non-violence is the greatest force at the disposal of mankind; now, therefore, be it Resolved, The Council of the City of New York declares October 2, the birthday of Mahatma Gandhi, as International Non-Violence Day in the city of New York. CD LS 10,793 7/10/19 4