The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Signature campaign for peace begins

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Friday, Sep 22, 2006
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Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Signature campaign for peace begins

Special Correspondent

ABRS conference from November 25

SPREADING THE MESSAGE: Nirmala Deshpande, Gandhian and MP, releasing balloons to mark the International Day of Peace in Chennai on Thursday. — Photo D. Gopalakrishnan

CHENNAI: Inter-religious prayers for world peace, non-violence and ceasefire and launching of a signature campaign for peace marked the International Day of Peace here on Thursday.

Nirmala Deshpande, Gandhian and MP, led peace activists and others in signing a "peace proclamation" which read "... .global crises impel all citizens to work toward converting humanity's noblest aspirations for world peace into a practical reality for future generations; ... ." She affixed her signature first in the declaration.

At a meeting held by the Federation of Gandhian Institutions — Akhil Bharat Rachanatmak Samaj (ABRS), in association with peace-loving organisations and individuals, on the Thakkar Bapa campus, T. Nagar, prayers were recited from Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam and Sikhism for the cause of international peace. Several balloons carrying the message "We want peace" were released. About one lakh signatures are to be collected for peace. She also read out the proclamation as designed by the United Nations.

Sri Lankan Deputy High Commissioner P. M. Amza, former Tamil Nadu Minister K. Rajaram, Deputy Mayor of Chennai R. Thiagarajan, former Director-General of Police W.I. Davaram, Madras University Vice-Chancellor S. Ramachandran, Principal Commissioner and Commissioner, Revenue Administration, R.Santhanam and the Prince of Arcot, Mohammed Abdul Ali, were among those who participated.

Earlier, Ms. Deshpande, who is also the president of ABRS, told presspersons that this year's conference of the Samaj would be held at Tirupati for three days from November 25.

Peace rallies would be organised from various places such as Chennai, Madurai, Bangalore and Tirupati.

Congress president Sonia Gandhi is expected to inaugurate the conference, she said.

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