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Gandhi Information Center

3 October 2024

Dr. Rasna Sehrawat, Assistant Professor, Amity Institute of Education, Amity University Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India, kindly invited Dr. Christian Bartolf to give his annual lecture for university students on "Gandhi and Tagore: Beyond Nationalism, Towards A World Federation". He referred to his brief dialogue with Rajmohan Gandhi on 2 October 2024: "We are one humanity".
Lecture (Dr. Christian Bartolf) - Dialogue with Rajmohan Gandhi

1 October 2024

One day International Seminar on the theme "Gandhi and the Contemporary World Order" organized by Dr. Saji Varghese, Associate Professor of Philosophy, North-Eastern Hill University, Shillong, Meghalaya, India: lecture on "Mahatma Gandhi, Media Ethics, and United Nations" by Dr. Christian Bartolf.
Poster - Text

13 September 2024


Sixty years ago, on 13 September 1964, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., visited both parts of the city of Berlin, signed the Golden Book at Rathaus Schöneberg, and received a replica of the Freedom Bell as a gift from the Governing Mayor, Willy Brandt.

On the same day, King delivered a sermon on "East or West. God's Children" at St. Mary's Church (Marienkirche) near Alexanderplatz.
Audio - Transcript - Photographs

14 July 2024

Christian Bartolf: "Mahatma Gandhi, Media Ethics, and United Nations". In: Rethinking Media Studies. Media, Meditation and Communication. Edited by Ananta Kumar Giri, Santosh Kumar Biswal, 91-103. London/New York: Routledge, 2024.
Text

1 July 2024

For Peace Research and Education we document the 1932 dialogue between Albert Einstein and Sigmund Freud:


English:
Why War? An International Series of Open Letters.
Paris: International Institute of Intellectual Cooperation, 1933.

French:
Pourquoi la guerre? Correspondance.
Paris: Institut Internationale de Coopération Intellectuelle, 1933.

German:
Warum Krieg? Ein Briefwechsel.
Paris: Internationales Institut für geistige Zusammenarbeit, 1933.

15 June 2024


Invited by the Indian Professors Randhir Kumar Gautam (Assistant Professor, ITM University Gwalior) and Dr. Saji Varghese (Associate Professor, Lady Keane College, Shillong), Dr. Christian Bartolf contributed a Foreword to their book "Practices of Peace: Contemporary Forms of Gandhian Spirituality".
Foreword - Review

7 June 2024

Commemorating the 7 June 1893 train eviction - 131 Years Later: Gandhi's Pietermaritzburg Episode Revisited, Dr. Christian Bartolf was invited by Dr. Siby K. Joseph, Director, Library and Research Centre, Sevagram Ashram, Pratishthan, Wardha, Maharashtra, India, to inform the participants of an international webinar about the most comprehensive International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (New York, 7 March 1966).
Poster - Address (Dr. Christian Bartolf) - Certificate - Document

22 May 2024

Biodiversity was the key issue of a satellite event in the context of first World Species Congress 2024, organized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and Reverse the Red (RED), at the Govt. Degree College Thannamandi, Higher Education Department, Jammu & Kashmir, India. Our contribution was to introduce the participants to the United Nations' key documents on biodiversity with reference to Mahatma Gandhi and Albert Schweitzer.
Poster and Schedule - Address (Dr. Christian Bartolf)

3 May 2024

Dr. Christian Bartolf: Gandhi and Tagore: Beyond Nationalism, Towards A World Federation. Global Gandhi. International Half-yearly e-Journal (published by Shanti Sahyog Centre for Nonviolence, New Delhi, India (CFN) in collaboration with Gandhi Research Foundation (GRF) Jalgaon, Maharashtra), Vol. I, July 2023.
Text (Link) - Text (PDF)

29 April 2024

Christian Bartolf, Dominique Miething: "Flame of Truth": the global significance of Doukhobor Pacifism. ISKRA. Voice of the Doukhobors (Canada), No. 2196 (March), No. 2197 (April) (2024): 23-29, 26-34.
Text (PDF)

18 April 2024


On April 18, 2024, the Office of the Federal President of Germany entrusted the Gandhi Information Center with a Gandhi bust - for "cultivating relations between India and Germany". The bust had originally been received as a gift of state at Rajghat. We understand this as appreciation of our research and education for nonviolence.
(Photo in the building of the Office of the Federal President of Germany: Dr. Christian Bartolf, President; Dr. Dominique Miething, Board Member)

2 April 2024


Invitation

9 March 2024

Christian Bartolf, Dominique Miething, Vishnu Varatharajan: "Following Leo Tolstoy's Conscientious Objection: Conscription of the Spirit and a New Dharma of Peace Building." In: Towards a New Dharma of Peace Building Conflict Transformations and Alternative Planetary Futures, edited by Ananta Kumar Giri and Saji Varghese (Singapore: Springer, 2024): 51-64.
Text (PDF)

23 January 2024

Christian Bartolf, Dominique Miething, Vishnu Varatharajan: "Creative Contributions to Critiques of Political Economy and Moral Economy. Cooperative Settlement and Utopian Community Projects as Modes of Conviviality for Thoreau, Ruskin, Tolstoy, and Gandhi." In: Contemporary Contributions to Critiques of Political Economy. Mapping Alternative Planetary Futures, edited by Ananta Kumar Giri (London/New York: Routledge, 2024): 153-168.
Text (PDF)

30 December 2023

Christian Bartolf, Dominique Miething: "'Flame of Truth': the global significance of Doukhobor Pacifism." In: Russian Journal of Church History, Vol. 4, No. 4 (Special Issue: History of Christian Peacemaking and Pacifism, Editor: Dr. Nadezhda Beliakova) (2023): 6-27.
Text (PDF)

Abstract:
The Doukhobors (Spirit Wrestlers), a heterogeneous group of Christians in Russia and Canada, whose anti-war stance became well known when they organized a Burning of Arms ceremony in 1895, inhabit an undisputed place in the history of the peace churches and religious denominations.
We argue, however, that the connection between the Doukhobors and twentieth century pacifists such as Jane Addams (1860–1935), Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (1869–1948), and George Woodcock (1912–1995), deserves more attention. We then aim to raise awareness of Peter Nikolaevich Maloff (1900–1971), who authentically carried on the pacifist spirit of the group as he interacted not only with Gandhi and Woodcock, but also with Alexander Berkman (1870–1936), Dorothy Day (1897–1980), A. J. Muste (1885–1967), and Scott and Helen Nearing (1883–1983 and 1904–1995), among others. We finally highlight some instances of Doukhobor relations with the War Resisters’ International and the International Vegetarian Union in Europe during the late–1920s and early–1930s. In all this we draw out “Christ’s law of nonresistance to evil by violence” (Leo Tolstoy) that may be obscured to the public eye, not only because the number of self-identified Doukhobors has continually decreased due to the forces of assimilation, but also because “the scourge of war” (Preamble, Charter of the United Nations, 1945) continues to threaten the survival of life on Earth.

29 December 2023

Mr. Randhir Kumar Gautam, Gandhian School of Democracy and Socialism (GSDS), Assistant Professor, ITM University Gwalior, was so kind to invite us to speak about "Dialogue in Democracy" (Conference: "The Role of Dialogue in Democracy: Initiative of GSDS Forum Weekly Dialogue").
"Gandhian School of Democracy and Socialism Forum is a platform to promote understanding of the dynamics of society with quest for freedom, justice, equality, and fraternity. It focuses on knowledge and dialogue among concerned persons."
Poster - Lecture (Dr. Christian Bartolf)

12 December 2023

Albert Einstein and Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. Facsimiles, Sources, Transcripts (PDF - current version: 13 December 2023).


Albert Einstein: Interview with Jeff Sparks, University of Princeton. Broadcast in: "Year of Decision: A Progress Report on the Atom (Part 2)", 1 January 1948, UN Audiovisual Library, 22:09 – 24:56.

9 December 2023

Dr. Aslam Khan, Convenor, Asia Pacific Peace Research Association (APPRA) Conference 2022 & Associate Professor, Department of Gandhi and Peace Studies, Mahatma Gandhi Central University, Motihari, Bihar, India, kindly invited Dr. Christian Bartolf to give a lecture on "Duties and Rights - Mahatma Gandhi's Challenge" on the occasion of the International Conference "Rights in Indian and Western Perspective" organized by the Department of Political Science, Chaudhary Charan Singh University, Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, India, in collaboration with Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, and the Indian Political Science Association (IPSA).
Poster - Flyer - Program - Invitation

14 November 2023

It was a great joy for Dr. Christian Bartolf to guide Dr. Pramod Jaiswal (Research Director, Nepal Institute for International Cooperation and Engagement, Kathmandu, Nepal) and Mr. Jay Nishaant (Chairman, Asian Institute of Diplomacy & International Affairs, Kathmandu, Nepal) to the Lessing-Haus:
"Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (1729-1781) was a renowned philosopher of the Enlightenment and is regarded as a founder of modern German literature. He resided in Nikolaiviertel from 1752 to 1755, and his home was an important place for gathering for the leading figures of the Enlightenment in Berlin [...]. Lessing made a number of close friendships during the period. One friend, Moses Mendelssohn, inspired his touching plea for religious tolerance, 'Nathan the Wise', written in 1779."

10 November 2023

Dr. M. Ashaq Malik, Head, Department of Botany, Government Degree College Thannamandi, Jammu and Kashmir, India, was so kind to invite Dr. Christian Bartolf to speak on Gandhi and Nature Cure on the occasion of Ayurveda Day during the International Seminar on "Indigenous Medical Plants with Special Reference to Ayurveda".
Poster - Schedule - Lecture (Dr. Christian Bartolf) - Article

1 November 2023

Christian Bartolf, Dominique Miething, Vishnu Varatharajan: "Sarvodaya as Emancipation: Ruskin - Tolstoy - Gandhi." Gandhi Marg Quarterly, Vol. 45, No. 2 (July - September 2023), pp. 191-200.

"This paper looks at the emancipatory potential of the Gandhian concept of Sarvodaya, drawing on the insights from Ruskin and Tolstoy. It also discusses some associated concepts like Swadeshi and Bread Labour. Before Sarvodaya was woven into an all-encompassing constructive programme with the support of Kumarappa and Vinoba Bhave, Gandhi created the spinning wheel (charkha) movement for homespun cotton yarn (khadi) in the 1920s. Gandhi recollected Bondaref and Tolstoy's concept of Bread Labour in detail and compared it with the ancient Indian notion of sacrifice (yajna)."
Text

23 October 2023


Lecture (Dr. Christian Bartolf)

17 October 2023

After Dr. Christian Bartolf's lecture on Gandhi and Tagore during the international seminar of the Gandhi Study Circle at the University of Delhi on 4 October 2023, Dr Chandrachur Singh (Associate Professor, Department of Political Science, Hindu College, University of Delhi) expressed his common concern to explore the cosmopolitan perspective of Mahatma Gandhi's philosophy. During his visit to Berlin and Potsdam he sent a recommendation to his hosts, Katharina Nolte, Programme Officer Asia and the Pacific / International Visitors' Programmes & Conferences, Konrad Adenauer Foundation (European and International Cooperation), and Dr. Adrian Haack, Director Konrad Adenauer Foundation Office India, to invite Dr. Christian Bartolf for a dialogue with the Indian delegation at a joint dinner in an Indian restaurant at Potsdam.


Bionotes of the Indian delegation [in German]

15 October 2023

Social Media representation:
"Gandhi Information Center (Research and Education for Nonviolence)" offers a public group on Facebook, currently with more than 3.500 members, providing:

Playlists on YouTube:

4 October 2023


On the occasion of the International Seminar on "Gandhi and his Critics: A Contemporary Discourse", October 2-4, 2023, Aryabhatta College, University of Delhi, Dr. Christian Bartolf gave a lecture on Gandhi and Tagore - Nonviolent Non-Cooperation: A Critical Dialogue :

"Mutual admiration and friendship were the basis for a highly relevant controversial dialogue between Gandhi and Tagore circling around civil disobedience and non-violent cooperation as means to attain hind swaraj (Indian Home Rule) in the context of the emancipation from colonialism and imperialism. While Tagore emphasized the positive global perspective of the methods applied for attaining the obviously legitimate end, Gandhi insisted on the world heritage of Thoreau, Tolstoy, and many others to end the colonial regime by withdrawing consent and support. As the public debate's arguments refer to culture, philosophy, and religion it is high time to recollect this critical dialogue and learn from it for our age of peril."
Poster - Schedule - Abstracts - Lecture (Dr. Christian Bartolf) - Certificate

1 October 2023


Dr. M. Ashaq Malik (Director, Research & Development Cell, Govt PG College Rajouri, Jammu and Kashmir, India) was so kind to invite Dr. Christian Bartolf for a lecture on "'The Kingdom of God is Within You (1893/94): Garrison, Ballou, Tolstoy, and Gandhi - Nonviolent Resistance" (Video).

Keynote speaker of the conference on "Gandhian Philosophy of Nonviolence and Sustainable Development" was Mrs. Ela Gandhi, granddaughter of Mahatma Gandhi, peace activist, Founding Chair of Gandhi Development Trust and Trustee of The Phoenix Settlement Trust, Durban, Natal, South Africa (Video).

Some additional speakers appeared in the following order:

Prof. Bindu Puri, Centre for Philosophy, School of Social Sciences, JNU, New Delhi India (Video).
Dr. Herbert B. Rosana, Professor of Peace Studies, Bicol University, Legazpi City, Albay, Philippines (Video).
Dr. Christian Bartolf, President, Gandhi Information Centre, Berlin, Germany (Video).
Prof. Paul Bueno de Mesquita, Former Director at URI Center for Nonviolence & Peace Studies and Professor Emeritus, School of Psychology, University of Rhode Island, USA (Video).
Prof. Mammo Muchie, Research Professor, Tshwane University of Technology, South Africa (Video).
Feedback: Dr. Christian Bartolf and Ela Gandhi (Video)



Poster - Schedule - Article

23 September 2023

On the occasion of the International Webinar, organized by Gandhi Peace Foundation, Nepal, and Techno-Gandhian Centre, India, in view of International Day of Peace (21 September 2023) & Gandhi Jayanti (2 October 2023) with the topic "Gandhi and his relevance in the context of resolving today's burning issues", Dr. Christian Bartolf presented seven pieces of Gandhi on World Federation quoted from the Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi, which prove that Gandhi's campaign for the attainment for "Home Rule" (swaraj) is inseparably intertwined with his political call for a world federation on an essentially non-violent basis.
Brochure - Report - Poster - Certificate - Video (second part of the lecture) - World Federation

14 September 2023



Gandhi's conscientious search for Truth on the Path of Ahimsa and his emancipatory concept of Satyagraha have inspired generations of world citizens to strive for Ecology, Equality, Freedom, Human Rights, Justice, Peace and a World Federation.

"Satyagraha in South Africa", his first autobiography (written in 1923 and 1924), "Indian Opinion" (1903-1961), Phoenix Settlement and Tolstoy Farm and "Hind Swaraj or Indian Home Rule" (written in 1909) should be considered as World Heritage.

12 August 2023

Dr. Christian Bartolf's contribution to the World Anthropology Congress was his presentation on: Gandhi, Schweitzer and World Peace.

On 23 April 1957, Dr. Albert Schweitzer had his "A Declaration of Conscience" published via Radio Oslo. The call for nuclear disarmament was broadcasted by many international radio stations and printed one day later in the New York Times on 24 April 1957. Dr. Albert Schweitzer's ethical and political commitments were: 1. against any war in principle, 2. against nuclear weapons and nuclear war, and 3. for reverence for life. In his testament statement of 1964 "My Words to the People", Schweitzer summarized these concerns and emphasized the relevance of the philosophy of nonviolence and peace.

Schweitzer became a role model for future generations because he represented the healing qualities of a medical doctor and a hospital director with the educational qualities of an author of books on European, Chinese, and Indian philosophy.

Music as a language of peace was an integral part of Schweitzer's Life as Bach interpret in charity concerts for his hospital at Lambaréné (Gabon).

Gandhi's concept of a World Federation based on Nonviolence as well as the World Citizenship of Dr. Schweitzer as a Global Citizen Education and Humanitarian Aid could design new solutions to age-old problems of Malnutrition, Poverty, Racism, and War.



Certificate - Round Table

8 August 2023


Invitation - Invitation Card - Brochure - Message for the Conference - Gandhi on Peace - 8 August 1945

27 July 2023


Invitation - Gandhi on Tolerance (Quotes) - Lecture (Dr. Christian Bartolf)

5 July 2023


Statement - Nuremberg Principles


4 July 2023



3 July 2023

2 July 2023



Rabindranath Tagore: "Gandhi Maharaj." The Modern Review, vol. 69 (April 1941), p. 408.

21 June 2023


Lecture (Video) - Book (PDF)




10/11 June 2023

Visiting Phoenix Settlement (Inanda, near Durban, South Africa)
with Ela Gandhi and her daughter Asha Ramgobin






9 June 2023

On the occasion of the international conference on Gandhi, Mandela and King ("Peace and Justice for all - Mobilizing For Nonviolent Change (Ahimsa)") in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa (6-9 June 2023), Dr. Christian Bartolf was asked to speak about Gandhi and the Sermon on the Mount with our reference to Gandhi's Talk on Board ss. "Pilsna", December 25, 1931 (Text: The Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi, Vol. 48, pp. 437-439).
Conference Flyer - Program - Abstracts
Address (Dr. Christian Bartolf): Part 1 - Part 2 - About Us
Letter of Acknowledgment - Certificate

3 June 2023

Dr. M. Ashaq Malik (President, Attitude Change International, Darhal Malkan, Rajouri, Jammu & Kashmir, India) and Prof. Dr. Jasbir Singh (Principal, SKC Govt. Degree College, Poonch, Jammu & Kashmir, India) kindly invited Dr. Christian Bartolf to give a lecture on Ethics and Principles of Artificial Intelligence and Gandhi's Message Today at the Two-Day International e-Conference on "Artifical Intelligence and Sustainable Development".
Schedule - Lecture: Part 1/2 - Lecture: Part 2/2

16 May 2023

Dr. Christian Bartolf and Dr. Dominique Miething wrote a Plea for Freedom of Conscience and the Search for Truth, against all Violence (text).

15 May 2023

Count Serge Tolstoy (1911-1995), the last grandson of Leo Tolstoy, was a Doctor of Medicine, President of the "Friends of Tolstoy" in France, and lived in Paris until his death. He joined our Center on the 9th of August, 1995 after he had signed our Manifesto against Conscription and the Military System on the 9th of September, 1994. His letter of the 9th of August, 1995, which calls out for the necessary mobilization of the human conscience against this "tragic absurdity", War, is quoted in the French original here:

"Messieurs,

J'ai bien recu le manifeste contre la conscription.

En tant que le dernier petit fils, encore en vie, de Léon Tolstoi, je me réjouis de cette initiative.

Au début du siècle mon grand pere voulait participer à un congrès, sur le désarmement qui se tenait à Stockholm, au début du siècle. Pour des raisons de santé il n'y alla pas mais envoya un article sur la nécessité impérative de supprimer le service militaire, la seule possibilité, selon lui, pour éviter les guerres. Il ne croyait pas que des institutions internationales pourraient aboutir à ce résultat. Hélas, notre siècle lui donna raison - Il faut continuer, contre vents et marées, de mobiliser les consciences de la majeure partie de l'humanité, contre cette absurdité tragique.

De tout coeur avec vous

Serge Tolstoi"

--

"Gentlemen,

I have received your Manifesto against Conscription.

As the last living grandson of Leo Tolstoy I rejoice about this initiative.

At the beginning of the century, my grandfather wanted to take part in a Conference about Disarmament which took place in Stockholm, at the beginning of the century. Because of health reasons, he could not go, but he sent an essay about the absolute necessity to abolish military service, which - according to him - was the only possibility to prevent war. He did not believe that international institutions could achieve this result. Unfortunately, our century has proved him right - One must continue to mobilize the conscience of the majority of mankind despite all difficulties against this tragic absurdity.

Cordially yours,

Serge Tolstoy"

Letter (facsimile): Serge Tolstoi (9 August 1995) -
Leo Tolstoy: Address to the Swedish Peace Congress in 1909

7 May 2023

In commemoration of Dr. Arun Gandhi (1934-2023), who became a member of our Center on 15 September 1999, we gladly followed a kind invitation to speak on: Living Legacy of Non-violence : Understanding the Life and Works of Arun Gandhi, published by Swadhyaya Sahachkara (Circle for Co-Learning); on behalf of Vishwaneedam Centre for Asian Blossoming and Society for Communal Harmony, the organizers were Professor Ananta Kumar Giri, Madras Institute of Development Studies, Chennai, and Moderator Mr. Randhir Kumar Gautam, Gandhian School of Democracy and Socialism, ITM University, Gwalior.
Poster - Address (Dr. Christian Bartolf): Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3

14/29 April 2023

When we summarize the four elements of Gandhi's political legacy: International Law, Nuclear Disarmament, Sustainable Development and World Federation, as quintessence for a just and peaceful world society on an ecologically sound basis for life, dignity of each living being and equal human rights in each respect: economic, social, political, we should reflect some of the earlier key documents which inspired the Sustainable Development Goals:

United Nations Millennium Declaration (2000) - Report of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (1992) - „Report of the World Commission on Environment and Development: Our Common Future“ (1987) - „Common crisis North-South: cooperation for world recovery“ by Independent Commission on International Development Issues (1983) - North-South: A Programme for Survival by the Independent Commission on International Development Issues (1980).
Particularly the Brandt (Commission) Reports of 1980 and 1983 should be reassessed in their ethical commitments for ecological sustainability, poverty eradication and renewable energy systems.

But it was the Brundtland Report which introduced the term „sustainable development“ for a wider public audience of the scientific community in the „world house“ (Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.).

This presentation will highlight the Gandhian roots of Willy Brandt’s political philosophy, the dialogues of Brandt as President of the Socialist International and his sympathy with Morarji Desai's Indian government, the semantic challenge of „sustainable development“‘s originary meaning, the essential message of the 1992 Rio Declaration in the context of sustainability and peace and the fundamental values of the United Nations Millennium Declaration in the present context.

Poster 1 - Schedule - Address 1 (Dr. Christian Bartolf) - Certificate
Poster 2 - Address 2 (Dr. Christian Bartolf) - Opinion (Navshad Wani)

Speech: Mr. Willy Brandt, Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany, United Nations General Assembly Offical Records (pp. 1-5), Twenty-Eighth Session, 2128th Plenary Meeting, Agenda Item 9, New York, Wednesday, 26 September 1973, at 10.30 a.m.

Video: West German Socialist Leader and former Chancellor Willy Brandt lays wreath at shrine of Mahatma Gandhi in New Delhi and meets with Indian Prime Minister Morarji Desai (21 Dec 1977).

24 March 2023

The World House Global Network (WHGN), Stanford University, published Issue II of a Newsletter to which Dr. Christian Bartolf contributed an article entitled Human Rights and Humanitarian Aid.
The WHGN in their own words:
"We are a global network of organizations and individuals committed to human rights and nonviolence. The World House Global Network facilitates communication and collaboration among people working on local and global levels for peace and justice. Our goal is to build solidarity and grow the sense of community among all people defending human rights nonviolently and realizing King's vision of peaceful coexistence in the World House."
Text (Dr. Christian Bartolf) - Newsletter Issue II

9 December 2022


Lecture (Video)

18 November 2022

The World House Global Network (WHGN), Stanford University, published Issue I of a Newsletter to which Dr. Christian Bartolf contributed an article entitled Human Rights and International Law.
The WHGN in their own words:
"We are a global network of organizations and individuals committed to human rights and nonviolence. The World House Global Network facilitates communication and collaboration among people working on local and global levels for peace and justice. Our goal is to build solidarity and grow the sense of community among all people defending human rights nonviolently and realizing King's vision of peaceful coexistence in the World House."
Text (Dr. Christian Bartolf) - Newsletter Issue I

15 November 2022

Prof. Jay Kant Mandal (Assistant Professor, Inspiria Knowledge Campus, Himachal Vihar, Phase II, Matigara, Siliguri, West Bengal, India) kindly invited Dr. Christian Bartolf to give a lecture on: Mahatma Gandhi: Citizens & Constitutions.
Poster - Certificate - Photos

14 November 2022

The series of lecture invitations, mostly from Indian colleges and universities, continued through 2022, with the result that altogether 23 lectures on Gandhi were held this year, aside from the 51 addresses and lectures during the 25-days of the Epic Journey:
"The 25-Day program had 51 events covering 14 Universities, 11 Colleges and 16 Institutions across 9 states in India. The program was taken with great enthusiasm and hope for future programs of togetherness and collective action." (Program)
Twenty-three Lectures on Gandhi (2022) by Dr. Christian Bartolf.

13 November 2022

Dr. M. Ashaq Malik (Director, Research & Development Cell, Govt PG College Rajouri, Jammu & Kashmir, India) kindly invited Dr. Christian Bartolf for a One Day International e-Workshop on Kindness to give a lecture on Gandhian Philosophy and Kindness.
Poster - Schedule - Article

21 October 2022

Mr. Randhir Kumar Gautam (Assistant Professor, Gandhian School of Democracy and Socialism, ITM University Gwalior) kindly invited us to be chief guest in the first session of the Gandhian School of Democracy and Socialism. In his address, Dr. Christian Bartolf referred to The Constitution of India (2020), Article 51:
"Promotion of international peace and security.—The State shall endeavour to—
(a) promote international peace and security;
(b) maintain just and honourable relations between nations;
(c) foster respect for international law and treaty obligations in the dealings of organised peoples with one another; and
(d) encourage settlement of international disputes by arbitration."
Poster - Address (Dr. Christian Bartolf)

14 October 2022


14 October 2022

12 October 2022

Verghese Kurien (1921-2012) was a social entrepreneur for dairy farming, the pioneer of the Anand model of dairy cooperatives (AMUL: Anand Milk Union Limited, formed in 1946, Indian dairy state government cooperative society, based in Anand, Gujarat): dairy farmers controlled the marketing, procurement, and processing of milk and milk products as the dairy's owners.

We visited the Institute of Rural Management Anand (IRMA), Gujarat, India, and gave our lectures about Gram Swaraj - A Gandhian Concept of a Self-Sustained Village and on the History of Cooperative Settlements in the Nineteenth Century.

12 October 2022

Dr. Beryl Anand, Dr. Jagannatham Begari and Dr. Priya Ranjan Kumar (Centre for Gandhian Thought and Peace Studies, School of Social Sciences, Central University of Gujarat, Gandhinagar) invited Dr. Christian Bartolf to give a lecture on "M.K. Gandhi, Non-violence and Peace" with the topic: Contextualizing Non-violence and Peace in 21st Century: A Gandhian Perspective and an emphasis on the Sustainable Development Goals.
Poster - Program - Lecture (Dr. Christian Bartolf) - All Lectures

12 October 2022

It was a great honor to be invited for a special talk on the topic "Why does the World need Mahatma Gandhi Today and Tomorrow?" by the organizing committee of the Sri K. S. Radhakrishna Centenary Year Celebrations 2022-2024 - in the presence of his daughter, Mrs. Shobhana Radhakrishna - on Wednesday, October 12, 2022.
Poster - Lecture (Dr. Christian Bartolf)

11 October 2022

It was with great joy that, for a second time after 1998, we met Dina Patel during our visit to Gujarat Vidyapith, the Ahmedabad academy founded by Gandhi in the year 1920. Dina Patel is the daughter of C. N. Patel, the former editor of the Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi (CWMG). She provided extensive information about the digitization of the English language version of the CWMG and encouraged us, on the basis of this 100 volume edition (online: Gandhi Heritage Portal), to carry on with our scientific essays, lectures, and presentations, representing Gandhi's philosophy correctly.

Article: Dina Patel - About the Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi (1956-1994). A Brief Perspective.

Dina Patel war eine der Mitarbeiterinnen von Gujarat Vidyapith, welche an unserem Vortrag über "Thoreau—Tolstoy—Gandhi: The Origin of Satyagraha" teilnahmen.



About the CWMG Cell, Gujarat Vidyapith:

"The CWMG-original-KS-edition, named after Prof. K. Swaminathan, the chief architect of the original series, had taken about 38 years for the completion from the year 1956 to 1994. The original edition is a series of one hundred volumes, running into over 55,000 pages, intricately connected across the series, as an integrated whole. The task of preparation of the Digital Master Copy based on the original KS Edition of CWMG was undertaken through a specially set up CWMG Cell, and an expert committee comprising noted Gandhian scholars under an MoU between Publications Division and Gujarat Vidyapith, Ahmedabad, established and nurtured by the Mahatma himself. [...]

The Digital Master Copy is also hosted on the Gandhi Heritage Portal, maintained by Sabarmati Ashram Preservation and Memorial Trust, Ahmedabad. The complete volumes are now available online [...]

Publications division, a media unit under Ministry of Information & Broadcasting is one of the major publishers of Gandhian Literature as part of its mandate to preserve our rich national heritage. Over the decades, the Division has brought out many prominent Gandhian Literature titles, which have now acquired the status of heritage literature, and are considered seminal works in the field of Gandhian studies." (Source)







10 October 2022

Dr Aslam Khan (Associate Professor, Department of Gandhian and Peace Studies, School of Social Sciences, Mahatma Gandhi Central University, Motihari, East Champaran, Bihar, India) and Dr. Manish Sharma (Department of Gandhian and Peace Studies, Chandigarh, Panjab University) kindly invited us for the keynote address at the opening of the International Conference on Redefining Peace towards a Just, Non-violent and Sustainable Future of the World organized by Asia Pacific Peace Research Association (APPRA) in collaboration with University of Science and Technology Meghalaya and Indian Political Science Association (IPSA).



"If I can get freedom for India now through non-violent means, power of non-violence is firmly established, Empire idea dissolves and world State takes its place, in which all the States of the world are free and equal, no State has its military, there may be a world police to keep order in the absence of univeral belief in non-violence."
(The Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi, volume 76, page 341: "Letter to Maurice Frydman", Sevagram, July 28, 1942)

"We are aiming at a world federation in which India would be a leading unit. It can come only through non-violence. Disarmament is only possible if you use the matchless weapon of non-violence."
(The Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi, volume 76, page 381: "Speech at All India Congress Committee Meeting". Bombay, August 7, 1942; cited in: The Hitavada, 9-8-1942; also: the Bombay Chronicle, 8-8-1942)

Brochure - Keynote Address (Dr. Christian Bartolf) - Press Coverage - Opening Ceremony - Program Agenda - Token

9 October 2022

9 October 2022


Dr. Kottu Sekhar (Head and Coordinator, Rajiv Gandhi National Institute of Youth Development, North-Eastern Regional Centre, Rajiv Gandhi University Campus, Rono Hills, Doimukh, Arunachal Pradesh), Dr. Kaushalendra Pratap Singh (Assistant Professor, Department of Social Work, Rajiv Gandhi University), and Prof. Shyam Narayan Singh (Professor, Former Head, Department of History, Rajiv Gandhi University and Director of International Centre for Gandhian and Peace Studies) kindly invited Dr. Christian Bartolf for a One Day International Symposium on Gandhian Ideas with a lecture on Gandhi and Laotse.
Poster - Article 1 - Article 2 - Circular - Programme - Invitation

7 October 2022


"Hon’ble Dr. Christian Bartolf an eminent scholar and President of Gandhi Information Centre Berlin, Germany and Hon’ble Prof. Prasad Gollanapalli, Managing Trustee, Gandhi King Foundation, Hyderabad, visited Sulabh Campus today. The guests were welcomed and felicitated by Hon’ble Dr. Bindeshwar Pathak, Founder, Sulabh Sanitation, Social Reform, Health and Hygiene and Human Rights Movement. The guests minutely observed the Sulabh School Sanitation Club students learning to make sanitary pads. Sulabh takes pride in mentioning that the guests showed keen interest in the Museum of Toilets which has a rare collection of unique artifacts, pictures and objects, detailing the eye-opening, historic evolution of toilets from 2500 BC to date. They also keenly observed the models of Sulabh’s innovative technology-based twin-pit pour-flush toilets; Public toilet linked biogas plant, Sulabh Water ATM which provides affordable and cheap water to the neighborhood, Sulabh Health Centre and the Kitchen, using methane of the biogas plant as fuel. They also viewed the newly established Sulabh International Museum of Water Education, the first of its kind in India. Sulabh family thanks the Hon’ble guests for their visit and wishes them good health and success in all their future endeavours." (Sulabh International TV)

6 October 2022


Professor Bindu Puri (Convenor, Centre for Philosophy, Jawaharlal Nehru University) and Professor Santishree Dhulipudi Pandit (Chair, Vice Chancellor, Jawaharlal Nehru University) kindly invited Dr. Christian Bartolf to speak on Gandhi, Tolstoy and Conscientious Objection.
Program Schedule - Album - Photo

5 October 2022



We visited the exhibition and library of Gandhi Teerth and enjoyed our guided tour together with Prof. Gita Dharampal (Dean of Research, Gandhi Research Foundation, Retired Professor of Indian History), and Dr. Sudarshan Iyengar (Director, Gandhi Research Foundation, Former Vice Chancellor, Gujarat Vidyapith).



Gandhi Teerth, Gandhi Research Foundation, PO Box 118, Jain Hills, Jalgaon 425 001, Maharashtra, India.

3 October 2022


Prof. Dr. Vilas S. Sapkal (Vice-Chancellor, Mahatma Gandhi Mission University [MGM], Aurangabad, Maharashtra, India) and Professor D John Chelladurai (Head, Department of Gandhian Studies, MGM) kindly invited us to celebrate the birthday of Nobel Peace Laureate Carl von Ossietzky (1889-1938) by giving a video lecture for students at the College of Journalism and Mass Communication, Department of Photography and School of Film Arts. We presented a 17 minute film on "Commemoration Sites for Nobel Peace Laureate Carl von Ossietzky: Lessons in Peace Education".
Poster - Invitation Letter (Prof. Sapkal) - Video (Dr. Christian Bartolf, Dr. Dominique Miething)

2 October 2022






1 October 2022





On the eve of the International Day of Non-Violence (the birthday of Mahatma Gandhi), the College of Agriculture, Rajendranagar, Hyderabad, India, invited Dr. Christian Bartolf for a guest lecture on "Nonviolent Agriculture" with particular emphasis on John Ruskin. This programme was graced by Dr. C. Narendra Reddy, Associate Dean. Teaching and non-teaching staff and students participated in the programme.
Article

28 September 2022

Niyanta Gora, one of the sons of Goparaju Ramachandra Rao (nickname: Gora) (15 November 1902 – 26 July 1975), was so kind to share his childhood memories with Gandhi. Gora was an Indian social reformer, atheist activist and a participant in the Indian independence movement. Along with his wife Saraswathi Gora he founded the Atheist Centre, which started its work from removal of untouchability in the 1940s. The Atheist Centre organised cosmopolitan dinners and inter-caste marriages to annihilate the caste system, exposing superstitious beliefs and promoting humanism, and environmental and medical sciences.
Poster
Niyanta Gora: Video 1 - Video 2.
Atheist Centre: Photo 1 - Photo 2.
Lecture (Dr. Christian Bartolf, Prof. Prasad Gollanapalli): Video.


The dialogue between Gandhi and Gora was recorded in the book "An Atheist With Gandhi" (Navajivan Publishing House, 1951).

27 September 2022



In the Indo-German Friendship Hall in Avanigadda, Andhra Pradesh, India, a school building that was also used to protect tsunami victims, Dr. Christian Bartolf received the Mandali Venkata Krisha Memorial Award.

Article (in Telugu) - Mandali Venkata Krishna Rao (1926-1997)

On this occasion we opened an exhibition of paintings of Gandhi.



Paintings

25 September 2022






24 September 2022

Dr. Christian Bartolf gave a presentation on our exhibition: Dr. Albert Schweitzer: 'My Address to the People' - Commitment against Nuclear War to an audience of medical students at GSL Group of Medical Colleges, Rajanagaram, Rajahmundry, Andhra Pradesh, India.









24 September 2022



Dr. Brahma Jyotsula Subrahmanyam founded Gowthami Satyagraha Ashram on 9 November 1924. The foundation stone for the Ashram was laid by Bulusu Sambamurthy. This Ashram became a nucleus hub for the Freedom Movement.

Mahatma Gandhi visited Seethanagaram, a small village in East Godavari district, Andhra Pradesh, twice in 1929 and 1933 during the freedom struggle. The place where he along with Kasturba stayed has been aptly named as Bapu Kuteer, which even today stands as a testimony to their visit.

After the death of Kasturba the name of this ashram was changed to Kasturba Gandhi Ashram. For a long time, the Ashram used to get funds from Central as well as the State Government as part of the women and child welfare programme. Even Anganwadi (a type of rural child care centre) training was imparted here.
Panels

23 September 2022


22 September 2022



On this occasion, we spoke on Hermann Kallenbach, Mahatma Gandhi's friend in South Africa.

22 September 2022



The Centre for Gandhian Studies (Social Sciences Block) of Andhra University in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India, was inaugurated in the year 2004. It was our honor to be received by Prof. Challa Ramakrishna, Chairman, Board of Studies, Department of Journalism and Mass Communication, Andhra University, and his son, Dr. Krishnaveer Abhishek Challa.
Video - Photo - Article (The Hindu, Visakhapatnam, September 22, 2022).

21 September 2022


On the occasion of the United Nations International Day of Peace (Motto 2022: End Racism and Build Peace), Dr. Christian Bartolf was invited to give a lecture at the University College of Arts and Social Sciences, Osmania University (Osmania University Main Rd, Osmania University, Tarnaka, Hyderabad, Telangana 500007), the seventh oldest university in India with Urdu as medium of instruction.
Poster - Lecture (Dr. Christian Bartolf) - Address (Prof. C. Ganesh) - Address (Prof. Prasad Gollanapalli)

21 September - 15 October 2022


"The 25-Day program had 51 events covering 14 Universities, 11 Colleges and 16 Institutions across 9 states in India. The program was taken with great enthusiasm and hope for future programs of togetherness and collective action."
Program - Invitation Letters

20 September 2022

Mrs. Kya Kim, Editor in Chief, Newsletter, International Network of Museums for Peace (INMP), asked us for our article for their Issue #37 and we delivered a one-page article on our exhibition: Desiderius Erasmus: "War is sweet to those who have no experience of it ..." - Protest against Violence and War".
Article - Exhibition - INMP Newsletter Issue #37

27 August 2022

Dr. Manoj Bhatia (HOS SOMC, Sage University Bhopal), and Mr. Varun Bhaskar (Assistant Professor, School of Management, Sage University Bhopal) invited us for the series "Sage Talks!" to give a lecture for students on: Mahatma Gandhi and the spirit of service in the contemporary world.
Poster - Lecture (Dr. Christian Bartolf)

23 August 2022

Together with Mrs. Ela Gandhi (The Gandhi Development Trust, Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa) and Dr. Shobhana Radhakrishna (Gandhian Forum for Ethical Corporate Governance, Parent Body of: Standing Conference of Public Enterprises, New Delhi, India) we were invited to the International Webinar on Gandhi as a Global Leader (Chapter-2) organized by Seshadripuram Educational Trust, Seshadripuram Evening Degree College, Gandhi Study Centre in association with Karnataka Gandhi Smaraka Nidhi, Bengaluru and Gandhi Information Center, Berlin, Germany.

The organizers were Prof. Dhareppa Konnur (HOD, Associate Professor, Seshadripuram Evening Degree College, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India) and Najoda Dr. Wooday P. Krishna (President, Karnataka Gandhi Smaraka Nidhi, Begaluru, Karnataka, India, and Honorary Secretary General, Seshadripuram Educational Trust, Begaluru, Karanataka, India); the Guest of Honor was Sri P. C. Narayana (Chairman of the Governing Council, Seshadripuram Evening Degree College, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India).

We gave a lecture on: "Lead Kindly Light" - Gandhi as a Global Guide.
Poster and Programme - Schedule - Lecture text (Dr. Christian Bartolf) - "Lead Kindly Light" (Choir)

Webinar videos: 1. Intro - 2. Ela Gandhi - 3. Dr. Christian Bartolf - 4. Dr. Shobhana Radhakrishna - 5. Interaction - 6. Dr. Wooday P. Krishna - 7. Vote of Thanks and Conclusion

16 August 2022

On the occasion of the birthday (27 July 2022) of Dr. Ananta Kumar Giri (Professor, Madras Institute of Development Studies), which was celebrated by the Swadhyaya Sahachkara (Circle for Co-Learning) and the Vishwaneedam Center for Asian Blossoming (Mr. Randhir Gautam, Assistant Professor, Board of Advanced Studies and Research, Raffles University, Neemrana, Rajasthan, India), we gave a statement about The Responsibility of Intellectuals to Oppose War with particular reference to dialogues between German and French thinkers (Voltaire - Frederick II; Victor Hugo - Kurt Tucholsky; Gustav Landauer - Étienne de La Boétie).
Statement (Dr. Christian Bartolf)

5 August 2022

Dr. Vijay Kumar (Associate Professor) and Dr. Ananda Padhan (Professor & HOD), School of Education, Apeejay Stya University, Sohna, Gurugram, Haryana, India, kindly invited to contribute to the International Conference on Peace, Prudence & Prosperity (ICP3) organised by School of Education, Centre of Liberal Arts & IQAC, Apeejay Stya University in collaboration with International Centre of Gandhian Studies & Research, Gandhi Smriti & Darshan, Ministry of Culture, Government of India (August 5-6, 2022) with a lecture on: Erasmus, Kant and Gandhi - Philosophy on Peace and Prosperity.

""War is sweet to those who have no experience of it ..." - Protest against Violence and War is a new exhibition (2017) dedicated to the humanist and pacifist Desiderius Erasmus (c. 1466-1536), whose anti-war writings "Dulce bellum inexpertis" (1515) and "Querela pacis" (1517) were published more than five hundred years ago. This exhibition has been recently published, and it is time to introduce this to a wider audience now. Erasmus vividly described the flourishing of economy and society during times of peace: an encouraging vision of the absence of wars, perpetual peace. In addition, Immanuel Kant's philosophical sketch "Perpetual Peace" (1795) shall remind us in which direction international law and politics should find a turning point at last. The visions of both thinkers coincide with Mahatma Gandhi's utopian vision of a peaceful world federation." (Abstract)
Program - Schedule - Lecture (Dr. Christian Bartolf) - Text

24 July 2022

The exhibition "War is sweet to those who have no experience of it ..." - Protest against Violence and War is dedicated to the humanist and pacifist Desiderius Erasmus (c. 1466-1536), whose anti-war writings "Dulce bellum inexpertis" (1515) and "Querela pacis" (1517) were published five hundred years ago.


Desiderius Erasmus: “War is sweet to those who have no experience of it …” - Protest against Violence and War (= Publication series: Exhibitions on the History of Nonviolent Resistance, No. 1, Editors: Christian Bartolf, Dominique Miething). Berlin: Freie Universität Berlin, 2022.

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.17169/refubium-34942
ISBN (print): 978-3-96110-441-3
e-ISBN (online): 978-3-96110-440-6

23 July 2022

Dr. M. Ashaq Malik (Director, Research & Development Cell, Government PG College Rajouri, Jammu & Kashmir, India) kindly invited us to address the International Peace Conference on Peace, organized by: Pir Panjal Foundation for Peace & Communal Harmony in collaboration with NSS Unit/NCC Units Shri Krishan Chander Govt. Degree College Poonch & NSS Unit GDC Surankote, on the theme "Building Peace for an Equitable and Sustainable World". Dr. Christian Bartolf gave a lead lecture on:
Four Elements of Gandhi’s Legacy: International Law, Nuclear Disarmament, Sustainable Development and World Federation.
Poster - Schedule - Abstract Book - Certificate - Letter of Gratitude

10 July 2022

Dr. Christian Bartolf: "The Doukhobors." AHIMSA - Nonviolence, Volume XV, Issue 2, May-July 2022, pp. 27-34. International Gandhian Initiative for Nonviolence and Peace (Link 1 - Link 2). Editors: Professor Ananta Kumar Giri, Dr. Jill Carr-Harris.
Publication - Text

28 June 2022

Dr. Mohd Ashaq Malik (Sr. Assistant Prof. of Botany, Govt PG College Rajouri, Jammu & Kashmir, India and Former, Director of Research, Eritrea Institute of Technology, Asmara, State of Eritrea) kindly invited us to contribute to the International Webinar on the theme "Sustainable Development and Peace" under the Patronship of Dr Ashu Vashisht, organized by Internal Quality Assurance Cell (IQAC) and Government Degree College Jammu City (Paloura) (GDC), Mishriwala, Jammu & Kashmir, India, with a lecture on: The Origin of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals: Brundtland, Brandt and Gandhi.
Poster - Programme - Lecture (Dr. Christian Bartolf) - Certificate

22 May 2022

Dr. M. Ashaq Malik (Director, Research & Development Cell, Government PG College Rajouri, Jammu & Kashmir, India) kindly invited Dr. Christian Bartolf to contribute to the "International e-conference on Biological Diversity 'Building a Shared Future for All Life'" on the occasion of the International Day for Biological Diversity 2022 as a Resource Person, Panelist, Chairperson of Plenary Session I, and for a Plenary Lecture (Plenary Session II) on Gandhi and Biodiversity (with a focus on Gandhi's promotion of bee-keeping in the context of naturopathy).
Poster - Schedule - Lecture (Dr. Christian Bartolf)

30 April 2022

Dr. Christian Bartolf and Dr. Dominique Miething wrote a Plea against any War and for Peace (text).

22 April 2022

Dr. Swati Sharma (Organizing Secretary) Agrawal PG College, Jaipur, India) and Dr. Pradhyuman Singh Ratore (Convenor) kindly invited Dr. Christian Bartolf to be the keynote speaker in 5th technical session "Debating Gandhi" during the International Conference on Multi-Disciplinary Research "Vimarsh – 2022": "Innovation and New Challenges in the Present Scenario".

This lecture summarized the dialogue between Mahatma Gandhi and W.E.B. Du Bois. For decades, Du Bois appreciated Gandhi in his solidarity with the emancipation struggle for civil rights and against poverty.

William Edward Burghardt Du Bois (1868 – 1963) was an US American civil rights activist. Du Bois graduated from the University of Berlin and Harvard, where he was the first African American to earn a doctorate, became a professor of history, sociology and economics at Atlanta University. Du Bois was one of the founders of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in 1909 and editor of the magazine "The Crisis".
Poster - Invitation Letter - Folder - Certificate

8 April 2022

During the weekly Friday meetings of The World House Global Network - Prof. Clayborne Carson (Founding Director of the Martin Luther King Jr. Research and Education Institute), Alyssa Solomon (Director) Dr. Johnny J. Mack (Associate Director), Giulia P. Davis (Program Manager), Dr. Mira Foster (Director of Education), Dr. Drew Dellinger (Advisor), The World House Project, Stanford, Center on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law, Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, Encina Hall, 616 Jane Stanford Way, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305-6055, U.S.A. - we were asked to speak about: On World Federation, World Citizenship, Civilian and Nonviolent Alternatives and the Manifesto against Conscription and the Military System
Lecture (Dr. Christian Bartolf)

4 April 2022

On 4 April 1967 - 55 years ago today - Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. gave his speech "Beyond Vietnam - A Time to Break Silence" (transcript), in which he opposes violence and militarism, particularly the war in Vietnam.


Photo (John C. Goodwin): Riverside Church in New York City. Left to right: Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, historian Henry Steele Commager, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Dr. John Bennett (President of Union Theological Seminary in New York City).

1 April 2022

We created a video of Leo Tolstoy reading his fairy tale "Wolf", which Tolstoy had recorded onto a phonograph which he received from Thomas Edison. "Wolf" is about a little boy who likes eating chicken and is afraid of wolves. One night he had a dream where he ran into a wolf who questions the boy why he loves birds yet also eats them. When the wolf then calls the boy a 'chicken' and tries to eat him alive, the boy wakes up from his nightmare and decides never to eat animals again.

25 March 2022

Mr. Ishiteyaque Ahmad Johar (Founder Member of the non-profit organization Sajha Samvad, India), invited us on March 14, 2022, to give a public lecture.

"Sajha Samvad is a non government organization that works to protect the Constitutional rights of an individual, raise voice against injustice, cruelty and racism and support that the rules of law is prevailed. It also works on woman empowerment, gender equality, education and health. Faith is a personal matter hence Sajha Samvad keep it away from religion and politics. It was started in 2017 and Sajha Samvad's ideal is Shahid Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi (26 October 1890 – 25 March 1931), who was an Indian journalist and a freedom fighter of Indian Independence. He was an important figure in the non-cooperation movement and the freedom movement of India, who once translated Victor Hugo's novel "Ninety-Three", and is mostly known as the founder-editor of the Hindi newspaper, Pratap. He and his newspaper Pratap is a bench mark for Indian journalism. He gave his life to stop the communal violence which was started after the Shahid Bhagat Singh was hanged by British Government. On 25th March 1931, Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi was killed."

We chose to give a lecture on Gandhi’s Anti-War Message.
Poster - Lecture (Dr. Christian Bartolf) - Gandhi Quotes

20 March 2022

Once again after 1945, the structural problem of the international system has become obvious. On this occasion, Dr. Christian Bartolf and Dr. Dominique Miething wrote a Plea for a World Federation (text). This Plea can either guide to a far-reaching reform of the United Nations or to a political equivalent that guarantees inalienable human rights for all people without exception.

9 March 2022

Mrs. Kya Kim, Editor in Chief, Newsletter, International Network of Museums for Peace (INMP), asked us for our article for their Issue #36 and we delivered a two-page article on our exhibition:
Dr. Albert Schweitzer: 'My Address to the People' - Commitment against Nuclear War.
Article - Exhibition - INMP Newsletter Issue #36

20 February 2022

Prof. Ananta Kumar Giri (Madras Institute of Development Studies, Chennai, India and Vishwaneedam Center for Asian Blossoming) and Convener: Randhir Gautam (HOD, SOHSS, Raffles University, and Vishwaneedam Center for Asian Blossoming) invited us to be Panelist in the Swadhyaya Sahachakra Webinar on the current Crisis of International Relations organised by Raffles University, Neemrana, India in collaboration with Vishwaneedam Center for Asian Blossoming, Puducherry and Chennai, and RAYS Global Foundation, U. S. A.

We gave a clear and precise statement in the compassionate and empathic spirit of Leo Tolstoy and Mahatma Gandhi fostering mutual aid and solidarity among nations:

- Extend limitless the Olympic Truce beyond the Olympic Games ending;
- Disarm all nukes and end nuclear deterrence poisoning hearts and minds with soul-numbing fear and the death-producing ideology of violence;
- Create civilian and nonviolent defense and security alternatives in our responsibility to protect liberal and social democracies, human life on earth and the welfare of all;
- Establish a world federation with constitutional human rights and world citizenship.

Statement (Dr. Christian Bartolf)

20 February 2022

During the Solidarity Meeting "Against Vandalisation of Statues of Mahatma Gandhi !", organized by the Mahatma Gandhi Central University Teachers' Association, Motihari, East Champaran, Bihar, India, (A Unit of the Federation of Central University Teachers Association) with the invited speakers: Medha Patkar (Eminent Gandhian), Prof. Anand Kumar (Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Dehli, India), Yogendra Yadav (Swaraj Abhiyan, Noida, Uttar Pradesh), and Bhairaw D. Singh (Motihari, Bihar), we were invited to give our thoughts on Against Ideological Misrepresentations of Gandhi: Research and Education for Nonviolence.
Poster - Link

19 February 2022

Prof. Subhash Chander Dabas, Convener, Gandhi Study Circle & Professor Department of Hindi, Ram Lal Anand College, University of Delhi, New Delhi, India, and Dr. Krishan Gopal Tyagi, Gandhi Study Circle, Ramlal Anand College, University of Delhi, India, kindly invited us to an International Conference entitled "Gandhi & Global Peace" being organised by Gandhi Study Circle, Ram Lal Anand College, University of Delhi, India. We contributed a lecture on Gandhi – Einstein – Schweitzer: Nonviolent Resistance Against Nuclear War.
Poster - Lecture (Dr. Christian Bartolf) - Text

16 February 2022

Prof. Ananta Kumar Giri (Madras Institute of Development Studies, Chennai, India) and Mr. Randhir Gautam (HOD, SOHSS, Raffles University, Neemrana, and RAYS Global Foundation, U. S. A.) kindly invited us to be the speaker for the Vishwaneedam Swadhyaya Sahachakra Chitta Ranjan Centenary Memorial Lecture (Dr. Christian Bartolf): Janusz Korczak, Rabindranath Tagore and John Ruskin: Protest against Nazism, for Human Dignity
Poster

30 January 2022

Prof. Ananta Kumar Giri (Madras Institute of Development Studies, Chennai, India) and Mr. Randhir Gautam (HOD, SOHSS, Raffles University, and Vishwaneedam Center for Asian Blossoming), together with organizing secretary Dr. Devendra Tiwari (Lovely Professional University and Vishwaneedam Center for Asian Blossoming), kindly invited us to the international Webinar Symposium on “Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr: Martyrdom, World Emancipation and Alternative Planetary Futures”, organised by Raffles University, Neemrana, India, in collaboration with Vishwaneedam Center for Asian Blossoming, Puducherry and Chennai, and RAYS Global Foundation, U. S. A. - We chose to contribute a lecture on Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s early references to Mahatma Gandhi and called it: Voices of Conscience: Gandhi and King as Emancipators
Poster - Lecture (Dr. Christian Bartolf) - Symposium

16 January 2022

We were kindly invited by Prof. Prasad Gollanapalli (Managing Trustee, Gandhi King Foundation, Hyderabad, India) to address the Dr. Martin Luther King Birthday Celebrations, organized by the Gandhi King Foundation on 16 January 2022, with a contribution on the
"Global Significance of Dr. Martin Luther King's Message Today".
Participants were Dr. Bernard Lafayette (American Civil Rights activist and close associate of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.), Dr. Clayborne Carson (Martin Luther King, Jr. Centennial Professor Emeritus at the Freeman Spogli Institute and Founding Director of the Martin Luther King Jr. Research and Education Institute, Stanford University; now: The World House Project, an interdisciplinary research center, part of the Center on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law at Stanford University), Dr. Sriram Sonty (Gandhi 150 Commemorative Stamp Initiative, Chicago), Professor Sudarshan Kapoor (California State University, Fresno), Dr. Paul Bueno De Mesquita (Director, University of Rhode Island, Center for Nonviolence and Peace Studies), Ekaterina Zagladina (President, The Permanent Secretariat of the Nobel Peace Summit), Prof. Rajendra Khimani (Vice Chancellor, Gujarat Vidyapith), and Ela Gandhi (granddaughter of M.K. Gandhi, Member of Parliament, South Africa, 1994-2004; former Director of Phoenix Settlement and of Gandhi Development Trust, South Africa, and Peace Activist).
Programme - Letter of Gratitude - Address (Dr. Christian Bartolf)

3 January 2022

In the new compilation of scientific essays: "Revisiting Gandhi. Legacies for World Peace and National Integration" (2021), the editors Dr. Swaran Singh (Jawaharlal Nehru University, India), president of Association of Asia Scholars (New Delhi), and Reena Marwah (University of Delhi, India), founding editor of "Millennial Asia", a triannual journal on Asian Studies, published by Sage Publishers, requested a Foreword written by Dr. Christian Bartolf and, in their preface, highlighted his lecture on Mahatma Gandhi and Bart de Ligt, and, in Chapter 1 "Revisiting Gandhi’s Revolutionary Ideas and Experiments", explicitly referred to his book "Letter to a Hindoo" (1997).
Foreword - Preface - Chapter 1 - Cover (front and back)

14 December 2021



"(21 Dec 1977) West German Socialist Leader and former Chancellor Willy Brandt lays wreath at shrine of Mahatma Gandhi in New Delhi and meets with Indian Prime Minister Morarji Desai." (AP Archive, YouTube, 24 July 2015)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-MiuHQW_CM


---

"Europe, having grown out of the Cold War, fortunately enough, hopefully may make a major contribution to fight some of the dangers to the survival of mankind: world hunger, ecological devastation, uncontrolled production of means of destruction ..."

(Willy Brandt, Timothy and Sharon Ubben Lecture, DePauw University, November 2, 1990, Greencastle, Indiana, U. S. A.)

Source: 2 November 1990 - Nobel Peace Prize Winner Willy Brandt at DePauw University [Greencastle, Indiana. U. S. A.) (DePauw University Video Archive, 11 September 2017) -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52h14u3k1n8

12 December 2021

On 26 September 1973, Willy Brandt becomes the first Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) to address the United Nations General Assembly in New York - he refers to Mahatma Gandhi from India and Nonviolent Resistance:

""Non-violence" is a concept we owe to the man who awakened a great Member country in this Assembly; the force of that doctrine has not diminished. But the realities of today require it to be complemented by an opposite statement of fact, namely, that there is violence through tolerance, intimidation through indolence, threat through passiveness, manslaughter through immobility. We must not stop on this threshold, for it may be the threshold between survival and decline."

United Nations General Assembly - Twenty-Eigth Session - 2128th Plenary Meeting - 26 September 1973 - New York - page 3 - https://undocs.org/en/A/PV.2128

(note: "toleration" instead of "tolerance" would be the correct translation)



Willy Brandt at the United Nations General Assembly, 26 September 1973

" ... Dem Erwecker einer großen Mitgliednation dieser Versammlung verdanken wir das Wort vom „gewaltlosen Widerstand“; es hat seine Kraft nicht verloren. Aber die Wirklichkeit fordert die Ergänzung durch ein Gegenwort, nämlich die Feststellung: Es gibt Gewalttätigkeit durch Duldung, Einschüchterung durch Indolenz, Bedrohung durch Passivität – Totschlag durch Bewegungslosigkeit. Das ist eine Grenze, an der wir nicht stehenbleiben dürfen – denn sie kann die Grenze zwischen Überleben und Untergang sein."

"Nr. 80 - Rede des Bundeskanzlers, Brandt, vor der Vollversammlung der Vereinten Nationen, 26. September 1973 - Bulletin des Presse- und Informationsamtes der Bundesregierung, Nr. 119 vom 27. September 1973, S. 7–23." In: Willy Brandt. Berliner Ausgabe - Herausgegeben von Helga Grebing, Gregor Schöllgen und Heinrich August Winkler - Im Auftrag der Bundeskanzler-Willy-Brandt-Stiftung. Band 6: Ein Volk der guten Nachbarn. Außen- und Deutschlandpolitik 1966 – 1974. Bearbeitet von Frank Fischer. Bonn 2005, S. 504

10 December 2021

Willy Brandt
Nobel Lecture, December 11, 1971
Peace Policy in Our Time

Source: https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace/1971/brandt/lecture/

"... Peace policy is a sober task. I, too, try with the means at my command to pave the way for the prevalence of reason in my own country and in the world: that reason which demands that we seek peace because the absence of peace has come to mean extreme lack of reason. War is no longer the ultima ratio but rather the ultima irratio. Even if this is still not a generally held view, I personally understand a policy for peace as a genuine Realpolitik of this epoch. Realpolitik, grossly abused in Germany over a period of twelve years, proved to be an infernal chimera. ..."



Kniefall von Warschau, December 7, 1970,
Monument to the Ghetto Heroes, commemorating the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising of 1943 during the Second World War (Pomnik Bohaterów Getta w Warszawie)

Photo: https://willy-brandt.de/en/ausstellungen/veranstaltungen/kniefall-von-warschau-vor-50-jahren/

---

"... We need peace not only in the sense of the absence of violence; we need it as the basis for that redeeming cooperation I have spoken about. And in the same way that it presupposes peace, it can help to create peace, for where there is redeeming cooperation there is peace; and there mutual confidence will also gradually establish itself. ..."

---

"... once and for all and without exception, we must renounce force and the threat of force in relations between states. This includes of necessity the inviolability of existing frontiers. But the integrity of frontiers cannot mean cementing them as barriers between enemies. ..."

"... Renunciation of force must become a law which every state respects and which rules out interference. ..."


8 December 2021

Willy Brandt
Nobel Lecture, December 11, 1971
Peace Policy in Our Time

Source: https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace/1971/brandt/lecture/

"... European peace policy lives from the spirit of history. This does not exclude the darkest years but explicitly includes them. The award of the Nobel Peace Prize to Carl von Ossietzky during that evil era of the Hitler regime meant a great deal.

Together with Ludwig Quidde he had been active in the German Peace Society. With his sharp pen he struggled against militarism and nationalism. In 1921, he wrote: “Many nations have fought against each other, but the blood that has flowed is of only one kind: the blood of Europe’s citizens”. That era demanded more from him than civil courage, it demanded his life.

Shortly before the presentation was made, one of those in power tried to exact from this uneasy prisoner an assurance that he would refuse the prize. In return he was to be set free, given financial security, and not to be bothered again in the future. Ossietzky refused and went back to prison. At that time I was 22 years old and “illegally” in Berlin just then. I had been directly involved in the “campaign” and was deeply moved when later learned of his decision.

In Carl von Ossietzky the Nobel Committee had honored a man who had been persecuted and who could not come here to receive the prize. That award was a moral victory over the ruling powers of barbarism. Today, in the name of free Germany, I wish to express belated thanks to the Nobel Committee for making that choice. At the same time I wish to express my appreciation and encouragement to those who help people imprisoned or persecuted in other ways on account of their convictions. ..."

6 December 2021

The President of the Nobel Committee, Mrs. Aase Lionæs, in honor of the 1971 Laureate, Mr. Willy Brandt, gave the Award ceremony speech on 10 December 1971, in which she highlighted Willy Brandt's active support for the Nobel Peace Prize campaign for Carl von Ossietzky.

Source: https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace/1971/ceremony-speech/

"On November 23 of 1936, the Nobel Committee of the Norwegian Storting decided to award the Peace Prize to the German pacifist Carl von Ossietzky. Ossietzky was a journalist with «die Weltbühne», a periodical in which he repudiated the German mobilization without compromise. Ossietzky was arrested already the night of the Parliament fire. After that, he spent five long years of suffering and humiliation as Hitler’s prisoner in the concentration camps of Papenburg-Esterwegen.

In 1946, Albert Einstein wrote the following on the subject of Ossietzky having been awarded the Peace Prize: «The bestowal of an honour of this magnitude on this simple marture will be forever meriting for the Nobel Committee of the Norwegian Parliament.»

The candidature of Ossietzky was discussed all over the world. One of the contributions in this discussion came from Heinrich Mann, who wrote the following:

«Ossi, who can no longer speak or write, has still had the good fortune of having the world’s conscience emerging for a moment and witnessing on his behalf, and the language that was spoken was his name.»

In remembering the award of the Nobel Peace Prize to Ossietzky in 1936, we shall not forget the hard work of the young German refugee Willy Brandt in support of Ossietzky’s candidature.

When Ossietzky was finally elected for the prize, he did not let his fears stand in the way. Imprisoned and marked by death, he resisted Göring’s pressure to renounce the prize."


Photo: https://www.arbark.no/Diverse/lionaes/lionaes.htm

5 December 2021

We document the historic correspondence between:
Dietrich Bonhoeffer - George Bell - Mahatma Gandhi (1934)

1) Dietrich Bonhoeffer to Mahatma Gandhi, 17 October 1934. The original letter is in the personal correspondence files, Gandhi papers, first and second instalments, Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, New Delhi.
Link via Dietrich Bonhoeffer Portal (Internationale Bonhoeffer-Gesellschaft, Deutschsprachige Sektion, e.V., Kassel, Germany).
Additional information: Green, Clifford. "Dietrich Bonhoeffer's Letter to Mahatma Gandhi." Journal of Ecclesiastical History,  Vol. 72, No. 1 (2021), pp. 113–21.

2) George Bell to Mahatma Gandhi, 22 October 1934, in: Bonhoeffer, Dietrich et al. (1994): Dietrich Bonhoeffer Werke. Band 13, London: 1933-1935. Edited by Hans Goedeking, Martin Heimbucher and Hans-Walter Schleicher. Gütersloh, Germany: Christian Kaiser Verlag, p. 210.

3) M. K. Gandhi: Letter to Dietrich Bonhoeffer. November 1, 1934. In: The Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi. Volume 59, p. 273. Also in: Bonhoeffer, Dietrich et al. (1994): Dietrich Bonhoeffer Werke. Band 13, London: 1933-1935. Edited by Hans Goedeking, Martin Heimbucher and Hans-Walter Schleicher. Gütersloh, Germany: Christian Kaiser Verlag, pp. 213f.

4 December 2021

Social Media representation:
"Gandhi Information Center (Research and Education for Nonviolence)" offers a public group on Facebook, currently with more than 2.000 members, providing:

Playlists on YouTube:

22 November 2021

The series of lecture invitations from Indian colleges and universities continued through 2021 with the result that altogether 23 lectures on Gandhi were held this year.
Twenty-three Lectures on Gandhi (2021) by Dr. Christian Bartolf

20 November 2021

Dr. Shaiju David Alfi (CEO, Dr. Kalam Smrithi International, Trivandrum, Kerala, India) kindly invited us to speak about "Gandhi and Peace" during the E-Symposium on "Mahatma Gandhi - Life, Ideology and Legacy" with Principal Dr. P. Manoj Kumar: The Daleview College of Pharmacy and Research Center's "effort has been to shatter the shackles of enslavement and to free man from dehumanizing conditions and to place him again as the crown of creation by empowering him to lead a meaningful life" (according to the words of their Director and Founder C. Christu Das) and has rendered "service in the fields of education, health, female emancipation, de-addiction, upliftment of the transgender community, programmes for the poor and disabled and Agriculture."
Poster


17 November 2021

For the course "Leadership & Ethics" (Edwin Durán-Zurita, Senior Advisor for University Advancement, Universidad Privada Boliviana, Cochabamba, Bolivia) we were kindly invited by the student Matias Rojas, Universidad Privada Boliviana, Bolivia, to contribute a lecture on "Gandhi’s Ethics and Guidance" (Moderator: Andres Coronado, student).
Lecture (Dr. Christian Bartolf)

7 November 2021

For the International Network of Museums for Peace webinar on "Peace Exhibits and Peace Education", held November 10, 2021, we prepared a presentation entitled "'Study War No More' - Lyrics and Photographs for Peace Education".
Presentation (Dr. Christian Bartolf / Dr. Dominique Miething) - Text - Poster

31 October 2021

On the occasion of Reformation Day 2021, we contributed to the "Christ Evangelical Church" international webinar with an address about "Mahatma Gandhi on Martin Luther" commemorating in addition Desiderius Erasmus anti-war tracts by referring to our Exhibition on Erasmus: Conscience, Freedom, Peace, Truth.
Poster - Address (Dr. Christian Bartolf) - Full Video

4 October 2021

Dr. Partha Dabke (President), Mr. Arjun Roy (Vice-President), and Mrs. Sowmya Katar, Indischer Verein Hannover e. V. / Indian Association Hannover (IASH), kindly invited us to give a keynote speech on Gandhi & Germany on the occasion of the Gandhi Jayanthi Celebration on 4th October 2021 at International School Hannover Region, in Hannover, Germany - in cooperation with the Consul General of India, Hamburg, Mr. John H. Rulongul.
Poster - Invitation Letter - Photos - Slides - Key Moments - Speech (Consul General of India, Hamburg)

4 October 2021

On the occasion of the International Day of Non-Violence 2021 and Gandhi Jayanti, Dr. Rasna Sehrawat (Assistant Professor, International Relations Coordinator) and Prof. Alka Mudgal (Head), Amity Institute of Education, Amity University, Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India, kindly invited us to give a lecture for university students, specifically pre-service teachers at undergraduate and postgraduate level and the teacher educators on: Tolstoy's Legacy for Gandhi and Us - History, Presence and Future
Poster - Programme - Lecture (Dr. Christian Bartolf)

3 October 2021

Swadhyaya Sahachkara (Circle for Creative Co-Learning), Vishwaneedam Center for Asian Blossoming, Puducherry and Chennai, South India, in collaboration with Raffles University, Neemrana, Rajasthan, India, kindly invited us to give a lecture on Gandhi and Antisemitism . Thanks to the organizers: Prof. Ananta Kumar Giri (Professor at Madras Institute of Development Studies, Chennai) and Mr. Randhir Kumar Gautam (Raffles University, Neemrana) and Dr. Devendra Tiwari (Raffles University, Neemrana).
Poster - Lecture (Dr. Christian Bartolf)

2 October 2021

Dr. Pankaj Kumar Debnath and Dr. Sukanta Ghosh, NSS Unit-II & Women’s Studies Cell, Cooch Behar College, Coochbehar, India, kindly invited us to contribute some thoughts on Mahatma Gandhi for a Gandhi Jayanti webinar on: Understanding Gandhiji's Ideas & Philosophy.
Poster - Lecture (Dr. Christian Bartolf)

2 October 2021

Mr. Harsh Vardhan Singh Yadav, General Secretary, Cultural Board, Students Gymkhana Council, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, kindly invited us to the E-Symposium on the Life and Legacy of Mahatma Gandhi with a lecture on: Mahatma Gandhi: Life, Ideology, Legacy
Poster - Lecture (Dr. Christian Bartolf)

2 October 2021

Dr. Vijay Kumar, Apeejay Stya University, Gurugram, Haryana, India, kindly invited us as Distinguished Speaker for the webinar to give a lecture on: Mahatma Gandhi, Fascism and the 21st Century.
Poster - Lecture (Dr. Christian Bartolf) - Article (web) - Article (pdf)

2 October 2021

Dr. John Chelladurai, Head Department of Gandhian Studies, and Prof. Vilas Sapkal, Vice- Chancellor, Mahatma Gandhi Mission University (established by Maharashtra Government by Act of Assembly and Council), Aurangabad, India, kindly invited us to speak at the Function of the 2nd October 2021 Gandhi Birth Anniversary in the Rukmini Auditorium, MGM Campus, Aurangabad, India on: Gandhi & 21st Century.
Poster - Lecture (Dr. Christian Bartolf)

30 September 2021

Dr. Manish Sharma, Chairperson, Department of Gandhian and Peace Studies, Chandigarh, Panjab University, in association with Interdisciplinary Centre for Swami Vivekananda Studies Panjab University Alumni Association, kindly invited us to give a lecture on:
Mahatma Gandhi and Aldous Huxley.
Poster - Lecture (Dr. Christian Bartolf) - Article

25 September 2021

Dr. Saji Varghese, Associate Professor, Lady Keane College, Shillong, kindly invited us to the International Webinar: “Spirituality, Satyagraha and Pragmatism: New Dimensions in Gandhian Philosophy”, jointly organised by Mahatma Gandhi Center for Conflict Resolution and Peace Studies, Lady Keane College, Shillong, Meghalaya, India & North East Institute of Social Sciences and Research, Dimapur, Nagaland, India & Peace Channel, Dimapur, India, and St. Xavier College, Jalukie, Nagaland, India, with a lecture on Mahatma Gandhi and Aldous Huxley.
Programme - Lecture (Dr. Christian Bartolf)

19 September 2021

Samuel Edet (President, Peace Mindset Ambassadors - PEMA), Lagos, Nigeria, kindly invited us to contribute to the 2021 International Day of Peace event "Recovering Better For An Equitable and Sustainable World on 21 September 2021 with a lecture on "Pacifism and Vegetarianism: Mahatma Gandhi’s Vision for the World".
Poster - Lecture (Dr. Christian Bartolf) - Letter of Gratitude

19 September 2021

Swadhyaya Sahachkara (Circle for Creative Co-Learning), Vishwaneedam Center for Asian Blossoming, Puducherry and Chennai, South India, in collaboration with Raffles University, Neemrana, Rajasthan, India, kindly invited us to give a lecture on "Gandhi and Fascism". Thanks to the organizers: Prof. Ananta Kumar Giri (Professor at Madras Institute of Development Studies, Chennai) and Mr. Randhir Kumar Gautam (Raffles University, Neemrana) and Dr. Devendra Tiwari (Raffles University, Neemrana).
Poster - Lecture (Dr. Christian Bartolf)

29 August 2021

Swadhyaya Sahachkara (Circle for Creative Co-Learning), Vishwaneedam Center for Asian Blossoming, Puducherry and Chennai, South India, in collaboration with Raffles University, Neemrana, Rajasthan, India, kindly invited us to give a lecture on "Gandhi and Hitler". Thanks to the organizers: Prof. Ananta Kumar Giri (Professor at Madras Institute of Development Studies, Chennai) and Mr. Randhir Kumar Gautam (Raffles University, Neemrana) and Dr. Devendra Tiwari (Raffles University, Neemrana).
Poster - Lecture (Dr. Christian Bartolf)

25 August 2021

Prof. Ananta Kumar Giri (Madras Institute of Development Studies, Chennai, India) introduced a new essay by Dr. Christian Bartolf: "Paradise of Conscience: Thoreau’s “Lakes of Light”, Tolstoy’s “Kingdom of God” and Gandhi’s “Ramrajya”." In: Gandhi Marg. Quarterly Journal of the Gandhi Peace Foundation (New Delhi), Vol. 43, No. 1 (April-June 2021), pp. 11-24.

"In his essay, Bartolf presents utopian visions of Thoreau, Tolstoy, Gandhi and King to understand the vision and practice of Gardens of God. Bartolf discusses Thoreau’s stay and work near Walden, the pond near Concord, Massachusetts. He discusses Tolstoy’s vision and practice of Kingdom of God at the core of which is the practice of love and non-violence. He then discusses Gandhi’s vision of Ramrajya which builds upon both Thoreau and Tolstoy. Critical self-introspection, respect for all and taking self-control of oneself as well as helping others to have self-control are at the core of Gandhi’s vision of Ramrajya. Bartolf then discusses Martin Luther King’s vision and realization of Kingdom of God as realization of the Beloved Community in self, society and the world."
Text

20 June 2021

Dr. M. Ashaq Raza kindly invited us to the International Webinar on “Information & Communications Technology and Covid-19”, organised by Department of Computer Science, Government Degree College Poonch, J&K, India, in collaboration with Sheikh’s Computers Association Technology (Poonch, J&K, India) & Attitude Change International, Darhal Malkan, Rajouri, J&K, India, to give a lecture on "Preliminary thoughts on Mahatma Gandhi and 'Information and communications technology' (ICT): Gandhi, Communication and Disease" (Dr. Christian Bartolf)
Poster and Programme - Invitation - Lecture (Dr. Christian Bartolf)

9 June 2021

Some thoughts on "What are Museums for Peace?" by Dr. Christian Bartolf and Dr. Dominique Miething.

25 May 2021

Dr. Vijay Kumar, Assistant Professor, Apeejay Stya University, School of Education & National Service Scheme (NSS), kindly invited us to give a lecture on M.K. Gandhi in South Africa: Whose Example Did He Follow & Why (on the occasion of the anniversary of Gandhi's first visit to Durban, South Africa, May 25, 1893).
Poster - Lecture (Dr. Christian Bartolf) - Certificate - Article

20 May 2021

Commemorating the birth centenary of the pacifist writer Wolfgang Borchert (20 May 1921 in Hamburg - 2 November 1947 in Basel) we publish his last poem "Then there is only one thing to do", which the honorary citizen of Hamburg, the late Mrs. Ida Ehre, designated as his "Manifesto".
Transcript, Facsimile, English Translation
-
"Sag NEIN ! - Testament gegen den Krieg"
(Exhibition in the original German language)


7 May 2021

On the occasion of Rabindranath Tagore's 160th birth anniversary ...

"The human world is made one. All the countries are losing their distance everyday, their boundaries not offering the same resistance as they did in the past age. Politicians struggle to exploit this great fact and wrangle about establishing trade relationships, but my mission is to urge for a world wide commerce of heart and mind, sympathy and understanding, and never to allow this sublime opportunity to be sold in the slave markets for the cheap price of individual profits or be shattered away by the unholy competition in mutual destructiveness."


Source: Rabindranath Tagore (May 5, 1930), Paris (France), Bernard Dardaine (camera operator). Fox Movietone News Story 6-119. Fox Movietone News Collection. Moving Image Research Collections. University of South Carolina.

4 May 2021

... Ossietzky is not just a symbol. He is something quite different and something much more. He is a deed; and he is a man. ...

Award Ceremony Presentation Speech by Fredrik Stang, Chairman of the Nobel Committee, on December 10, 1936

"Mr. Stang delivered this speech in the Norwegian Nobel Institute on December 10, 1936. Because of ill health and the «protective custody» under which he was held ..., the laureate was unable to be present to accept his prize – the Peace Prize for 1935 which was reserved in that year – or to give a Nobel lecture. ..."
https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace/1935/ceremony-speech/

24 March 2021

New introduction to the concept of Satyagraha, highlighting the background of Gandhi's philosophy, by Christian Bartolf, Dominique Miething and Vishnu Varatharajan: "Thoreau - Tolstoy - Gandhi: The Origin of Satyagraha." In: Roots, Routes and a New Awakening. Beyond One and Many and Alternative Planetary Futures. Edited by Ananta Kumar Giri (Singapore: Springer Nature - Palgrave Macmillan, 2021): 133-148.

1 March 2021

Mr. Randhir Kumar Gautam, Assistant Professor, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Raffles University Neemrana, Rajasthan, India, with RAYS Foundation (RAYS = Rising Ambitions of Young Society), kindly invited us to contribute to an International Webinar with a lecture on the occasion of Hermann Kallenbach's 150th birthday:
Gandhi, Kallenbach and Civil Disobedience
Poster - Lecture (Christian Bartolf)

26 February 2021

Dr. Aslam Khan, Adjunct Professor, Department of Political Science (Gandhian & Peace Studies), Mahatma Gandhi Central University, Motihari, Bihar, India, and Dean, Faculty of Social and Management Sciences, Yobe State University, Nigeria, kindly invited us for a two days International E-Conference on "Relevance of Gandhism in the Contemporary Era" (26-27th February 2021), organised by Prof. Muneshwar Yadav, Department of Political Science, Lalit Narayan Mithila University, Darbhanga, Bihar, India, to give a lecture on the occasion of Hermann Kallenbach's 150th birthday: Gandhi, Kallenbach and Practical Idealism
Invitation - Poster - Lecture (Christian Bartolf)

14 February 2021

Prof. Ananta Kumar Giri (Madras Institute of Development Studies, Gandhinagar, Adyar, Chennai) kindly invited us twice – on 24 January and 14 February 2021 – to give two talks On Thoreau, Tolstoy, Gandhi and King (for the United Nations International Day of Education) and On John Ruskin and Carl von Ossietzky (for the United Nations International Day of Social Justice) for his academic study circle Swadhyaya Sahachakra Dialogue.

3 February 2021

Prof. Anju Suri, Department of History, Panjab University Chandigarh (India), kindly invited us to the International Conference "Ideology and Vision of Mahatma Gandhi: Global Relevance in 21st Century" to celebrate Mahatma Gandhi’s 150th Birth Anniversary, organised by: Panjab University, Chandigarh, India, in collaboration with India Foundation, New Delhi, India and the University of Nottingham and Nottingham Trent University, England, U.K. This time we chose the topic: Aldous Huxley and Mahatma Gandhi (lecture by Christian Bartolf).
Poster - Programme - Certificate of Participation - Article

24 January 2021 / 20 January 2023

New United Nations International Days

As we believe in the universal values the United Nations stand for: peace, justice, human dignity, tolerance and solidarity - and we wish a world federation of humanity would cease the scourge of war - we (on July 20, 2020) urged by letter the United Nations (Secretary-General and General Assembly) to introduce two new United Nations' International Days:

  1. United Nations' International Day of Mutual Aid and Solidarity on each 15 January
    (Dr. Martin Luther King's Jr.s Birthday)
  2. United Nations' International Day of Compassion and Empathy on each 9 September (Leo Tolstoy‘s Birthday)

We received the following reply:

Dear Mr. Bartolf,

In reference to your letters dated 20 July 2020 addressed to the Secretary-General and to the President of the General Assembly of its 74th session, brought to my attention yesterday, in which you urged to introduce two new United Nations International Days, namely, the United Nations International Day of Mutual Aid and Solidarity on each 15 January and the United Nations International Day of Compassion and Empathy on each 9 September, I would like to inform you that such an action by the General Assembly would have to be taken through the adoption of a resolution by its membership.

In accordance with the rules of procedure of the General Assembly, the draft of such a resolution must be submitted by a Member State or a group of Member States of the United Nations. Upon the submission of such a draft resolution, this matter would be given due consideration.

Furthermore, I wish to draw your attention to General Assembly resolution 61/185 of 20 December 2006, in which the Assembly stresses the need to take into account and apply the criteria and procedures contained in the guidelines in considering future proposals for international years. These guidelines, which are also broadly applicable to international days, are enclosed for your information.

Best regards,
__________________________________________
Kenji Nakano, Chief
General Assembly Affairs Branch
Department for General Assembly
and Conference Management
United Nations
Office: S-3052
New York, NY 10017
Tel: +1 (212) 963-2336
Email: nakano@un.org

__________________________________________

On January 21, 2021, we asked for support in two letters:

Letter to the President of the U.S.A. - Letter to the President of Russia

On January 20, 2023, we sent a second letter to the U.S. President:

12 January 2021


Transcript: M. K. Gandhi, 'A Note' [August 1947],
The Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi, Vol. 89, p. 125.

24 December 2020

We document and publish the facsimile and our transcript of the full contribution "Thanks to Gandhi", which Arnold Zweig had written in German for Gandhi's seventieth birthday. In the year 1939, Zweig's congratulatory message was published only in English language by the Indian philosopher and later President of the Republic of India, Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, as part of his edited volume under the title: Mahatma Gandhi. Essays and Reflections on his Life and Work. Presented to him on his Seventieth Birthday, October 2nd, 1939 (London: George Allen and Unwin, 1939, 1940 and in an extended edition 1949), pp. 331-333. - Document

"... Then rose the star of Gandhi. He showed that a doctrine of non-violence was possible. It seemed given him to shape human society according to his teachings, in fact upon the basis that Tolstoy and Prince Kropotkin had already laid in Czarist Russia from the old doctrines of Christianity. In Germany also were representatives of such convictions. Men like Kurt Eisner and Gustav Landauer, Carl von Ossietzky, Erich Mühsam and Theodor Lessing sought nothing else. Could they fail in Germany when Gandhi succeeded in India? ..."

Source:
Arnold Zweig. Signatur 1373: Thanks to Gandhi (Aufsatz).
Text deutsch. Haifa, Palästina, Februar 1939. 3 Seiten.
Gandhi Information Center:
https://www.nonviolent-resistance.info/
Gandhi-Informations-Zentrum:
https://www.nonviolent-resistance.info/ger/indexger.htm.
© Aufbau Verlag GmbH & Co. KG Berlin 1993, 2008.

19 December 2020

Rajmohan Gandhi (born 1935), grandson of Mahatma Gandhi and Chakravarthi Rajagopalachari, son of Devdas Gandhi and Lakshmi Gandhi, is an Indian historian, biographer and research professor at the Center for South Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, U.S.A. His other works include Patel: A Life (1990); The Good Boatman: A Portrait of Gandhi (1995); Rajaji: A Life (1997); Ghaffar Khan: Nonviolent Badshah of the Pakhtuns (2004).
In two lectures he refers to the relevance of Mahatma Gandhi's non-cooperation movements from 1920 to 1922 and what it means for contemporary India.
"When India Changed: The Story from Jallianwala to Chauri Chaura, 1919-22" (Mani Bhavan Gandhi Sangrahalaya, 10 December 2020)
"Vallabh Bhai Patel, Abdul Ghaffar Khan and Today's India" (Ganga Jamuni, 17 December 2020)

18 December 2020

The Petitions Committee and the Plenary of the German Bundestag will concern themselves with the rehabilitation of the Nobel Peace Laureate Carl von Ossietzky.
Letter (11 December 2020)

10 December 2020

On the occasion of Mahatma Gandhi's 150th birth anniversary on 2 October 2019 (United Nations International Day of Non-Violence since 2007) and on the occasion of the Nobel Peace Laureate Carl von Ossietzky's 130th birth anniversary on 3 October 2019, we addressed letters to representatives of the Federal Republic of Germany with the intention that they wholeheartedly care for the legal and political rehabilitation of Carl von Ossietzky. This would certainly be in the interest of the former Governing Mayor of Berlin, foreign minister, federal chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany, and Nobel Peace Laureate of 1971, Willy Brandt, who actively supported the Nobel Peace Prize campaign for Carl von Ossietzky.

On the occasion of the United Nations Human Rights Day and the Nobel Day (10 December), we henceforth document the correspondence with some representatives of the Federal Republic of Germany.
- Letters to representatives of the Federal Republic of Germany
- Reply Letters

19 November 2020

You are invited to visit this exhibition online:
Henry David Thoreau: " ... give me truth " - Plea for Nonviolent Resistance (2017/18).

13 November 2020

You are invited to visit this exhibition online:
Aldous Huxley: Alphabet of Peace. Commitment against War (2019).

Aldous Huxley
This exhibition is dedicated to the British writer and pacifist Aldous Huxley (1894-1963). The following quotes against the military system and for nonviolent resistance in the spirit of Mahatma Gandhi are chosen from Huxley’s socio-critical essays.

12 November 2020

Dr. Roy Tamashiro, adjunct professor and professor emeritus in the Department of Teacher Education and the International Studies Program at Webster University (home campus, St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.A.) kindly asked Christian Bartolf to join the Advisory Committee of the International Network of Museums for Peace (INMP), newly elected for the next term from 1 January 2021 to 31 December 2023.
From INMP from General Coordinator's Desk No 46, November 13, 2020 (Ikuro Anzai, General Coordinator, INMP) - 2020 INMP Election Results

30 October 2020

Marking M.K. Gandhi's 150th birthday, a myriad of events, conferences and webinars, were organized in India during this year. Between July and October 2020, we made an effort to follow each invitation, gracing each event with a new topic. The result is a virtual lecture tour on the life and thought of M.K. Gandhi: mostly in India, but also in Austria, Canada and Nigeria.
Thirty Lectures on Gandhi (2020) by Christian Bartolf

21 October 2020

Prof. Swaran Singh (Diplomacy and Disarmament Division), Chairman, Center for International Politics, Organization & Disarmament, School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, President, Association of Asia Scholars (Asia-wide Network) and Dr. Reena Marwah, Associate Professor, Jesus and Mary College, Delhi University, Formerly Senior Academic Consultant and Senior fellow, Indian Council for Social Science Research, Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India and Founding Editor, Millennial Asia - A Sage Publication (A biannual Journal of Asian Studies) kindly invited us for the Association of Asia Scholars to give a lecture on "'The Breath of my Life' - Gandhi's Correspondence with Bart de Ligt on Nonviolence" and to answer questions of young scholars from India.
Poster - Brochure - Teaser - Lecture (Christian Bartolf)

20 October 2020

Dr. Mahendra Kumar Padhy, Organizing Secretary, Department of Mass Communication and Journalism, Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar Central University, Lucknow, India, kindly invited us to address the International Web Seminar (20-21st October 2020) on "Development Communication for a Sustainable Future: Revisiting the Gandhian Model of Environmentalism". We chose to express ecological and ethical concerns and spoke about: "Mahatma Gandhi's Vegetarian Philosophy".
Poster - Speech (Christian Bartolf)

16 October 2020

Dr. Rasna Sehrawat, Assistant Professor, AUUP, International Relations Coordinator, Amity Institute of Education, Amity University, Noida, India, kindly invited us to give an international guest lecture on: "Gandhi and Tolstoy as Educators: Who did they learn from and what can we learn from them nowadays?"
Poster - Lecture (Christian Bartolf)

16 October 2020

Professor Niranjan Roy, Department of Economics, Former Dean, Mahatma Gandhi School of Economics and Commerce. Former Director, DIQA, Former Registrar (Acting), Coordinator of the programme, Assam University (A central University), Silchar, Assam, India via Prasad Gollanapalli (Gandhi King Foundation, Hyderabad, India) kindly invited us to the Two-Day International Webinar on “Understanding Gandhian Gram Swaraj and its relevance in post Covid-19 World”, organized by the Centre for Studies on Human Development (CSHD), Assam University, Silchar, India, in collaboration with the Gandhi-King Global Initiative Stanford University, USA & the Gandhi-King Foundation, Hyderabad, India (16th-17th October, 2020) to give a special address for the inaugural session "On Gandhi and Swaraj".
Brochure

9 October 2020

Via Prof. Swaran Singh (Diplomacy and Disarmament Division), Chairman, Center for International Politics, Organization & Disarmament, School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, President, Association of Asia Scholars (Asia-wide Network), Dr. Reena Marwah, Associate Professor, Jesus and Mary College, Delhi University, Formerly Senior Academic Consultant and Senior fellow, Indian Council for Social Science Research, Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India and Founding Editor, Millennial Asia - A Sage Publication (A biannual Journal of Asian Studies) kindly invited us for New Delhi’s Jesus & Mary College (Department of Commerce) to give a lecture on "Gandhi's Message to Students".
Poster - Programme Schedule - Lecture (Christian Bartolf)

5 October 2020

On World Teachers' Day, Dr. Priya Premlatha, Assistant Professor in History, Nirmala College for Women (Autonomous), Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India, kindly invited us to speak about "Education for Nonviolence and Peace through Music" with sample songs for peace.
Poster

3 October 2020

Prof. Sunil Mahawar, Department of Gandhian and Peace Studies, Mahatma Gandhi Central University, Gandhi Bhawan, Bankat, Motihari, District: East Champaran, Bihar, India, kindly invited us to speak at the International Webinar on Life and Philosophy of Mahatma Gandhi on 3rd October 2020, invited together with the two eminent scholars Prof. Janet Gerson (former Co-Director, Peace Education Center, Teachers Colege, Columbia University, New York City, U.S.A.) and Prof. Vidya Jain (Convenor, Nonviolence And Peace Movements Commission, International Peace Research Association - IPRA) from Jaipur, India. For this event occasion, we spoke about:
"Who did Gandhi learn from? Mahatma Gandhi and his Teachers".
Poster - Programme Schedule - Speech (Christian Bartolf) - Video Complete

2 October 2020

Seshadripuram Educational Trust / Seshadripuram First Grade College in association with Harijan Sevak Sangh, New Delhi, Central Gandhi Smarak Nidhi, New Delhi, Karnataka Gandhi Smarak Nidhi, Bengaluru, Kasturba Gandhi National Memorial Trust, Indore, and Gandhi Peace Foundation, New Delhi presented a 7 Day's International Conference on "Gandhian Philosophy & Peace" (2nd - 8th October 2020). Together with renowned Gandhian speakers like e.g. Dr. Wooday P. Krishna, Dr. N. Radhakrishnan, Dr. Arun Manilal Gandhi, Dr. Gautam Bajaj, Radha Behn (Radha Bhat), Dr. S. N. Subba Rao and Rajgopal P.V., we were kindly invited by Professor Santanu Das, Secretary, North Bangalore Science Forum, & Head, Department of Biotechnology, Seshadripuram First Grade College, Yelahanka New Town, Bangalore (Bengaluru), India, and chose to speak about "Letter to a Hindoo / Letter to an Indian: Taraknath Das, Leo Tolstoy and Mahatma Gandhi".
Brochure - Lecture (Christian Bartolf)

2 October 2020

Dr. Sukanta Ghosh (Nodal Officer Fit India Freedom Run (West Bengal) and Programme Officer NSS unit-II, Cooch Behar College, West Bengal, India) and Dr. Pankaj Kumar Debnath (Principal, Coach Behar College, West Bengal, India) kindly invited to the International Webinar on "Gandhi: Philosophy & Politics" on 2nd October, 2020, organised by the NSS Unit-II, Coochbehar College, West Bengal, India. We gave a short presentation on "Mahatma Gandhi and Aldous Huxley".
Invitation Letter - Programme Schedule - Poster - Speech (Christian Bartolf)

2 October 2020

Dr. Madhu Prabha Singh, Principal / President, Jai Prakash Mahila College, Chapra, Bihar, India (A Constituent Unit of Jai Prakash University, Chapra, Bihar, India) kindly invited us for a keynote speech during the International Webinar on the “Relevance of Gandhian Philosophy and Thoughts in Present Scenario”, organized by the Department of Political Science Department. This time we chose to speak about: "Professor Albert Einstein on Mahatma Gandhi".
Poster - Lecture (Christian Bartolf)

2 October 2020

Prof. Vidya Jain (Convenor, Professor of Political Science, University of Rajasthan, Jaipur, India; Director for Gandhian Studies, University of Rajasthan, Secretary General Asia-Pacific Peace Research Association; Non-Violence & and Peace Movements Commission, International Peace Research Association Foundation), Prof. Javed Musarrat (Vice-Chancellor, Baba Ghulam Badshah University, Rajouri, Jammu and Kashmir, India), kindly invited us to contribute to the International Webinar on the "Relevance of Mahatma Gandhi in Contemporary Scenario: Global Peace" with a lecture on "Henry David Thoreau and Mahatma Gandhi : Ecology and Resilience".
Poster - Lecture (Christian Bartolf) - Complete Video

2 October 2020

Nataraj Youth Cultural Organization (NYCO) and the Consulate General of India, Toronto, celebrate the 151st Birth Anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi with a "Virtual Exhibit of International Organizations focusing on Gandhism" (Nisarg Media Productions, 5 October 2020) consisting of guiding and thoughtful messages by Mrs. Ela Gandhi (Trustee, Gandhi Development Trust, Greyville, Berea, South Africa), Mr. Tusha Arun Gandhi (Mahatma Gandhi Foundation, Mumbai, India), Mr. Atul Pandya (Director, Sabamarti Ashram Preservation and Memorial Trust, Ahmedabad, India), Mrs. Tara Gandhi Bhattacharjee (Chairperson), Mr. Ramchandra Rahi (Treasurer), Mr. Alagan Annamalai (Secretary/Directory) of the National Gandhi Museum (Rajghat New Delhi, India), and Mrs. Srimati Karuna (Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Foundation, Inc., Bethesda, Maryland, U.S.A.).
Our address about "Gandhi, Tolstoy, the Doukhobors (Spirit Wrestlers) and their relation to Toronto (Canada)" was spoken by Dominique Miething for this Gandhi Jayanti celebration of the Nataraj Youth Cultural Organization.
Poster - Text of our Address (Christian Bartolf, Dominique Miething)
Address (Video) - Complete Video (Link)

1 October 2020

Together with Mrs. Ela Gandhi, granddaughter of Mahatma Gandhi, peace activist and former member of parliament in South Africa, and Professor N. Radhakrishnan, Nonviolence Activist, Educator and former Director of Gandhi Smriti and Darshan Smriti, New Delhi, and Chairman of Gandhi Peace Mission, India, we were kindly invited to speak during an International Webinar on "Gandhian Philosophy and Post Covid World", organized by the Convenor Dr. Ashaq Malik, Dr. Mohd Akhlaq and Prof. Riaz Mirza for the Government Post Graduate College, Rajouri, Jammu & Kashmir on 1st of October, 2020. Our contribution was on "Gandhi and Poetry", referring to lyrics and poems that inspired Mahatma Gandhi.
Poster - Programme Schedule - Video (with Dr. Ashaq Malik and speeches of Ela Gandhi and Christian Bartolf) - Certificate of Appreciation

1 October 2020

Prof. Govind J. Pandey and Prof. Sanathan Nayak (Lucknow), Department of Mass Communication & Journalism, Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University, Lucknow, Bihar (India) kindly invited us to the webinar "The Relevance of Gandhian Philosophy in Contemporary Media Landscape in India" with a lecture on "Gandhi and Political Journalism".
Poster - Speech (Christian Bartolf)

30 September 2020

Dr. Tulika Chakravorty (Assistant Professor, Bangabasi Morning College , Kolkata) kindly invited us for a lecture on "Mahatma Gandhi as Translator: Thoreau - Socrates - Ruskin" during the United Nations International Translation Day (30 September) in an International Lecture Series on "Mahatma Gandhi" (NSS Kolkata Golden Jubilee Lecture Series XXXXVIII), organised by National Service Scheme Bangabasi Morning College, Kolkata.
Poster - Lecture (Christian Bartolf) - Certificate of Appreciation

29 September 2020

Professor Ramesh C. Bharadwaj (Director, Gandhi Bhawan, University of Delhi, India) kindly invited us to the International Webinar on “Gandhi and Contemporary Challenges” for our lecture on "Gandhi and Journalism Education".
Poster - Programme - Lectures by Christian Bartolf, Dr. Pawan Sinha (MLN College, University of Delhi, India) and Prof. Ramesh C. Bharadwaj (Director, Gandhi Bhawan, University of Delhi, India)

26 September 2020

Via Prof. Dr. Dhirendra Kumar Jena (Political Science), Mr. Harendra Narayan Behera as Convenor and the Principal Prof. Sushil Kumar Giri kindly invited us as Keynote Speaker to the International Webinar on "Gandhian Perspective of Self-Reliance: From Local to Global Concerns" (26th September 2020), organised by the Department of History, Rural Institute of Higher Studies (RIHS), Bhograi, Odisha, India (affiliated to F. M. University, Balasore, India). This time we chose the following topic to highlight Leo Tolstoy's impact on Mahatma Gandhi's philosophy:
"A New Era: The Example of the Doukhobors (Spirit Wrestlers) in the words of Leo Tolstoy and Mahatma Gandhi".
Invitation - Poster - Lecture (Christian Bartolf) - Certificate of Honour

25 September 2020

As an integral part of our Education for International Understanding and Peace, we want to facilitate access to Commemoration Sites for Peace in Germany and Five Nobel Peace Laureates - Institutions.

24 September 2020

Prasad Gollanapalli (Gandhi King Foundation, Hyderabad, India) kindly invited us on short notice to the International Webinar on "Gandhian Discourse and Development: A Sesquicentennial Panorama" (24th and 25th September 2020), organised by the Department of Sociology, School of Social Sciences and International Studies, Pondicherry University, India, in collaboration with the Gandhi King Foundation, Hyderabad, India. Again, the topic was "Sarvodaya as Emancipation: Ruskin - Tolstoy - Gandhi".
Poster - Lecture (Christian Bartolf)

21 September 2020

Samuel Edet (Peace Mindset Ambassadors), Lagos, Nigeria, kindly invited us to contribute to the 2020 International Day of Peace event "Shaping Peace Together" on 21 September 2020.
Poster - Agenda - Address (Christian Bartolf) - Certificate of Appreciation - Video

20 September 2020

We gave a research interview: "How Gandhian thoughts on the village economy might be relevant in post-COVID world" for Prof. Israr Qureshi (Social Entrepreneurship and ICT for Development College of Business & Economics, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia) with Dr. Babita Bhatt (Lecturer, College of Business & Economics, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia) and Dhirendra Mani Shukla (Business Policy and Strategy, Indian Institute of Management Udaipur, Rajasthan, India).
Video

14 September 2020

Prof. Sukanya Sharma, Head of the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences (Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, Assam, India) kindly invited us to contribute to the international symposium "Sarvodaya: The Gandhian Ideal" with a lecture on "Sarvodaya as Emancipation:
Ruskin - Tolstoy - Gandhi".
Poster - Text - Lecture (Christian Bartolf, Dominique Miething)

12 September 2020

Dr. M. Ashaq Raza (Higher Education Department, Jammu and Kashmir; President, Attitude Change International, Darhal Malkan, Rajouri, J&K – India) in collaboration with Baba Ghulam Shah Badshah University (BGSBU), Rajouri, Jammu and Kashmir, kindly invited us to contribute to the international e-Conference on "National Education Policy (2020) and
Peace Education" with a lecture on "Peace Education and Remembering Mahatma Gandhi". Chairperson of the plenary session was Dr. Herbert B. Rosana, Full Professor of Peace and Security Studies, Associate Dead, Graduate School, Bicol University, Legazpi City, Philippines.
Poster - Conference Schedule - Lecture (Christian Bartolf)
Certificate - Video (Speech) - Video (Valedictory Session)

8 September 2020

Dr. Suwa Lal Jangu, Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science (Mizoram University, Aizawl, India), kindly invited us to contribute to the International Webinar "150 Years of Mahatma Gandhi" with a lecture on "Mahatma Gandhi and the Nuremberg Principles of International Law" (Christian Bartolf), referring to Mahatma Gandhi's public statements about the atom bomb.
In this lecture series, on 21 August 2020, Arun Gandhi had spoken about the relevance of Mahatma Gandhi today.
Lecture by Christian Bartolf: Poster - Video - Video (on YouTube)
Lecture by Arun Gandhi: Poster - Video - Attendee Certificate

29 August 2020

Arun Manilal Gandhi (born 1934), son of Manilal and Sushila Gandhi, in the presence of his son Tusha Arun Gandhi (born 1960), summarized the message of his grandfather Mahatma Gandhi, in a contribution to a Webinar held by Society For Empowerment on 29. August 2020.
Video

22 August 2020

Prof. Ramesh C. Bharadwaj, Director of Gandhi Bhawan (University of Delhi), kindly invited us to contribute to the International Webinar on "Thoughts and Philosophy of Mahatma Gandhi", organised by Centre for Deen Dayal Upadhyay Studies (Central University of Himachal Pradesh) in association with Gandhi Bhavan (University of Delhi) on August 22, 2020 - the webinar's title was chosen by the Government of India on the occasion of "150 Years of Celebrating the Mahatma".
Poster 1 - Poster 2 - Speech (Christian Bartolf) - Video

19 August 2020

Mr. Prasad Gollanapalli, Managing Trustee at Gandhi King Foundation, Hyderabad, India, kindly invited us to contribute to the Three Day Online International Conclave on "Intrinsic and Instrumental Significance of Mahatma Gandhi for a Self-Reliant India", 19th-21st August 2020, organized by Department of Social Work, Rajiv Gandhi University, Rono Hills, Doimukh, Arunachal Pradesh, India, in collaboration with Gandhi King Foundation, Hyderabad, India and Gandhi-King Global Initiative, Stanford University Centre, USA. Our contribution was on "Mahatma Gandhi,
John Ruskin and the Origin of Sarvodaya (Welfare of All)".
Brochure - Invitation - Keynote Address (Christian Bartolf) - Article (1) - Article (2) - Article (3)

6 August 2020

Mr. Prasad Gollanapalli, Managing Trustee at Gandhi King Foundation, Hyderabad, India, kindly invited us to contribute to the One-Day International Webinar on "Hiroshima Day for Peace in Gandhian Perspective", organized by Department of English, Rajiv Gandhi University (A Central University Established in 2007 by an Act of Parliament of India), Arunachal Pradesh, in collaboration with Gandhi-King Global Initiative, Stanford University Centre, USA and Gandhi-King Foundation, Hyderabad, India.
Brochure - Invitation - Ela Gandhi's address on Hiroshima Day 6th August 2020 - Christian Bartolf's address on Hiroshima Day 6th August 2020

1 August 2020

Celebrating the centenary of the "Nie-wieder-Krieg-Bewegung" (No More War Movement) and its first public manifestation in the center of Berlin on 1 August 1920, we followed the request of the Mahatma Gandhi Central University Teacher's Association (Motihari, Bihar, India) to give a lecture on "Gandhi, Ossietzky, Hitler and the Nobel Peace Prize", which explicitly referred to Willy Brandt's active support for the international Nobel Peace Prize campaign for Carl von Ossietzky and to Prof. Albert Einstein's plea for Mahatma Gandhi.
Poster - Lecture (Christian Bartolf)

30 July 2020

You are invited to visit this exhibition online: "Bread and Roses" - Voices against War. Commemorating the centenary of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (2019/20).

Bread and Roses
This exhibition documents public voices of women against war from 1907 until 1935 and recalls the founding years of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom: after the death of Bertha von Suttner on 21 June 1914, after the beginning of the First World War on 28 July 1914, and after the murder of Jean Jaurès on 31 July 1914.

26 July 2020

Social Media representation:
"Gandhi Information Center (Research and Education for Nonviolence)" offers a public group on Facebook, providing:

Playlists on YouTube:

24 July 2020

In association with Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University (A central University), Lucknow (capital of Uttar Pradesh), namely Prof. Sanjay Singh, Prof. Sanatan Nayak, and Prof. S.K. Pandey, we contributed a lecture on "Mahatma Gandhi and Satyagraha".
BBA University, celebrating silver jubilee, was established in Lucknow in 1996 as Central University with the objective of promoting advance knowledge by instructional and research facilities in science, key and frontier areas of technology and other disciplines.
Poster - Lecture (Christian Bartolf) - Text - Article (p. 3)

20 July 2020

New United Nations International Days

As we believe in the universal values the United Nations stand for: peace, justice, human dignity, tolerance and solidarity - and we wish a world federation of humanity would cease the scourge of war - we today urged by letter the United Nations (Secretary-General and General Assembly) to introduce two new United Nations‘ International Days:

  1. United Nations' International Day of Mutual Aid and Solidarity on each 15 January
    (Dr. Martin Luther King's Jr.s Birthday)
  2. United Nations' International Day of Compassion and Empathy on each 9 September (Leo Tolstoy‘s Birthday)

20 July 2020

We had a friendly and kind dialogue during the first United Nations World Chess Day webinar today with President Arkady Dvorkovich - following his request we sent our note to FIDE and UNESCO:

Our suggestion was particularly referring to Chess Museums and World Culture, particularly the need of a Digital Museum for Culture and History of Chess and its relations to the arts and philosophy.
We wanted to inspire FIDE and the United Nations to support a network of chess museums for a Culture of Peace in various cities (e.g. Ankara, Amsterdam, Budapest, Moscow) in the future.

As an example of the role of chess for a Culture of Peace, we added and shared a text passage on Tolstoy:
"... In his “Letter on the Peace Conference” (The Hague, 1898) - we could recently celebrate the centenary of the Peace Palace (Vredespaleis) in The Hague, the Netherlands - Leo Tolstoy recollects how during the siege of Sevastopol during the Crimean War (October 1853–February 1856) he one day sat with the adjutants of Count Dmitrij Erofeevic Osten-Sacken, Commander of the Russian garrison, when Prince Sergej Semenovic Urusov, a brave officer and first-rate chess player and a friend of Tolstoy’s, entered the room and wished to speak to the General. An adjutant took him to Osten-Sacken’s room, and ten minutes later Urusov passed out again, looking discontented. After he had gone, the adjutant explained that Urusov had come to suggest that a challenge should be sent to the English to play a game of chess for the foremost trench in front of the Fifth Bastion: a trench that had changed hands several times and had already cost some hundreds of lives. Osten-Sacken had refused to issue the challenge provoking Tolstoy’s comment: 'Undoubtedly it would have been far better to play chess for the trench than to kill people.' ..."

16 July 2020

You are invited to virtually visit this exhibition: Dr. Albert Schweitzer:
"My Address to the People" - Commitment against Nuclear War (2017).

Schweitzer
On 23 April 1957, Dr. Albert Schweitzer had his “A Declaration of Conscience” published via Radio Oslo. The call for nuclear disarmament was broadcasted by many international radio stations and printed one day later in the New York Times on 24 April 1957. This exhibition was opened on 24 April 2017, sixty years later, and was on display at the Berlin Anti-War Museum’s Peace Gallery until 24 September 2017. Meanwhile the Foundation German Albert Schweitzer Center (“Stiftung Deutsches Albert-Schweitzer-Zentrum Frankfurt/Main”) has organized presentations of this Schweitzer Peace Exhibition in many public places. This exhibition is based on texts by Dr. Albert Schweitzer and addresses his commitment:
1) against any war in principle, 2) against nuclear weapons and nuclear war, 3) for the reverence for life.


Exhibition Catalogue in English (2020) - in German (2019) -
Editors: Freie Universität Berlin, Universitätsbibliothek;
Gandhi-Informations-Zentrum e.V.

14 July 2020

On the occasion of Mahatma Gandhi's 150th birth anniversary on 2 October 2019 (United Nations International Day of Non-Violence since 2007) and on the occasion of the Nobel Peace Laureate Carl von Ossietzky's 130th birth anniversary on 3 October 2019, we addressed letters to representatives of the Federal Republic of Germany with the intention that they wholeheartedly care for the legal and political rehabilitation of Carl von Ossietzky.
This would certainly be in the interest of the former Governing Mayor of Berlin, foreign minister, federal chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany, and Nobel Peace Laureate of 1971, Willy Brandt, who actively supported the Nobel Peace Prize campaign for Carl von Ossietzky.

10 July 2020

In association with Seshadripuram Educational Trust (Seshadripuram Evening Degree College, #27 Nagappa Street, Seshadripuram, Bengaluru – 560 020, Karnataka, India, affiliated to Bengaluru Central University, namely Dr. Krishna, Prof. Satish, Prof. Konnur, Mr. Kumar, Mr. Ashok, Mr. Sagar) and Professor Chetan Singh Solanki (Department of Energy Science and Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay) with his Energy Swaraj Foundation in Mumbai, India, we contributed a Keynote Address to the International Webinar on the Relevance of Gandhian Environmentalism (9th July 2020).
Poster (Bengaluru) - Poster (Mumbai) - Keynote Address (Christian Bartolf) - Text - Letter of Gratitude

4 July 2020

On June 27th, 2020, the famous actress and singer-songwriter Holly Near from Ukiah, California, U.S.A. signed the international "Manifesto against conscription and the military system".
Press Release - Holly Near's Page

5 June 2020

Poster by Christian Bartolf and Dominique Miething in English language: "Exhibitions on the History of Nonviolent Resistance" (Download from: Gandhi Information Center or Free University Berlin) or in German language: "Ausstellungen über die Geschichte des gewaltfreien Widerstands" (Download from: Gandhi Information Center or Free University Berlin)
- for presentation at the 10th International Conference of Museums for Peace, Kyoto and Hiroshima (Japan), Theme: “The Role of Museums for Peace in Conveying Memories for Generations to Come”, September 16-20, 2020.
- Our corresponding member Vishnu Varatharajan from Chennai (India)
gave a presentation about his impressions during his 2019 time in Berlin in the special webinar of the Youth Panel:
Video - Text

4 June 2020

Gandhi's Speech, Inter-Asian Relations Conference, Delhi, India, 2 April 1947:

Transcript of the speech here - as part of our exhibition Gandhi's Path to Nonviolence - autobiographical quotes, photos, original voice (2008)

16 March 2020

Dr. Ananta Kumar Giri (Professor of Sociology, Madras Institute of Development Studies, Chennai, India) kindly invited us on short notice to speak about "Gandhi, Gramsci and Nonviolent Resistance" during his academic workshop "Rethinking Development, Development Studies and a New Art of Border Crossing" in the Madras Institute of Development Studies (Adyar, Chennai). Dr. David Blake Willis (Professor of Anthropology and Education, Fielding Graduate University, Santa Barbara, California, U.S.A.) held a fine lecture about the Gandhi movement in India.
Poster - Speeches and Thoughts (Ananta Kumar Giri, Christian Bartolf and David Blake Willis)

8 November 2019

New exhibition: "Bread and Roses" - Voices against War. Commemorating the Centenary of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (2019/20).

Opening speech -
Christian Bartolf and Dominique Miething: "Bread and Roses" - Voices against War. Commemorating the Centenary of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom.

6 November 2019

Two articles by Christian Bartolf and Dominique Miething in Indian publications:
1) "Mahatma Gandhi's message for us in the 21st century"
Social Action. A Quarterly Review of Social Trends (New Delhi). The Relevance of Mahatma Gandhi. On the occasion of the 150th Birth Anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. Vol. 69, No. 4 (October-December 2019): 398-405.
2) Mahatma Gandhi's ideas for the world. Satyagraha, sarvodaya are core concepts of Gandhi's political philosophy.
Online: THE WEEK. The Unknown Gandhi. A look at fascinating yet unlit aspects of his life in his 150th year. June 22, 2019 (Kochi, Kerala, India).
Print: THE WEEK. The Unknown Gandhi. A look at fascinating yet unlit aspects of his life in his 150th year. June 30, 2019 (Kochi, Kerala, India).

1 October 2019

New article by Christian Bartolf: "Gandhian Vision for the Future." Kerala Calling (published by the Information & Public Relations Department, Government of Kerala, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India), Vol. 39, No. 12 (October 2019): 24-25.

30 January 2019

New exhibition "Aldous Huxley. Alphabet of Peace. Commitment against War" (2019).

30 January 2018

New exhibition "'Study War No More' - Lyrics and Photographies for Peace" (2018).

22 November 2017

New exhibition "Henry David Thoreau: '... give me truth'. Plea for Nonviolent Resistance" (2017/18).

21 September 2017

New article:
Christian Bartolf / Dominique Miething: "Exhibitions on Nonviolent Resistance: A New Medium for Peace Education". In: Nonviolence as a Way of Life: History, Theory, and Practice (Two Volumes), edited by Predrag Cicovacki / Kendy Hess (Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass Publishers, 2017): Vol. II, 514-532.

3 March 2017

Our new bilingual exhibition "Desiderius Erasmus - "War is sweet to those who have no experience of it ..." Protest against Violence and War" (2017) is now online.

Erasmus

8 February 2017

New exhibition "Desiderius Erasmus - "War is sweet to those who have no experience of it ..." Protest against Violence and War" (2017).

10 March 2015

A new essay on "Tolstoy and Practical Spirituality" (by Christian Bartolf) about Leo Tolstoy and the Doukhobors, published by Gandhi Marg Quarterly, may be downloaded here.

 

3 June 2014

A new English language radio interview with Christian Bartolf:

3 May 2014 (Interviewer: Audra Čepkauskaitė, Radio Lithuania (Vilnius, Lithuania)

 

22 July 2013

Our first trilingual exhibition entitled "Étienne de La Boétie - Against Voluntary Servitude - Discourse on the fall of tyrants" (2012) (available in English, German and French) is now online.

As always, CD-Rom copies are available here. In case you would like to show the exhibition in your local community.

4 July 2013

For the first time in good quality and with full transcription: Original Voice of Leo Tolstoy in English, German and French.

28 January 2012 to 22 April 2012

New exhibition "Etienne de La Boétie: Against Voluntary Servitude - Discourse on the fall of tyrants" (2012).

 

7 May 2011 to 20 November 2011

New exhibition "Rabindranath Tagore: "Words from the Depth of Truth". In the summer of 2014, this exhibition was on display at the Tagore Festival in the United Kingdom (Dartington Hall).

 

28 August 2010 to 29 January 2011

First English language exhibition worldwide on "Leo Tolstoy and the Doukhobors: Conscientious Objection" (authors: Christian Bartolf, Dominique Miething).

As always, CD-Rom copies are available here. In case you would like to show the exhibition in your local community.

August 14, 2010:

Two radio interviews with Christian Bartolf:

1 October 2009: (Interviewer: Sumanaspati Reddy, All India Radio, Hyderabad, India)

24 September 2007: (Interviewer: Erik Lau Christensen, Danish Peace Academy)

14 May 2010

The exhibition John Ruskin - "Unto This Last" - Reflections on Justice and Peace (2010) is now present on this website. For people who are working in the field of public education or who would like to show the exhibition in their local community: Please do not hesitate to contact us for a copy of the CD containing all required panels and pictures.

 

18 April 2010

As an addition to the King exhibition, you can now find the original audio file and transcript of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s Radio Address to India, All India Radio, March 1959.