We 210 persons from 16 states of India, who are committed to promote peace, participated in the Second National Peace Convention held at Hotel Acacia, Dimapur, Nagaland from January 30 to February 01, 2016. The convention was organized by National Peace Movement in collaboration with Rotary International Dist. 3040 & 3240, NEISSR, Peace Channel, Universal Solidarity Movement and other NGOs. Participation of 36 persons who had taken part in the First National Peace Convention at Indore added richness to the Second National Peace Convention. For those who came from outside the North Eastern States, it was a golden opportunity to understand the reality of the region, particularly Nagaland. During the three days of the convention, we listened to the sharing by many renowned persons from various fields on different dimensions of peace. They include Tushar Gandhi; Apok Jamir; Rtn. Chandu Kumar Agarwal; Dr. James Thoppil; Fr. Varghese Alengadan; Dr. CP Anto; Dr. Paul B Mesquita; Niketu Iralu; Dr. Wati Aier; PV Rajgopal; Anuradha Shankar, IPS; Dr. Jill Carr-Harris; Prof. Lanunungsang Ao; Khekiye K Sema IAS (Rtd); Dr. Aküm Longchari; Tiamerenla Monalisa Changkija; Bishop Chacko Thottumarickal; Dr. Jacob Kani; Dr. Kathryn Johnson Bueno De Mesquita; K J Alphonse, IAS (Rtd); Kishor Dass; Sr. Bernardo D’ Souza; Jacob Peenikaparambil; and Jeffery C Pereira.
We reflected and discussed on peace from different perspective such as:
* Mahatma Gandhi as an Apostle of Peace and Non-violence
* Peace building in International Perspective
* Peace and Conflict Resolution in the context of North East India
* Human Development and Promotion of Peace
* The correlation between Rights and responsibilities from Gandhian Perspective
* Economic Empowerment and Justice to the Marginalized
* Relevance of Mahatma Gandhi in the Socio Political Scenario of India
* Role of Media in Peace Building
* Sharing by individuals and organizations involved in peace building As a result of listening, reflecting and discussing, we are confirmed in our conviction that peace building is urgent need and we have resolved:
1. To create awareness about the contribution of Mahatma Gandhi to peace, forgiveness and harmony by organizing workshops and seminars especially in schools and educational institutions, promoting reading the writings of Gandhiji and about Gandhiji and showing movies and documentaries on Gandhiji.
2. To be proactive, in the situations of conflicts by taking initiative for bringing the conflicting groups for dialogue and reconciliation.
3. To organize peace clubs among the students and youth and promote Peace Movements like Universal Solidarity Movement, Peace Channel in order to prevent conflicts.
4. To promote the Indian ethos of pluralism by celebrating the festivals of different religions, encouraging learning the basics of all religions and cultures, organizing inter-faith dialogues and inter-religious prayers, promoting cultural exchanges and promoting the values of the Indian Constitution as enshrined in the preamble.
5. To contribute a share of our time and money to support the needy and the common good of the society and to educate the students and youth about the need for paying back to the society by contributing to the common good.
6. To respond to the negative news in the media by writing letter to the editor and articles in the newspapers and magazines.
7. To appeal the Central government and the various ethnic groups of the North Eastern Region to enter into dialogue by avoiding force and violence to resolve the problems. The Central Government may abolish the Armed Forces Special Power Act.
8. To request the Central and State Government to involve the local self government, community based organizations and social activist in the process of economic planning in view of making development inclusive so that the poor and marginalized will equally get the benefits of economic growth. The government may increase the allocation for providing quality education to all, especially the poor through the government schools and skill training to the youth.
9. To appeal to the Education Department of the Central and State Government to make non-violence and forgiveness a components of all subjects.
10. To appeal to the media to highlight the positive and proactive actions taking place in the society and to minimize the reporting on crime and violence in the society. The colleges of journalism shall impart value based training in journalism. We commit ourselves to implement these resolutions as a mark of respect to the Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi and our commitment to become promoters and builders of peace.
Dimapur National Peace Convention 2016
