On the anniversary of Gandhi’s birthday, now the International day of nonviolence, Hungarians were faced with a divisive, xenophobic referendum on whether the country should accept a few hundred refugees as part of a redistribution programme promoted by Germany which is hosting around a million.
Although the vast majority of voters in the referendum voted to reject the refugees, the majority of Hungarians stayed at home making the result invalid, in what will be seen as great blow to Prime Minister Orban’s authority.
As an alternative to this expression of hate, some 500 people went to Hero’s Square in the country’s capital, Budapest to form a peace sign organised by members of the communities of Silo’s Message in the city.
Here are some images from the this evening’s event. Photographer: Anita Szeicz.
