Peace Society Worldwide

International Day of Tolerance .

Report by

Ms. Ushasi Mahapatra, MBA (HR)

Peace Society Worldwide, A Global Civil Organization for Universal Peace & Harmony, observed the International Day of Tolerance 2009 as propounded by UNESCO through a Seminar with the basic theme of ‘Tolerance and Interfaith’. Peace Society Worldwide has been working for the promotion & inculcation of the ideas & principles of world peace, harmony, tolerance, non-violence, international understanding & co-operation in collaboration with United Nations and its various agencies.

Tolerance is an important instrument to achieve world peace and harmony.

Tolerance is respect, acceptance and appreciation of the rich diversity of our world’s culture, our forms of expression and ways of being human. It is fostered by knowledge, openness, communication and freedom of thought, conscience and belief.

Tolerance is harmony in conscience and belief. It is not only a moral duty but also a political and legal requirement.

Tolerance is the virtue that makes peace possible, contributes to replacement of the culture of war by a culture of peace.

This seminar on ‘Tolerance and Interfaith’ was held on 17^th November 2009 at The Open Center, 2/1A Dr. Rajendra Road, Kolkata – 700020. As scheduled the ceremony started at 4 PM and had a gathering of most eminent personalities from various fields. Leaders from different religious clans, political arena academicians and various professionals lead the occasion to the crest of success.

Guests were welcomed to take their seat at 4PM and thus was the initiation of the ceremony. The inauguration of the seminar was adorned by lighting of the lamp and ushering the intellectual enlightenment among all the participants. Guests were presented bouquets of flower as a token of deep gratitude on behalf of the Peace Society Worldwide.

Dr. Suresh Kumar Agarwal, President of Peace Society Worldwide greeted all with the Welcome Speech and set the momentum for the evening. His emphasis on the vitality of Tolerance in the present day of chaos through out the world and the fact that not mere observance but need of imbibing the values of tolerance, harmony and peace within oneself put forward the very essence of the Peace Society Worldwide and the objective of the seminar.

The occasion saw a wonderful cluster of different religious leaders and preachers who though different in their mode of belief but were fraternal toward their ultimate objective, that is universal tolerance, worldwide peace and harmonious coexistence.

Most Rev. Mr. P. S. P. Raju, Bishop Emeritus Calcutta shared his view and wisdom. His articulated oratory captured the audience right from the start. His views on oneness of all the religions and the need to accept others in the way they are, were most apt for the theme of the seminar.

Jain Muni Shri Mani Kumarji, expressed his view through preaching of Mahavira, but the basic spirit was same. He accounted small stories were Mahavira spread the virtue of tolerance and non-violence and respecting others and their beliefs.

Swami Chetasanandaji Maharaj of Ramkrishna Mission chanted slokes from Vedas and Bhagawat Gita and clarified that all the religious preaching at the end aims to one fulfillment and universal brotherhood. He also reminded the fact that all life ends in one oblivion and thus violence, intolerance and clashes of beliefs are not worthy enough.

Dr. Sukhwant Singh, the leader of Sikh community put forward his ideals in simple and free flowing words. The teachings of Guru Nanak aiming at universal tolerance and need of harmony and peace has been the focal point of his discussion. He also merged the essence of health and healing along with Tolerance and Peace.

Dr.Prakash Sanchetee,a renowned holistic practitioner also spoke on the occasion and stressed upon the role of health in achieving and practising tolerance specially the mental and emotional aspects of health.

Rev. Mr Uttara Moeg, a Buddhist Monk, shared his view through three simplistic words, Compassion, Love and Kindness. These three are the guiding principles of Buddhism and the prerequisites of a world, which is Tolerant, Observant, and in Peace.

Mr. A. Wakeman from U.K. participated as a Special Guest and held a similar view with respect to Tolerance and world Peace. He beautifully suggested the life as a compass of which if the center is same then there will be no conflict among the angles of the arcs. He focused on the need of all mankind to center their focus to the same point and thus achieve a non-conflicting circle of Tolerance, Harmony and Peace.

Ms. S. Wakeman from Siberia showed her overwhelmed happiness in being able to join the seminar and the stimuli it gave to her mental thought process to focus within her own inner-self to attain the peace from within. Thus giving impetus to everyone present in the seminar to first look inward and then towards other for spreading tolerance and peace.

Mr. Anthony Arun Biswas, gave a detailed view of India’s present demographic scenario and the need of incorporating the vast diversity of faith, caste and creed that India shows. In his speech India acted as a mere example but his focus of discussion was the world as a whole. Working together with Mother Teresa for long years and being closely associated with her gave him the true meaning of Tolerance and Compassion, Peace and Harmony.

Dr. D. C. Gupta, Recipient of President’s Award in Social Work gave a very jovial but highly practical speech. He recounted the general human nature and the need to get over it. Basic need to understand and accept the others. His sharing of views created a light but very effective mood within the audience.

Acharya Brahmadutta, of Arya Samaj gave a fulfilling speech in Sanskrit. Though the verbatim understanding was not possible for everyone present but the point of talking was very much comprehensible. The Sanskrit slokas and chants aimed at oneness of the whole world.

Rev. Father Sunil Rozario, spoke of tolerance with a very situational example of Sachin Tendulkar making headlines for his admission of the fact that Country comes before state to him. This kind of situation in present day holds a gruesome picture of intolerance and violence that has become a normal part and parcel of life. His aim at overcoming these threatening mentalities and look forward to a wider scope of peace and harmony binded to whole theme of the seminar.

Concluding speech was given by Chairman of the Seminar, Hon’ble Mr. Justice Samir Kumar Mookherjee, Former Chief Justice High Court of Calcutta. He being not a religious leader placed his views as a voice of the general mass. His referencing of Ramkrishna Deb and integrating of the wisdoms perceived from the speeches of former speakers brought a very compact end to the Seminar. The involvement of everyone in the way of achieving Tolerance and Peace has been his prime focus.

The Seminar ended with a Vote of Thanks, given to all the respected guests and participants who attended. Dr. D. N. Banerjee on behalf of Peace Society Worldwide presented the Vote of Thanks.

Participant who made this seminar worthy enough were Dr. P. Mohanty, Dr. Prakash Sanchetee, Adv. Mr. N.C. Samanta, Adv. Mr. Siddhartha Shankar Pal, Dr. C.N. Bhattacharya, Dr. Ashim Chakraborty, A.N. Das, Dr. Partha Mukherjee, Dr. Prankrishna Pramanik, Dr. Mridula Mittal, Mr. G.L. Patwari, Mr. Subrata Das, Dr. D.C. Gupta, Dr. Sukhwant Singh, Acharya Brahmadutta ,Ms.Neha Agarwal,Ms.Isha Agarwal,Ms.Sangeeta,Ms.Papiya,Ms.Binal Desai,Mr.Dulal Bhattacharyya,Ms.Neha Jasani,Dr.C.Venugopal Rao,Mr.Kausik Mitra,Ms.Shilpi Chattopadhyay,Mr.Deb Kumar Chatterjee, Mr.Chandan Agarwal,Dr.Naina , Ms.Neeta Thakkar,Ms.Jayashree A Talsania, Mr.Sekhar Dey, Mr.Shambhu Pradahan and many more.

The Seminar was jointly convened by Mr. Sushil Agarwal, Mr. Amrita Sil and Ms. Ushasi Mahapatra. This successful seminar thus aimed towards the Tolerance, Harmony and Peace as the binding virtue of life. As the basis of Quantum entanglement of physics the whole World and the whole Mankind is also entangled to one whole mass spiritually and emotionally, but off late to fulfill one’s narrow selfish causes men are discarding this true law of nature and creating disharmony. The Seminar on International Day of Tolerance 2009 held by Peace Society Worldwide started a small stimuli among the gathering to look otherwise with a firm resolution to spread this as a wave throughout the world community and not as a mere ripple.

Peace Society Worldwide is a Global Civil Organization for Universal Peace & Harmony, and has been working for the promotion & inculcation of the ideas & principles of world peace, harmony, tolerance, non-violence, international understanding & co-operation in conjunction with United Nations and its various agencies.