Theme of the march
 

Among those in India who have offered their support are Medha Patkar, Admiral L. Ramdas, Arundhati Roy, Janak Lal Thakur, Swami Agnivesh, Narayan Bhai Desai, Kishan Patnaik, Siddharaj Dhadda, Asghar Ali Engineer, Prof. Rimpoche, Thomas Kochhery, Acharya Ramamurti, Manmohan Choudhary, Ganga Prasad Agarwal, Prof. Banwari Lal Sharma, Anand Patwardhan, S.N. Subbarao, Natwar Thakkar and G.R. Khairnar.
Association for India's Development, Greenpeace International, Friends of The Earth, Global Initiative, and Nuclear Awareness Project are among international organizations who have expressed support.

MAIN EVENTS DURING THE MARCH 

• 9 May, Jodhpur: day long seminar with Medha Patkar, senior Gandhian Siddharaj Dhadda, filmmaker Anand Patwardhan, nuclear experts Dr. Surendra and Sanghmitra Gadekar and many others.
• 11 May, Khetolai village, Pokaran tehsil, Jaisalmer district, Rajasthan: 10:30 a.m. march begins
• 6 August, Sarnath:  A big meeting will be held at Sarnath (Dist. Varanasi) on August 6 (Hiroshima day), 1999 at the end of the march. All supporters and social activists from India and other countries are invited in this meeting.
• Meetings, discussions and exhibitions will be held at different places on route of the march.
• A signature campaign is being organized in India and other countries as part of this event. A target has been set to collect about 2 lakh signatures which will be given at the end of the march on 9th August, Nagasaki Day, in New Delhi to the Prime Minister of India and Heads of States of the remaining 6 nuclear weapon nations and to the Secretary General of the United Nations.
• Return to this page for updates such as the letter below

HOW YOU CAN SUPPORT THE MARCH 

• Plan or join an event in solidarity with the Global Peace March
• Join the March at any point along the route
• Collect signatures.  Download and print the signature sheet.
                                     Download pdf version
• Fundraising for the march is solely through the signature campaign.  In India we are collecting a token donation of Rs.1 along with each signature and we request those in other countries also to collect a small token amount with each signature.

MAIN CONTACTS FOR THE MARCH 

Main Organizers: Lok Abhiyan, Upkaram Karoti, Dayanand Sewa Sansthan, Moti Nagar, Lucknow-226004; Phones: (0522) 347365/382333 (Sandeep/Arundhati), 230819 (Vishwambhar Vidyarthi), Sanjay Rai (387509)

Co-ordinators of Rajasthan route: Rajasthan Samagra Sewa Sangha, Gokul Vati, Durgapura, Jaipur, Phone: (0141) 552878 (Sawai Singh)

Co-ordination Office during the march: National Alliance of Peoples Movement, 14 Supreme Enclave, Mayur Vihar Phase-I, New Delhi-110091, Phone: (011) 2256394, Fax: (011) 2492940 (Vimal)

Contact e-mail addresses: Rahul Pandey, ASHA

Web site address: members.tripod.com/peacemarch/morcha.htm

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Dear friends,

The preparations for the 'Global Peace March' are in the final phase. The march begins on 11th May, '99 from Khetolai, Pokaran tehsil, Jaisalmer district of Rajasthan. Some of us were not convinced of the logic of nuclear tests carried out by the government of India on 11th May last year and our disagreement and concern has taken the shape of this peace march. Your latent or stated solidarity and cooperation has encouraged us to take up this enormous task. After a day long seminar in Jodhpur on the 9th May, when the march begins on 11th May, social activist Medha Patkar, senior Gandhian Siddharaj Dhadda, filmmaker Anand Patwardhan, nuclear experts Dr. Surendra and Sanghmitra Gadekar and many others will be with us. We request you join us on this occasion. The programme in Khetolai will begin at 10:30 a.m. on 11th May. To reach Khetolai you may contact Shri Laxmi Chand Tyagi, Gramin Vikas Vigyan Samiti, 458, Gali No. 3, Pal Road, Jodhpur-342008, Ph: (0291) 741317, Ph/Fax: (0291) 744549. Ex Navy chief Admiral L. Ramdas will join the march in Jaipur on 9th June. Senior Gandhian Dr. S.N. Subbarao will participate in the programmes in Agra on 28th and 29th June. In Kanpur on 18th July a public meeting will be held which will be addressed among others by Captain Laxmi Sehgal, who headed the women's contingent of Subhas Chandra Bose's INA, and Janak Lal Thakur, leader of the big trade union of MP Chattisgarh Mukti Morcha. Professor Banwari Lal Sharma of the Azadi Bachao Andolan, a movement against multinational companies, will be with us in Allahabad on July 29th. Arundhati Roy, the last year winner of Brooker prize will address a meeting at Kashi Vidyapeeth, Varanasi, when the march reaches there on 5th August.

A big programme will be held at the close of the march on 6^th August, Hiroshima Day, in Sarnath near Varanasi. Medha Patkar, Arundhati Roy, Siddharaj Dhadda, Professor Rimpoche, Director of Central Tibetean Inst., Sarnath, veteran socialist leader Kishan Patnaik, leader of National Fishworker's Forum Thomas Kocherry and many others will address the meeting.

After the march gets over a programme will be organized in New Delhi by the anti-nuclear group MIND on 9th August, the Nagasaki day and signatures collected as part of the campaign presently going on will be handed over to authorities representing the seven nuclear weapons states including India and the US. An electronic signature campaign will also be carried out during the period of the march directed against the nuclear powers of the world. This will be coordinated by Vidhi Parthasarthi (vidhi_p@yahoo.com).

Hon. Dalai Lama has extended his support for the march. Swami Agnivesh, the campaigner against bonded labourers, will participate in the march. Among organizations National Alliance of People's Movement, Sarva Sewa Sangha, Samajwadi Jana Parishad, CPI(ML), Ekta Parishad have expressed solidarity. International groups like Greenpeace International, Friends of the Earth and peace groups from Pakistan have also expressed support.

You may contact Arundhati Dhuru (Ph: 0522-347365, email: asha@lw1.vsnl.net.in) in Lucknow or Vimal in NAPM office, New Delhi (Ph: 011-225639) for any further information on the march.

We are aware of our limitations. But we have complete faith in Peace and Non-violence and the judgement of common people for right understanding.

We are confident of your support for this event.

Ram Pravesh Shastri, Ram Chandra Rahi, Laxmi Chand Tyagi, Sawai Singh, Vishwambhar Vidyarthi, Cittaranjan Singh, Vimal Bhai, Ajit Singh, Arundhati Dhuru, Sanjay Rai, Bobby Ramakant, Mahesh, Sandeep
 
 

Signature Campaign
For the pen is mighty ...

The world is a dangerous place, fraught with the specter of nuclear war and ecological devastation and threatened by the inability of governmental and financial powers to create just and effective solutions for deepening social problems as well as for the conflicts of peoples and nations.

Knowledge is a powerful tool; it has shown that each individual can make a difference. Let us enthusiastically unite for an arms-free world. Let us advocate peace. Let us spread the message of peace. Do take time to organize a signature campaign. The following would be the text for the campaign.

SAY NO TO NUCLEAR WEAPONS?.

We dream of a completely arms free world. For a peaceful world order it is necessary that all nuclear weapons should be immediately destroyed and all nations of the world should reduce their defence budgets and start putting their resources in developmental activities. Simultaneously we are also committed for reduction of violent tendencies at the micro level. We express faith in the principle of non-violence, and assert that security can be derived only from human relationships based on trust and not from any weapons. Only on the basis of this can we conceive of people governed just socio-economic human order.

'Global Peace March', Pokhran to Sarnath, India, 11^th May to 6^th August, 1999

Lok Abhiyan, Upkaram Karoti, Dayanand Sewa Sansthan, Moti Nagar, Lucknow - 226004, India.

Phone: +91-522-347365, +91-522-382333, Email: asha@lw1.vsnl.net.in