Gandhi's Influence on Nelson Mandela Evident for New Gandhi South Africa Tour

Dana Point, CA December 3, 2013: Falling on the heels of last week's epic biopic release, Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom, and commemorating 100 years ago last month when both Gandhi and his wife Kasturba led thousands of protesters into the Transvaal region of South Africa to protest a ban on Muslim and Hindu marriages, Kasturba Gandhi's first march of nonviolent civil disobedience; Dr. Arun Gandhi, fifth grandson of Mohandas K. (Mahatma) Gandhi announced today that Gandhi Legacy Tours has set itinerary dates for its 2014 inaugural South Africa 'Gandhi Satyagraha' Tour.

South Africa is a first for the Gandhi Legacy Tours enterprise, which Dr. Gandhi, a noted peace and human rights activist, started with his late wife, Sunanda Gandhi, over 17 years ago as an annual Gandhian pilgrimage to key places in India where Gandhi developed and enacted his philosophy of non-violent activism that changed the course of world history.

Dr. Gandhi, president of Gandhi Legacy Tours, announced the additional educational tour through South Africa, to understand the philosophy of nonviolence and its application in the 21st century, which is, according to him, rapidly becoming the most violent in history. "If this world is to be saved from self-destruction," Dr. Gandhi said. "Nonviolence is inevitable."

In 2014 Gandhi Legacy Tours adds two new tours: Lifescapes of Gandhi and Gandhi Satyagraha South Africa, reflecting both the expansion of the Gandhi philanthropic travel vision and the numerous requests and inquiries that Dr. Gandhi has received in recent years. Dr. Gandhi not only personally leads the travel groups every year but also participates in dialogues and discussions throughout the tour.

2014 Gandhi Tour Dates:
South Africa: Gandhi Satyagraha: May 31 to June 14, 2014
India: Gandhi Lifescapes: December 1 to December 15 2014
India: Gandhi Legacy Tour: December 29, 2014 to mid-January 14, 2015

"With Nelson Mandela's illness and President Obama's summer South Africa visit, it is a good time to assess the impact of Mahatma Gandhi on the South African liberation. As President Nelson Mandela said: India sent a man to South Africa and we sent back a Mahatma," Gandhi Legacy Tours' managing director, Lynnea Bylund noted.

"While Nelson Mandela is the father of South Africa, Mahatma Gandhi is our grandfather," Harris Majeke, South Africa's Ambassador to India, said at a recent public gathering to Robben Island Prison where Mandela was incarcerated for two decades. "Mandela was inspired by the Satyagraha campaign led by Gandhi. It was a compelling act of passive protest against oppression. This would later inspire the formation of the African National Congress and strengthen Mandela's belief in our shared humanity."

As Gandhi scholar David Hardiman points out, Mandela never ceased regarding Gandhi as an inspiration, and, in fact, saw nonviolence as an integral part of the movement. "Violence and nonviolence are not mutually exclusive; it is the predominance of the one or the other that labels a struggle," Mandela said.

For registration, tours pricing and further details, please visit the tour video and travel pages.
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About Gandhi Legacy Tours
For the past 15 years Dr. Arun Gandhi has brought M.K. Gandhi's philosophy of non-violence home to westerners. The focus is on studying institutions that apply the philosophy of nonviolence in their attempt to transform a community - in urban areas and in rural areas.

For registration, tour pricing and further details, please see the Gandhi Tours video and travel pages.

About Arun Gandhi
Born in 1934 in Durban, South Africa, Arun is the fifth grandson of Mohandas K. "Mahatma" Gandhi. Growing up under the discriminatory apartheid laws of South Africa, he was beaten by "white" South Africans for being too black, and "black" South Africans for being too white. However, he learned from his parents and grandparents that justice does not mean revenge, it means transforming the opponent through love and suffering. Having spent nearly two years with his Grandfather Arun learned to understand nonviolence through understanding violence. "If we know how much passive violence we perpetrate against one another we will understand why there are so much physical violence plaguing societies and the world today," the Mahatma told Arun. Arun is also the president and founder of Gandhi Worldwide Education Institute, a 501c3 organization that is supporting the care and education of impoverished and exploited children in India and elsewhere.

About Tushar Gandhi
Tushar was born on January 17, 1960. In 1996 Tushar was appointed President of the Lok Seva Trust, a voluntary organization working for the economically weaker sections of Mumbai. He established the Mahatma Gandhi Foundation to make Gandhi's message available globally on the Internet. Tushar was also invited to join the Advisory Committee on Cyber Crime. He was appointed by the Prime Minister of India to the subcommittee of the Gandhi Smriti and Darshan Samiti (Gandhi National Museum). Tushar is the author of Let's Kill Gandhi: A definitive study of the Hindu Fundamentalist plot to assassinate Gandhi.

For interviews with Dr. Arun Gandhi or Tushar Gandhi, press inquiries and interested travelers, please contact Lynnea Bylund: lbylund@gandhitour.info