SAARC countries to commemorate International Day of Non-Violence

minivan.
SAARC countries have accepted a proposal by Foreign Minister Dr Ahmed Shaheed to celebrate the United Nations International Day of Non-Violence in concert.
Shaheed put forward the suggestion at a meeting among SAARC foreign ministers on Sunday in New York, saying the day paid tribute to the philosophy expounded by Mahatma Gandhi and would further foster peace in the region.
The day, held on 2 October, marks the birthday of Gandhi, the pioneer of the principle of non-violent resistance, famous for saying, “An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.”
Speaking to Minivan News, Shaheed said it was appropriate for SAARC countries to emphasise the non-violent aspect of democracy as it was the first gathering of foreign ministers since democracy had come to all member countries.
“The whole of SAARC will benefit from democracy in the region,” he said. “Government will be much more sensitive to the welfare and needs of the people.”
The past two years has seen historic elections in the region, with democratic government installed in many countries in South Asia.
In October last year, incumbent President Mohamed Nasheed ousted 30-year-ruler Maumoon Abdul Gayoom in the country’s first-ever multi-party elections.
President Mohamed Nasheed will deliver an address to mark the occasion.

Elsewhere in the region, Nepal ended its 240-year-old monarchy, Pakistan elected its 11th president almost a decade after Pervez Musharraf seized power in a coup in 1999.
In December 2008, Sheikh Hasina restored democracy to the country in a landslide victory and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh won re-election in May in the world’s largest democracy. The same month the civil war in Sri Lanka was brought to an end.
Most recently, Hamid Karzai was re-elected president in Afghanistan, but in an election marred by electoral fraud.
SAARC was set up in 1985 to improve livelihoods in the region, but after 24 years, trade among members is five per cent compared to the European Union’s 55 per cent, according to the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry.
Shaheed said he believed democracy would foster peace which in turn would reduce inhibitions about trade in the region.
He pointed to the more robust relationship between the Maldives and India since the change of government last year as an example. “It has been far better to engage with India than before.”