On the occasion of the 10th Anniversary of Universal Peace Federation (UPF) a special event of the Sunhak Peace Prize was held in New Delhi in which Ashok Thakur, director, NAFED was honored with peace prize for his contributions at National and International levels for bringing peace and harmony through his North-Ex Cooperative Society.
The North-Ex Co-op has been working in the slum areas playing a major role in changing the life of the poor and the deprived. It has not only helped them escape the greed of financiers but also played a role in their economic and social uplift.
The Special Event took place in New Delhi at the Oberoi Hotel. The theme of the event was “Making the World Better for Future Generations: Finding Solutions to Climate Change and World Hunger.”
The event was attended by more than 120 high level national and international delegates where the Union Minister for Rural Development Ch. Birender Singh was the chief guest and the guests of honour were Prof. Il Sik Hong, Chairman of the Sunhak Peace Prize Committee, ShyamJaju, National Vice President BJP, Dr. Chung SikYong,Regional President, UPF-Asia and Dr. Robert S. Kittel, Director of Education for UPF-Asia.
On the occasion, five eminent personalities from different fields were honored as Ambassadors for Peace. Among those honored were Ashok Thakur, Director of NAFED (Nominee, Government of India), Prof. Talat Ahmed Vice Chancellor of JamiaMilliaIslamia, Pro-Vice Chancellor of IGNOU Prof. SushmaYadav, the first Sunhak Peace Prise Winner Dr. M. V. Gupta and Vijay Jolly the President of Delhi Study Group.
In his acceptance speech Ashok Thakur said, “If we want to build a peaceful world then we have to work hard to bring justice to the deprived”. His North-Ex Cooperative society has succeeded in bringing down the crime rate by providing economic shelter to the people. It has not only marginalized the role of financiers but also brought about economic upliftment of the poor which helps in bringing peace and harmony in society, he said.
Thakur also put emphasis on learning the art of tolerance from the most versatile democracy i.e. India. At a time when the whole world is reeling from extreme terrorism, only can India play the role of a guide to peace, harmony and tolerance.
