Let's jointly work for peace: Tutu

Special Correspondent
The Hindu, 31 January

As long as disparities prevail, the war on terror cannot be won, he says

NEW DELHI : The war on terror cannot be won as long as disparities prevail and people are treated as rubbish. The key to peace and prosperity is in working together.

South Africa's crusader against apartheid Archbishop Desmond Tutu said this on Tuesday at the closing plenary of the two-day international conference here on "Peace, Non-violence and Empowerment — Gandhian Philosophy in the 21st Century."

Referring to conflict zones such as Iraq, Sri Lanka, Chechnya, Myanmar and West Asia, he said the catalogue was long but peace and stability could be attained through negotiations, compromise and attempts by warring parties to understand one other.

The Nobel laureate said those who wielded power and inflicted suffering on fellow human beings were forgotten but the world had deep reverence for great people such as Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, Mother Teresa and Aung San Suu Kyi.

Pat for Manmohan

While describing the conference as a "moving and significant event," Archbishop Tutu had a special word of praise for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for charting India's economic growth.

Turning to Congress president Sonia Gandhi, he said he was "greatly moved when you ... willingly stood down at a time when your candidature was going to cause a bit of rupture; thank you for your graciousness." Dr. Singh said Satyagraha should not be viewed as a means of obstructing dialogue or change. "We must respect the value of dissent. But those who dissent must also respect the value of building consensus. We must foster tolerance of the other point of view. Violent conflict never allows this. Violence deafens us. Non-violence helps us hear."

The conference adopted a declaration resolving to work towards a world free from hatred and violence; united in mutual trust, harmony and friendship; for more equitable access to global resources; united in struggle against poverty, illiteracy, diseases, injustice and hunger; free from nuclear and other weapons and where territorial boundaries became irrelevant.

It appealed to the U.N. to declare October 2, birth anniversary of the Mahatma, International Non-violence Day.