US delegation arriving to commemorate Luther King India visit

Lalit K Jha

Washington, Feb 12 (PTI) US Secretary of State Hillary
Clinton will Thursday send off a cultural delegation to New
Delhi to commemorate the golden jubilee anniversary of India
tour of Martin Luther King, the great American civil rights
leader.

The delegation will begin its journey from New Delhi
and then would travel around India to some of the principal
sites associated with Gandhi's work, the State Department said
in a statement.

The delegation comprises several eminent Americans and
celebrities. Prominent among them are Martin Luther King III,
Congressmen John Lewis and Spencer Bachus. It also includes
legendary jazz musician and Grammy winner Herbie Hancock.

During the trip, there will be two special musical
performances featuring Herbie Hancock and others organised by
the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz.

In Chennai, musicians led by A R Rahman will conduct a
special musical tribute on the theme of non-violence.

Dr King and his wife, Coretta Scott King, travelled to
India in 1959 for a month. Upon their return to the US, Dr
King and other leaders of the civil rights movement drew on
Gandhi's ideas to transform American society.

The US House of Representative on February 10, passed
a resolution recognising the influence Mahatma Gandhi had on
Martin Luther King Jr, and commemorated the 50th anniversary
of King's visit to India beginning February 10, 1959.

The resolution asked all Americans to commemorate
King's trip to India in 1959 to know more about Mahatma Gandhi
and the influence his study of Gandhian philosophy had in
shaping the US Civil Rights Movement, in creating political
climate necessary to pass legislation to expand civil rights
and voting rights for all Americans. PTI