Sarvodaya Ilakkiya Pannai presented recently the Peace Pilgrim Award to Alberto L'Abate and Anna Luisa in appreciation of their efforts for global peace.
M. Mariappan, chairman of the Sarvodaya Ilakkiya Pannai, said that Prof. L'Abate, an Italian, had worked to prevent international conflicts. He was involved in peace efforts during the First Gulf War, fought in 1991 between a U.S.-led coalition and Iraq and was also a peace ambassador in Kosovo during the civil strife.
He was also involved with the anti-nuclear movement and had taken part in agitations against establishing a nuclear plant in Tuscany. The couple had also established links with various Gandhian institutions in India with a view to applying Gandhian ideology to solve problems in Italy, said Mr. Mariappan.
Prof. L'Abate had worked as a volunteer with Danilo Dolci, an Italian social activist known for his opposition to poverty and social exclusion and known as the “Gandhi of Sicily,” he said.
K.M. Natarajan, chairman of Tamil Nadu Gandhi Smarak Nidhi, L. Raja, Assistant Professor, Gandhigram Rural Institute, S. Narayanasamy, Professor, and S. Thirunavukkarasu, secretary, Sarvodaya Ilakkiya Pannai, took part.
