India marks Gandhi's birth anniversary

Rajkot: President Pratibha Patil on Friday described her visit to Porbandar, the birthplace of Mahatma Gandhi, "as a great experience" and attended the prayer meeting held at Kirti Mandir on the occasion of Gandhi's 140th birth anniversary.

"It was a great moment and experience to visit the place where Gandhiji was born and sacrificed his life to make India independent from British rule," she wrote in the visitor's book.

Every year on October 2, religious prayer meetings are organised at Kirti Mandir, the house where Gandhi was born.

This year Patil, who is on a five-day visit to the state, attended the prayer meeting along with Chief Minister Narendra Modi.

Greeting the people on the eve of Gandhi Jayanti, the president said this was an occasion to reflect on the life and work of the father of the nation.

"Whenever I remember Bapu, particularly on this day, I am always overwhelmed by his leadership, philosophy and values. His leadership inspired millions to unite for the cause of freedom and independence," she said in a message.

"On the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti, let us take a pledge to follow the path of truth and non-violence and dedicate ourselves toward promoting peace, tolerance and harmony and work for the progress of the nation," she added.

She also met a delegation of fishermen led by Congress leader Arjun Modhvadiya and listened to the ordeal of the kin of 581 Indian fishermen languishing in Pakistani jail.

After Porbandar, Patil is scheduled to pay a visit to Dwarka, the scared city considered to be the dwelling place of the deity Krishna.

On her way to Dwarka, she will take a night halt at Sasan where arrangements for a 'Lion Show' and 'Dhamal Nrutya', a traditional dance by members of Siddhi community, have been made.

Meanwhile, the official Gandhi Jayanti celebrations organised routinely by the Uttar Pradesh government have never been so quiet as it was on Friday - neither Chief Minister Mayawati nor Governor B.L. Joshi said anything in remembrance of the father of the nation.

Unlike in the past, when successive governors and chief ministers would make it a point to say a few words in honour of Gandhi on his birth anniversary, both Mayawati and Joshi preferred to remain absolutely quiet.

While Mayawati's reasons for not speaking on the occasion were attributed to her known antipathy towards Gandhi, the governor's silence was quite bewildering. Mayawati had earlier in the morning made it amply evident that she preferred distancing herself from the October 2 events dedicated to Gandhi. She abstained from garlanding the statue of the father of the nation - a ritual which no chief minister in the past is known to have skipped.

Even Mayawati herself had dutifully done it last year.

The governor, however, made it a point to perform the annual ritual.

But the only other official function held in the Tilak Hall at the state secretariat remained an unusually solemn affair, with not a single person uttering a word.

The governor and the chief minister, who were seated on the dais, simply offered flowers at Gandhi's portrait.

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