CAMPAIGN AGAINST NUCLEAR WEAPONS BY URI SOUTH INDIA REGION

Nuclear Weapons Fact 

The atomic bomb killed more than 166,000 people in Hiroshima alone. The number of active nuclear weapons present on earth is enough to wipe off the entire human race. As per latest reports there are more than 67,500 nuclear bombs present on this planet. Since 1945, more than 4,680 nuclear bombers have been built. Alone in the Pacific the US has done more than 106 nuclear tests. More than 95% of all the nuclear weapons are in the control of the US and Russia.

The top 10 nuclear weapon countries in the world are; the US, Russia, United Kingdom, France, China, India, North Korea, Israel, and the NATO countries (Germany, Belgium, Canada, Greece, Italy, Netherlands and Turkey)

An average US nuclear bomb today is 10 times stronger than the nuclear bombs which were used to destroy the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

As per reports the US has tested more than 2000 nuclear bombs, the Soviet Union has tested 715 bombs, France has tested 210 bombs and Britain has done 45 tests. If we look at the total figures, since 1945 more than 2500 nuclear bombs have been tested on our home planet.

At present there are more than 47,000 active bombs in the world which are enough to wipe out the entire human civilization. As long as nuclear weapons are kept active, human beings are endangered species. According to the Strategic Offensive Reductions Treaty (SORT) which was signed between Russia and US, both these countries have to lessen their deployed nuclear weapons between 1,700 to 2,200 by December 2012. On 31^st December 2012, this treaty was suppose to expire and many security experts believe that both these countries will again redeploy as many nuclear warheads as they want against each other.

The pros and cons of these bombs has been a topic of discussion in many international summits and meetings. Elimination of nuclear bombs is practically impossible, still various efforts have been laid by various human support groups and various states of the top 10 military powers of the world to accomplish this dream.

We the delegates of URI annual youth camp 2013 (South India Zone) exhort all enlightened leaders of the world to:

1)      Refrain from the use of all forms of nuclear weapons

2)      Subscribe to NPT

3)      Support CTBT

Talking back to hate with love

URI South India Region is joining the campaign on Talking Back to Hate initiated by United Religions Initiative international office in San Francisco. Talking back to hate with love is our slogan. The purpose of this campaign is to counter hate speech, discrimination and bullying through education, advocacy and positive action.

 Talking Back to Hate will address these problems by engaging organizational partners and the global community in collaborative action against hate speech, bullying and discrimination.

 In addition to this stories of ordinary people who have taken extraordinary actions in response to these issues will be shared.

Our CCs are requested to join this important campaign by participating in any one of the following means:

1.    Broadcast the campaign in respective regions.

2.     Place the Talking Back to Hate button in publications.

3.    Share the stories and action commitments in relevant materials.

4.    Promote activities of any kind to raise awareness about hate speech and discrimination.

Dr. Abraham Karickam

Re-defining Peace Building

In the wake of our terrible loss of youth workers like Irfan Ali, I would like to emphasize one point. We have to re-define the concept of peace building. You need not wait for a conflict to erupt, then interfere and mediate and then say you are building peace. On the other hand, effective peace building is prevention of  violence and conflicts in whatever form. We don’t want to throw more martyrs to situations of fiery conflicts. Instead, we want to create an atmosphere of perennial peace and calm on the globe. That is why during TPA training we use the term ‘peace engineering’. Every Cooperation Circle of URI  is a peace centre in itself in its given locale, wherever it is. Therefore I agree hundred percent when our seniors say, growth and consolidation of our CCs are most important aspects before us. We used to dream about the planting of 1000 or 2000 CCs at some point. But somewhere we lost that thrust, which I feel is detrimental.

URI  should become a recognizable force in the world. For that we should be able to make its presence felt. If we can strengthen TPA, it can train hundreds of vibrant peace builders around the globe, who can avert violent situations to a great extent by strategically planning peace. With a thousand CCs to support them, URI will work wonders in creating cultures of peace, justice and healing.

Dr. Abraham Karickam

URI ANNUAL YOUTH CAMP 2013 MAY 1

Inauguration of Annual Youth Camp By Dr. Abraham Karickam

 

URI Award Winners at the Annual Youth camp

New Office Bearers of Interfaith Student's Movement (URI Youth Wing)

New Office Bearers of URI South India Zone

URI Youth Camp-Music Meditation Class by Rajan Cosmic

PARTICIPANTS IN SERIOUS GROUP DISCUSSION