By Jacob Peenikaparambil
Sonkach: About 1,000 people from all walks of life and religions marched in a Madhya Pradesh town on October 2, the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.
The residents of Sonkach highlighted that peace and harmony are still a reality in India especially when some divisive forces try to inject hatred and revenge in society.
The peace rally was held under the auspices of the National Peace Movement and Rotary International.
As students, teachers, farmers, professionals, business men and religious leaders walked together to the tunes of band and patriotic songs. People lined up on both sides of the roads and showered on them flower petals as a sign of welcome and appreciation.
Religious and community leaders in the rally were garlanded at different places, especially in front of temples and mosques. Prominent among them was Divine Word Bishop Chacko Thottumarickal of Indore.
At some places people welcomed the rallyists with drinking water and sweets. Hoardings were put up at more than 30 locations with the message of peace and harmony.
The whole town wore a festive mood, said one of the organizers. He said the rally declared loudly that Mahatma Gandhi’s ideals and principles are still relevant and powerful to unite the people of India.
The rally that started from Gita Bhavan near the bus stand took about an hour to reach Parinay Garden, the venue of a public meeting. People sat through the three-hour meeting. They listened to a dozen speakers who stressed the need for drawing inspiration from Gandhi to resolve world problems and establish a civilization of love.
The speakers also paid tribute to Lal Bahadur Shastri, India’s second prime minister who contributed immensely to build a peaceful and prosperous India.
The speakers also highlighted the contribution of Universal Solidarity Movement (USM) in promoting peace and the transformation that is being brought about in the students through Enlightened Leadership training. All speakers lauded USM founder director Father Varghese Alengaden for taking the initiative to start National Peace Movement.
The Sonkach rally was the result of the National Peace Movement and the annual National Peace Conventions organized since 2015.
The USM believes in the dictum, “Light a candle instead cursing the darkness.”
One of the goals of the National Peace Convention is to highlight Gandhi’s contribution for building peace and his relevance for India and the world today. Hence the convention starts on January 30, Gandhi’s death anniversary.
The fifth convention is scheduled for January 30-February 1, 2019, at Shofar Conference Centre, Gurgaon, near Delhi.