His Holiness the Dalai Lama joins call to make world free of nuclear weapons[Saturday, 13 November 2010, 11:33 a.m.]

His Holiness the Dalai Lama (2nd left) with fellow Nobel Peace Laureates at the 11th World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates in Hiroshima, Japan, on 12 November 2010/Photo: OHHDL

Hiroshima, Japan:
His Holiness the Dalai Lama on Friday attended the first day of the
11th World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates in the city of Hiroshima.
Permanent Secretariat of the Nobel Peace Laureates supported by the
Hiroshima city council organised the three-day summit. President of the
Secretariat, Mikhail Gorbachev could not attend the summit because of
health reason. Around four hundred delegates and participants from
different countries attended the summit.Among the Nobel
Laureates were, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Frederik Willem De Klerk,
Mohammed ElBaradei, Mairead Corrigan Maguire, Shirin Ebadi and Jody
Williams. Representatives from United Nations have also come for the
summit.Mayor and the Governor of Hiroshima opened the summit by
welcoming the Nobel Laureates and the delegates. A Hiroshima bomb
survivor and witness to the tragedy addressed the gathering about his
fearful experience on the day.The Nobel Laureates and the
experts discussed and deliberated on three issues divided into three
sessions – Hiroshima legacy, A world without nuclear weapons and
Threats of nuclear weapons.   

His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Nobel Laureate Jody Williams at the 11th World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates in Hiroshima, Japan, on 12 November 2010/Photo: OHHDL

  Speaking
on Hiroshima legacy, His Holiness the Dalai Lama said that Hiroshima
and Nagasaki atom bomb experience is reminder to all of us about the
destructive nature of war and nuclear weapons. He hoped that the two
cities be the first and last places to experience nuclear bomb, and
that the world will never see another Hiroshima and Nagasaki. “We all
must seek and work for a world without nuclear weapons, we also need to
work for demilitarisation of each nation in order to create a world
free of war and weapons. For this we must first achieve inner peace and
realise that we are all interdependent. Concept of war is outdated,
defeat of your enemy is no longer your victory. Destruction of your
neighbor is destruction of yourself,” said His Holiness the Dalai Lama.Former
President of South Africa, De Klerk and other laureates also spoke and
discussed on the issues at length. They invited questions from
university students from Japan and abroad. They said that Hiroshima has
become an important beacon for international community, it is a beacon
sending message to the world about the horror of nuclear weapons. Nobel
Laureates agreed that the problem lies not with the ‘atom’ but with the
human soul, that this nuclear threat will forever endanger human
civilisation if its proliferation is not checked.According to
some delegates, root cause of the presence of nuclear weapon needs to
be studied. “Since the fall the Berlin Wall and collapse of Soviet
regimes, many countries gave up nuclear options, because threat
perception was considerably reduced. Nuclear weapon is very dangerous
if it falls into the hand of a totalitarian regime who does not live by
international law, and where the government is not accountable to the
people. There are countries where there is law, but no justice. So the
freedom, human rights and democracy are the pillar of free and
responsible society.”

Norbu-cho Elementary School choir opens the 11th World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates in Hiroshima, Japan, on 12 November 2010/Photo: OHHDL

His
Holiness talked about the importance of co-operation and friendship in
building a more harmonious and free society to promote better
international understanding. “We all need to work in full co-operation,
but it should be based on friendship, and friendship comes from trust.
But trust cannot come from fear. A society or a nation which rules by
fear and intimidation is very dangerous,” His Holiness said.It
was discussed that elimination of nuclear weapons must start from the
nations possessing nuclear weapons. Non nuclear states need to urge the
nuclear states to make the world a safer place by gradually doing away
with this dangerous weapon, and the civil societies need to put
pressure on the respective governments to raise this issue of
elimination of nuclear weapons from this world.At the start of
the afternoon session, Mr. Weur Kaixi, a former Tiananmen square
demonstration leader addressed the delegation on behalf of Mr Liu
Xiaobo, this year’s Nobel Peace Prize winner. He appealed the
international community to urge the Chinese communist government to
release Mr Liu and give Chinese people their rightful freedom as
granted under the constitution.Tomorrow will be the second day
of the summit, wherein the Nobel Laureates and the delegates will
continue to discuss on the issues relating to proliferation of nuclear
weapons and the role of international community to stop it. –Report filed by Tsewang Gyalpo Arya, Office of Tibet, Japan