By — Shyamal Sinha
Today, peace cannot be achieved through the efforts of governments and the international community alone. It begins when members of local communities understand their differences, work together, and address shared challenges. Yet although religious and social leaders, educators, civil society groups, and young people are working for peace in their respective fields, there are still too few locally rooted platforms that can connect their experience and expertise and turn them into sustained cooperation.
Peace or war is our decision. The fundamental goal of Buddhism is peace, not only peace in this world but peace in all worlds. The Buddha taught that the first step on the path to peace is understanding the causality of peace. When we understand what causes peace, we know where to direct our efforts.”
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. once said, “We have only two choices: to peacefully coexist, or to destroy ourselves.” Each and every day, we ourselves encounter– and generate– prejudicial attitudes and behaviors. If we are ultimately to survive at all on this tiny planet that is our mutual home, we must learn to appreciate, and to value, each other as human beings and thus to live together in peace. While a general disarming of all nation states would seem the ideal, this process cannot be begun until we have first disarmed our own, individual hearts.”
To mark the 12th Anniversary of the September 18th HWPL World Peace Summit, HWPL Global 03 Branch carried out a program to build a local peace ecosystem centered on Bengaluru, India. Built around three stages—Connect, Educate, and Act—the initiative brought together three connected programs held in person in Bengaluru and online from September through October.
The first stage, “CONNECT,” began on September 26 with a WARP Office meeting at the Indian Social Institute (ISI) in Bengaluru. Co-hosted with ISI, the event brought together religious and social leaders to discuss the significance of the September 18th HWPL World Peace Summit, learn about HWPL’s key peace activities, and discuss cooperation between HWPL and ISI.
At the heart of the event was a local peace roundtable centered on religious and social leaders. Participants discussed peace-related issues facing Bengaluru and explored practical responses. More than a commemorative gathering, the roundtable was designed as a starting point for building trust and cooperation among local peace actors. A representative of HWPL Global 03 Branch said, “Our main goal is to move beyond exchanges limited to existing contacts and develop a locally driven peace network in which local participants take the lead.”
The second stage, “EDUCATE,” took place on October 2 through the 1st HWPL Global 03 Branch Peace Educators’ General Assembly, held online via Zoom. Organized in celebration of World Teachers’ Day on October 5, the assembly brought together peace educators from five countries: South Korea, India, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, and São Tomé and Príncipe. HWPL Global 03 Branch plans to establish it as an annual event.
The assembly featured presentations on peace education achievements over the past year, examples of good practice, a special presentation by a speaker who came to South Korea from North Korea, and a vision for the coming year. It gave peace educators a chance to share experiences and practical approaches developed in their respective countries, encourage one another, and explore the future direction of peace education for the next generation.
The third and final stage, “ACT,” concluded with the Bengaluru Peace Forum, held online on October 3. Under the theme “From Participation to Action: The Role of Civil Society in Building a Better Society,” the forum was organized to develop concrete, community-based peace activities led by civil society following the unanimous adoption of a resolution supporting the DPCW by both houses of the Karnataka Legislature in August 2025.
As an IT and education hub, Bengaluru is home to many young people and professionals engaged in civic activities. It also has an established civil society network, including Resident Welfare Associations (RWAs). At the forum, participants discussed issues facing local communities, including human rights, justice, education, equality, the environment, sanitation, transportation, and safety. HWPL Global 03 Branch plans to develop the forum into a regular quarterly online event and use its outcomes as a basis for institutional partnerships, including memoranda of understanding (MOUs) with local governments and universities.
The three programs were not separate events. Each played a distinct role within one connected initiative: identifying local peace actors, building a network of religious and social leaders, sharing experiences in peace education, and identifying local peace priorities that can lead to joint action and projects. HWPL Global 03 Branch plans to develop the initiative into a sustainable local platform where religious and social leaders, educators, civil society groups, and young people can share the values of peace and work together to address challenges in their communities.
A representative of HWPL Global 03 Branch said, “What we hope to build through this program is not simply a list of event participants, but a peace network that takes action on the ground. Peace begins when people meet, spreads through education, and is realized through action.”
