Culture and Media

India has a high commitment to internationalism. Mahatma Gandhi had desired India to come forward for the establishment of a worldly order dedicated to peace and prosperity. This gigantic task could be considered to be her responsibility. India must come forward for the establishment of a true and real internationalism, and become ideal for others in the world.

Pacifists Without Borders (PWB), organizer of the World Peace Summit, and principal international guest speaker and former Director-General of UNESCO Federico Mayor Zaragoza, speak out against the “colossal” annual military spending throughout the world, half of which (1.2 trillion dollars) is attributable to the United States alone.

World’s first six-continent Peace March kicks off 93 days of global activities with October 2nd events in cities around the US.
Cities from San Francisco to New York will celebrate in their own way, from participating in peace walks to forming a human peace symbol calling for the elimination of wars, nuclear weapons and violence of all kinds.

Petra Klein carried the Nuclear Abolition Flame, lit from the flame in Hiroshima’s Peace Park. She said she wanted people to understand the strength of unity in the name of peace. “People think ‘what can I do?’ but for peace to work each single person is important.” Tauranga Simon Bridges said “It is very good to be part of this small but important part of the world march.”

On 2 October in New Zealand a team of volunteers will start a trip of 160,000 km through 90 countries demanding total nuclear disarmament. Simultaneously, more than 300 events will take place at around 150 places around the world: from human peace signs in Iceland, Pakistan and Argentina to cultural festivals in India, Norway and Spain.

José Manuel Muñoz Felipe, coordinator of the World Peace March for Spain, closed the First Conference on eJustice with an exposition on law, power and human rights. The physical event took place simultaneously in Trujillo, Spain and Mexico City, Mexico, with nearly 2000 people in 25 countries participating via internet.

Given the rise of religious fundamentalism and blatant attacks on minorities especially minority women.  There is widespread practices of discrimination and social exclusion of women from Dalit (untouchable) communities, despite constitutional guarantees of equality and decades of targeted interventions by government. 

The World March for Peace promotional organizations in Guatemala, together with the council authorities of the City of Esquipulas, host city for the peace agreements negotiated between Central American countries in 1986 and 1987, extend an invitation to the members of the international team that will arrive in that city next December.

In a place known as Chile’s Garden City, the community of Viña del Mar, world famous for its Song Festival and named the 2007 City of Peace, will come together along with numerous regional organizations, institutions, and artists supporting the World March for Peace and Non-Violence to celebrate its kickoff in New Zealand.

With a farewell at the World without Wars headquarters in Madrid, the Spanish members of the Base Team got ready to leave for New Zealand, where the World March for Peace and Nonviolence will start on the 2nd of October. In this gathering they talked about some of the particulars of this adventure for peace.