About International Day of Non-Violence
The International Day of Non-Violence is a United Nations observance held on 2 October, Mahatma Gandhi's birth anniversary, so in 2027 it falls on Saturday, 2 October 2027. India moved the resolution and 140 countries co-sponsored it in 2007. It is the global counterpart to Gandhi Jayanti, which is India's own national holiday on the same date.
The UN General Assembly adopted resolution A/RES/61/271 on 15 June 2007. Anand Sharma, then India's Minister of State for External Affairs, moved it on behalf of 140 co-sponsoring countries. The resolution asks member states to spread the message of non-violence through education and public awareness, and repeats the phrase that gave the day its purpose: a culture of peace, tolerance, understanding and non-violence.
The idea travelled a long way before it reached the Assembly. It was raised at the World Social Forum in Mumbai in 2004, and was taken up again at a Satyagraha Conference held in New Delhi in January 2007, convened by the then Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Archbishop Desmond Tutu, which called on the UN to adopt the day.
How is the International Day of Non-Violence different from Gandhi Jayanti?
They fall on the same date and honour the same person, but they are not the same observance. Gandhi Jayanti is one of India's three national holidays, with prayers at Raj Ghat, cleanliness drives and school programmes, and it is a dry day in most states. The International Day of Non-Violence is a UN observance with no holiday attached anywhere, aimed at the idea rather than at the man's biography.
| Gandhi Jayanti | International Day of Non-Violence | |
|---|---|---|
| Where it is marked | India, and by Indian communities abroad | UN member states worldwide |
| Legal status | National holiday in India | Observance only, no holiday |
| Created by | Tradition since 1948 | UN resolution of 15 June 2007 |
| Focus | Gandhi's life and legacy | Non-violence as a method, in education and public life |
If you are writing to an Indian family or colleague, "Gandhi Jayanti" is the natural greeting. If you are writing to an international team or a friend abroad, the UN name is the one they will recognise.
How is the International Day of Non-Violence marked outside India?
The main event is at UN Headquarters in New York, hosted each 2 October by India's Permanent Mission to the UN, with the Secretary-General, the President of the General Assembly and member state delegations attending. UN offices in Geneva, Vienna and Nairobi hold their own programmes, and UN information centres around the world run school events and film screenings.
Since December 2022 there has been a bust of Gandhi on the north lawn at UN Headquarters, a gift from India sculpted by Ram Sutar, unveiled by the Indian external affairs minister and the UN Secretary-General. It was the first Gandhi sculpture placed at the UN.
Outside the UN system, the day is used by peace groups, universities and schools for workshops on conflict resolution, anti-bullying programmes and non-violent protest training. Countries with their own non-violent movements often connect the date to their history rather than to India.
Which movements drew on Gandhi's method?
Martin Luther King Jr and Coretta Scott King spent five weeks in India in February and March 1959, meeting Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and people who had worked with Gandhi. King said at a press conference in Delhi that the trip was not tourism.
To other countries I may go as a tourist, but to India I come as a pilgrim.
He returned convinced that non-violent resistance could work as a strategy and not only as a moral position, and the American civil rights movement used it through the 1960s. The method has since been adapted, with varying results, by movements in South Africa, Poland, the Philippines and elsewhere. Teachers use the day to ask a harder question than whether non-violence is admirable: when has it actually worked, and what did it need to succeed.
What do you write on the International Day of Non-Violence?
Keep it small and practical. The day is about method, so a message that points at one argument someone could choose not to escalate is worth more than a quotation about peace.
Today is the UN's International Day of Non-Violence, held on Gandhi's birthday. A good day to settle the thing we have both been avoiding.
Happy International Day of Non-Violence. The anti-bullying work you do in your classroom is the practical version of everything said about this day.
On the International Day of Non-Violence, respect for choosing the slower method. It asks more of you and gets less credit.
Happy 2 October. In India we call it Gandhi Jayanti; at the UN it is the International Day of Non-Violence. Same date, two names.
Marking the International Day of Non-Violence with a thank you. Sitting between two angry parties is not a soft job.
It is the International Day of Non-Violence today. Let us use it to stop one old argument in this family rather than to forward a quote.
Do
- Use the UN name when writing to people outside India, and Gandhi Jayanti when writing within India.
- Point at something the reader can actually do: a conversation, an apology, a workshop.
Avoid
- Don't claim Gandhi is admired by everyone. His views on caste and other questions are debated in India too, and a card is not the place to argue it.
- Don't treat non-violence as passivity. In Gandhi's own writing it was a method of confrontation, not of avoidance.
- Don't send drinking or party plans on this date to Indian contacts. It is a dry day across much of India.
See also International Day of Peace on 21 September, International Day for Tolerance on 16 November, and the full calendar.
How to wish someone on International Day of Non-Violence
In India this date is better known as Gandhi Jayanti, so the UN framing is most useful when you are writing to someone outside India or to an international team. Keep the message about the idea rather than the man, and about something the reader can act on: a conflict at work, a fight in a family, a campaign they run. Avoid grand claims about Gandhi being universally loved; his record is argued about, in India as elsewhere.
Write a few lines in your own words, pick a design and share it as one link on WhatsApp, Instagram or anywhere else. They open an animated card made just for them, with no app and no sign-up.
Language tip: English, Hindi + recipient language.
When is International Day of Non-Violence in 2026 and 2027?
International Day of Non-Violence is on 2 Oct every year. Only the weekday changes.
- 2026
- 2027
Frequently asked questions
When is International Day of Non-Violence in 2027?
International Day of Non-Violence 2027 falls on Saturday, 2 October 2027.
Why is the International Day of Non-Violence on 2 October?
It is held on 2 October because that is the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, born in 1869, who developed non-violent resistance as a political method. The UN General Assembly chose the date when it created the day in 2007.
Who proposed the International Day of Non-Violence?
India moved the resolution at the UN General Assembly, introduced by Anand Sharma, then Minister of State for External Affairs, with 140 countries co-sponsoring it. The Assembly adopted resolution A/RES/61/271 on 15 June 2007.
Is the International Day of Non-Violence the same as Gandhi Jayanti?
They fall on the same date but are different observances. Gandhi Jayanti is a national holiday in India marking Gandhi's birth. The International Day of Non-Violence is a UN observance held worldwide, with no holiday attached, focused on non-violence as a method.
Is the International Day of Non-Violence a public holiday?
Not as a UN observance. In India the same date is Gandhi Jayanti, which is a gazetted national holiday, so offices, banks and schools in India are closed. Elsewhere it is a working day.
How is the International Day of Non-Violence celebrated?
The main event is at UN Headquarters in New York, hosted by India's Permanent Mission. UN offices and information centres elsewhere hold school programmes and screenings, and peace groups and universities run workshops on conflict resolution and non-violent action.
What does ahimsa mean?
Ahimsa is a Sanskrit word meaning non-injury or the refusal to harm any living being. It appears in Hindu, Jain and Buddhist thought, and Gandhi took it from religious practice into political action as a way of resisting authority without violence.
Last verified by the Kehdoo team on .