World Peace

Soka Gakkai International has organized an exhibition, 'Building a culture of peace for the children of the world' in the international decade for a culture of peace and non-violence for the children of the world, as declared by the United Nations...

It is not the violence of a few that scares me. It is the silence of the many.” - Martin Luther King, Jr. This quote captures the essence of our peace processes in the world now. A whole generation is hardly aware of the culture of peace, even in our country where peace is part of our nation’s identity. However, organizations like Bharat Soka Gakkai, are trying to spread the message of peace. The organization is the Indian affliate to the of Soka Gakkai International (SGI), an international NGO whose 12 million members based in 190 countries and territories work for world peace.

The NGO has organized an exhibition, Building a culture of peace for the children of the world. The aptly-titled exhibition has come in the international decade for a culture of peace and non-violence for the children of the world, as declared by the United Nations.

Says Jagadish, a volunteer with Bharat Soka Gakkai, “The aim of the exhibition is to instill ideas of peace in young minds. We are trying to explain concepts of peace to them and telling them about how it’s not just war and peace but also inner peace, peace with nature, with our surroundings, just about anything. If we sow the seed of peace now, it will hopefully help create a culture of peace.”

The exhibition covers various aspects starting with barriers to peace. Detailed explanations on factors like environmental irresponsibility, isolationism, poverty, nuclear threat, greed, prejudice and stereotyping which are barriers to peace are on posters.

Volunteers are more than willing to explain and discuss them with visitors. The exhibition also talks of creating a culture of peace by working towards equality, encouraging education, tolerance, international peace and other possible paths. Another interesting aspect of the exhibition is about religions and peace. This talks of the definitions of peace according to different religions.

The exhibition also has space dedicated to describing the work of people who have worked for peace with an interesting mélange of well-known humanitarians like Mother Teresa, Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks as well as lesser-known ones like Nickole Evans and Veneranda Nzambazamariya.

The exhibition is ideal for school children but adults can take a peek as well. The organization has conducted essay and painting contests in schools on the topic What I can do for world peace and works from these are on display at the exhibition.

The exhibition is small but it carries a crucial message - that of peaceful co-existence, so if it can influence even a few children to think about developing a culture of peace, the exhibition would have served its purpose.