His Holiness the Dalai Lama along with fellow Nobel Laureates paying respect at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial in Hiroshima, Japan on 14 November 2010. Photo/Taikan Usui
By — Shyamal Sinha
His Holiness the Dalai Lama has written to Terumi Tanaka, Shigemitsu Tanaka and Toshiyuki Mimaki, Co-Chairpersons of the Nihon Hidankyo to congratulate all its members on the organisations being awarded this year’s Nobel Peace Prize.
“During my visits to Japan, I have had the occasion to meet some of you,” he wrote. “I deeply appreciate your work.
“I applaud the decision of the Norwegian Nobel Committee to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2024 to Nihon Hidankyo for its efforts to create a world free of nuclear weapons and for demonstrating through witness testimony that nuclear weapons must never be used again.
“Having visited both Hiroshima and Nagasaki myself, I have some sense of the immense suffering experienced by the victims, particularly the survivors of the nuclear bombings. I understand that because they experienced the horror of the nuclear explosions and survived, those who have founded this organisation powerfully represent the need to do away with these dangerous weapons.
“As an avowed campaigner for the elimination of all nuclear weapons and demilitarisation throughout the world, I firmly believe this award will inspire all of us, including the UN and its member nations, to make a truly concerted effort to eliminate the threat of nuclear weapons and dedicate ourselves to total nuclear disarmament.”
His Holiness concluded, “We human beings have created many of the problems in today’s world. Just as all of us have a desire to achieve happiness and not suffering, we must endeavour to overcome strong negative emotions like anger and hatred, and recognise the oneness of humanity. It is important to understand that we will not achieve peace merely through prayer; we need to take action.”
