Global summit promotes peace through Buddhism
Separatist violence continues in the south: three people were killed over the weekend.
Bangkok (AsiaNews) A global meeting to promote peace through Buddhist teachings has just come to a close in Thailand but violence continues in the tormented provinces in the south, where three people were killed over the weekend. From 1 to 5 November, Buddhist leaders of 23 countries in Asia, Australia and Europe gathered for the fourth Buddhist summit, which took place in the headquarters of the Royal Thai Navy Headquarters, the Hall of Khrom Luang Chumpornkhet Udomsak Building.
An initiative of Qui-sae, president of Japan's Mahayana sect, the event aimed to highlight possibilities of promoting world peace through Buddhist teachings.
Another item on the agenda was the reinforcement of links between the adherents to the two main Buddhist trends: the Mahayana, or the Great Vehicle (of salvation), and Hinayana, or Little Vehicle.
High-ranking officials of several nations sent messages to the organizers of the event. Among these was United Nations secretary-general Kofi Annan, who said:
"The Buddhist teaching is about Peace and Mercy. They also teach us about consciousness we should do anything with full consciousness One thing we should all accept is that we are all responsible for the poverty and the controversy scattered everywhere in the world." Annan's message, read to participants during the encounter, also called on all "find every possible way to build the world society a better place with solidarity and harmony, having enough food for everyone. We must be careful not to be the cause of tension among believers of all religions by not bringing principles or prejudice as a barrier or putting the blame on others, other continent or other religion." The message closed by defining generosity as the "key" for mutual respect, adding: "the most important is to learn to know more about one another and getting the best out of ones' religious teaching and different cultures for the benefit of all in the same community."
But violence continues in Thailand itself: in the south, three Buddhists were killed in two separate attacks allegedly perpetrated by Islamic militants. The victims of the first attack, a couple of shopkeepers were killed by gunfire as they opened their shop in a village in Pattani province; their 10-year-old son escaped unscathed. The attackers shot at the shop and then tried to burn it down. In the second attack, which took place yesterday in Yaring district, a 30-year-old man driving a car was killed.
The south of Thailand has been afflicted by separatist clashes between Muslims and Buddhists. In the three Muslim-majority provinces Narathiwat, Yala and Pattani more than 1,100 people have been killed in violence since January 2004. Ninety-five per cent of the country's population of 65,444,371 is Buddhist.
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