‘Be the change that you want to see ‘
WeSchool leads the ‘Global Peace Initiative’ to spread the message of peace and harmony on the day Mumbai was hit by terrorist attacks four years ago
Welingkar Institute of Management Research & Development (WeSchool), is taking a lead in organizing the ‘Global Peace Initiative’ to commemorate the memory of victims of 26/11 terror attacks on Mumbai which left numerous unhealed wounds and unanswered questions in the public psyche . ‘Peaceathon’, a walk for peace with students of various schools and colleges will be flagged off from CST, Churchgate and Trident on November 25, 2012 at 8.00 a.m. Dr. Shashi Tharoor, Minister of State for HRD, Govt of India ,will join Prof. Dr. Uday Salunkhe, Group Director, WeSchool along with students and citizens of Mumbai at the Gateway of India where they will take a pledge of peace in the presence of representatives of several religious and spiritual communities, corporate leaders and diplomatic community of the city.
A panel discussion aptly titled ‘Global Peace: Be the change that you want to See ‘, with participation from several dignitaries from corporates, media, sports and government will be held at the WeSchool campus on November 26, 2012 at 4:00 pm .The event aims at providing a platform for a dialogue that will lead to the creation of structures of peace on a global scale.
Hon. Ms. Asta Johannesdottir, Speaker of the Parliament of Iceland will be the Chief Guest on the occasion. Iceland is ranked as number one in ‘Global Peace Index’, in a study published by Australia and US-based Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP) in June 2012.Iceland has been at this rank for two years in a row.
In a first of its kind initiative, WeSchool students have prepared a research paper on the theme , ‘Be The Change You Want To Be’, covering various topics ranging from stories of individual contributions to peace from Buddha, Mahatma Gandhi to Asha Bhat, the Sarpanch of a remote village in Kashmir , peace movements like the Non alignment Movement and ending of apartheid ,Indian learnings on peace like Satyagraha and Panchsheela , peace efforts at a global level by UN and other international bodies , importance of the Global peace Index and creation of structures of peace . This effort to reinforce world peace will form the core agenda that will be discussed by the eminent panelists .
The key panelists are: Sania Mirza, Indian tennis Star , Niranjan Hiranandani, Co-founder of the Hiranandani Group, Sumit Mullick, Chief of Protocol and Principal Secretary, Maharashtra state, D Sivanandan, Ex- Director General of Police, Maharashtra state and Shailesh Haribhakti, Chairman, BDO Haribhakti.
It will be hosted by Vivek Oberoi, Actor and social worker
The panel discussion will be followed by an event , ’We Wish You Peace ‘at which the WeSchool students will present a song that is penned and set to music by them for the occasion. Several prominent personalities from the Indian film, television, sports, corporate world and education will walk the ramp with children from NGOs for the cause of Global peace. The Diplomatic community based in Mumbai, corporate leaders, eminent citizens, media personalites will be present to express their solidarity with the Global Peace Initiative.
‘Global Peace Initiative’ is conceptualized by Ms. Kia Scherr of One Life Alliance, an NGO , jointly with WeSchool as its academic and project partner and Mr Gul Kripalani,Hon.Consul General of Iceland in Mumbai as its Convener.
