‘The World is one family’: Students from around the world extend peace message at international culture festival


Date posted: May 10, 2016

A fusion of cultures was seen at the fourteenth edition of the International Festival of Language and Culture (IFLC) that was held in India for the very first time.

India, which is known for its varied languages, witnessed dance performances by warrior dancers from Georgia, who danced on the steps of mekhla-clad Bihu performers from Assam on the rhythms of the dhol.

This year, the theme of the International Festival of Languages and Colours (IFLC), which aims to spread the message of global peace and cultural harmony is “The World is one family” or “Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam”.

Details of “Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam”:

  • As many as 400 students from 17 nations participated
  • The event started up with the songs on the theme of ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’
  • At the end of the event, participants sang, danced and acted to build universal harmony and brotherhood
  • The event was attended by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal , Venkaiah Naidu (Minister of Parliamentary Affairs), Sushma Swaraj  (Minister of External Affairs), Mahesh Sharma (Minister of Tourism and Culture), Najma Heptullah (Minister of Minority Affairs) and others.
  • The mega programme was organised by a non-profit and nongovernmental organisation, the Educational Endowment Trust (EET) along with the Ministry of Culture and the UN Information Centre for India and Bhutan
  • Also, students represented their culture through various music and folk dances from countries like Belarus, India and Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Germany, Bulgaria, Kyrgyzstan, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Tanzania, Tunisia, Ukraine, Georgia, Russia, Hungary and USA
  • While inaugurating the event, Minority Affairs Minister Najma Heptullah said, “I am amassed to see the spirit of these young studentsâ?¦ in fact, they are the real emissaries of peace, who represents not a country or state, but the entire universe.”

Meanwhile, Abdul Malik from Tanzania said, “This is for the first time I have come to India and I wish to come here again.”

Previous year events:

  • In 2003, IFLC started with students participating from 17 countries
  • Last year, 145 countries participated with around 2000 candidates
  • In 2016, IFLC will be organised in 30 countries, in over 60 venues

At the event, Educational Endowment Trust president Ersin Karaoglan said, “IFLC plants a field of harmony and understanding between the people, no matter from which culture, language, and religion you are, but we have so many commonalities to share.”

Further, he added, “We believe that these ideas will be harvested in the future as friendship.”

Source: India Today , May 9, 2016

Tags: | | | | |


Related News

Amity School on The Wall Street Journal

Brooklyn teens from the Turkish and Jewish American community gathered for a twinning event at the Masbia Soup Kitchen. Though this is not the first time that these teens are getting together in a project; they formed an initiative called “Young Peace Builders”, which aims to foster better understanding between the two communities. They believe that working together in projects like this will benefit the New Yorkers now and in the future.

Is Hizmet being subjected to genocide?

Indeed, the word genocide brings to our minds mass killings and relocations of members of a race, usually under war-like conditions. Yet, genocide is not a war crime. It is not a type of crime committed against a specific race. Rather, it has wider connotations. This crime may be committed against a specific group, without massacring them and in a peaceful setting.

Erdoğan and AK Party deputies split over hate speech against Hizmet

Apparently, not every Justice and Development Party (AK Party) member and minister is on board with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s hateful and insulting rhetoric against the Hizmet movement and Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen and his followers.

Feud between Turkey’s Erdogan and influential cleric goes public

A feud between Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan and an influential Islamic cleric has spilled into the open months ahead of elections, highlighting fractures in the religiously conservative support base underpinning his decade in power. The reclusive cleric drew parallels with the behavior of the secularist military in the build up to past coups.

Where does Gülen stand on: democracy, human rights, and minorities?

Gülen recognizes democracy as the only viable political system of governance. He denounces turning religion into a political ideology, while encouraging all citizens to take an informed and responsible part in political life of their country. He stresses the flexibilities in the Islamic principles relating to governance and their compatibility with a true democracy.

Cold Turkey: Erdogan’s withdrawal from democracy

The bizarre, phantom-like failed coup d’etat staged against Erdoğan’s increasingly brutal regime on July 15 last year saw him seize the opportunity to exterminate, imprison and purge tens of thousands of his enemies, real and imagined, within all strata of civil society, the military, government, media, education, health, the judiciary and other institutions.

Latest News

Fethullah Gülen’s Condolence Message for South African Human Rights Defender Archbishop Desmond Tutu

Hizmet Movement Declares Core Values with Unified Voice

Ankara systematically tortures supporters of Gülen movement, Kurds, Turkey Tribunal rapporteurs say

Erdogan possessed by Pharaoh, Herod, Hitler spirits?

Devious Use of International Organizations to Persecute Dissidents Abroad: The Erdogan Case

A “Controlled Coup”: Erdogan’s Contribution to the Autocrats’ Playbook

Why is Turkey’s Erdogan persecuting the Gulen movement?

Purge-victim man sent back to prison over Gulen links despite stage 4 cancer diagnosis

University refuses admission to woman jailed over Gülen links

In Case You Missed It

Erdoğan’s accusation that Hizmet organized the coup attempt is noxious and absurd

They want my backing for the enrollment in Turkish schools

Çağ Education Company in Azerbaijan held a conference to celebrate the 20th anniversary

Hizmet rejects claims it is linked to graft probe, says democracy is antidote to chaos

Erdogan may keep winning, but it wont’ do Turkey any good

Gülen’s Lawyer Albayrak: Evidence fabricated to lay psychological ground for legal case

Royalties provide Fethullah Gülen with modest income, his lawyer says

Copyright 2024 Hizmet News