Nonprofit to celebrate Gandhi’s birth

Hawaii-based nonprofit Gandhi International Institute for Peace will hold its annual event to mark Mahatma Gandhi’s birthday on Oct. 2 outside the Honolulu Zoo in Waikiki.

Retired U.S. Sen. Daniel Akaka will serve as the keynote speaker at the 11th annual free event, which will get underway at 11 a.m. with a Hawaiian blessing and Indian invocation (pooja). Interfaith dialogues about world peace, multicultural dances, yoga, meditation and music by the Royal Hawaiian Band are planned. Down to Earth and the Vegetarian Society of Hawaii will offer free snacks and water.

The United Nations in 2007 declared Oct. 2, Gandhi’s birthday, the “International Day of Nonviolence.”

In December 2014, Hawaii’s Legislature passed a bill designating Oct. 2 as “Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi Day” as a day of recognition and observance. Gov. David Ige signed the bill into law as Act 5 in 2015, making Hawaii the first state to so honor Gandhi, according to a news release.

The Legislature has also passed a resolution establishing a sister-state relationship between Hawaii and Goa, India.

For donations and more information, visit gandhianpeace.com or email ­gandhianpeace@gmail.com.