RIYADH/JEDDAH, 4 October 2007 — Peace and non violence, the values that India’s independence leader Mahatma Gandhi upheld during his country’s freedom struggle were in focus during the two-day photo, stamp and coin exhibitions organized by Indian missions in Riyadh and Jeddah.
India’s Ambassador M.O.H. Farook inaugurated the painting and essay-writing competitions at the embassy premises in Riyadh to mark the “International Day of Peace and Nonviolence” on the occasion of Gandhi’s birth anniversary. A similar event was held at the International Indian School-Jeddah (Girls Section) presided over by Indian Consul General Dr. Ausaf Sayeed. The show ended yesterday.
A large number of students from Yara International School, Al Yasmin International School, Delhi Public School and International Indian School Riyadh (IISR), the co-sponsor of the event, along with Indian Embassy officials, were present at the Riyadh function.
The ambassador and the consul general dwelt on Gandhi’s philosophy of peace and nonviolence that played a key role in India’s freedom struggle. “The nonviolent approach is equally relevant in the current context when the bullet, rather than the ballot, decides the fate of the people,” the ambassador said..
Rajeev Shahare, deputy chief of mission, told Arab News that the Gandhian thought and philosophy had not only inspired the freedom fighters but also people like Nelson Mandela and the Dalai Lama. “Even today, Buddhist monks of Myanmar offering passive resistance in the face of the army crackdown remind us of the relevance of Gandhi’s teachings.”
According to Manzar Jamal Siddiqui, principal, IISR, 200 students from four international schools had participated in an essay-writing competition, while a painting contest drew 100 entries. Of these, 40 canvases were on display at the reception hall of the embassy. The first prize in the painting competition went to A.K. Ameen of IISR. It was a landscape painting that depicted the dove of peace flourishing in the land of Gandhi and being bled to death by Israel and its staunch ally, the United States. The second prize in this category went to Nishat Fatima and the third to Zehra Mahdi. Nonviolence was the theme of their paintings.
In the essay competition, Vivek Salguna, a 12th grader, and Devika Ganeshan, 11th grader (both from IISR) jointly took the first prize. The essay, among other things, explains how Gandhi had galvanized the nation through his philosophy which not only stressed the importance of truth and nonviolence in one’s conduct but also declared a war on corruption.
In this context, the essay highlights the findings of a World Bank report which ranks India 47th out of 213 countries on the corruption Index. If not tackled properly, it could erode the gains achieved through the 8.9 percent GDP growth during 2006-2007. In her essay, Devika underlined the relevance of the Gandhian philosophy and the four principles that it espoused — Satyagraha (nonviolence), Swaraj (independence), Swadeshi (national products) and Sarvodaya (doing good). Bishwadip Dey, second secretary at the Indian Embassy, said the International Day of Peace and Nonviolence would be observed every year in order to sow the seeds of peace among the younger generation.
Prizes at the Jeddah function were given by the consul general and his wife Farha Sayeed to students of IISJ who won various competitions held to mark the occasion.
