Prez Murmu, VP Dhankhar pay tributes to Gandhi, Shastri

NEW DELHI: President Droupadi Murmu and Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar paid tributes to Mahatma Gandhi and former Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri on their birth anniversary on Sunday. Both Murmu and Dhankhar visited Rajghat, the final resting place of Gandhi, and later Vijay Ghat, the memorial of Shastri, in Delhi.

Gandhi's birth anniversary is observed globally as the International Day of Non-Violence, underlining his philosophy of non-violence to achieve social or political change.

Several events are held in India and worldwide to mark the occasion.

Earlier, Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid floral tributes to the Mahatma and Shastri at Rajghat and Vijay Ghat respectively.

Born on October 2, 1869, in Porbandar town of Gujarat, Mahatma Gandhi or Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi adopted a non-violent resistance and was at the forefront of the freedom struggle against British colonial rule.

This led to India finally achieving its independence in 1947. Fondly known as 'Bapu', his unwavering belief in 'Swaraj' (self-governance) and 'Ahimsa' (non-violence) won him accolades worldwide.

Born in Uttar Pradesh in 1904, Shastri was the second Prime Minister of India and served from 1964 to 1966. He died in Tashkent on January 11, 1966, at the age of 61, soon after signing the Tashkent Pact with Pakistan.