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The South
Asian Life & Times - SALT |
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Contents Adventure & Sport Five
Ultimate Everest Apa
Sherpa-21 Times
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Dr. A. T. Ariyaratne
–
“No- poverty No-affluence society”
Nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2005, Dr.
Ahangamage Tudor Ariyaratne – known fondly also as Ari – is not a household
name outside of Sri Lanka. The soft-spoken, low-profile founder and
President of Sri Lanka’s Sarvodaya Movement, has mobilized millions of
people from all faiths
in
15,000 villages to work together
on development projects – on the sheer
strength of his Buddhist-Gandhian principles. It is perhaps the world's
largest peoples' participatory development movement - known for bringing
people together.
In
the 60 years of his relentless work, he has empowered millions of people in
Sri Lankan villages through self-help and collective support. They have
together built thousands of schools, community health centres, and
libraries; set up banks; dug wells and toilets; encouraged and introduced
solar energy and biodiversity – and most importantly Peace. His large
following of people from different faiths and communities have learnt to
live and work together in harmony.
Ariyaratne’s message has always been that of
non-violence and compassion. And it has worked. Many scholars often call him
‘Gandhi of Sri Lanka.’ Like Gandhi Ji’s prayer meetings, Ariyaratne also
conducts meditation sessions in which hundreds of thousands of people
converge to pray for peace.
He
has been honoured with the Gandhi and Niwano peace prizes, and the Magsaysay
and Hubert H. Humphrey awards, among many others. In 2007, Dr. Ariyaratne
received ‘Srilankabhimanya’ (pride of Sri Lanka) - Sri Lanka’s highest
civilian honour.
Ariyaratne
was born November 5, 1931, in the coastal town of Unawatuna – to parents who
were devout Buddhists. His home now is within the Sarvodaya complex in the
town of Moratuwa near the capital Colombo. "I always believed that man had a
higher purpose in life, a spiritual purpose, which is quite the opposite of
going after power, money or publicity," Ariyaratne says.
In an
exclusive with SALT, Dr. Ariyaratne spoke of his work, and shared his views
on some real social issues.
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