Quest for international peace and unity discussed at PU

Chandigarh: The Interdisciplinary Centre for Swami Vivekananda Studies, Panjab University, Chandigarh in collaboration with Dean International Students organised an International Interaction on the theme, " Quest for International Peace and Unity."

Prof.Renu Thakur, Coordinator of ICSVS welcomed the guests and introduced the distinguished speakers from Israel. 

Prof Anju Suri,  Dean International Students highlighted the theme of the event. She said that for peace in a democratic nation, the interests of both majority and the minority groups of people need to be equally taken care of. In Indian Constitution, the Preamble, the fundamental rights, the directive principles, fundamental duties protect the interests of both the groups thus contributing to international peace and unity. 

The Dean University Instruction and officiating Vice Chancellor,Panjab University,Prof.V.R .Sinha was the chief guest on the occasion . He said that fostering mutual understanding between people from every culture, faith and background is important for international peace and unity. 

Prof.Michal Bar Asher Siegal from Goldstein Goren D inepartment of Jewish thought, Ben Gurin University of Negev, Israel spoke on "The study of Religious Minorities living side by side: The case of Jews and Christians in Late Antiquity Persian Empire." She informed about the importance of Christianity in the Persian empire, during the time of the composition and redaction of the rabbinic Babylonian Talmud, fostered a literary connection between the two religious populations. The shared literary elements in the literature of these two elite religious communities shed new light on the surprisingly inclusive nature of the Talmudic corpora and on the non-polemical nature of elite Jewish-Christian literary relations in late antique Persia. Her lecture is important to study the complex relationship between the Jews and Christians coexisting and sharing their traditions for peaceful existence.

The discourse by Ms Shirley Siegal,  an artist from Israel, threw light on how artists convey crisis through their art works. For hundreds of years artists have painted scenes of everyday life during times of Pandemic. With several examples of such artworks she highlighted that art reflects societal issues and concerns. The rare examples from the Spanish flu of 1918 -1920 are very different from the Covid-19 colourful and attention-grabbing street art. These artworks inform us not only of artistic traditions but also, educate us on other societal issues thus are invaluable source of history. 

The two discourses were followed by an interactive session which was moderated by a research scholar from the Department of History, Mr.Ashish Rawat. Dr.Priyatosh Sharma, Chairperson Department of History, proposed the vote of thanks.