‘Peace is not just about war:’ How the Gandhi Peace Festival engages students, the university and the community in promoting peace and justice

It’s called the Gandhi Peace Festival but it could equally be called the “Hamilton Peace Festival”, says Rama Singh, emeritus professor of biology and an organizer of the Gandhi Peace Festival.

Organized by the India Canada Society and first held in 1993 at Hamilton City Hall, the annual festival brings together Hamilton community members to honour Gandhi’s peaceful philosophy and has addressed a variety of issues including climate change, Truth and Reconciliation, and racism. 

“In the past, any talk about peace was always seen and interpreted in terms of peace and war,” says Singh. “But peace is not just about war. We have done a great deal of damage to our environment, to each other, to community, and to nations.”

And students have a key role to play in fixing that damage, Singh says.

Singh emphasizes the importance of student involvement in the festival and praised the recent establishment of the Gandhi Peace Festival studentship, which allows a McMaster student to take on a leadership role in the event. 

Each year a student coordinator is hired who then helps organize the festival, mentors student volunteers from local high schools, and engages with the community.

Lauren Kowtuski, undergraduate student in communication studies, was the first student to take on this role.

“The Gandhi Peace Festival committee embraced me as a member of their team,” Kowtuski shared. “The event series gave me a great understanding of planning and operating a project on a larger scale.”

Kowtuski emphasized how the festival is essential in helping the community address current global issues. 

“The events are not simply education – they jump-start attendees’ activism, through protest walks and pledges. It inspires peaceful action in the McMaster and Hamilton community.”

Singh sees the festival as a demonstration of the role that universities should be playing in their communities.

“Universities have evolved from being simply isolated places of learning and philosophizing, to essentially solving world problems. Our universities are major institutions that are solving human problems, the problems of today and tomorrow. The Gandhi Peace Festival is about university-community engagement in solving problems and promoting peace and justice.”

Last October, hundreds gathered at Hamilton City Hall for the 32nd Gandhi Peace Festival for a Peace March, cultural performances, and a keynote speech by McMaster professor emeritus Atif Kubursi that critiqued the UN’s response to recent conflicts and inequalities between nations.

As part of the festival, McMaster’s Centre for Peace Studies hosted the Annual Mahatma Gandhi Lecture on Nonviolence. Dr. Nouri Gana, UCLA professor in comparative literature and near Eastern languages and cultures gave a talk addressing the impact of oppression.

Festival attendees also gathered at the Gandhi statue in front of City Hall to take a pledge to be mindful about the human activity that contributes to climate change. 

“Peace is about solving social, economic and political problems. It is about engaging with the community and living healthy, peaceful lives together,” says Singh.

For more information or to get involved, visit the global peace and social justice website or email Andrew Folino, GPSJ Academic Manager at [email protected].