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There is no way to peace, peace is the way

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Nonviolent Peaceforce, Suraj Kund, India

1 December 2002

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Nonviolent Peaceforce Launched

The final day of the Nonviolent Peaceforce Convening Event began with the participants sitting in silence, and ended with an exchange of prayers and reflections at the spot where Mahatma Gandhi died. On the final day of plenary meetings, delegates discussed organizational issues, heard reports from regional groups and proposed a work agenda to the newly selected International Governing Council.

It was a day of looking to both the future and the past. As the delegates spoke about the tasks to be accomplished over the short term, some looked to the far future. One reflected that it would take "fifty years, at least, to begin to make this (the Nonviolent Peaceforce) a reality." The day ended with a pilgrimage to the site where Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated nearly fifty-five years ago. It was his granddaughter Ela Gandhi's first visit to the site; she is a Member of Parliament in South Africa and was an early supporter of the Peaceforce proposal.

As the delegates and staff solemnly filed by the spot where Gandhi died, they gathered nearby for a period of prayer and reflection. One of the Indian delegates chanted Gandhi's favorite Hindu prayer, followed by a Pakistani delegate who led the group in an Islamic prayer. Others followed in their own traditions, including a Tibetan Buddhist chant, the Hail Mary in Spanish and the Lord's Prayer in both French and English. Ms. Gandhi ended the reflection with a short reading from her grandfather's writings.

Asked what each would carry back to her or his country, many responded with affirmations of solidarity or proclamations of hope. Claudia Samayoa, Guatemala, had been on the Interim Steering Committee and was selected for the International Governing Council. She summed up the four days this way: "We have committed many mistakes over the past few days, and will make more tomorrow, but we will learn from our mistakes. And we will grow and expand the Nonviolent Peaceforce in our own countries, in our regions and around the world."

David Hartsough, one of the first to work on the Nonviolent Peaceforce project, said, "Behind the shrine are footsteps marking the steps Gandhi took from the house where he was staying that day. He knew that any step might be his last in pursuit of nonviolence, in pursuit of justice. But he kept taking the next step, and that is our task now. I take home a great sense of encouragement that a whole community of people around the world have caught the vision of the Nonviolent Peaceforce and are committing themselves to the hard work ahead of converting that vision into reality."

Read also: Profile in our Newsletter 'Podium'

Link to the 'Nonviolent Peaceforce'