On 11 March 2020, WHO declared COVID-19 as a Pandemic. Now rampant in 165 countries, as of today 567,458 have tested positive and 27,370 have died.

These are strange, bewildering and trying times as countries try hard to contain the rapid spread of the Coronavirus. Social Distancing – the official, medical commandment – now being universally adopted by nation states, highlights how vulnerable and interdependent we all are; that the welfare of each is unequivocally connected to the well-being of another.  

Isn’t it ironical that during a pandemic all efforts are on to save lives – no matter what the economic and social costs incurred? Life is seen as precious; to be preserved at any cost. However, war is seen as legitimate, during which human lives are sacrificed with impunity, killing one another termed heroic and rewarded.  No wonder then Global Military Spending is over USD 3.5 million per minute, while 18,000 children die daily in our global village. May be it is time to rethink our priorities and Choose Nonviolent Defence, thereby espousing nonviolence as an instrument of conflict resolution on the national and international stage.  Today we are prizing life above all else, it is important to realize that we can together usher in a WORLD BEYOND WAR – making war obsolete. If you are passionate about settling disputes  amicably through dialogue, peace and harmony then Dear Signatories, please Empower 10 more people to join this Initiative. #SpreadTheWordforPeace and sign this petition.

Further, as we spend time in self-isolation, let’s think about all the people who depend on us to make a living: the drivers, the child-care providers, the domestic helpers, etc. Let us vow that the most economically vulnerable are not left in the lurch. It’s easy to feel powerless watching the human toll mount. However, we CAN make a difference by redirecting funds, we would have been spending on commuting, movies or restaurants to those who don’t have the privilege of a steady paycheck or stable housing; who live in slums, facing the immediate challenge of securing basic needs, by donating to the schooling of their children: https://shantisahyog.org/make-a-donation/
The money so collected will fund Shanti Sahyog Education Project for Slum Children. #3.5MforSlumChildren