A joint resolution designating October 2, 1988, as a national day of recognition for Mohandas K. Gandhi.
PL 100-468 (S.J.Res.169), enacted 10/03/1988

102 STAT. 2278 
PUBLIC LAW 100-468—OCT. 3, 1988 
Public Law 100-468 
100th Congress 
Joint Resolution 
Oct. 3, 1988 
Designating October 2, 1988, as a national day of recognition for Mohandas K. 
[S.J. Res. 169] 
Gandhi. 
Whereas Mohandas K. Gandhi sought to apply the values of truth 
and love, which are regarded as most precious moral values in 
personal life, in the difficult domain of political and social action; 
Whereas Gandhi remained a relentless champion of human rights 
and human dignity for all people, including women and minori-
ties, throughout his lifetime; 
Whereas Gandhi was one of the leading figures in the effort to win 
freedom for his people in India and thereby helped sow the seeds 
of freedom and liberation in Asia and Africa; 
Whereas Gandhi's unmovable faith in the power of nonviolent 
struggle was a powerful inspiration for Dr. Martin Luther King 
and the civil rights movement in the United States; 
Whereas Gandhi identified himself totally with the oppressed and 
sought to change their lives through the moral persuasion of the 
oppressor; 
Whereas Gandhi proclaimed that all humans are equal and that life 
is sacred, and treated that belief with an inviolable trust, thus 
echoing Abraham Lincoln; 
Whereas Gandhi used truth and the moral force it carried to guide 
both his personal and public life; 
Whereas Gandhi drew inspiration from Ralph Waldo Emerson and 
Henry David Thoreau, two of Americas great thinkers, in formu-
lating his philosophy of civil disobedience, and proclaimed that 
the right to participate in civil disobedience was an inherent right 
of all citizens; 
Whereas Gandhi believed that the true democrat is one who by 
purely nonviolent means defends his liberty and therefore, the 
liberty of his country, and ultimately that of the whole of 
mankind; 
Whereas Gandhi believed that the arms race placed an unbearable 
burden on all of humanity; 
Whereas Gandhi staunchly supported the claim that no society can 
possibly be built on the denial of individual freedom; 
Whereas Gandhi believed that a society that allows double stand-
ards for its citizens and its leaders is self-destructive, that political 
and personal morality must coincide and extend to human beings 
in all walks of life, and that the purification of politics requires 
that men and women of courage and integrity remove all taint of 
double standards; and 
Whereas Gandhi v/as one of those truly rare individuals who com-
bined so admirably in word and deed the highest moral aspira-
tions of mankind: Now, therefore, be it 
PUBLIC LAW 100-468—OCT. 3, 1988 
102 STAT. 2279 
Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled, That October 2, 1988, is 
designated as a national day of recognition for Mohandas K. Gandhi, 
and the President is authorized and requested to issue a proclama-
tion calling on the people of the United States to observe such day 
with appropriate ceremonies and activities. 
Approved October 3, 1988. 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY—S.J. Res. 169: 
CONGRESSIONAL RECORD, Vol. 134 (1988): 
July 26, considered and passed Senate. 
Sept. 16, considered and passed House.