By Shahid Badruddin, Sec Dawat-il-Allah, Karnataka —

Alhumhullilah, the much awaited Peace Symposium at Mangalore was held with great success on the evening of the 3rd of May. It was organized along with the Annual Zonal Ijtema of South Zone Karnataka.

The main intention of the program was to highlight the efforts taken by the community around the world to promote Peace and Harmony and to build Public Relations with the people of the city who matter most, such as Politicians, high level government administrators, Law Enforcements Officials, education institutes, Religious organizations, Media, etc.

Prior to the Program efficient teams of Jamaat members visited a large number of dignitaries, and introduced them to the Jamaat and it’s efforts. Many eminent people of Mangalore were invited via invitation cards. Huge banners were put up around the venue and Advertisements were put on 5-6 local TV Channels such as this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPnYzWzYXUo&list=UUBCEwhg8oZfYu2j75dlnkGQ

About 8 news papers mentioned about it on the day of the Symposium.

All these attracted a crowd of 1000+ members including women to the Grand Event which was Presided by Jb. Rafeeque Ahmad Beig Sb the Sadr of Majlis Khuddam-ul-Ahmadiyya Bharat. The dignitaries who attended the Symposium included the Honorable Member of Legislative Assembly for the city Mr. John Richard Lobo, The Mayor of Mangalore Mr. Mahabala Marla, The Chief of News Bureau of the Daily Udayavani Mr. Manohar Prasad, Representatives of Ramakrishna Math (a Hindu Organization), The St. Joseph’s Seminary, Sri Guru Singh Sabha (Sikh Organization).

Jb. Musaddiq Ahmad Sb the Zonal Qaid of MKA South Zone Karnataka, Jb. Muhammad Yusuf Sb the Sadr of Mangalore Jamaat and Jb. Musavir Ahmad Sb the Naib Sadr of MKA Bharat were also present along with eminent speakers on the dias.

The highlight of the Program was the portion of Huzoor(atba)’s keynote address which he delivered at the “Conference of World Religions”, which was played on large screens. Sadr Sb then delivered the keynote address at the Symposium which was highly appreciated by all the guests and also received a lot of Media Attention which you’ll find in the links below.

Mv. Kaleem Khan Sb, Jb. M P Ibrahim Sb and Jb K K Badruddin Sb delivered speeches in Urdu, Kannada and English respectively, stressing upon the Peaceful teachings of Islam, the Holy Prophet(saw), removing various misconceptions about Islam and the efforts taken by the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat in more than 200 countries of the world

All the guests appreciated the efforts of the Jamaat to promote peace and mutual understanding in the society. Few of them appreciated the well organized function and how it was the need of the hour especially in a communal sensitive city as Mangalore.

The representative of the Ramakrishna Math Swami Jitakamananda Ji spoke very well about the book “World Crisis and Pathway to Peace” and said that it was gifted to him by the Jamaat’s members while inviting him for the event. He said he read 80 pages of the book the same night and was deeply impressed to know the steps taken by our beloved Huzoor(atba) around the world organizing talks with world leaders and writing letter to heads of states.

The weather in Mangalore was very hot and humid but it did not deter the attendance of public at the gathering. A lot of non-Ahmadi Muslims and non-Muslims attended the program. The city of Mangalore constantly has communal Issues among the Majority Hindus and Muslims, but Alhumdullilah by the Grace of Allah and prayers of Huzoor(atba) his Jamaat the entire program went smoothly.

The Impact:
Many who visited the Symposium appreciated the members of the community. Many also appreciated the discipline maintained by all the members of the Jamaat during the program which showed how forward the community is.

We received huge publicity via Press and Media Coverage:
Atleast 10 news papers have put good reports along with photos of the event very prominently.
8 Kannada, 1 Malayalam and 2 English dailies

About 6 News Websites have put the news on their sites (click to see the News Report):
www.daijiworld.com
www.thehindu.com
www.mangaloretoday.com
www.udayavanienglish.com
www.manipalworldnews.com

All Praise belongs to Almighty Allah!!!

Find few selected photos of the Event @ https://plus.google.com/photos/106787388757515690115/albums/6012420057845594369

The Video coverage of the complete program will be uploaded @ www.youtube.com/BangaloreAhmadi soon, inshallah.

Many Khuddam and Ansars have worked very hard on making this happen for weeks prior to the event.

Request your prayers for all the dedicated members of Mangalore Jamaat, MKA Bharat, South Zone Karnataka and others who have helped in various ways in making this a huge success.