New Gandhi museum seeks to 'teach kids the importance of resolving conflicts in a non-violent way'

After approximately seven years of being in the works, what’s believed to be the continent’s first museum dedicated to Indian national hero Mohandas “Mahatma” Gandhi is slated for a summer opening in Houston, per a report from Houston CBS affiliate KHOU.

The station reported that the Eternal Gandhi Museum Houston (EGMH) is located at Beltway 8 near Stafford Road. 

"As soon as you walk in, we’re showing visitors first, what’s happening in our world and the struggles and problems we are facing," interim EGMH director G.V. Krishnan said in the report. 

Krishnan added that he hopes what’s displayed about the present gives visitors a good understanding of Gandhi’s lifelong fight for political and social progress.

A member of the museum’s board told KHOU that a goal of the facility is to teach young children a valuable lesson. 

"There is war, groups fighting with each other and gun violence in schools," Sesh Bala said, the station reported. "These are the times we should influence thinking and teach kids the importance of resolving conflicts in a non-violent way." 

An Encyclopedia Britannica article on Gandhi, who was born under British rule in 1869 and succumbed to an assassin’s bullet shortly after his homeland achieved sovereignty in 1948, said he earned his famous moniker because he possessed a “great soul.”

The EGMH said on its website that its purpose is to “preserve and continue the legacy” of Gandhi. 

“Mahatma Gandhi is an international icon for human rights, justice and equality whose personal dedication to nonviolent conflict resolution enabled the people of the Indian subcontinent to achieve independence,” museum officials wrote. “Although he never stepped on U.S. soil, he continues to inspire and be a role model.” 

Per the EGMH, it’s a nonprofit organization that began as the Mahatma Gandhi Library in 2002. 

It's located at 12379 Riceville School Rd. in southwest Houston.