Peace, Nonviolence and Empowerment - Gandhian Philosophy in the 21st Century
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
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The 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.