Need to carry forward Gandhi's legacy of peace: UN chief

Invoking Mahatma Gandhi's message that there will be no lasting peace unless people learn to respect faiths of others, UN chief Ban Ki-moon today called on the global community to carry forward the Indian leader's legacy to end the "terrible suffering" in the world.
"Mahatma Gandhi proved that the culture of peace can change the course of history. Let us carry on this legacy until we end the terrible suffering in our world and establish lasting peace," th UN Secretary General said in his remarks to the General Assembly high-level forum on Culture of Peace here.
Ban recalled his visit to India in January this year, during when he had visited the Sabarmati Ashram.

"It was a privilege to tour the ashram...I recalled Gandhi's stern warning that, 'There will be no lasting peace on earth unless we learn not merely to tolerate but even to respect the other faiths as our own'," the UN Chief said.
Ban was joined at the event by Mahatma Gandhi's grandson Arun Gandhi.
Ban said the vast majority of the world's 1.8 billion young people yearn for peace, security and development but people are suffering and dying from violence and atrocity crimes.

"Even in mostly peaceful, democratic societies, minorities are attacked for their race, sexual orientation or some other difference -- when they should be embraced for our common humanity," Ban said.

"In this globalised world, we cannot turn our eyes away from the suffering. We cannot close our hearts," the UN Chief said.
He said the responsibility of the international community is collective and imperative and "we have to protect civilians".
The failure to end the suffering in Syria is seen in camps and homes in Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey -- and in the heartbreaking refugee crisis in Europe, Ban said.