From MIZZIMA News Group (r)

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PRAY FOR PEACE:
Burma activists joined with activists from India on Hiroshima Day

New Delhi; August 6, 1999
By Our Staff Reporter

Several meetings and functions were organized by Indian social and women
organizations in the capital today to observe the Hiroshima Day. A peace
march, under the banner of ?Citizen?s Committee Against Nuclear
Weapons?, was undertaken from the Red Fort to the Feroze Shah Kotla
stadium in Delhi in the morning. A large number of school children,
Gandhians, social and cultural activists, and women activists joined the
peace march.

?Today is Hiroshima Day. That is the day that reminds us that era of war
is gone and era of peace has come. We don?t want war. We want Buddha and
Buddha?s message of peace and non-violence. And this is the message for
the coming millennium?, said Ms. Nirmala Deshpande, well known Gandhian
and Parliamentarian in India.

In the evening, the peace activists gathered at Gandhi Smiriti on Tees
January Marg in New Delhi. Multi-faith prayers for peace were offered at
the spot where Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated.

About fifty Burma democracy activists joined with the Indian peace
activists in the function, which was organized by ?Women?s Initiative
for Peace in South Asia?. Former Prime Minister Mr. I. K. Gujral,
socialist leader Mr. Rabi Ray, women activist Mrs. Mohini Giri were
among the over 400 peace activists who participated in the prayer
meeting.

The meetings and marches for peace were simultaneously held in Mumbai,
Calcutta, Islamabad, Lahore, Karachi and Dhaka to observe the Hiroshima
Day.

A joint statement signed by more than 150 leading social activists,
individuals and NGOs in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh was also released
yesterday to appeal for peace in the South Asian region.

?Peace is a crucial factor for human development. Arms can only be
bought at the cost of bread in people?s stomachs?We believe that wars
are a no-win situation for all sides and that all problems must be
solved by dialogue?, said the statement. Ms. Nirmala Deshpande, Rami
Chhabra, Syeda Hameed, Mohini Giri and Kamla Basin were among the
signatories of the statement.

The day was organized to spread message of peace on the day when an Atom
bomb was dropped on Hiroshima in Japan during World War II.

By MIZZIMA News Group