Written by Kiat-Sing Teo
Arun Gandhi, grandson of Mahatma Gandhi, spoke at the World March for Peace and Nonviolence event in Boston on November 6th and 7th, 2009.
Recently re-elected Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino declared these two dates to be Boston’s annual Peace Days.
Pioneer proponent of democracy in China, veteran advocate of non-violence and founder of Initiatives for China, Dr Yang Jianli, also a fellow at Harvard University, was invited by several peace organizations to join in on Arun Gandhi’s three rounds of speeches in Boston.
On the evening of November 7th, Dr. Yang presented an emblematic blue and yellow ribbon to Arun Gandhi at the Cathedral Church of St. Paul. The symbol was designed by Dr. Yang while he was in prison in China and has been widely accepted as Human Rights for China’s Emblem.
“The hopelessness or hopefulness of this world is dependent on the efforts of every individual. We have all learned lessons from Gandhi, and therefore we believe kindness is feasible and peace is possible,” Dr Yang said.
“True democracy can only be achieved through peaceful, non-violent means. I fully support and have confidence in this. We often wish for non-violence, especially government non-violence. Let us not forget, we need to ‘be the change we want to see’. That is to say, we need to embody the principle of non-violence in our actions,” Arun Gandhi said.
“World March for Peace and Nonviolence” is the effort of several peace organizations. It is a global relay in the name of peace. The relay teams will arrive in the United States on November 30th. The first stop will be in New York.