IALRW Interfaith Seminar in Malaysia

The International Association of Liberal Religious Women, a branch of the IARF and one of the oldest interfaith women’s organizations in the world (founded in 1910), co-organized an interfaith seminar in Malaysia on 7-8 February.  The seminar brought together women from Malaysia, Yemen, Myanmar, Cashmere, Sri Lanka, Japan and Europe, and included two public sessions: “Plight of Domestic Helpers: Interfaith Perspectives” and “Conflict and War: Direct Accounts.”

Rev. Esther R. Suter, IALRW Vice-President from Switzerland, summed up the sessions as follows:

Domestic helpers is a crucial topic in Malaysia with
mainly women (“maids”) coming from Indonesia, often immigrants without a legal status or documents. Faith communities such as Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu, Christian (Roman-Catholic) Sikh and Taoist exposed the situation and presented their approach on a spiritual as well as social, moral and communitarian level.

Although the women gathered in Kuala Lumpur had a variety of approaches, presented separately, they managed to formulate firm recommendations to be addressed to the government, for training, support and protection of workers; regulation of agencies providing staff; and fostering right relationships with workers within families, respecting them as human beings.

…

The topic “Conflict and War: direct accounts” was presented by four IIUM students. They came from Burma, Yemen, Kashmir and Syria. With the exception of the student from Kashmir, they all presented conflict situations involving Muslims and another faith group and exposed the political conflict as an intentionally created religious conflict, which exploits religions for political and power strategies.

Here you can read the full report by Rev. Suter published at oikumene.org, and here her more detailed account of the stories told by four participants of the seminar: women from Myanmar, Yemen, Cashmere and Malaysia from protestinfo.ch (in French).

Human Rights Day in Malakapuram, India

Below is a short report written by Narava Paska Rao, chairman of the BV Foundation for Peace and Harmony, from its 2015 Human Rights Day celebration.

The BV Foundation for Peace and Harmony, a member group of IARF India, organised a meeting to observe the Human Rights Day at St. Ann’s College for Women in Malakapuram on Thursday 10 December at 10.15 a.m.

The speakers included Prof. K. Ravi, former director of the AU Academic Staff College, Prof. G. Peddaiah, former member of the AP Public Service Commission, Sister Prema, principal of the College, Miss E.P.S. Bhagyalakshmi, NSS  national award winner and Narava Praska Rao, chairman of the Foundation.

A debate competition was also conducted among the students on the occasion.

Prof. K. Ravi said that the youth should be aware of various issues, be alert and behave responsibly to safeguards the rights.

Prof. G. Peddaiah said that today youth is not useless but uses less of their potential; if their potential was used properly and if they were properly motivated, they could contribute a lot for achieving a just society.

The other speakers said that  people who observe duties alone  have the  right to demand rights, rights and duties are very important

Pakistan Chapter’s Peace Day Celebration

Briefly about IARF Pakistan:
IARF Pakistan strives to promote peace and harmony among Islam and minority religions, including many Christians, Bahai, Sikh and others. Bahai and Sikh have proper relations and coexist well with Muslims, but there are tensions between the Muslim and Christian communities. We organize peace meetings with representatives of all faiths to discuss and promote tolerance and peace.
Please direct your inqueries to Dr. Jefferson Tasleem Ghauri at iarfpakistan[at]yahoo.com.

Celebrating the UN-established International Peace Day on 21 September, IARF’s Pakistan Chapter held a meeting with several speakers  representing the countries diverse religious and spiritual traditions to share peace-building experiences and reflect together on how religions and denominations can contribute to creating and maintaining peaceful coexistence in a spirit of tolerance and dialogue, so much needed in that part of the world and many others.

The guests included:

• Fr. Amir Shehzad Lakshman (Orthodox Church)
• Rev. Victor Khayrat  (Roman Catholic Church)
• Rana Muhammad Awais (Islam)
• Qari Mehtab Alam  (Islam)
• Edwin Gul  (Secular)

Independence Day Event in Pakistan

Briefly about IARF Pakistan:
IARF Pakistan strives to promote peace and harmony among Islam and minority religions, including many Christians, Bahai, Sikh and others. Bahai and Sikh have proper relations and coexist well with Muslims, but there are tensions between the Muslim and Christian communities. We organize peace meetings with representatives of all faiths to discuss and promote tolerance and peace.
Please direct your inqueries to Dr. Jefferson Tasleem Ghauri at iarfpakistan[at]yahoo.com.

On August 14 2015, Pakistan Independence Day, the Pakistan Chapter of the IARF held an all-day programme for women and children. IARF Pakistan staff members, Robson Ayub and Hanook Yasir, delivered several presentations and moderated a discussion with the participants. The topics taken up included issues of vital importance for the people of Pakistan, such as religious coexistence, tolerance and mutual respect among various faith communities and groups in society, matters of key significance to the mission of IARF. The event met with much interest and was well attended. Below you can see several photographs taken at the meeting.

Hiroshima and Nagasaki Commemoration Events

The B. V. Foundation for the Promotion of Peace and Harmony, a member group of the South Asia IARF region operating in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India, will hold a series of commemoration events of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, as it has done for several years already. The meetings will be held on 6-9 August at:

• St. Josephs College for Women, Gynapuram (6 August)
• AS Raja Jr. College MVP. Colney (7th August)
• Dr. VSK Govt Degree College  (8 August)
• NT school Akkyyaplaem (9 August).

The meetings will be followed by an exhibition of photographs of Hiroshima and Nagasaki explosions and screening of a documentary film.

For details please contact Prof. Prakash Rao, Chairman, at 9032477463 or narava_prakasarao[at]yahoo.co.in.

Iftar Dinner at Mothi Baba Dargah, Chennai

On 14 July 2015 Adv. Varadarajalu Rengapashyam, IARF Council member for India, held an Iftar Dinner (traditional meal eaten by followers of Islam on sunset during Ramadan, the month of fasting, which is often an occasion for inter-religious encounter) at Mothi Baba Dargah Interfaith Centre (you can read more about it here) attended by about 400 persons of different faiths.

Human Rights Education Facilitators’ Training Program

26 – 28 June, 2015
Venue: St. Ann’s Generalate
St. Ann’s Retreat cum Seminar Centre, H.No: 12-13-485, Nagarjunnagar Colony, Tarnaka, Secunderabad – 500017, Telangana State, India

HRE training Hyderabad 2015 (pdf 1 page) 

India Chapter Chennai branch Human Rights Day event

10 December 2014
@Quaide – Milleth College for Men, Medavakkam, Chennai

PROGRAM:

Invocation: –  Students

Welcome Address: Dr. D. Ayub Khan Dawood, QMC for men, Chennai-100

Presidential Address: Dr. A. Rafi, M.Com. M.Phil., Ph.D., Principal, QMC for men, Chennai-100

Inaugural address & Power point on UDHR:  K. Ramachandran National Vice-President, IARF, India Chapter

Sharing experience with IARF:  Dr. Prof. Rajaram, Principal, Sri Karpaga Vinayagar College of Education, Kamuthakudi. Ramnad District

Special Address on Human Values & Ethics: Dr. Latha Subramanian, Assistant Professor, Dept. Of Criminology, University of Madras

Street Play on Human Rights violations & Remedy: College students

Distribution of Certificates: Mr. J.M. Naidu, Chairman, Anna Nagar west extn. Branch IARF, Chennai  

Vote of Thanks: Mrs. K. Yasmin, Asst. Professor and Program Officer NSS Unit, the Quaide Milleth College for Men                       

IARF-HRE Invitation for Human values & ethics 10.12.2014-1 at QMC, Medavakkam (Invitation doc)

Human Rights Awareness Drive by young adults, S. India

Awareness Drive on the Universal “Human Rights”

Place: Bangalore & Chennai, India

Date : 16^th November 2014

Regional coordinators : Fareena Maria (Bangalore) & Vijay Sarathy (Chennai)

 On a Sunday morning when most people tend to sleep in and while away their time, a few young adults joined hands to step up and make a difference. The RFYN team from south-India decided to have an awareness drive on human rights as the majority of people in our country are unaware about it.

The awareness drive mainly involved people from 2 cities – Bangalore and Chennai. The drive was a 2 day event where people from both cities were educated using different means.

On Saturday (15^th November 2014), a group of 25+ young adults gathered to make up banners and posters depicting the 30 articles as mentioned in the universal charter for human rights. These banners were then kept on display for  people to see and learn. These banners were also shared with people using social media. In this digital age, this was the most fastest and efficient means to increase curiosity among the youngsters. A lot of people wanted to know more about how they can do their bit to help others as well as how to manage when they witness a human rights violation.

On Sunday (16^th November 2014), a group of 100+ young adults did a silent rally by holding up the banners. The march was for a period of 1 Hr 45 minutes and was on the shores of Marina Beach (Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India)  from the labor statue to the Gandhi statue. The whole rally was lead by RFYN (Fareena, Vijay, Sowmya, Satya, Sri ram and Satish) from both the cities. All the participants were given free tshirts with the quote “Keep calm and give everyone equal rights” so as to encourage participation. We had police vans driving alongside us for protection which also garnered extra attention for our cause. The public was intrigued and clicked pictures while a lot of them congratulated our efforts.

This event marked the beginning of many greater things yet to come. A small initiative that was taken by us to do whatever little we could to help ourselves and those around us.

See photos of the event on Facebook

Reported by –

          Fareena Maria & Vijay Sarathy

International Peace Day 2014 celebrated in India

21 September 2014

International Day of Peace

Visakhaptnam

IARF member group Bala Vikas Foundation for Peace & Harmony  observed International  Peace Day at the Gandhi statue near GVMC.

Students attended from A.P. Indian Student Parliament, Karuna International, New Trenz, Society for Good Governance, Indian Youth for Society, and Nirmal Jyothi Foundation, plus the social worker Ramadevi .

Earlier a Walk for Peace was held, from the Ambedkar statue near LIC buildings after garlanding the Ambedkar by Prof. V.Balamohan Das, former Vice-Chancellor of Nagarjuna University, who said that violence was prevalent all over the world and even developed countries were not  free from the problem.

Later the walkers stopped at the Gandhi statue where a peace meeting was held.
Before the meeting the Gandhi statue was garlanded by EAS Sharma (IAS, Retd) from Forum for a Better Visakha, and pigeons were released to mark the occasion.  
The peace meeting was presided over by Narava Prakasa Rao, Chairman of Bala Vikas Foundation for Peace & Harmony, who said that everyone should  strive for world peace.

EAS Sharma read the peace pledge which was followed by students’ speeches.
                Sri Sharma in his peace message said that Sept. 21st serves as a reminder that hope and peace are not just a possibility, but also a reality, even in times of great despair and violence.
                International Peace Day serves as a call to action for all who are committed to a vision of a world in which the values of compassion and kindness, justice and mercy, and friendship prevail, and love is the guiding force in our thoughts and actions towards one another.

Bengaluru

International Peace Day was celebrated in grand manner at Seshadripuram Institute of Commerce & Management (SICM), Bangalore.

More than 200 students, faculty and guests enjoyed the deliberations.
Dr Mallaprabhu Venkatesh and Dr W.P.Krishna spoke, covering human values and the relevance of peace within and without.

Young adult representatives 34th World Congress Ms Meghana Belavadi and Ms Fareena Maria were introduced to the gathering and thereafter shared their experiences and how it has impacted them, and invited the youngsters to get involved with extracurricular activities for all-round growth.  The Chief Guest gave them mementoes.