The Incheon International Peace Conference was held in September in South Korea. Sankar Kumar Sanyal, a Gandhian peace activist and president of RC Howrah, RID 3291, led the Indian delegation which included Tushar Gandhi, president, Mahatma Gandhi Foundation, Mumbai, and his great-grandson; Kumar Prashant, chairman, Gandhi Peace Foundation, Delhi; P Maruthi, secretary, TBV Samity, Chennai; Prerna Desai, economist; Sonal Gandhi from Maharashtra; Shikha Sanyal from West Bengal; and Sanjay Rai from UP. They all addressed the peace seminar in Korea.
The conference was a collaborative effort between Korean organisations such as Incheon Newspapers, Voice of Peace and People (VOP), Incheon Cultural Foundation etc and the Indian embassy (Korea), Institute of Indian Studies, Air India, Nonviolent Peace Wave and the Harijan Seva Sangh of which Sanyal is president.
After inaugurating the peace conclave, Sanyal unveiled a Gandhi statue at a public square in Incheon. Chairing the inaugural session, Park Hyunsu Kim, CEO, Incheon Ilbo, a popular Korean daily, said, “Peace is not a passive state but an active commitment, rooted in the truth in our dealings, compassion in our hearts, and justice in our societies.” He pointed out that global challenges from war and climate crises, to all forms of discrimination, are forms of violence that must be addressed by first removing hatred from our own minds.
On behalf of Harijan Sevak Sangh, Sanyal signed three MoUs to foster collaboration with the Gyeongin National University of Education (GNUE), Sunshine Miryong Yoga Cultural Centre and Korea Research Institute for Local Administration. The Indian delegates later toured Incheon and Seoul, and left for Japan.
In Japan their journey began near the majestic Mount Fuji, where they were received by Yuka Saionji, great granddaughter of Japanese PM Saionji Kinmochi.
As a representative of Goi Peace Foundation, she escorted them to the GPF Peace Park, a symbol of global unity as it featured the flags of 194 countries. A joint peace appeal was penned by Sanyal and Toshika Tanaka, an 89-year-old survivor of the Hiroshima atomic bombing, and president of the GPF. The core message was an impassioned plea to “abolish nuclear weapons” forever, for the sake of all life on the planet.
Sanyal and his team met a group of Japanese peace activists in Hibiya, a neighbourhood town of Tokyo. “We discussed ways to develop specific programmes and strategies for peacebuilding, and strengthening mutual understanding between India and Japan,’ added Sanyal.