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Indo-Asian News Service Sunday August 10, 7:02 PM |
| Bhubaneswar (IANS) A group of people in
Orissa have called for a cut in India’s defence budget
so that India could take the lead in ushering in world peace. About
100 people, including academics, right activists and politicians,
made this demand at a workshop organised at the Santistupa at Dhauli
on the outskirt of Bhubaneswar to mark Nagasaki Day, when the U.S.
dropped the second atomic bomb on the Japanese city in 1945.
"We choose Dhauli for this workshop because it is the place where the great Kalinga War was fought in the 3rd century BC and it transformed the great warrior Ashok to accept the principle of non-violence," said Ashok Nanda, the chairman of Vikash, the NGO that organised the workshop. Discussing the theme "we need development not destruction", the participants decided to submit a memorandum to the government seeking a cut in the country’s defence budget as well as steps for peace with neighbouring nations, Nanda told IANS. "The budget for defence is very high. It is a mockery to spend 650 billion on defence when we cannot provide drinking water to the people. India and Pakistan are spending a very high percentage of their GDP -- almost 3.5 to 4.5 percent -- on their defence preparedness," he said. "It is stupid to spend so much money on defence when more than 30 percent of the population in both countries do not get a square meal every day." Some participants in the workshop said the Indian subcontinent must learn from the experience of Europe. "We were one country just a few decades back," one participant noted. Among the participants were Orissa assembly Speaker Sarat Kumar Kar, academician Bimalendu Mohanty, linguist D.P. Patnaik and activists of several NGOs. |
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TRIBAL CHILDREN DANCE FESTIVAL |
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30 tribal children of Mukti Preschool, Koraput had come to Bhubaneswar for an exposure visit. They performed various dances at Rabindra Mandap on 21st June03 and enthralled the audience. |
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