The Savoir Faire Company’s Chairperson, Lata Gullapalli is a Trustee and Board Member of the Gandhi Ashram. She works closely with the Chairman and the team to forge partnerships, collaborations and financial strategies for the Ashram’s wide network of 300 schools and 26 institutes all over India.
The Gandhi Ashram campus, Delhi, with Harijan Sevak Sangh Complex is now Included in UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List.
We are delighted and deeply honoured that the Harijan Sevak Sangh (HSS) complex at Gandhi Ashram, Kingsway Camp, New Delhi, has been officially included by the Government of India in the UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List as a component of the proposed serial transnational property “Sites of Satyagraha.”
The proposed “Sites of Satyagraha” is a joint transnational nomination of India and South Africa, comprising nine significant sites of Mahatma Gandhi’s philosophy and practice of Satyagraha and non-violent resistance.
The UNESCO proposal describes these sites as representing a network through which Satyagraha developed into a structured method of collective, non-violent resistance. The movement subsequently influenced civil rights and non-violent struggles in different parts of the world.
Evolution of Satyagraha
According to the UNESCO documentation, the nine components collectively represent different stages in the evolution of Satyagraha.
The journey begins with Pietermaritzburg Railway Station,in South Africa.
After Gandhi’s return to India, Satyagraha Smarak at East Champaran, Sabarmati Ashram and Mani Bhavan represent important stages in this process.
The final group of components—Harijan Sevak Sangh, Sevagram Ashram, Aga Khan Palace and Gandhi Smriti—represents the institutionalisation phase, in which the ideals, experiences and legacy of the Satyagraha movement became embedded in institutions, places and continuing programmes of social transformation.
The inclusion of the Harijan Sevak Sangh Complex at Gandhi Ashram, New Delhi, is particularly significant. Founded with a constitution written by Mahatma Gandhi in 1932, Harijan Sevak Sangh became an important institutional expression of his campaign against untouchability and for social equality. The Gandhi Ashram at Kingsway Camp continues to serve as an important centre for Gandhian thought, social service, education, constructive work and the promotion of peace, harmony and social justice.
It also highlights the international significance and is a tribute to and of Gandhi’s philosophy of Satyagraha and its enduring influence on movements for justice, freedom, human dignity and peaceful social transformation across the world.
The inclusion of Harijan Sevak Sangh in the “Sites of Satyagraha” nomination marks an important moment in the recognition of the enduring legacy of Mahatma Gandhi, the institutional journey of Satyagraha, and the continuing relevance of truth and non-violence in the service of humanity.
