The University Centre for International Co-operation (UCIC) of the Mahatma Gandhi University (MGU), the School of International Relations and Politics (SIRP), the Hiroshima-based India Chai Club (peace activist NGO) and the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) will observe ‘Hiroshima Peace Day' on Wednesday and Thursday to commemorate the 63rd Anniversary of the nuclear holocaust at Hiroshima.
Mahatma Gandhi University Vice-Chancellor Rajan Gurukkal will inaugurate the function, which will be held at the School of Environmental Sciences' auditorium on the university campus. A six-member delegation of peace activists from Hiroshima that includes Takashi Teramoto, a survivor of the bombing will attend the event.
Ninan Koshy (peace activist); G.V.C. Naidu (Professor, Japanese Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi); K.V. Paulose (peace activist); Raju K. Thadikkaran (director, UCIC); and P.V. Harikumar (MGU Syndicate member) will speak on the occasion.
The programmes on Wednesday include the Hiroshima Peace Day commemoration and an exhibition on the theme ‘Hiroshima for peace', which will be inaugurated by Mr. Teramoto.
Mr. Teramoto will also inaugurate a cultural get-together at the afternoon session of the inaugural day. M.K. Krishnamoorthy (regional officer, ICCR, Thiruvananthapuram); university Pro-Vice-Chancellor Rajan Varghese; Syndicate member K. Sadasivan Nair and university Registrar M.R. Unni, will speak at the function. The talks will be followed by ‘Kalaripayattu', ‘Mohiniyattam' and other performances by Indian and foreign artists, who include students of the university as well.
On the concluding day, a colloquium on the theme ‘India, Japan and the nuclear question' will be held at the School of International Relations and Politics. Prof. Ninan Koshy, Prof. M.S. John (School of Gandhian Thought and Development Studies) and Mr. Naidu will present their papers on the occasion.
