Successful Completion of the Historical Peace Initiative, World Peace Rally

23-Aug-2019

As India is celebrating Mahatma Gandhi’s 150^th Birth Anniversary and the United Nations has declared 2019 -2028 as the Nelson Mandela Decade of Peace , Shree Sai Women and Children Welfare Trust based in Ahmedabad (Gujarat) India which embarked on a peace mission through a historic WORLD PEACE RALLY 2019 on 1^st July  from Gandhi Ashram , Ahmedabad  & which concluded at  Ambedkar House , London on 12^th August with a team of 30 likeminded  people in 10 Hyundai Tucson SUVs , having covered  a total distance of 17,000 km in a span of 41 days,  15 Countries and 105 Cities in the process , in the pursuit of spreading peace,  is back in Ahmedabad after successfully completing the mission .

The World Peace Rally 2019 flagged off on 1st July 2019 by the then  Hon’ble Governor of Gujarat , Shri. O.P.Kohli, high level officers from the Indian Air Force , Indian Army , CRPF , State / City  Police Heads & Dignitaries from Gandhi Ashram , which is an iconic monument of  peace as the great Mahatma Gandhi spent considerable time there during India’s freedom struggle , a place where everyone pays a tribute to the global torch bearer for  Peace . The team also created history by  hoisting the National Flag at Ambedkar House on the 73rd Independence Day.

In fact, Ahmedabad has the distinction of being the first World Heritage City of India. And, our Hon’ble Prime Minister Narendra Modi was Chief Minister of Gujarat, twice prior to being appointed as the Prime Minister of India in 2014 and re-elected again in 2019 which he won with big majority.

This historic World Peace Rally 2019 arrived at Harwich International Port on 12^th August morning from Hook of Holland,  was hosted by  the Mayor of Harwich,  Cllr Alan Todd, Mrs. Todd at the Mayor’s office , before heading to Ambedkar House, London.

From the Harwich Mayor’s office , the team went directly  to Ambedkar House in London (a  house which is a historic memorial as the Creator of Indian  Constitution Dr. B.R. Ambedkar spent  valuable time there in 1920 while pursuing his academics) to pay tribute to Dr.Baburao Ambedkar át his monumental house at 10 Henry’s road and officially concluded the rally as scheduled with the kind support of Indian High Commission as the property is under litigation for preserving it as a monument.

Thereafter , on 13 th August , the Indian High Commissionhosted a dinner for the World Peace Rally 2019 team , in recognition of the peace initiative undertaken by the organizers of the Rally and on 15^th August , the World Peace Rally team was invited to join the 73^rd Independence Day Flag Hoisting ceremony and the entire team was felicitated along with the four martyr children who were accompanying the team as Peace Ambassadors by H.E. Madam Ruchi Ghanshyam , High Commissioner to London and Senior Indian High Commission Officers.

Before reaching London, the team visited the iconic “ International Court of  Justice ” in Amsterdam and thereafter the Indian Ambassador to The Hague , Netherlands hosted the team at The Gandhi Centre before the team took  a  ferry  from Hook of Holland on 11^th August and arrived at Harwich Port on 12^th morning .

In the process , the historic World Peace Rally covered covered parts of India, Nepal, China, Kazakhstan, Russia , Belarus , Poland, Czech Republic, Austria, Germany , France, Belgium& Netherlands before reaching London on 12th August& throughout the journey, the Indian Embassies / Consulate Offices  have supported & hosted the World Peace Rally team in each country and flagged off the rally on the following day .

The rally also received a red carpet welcome while crossing  borders between two countries.The entire WPR team is overwhelmed by the support  the rally has generated throughout its journey even while interacting with the local local people irrespective of language barriers in many countries.

The rally was led by Mr. A.K. Pawar (IRS), Retired Chief Commissioner of Customs & Service Taxes & Mr. B.M. Sood , a widely travelled Businessman and Co-leader of this rally along with few Retired Government Officials , Businessmen , Professionals , Housewives & most importantly  four teenage children of our Indian martyrs whoaccompanied  the rally as Peace Ambassadors and one physically challenged person , all in the pursuit of spreading peace.

The teenage children of our martyrs belong to Indian Air Force , Indian Army, CRPF(Central Reserve Police Force) & Maharashtra State Police Department . One among these four children belong to one of the CRPF personnel who was martyred in the Pulwama terrorist attack (Srinagar) on 14^th February 2019.

While the rally was in its conceptual stage, our Trustees had approached former  MOS - External Affairs Gen.V.K.Singh  who then extended  support for the  concept  of World Peace Rally 2019 and because of his initiative , all the Indian Embassies have extended tremendous support on route and have applauded our peace efforts .

The rally was earlier scheduled to take off on May 15^th , but as India woke up to a shocking terrorist attack on  CRPF convoys  in Srinagar on 14 th February , the Trustees of Shree Sai decided to extend some assistance to the many innocent lives whose whole life was  dependant  on our brave martyrs who lost their life for our country. It was then decided that, we will include few children of our martyrs, one each from various forces and take them with our historic world peace rally.

Thereafter, all the forces were approached and the concept of taking along a few children of martyrs was highly appreciated by the defence forces and they asked for more time to identify and process the applications and get the passports of such eligible teenage children. Accordingly, the World Peace Rally was rescheduled to 1^st July and the heads of Indian Air Force , Indian Army , CRPF & Heads of State Police Departments came together to flag off the rally .

The team journey was covered by International Press ,  TV & Media on route.

The World Peace Rally 2019, organized by Shree Sai Women and Children Welfare Trust , is historic in nature and an initiative to spreading  global peace which needs to reach across to a larger audience through every medium as we seek your support in promoting our peace initiative.

The World Peace Rally 2019 was ably supported by our Committee Chairman Dr.NitinbhaiSumant Shah, a leading Philanthropist (Chairman , Indian Heart Foundation & Research Institute & President, National Association for the Blind) & leading Corporates who extended their financial support which together made this historic journey , truly memorable.

The World Peace Rally team is committed to spreading peace to everyone as they meet and interact on route and the team has been generating tremendous response  as terrorist attacks are happening every single day at some location or the other across the world and peace is the only way forward.

As Mahatma Gandhi quoted ,

An eye for an eye will only make the whole world blind  !

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