In News: India’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations and UNESCO Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Education for Peace and Sustainable Development (MGIEP), organised a panel discussion to commemorate the International Day of Non-Violence.
The event saw a life-size colourhologram of Gandhi – made with advanced reprographic techniques and AI technology.
Born in 1869 in the Porbandar town of Gujarat, Gandhi pioneered the philosophy of non-violence (Ahimsa) through his political marches against the British, and talks around India and the world.
About:
Iranian Nobel Laureate Shirin Ebadi, in January 2004, first proposed the idea of dedicating a day to non-violence, around the world.
On June 15, 2007, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) passed a resolution to commemorate October 2 as the International Day of Non-Violence, with the core objective to “disseminate the message of non-violence, tolerance, respect for diversity, human rights and fundamental freedoms through education and public awareness.”
The Ahimsa Lecture series was introduced in the year 2016 to facilitate lectures from public speakers on peace and non-violence, for “the benefit of peace-builders, policy makers, youth, UNESCO Member states, and international community.”
A dialogue with the hologram was envisioned in 2019, and was curated by Birad Rajaram Yagnik, director of the Mahatma Gandhi Digital Museum in Hyderabad. This dialogue focused on raising awareness on the future of education and SDG 4 (to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all).
About the hologram:
A hologram refers to a “three-dimensional image formed by the interference of light beams from a laser or other coherent light source.”
The holography, aimed at bringing written works of Gandhi into “a life-like scenario”, covered the leader’s writings on Satyagraha, non-violence (Ahimsa), kindness, critical inquiry and education.
It was not the first time that a hologram of Gandhi participated in a live panel discussion
Significance: The hologram of Gandhi emphasised the meaning of “real education,” as “drawing the best out of yourself” and expressed concerns with people “hardly” giving “any thought to the improvement of character of the educated.”
Process of Creation: It was created using digital sculpting tools such as photo-mapped images from 1930-1940, advanced contouring software and 3D printing. The resultant image was further animated and the voice lip-synced.
Reprography refers to the reproduction and duplication of documents, written materials, drawings, designs, etc., by any process making use of light rays or photographic means, including offset printing, microfilming, photography
Meaning of non-violence:
Non-violence,” according to Gandhi, “is mightier than the mightiest weapon of destruction devised by the ingenuity of man”.
The United Nations defines the term as a rejection of the “use of physical violence in order to achieve social or political change.”
The theory of non-violence emphasises that the power of rulers depends on the consent of the populations, and non-violence therefore seeks to undermine such power through withdrawal of the consent and cooperation of the populace.
