‘It’s painful to see people being divided on race’

Shimla, Sep 30 (IANS) Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh on Friday said it was painful to see the people being divided on race, region, religion and nationalities.

He was addressing over 200 delegates from 33 countries before flagging off a peace march from here in which they were participating to celebrate the spirit of global citizenship and universal peace.

The peace march was part of the 11th edition of the Global Youth Peace Festival of 2016 being organised by the Chandigarh-based NGO Yuvsatta.

Welcoming the initiative, the Chief Minister said it was a great effort in spreading the message of love and fraternity and that youth from over 30 countries were sharing a common platform to spread peace, preach human values and create a more just world.

"It pains me to see the people being divided on race, region, religion and nationalities while these programmes, based on common cause to bring peace and harmony, will certainly go ahead in disseminating the message as how love lives above racial and religious discrimination," he said.

Bernie Meyer, popularly known as ‘American Gandhi’, presented a portrait of Mahatma Gandhi and his book ‘Gandhi Universal Inspiration’ to the Chief Minister.

The Chief Minister appreciated the efforts of State Disaster Management Authority Vice Chairman Rajinder Rana for organising this event here with a motto ‘Youth for Peace’ that is continuing its crusade for a humane and peaceful world.

Delegates from several countries participated in the peace march and also comprised of 19 members of the Girl for Peace Delegation from Pakistan, who have brought Indo-Pak friendship cards with them.

Earlier, United Nations Human Settlements Programme Senior Advisor Markandey Rai welcomed the Chief Minister and also briefed him about the motive of Global Youth Peace Festival.

He said it was a unique youth campaign to spread Mahatma Gandhi’s universal message of peace and harmony.