ISLAMABAD, July 14: A group of 20 Buddhist monks has decided to lead a Pakistan-India Prayer March for Peace in August to unite all people against war.

The march is aimed at accentuating the common spirituality and humanity, regardless of the difference in religions, cultures and nationalities. It will start from Islamabad on August 5 and culminate in India at Ashoka’s Stupa.

The leader of the group, Reverend Junsei Terasawa, said they had formally requested the government for a meeting with President Gen Pervez Musharraf. Starting from president’s office, the peace march will pass through Shah Faisal Mosque and Margallah Hills before arriving at the historic Buddhist site of Taxila.

“I sincerely hope this symbolic walk to the Shah Faisal Mosque in Islamabad will be joined by different religious leaders and representatives of civil society of Pakistan,” Rev Terasawa said.

On August 6, the day the first nuclear bomb was dropped on Hiroshima with catastrophic results for humanity, the march will officially begin from Dharmarajika Stupa of Taxila.

“We want to highlight the need for a peaceful solution to Kashmir, which is a potential nuclear flash point for India and Pakistan,” Junsei Terasawa, a Buddhist monk of the order of Nipponzan Myohoji, told Dawn.

“It is important to emphasize that the peace march begins formally on August 6, the day of remembrance of Hiroshima. This day reminds the whole world that the use of nuclear weapons is an unthinkable crime, never to be repeated again,” he said.

The Buddhist monks arrived in Pakistan on June 26 to finalize arrangements for the peace march and left for India on July 14. They are expected to be back in Pakistan on August 1.

During the three-week stay in Pakistan, the group leader, Japanese Monk, Junsei Terasawa, was accompanied by a Ukrainian monk, Sergiy Korostelov, and a Russian monk, Sergey Pakhomov.

The Buddhist monks of Nipponzan Myohoji order played an important role in anti-nuclear movement in America and Europe during 1970-1980s. Through their message of peace, which the monks will spread by interacting with people during their pilgrimage, they aim at creating a new non-violent, war-free civilization in the 21st Century.

As part of their ongoing efforts to promote peace and understanding, the pilgrims are calling for complete nuclear disarmament by all nuclear states and immediate cessation of the confrontation between India and Pakistan.

The pilgrimage has received written messages of support from Mikhail Gorbachev; Aslan Maskhadov, president of Chechen republic Ichkena; Ruslan Aushev, president of Republic Ingushetia; Arkad Tukasya, president of Nagorno-Karabakh; parliaments of Georgia and Abkhazia; the Assembles of the Peoples of Kazakhstan; president advisor of Azerbaijan; and the foreign affairs ministry of Kyrgyztan.

According to the monks, an important feature of the peace march is that it starts from Dharmarajika Stupa of Taxilla, built by Emperor Ashoka, and will end at the Ashoka’s Stupa at Sanchi, India. The monks believe their effort will remind the people of Pakistan and India as well as the entire world, Emperor Ashoka’s message of permanent renunciation of war and violence and respect for life and all religions.

“As a Buddhist initiative, this peace march will bring into life the common historical heritage of Emperor Ashoka in the current tension between Pakistan and India, which are suffering at the hands of religious antagonism, enmity and rivalry,” the monks said in their message.

During phase-1 of the peace march, the Monks will cover 175 kilometres on foot by travelling from Taxilla to Peshawar and Takht-i-Bhai. On the way, they will pay homage at Ashoka’s rock edicts and Kaniska’s Stupa.

During phase-II, they will travel from Takht-i-Bhai to Mallam Jabba peak, home to many important Gandhara Buddhist sites.

The third phase will be of 10 days in Azad Kashmir.

Finally, on conclusion of Pakistan lag of the peace march, the monks will travel to Lahore. From there, they will cross Wagah border and enter into India on their way to Amritsar and then Sanchi.