The Ahimsa Award is an annual award given by the Institute of Jainology in recognition of individuals who embody and promote the principles of

ahimsa (, IAST: , ) is the ancient Indian principle of nonviolence which applies to actions towards all living beings. It is a key virtue in Indian religions like Jainism, Buddhism and Hinduism. (also spelled Ahinsa) is one of the cardinal vi ...

(

nonviolence Nonviolence is the personal practice of not causing harm to others under any condition. It may come from the belief that hurting people, animals and/or the environment is unnecessary to achieve an outcome and it may refer to a general philosoph ...

). It was established in 2006 and has since been awarded at the annual Ahimsa Day event, on 2 October, the birth anniversary of

Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (2October 186930January 1948) was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalism, anti-colonial nationalist, and political ethics, political ethicist who employed nonviolent resistance to lead the successful Indian ...

. The event is normally held at the

Palace of Westminster The Palace of Westminster is the meeting place of the Parliament of the United Kingdom and is located in London, England. It is commonly called the Houses of Parliament after the House of Commons and the House of Lords, the two legislative ch ...

—

House of Commons of the United Kingdom The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the upper house, the House of Lords, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. The House of Commons is an elected body consisting of 650 memb ...

, in London, where various members of parliament are invited to speak. It is bestowed by the directors of the Institute of Jainology, an international body based in the UK, representing the Jain faith.

Ahimsa Day

Ahimsa Day was established by the Institute of Jainology and has been celebrated annually in London since 2002. It was created to bring awareness of Ahimsa (nonviolence) as it applies in

Jainism Jainism ( ), also known as Jain Dharma, is an Indian religions, Indian religion whose three main pillars are nonviolence (), asceticism (), and a rejection of all simplistic and one-sided views of truth and reality (). Jainism traces its s ...

. The event takes place in early October to commemorate the birth anniversary of

, who, amongst other great leaders, was inspired by the Jain philosophy of ahimsa. In 2007, the United Nations declared that the

International Day of Non-Violence International Day of Non-Violence is observed on 2 October, the birthday of Mahatma Gandhi. It was established on 15 June 2007 according to United Nations General Assembly resolution A/RES/61/271. The day is an occasion to "disseminate the messa ...

would take place on 2 October.

History and background

Ahimsa, the "principle of nonviolence", is a concept adopted by most Indic religious traditions, primarily

Buddhist Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

Hindu Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

, and Jain. The political and social application of ahimsa was given universal recognition by Mahatma Gandhi, who fought the campaign for the independence of India with the doctrine of ahimsa as the cornerstone.

Ahimsa in Jainism In Jainism, ''ahiṃsā'' (', alternatively spelled 'ahinsā', Sanskrit: अहिंसा IAST: ', Pali, Pāli: ') is a fundamental principle forming the cornerstone of its Ethics of Jainism, ethics and doctrine. The term ''ahiṃsā'' mean ...

is a well-established core principle even before the time of

Mahavira Mahavira (Devanagari: महावीर, ), also known as Vardhamana (Devanagari: वर्धमान, ), was the 24th ''Tirthankara'' (Supreme Preacher and Ford Maker) of Jainism. Although the dates and most historical details of his lif ...

, the 24th

Thirthankara In Jainism, a ''Tirthankara'' (; ) is a saviour and supreme preacher of the ''dharma'' (righteous path). The word ''tirthankara'' signifies the founder of a '' tirtha'', a fordable passage across ''saṃsāra'', the sea of interminable birth ...

in the 5th century BCE. The principle of Ahimsa in Jainism states that one should do no harm by word, thought, or deed, nor ask others to, and nor condone that which is done.

Past winners

* 2006

Nelson Mandela Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela ( , ; born Rolihlahla Mandela; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist and politician who served as the first president of South Africa f ...

* 2007

Dalai Lama The Dalai Lama (, ; ) is the head of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism. The term is part of the full title "Holiness Knowing Everything Vajradhara Dalai Lama" (圣识一切瓦齐尔达喇达赖喇嘛) given by Altan Khan, the first Shu ...

* 2008

Acharya Mahaprajna In Indian religions and society, an ''acharya'' (Sanskrit: आचार्य, IAST: ; Pali: ''ācariya'') is a religious teacher in Hinduism and Buddhism and a spiritual guide to Hindus and Buddhists. The designation has different meanings i ...

* 2009

Padmanabh Jaini Padmanabh Shrivarma Jaini (October 23, 1923 – May 25, 2021) was an Indian-American scholar of Jainism and Buddhism, living in Berkeley, California, United States. He was from a Digambar Jain family; however he was equally familiar with bo ...

* 2010

Nalini Balbir Nalini Balbir (born 1955) is a French Indologist who lives in Paris. She is a scholar of Sanskrit, Prakrit, Pali, Jainism, Buddhism and Hinduism. She was previously a student of Indologist Colette Caillat. She is known for her work on the public ...

* 2011 Nitin Mehta * 2012 Scott Neeson * 2013

Melanie Joy Melanie Joy (born September 2, 1966) is an American social psychologist and author, primarily notable for coining and promulgating the term carnism. She is the founding president of nonprofit advocacy group Beyond Carnism, previously known as C ...

* 2014

Ingrid Newkirk Ingrid Elizabeth Newkirk (née Ward; born June 11, 1949) is a British-American animal activist, author and the president of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), the world's largest animal rights organization. Newkirk founded PETA ...

* 2015

Charles, Prince of Wales Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. Charles was born at Buckingham Palace during the reign of his maternal grandfather, King George VI, a ...

* 2015

Ann Cotton Ann Lesley Cotton OBE (born 1950) is a Welsh entrepreneur and philanthropist who was awarded an Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2006 Queen's New Year Honours List. The honour was in recognition of her services to education of youn ...

* 2016

Rajendra Singh Rajendra Singh (born 6 August 1959) is an Indian water conservationist and environmentalist from Alwar district, Rajasthan in India. Also known as "waterman of India", he won the Magsaysay Award in 2001 and Stockholm Water Prize in 2015. He ...

* 2017 Ravinder Singh * 2018 Shantilal Mutha * 2020

Peter Tabichi Peter Mokaya Tabichi (born 1982) is a Kenyan science teacher and Franciscan friar who teaches at Keriko Mixed Day Secondary School in Pwani, Nakuru County. He is the winner of the 2019 Global Teacher Prize. Tabichi was listed as one of the top 1 ...

* 2021

Satish Kumar Satish Kumar (born 9 August 1936) is an Indian British activist and speaker. He has been a Jainism, Jain monk, nuclear disarmament advocate and pacifist.'' ''Now living in England, Kumar is founder and Director of Programmes of the Schumacher ...

* 2022

Kumarpal Desai Kumarpal Balabhai Desai is an author, critic, editor, journalist, columnist and translator from Gujarat, India. He studied and later taught at the Gujarat University. He is associated with several social and Gujarati literary organisations such ...

* 2023 Jasvant Modi * 2024 Surendra Patawari

References

External links

*
Ahimsa Day
on Jainpedia (archived) {{Jainism topics Jainism and society Awards established in 2006 Nonviolence Humanitarian and service awards