The News Minute | November 22, 2014 | 11:22 am IST
Indian spiritual leader and founder of the Art of Living, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar recently visited the violence hit province of Iraq. During his visit he also addressed a peace conference in Erbil in Kurdistan pitching for co-existence, compassion and commitment to peace. At the conference he said, “Peace conferences are held where there is peace. I wanted to do this conference in middle of conflict."
Sri Sri visiting the refugee camps near Erbil in Iraq
His trip also included visits to the relief camps near Erbil to meet hundreds of displaced Christians, Kurds and Arabs.
The International Association for Human Values(IAHV), a sister company of The Art of living along with few NGO’s have been stationed in Iraq to bring relief in terms of material aid. The organizations along with other NGO’s have collected more than 110 tonnes of food supplies to be delivered to Yazidi refugees on Sinjar mountains. This also gave Sri Sri the opportunity to interact with the inmates at the relief camp in Sinjar Mountains.
Sri Sri interacting with the displaced refugees in the camp near Erbil, Iraq
This was the third visit to Iraq by the spiritual leader and was done in order to bring various other leaders on a common platform to discuss peace. He also addressed the Kurdish parliament and met The Speaker of Iraqi Kurdistan, Dr. Yusif Muhammad Sadiq and senior Yazidi leader and advisor to government of Erbil, Dr Mirza Dinaayi. Abdul Hussein Abtan, Minister of Sports & Youth, Iraq also met the spiritual leader and acknowledged the work done by the organization's volunteers.
Sri Sri with the speaker of the Kurdish Parliament, Dr . Yusuf Mohammed
While addressing the peace conference titled "Protecting Women and Bringing Stability and Peace", Sri Sri said "Dark forces are creating conflict and havoc in the world. In 21st century, people want to drag us back to the dark ages. Kurdistan is a bouquet of culture and we must preserve it. Yazidis and Shabad who are facing persecution need to be preserved. Co-existence is the Divine design for the planet!”
He further highlighted the need for educating the Youth who have not yet joined extreme ideologies about the futility of radicalisation.
Since the early stages of the ISIS insurgence in Iraq, over 1.5 million Iraqis have been internally displaced or forced to flee across borders for their safety. The Art of Living and International Association For Human Values of The Art of Living has been working to bring relief to refugees and internally displaced people (IDPs). From its base in Erbil, the team has brought relief in the form of food, water and hygiene products and reached out to more than 2,000 families.