Peace, Nonviolence and Empowerment - Gandhian Philosophy in the 21st Century was a conference held in New Delhi 29–30 January 2007. The conference was held to commemorate the centenary of Mohandas Gandhi's satyagraha movement.[1] It was organized by the Indian National Congress.[2] 122 organizations from 90 countries participated in the conference.[1] A number of Nobel Prize laureates attended the event, including Desmond Tutu, Lech Walesa and Professor Mohammed Yunus.[3] Nelson Mandela addressed the meeting via satellite link.[4]
Congress President Sonia Gandhi attended all four panel sessions of the conference.[1] The conference appealed to the United Nations to declare Gandhi's birthday (2 October) as the International Day of Non-Violence.[1] Subsequently, on 15 June 2007, the United Nations General Assembly unanimously adopted 2 October as International Day of Non-Violence, a motion tabled by the Indian Minister of State for External Affairs Anand Sharma.[5][6] The conference appealed to create an international civil society forum to institutionalize Gandhian approach of non-violence.[1]
Domestically, the conference received criticism for being used to promote the political ascendancy of Rahul Gandhi. However, Rahul Gandhi held a fairly low profile at the event.[1]
Participants
editThe following people (among other people not listed in the following list) attended this conference:[7]
- David Holly
- Lyonpo Khandu Wangchuk
- Marta Suplicy
- Liu Hongcai
- Abune Paulos
- Berhanu Adello
- Gerima W. Kirkos
- Shaista Shameem
- Jan-Erik Enestam
- Philippe Humbert
- George Khutsishvili
- Sebastian Edathy
- Christian Bartolf
- Willy Wimmer
- Asiedu Nketia
- Adams Iddie Kofi
- Barbara Serwaa Asamoah
- Shirley A. Botchwey
- George Papandreou
- Tzannis Tzannetakis
- Katerina Georgopoulou
- Lia Papafilippou
- Paulina Lampsa
- Radha Kumar
- Jusuf Kalla
- Francesco Rutelli
- Maumoon Abdul Gayoom
- Pawel Zalewski
- Janez Drnovsek
- Ahmed Kathrada
References
edit- ^ a b c d e f DNA. Gandhi’s birthday, non-violence day?
- ^ Rupesinghe, Kumar (1 September 2007). "Commemorating the Gandhian Satyagraha centenary". Daily News. Sri Lanka. Retrieved 11 August 2024.
- ^ The Island. The Satyagraha Centenary celebrations and the relevance of Gandhian philosphy [sic] to Sri Lanka
- ^ Bhalla, Nita (9 August 2007). "Mandela calls for Gandhi's non-violence approach". Reuters. Retrieved 11 August 2024.
- ^ UN News. UN declares 2 October, Gandhi’s birthday, as International Day of Non-Violence
- ^ Mainstream Weekly. Impact of Gandhiji’s ‘Non-Violence’ on UN Agenda
- ^ Anand Sharma (2007). Gandhian Way: Peace, Non-violence, and Empowerment. Academic Foundation. pp. 300–310. ISBN 978-81-7188-648-7.