The ninth anniversary of the HWPL World Peace Summit brought together leaders, experts, and representatives from various fields, including law, religion, education, youth, women, and media, to discuss and strategise ways to achieve global peace.
Aamina Hamid | Clarion India
AT a world peace summit held in South Korea, hundreds of world leaders from different fields agreed to work towards implementing concrete measures to establish sustainable peace by “replacing divisive attitudes with unity”.
The ninth anniversary of the Heavenly Culture, World Peace, Restoration of Light (HWPL) summit, held in Incheon from September 18th to 21st, brought together participants from 121 countries, including India. The summit, themed “Implementing Multidimensional Strategies for Institutional Peace,” saw the participation of leaders and experts in various fields.
Drawing from his own experience as a war veteran, chairman of HWPL Lee Man-hee urged politicians and leaders from around the world to come together and work towards achieving peace and highlighted the futilities of war.
“Why should the lives of young people be sacrificed in war? What is politics, and for whom is it for? When war breaks out, it is not politicians who go out and fight, but young people who have never bloomed before are sacrificed. Peace cannot be achieved through words alone. If we don’t have one, we have to create one, so we have travelled 32 times around the world to carry out peace activities. If peace had won in this world, there would have been no regrettable deaths. Through the enactment of international law, we must leave peace as a legacy to the global community where our descendants will live,” Lee Man-hee stated.
Notably, Indian participants made significant contributions to the formulation of a legally binding international law aimed at fostering lasting peace. Prof. Hamidullah Marazi, who is the former head of the Department of Islamic Studies, Kashmir University, highlighted the discussions and deliberations on establishing a legally binding international law for peace.
The legal document was framed with 10 clauses which will be submitted to the United Nations, proposing pragmatic suggestions to end all forms of war and advocate for a non-nuclear world.
Former Director at the International Centre for Spiritual Studies Islamic University of Science and Technology (IUST) Awantipora Pulwama in Kashmir and some others from Kashmir including faculty members of the university also shared their views in this regard.
At the main session of HWPL, Prof. Dr. Emil Constantinescu, the 3rd President of Romania, said: “We agreed that Peace is not an abstract concept, but rather a supreme value of humanity that can generate a calm environment in which people can live without the threat of violent conflict or psychological pressure”.
He further said: “We also agreed to work towards the implementation of concrete measures, both in the short term but above all in the long term, in order to fashion a new system of reference that replaces attitudes of “man against man” with “man alongside man”, expressed in the motto we adopted in 2014, “We Are One.”
HWPL advocates for building an internationally agreed concrete institutional peace based on the Declaration of Peace and Cessation of War, (DPCW), which proposes the comprehensive measures of peace continuum, ranging from conflict prevention to maintaining peace. In addition, HWPL continues activities such as facilitating inter-religious dialogues, fostering peace activities led by youth and women, providing peace education, and promoting a culture of peace through media outreach.
Ahod B. Ebrahim, Chief Minister of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, (BARMM), from the Philippine, said: “Today, I stand before all of you with utmost humility and say that the Bangsamoro is now a land of peace, prosperity and justice where Muslims, Christians, indigenous people, and our Lumad brothers and sisters cPhilippineso-exist and live in harmony. As we embrace a new age in the name of peace and development, I call upon influential leaders, policymakers and peace advocates in parts of the world to become a catapult that promotes peace, disarmament and a sustainable future. Let us continue to write a story of peace”.
The event witnessed over 1,800 people from 121 countries, including the United States, the Philippines, Ukraine, South Africa, Pakistan, Thailand, Romania, and India. These participants engaged in approximately 30 sessions over the course of four days.
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Photo taken from Internet
