Hope for peace through students

Published: Daily Times 17 Feb 2020 / Ravi Nitesh
https://dailytimes.com.pk/559326/hope-for-peace-through-students/ 

If we are to reach real peace in this world and if we are to carry on a real war against war, we shall have to begin with children; and if they will grow up in their natural innocence, we won’t have to struggle; we won’t have to pass fruitless idle resolutions, but we shall go from love to love and peace to peace, until at last all the corners of the world are covered with that peace and love for which consciously or unconsciously the whole world is hungering.” – Mahatma Gandhi

As the world is observing 150th year of Mahatma Gandhi, a person who is known for his ideas of truth and non-violence without fear, there is also need to look upon prevailing situation of present world, particularly the region from where he originally belonged- the Indian sub-continent. In fact, present day sub-continent is facing a time of crisis and it demands more and more ideas of people who advocated peace. Kashmir, which was once seen as ‘Ray of Hope’ by Gandhi, has recently faced severe restrictions of curfew, internet ban, arrests and house arrests and many are still under this fear. Borders are volatile and regularly taking lives of soldiers and civilians. Political relations between Pakistan and India are in bad taste and a TRP hungry media is fuelling lot many things with it.

In this time, talking peace is surely a difficult one, that also for India-Pakistan. But we know that there are always some light and we need to search for it and as Gandhi believed, we should learn from children. Pakistani and Indian students choose to paint for peace even in this time when the whole environment is filled with hatred and violence, suppression and attacks. These paintings are part of annual program of Aaghaz-e-Dosti initiative that mostly works with school students of Pakistan and India and also bring a peace calendar every year from selected paintings of both sides.

Students who painted a piece of paper with their brush can be interpreted through their beautiful paintings where they express desire for peace. Since the last eight years, these paintings are coming regularly to become part of a calendar where six paintings from each sides form 12 calendar months and reflects an everyday peace. School students who participate and submit their paintings are seem well aware about the ‘need’ and this is added with their own imagination. Paintings can be seen with Badshahi Misque and Tajmahal, Peace boats, barbed wires with students shaking hands, planting flowers and trees on border, Soldiers together shaking hands and hugging each other, birds flying above and to contemporary one like opening of Kartarpur corridor as symbol of peaceful gesture.

We need to recognise the need of future generation. Any child in these countries actually deserve a peaceful and safer future, free from violence and hatred. India and Pakistan, being two sovereign countries and strong stakeholders in South Asian region, should take positive steps to strengthen understanding and focusing on the way forward. These two countries have rich heritage, culture, history, natural resources, and talents in their own countries and if they decide to move together, there are ample scope of moving towards excellence.

Education is the key to ensure an informed and civilized society and students get affected through their environment and learn things and make an image about each other’s country and people. But whenever, they get opportunity to think it deeply and to think naturally, they come with their idea of peacebuilding. While involving students for such actions for peace, nothing new is being given to them, instead it is like exploring their own idea, the natural instinct for peace that we all, as human being, irrespective of our individual identity, carry.

These expressions are learning for others and a ray of hope in present times when despite not being able to meet or cross boundary, there are young voices to whom all the hatred propaganda and media portrayal cannot divert from the path of peace and we need to support all such actions for peace, wherever these are happening.

The writer is the founder of Aaghaz-e-Dosti which is an Indo-Pak friendship initiative. He Tweets at @ravinitesh and can be reached at ravinitesh@gmail.com

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Spirituality Connects

December 05, 2015
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/E-Paper/lahore/2015-12-05/page-7
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/opinion/05-Dec-2015/spirituality-connects

Hundreds of Sikh pilgrims from India visited Nankana Sahib, Pakistan on this Gurpurab. Nankana Sahib is a place where, as per belief, Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism was born. This time, Pakistan issued visas to 2,850 Sikhs from India. The Pakistan High Commission in India also announced that almost all applicants got their visa for this visit from November 20 to 29. Many Pakistanis visit Nizamuddin and Ajmer shrines in India every year. Similarly, many Hindus from India also visit to Katasraj temple in Pakistan every year. Through this travel across borders, it is not only people who cross and reach the other side, a culture and a message are shared too. More importantly, when they return to their native places, they again bring a message.

This spiritual connection between India and Pakistan has been going on for years, since even the time before partition. Despite all unfortunate incidents between India and Pakistan, which have included war and several skirmishes, this travel for spiritual thirst has continued. Looking deeply at this movement of people, it can be observed that, despite the division of land, emotions and spiritualties are still connected.

In view of the fact that this tradition has stayed strong through the decades, we cannot ignore the reality of the bonding of people from one country with the other, and the importance of the religious and spiritual faiths of these people. At a time when many people avoid going to one another’s country, it is this spiritual connection that keeps the relations alive. From this connection we can see the beautiful role religion plays in linking the people from these two countries.

This is the beauty of religion and its objective too: practicing the virtues of love, peace, forgiveness and humanity. Still, in present-day India and Pakistan, religion plays a vital role in society and politics. In relation to India and Pakistan, where religion matters a lot, this type of exchange can really usher in peace and tranquility. This exchange of culture and the message that goes with it works as a revolution. It is about recognising human needs and rights, identifying the connection betweenthe history of different faiths and providing them the right to profess and practice their faiths, the right to seek their spiritual connections and the right to have peace and to spread peace.

We have already seen that whenever Indians and Pakistanis visit each other’s countries they bring emotional memories with them when they return. When the purpose of their visit is associated with their religious faith, it becomes more effective in the sense that they not only come back with memories of each other’s countries, but also with a kind of satisfaction in their hearts. This experience of living on one side of the border while having some religious attachment on the other side of the border also works as a peace building method whereby people understand that just because of the division of lands they should not believe in the propaganda of hatred. The real objective of the border is just to provide administrative facilities to our governments and not to restrict people. With such objectives, India and Pakistan may move ahead together to provide more and more access to each other’s citizens through various means, to realise and recognise the need and importance of peace, and to understand how the lives of people are the same on both sides of the border, with common understanding in their hearts and minds geared towards peaceful coexistence, love and friendship.

During the Ufa summit, the Pakistani and Indian prime ministers met and in the five mentioned points of the Ufa declaration, religious tourism stood out as one of the core points on which both countries decided to increase cooperation. Under the new visa regime it was decided that pilgrim visas would be issued to pilgrims intending to visit religious shrines as per the 1974 protocol on visiting religious shrines. Therefore, the Ufa statement may help in facilitating the visa regime by providing more facilities and including more religious sites for the people of both countries to visit. It will directly facilitate the people on both sides of the border and will help in increasing people-to-people contact.

#ravinitesh

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