Gandhi Mandela Foundation organized a swearing-in ceremony of National Team on 17-12-2022 at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi where they took oath as the Board Members of Gandhi Mandela Foundation.

The Guest of honour of the ceremony was Justice KG Balakrishnan (Jury Chairman Gandhi Mandela Award and Former Chief Justice of India & Former Chairman of NHRC) and other esteemed dignitaries who graced the occasion included Justice Gyan Sudha Misra (Jury Vice-Chairman, Gandhi Mandela Award & Former Supreme Court Judge of India), Sh Shyam Jaju (National President, GMF & Former National Vice-President, BJP), Adv Nandan Jha, Secretary General, GMF and Adv Sudhakar Dwivedi (National Secretary, GMF).

Individuals who took oath as members of Gandhi Mandela Foundation were Shyam Jaju (Former National Vice-President, BJP), Savita Singh (Former Director, Gandhi Smriti & Darshan Samiti), Barkha Shukla Singh (Former Chairmen, Delhi Women Commission), Adv Sudhakar Dwivedi (Advocate, Supreme Court, India), Lt Col Randeep Hundal (Social Worker), Abinav Singh (Social Worker, Uttar Pradesh), Devendra Pratap Singh Tomar (Sociial Worker), CA Pawan Kumar Patodia (Social Worker, West Bengal), Syed Musharraf (Social Worker), Reshma Singh (Social Worker), Balwant Harinath Singh (Social Worker) and Subhash Manav (Social Worker).

The special occasion commenced with the national anthem by the Indian Army Band which was followed by cultural performance by the school students and speeches by the dignitaries.

Justice KG Balakrishnan praised the efforts of the Gandhi Mandela Foundation and Sh Nandan Jha. He said, “This is a great initiative by Mr Nandan Jha. It is an occasion where new people are sworn in and they are the new servants of the society. They imbibe the spirit from Gandhi ji and Mandela ji. This organization works to imbibe the spirits of these two great men and it also works for the welfare of the society. We believe that more and more we follow the ideals of these two stalwarts in our lives will become simpler and we can be happy and prosperous.”

Mr Nandan Jha in his speech said that it is our duty to spread the principles of Nelson Mandela and Mahatma Gandhi. He said, “Today the Gandhi Mandela Foundation witnesses a special occasion where we add a new chapter to our efforts towards spreading the message of peace and compassion given by Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela. When we initiated the Gandhi Mandela Foundation, our idea was to promote the values of these two icons and let people understand the importance of these ideals in today’s world. Today several special individuals will embark on a special journey and take the oath as an integral part of the Gandhi Mandela Foundation.”

Dr Savita Singh shared her personal experiences of working at ‘Gandhi Smriti and Darshan Samiti’ and shared how Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela were so much similar in terms of their principles and ideals. She also shared the incidences where Nelson Mandela had come to India and how he felt about Gandhiji and how much he admired Mahatma Gandhi.

Mr Shyam Jaju also addressed the occasion and said that it is a very special moment for all of us as new team takes oath as members of Gandhi Mandela Foundation. He said, “This event is really special as the national team will take oath as members of the Gandhi Mandela Foundation and pledge to follow the principles of Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela in their lives. The Gandhi Mandela Foundation over the years is doing a great job by taking forward the legacy of Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela and our future generation is greatly benefitted from it. We, as individuals know the sacrifices of Gandhiji and Mandela ji for freedom struggle but to keep this principles intact and to motivate others to follow their path is truly appreciable.”

Justice Gyan Sudha Misra said that it is very important to understand the true meaning of peace in today’s world and spread peace and that is what these members who have taken oath as the members of GMF will try and do. She added, “It is very important to maintain peace and implement peace initiatives in today’s times but it is also very important to make a balance also. As our Prime Minister very rightly said- Hum Sehna Jante Hain par hum kehna bhi jante hain. This is very important in context of International relations.”

Gandhi Mandela Award:

Gandhi Mandela Award is a highly prestigious International award, for promoting Gandhian and Nelson Mandela’s values, community service and social development (in Asia & African countries). The award is given annually, and the nominations are invited from all over the world through open nomination, self- nomination, nomination by GMF committee, members of IHRC, ambassadors and Head of the states.

The first ever Gandhi Mandela Award 2019 was conferred to the Great Tibetan Buddhist His Holiness Dalai Lama at a ceremony held at Thekchen Choeling, Dharmshala, Himachal Pradesh, India.

The Award Jury: This is the world’s first most empowered jury including: Hon’ble Justice K.G. Balakrishnan (Former Chief Justice of India & Former Chairman HHRC India), Vice Chairman Justice Dipak Misra (Former Chief Justice of India), Justice Gyan Sudha Misra (Former Judge Supreme Court of India), Justice Kedarnath Upadhyay (Former Chief Justice of Nepal & Former Chairman, NHRC, Nepal) and Justice Tafazzul Islam (Former Chief Justice of Bangladesh).