Rahul Karad started by thanking the assembled dignitaries for attending the 5th World Parliament of Religion, Science and Philosophy. He then spoke extensively of India’s contribution to the world paraphrasing PM Modi who had recently stated in the UN that India has contributed ‘Budh’ and not ‘Yudh’ to the world. He then spoke of the tireless work he and the MIT family have undertaken towards peace. Forwarding that contribution to the world, he proposed that maybe there can be ‘Royal conferences for peace’ in the future.  He spoke of a proposed peace program which is to be implemented in the region of Jammu and Kashmir for which talks are on-going with the home ministry and others. He plans on having close to a thousand Kashmiri students come to the peace dome and take part in a peace curriculum. He them went on to expound the values of the peace dome and its reason for being conceived. Lastly he spoke of the BCS initiative which will be unveiled for an international student audience in the coming year for which perhaps the PM himself will be a guest.

He started his speech by thanking the assembled dignitaries and the students present for the conference. He spoke of how Swami Vivekananda and his views helped shape his own resulting in the creation of the World Peace Dome and the World Peace library. He stated that he is often called the creator of these structures; he stated that he is merely the instrument for its realization and nothing more. Swami Vivekananda’s word’s at the global religious conference in Chicago where he stated that all he needs to make Mother India great is a few people with strength of mind and body. In that vein this conference is to be used to embolden the message of peace. He spoke then about Saint Dnyaneshwar and his sayings which have served to inspire Revered Prof Dr Vishwanath Karad himself. He spoke then about the World Peace Dome and how it is nothing more than a symbolical representation of all of India and the cumulative knowledge accrued from all over the world and through all ages. He concluded by saying that the vision of Mother India as espoused by Swami Vivekananda will only be possible with the aid of peace, something which is a very necessary requirement for all humanity at its present juncture. He wished everyone well and was looking forwards to the wealth of knowledge that this conference will generate, not only for India, but for the entire world as well.

The learned doctor started by thanking the assembled dignitaries and then speaking about the peace dome and its role as a monument to peace built for all mankind. He spoke at length about the life and virtue of Dr Ramjee Singh and Dr T S Devdoss who are to be awarded the Gandhi Peace Prize.  He also lauded Dr Karan Singh for attended this conference. He wished all present to be inspired by these great personalities.

The speaker started by thanking the organizers for conferring the award on him. He then spoke of current events and how China is building a nuclear weapon capable of destroying the earth within 30 minutes. He stated that now more than ever, the world requires peace. Peace is not to be confused with weakness and the answer to war can never be more war. The answer to the world arming itself is not to arm yourself further, rather the answer to armament is most likely this conference which aims to promote peace and find that sacred link between science and religion.

The speaker warmly thanked all in attendance. He then spoke from his academic background in philosophy and stated that it is easier to understand the philosophies of Kant and Spinoza than to understand Gandhian philosophy because to understand Gandhian philosophy one has to live it. He spoke of the virtuosity of the Jain religion which pioneered non-violence, a tenet adopted by Mahatma Gandhi himself and now broadly followed by millions the globe over. He spoke of how the philosophy is not only easy to master but an empirical necessity of our age and times.

The doctor spoke of the world peace dome and how its idea is much larger than its size itself. He then spoke of Dr Ramjee Singh, Dr T S Devdoss and Dr Karan Singh and how they are excellent luminaries who deserve the podium more than himself. He spoke of development and the fact that in this day and age, Gandhi is more important than he was when he was alive. He spoke passionately about the plight of manual scavengers in India and how sending them to manually clear sewer lines is akin to gas chambers killing them. He spoke of how this is not a quality an emerging power like India should have or support. He spoke how robots engineered to scavenge can do the work of ten manual scavengers. Engineering with a humanist perspective is the call of the hour, according to the learned speaker

The speaker started by stating that Rev Prof Dr Vishwanath Karad has created the Taj Mahal of education and peace through this monument for this entire world. He spoke at length about interfaith values and firmly believing that it is the only way forward now. He spoke warmly of the one time he had the honour of meeting Mahatma Gandhi and how his ideals and visions seem to be colouring his life even today. Having lived through the horrors of partition and having witnessed closely the issues faced by Jammu and Kashmir. He firmly believes that as the old structure collapses and new ones try to form and fill the void, only a judicious application of science and dialogue can take us forward. He spoke about woman empowerment as well. He pondered as to why one of India’s greatest treasure, the Upanishads, cannot be taught in school curriculum as it is deemed religious text, something which it is not. It is an enlightening text that must be treated as such. He spoke about how, individually, religion and science are capable of great destruction and thus need each other to temper down their disadvantages while powering their advantages. He ended his speech by reciting the Peace prayer from the Vedas.

The speaker thanked each and every dignitary present for their unique gifts and drive. He spoke of Shri Rahul Karad’s determination, Rev Prof Dr Vishwanath Karad’s vision, Dr Karan Singh’s astuteness, Dr Raghunath Mashelkar’s contribution to science, Dr T S Devdoss for his impact on philosophy and Dr Ramjee Singh’s unerring dedications to Gandhian thoughts and values.