American Bill to Promote Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King’s Legacies
The bill is being co-sponsored by six other Democratic lawmakers, three of whom are Indian-Americans, which include Ami Bera, Ro Khanna and Pramila Jayapal.
Legendary civil rights activist and Congressman John Lewis have recently introduced a bill in the US House of Representatives to promote the legacies of 19th century reformists Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr and sought a budget of $150 million for the next 5 years.
The House Bill introduced to mark the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, affirms the friendship between the two largest democracies of the world, India and United States and to honours the legacies and contributions of both Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Junior.
India welcomes the introduction of the bill in US Parliament, as India’s ambassador to the US Harsh Vardhan Shringla has said, the bill “reinforces the close cultural and ideological bonds between India and the United States”.
The bill notes, “Mohandas Gandhi, who employed the principle of Satyagraha or fighting with peace, has come to represent the moral force inspiring many civil and social rights movement around the world”.
The bill proposes the establishment of a Gandhi-King Development Foundation, to be run by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) under the Indian laws.
The bill also seeks a budgetary allocation of $30 million every year for the next five years to be provided to the USAID for its foundation. The said foundation is run by a governing council convened by both the governments of both US and India, which would oversee the grants to NGOs in the areas of health, pollution and climate change, education and women empowerment.
The bill is being co-sponsored by six other Democratic lawmakers, three of whom are Indian-Americans, which include Ami Bera, Ro Khanna and Pramila Jayapal. Three other Congressmen who forwarded the bill are Brenda Lawrence, Brad Sherman and James McGovern.
The bill also proposes the establishment of a Gandhi-King Scholarly Exchange Initiative with an allocation of $2 million for the next five years till 2025. It will comprise of an annual educational forum for the scholars of India and the US, which will be held alternately in both the countries.
The annual conference will focus on the study of the works and philosophies of Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King and visits sites related to them. The bill will also establish a Gandhi King global academy, which would impart professional development training on conflict resolution.
The bill is considered a significant step by the United States Congress to commemorate the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.
Though Gandhi never visited the US, but King has travelled to India, which he has described as a pilgrimage. In February 1959, Martin Luther King Jr and his wife Coretta Scott King have travelled throughout India.