Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi or Mahatma Gandhi is one of the heroic leaders of India's freedom struggle. This year marks the 151st birthday of Mahatma Gandhi, the father of the Indian nation. Gandhiji was born on 2 October 186
9 in the city of Porbandar in Gujarat. On the one hand he was one of the freedom fighters of India and on the other hand he was the culmination of a spiritual consciousness. Non-violence was his only vow. The Satyagraha movement and the non-cooperation movement were led by Mahatma Gandhi to protest against dictatorship in India. The main basis of this movement is the doctrine of non-violence. This was an important step towards the independence of India. Which was one of the inspirations of the freedom and rights movement of people all over the world. Throughout his life, Gandhiji followed the path of non-violence and truth in any situation. Numerous people have been inspired by his ideals. One of the many people in the world is Martin Luther King Jr. of the United States who has been inspired by Gandhi's lifelong ideals. Martin Luther was born in Atlanta, USA. Inspired by Gandhiji, he launched a non-violent movement to establish civil rights and human rights for blacks in the United States. As a result, under his leadership, one day the blacks gained their rights. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1974 in recognition of his work. In the US House of Representatives in 2019, US Congressman John Lewis has demanded financial allocation to carry forward the ideology of Gandhiji and Martin Luther King Jr. He demanded an allocation of 150 million US dollars. He claims that this work will cost 30 million US dollars every year.
The relationship between Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. is close in terms of ideology, principles and sense of life, although they have never met face to face. Martin Luther King was just 19 years old when Mahatma Gandhi died. Later, Martin Luther got his idea about Gandhiji from his visit to India in 1959 and various writings of Mahatma Gandhi. Gandhiji's influence is evident in every one of his works. Martin Luther was influenced by Gandhiji's doctrine of non-violence, as evidenced by his various speeches and works. During the civil rights movement, Martin Luther said, "We have followed Gandhi's path of non-violent social change during the Montgomery boycott."
Paying homage to Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther said, "I have learned a lot from Gandhi himself. When I was in theological school, I believed that the love described in Christianity was limited to relatives only. The solution to the problem is not through love, but through armed protest. That's when I read about Gandhi's ideology. Understand how to change society with love. Gandhi showed us the way. So ten years after his death, we are still grateful to him. ”
Martin Luther King Jr. adopted many of Mahatma Gandhi's doctrines as his life style. Not only that, through Martin Luther, the doctrine of non-violence spread to the United States as well as other countries of the world. There is currently a museum named after Martin Luther King Jr. in Atlanta, Georgia, USA, where all activities are preserved after his death. This museum has a huge statue of Mahatma Gandhi. There is also a special room for Gandhiji where special activities of his life are preserved which have given Martin Luther lifelong inspiration. In this way, the memory of Mahatma Gandhi remains on the soil of distant United States. In 2006, the United Nations General Assembly decided to observe October 2 as "World Day of Non-Violence." In this way, people not only in India but all over the world have paid homage to Mahatma Gandhi.
