'I Stand For Peace' campaign launched across Europe by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

Bengaluru, April 27 (IANS) With an aim to bring back the focus on human values of peace, love and harmony in the midst of war and turmoil, spiritual leader Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, the founder of The Art of Living Foundation, has launched the �I Stand for Peace campaign from the UN office in Geneva.

Ravi Shankar himself travelled across Germany, Poland and Switzerland, where he was joined by thousands in this campaign. The campaign will now move to the US next month, an official release issued by the Art of Living stated on Wednesday.

As part of his Europe tour, Ravi Shankar met policymakers, diplomats and thousands of Art of Living volunteers who worked relentlessly to provide help during the Covid-19 pandemic and in rehabilitating Ukrainian refugees, helping them with trauma relief.

He also met and presented Easter gifts to the refugee children in the Art of Living centre in Warsaw, Poland. Thousands gathered at COS Torwar Stadium in Warsaw for a peace meditation and pledged to #IStandForPeace, an event graced by former VP of the European Parliament, Ryzard Charnecki; Indian Ambassadors to Poland and Ukraine, among several other dignitaries, the statement said.

Ravi Shankar has made a strong appeal for global forces of peace and sane voices to join hands in this hour of crisis and work towards building harmony, human values and dispel darkness and mistrust from the society.

The appeal was made in the backdrop of the post-pandemic world that is braving the consequences of global conflicts like the Russia-Ukraine war, the release said.

"People come together when there is a crisis, when they feel threatened or when they are wise. I have a question -- can people not come together for something that is positive, something that can create harmony within the society," Ravi Shankar asked in his address at the UN in an event hosted by the International Association for Human Values and the Permanent Mission of India in Geneva on the topic �Unity and Collaboration in a Post-Pandemic World'.

While talking about the root cause of conflict, he said, "In past so many years, conflicts have happened when trust is broken or the communication breaks down among people. I believe inside every culprit there is a victim crying for help."