End Nuclear Weapons NOW - The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN).

http://www.icanw.org/

Nuclear weapons are the most inhumane and indiscriminate weapons ever created. They violate international law, cause severe environmental damage, undermine national and global security, and divert vast public resources away from meeting human needs. They must be eliminated urgently.

ICAN is the international campaign to stigmatise, prohibit & eliminate nuclear weapons.

The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) is a coalition of non-governmental organizations promoting adherence to and implementation of the United Nations nuclear weapon ban treaty.

Interview with Daniel Högsta, International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons :

https://www.pressenza.com/2019/07/interview-with-daniel-hogsta-international-campaign-to-abolish-nuclear-weapons/

What happened in the moment you received the call about the Nobel Peace Prize?

We actually did have the stream of the Nobel ceremony on – the announcement, the press conference – because nuclear weapons had been in the news a lot that past year, and ICAN has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in the past.  We have had journalists wandering around here on the day, waiting, and we never really took it seriously.  So we thought it was just going to be another one of those years, but we knew that nuclear weapons had been in the news.  So we expected it to go to a nuclear weapons-related organization; maybe the CTBTO, maybe the negotiators of the Iran deal.

So we wanted to be prepared to give a statement on that.  We had no idea obviously that we were in the key consideration of it, as it were.  So 10 minutes before 11 o’clock and we received the phone call.  I picked up the phone – and it’s a really bad old phone as well, sticky buttons – and so I answered the phone and I heard a very strong, Norwegian-accented voice, which was Olav Njolstad from the Norwegian Nobel Peace Prize Committee, and he said, “I think I have some good news. I need to speak to Beatrice Fihn.”

And then I handed the phone to Beatrice Fihn. I still at that point didn’t think that this was anything serious.  I thought it was a journalist who was asking to get some reaction, but then obviously I saw her face kind of melt and freeze, and oh my god, oh my god!

So at that point it became clear.  Well, I shouldn’t say it became exactly clear, I still thought it could have been a hoax or something.  I said, “Nobody release any press statement!”

And then actually our website – at 11 o’clock, once the statement had actually been made – our website crashed. So I couldn’t actually publish the press release that we had hastily put together.  So we had to put it on Facebook first.

So that was the madness, and then we had ten minutes of frantically – I think there’s some video of this – frantically walking around the office, and wondering, “Oh my god, what are we supposed to do? Okay, we have to have a press conference.  We have to have a press conference, that’s what organizations do when they encounter these kinds of things.”

But then the phone started ringing.  There were journalists outside the room, they kind of forced their way in and took some pictures initially.

Which was very exciting obviously.  So it was a mad day that didn’t stop until – that was a Friday – didn’t stop until the Monday thereafter.

Srimad Bhagavatam 7.2.13

TEXT 13 iti te bhartṛ-nirdeśam ādāya śirasādṛtāḥ tathā prajānāṁ kadanaṁ vidadhuḥ kadana-priyāḥ SYNONYMS iti—thus; te—they; bhartṛ—of the master; nirdeśam—the direction; ādāya—receiving; śirasā—with their heads; ādṛtāḥ—respecting; tathā—so also; prajānām—of all the citizens; kadanam—persecution; vidadhuḥ—executed; kadana-priyāḥ—who are expert in persecuting others. TRANSLATION Thus the demons, being fond of disastrous activities, took Hiraṇyakaśipu’s instructions on their heads with great respect and offered him obeisances. According to his directions, they engaged in envious activities directed against all living beings. PURPORT The followers of demoniac principles, as described here, are thoroughly envious of the general populace. In the present day, scientific advancement exemplifies such envy. The discovery of nuclear energy has been disastrous to people in general because demons all over the world are manufacturing nuclear weapons. The word kadana-priyāḥ is very significant in this regard. The demoniac persons who want to kill the Vedic culture are extremely envious of the feeble citizens, and they act in such a way that ultimately their discoveries will be inauspicious for everyone (jagato ’hitāḥ). The Sixteenth Chapter of Bhagavad-gītā fully explains how the demons engage in sinful activities for the destruction of the populace. Source : https://prabhupadabooks.com/sb/7/2/13?d=1&f=87265