World Leaders Call for Peace and Nonviolence

Indian Congress party President Sonia Gandhi addresses an international conference in New Delhi on Monday. (AFP)

Nilofar Suhrawardy, Arab News

NEW DELHI, 30 January 2007 — Inaugurating the two-day international conference on “Peace, Nonviolence and Empowerment,” United Progressive Alliance chairperson Sonia Gandhi said here yesterday that the end of Cold War had not seen a pandemic of peace.

The conference has been organized by the Congress party in commemoration of Satyagraha (nonviolent movement) launched by Mahatma Gandhi in South Africa. Drawing attention to Gandhi’s words in the aftermath of Hiroshima, she said: “Violence cannot be destroyed by counterviolence. Mankind has to get out of violence only through nonviolence.”

Quoting Gandhi, who was decidedly against violence, she said: “An eye for an eye only ends up making the whole world blind.” Observing that nuclear powers now had atomic arsenal to destroy the world many times over, she said: “And it is not just clear weapons. We also confront the specter of chemical and biological weapons.”

During her address, the Congress president asserted that India would continue to carry forward its “profound” conviction about commitment to comprehensive, universal nuclear disarmament. Regarding India’s nuclear “status,” she said: “Yes, India has nuclear weapons. This became a strategic compulsion for us, born out of the failure to persuade the world to abolish nuclear weapons.”

Emphasizing the need to carry forward the Gandhian torch in the present era, she said: “The task before us is how we, individually and collectively, launch an organized, disciplined mass movement for peace, nonviolence and empowerment, which is the very essence of satyagraha.”

Among others who attended the function yesterday were former Zambian President Kenneth Kaunda, former Polish President Lech Walesa, Nobel Laureate Mohammad Yunus, social activist and granddaughter of Mahatma Gandhi Ela Gandhi, senior Palestinian leader Nasser Al-Kidwa, Defense Minister A.K. Antony and External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee.
Around 400 delegates from 90 countries and over 100 organizations are participating in the two-day conference.

Asserting that terrorism should be addressed for its root cause and not just as a security operation, Yunus said: “I believe we have to fight terrorism. But to do that, it should not be by military action. We should be addressing terrorism by its root causes, which in most cases are poverty and injustice. I have long argued that poor people remain poor not because of any fault of their own.”

In his address, Kaunda called on US and Britain to stop the war in Iraq. “I appeal to President Bush and Prime Minister Blair to stop this war. No one with sensitivity and humanity can watch that senseless destruction on television,” Kaunda said evoking a thunderous applause from the gathering.

Former Palestinian foreign minister Al-Kidwa said: “The conflict between Palestine and Israel does pose a serious threat to international peace.”

Nelson Mandela, 88-year-old anti-apartheid icon, joined the gathering by addressing it through a satellite link from South Africa. Attributing transformation in South Africa, “that had been spawned by abhorrent practice of apartheid,” to Gandhi’s philosophy, Mandela said: “In a world driven by violence and strife, Gandhi’s message of peace and nonviolence holds the key to human survival in the 21st century.”