Wednesday, 15 October 2008
London, UK:
The Institute of Jainology today held its sixth annual Ahimsa (non-violence) Day at the House of Commons. The annual event, sponsored by the Labour, Lib-dem and Conservative ‘Friends of India’ groups, is attended by MPs, Ministers, Lords, the Jain community and others and celebrates the central Jain tenet of ‘non-violence’ as a means to growth and prosperity.
This year, Lord David Puttnam, Labour Peer and President of UNICEF UK delivered the key note speech on ‘alleviating global poverty’. As President of UNICEF UK he said he had seen at first hand the poverty, hunger and lack of basic health and education provision for children in many countries. He argued passionately that our lack of action will see this becoming commonplace, and that tackling environmental issues and fighting poverty needs to be an urgent priority now for countries and industry.
Other speakers included Minister for London and Employment, the Rt Hon Tony McNulty MP, who spoke eloquently about ahimsa as being more than a non-violent or pacifist view. He gave examples from the life of Mahatma Gandhi ji to illustrate how conviction and non-violent action can achieve great outcomes.
The Ahimsa Award for 2008 was given to Acharya Mahapragya, Spiritual Head of the Jain Terapanth Sect and a Jain monk for over 75 years. He is widely accredited with the rediscovery of Jain meditation - Preksha Dhyana, promoting Jain lay vows widely and achieving harmony during the recent sectarian riots.
The award was collected by the Choradia Family and two UK resident Samanijis (Jain Terapanth Nuns) on his behalf. They read a message from the Acharya emphasising that non-violence and non-possession (or limited possession) of material goods and wealth were closely linked.
Mr. Ratilal Chandaria, Chairman of the Institute of Jainology, said: “This 6th Ahimsa Day has been an outstanding success. As Jains we are proud that our values and philosophy are respected by many Parliamentarians, who show as deep a conviction towards compassion to life as we do. We will certainly build on this in years to come.”