=====================================================================
ACHA PEACE BULLETIN
http://www.groups.yahoo.com/group/ACHAPeaceBulletin
=====================================================================
A
publication of Association for Communal Harmony in Asia (ACHA)
www.asiapeace.org & www.indiapakistanpeace.org
Editor: Pritam K.
Rohila, PhD asiapeace@comcast.net
Subscription
is free.
To SUBSCRIBE, email a request to ACHAPeaceBulletin-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
To UNSUBSCRIBE, email the request to ACHAPeaceBulletin-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
Volume
XII, No. 8:
______________________________________________________________________________
CONTENTS
*India-Pakistan Peace Day 2008
AWARDS
*Mandela to receive Gandhi award
BOOKS
*Towards Freedom — Documents on the Movement for
EVENT REPORTS
*
*
EVENTS
*August 23 to
26,
*September
17-21, Caboolture to
*September
26-October 2,
*October 4-7, Koach,
*
Religions
JOBS, INTERNSHIPS
& VOLUNTEER PROGRAMS (FOR THE COMMON GOOD)
PEACE EDUCATION
& TRAINING RESOURCES
PEACE
& HARMONY NEWS FROM
PEACE
& HARMONY NEWS FROM
UPDATE:
UPDATE:
UPDATE:
*The three basic
parameters for lasting peace, Jehan Perera
_____________________________________________________________________________
*India-Pakistan Peace Day 2008
Members
and Directors of the Association for Communal Harmony in Asia (ACHA), urge
people to organize India-Pakistan Peace Day 2008 everywhere, any day between
the
The theme for this year’s campaign will be “Peace in My Family, Harmony in My Neighborhood.”
The campaign will have the following two components:
1. A Pledge of Peace & Harmony, and
2. A Virtual Memorial for the Victims of the 1947 Partition-related Violence.
Details follow at the end of this note.
As a part of your India-Pakistan Peace Day 2008 celebration, please organize in your area a project, which is appropriate to the theme, “Peace in My Family, Harmony in My Neighborhood.”
Be sure to send to asiapeace@comcast.net a brief report of your project, along with a couple of digital pictures. We will post them on www.indiapakistanpeace.org, one of our two websites.
You may wish to visit www.indiapakistanpeace.org for India-Pakistan Peace Day celebrations in previous years.
Please direct your questions, comments and concerns about our campaign to the undersigned at asiapeace@comcast.net.
Peace in My Family, Harmony in My Neighborhood
The motto, “Think
Globally, Act Locally,” is very appropriate for promoting peace and harmony
anywhere, but particularly in
In spite of
occasional setbacks, increasing support, in recent years, by their peoples and
governments of
But the escalating domestic tensions threaten the integrity of each of the two countries and welfare of their peoples.
Therefore, “Peace in My Family, Harmony in My Neighborhood” appears to be a suitable theme for India-Pakistan Peace Day 2008 campaign.
Pledge of Peace & Harmony
Peace and harmony are not a spectator sport.
We cannot afford to sit on the sidelines and wait for someone else to do something to promote peace and harmony around us.
Instead each of us has to take a personal action in this regard.
The following Pledge will help you to make a personal commitment about peace and harmony in your life and around you.
I pledge that…
I will not use my hands or my words to harm
anyone;
I will treat my sisters and daughters with
at least as much love and respect as I treat my brothers and sons; and
I will treat all my neighbors as deserving
of my respect, regardless of their class, caste, sect or religion.
Virtual Memorial for the Victims of
Our attempts to persuade the governments of India and Pakistan to build, at Wagah border-crossing, a suitable JOINT memorial for ALL the innocent victims of the violence associated with India’s Partition in 1947, have not been successful, so far.
While waiting for the
time when the governments of
To honor the victims from your family, who lost their lives or suffered unnecessary hardship in the unconscionable Partition-related violence, we invite you and your friends to inscribe their names.
Also, if you know, please indicate the pre-Partition location of the victims. Do not forget to sign in your name, your current location, and a brief message, as well.
AWARDS
*Mandela to receive Gandhi award
http://www.capetimes.co.za:80/?fSectionId=308&fArticleId=vn20080718061303506C165916
The
Mahatma Gandhi International Award for Reconciliation and Peace 2008 will be
made to former president Nelson Mandela in
The honour will be bestowed in his absence at a function hosted by the Gandhi
Development Trust (GDT) and Satyagraha - in pursuit of truth.
Paddy Kearney, a GDT trustee, said that in celebrating Madiba's 90th birthday,
he would be honoured as an international figure whose contribution and
sacrifice had touched the hearts of millions of South Africans and people
across the world.
"We thought it would be an ideal way to celebrate his 90th birthday and
thank him for his tremendous contribution to our democracy," he said.
"We hoped that Mandela would attend the event and collect his award.
However, Ahmed Kathrada will receive it on his behalf."
Mandela had said on many occasions that Gandhi had a great influence on him.
"The former president was chosen because of his remarkable peacemaking
skills, which have benefited millions of people. Through his negotiated
settlement, he brought about peace in
"The main purpose of creating this award is to maintain awareness of the
peace efforts that Gandhi made, and to highlight individuals who are continuing
similar work," said
The Mahatma Gandhi International Award for Reconciliation and Peace was created
in 2003 in celebration of the centenary of Gandhi's first newspaper, Indian
Opinion. The award is presented to personalities who have contributed towards
reconciliation and peace.
BOOKS
*Towards Freedom — Documents on the
Movement for Independence in India, 1939 Part I, Mushirul Hasan (Ed),
Oxford University Press, YMCA Library Building, Jai Singh Road, New
Delhi-110001. Rs. 3950.
Review, “Anti-colonial resistance”, by Suranjan
Das, The Hindu,
This publication on 1939 is a part of the Indian Council of
Historical Research’s (ICHR) “Towards Freedom” project to correct the
perception that
Congress ministries, formed in eight of the 11 provinces
following the 1937 elections, “worked purposefully.” But they also broke their
public promises. Documents in the first chapter sharply demonstrate this
dialectics. The anti-labour Industrial Disputes Bill in
Anti-imperialist
temper
The second chapter addresses the Congress’s dilemma on the
Second World War, best expressed by Jawaharlal Nehru: “… we … do not want a
fascist victory. (But) to support British imperialism is … wrong … for the
country is dominated by that imperialism.” The unilateral British declaration
of Indian participation for the Allies in the Second World War, and curtailment
of the powers of the provincial governments to pursue war efforts made
resignation of Congress ministries unavoidable. Socialists like Lohia offered
an international perspective for opposing the war: “What use will internal
freedom be to the Indian people if it compels them to send their armies to
defend the
The volume presents interesting papers on the Tripuri
episode. Hasan also documents the “Left consolidation” by the Forward Bloc,
socialists and the communists to achieve national unity and intensify freedom
struggle. P.C. Joshi’s assertion that “No amount of repression could kill our
movement” found expression in anti-imperialist temper of
Peasant movement
The third chapter is concerned with the people’s movement in
princely states that gained momentum due to Nehru-led Congress, Left pressure
and a grass-roots, anti-feudal and anti-imperialist sentiment in these
“sanctuaries.” Perhaps the prospect of a federal government having
representatives from princely states also induced the Congress leadership to
bring these regions within its political orbit. Evidence is cited on
inter-linkage between State People’s Freedom Movement and mainstream
nationalism, a theme yet to receive adequate scholarly attention. The end of
princely autocracy was popularly foreseen, a feeling expressed by Vartman: “The
lamp glows brighter when it is about to be extinguished.”
Utilising hardly accessible journals, Kisan Sabha
organisational reports, writings of agitation leaders and rare official papers,
the volume’s last part uncovers a rich “composite picture” of the surging
peasant movement. Mobilising the peasantry on “nazrana”, “bedakhli”, “abwab”
and colonial encroachment on the peasant world, the All India Kisan Sabha
became in P.C. Joshi’s words, “the second biggest mass organisation … after the
National Congress.” We have references to both a 40,000-strong-peasant
gathering and secret peasant conferences. Women “thronged” Kisan conferences;
they were prominent in hunger marches. Gandhiji prayed for the peasantry’s
ability “to stand more fiery ordeals.” Interestingly, this peasant outburst
evoked support from American observers. Not all within the Congress welcomed
the peasant assertion. Sitaramayya thus accused the “Socialists of inciting the
poor peasant folk to violence.” Again, alarmed by peasant restlessness, some
landlords proposed a “Settlement between Congress and Zamindars.” Kisan Sabhas
resented their inability to initiate satyagrahas without provincial Congress
Committee’s permission. The Congress High Command even attempted
marginalisation of Leftists like Jayaprakash Narayan and Sahajanand Saraswati
when they crossed the Gandhian limits. This strategy fitted well with
Gandhiji’s technique of “discipline and mobilise.”
Betrayal
Hasan’s documentation unfolds the criticality of 1939 in the
trajectory of the Indian freedom movement. The British betrayal of the Indian
cause in its war efforts, the immature termination of “the Congress attempt of
governance” and subsequent growth of political radicalism, the state people’s
uprising, and the peasant protest — these presaged a tide of anti-imperialism
which culminated in the Quit India Movement.
The volume provides new insights to historians grappling with
the nature of the dialectical relationship between Congress nationalism and
popular protest politics, and causes of the Congress failure to provide
adequate space to the anti-imperialist and democratic segment of Muslim opinion
which, if ensured, might have averted the Partition.
A judicious collation of documents, careful footnoting of
personalities, events and places, and a helpful index have made this collection
the model of a documentary volume. Sabyasachi Bhattacharya’s incisive preface
imparts an additional value to it. The publisher deserves credit for a neat
publication.
EVENT
REPORTS
*
Sixty three years ago on
*
The
devastation had such an effect that lakhs were killed in the atom bombing
leaving several thousands crippled. The after effects of the bombing and
radiation claimed over three lakhs lives over the years.
The
funeral started from Azad Maidan and concluded at Hutatma Chowk where a Pledge
was taken by 2400 participants to work for peace & a nuclear-free world.
The students were carrying play-cards and banners depicting slogans like “No
More Hiroshima”, and “We want bread, education and job; Not bombs”. Dr. P. N. Pabrekar, SLO, NSS Cell, Govt. of
Maharashtra and Prof. Arun Salunke, NSS Co-ordinator,
Poster Exhibition about the
devastation and screening of the film ‘A Mother’s Prayer’ on
See the video of
Peace Rally on http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=_LbbsZG4YR8
EVENTS
*August 23 to 26,
*September
17-21, Caboolture to
by
an Australian Gandhian, Garwin Brown. The walk will start from Caboolture and
end at
Garwin
Brown was born on
*September
26-October 2, Chandigarh, India: 3RD ANNUAL INDO-PAK STUDENTS PEACE CAMP, to
promote peace between Pakistan and India, is being organized at Chandigarh, by
CYDA, the Centre for Youth Development
and Activities, Sadikabad, Pakistan (www.cydapakistan.org). Intended for youth of age 15-26, the program
will include a number of mixed group activities and excursion trips in and
around
Registration must be completed by July 10. To request a
registration application and additional info contact info@cydapakistan.org. A welcome pack with more details will be sent to the
applicants upon confirmation of their registration.
*October 4-7, Koach, Kerala,
India: SPIRITUALITY AND ENVIRONMENT is theme of the World Fellowship of
Inter-Religious Councils (WFIRC) Assembly 2008, at the Renewal Centre,Azad Road, Koach-682017 in Kerala,
India. Registration fee is Rs. 500 to meet the expenses, in part, of boarding
and lodging. More info from Justice P.K.Shamsuddin, President WFIRC,
S.R.M.Road, Kochi-682018, Kerala, India, Tel. 0484- 02993/9446572993, pkshamsuddin@rediffmail.com, and Fr. Albert Nambiaparambil
cmi, Secretary General, WFIRC, Upasana,Thodupuzha-685 584, Kerala,
India, Tel 04862-223286/9446131173, upasanadr@dataone.in & Upasana_dr@satyam.net.in
*December 3-9, 2009,
Melbourne, Australia: The 2009 Parliament of the World’s Religions, will bring together the world’s religious and spiritual communities,
their leaders and their followers to a gathering where peace, diversity and
sustainability are discussed and explored in the context of interreligious
understanding and cooperation.
Parliament
participants will work with others and within their own traditions to craft
faithful responses to:
More info from http://www.parliamentofreligions2009.org/home.php
JOBS, INTERNSHIPS
& VOLUNTEER PROGRAMS (FOR THE COMMON GOOD)
http://www.graduationpledge.org/jobs.html
EDUCATION &
TRAINING RESOURCES http://www.psysr.org/about/committees/peace_education/
Achieving a culture of peace requires developing peaceful
people. Peace education, broadly defined, includes all efforts to facilitate
development of peaceful people. Peace education often takes place in schools,
churches, families, community learning centers, counseling centers, clinics,
prisons, and the workplace. Of course, it may occur anywhere, and the learners
may be anyone--including young children, graduate students, United Nations
peacekeepers, and police officers.
Global peace education includes international studies,
holocaust studies, and nuclear education. Conflict resolution programs teach
about mediation, negotiation, and communication skills. Violence prevention
programs emphasize domestic violence, drug abuse, anger management, and
teaching tolerance. Development education includes human rights education,
environmental studies, and an emphasis on power and resource inequities and
structural violence. Nonviolence education is based on the ideas of Gandhi,
King, and other great peacemakers.
PsySR's Peace Education Action Committee works to promote
peace education in a variety of settings, with a particular focus on the
psychological aspects of peace and conflict. Read More »
Graduate Programs in Peace Psychology
Information about such graduate programs is available HERE.
"Us & Them": PsySR's Presenter's Manual for Moderating
Group Conflict
Written by Stephen Fabick and based on a project of the
Michigan Chapter of PsySR, this Presenter's Manual provides tools for intervention before intergroup prejudice
and tensions erupt into violence. The program it describes is applicable to an
array of problems including religious intolerance, racial tension, ethnic
turmoil, and community divisiveness.
Two Important PsySR Manuals: "Dismantling the Mask of Enmity"
and "Enemy Images"
These two manuals were prepared by PsySR a decade and a half
apart. Both the Cold War era Dismantling the Mask of Enmity and the Gulf War era Enemy Images remain timely in describing how to dismantle images that
limit our thinking about security and that fuel tensions and wars.
A Graduate Level Curriculum For Trauma Intervention and Conflict
Resolution
This Graduate Level Curriculum for trauma intervention and conflict resolution in
ethnopolitical warfare was prepared by a joint task force of the American and
Canadian Psychological Associations. PsySR served as the secretariat for this
important project.
Links and Resources to Learn More and Take Action
The Peace Education Action Committee has prepared extensive
links and resources for teaching peace at the K-12 levels (HERE) and at the college level (HERE). Recommendations of additions to these lists are welcome.
PEACE & HARMONY NEWS FROM
*http://groups.yahoo.com/group/IndiaPakistanPeaceDay/
PEACE & HARMONY NEWS FROM
*http://groups.google.com/group/peace--harmony-news-from-south-asia
UPDATE:
*http://groups.yahoo.com/group/KashmirSolutionsForum/
UPDATE:
*Beena Sarwar updates http://groups.yahoo.com/group/beena-issues/
*http://www.teeth.com.pk/blog/
UPDATE:
*The three basic
parameters for lasting peace, Jehan Perera jehanpc@sltnet.lk (Executive Director, National Peace Council of Sri Lanka,
The Sri Lankan government’s ultimatum to
all deserters from the armed forces to return to duty is one indication of the
stresses that exist in society due to the ongoing war which is gaining in
intensity in the north of the country. As the army advances deeper into
LTTE controlled territory there is a greater need for larger numbers of troops
to be deployed to secure the newly captured areas. The government needs
to ensure that the LTTE will not infiltrate back into those areas even in small
numbers, as these can harass and overrun small detachments of troops.
Securing the territory is going to be a bigger problem in the north than it was
in the east.
The difficulty that the army will be facing in the north is the mono-ethnic
nature of the community located there, which is one hundred percent Tamil, as
against the east, which is multi ethnic, and with a majority that is
non-Tamil. Some parts of the north that have been recaptured were lost to
the government some two decades ago. The problem of communication and getting
information regarding LTTE movements from the community will be more difficult
in view of the communication barriers between the Sinhala-speaking government
forces and the Tamil-speaking population.
Another difficulty that the Sri Lankan army will face as it progresses deeper
into LTTE-held territory is that the LTTE’s own resistance is likely to grow
stronger. This again will be unlike the situation that existed in the
east, where the LTTE cadre did not resist to the last man but withdrew from the
battle. When it came to the east, the LTTE leadership appears to have
decided that discretion was the better part of valour and their cadre would be
better utilized by redeploying them to defend in the north, rather than to
fight to keep hold of the east.
On the other hand, when it comes to resisting the incoming Sri Lankan army in
the north, the LTTE cadre will have nowhere else to go. This suggests
that they will fight very hard to keep the Sri Lankan army from overrunning the
entirety of the
Humanitarian Crisis
There are also stresses in society due to the deteriorating humanitarian
situation in the northern war zones. Tens of thousands of people living
in those areas have been displaced from their villages and homes. As the Sri
Lankan army advances more and more areas are coming within range of the army’s
long range artillery. The alleged artillery attack on Mullaitivu town,
and damage to civilian infrastructure and persons which the military
spokesperson has denied, is a sign of things to come. The LTTE’s own
strategy of setting up their camps in the vicinity of civilian settlements is
likely to have collateral implications on the civilian population.
Reports from humanitarian agencies working in the north indicate that they
cannot meet the demand for emergency shelter, water and sanitation to meet the
needs of the rapidly growing displaced population. More than 50,000 persons
were reported displaced in the month of July alone. They join the ranks
of those displaced by earlier phases of war and the tsunami.
Unfortunately, it appears that the humanitarian organizations are lacking in
capacity to deal with this crisis, in part due to the restrictions that the
government has placed upon them.
The government’s legitimate concern would be that the LTTE will take a part or
most of the supplies brought in by the humanitarian organizations for its own
use, and to further strengthen its war machine. This may explain the
restrictions on a host of materials, including cement, water pumps and fuel
into the LTTE controlled territories. The government has recently been
producing evidence to show that equipment and relief items sent in by
humanitarian organizations have ended up in LTTE camps.
However, the welfare of Sri Lankan citizens ought not to be subordinated to
military necessities. In an appeal to the government, the Bishop of
Mannar, Rayappu Joseph, has given a first hand account of the plight of the
people. He has referred to the displaced persons from his diocese of Mannar,
whom he reports as mostly staying by the side of roads and in the adjoining
jungles without adequate food, shelter, medicine and other basic needs.
He has reported that the whole region is on the move, and that the worst
affected in this situation are the children, women and elderly.
As a response to this humanitarian crisis, the Bishop has requested the
government to spell out its plan for the safety and security of its citizens in
the north. In the absence of any governmental initiative he has proposed
that urgent action be taken to permit humanitarian organizations with access to
these areas. He has also proposed the establishment of No Conflict Zones
in each of the three northern districts affected by the present fighting.
Lasting Peace
Unfortunately, the pleas of Bishop Joseph and those of a similar persuasion are
unlikely to fall on receptive ears at the present time. This is because
military imperatives have taken priority and the government is unlikely to do
anything that can jeopardize its military effort. The chosen logic of
both the government and LTTE, and their respective supporters, is that the war
will be the foundation for a future solution. While the government seeks
a total military victory, the LTTE resists being defeated. It is aiming for a
situation of hurting stalemate as occurred in the period 1999-2001 which paved
the way for the ceasefire of 2002. The underlying belief of both sides is
that the ground situation, rather than justice and fairness, will determine the
political outcome.
The values of democracy necessarily take a back seat in the face of this logic
of war. In the LTTE controlled areas there is no democracy at all and in
the government controlled areas a National Security State has come to the
fore. This accounts for the frequent road closures, restrictions on
parking, night time search operations of homes and unknown groups who supposedly
operate with impunity in white vans. Accompanying these violations of the
rule of law and democracy are regular reports from the government indicating
that final victory is imminent. In these circumstances those who publicly
challenge or criticize the logic of war and propose an alternative course of
action, are castigated as traitors.
One of those who have taken a public stand on the issue of war and human rights
violations has been the veteran social activist, Fr Tissa Balasuriya. A
statement drafted by him has called for a southern consensus between the
government and opposition, specially by the Government and the Opposition for a
constitutionally guaranteed sharing of power within a United Sri Lanka, to be
accompanied by a ceasefire monitored by international observers, with provision
for the LTTE and the other Tamil and Muslim political parties also to share
democratically in the administration of the North and East, and for the All
Party Representatives Conference to include the TNA and be a body to work out
the modalities of the ceasefire, and the constitutional reforms.
An initial draft of this statement met with considerable support from Tamils,
including expatriates. At the same time the statement was strongly condemned by
many Sinhalese, especially by those living abroad, who saw it as a conspiracy
to keep the LTTE from being militarily defeated. When a subsequent draft
of the statement included a reference to a commitment to lay down arms by the
LTTE, the Tamil support dropped. The response to Fr Balasuriya’s
statement shows how on both sides of the ethnic divide the belief in the armed
struggle continues to retain its hold. But this is the path to endless
war and suffering, which Sri Lanka needs to get off if it is to prosper. A
united country, a federal based political solution implemented by the
government and the laying down of arms by the LTTE are the three basic
parameters for lasting peace.