Lausanne, fifth largest city of Switzerland, has said "no" to the request of naming a street after peace icon Mahatma Gandhi.
Declining a plea of US-based Gandhi Monument Council, which is formed of interfaith clergy, to name one of major Lausanne streets after great leader Mahatma Gandhi, Lausanne Mayor Daniel Brelaz said, it "…does not suite to our rules in this field."
Right Reverend Gene Savoy Jr. and Rajan Zed, Council coordinators, in a statement in Nevada (USA) on Friday (November 14), said that this denial did not fit well with a city like Lausanne that housed International Olympic Committee headquarters; where writer Charles Ferdinand Ramuz was born; which was home to Prix de Lausanne and Musée Olympique; and which enjoyed a blessed location. While Savoy is Head Bishop of International Community of Christ, Zed is the president of Universal Society of Hinduism.
In December 1931, Gandhi went to Switzerland to meet Nobel Laureate Romain Rolland. Gandhi reportedly visited Lausanne also where he addressed few gatherings and was asked to define what he understood by God, to which he reportedly replied, 'God is Truth.'
Zed and Savoy has urged the Lausanne Mayor and City Council to reconsider their request. Naming a street as Mahatma Gandhi Marg (marg means path) was the least the great international city of Lausanne could do to honour the legacy of great peace leader Mahatma Gandhi, they said and added that they were also requesting the Lausanne residents to take up this cause with their city leaders.
The Gandhi Monument Council is formed of Christian (various denominations), Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, Jewish, Baha'i, Native American, etc., clergy. According to Zed and Savoy, the purpose of this Council is to commemorate Gandhi's philosophy of non-violence, his commitment to world peace, and his work for the upliftment of the downtrodden.
Mahatma Gandhi (1869-1948) was one of the few men in history to fight simultaneously on moral, religious, political, social, economic, and cultural fronts. His life and thought had an enormous impact on the world, and he continues to be widely revered as one of the greatest moral, political, and peace leaders of the twentieth century.
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