Commemorating the golden jubilee anniversary of the American civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr's visit to India in 1959, the US House of Representatives has passed a resolution recognizing Mahatma Gandhi's influence on Martin Luther.

 

The resolution was passed on Wednesday (11th February) with a 406 to 0 vote with 26 abstaining. It recalls how King's study of Gandhian philosophy helped shape the Civil Rights Movement in America.

 

According to the text of the resolution, the trip to India in a profound way inspired Dr King to use non-violence as an instrument of social change to end segregation and racial discrimination in America throughout the rest of his work during the Civil Rights Movement.

 

To commemorate King's tour, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Thursday (12th February) will send off a cultural delegation comprising Martin Luther King III, and US House representatives John Lewis, Spencer Bachus and Herbie Hancock to India. It will begin in New Delhi and travel around India to some of the principal sites associated with Gandhi's work. King and his wife, Coretta Scott King, traveled to India from Feb 10 to March 10, 1959.