▲ Chairman Man-Hee Lee of HWPL (Heavenly Culture, World Peace, Restoration of Light) receives the Mahatma Gandhi Foundation for Non-Violent Peace Award and takes a commemorative photograph in July 19th at the Peace Palace in Gyeonggi, Korea.ⓒCheonji-Il-Bo(뉴스천지)DB


Christian Broadcasting System (CBS) talks down the Foundation as “A phantom organization without an official website” and causes controversy

2 former presidents of India - senior advisors to the Foundation, which is headquartered in Oslo, Norway

The Foundation, Mandela·Jimmy Carter‧Gorbachev Thank-you letter published

Different from the Gandhi Peace Awards accorded by the Indian government, Indira Gandhi Prize

[Cheonji-Il-Bo =Lee, Ji-Su] There is growing interest on the activities of both HWPL (Heavenly Culture, World Peace, Restoration of Light) and Chairman Man-Hee Lee of HWPL ever since the HWPL’s recent announcement. HWPL issued a statement last month to condemn the CBS for its denunciation of the peace activities by HWPL.

CBS has continuously slandered HWPL’s peace activities all along simply because Chairman Lee happens to be a chairman of a particular religious organization that is quickly growing in size - Shincheonji Church.

In particular, CBS has claimed in July 19th that the Mahatma Gandhi Foundation for Non-Violent Peace Award, which Chairman Lee has been awarded, was “given out by an organization that is uncertain and ambiguous.” CBS further asserted that “This particular award cannot be compared to those with the former president of the United States of American (Jimmy Carter) and former president of Soviet Union (Mikhail Gorbachev).” CBS has slandered the detail of press release that HWPL has been awarded along with the explanation on the prize by the Foundation.

However after all the coverage by the newspaper, it has been confirmed that both the former presidents have by fact been awarded by the Foundation, and such evidences are available by the thank-you letters (pictured below) sent to the Foundation by each respective parties. 

There are several peace prizes related to Gandhi Peace Awards in India, and among the many are the two which are ‘Gandhi Peace Prize’ and ‘Indira Gandhi Prize’ – both are awarded by public institutions of India. Note that there are more institutions which use the name Gandhi in giving out awards accorded in an effort of promoting international peace.

One of the Gandhi Foundation for Non-Violent Peace Awards is the one established in Oslo, Norway by the two gentlemen in 1988 – Dr. Mohapatra (Chairperson of the House of Representatives) and Dr. Amalendu Guha (Professor and Director of the Institute for Alternative Development Research). Upon the establishment of the Foundation, the 2 former presidents of India (Gyani Zail Singh and Dr Venkataraman) have taken activities as advisors, and this Foundation has focused on ‘Non-Violence’ which has received much attention to be recognized as one of the most non-public prestigious Gandhi Awards worldwide.

 

▲ A letter of thanks for being awarded that was sent to the Mahatma Gandhi Foundation for Non-Violent Peace by the Secretary on behalf of the President of Republic of South Africa (Nelson Mandela) in April 1993. (Source: HWPL) ⓒCheonji-Il-Bo (뉴스천지)
▲ A letter of thanks for being awarded that was sent to the Mahatma Gandhi Foundation for Non-Violent Peace by President of the United States of America (Jimmy Carter) on November 17th, 1994. (Source: HWPL) ⓒCheonji-Il-Bo (뉴스천지)
▲ A letter of thanks for being awarded that was sent to the Mahatma Gandhi Foundation for Non-Violent Peace by the Secretary on behalf of the President of Soviet Union (Mikhail Gorbachev) on May 17th, 1995. (Source: HWPL) ⓒCheonji-Il-Bo (뉴스천지)

A list of prize winners consist of eminent figures such as former president of the United States Jimmy Carter (1994), former president of the Republic of South Africa Nelson Mandela (1993) and former president of Soviet Union Mikhail Gorbachev (1995). Such information would have been obtained if enquired to the Foundation directly despite the fact that it does not have official website. Thus, it would be difficult to avoid the point that CBS has not sufficiently conducted the coverage for this matter, in fact – the official related to the Foundation has further explained that it intentionally did not create the official website for the purpose of fairness in selecting the recipients of Awards.

Note that there is another Korean who has been awarded the Mahatma Gandhi Foundation for Non-Violent Peace Award prior to Chairman Lee – Dr. Young-Shik Cho in 1998, who founded Kyung Hee University- and this can be found via internet.

Dr. Jyoti Mohapatra, the Secretary General of the Foundation, has pointed out to CBS by sending a letter of protest to both the CEO and chief editor of CBS that this absolutely is an “irresponsible attitude of a press” that has defamed the honorable value of award that recognizes the effort for international peace.

HWPL has strongly condemned the CBS by stating “Obstructing peace activities means supporting war” for the CBS’s negative attitude of defaming others including the organizations and international eminent figures who all have taken part in recognizing world peace. 

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