Delegation of IDPD to leave for Hiroshima on Aug 20

Ludhiana, August 16, 2012: A 42 member delegation of Indian Doctors for Peace and Development (IDPD) including doctors, medical students and peace activists from Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Maharashtra, Bihar, Manipur, Nagaland, Karnatka and Tamilnadu will leave for Hiroshima on August 20 from Delhi to participate in the 20th World Congress of International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW) to be held from August 22 to 26 on the theme from Hiroshima to future generations.

From Ludhiana, Dr Arun Mitra, Agya Dass Aggarwal and Dr Harjot Singh will participate.

The main focus of the Congress would be on abolition of Nuclear weapons, check on the proliferation of small arms, eenewable energy and not  Nuclear energy for electricity generation,  Sovereign Rights of Nations to decide their destiny, Confidence Building Measures among nations and many others.

A special session will be devoted to Perspective for Peace and Development in South Asia in which affiliates from all south Asian countries will deliberate on the issues concerning us.

This is the second time that the Congress is being held in Hiroshima after 20 years. This congress has a special significance because it is being held after the Fukushima Nuclear Plant Disaster on March 2011.  The congress will therefore dwell on the fall out of this disaster and lessons to be learnt.

There will be a separate meeting on the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN).

After the congress there will be a symposium on Fukushima in Tokyo  on August 28.  A group of 30 Physicians   will go the Fukushima to get a first hand information about the situation there. Dr Arun Mitra General Secretary of IDPD will represent our organisation.

Congress will chart out strategy for action for future. The congress will enthuse and motivate the activists. It will also infuse the activists with ideological commitment for the necessity for peace. Congress will also elect President, Regional vice Presidents and a Board to run the affairs for the next 2 years.

IDPD is an affiliate of the IPPNW. It has been consistently demanding complete abolition of nuclear weapons.