Religious and Traditional Peacemakers Congregation and Peace Day Dialogue is held on the International Day of Peace 2022 on September 21 at the Sultan Ahmed Auditorium (2nd Floor) Chattogram Press Club, Bangladesh. Peacemakers from different parts of the country participated in the Peace Day events to strengthen the ideals of peace, promote a culture of peace and how best the local peacemakers can work together for sustainable peace and social cohesion from local to globally. Mentioning the issues Atisha Dipankar Peace Trust Bangladesh hosted the Peace Day events with support from the ADPT Bangladesh Foundation, Network for Peacemakers and GATHER.

This year the theme for the 2022 International Day of Peace is End Racism, Build Peace. A roundtable discussion on the theme and host peacemakers call on the day ‘Empower the Local Peace maker’s Efforts for Ending Racism and Racial Discrimination’ is held under chaired by Atisha Dipankar Peace Trust Bangladesh chairman professor Tushar Kanti Barua. Eminent professor Ranjit Kumar Dey and executive chairman RFP Bangladesh was the key note speaker, among others Chattogram Development Authority(CDA) board member and politician Jashim Uddin Shah, journalist Ali Ahmed Shahin, Hindu community leader advocate Tapan Kanti Das, Buddhist scholar professor Dr. Dipankar Srigyan Barua, Christian Rev. Asai Tripura, Jumma Refugee Welfare Association, general secretary Santoshita Chakma Bakul, Principal Rita Datta, Muslim spiritual leader Moulana Shaleh Sufian Forharabad, civil society actors Ms Fatema Akter, Ajit Kumar Aich, Trustee Ven Dr. Priyadharshi Mahathero, Anna Sampson, Dr. Sabuj Barua, Talukdar Abdul Halim, Interfaith peacemaker Sharif Nabab Hossain, ADPT Bangladesh Foundation chairman Dr. Dibakar Barua, member secretary Souman Chakraborty, youth representative Ananda Kumar Biswas, peace activist Hasan Md. Ripon, Mukta Chakraborty, cultural activist Pronove. Raj Barua participated in the dialogue. The dialogue is inaugurated by Advocate Tapan Kanti Das and started by recitation of the national anthem and interreligious prayers. The Peace Day event coordinator and general secretary, Atisha Dipankar Peace Trust Bangladesh presented the keynote paper and importance of Peace Day initiatives and Peacemakers congregation. Young peacemaker Ananda Kumar Biswas conducted a session on ‘Community Visioning Summit for Achieving Sustainable Peace’.

The speakers noted the importance of empowering the local Bangladeshi and all religious and traditional peace actors for ending racism and racial discrimination at all levels of their working areas and fields of interest and urged starting from each person, family, society to state level to achieve it. Moreover the highlighted important points of the discussion are integration of peace, social and economic justice, equity, inclusion, combat hatred, intolerance, division, mistrust, religious violent extremism and amplifying the voice of global citizenship in the existing educational curriculum, social policies and organizational mandates that would greatly facilitate an inclusive society and would bring sustainable peace at all levels in Bangladeshi society. The Peace Day dialogue ended with commitments to continue working together for common goods, defeating social inequalities to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 2030 Agenda to end poverty, protect the mother earth and improve the lives and prospects of everyone, leaving no one behind in the society.