Education and Peace

-Dr. Ravindra Kumar*

         Education is a lifelong process. Through this process a human being learns till his last breath and acquires knowledge, the most important of which, according to Socrates is, how the best to live . For Gandhi education is to accord a dimension to man’s all-round development. Hence, in short, to make one’s life prosperous and worthy.   

           It is education that brings a human being out of the state of ambiguity, ignorance and perplexity that are, according to Gautama Buddha, the main causes of distress and uproar in life. Education inspires the man to follow those values, which are eternal and welfaristic, and thus on the strength of them to extend the pace to rise. Furthermore, on the one hand it controls the damage caused by mistakes, which besides being natural, are more or less committed knowingly or unknowingly by every human being, and on other it helps in developing the existing knowledge of man up to the highest level. Not only this, education increases the power of argument in man and broadens his understanding. In addition, it develops virtues in him and leads him towards the reality and truthfulness, which are the fundamentals to achieve prosperity and peace.

          Moreover, education is not a situation of the status quo. It is a state of dynamism. It is full of activeness and continuity. That is why; by awakening the man and developing virtues in him, education as an effective, important and the best means plays the vital role in achieving peace on the one hand and to make it certain on the other. In this regard, if the one ventures to say that the pathway to peace goes through the avenues of education, it will not be inappropriate.    

       But to ascertain peace through education it is absolutely necessary that the real meaning, purpose and goal of education is well understood. Simultaneously, by understanding the sense of all welfare, which exists in its root, practices are carried out. If it is done accordingly, there is no reason that peace does not exist among human beings or the way to peace is not available to every human being.          

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* Indologist Dr. Ravindra Kumar is a former vice chancellor of Meerut University, India; he is currently the editor of Global Peace International Journal.    

International Seminar on Education and Peace by World Peace Movement Trust, Mumbai, India (May 15-16, 2010)

Dr. Ravindra Kumar, Convener

Views and Comments of some of the prominent participants

“You survived this great effort, I admire you, Ravindra for your energy…”–Christian Bartolf, Chair, Gandhi Information Zentrum, Berlin, Germany

“I would like to tell you Professor Dr. Ravindra Kumar that it was an honour and a great pleasure for us to have been in the International Seminar on Education and Peace, Mumbai (May 15-16 2010), and to have found the opportunity to meet so many academicians, and especially  you during our visit. My congratulation and appreciation also goes to your hosting and warm welcome, and making the event a grand success.”–Enver Duran, Rector, Trakya University, Turkey

“The World Peace Movement Trust seminar on education and peace held in Mumbai was a great gathering of International scholars, peace-workers and human rights’ activists from all over the globe and as such quite timely and inspiring. Elsie Nkemdilim Alozie and I are privileged to be the part of it. God bless you Dr. Ravindra Kumar, Sir. Congratulations for your ingenuity and practical activities that made the conference a huge success.” –Kingsley Okoro, Ebonyi State University, Nigeria

“It was indeed a great honor and privilege to have met …dignitaries in Mumbai Seminar. Congratulations for the success of the conference...Once again, thanks for giving me the opportunity to participate in the Seminar and to meet very inspiring and interesting people there…” -M. S. Kakar, Deputy Minister, Education, Afghanistan and Managing Director, CPAU, Kabul

Dr. Sanjeev Kumar H. M. 

Dr. Preeti Sharma

“Greetings and hearty congratulations to you for organizing such a Seminar…! The assemblage of the best of the lot from all walks of life became possible because of you, and you deserve full credit for that! The convergence, both national and international, made possible through meticulous quality of presentations was quite illuminating. We were really elated to be part of the august gathering and look forward to similar participations in the near future as well. We, once again, extend our sincere thanks for your overall support and hospitality and congratulate you, and your team for the successful event management.”-Sanjeev Kumar (University of Allahabad) and Preeti Sharma (Banasthali Vidyapeeth, Rajasthan)

“Your Peace Seminar at Mumbai was a remarkable success. Ensuring the active participation of so many distinguished delegates from several foreign countries was most creditable and speaks volumes about your organizational and resource mobilisation abilities. Warm congrats for keeping the noble flag of peace and non-violence flying.”-Subhash C. Kashyap, Former  Secretary-General,  Lok Sabha (House of the People in the Indian Parliament)