THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Can people or people’s organisations make a substantial contribution towards world peace? The question was addressed in the inaugural speech of former diplomat T.P. Sreenivasan, at a symposium held at Gandhi Bhavan on Saturday. The symposium was held to discuss a peace proposal submitted by Daisaku Ikeda, president, Soka Gakkai International(SGI), a global association of grassroots organisations promoting the ideals of human dignity. What role can organisations like SGI play?
Sreenivasan started by saying that the first words of the United Nations charter said “We, the peoples of the United Nations”, not “we the governments”. He said that more “resolutions are adopted by consensus than by vote. This we arrive at by continuous discussions and deliberations. Most often that consensus position is provided by the NGOs.” He added that an NGO’s view was welcomed better that one country’s point of view.
The symposium was organised by Bharat Soka Gakkai, SGI’s Indian affiliate and Ikeda Centre for Value Creation. Gandhian N Radhakrishnan, the centre’s founder, said that Ikeda had been addressing the world body since 1983. He said while there was no dearth of literature on how to make the world a better place, the peace proposals of Ikeda spoke about change at the level of an individual.
BSG Honorary Deputy Chairperson Akash Ouchi spoke about “Universal Respect for Human Dignity”, which was also the title of the peace proposal. He said that when one did not respect the dignity of human life, one was no better than animals. BSG Chairperson Vishesh Gupta highlighted the importance of one-on-one dialogues in achieving world peace. The symposium concluded with a panel discussion on the peace proposal.
