Release of Gandhiji’s Autobiography

On 8th October, 2007 the Vice President of the Republic of Colombia, Dr. Francisco Santos Calderon presided over a brief ceremony in the Office of the Vice Presidency to release the first Colombian edition of the autobiography of Mahatma Gandhi: ¨The story of my experiments with truth¨ in Spanish version.  President of the Republic of Colombia Dr. Alvaro Uribe Velez wrote the prologue for this edition.
In attendance were officials and three former Ambassadors of Colombia to India as well as academicians, members of the Embassy and the media.
In his speech, Vice President Santos emphasized the need for the philosophy of Gandhiji in this day and age and also how the essence of Gandhiji’s philosophy could help reduce violence in countries such as Colombia.  He lauded the initiative of the Embassy of India in Colombia in bringing out this work and reiterated Colombia’s commitment to peace and friendship with countries such as India. 
In his opening remarks Shri Deepak Bhojwani, Ambassador of India in Colombia, pointed out that 60 years after Independence and 59 years after the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi by one of his own compatriots, the need to revisit the philosophy of ‘Ahimsa’ or non-violence was still relevant.    Gandhiji’s teachings went beyond non-violence and taught an individual how to confront his individual challenges and this was a work which was relevant for every human being.
Ambassador Bhojwani also touched upon the fact that, although Gandhiji had never been awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace, his importance to the world was most recently evident when the General Assembly of the United Nations passed a unanimous Resolution declaring his birth anniversary 2nd  October as the International Day of Non-violence.
The Embassy circulated copies of the book published by the Editorial Temis in Bogota to all the attendees and also to prominent personalities and academicians in Colombia.

Press release from the Vice Presidency of the Republic of Colombia

The book cover

vice President Santos checks Gandhi's book.