Date:07/01/2009 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2009/01/07/stories/2009010761670300.htm

New Delhi

Prayer meeting for terror victims organised

Staff Reporter

‘Non-violence is the only method to bring a peaceful world order’

NEW DELHI: To pay tributes to the thousands of people who have fallen victim to different forms of terror and violence across the world, Gandhi Smriti and Darshan Samiti organised a prayer meeting at the site of the martyrdom of Mahatma Gandhi at Tees January Marg here on Tuesday.

Religious leaders from different faiths offered prayer. Members from Swar Trishna offered bhakti sangeet and Ram dhun.

Speaking on “How to eradicate terrorism”, A.K. Merchant, Director of the National Spiritual Assembly of Baha’i of India, pointed out that the problem of terrorism cannot be solved nationally but it had to be tackled at the international level.

Crux of matter

“All the nations have to unite and come up with a solution. Use of force even for the right cause will not bring about good results. Hearts have to be changed. The crux of the matter is that the battle against terrorism will have to be fought not merely by enactment of stringent laws and their enforcement but in the hearts and minds of people who profess to be terrorists,” he said.

Stating that the prayer meeting was organised to give strength to people so that they could fight the menace of terrorism in a non-violent way, Samiti vice-chairperson Tara Gandhi Bhattacharjee said: “Besides the terrible tragedy in Mumbai and other attacks by terrorists in Assam, Delhi and the World Trade Center in the United States, we are also facing violence on the streets, buses and trains. So, all of us need to introspect as it can lead to solutions. We need to be alert and every citizen must be careful about his or her language and refrain from saying something that might hurt the other person.”

Hunger for peace

Asserting that the world was hungering for peace, Rajdeep Pathak of the Samiti said: “People need to understand that non-violence is not a weapon of the weak but of the strong and fearless. It does not consist merely of abstention from physical injury, it demands a discipline of not even thinking of hurting others. The recent terror attacks in Mumbai and in different States of the country have shaken humankind. At the same time, it has reiterated the fact that non-violence is the only method to bring a peaceful world order.”