Gandhi’s ashes scattered in Indian Ocean

DURBAN - Some of the ashes of Mahatma Gandhi were scattered in the Indian Ocean along South Africa’s east coast Saturday, 62 years after his assassination.

After his assassination Jan 30, 1948, Gandhi’s ashes were placed in several urns and distributed across India and other parts of the world.

More than 200 people, including Gandhi’s South African-born granddaughter Ela Gandhi, took part in the ceremony along the Indian Ocean coast at the city of Durban. Flowers and candles were also placed in the water.

A similar scattering of Gandhi’s ashes took place in Mumbai in 2008. Gandhi spent 21 years in South Africa, after first arriving as a young lawyer in 1893. His experiences in the racially divided society are widely regarded as having helped shaped his philosophy of Satyagraha, or non-violent resistance.