The Bharat Soka Gakkai Peace Symposium based on the Japanese Buddhist Leader Daisaku Ikeda's peace proposal for 2018 was recently held in New Delhi, titled—‘Toward an Era of Human Rights:Building a People’s Movement.’ The event was presided over by the former President of India, Pranab Mukharjee.
The goal of a life of dignity for each human being remains a distant hope in the 70th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, but the way forward to achieving this grand vision came alive at a symposium. A writer, a poet and a peace philosopher, Daisaku Ikeda, the president of Soka Gakkai International (SGI), has been recognised the world over for his contribution to peace, culture and education.
Mukherjee in his keynote address said,“What struck a deep chord with me is a statement of Ikeda: Being able to contribute in some way to the happiness of others and the world, be it through work or in some other capacity, brings one joy and fulfillment in life.” Dwelling on the concept of global nationalism, Mukherjee urged educationists to draw upon visionaries, such as Tagore and stressed that in achieving global recognition, our universities should not forget the difference between ‘world-class’ and ‘world-minded’. One of the themes of the peace proposal is that the bonds that form a culture of human rights are woven through the experience of joy shared with others. The chairman of the Institute of Social Sciences, George Mathew, focused on the need to strengthen local bodies and empower women. He stated that the Gandhians believed in the immense potential of panchayats to actualise true democracy and power to the people and that wherever elected women are in power from village to block to district panchayats, there is peace, development and vision for the future. He said, “Ikeda's vision of promoting human dignity and expanding the solidarity of people linked in their desire for peace, could be achieved through knowledge exchange of grassroots level governments in countries where the SGI has an active presence.” The chairperson of the Bharat Soka Gakkai (the Indian affiliate of SGI), Vishesh Gupta, echoed Ikeda's firm belief that humanity must move beyond reliance on what we would now term as ‘hard power’—use of military, political or economic might to dominate others. Instead, humanity must aspire towards a world in which the ‘soft power’ of culture, spirituality, and character inspires a mutual striving toward humanistic excellence and achievement.