Launch of IFPNP-III

 

International Day of Peace 2024

 Observance of International Day of Peace and announcement of IFPNP

 On the eve of International Day of Peace Sevagram Ashram Pratishthan  at the  Seminar hall of Library and Research of  Sevagram Ashram Pratishthan  the participants of Gandhi Darshan Camp  and the dignitaries present on the occasion observed a minute of Silence at 12 noon on September 21, 2024. Through this symbolic observance they became a part of global observance of Global Peace Day with a Moment of Peace at Noon in every Time Zone. After the observance, Dr.  Siby K. Joseph informed as the Global Peace Day Theme of 2024 is Cultivating a Culture of Peace it is befitting that Sevagram Ashram Pratishthan and other associating partners   announce the online international fellowship programme on nonviolence and peace and invites the applications from different continents.  IFPNP -III is being organized by Sevagram Ashram Pratishthan, coordinated by Sri Jamnalal Bajaj Memorial Library and Research Centre for Gandhian Studies in association with Gandhi International, Academic University College for Non-Violence and Human Rights-AUNOHR, MGM University and International Centre of Nonviolence, Durban University of Technology. The academic sessions will be organized from October 2, 2024 to January 30 2025. This is the third consecutive term Sevagram Ashram Pratishthan is announcing IFPNP  on the Global Peace Day. Prof. Somnath Rode, Trustee, Mr. Vijay Tambe, Secretary, Sevagram Ashram Pratishthan,  teachers and students from various Universities were present on the occasion.  

IFPNP-III

 

Speech of Mr. Louis Campana

Second  International Fellowship Program on Nonviolence & Peace IFPNP 

Oct 02, 2023, to Jan30, 2024

IFPNP -II Certification Ceremony  April 9, 2024

Message of Louis Campana, President, Gandhi International, France  

Good morning,

On the occasion of the certification ceremony for those who followed the trainings, I would like to honor them by calling them adventurers of non-violence in this world  which became sick (a little more than yesterday, but it is permanent!), is a compliment that involves a radical change of life.

 

I would like you to understand the importance of Ahimsa (do not harm), it is the first degree in this adventure and you will realize that it is a difficult thing.

The second is the search for truth (Satyagraha) and it begins with oneself. His most necessary involvement is that of the Swadeshi, this voluntary ability to weigh no one, to be oneself subject to noideology or propaganda and thus initiate a path of inner freedom. If you need a reference point to know where you are, question your inner voice and ask yourself if you are happy. If so, you are in the truth even if it lasts only a moment, continue in this way and especially continue to garden this work of joy.

As far as I am concerned, it is between two works in my vegetable garden and my orchard that I concoct this text to enhance your commitment to the service of the men of this time when all are upset either by wars, or by decisions of the leaders of the States-Nations, which by their thirst for power or incompetence can ignite the whole world towards dictatorships of control of individuals.

I still dare not speak of the pressures and problems raised by Artificial Intelligence, dehumanizing and which will make all of us submissive and consenting objects.

Let me also point out these fragmentations of society initiated around gender and Wokism ideologies that confuse our contemporaries, without however hiding the abuses of certain patriarchal practices that have distorted relations with women and minorities in past centuries by limiting their rights. This is stillrelevant and questions about the search for truth.

 

Gandhi was very concrete about the dangerousness of states and International Institutions (then still in its infancy, but now very corrosive and dominant):

 The State represents violence in a concentrated and organized form. The individual has a soul, but as the State is a soulless machine, it can never be weaned from violence to which it owes its very existence.

Real Swaraj will come, not by the acquisition of authority by a few, but by the acquisition of the capacity by all to resist authority when it is abused. In other words, Swaraj is to be attained by educating the masses to a sense of their capacity to regulate and control authority. 

 

 (M. K.Gandhi, Democracy: Real and Deceptive, Ahmedabad: Navajivan Publishing House, 1932)

 The objective, therefore, is to become masters of our lives and our destinies, in solidarity with those around us, by manufacturing among ourselves the networks of productions of our needs, sharing them with others, without concern for supremacy over the other, to avoid being stupid consumers. The best way to change this world is not to play with it, let us remain sober, attentive to others and especially let us remain in joy.

Be honored, you have made the right choice, stay faithful to it, the abundance of Life will be given to you.

 

Louis Campana

Speech of Dr. Ogarit Younan, Founder, AUNOHR

 

Lebanon - Ministerial Decree n°487 date 04/09/2014 ● www.aunohr.edu.lb

Beirut, P.O. Box 17 5227 - Gemayze; Tel/Fax +961 (0) 1- 445333

E-mail: university@aunohr.edu.lb

 

International Fellowship Program on Nonviolence & Peace

Oct 02, 2023, to Jan30, 2024

IFPNP -II Certification Ceremony ● April 9, 2024.

Dr. Ogarit Younan speech

AUNOHR University Founder

Dears,

The International Online Fellowship Program on Nonviolence & Peace – IFPNP II,

Thank you to all the people who contributed to the success of this program.

Allow me to thank especially,

Dr. Siby Joseph, Director of IFPNP, the Director of the Jamnalal Bajaj Memorial Library and

Research Centre for Gandhian Studies, in Sevagram - Wardha, India, and 

Prof. John Chelladurai, Dean of the Interdisciplinary Gandhian Studies in MGM University, India.

Gandhi is present with us. I can feel it.

Greetings to him, and to the legacy he presented to the world, with his spirit,

behavior, thought, experiments with truth, and his social, political, and economic

struggle. And of course, at the heart of all this is the term NON-VIOLENCE, which

we celebrated in 2020 its first century since Gandhi coined it in mid-1919 and

enshrined it in history since 1920.

104 years: This is the age of the word Non-Violence. Of course, the principles

were rooted before through history, but the word Non-Violence itself is still

‘young’ in counting the years of history...

For the IFPNP, it is as if I see Gandhi himself organizing the program with Dr. Siby

Joseph! I can imagine Siby sitting in his office in Sevagram, steps away from

Gandhi's hut and the group of huts spread around it, the library, the education

center, the prayer court, the beautiful trees...

That's where I met Siby for the first time about two years ago in India.

We agreed to cooperate. And so, it happened.

Louis Campana had paved the way for this cooperation. Merci cher ami Louis.

We love Gandhi. We love his Non-Violence. So, we love

the human being in us who chooses this path.

For Walid Slaiby,

Non-Violence is two ‘NOs’: No to self-violence, and No to the others’ violence, to injustice.

The first No is individual ethical; and the second No is an efficacy both social and political.

At the same time,

Non-Violence is four ‘Yeses’: Yes to love, yes to ethics, yes to justice, yes to efficacy.

Did you notice that the word violence is inside the word Non-Violence!? It is on

purpose, not a mistake… Especially to keep it clear in front of us, to always say No

to violence, the self-violence and the others’ violence, the injustice. This was

Gandhi’s message.

What matters to us in universities and in training and cultural programs, such the

IFPNP, is to live Non-Violence, not to take it merely as a collection of information

and discussions. It is not preparation for life, it is life by itself.

While human being has both the potential of violence and of Non-Violence by

nature, and it is up to education, the environment and life path to reinforce either

of the two, then HOPE exists to choose to cultivate the nonviolence in us.

Dear Fellows,

The knowledge and the experience you have had the opportunity to build in this

program is an opportunity of hope.

Today we celebrate Non-Violence, precisely because violence surrounds the

world. We want Non-Violence loudly because the human face has fallen in more

than one place in this world, especially now in Gaza - Palestine.

The scene today in the world is deeply divided between the lust for violence and

the exploitation of the interests of violence, and the aversion to it and the

cultivation of paths of Non-Violence.

Walid Slaiby concluded in his final years that “We are not in a world where

violence has won; We are in a world where Non-Violence has not won enough

yet”.

Today we are in an academic cultural program that

celebrates the active role of the fellows to spread Non-Violence and peace

culture.

So, let’s keep in mind this lesson, to understand that,

[ Some resort to violence by ignorance of Non-Violence. We know that the culture

of Non-Violence still marginalized…

Others resort to violence by profit from exploiting violence.

Ignorance we remedy. As for exploitation, we challenge it, regardless if it is

intended, disguised, or mythicized.

This is one more responsibility of the non-violent activists: in addition to struggling

for their cause, they must also strive to remove the thorns of ignorance and

exploitation from society.

Non-violent struggle, therefore, is multiplied reform: a simultaneous revolution on

more than one front.]

It’s more difficult but it’s doable.

I am pleased that students from AUNOHR University participated in this program.

Many reached the final stage, and today they receive the Fellowship Certificate in

nonviolence and peace.

Congratulations. Congratulations.

It is a word that is repeated today... to every Fellow...

Today is for joy.for love.

And I am with you, nothing is stronger than love...

When I was in school, I chose early to be a writer and a nonviolent militant for

social change and to be a volunteer all my life, away from positions, fame,

money... It helped me in this that I met a person who had chosen the same thing.

Walid Slaiby and me.

We lived together in simplicity, since 1983, during the Lebanese war, companions

in life and struggle, day by day for forty years!

Walid passed away 11 months ago after a twenty-year struggle with illness.

He is the Arab nonviolent thinker.

He lived for freedom, justice, and love.

And from his messages,

I wish each of you to adhere to freedom of spirit and thought.

The last thing we accomplished together was creating the “Academic University

for Non-Violence and Human Rights – AUNOHR”, a first of its kind in Lebanon and

the Arab world, and UNESCO considered it unique in the world. I am pleased to

convey to you a common phrase repeated by all students at our university,

“AUNOHR changed my life. It is a turning point.”

Dear Fellows,

Today you will bear an additional certificate in your journey honored by the title

of Non-Violence.

I wish you to carry it in one hand, and in the other hand to carry the human being

inside you. It is your testimony, your certificate of life. Bring it out in you, raise it

up so that we may see it always... It is your humanity. And with Bertrand Russell

we will continue to say, “Remember your humanity and forget the rest.”

With my love to everyone,

Ogarit Younan

 

International Online Fellowship Program on Nonviolence & Peace

 

Summary Report of IFPNP and list of Eligible Fellows

 

International Online Fellowship Program on Nonviolence & Peace

Oct 02, 2023 to Jan30, 2024

 

                                                                     Summary Report

 

International Fellowship Program on Nonviolence and Peace –II   (IFPNP -II) was organized by Sevagram Ashram Pratishthan in association with Gandhi International, Academic University College for Nonviolence and    Human Rights and MGM University. This four months fellowship program (Oct. 02, 2023–January 30,2024) was offered online and using English medium to support the international participants. In addition participants were given an opportunity to participate in a Colloquium on Peace and related themes held in  January 2024 in India .

The response to the announcement of the program was overwhelming. More than 60 applications from thirteen countries were given admission.

 Inauguration: It was inaugurated on Oct. 02, 2023 by Prof. Ramin Jahanbegloo Vice Dean and Executive Director, Mahatma Gandhi Centre for Peace Studies Jindal Global Law School, Delhi, India and Prof.  Vilas Sapkal Vice Chancellor of MGM University  presided over the function. There was special message from  Mr. Louis Campana, Gandhi International, France and  Guest of Honour:  AUNOHR University , Lebanon on behalf of Dr. Ogarit Younan,Dr. Nahla Harb  addressed the session .Smt. Ashaben Bothra ,President, Sevagram Ashram Pratishthan  blessed the students and conveyed her best wishes for the fellowship program.  

 Key Persons: This international fellowship program was facilitated by  Dr. Siby K Joseph; Prof. Preman and Mishra;  Prof. D John  Chelladurai and  Dr.  Ogarit Younan.

 Eminent teachers and facilitators from across the globe conducted the session. Notable among them were  Prof.Michael Sonnleitner, Retd. Ambassador  P. A. Nazareth,  Mazen Abou Hamdan, Daniele Taurnio,  Prof. Jeevan Kumar ,  Prof. Sanjeev Kumar, Prof. Shipra Singam,  Heather C. Cumming, Leandro Uchoas, Amadou Jallow, Dr. Diana Barreto Avila ,Daniela Sepulveda Ruiz    Alma Glower Avila,  Dr.Poncho Hernández and others

  Objective:  

The Program aimed at introducing to the international participants the fundamentals of Gandhian nonviolence and peace; the dynamics of nonviolence;  the ideas of Peace in the Global context and its conditions and constitution; Methods of nonviolence action: struggle for justice and peace; construction of sustainable living. 

The program also aimed at equipping individuals to transform conflict into creative experience; and empowering them to handle human situation (turbulent) constructively and contribute to the betterment of global peace;

Program Structure:  Sessions were conducted thrice a week (90 Minutes each) on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. Participants were given  optional field practical tasks to the extent of three hours a week (neighbourhood engagement)

 

Methodology: The program was conducted mostly in a participatory and interactive manner, using audio visuals and PPT, to enable the participants with the basic concept of peace and nonviolence in the light of Mahatma Gandhi’s Truth.

 

 Outcome: In order to facilitate the participants, we launched an interactive website to upload all relevant materials. The whats app group helped sharing instant insights and quick responses. Summary reading materials of every session were shared to the participants. All the sessions were recorded and a link was provided to those who could not attend any of the sessions.

 Twenty  one candidates successfully completed the course. 

Challenges:  Although we had planned many things, all of them could not be translated into action effectively.  For instance, we could not monitor the journal writing of the participants and  guide them effectively in the field practicals…

Recommendation:  Twenty one  candidates may be declared as Peace Fellows and ask them to commit for sustainable peace through  sustaining action.

 

  SibyK.Joseph 

 Director, IFPNP

 

 

Director, 

Sri Jamnalal Bajaj Memorial Library and Research Centre for Gandhian Studies,

 Sevagram Ashram Pratishthan, Sevagram,

Wardha- 442102,  Maharashtra  (INDIA) 

Email: directorjbmlrc@gmail.com 

Mob.9822238341 ( WhatsApp)

https://sevagramashram.org.in/index.php/library-and-research-centre/ 

https://nonvpi.in/

 

 

 Encl: List of Eligible Candidates

1.Chinedu Thaddeus Ayogu ( Nigeria)

2. Mohan S. (India)

3. Mythili P Rao (India)

4. Raheeq Alwardi (Iraq)

5. Ramse  Shamal  Shankar (India)

6. Akash Singh Thakur(India)

7.Benjamin Majur Mabuoc Majok (South Sudan)

8.Edwige Sotikon (Benin)

9.Uchehara Ikedichukwu (Nigeria)

10.Kachallah Lawan (Nigeria)

11. Malepthoto Niko Ruth Lephoto  (Lesotho)

12.Satyajeet Prakash Patil(India)

13.Akshaya Abhidnya Anant(India)

14. Emilie Rafic Kassis  (Lebanon but currently live in Qatar)

15. Jean Geagea (Lebanon)

16. Najwa  Adel Al Halabi(Lebanon)

17.Geeta Santosh Yadav(India)

18. Shuaib Idris Bello(Nigeria)

19.Mukeshbhai Arjanbhai Rabari(India)

20.Okechukwu Livingstone Ikefuama( Nigeria)

21.Samuel Amadi Kelechi( Nigeria)