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"My vision is of a world that is crime-free, stress-free and violence-free."
- Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
Conflicts, rising fundamentalism, and erosion of human values in different corners of the world have been key areas of concern for Sri Sri. Respected as a neutral entity with unquestionable integrity, he has successfully worked to help the peace process in all parts of the world including Kashmir, Sri Lanka, the Balkans and Israel.
Through the Art of Living programs and personal interventions, he has encouraged and enabled many conflicting groups to adopt peaceful means of resolving their issues. Espousing the Gandhian principle of non-violence, Sri Sri calms the minds of aggressors, provides solace and emotional strength to victims and works towards developing long-lasting solutions to achieving peace.
Sri Lanka: Sri Sri has been actively involved in peace negotiations in Sri Lanka. In September 2006, he ventured to Kilonichchi for peace talks with LTTE leaders. His peace initiatives began in early 2005 when he sent emissaries for negotiations with the Sri Lankan President and the Tamil leaders. His visit in April 2006 came at a time of tremendous civil unrest. However, his interactions with locals as well as the country's top brass have been instrumental in changing mindsets. He remains actively involved in brokering peace between the government and the LTTE.
After undergoing special programs designed by him, hundreds of Tamil youth in Jaffna work hand in hand with Art of Living volunteers to bring relief to the people of North Eastern Sri Lanka traumatized by over two decades of ethnic violence.
He was been responsible for the formation of a Committee for Peace comprising Hindu and Buddhist leaders including the Dalai Lama to take the peace agenda forward.
Kashmir: In the last four years, Sri Sri has been quietly paving the road to peace by bringing together all sections of the Kashmiri population. His inspiring vision is altering perspectives among the Kashmiri youth so much so that over 1,500 youth have averted from violence and work towards peace.
In June 2005, when he visited the Kashmir Valley, Sri Sri was warmly received at Srinagar airport by a rally of 500 Muslim youth. The visit culminated in a rare gathering of leaders representing different factions of the Kashmiri people. For the first time, leaders including both the factions of the All Party Hurriyat Conference and representatives of Kashmiri Pandits came face to face in his presence for a dialogue.
Sri Sri recently established an orphanage for children who are victims of militancy in the state as well as those that have been orphaned after the devastating earthquake. The orphanage currently houses 150 children who are provided food, clothes, books and formal education. Sri Sri has also adopted 30 children from Kashmir and is taking care of their education and upbringing
The Balkans: Under hostile circumstances, Sri Sri made a lasting impact in helping resolve ethnic conflict in Kosovo, Bosnia and Macedonia. Sri Sri's programs helped trauma victims in Kosovo to live peacefully within a multi-ethnic society by providing them with tools to reawaken tolerance, reconciliation and acceptance. He also inspired dialogue between Albanians and Macedonians by widening the circle of belongingness from the narrow identities defined by ethnic or national boundaries.
Bihar: Sri Sri's clarion call for peace during his visit to the Naxal- infested villages of Bihar in 2002 resulted in an unprecedented gathering of 100,000 youth from the warring groups of Ranvir Sena and Naxalite groups such as CPI-ML, People's War Group and Maoist Communist Centre. Subsequent to their meeting with him, both sides publicly took a vow to spread the message of non-violence. It isn't a mere co-incidence therefore that Naxalite violence has virtually stopped in Central Bihar, India since the year 2000. Remarkably, in the aftermath the 2006 Jehanabad killings, there was no retaliatory massacre which would have been a natural consequence under earlier circumstances. Instead, soon after the incident, the warring groups came together for a community gathering organised by the Art of Living in Ekwari, the nerve centre of Naxal violence in Bihar.
Despite imminent threats from Islamic fundamentalists, Communist Maoists and other extremist groups from time to time, Sri Sri continues to work tirelessly to galvanise people towards peaceful co-existence in different corners of the globe. Not only has he motivated thousands of volunteers to work for global peace, but has himself traveled intensively to strife-torn areas to heal the wounds of victims and calm the aggressors.
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