Why October 02nd is a ‘Special Day’ in India?

•    Mahatma Gandhi, the Father of the Nation (Date of Birth: 02nd October 1869) and

•    Lal Bahadur Shastri-Former Prime Minister of India(02nd October 1904)

and the date of death of a popular Indian National Leader :

•    K.Kamaraj- Former President of Indian National Congress and the Former Chief Minsiter of the State of Madras/Tamilnadu.(02nd October 1975)

02nd October-Gandhi Jayanthi;

The Date of Birth of Mahatma Gandhi, the Father of the Nation, is celebrated in India,as ‘Gandhi Jayanthi’  on 02nd October, every year and it is one of the 3 National Holidays in India, along with:

Republic Day- on 26th January(Date of India’s becoming a Republic- 26th January 1950) and

Independence Day-on 15th August (Date on which India became Independent -15th August 1947)

The United Nations General Assembly announced on 15th June 2007, that it had adopted a resolution which declared that 02nd October will be celebrated as the ‘International Day of Non-Violence’, in appreciation of Mahatma Gandhi’s philosophy of Ahimsa/Non Violence, appreciated world-wide.

In honour of Mahatma Gandhi, towns, roads and public buildings have been named after him.

02nd October-Birthday of Lal Bahadur Shastri:

Lal Bahadur Shastri, had been the Prime Minister of India from 9th  June 1964  to – 11th  January 1966.

He  expired  on 11th January 1966 at Tashkent, USSR, after signing the ‘Tashkent Declaration’ between India (Represented by  Lal Bahadur Shastri, the Prime Minister of India)and Pakistan (Represented by the Pakistani President Muhammad Ayub Khan), after attending the Tashkent Summit,subsequent to the cease-fire of the Indo –Pakistan War of the year 1965.

Lal Bahadur Shastry was awarded the highest civilian award of India, the ‘Bharat Ratna’, in the year 1966, posthumously (He was the first person to be awarded the ‘Bharat Ratna’,posthumously.
In honour of Lal Bahadur Shastry, many National/Public Buildings, towns and roads have been named after him, as he was well known for his simplicity, honesty and devotion to the country.

02nd October-Birthday of ‘King Maker’-K.Kamaraj:

K.Kamaraj, who had been the Chief Minister of Madras State/Tamilnadu from the year 1954 to the year 1963, expired on 02nd October 1975.

He is well known in India and abroad, for his simple, honest and selfless service to India and Indians, especially, for his achievements in rural development and improvement of school education, despite his being not educated in any school.

He was awarded India’s highest civilian honour, the ‘Bharat Ratna’ Award, posthumously in the year 1976.

In  honour of K.Kamaraj, Airport Terminal/s,Universities, public buildings,towns and roads have been named after him.

In view of the above,  the 02nd of October is indeed a ‘Special Day’ in India,  having a triple commemoration of three rare Indian Political Leaders.