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ACHA PEACE BULLETIN
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http://www.groups.yahoo.com/group/ACHAPeaceBulletin
A publication of
Association for Communal Harmony in
www.asiapeace.org & www.indiapakistanpeace.org
Editor: Pritam K. Rohila, PhD pritam@open.org
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Volume X, No. 9,
CONTENTS
EDITORIAL
*War, Violence, Conflict and Prospects of Peace, Pritam Kumar Rohila, Ph. D.
SRI LANKA UPDATE (September 15, 06)
*The
People’s Opinion on Peace Keeps Hope Alive, National Peace Council of Sri Lanka
PEACE & HARMONY NEWS
PEACE EVENTS
*October 28-29,
BHARAT
-
REPORTS OF PEACE EVENTS
*Indo-Pak Students Peace
Camp,
*Second Visa Free
WORKSHOPS
*November 18-20,
*For it isn’t enough to talk about peace. One must
believe in it. And it isn’t enough to believe in it. One must work at it.
-Eleanor Roosevelt
EDITOR’S NOTE: I will be
out of country October 3 through
School children hold placards
during a peace march to mark the International Day of Peace in
EDITORIAL
*War, Violence, Conflict and Prospects of Peace, Pritam Kumar Rohila, Ph. D.
War, violence and conflict have always been and continue to be around us.
We no longer use clubs, sling shots, or swords and we no longer have to face our opponents. Now equipped with our new and improved methods of mass annihilation, we can now destroy many more Hiroshimas and Nagasakis much more quickly than ever. We can kill people living very far away from us, even if they have not done anything against us personally.
Religion comforts millions of hearts around the world. But religion has not escaped from the grip of violence. In fact, a significant amount of violence in the world has been done in the name of religion. Also, it has been supported, justified and sometimes even led by religious leaders.
Now some of us feel very insecure without being armed with symbols our religions and readily strike out against real or imagined insults to them.
The recent talk about the clash of civilizations, and the upsurge in terrorism around the world are furthers source of concern. The subsequent war on terrorism seems to have worsened the situation.
Peace, if by it, we mean complete absence of conflict, hostility, or lack of greed that leads to violence and war, may be a goal that is impossible.
This kind of peace has been achieved so far, neither by “the
war to end all wars”, nor by “the mother of all wars.” The
But there is another part of the reality, which although quite obvious, many times escapes us.
Very likely, the number of all the violent acts which occur on any give day around the world is certainly much smaller than the acts of love, friendship, caring, and goodwill.
The problem is in the way the human mind works. It can keep track of the unusual incidents much more easily that of the ordinary, run of the mill happenings. It is easier for us to remember the days we are ill, than the days we are in good health, the incidents which spoiled our vacation, than those which did not.
This is the reason that advertising experts are paid highly, because they generate unusual ads, which compel people to pay attention to them. For the same reason, news editors use unusual incidents for their lead stories. This is why they use incidents of war and violence more often, than other incidents.
Unfortunately, all this makes us think that wars, violence and conflicts are happening more often than they actually are.
This is why to even things out ACHA makes it a point to publicize only the news about peace and harmony. We think, it will keep the hope for peace alive, in our subscribers and members. We believe that with this hope they are more likely to keep working for peace.
We cannot afford to give up thinking about, and hoping, planning and working for peace. Our future, the future of our children, the future of the humanity, depends on what we do or don’t do.
But we need to be realistic. We may not be able to eliminate war, violence, and conflict entirely from the world. But we can succeed in reducing their frequency and their destructive effects.
To get there, we need to do more than staging anti-war rallies and teaching conflict-resolution. Instead we need to develop a culture of peace.
We need to teach are children how to respect and love others, and how to get along with and empathize even with those who do not look, talk, or pray like us.
We need adults, who are trained to raise good children, before they start having them, and who have been taught how to fight with their spouses fairly.
We need teachers and religious leaders, who can model good behavior, and do not take advantage of our children and women.
We need policemen and judges, who not only punish illegal and criminal behavior, but also reward and reinforce good behavior.
We need government and political leaders who are more interested in the welfare of their people than that of their party, who are not arrogant, who do not act unilaterally, and who do not try to escape from their international obligations.
Most of all, we need to cleanse our own minds of our prejudices.
If we can train tigers to jump through rings of fire, and elephants to balance their huge bodies on a stool, and if we can raise our youth to lay down their lives to pursue our jihadist or imperialistic agenda, we can also teach our children to be good citizens of their country as well as be good members of the human race.
We have to support the United Nations Organization fully and make it stronger, because this is the only place on earth, where the wolves and the lambs can speak their mind without fear.
We have no right to force our ways of life, our religious beliefs or our forms of government on others. We need to find what really feeds the monster of terrorism and use an effective way of containing it, instead of making it worse.
We need to replace our current mantra of “war on terrorism,” with another slogan as powerful as those like, “We shall overcome!” or “Inquilab zindabad!
Also we need to defeat terrorism, by not allowing it to terrorize us. We need to respond to it by carrying on our daily life as before. Further, we need to reach out to people of other faith communities and span our differences with them, with bridges of tolerance, compassion and friendship. We need to take terror out of terrorism, and instead, we should wage peace-ism.
As historian Howard Zinn points out, “To be hopeful in bad times is not just foolishly romantic. It is based on the fact that human history is not only of cruelty, but also of compassion, sacrifice, courage, kindness. What we choose to emphasize in this complex history will determine our lives. If we see only the worst, it destroys our capacity to do something. If we remember those times and places - and there are so many - where people have behaved magnificently, this gives us the energy to act, and at least the possibility of sending this spinning top of a world in a different direction. And if we do act, in however small a way, we don’t have to wait for some grand utopian future. The future is an infinite succession of presents, and to live now as we think human beings should live, in defiance of all that is bad around us, is itself a marvelous victory.”
So the choice is mine, and the choice is yours. With faith in God, and hope in our hearts, let us make the choice, which leads us to peace now and hopefully to peace in the future.
SRI LANKA UPDATE (September 15, 06)
The
People’s Opinion on Peace Keeps Hope Alive, National Peace Councilof Sri Lanka
12/14 Purana Vihara Road, Colombo
6, Tel: 2818344, 2854127, 2819064, Tel/Fax:2819064
E Mail: peace2@sri.lanka.net, Internet:
www.peace-srilanka.org
Contrary to popular belief and to what many politicians seem to fear, the general public is open to a political solution to the ethnic conflict which would involve substantial power sharing between the centre and the regions.
A recent
public opinion survey commissioned by the National Peace Council and conducted
by the Marga Institute showed that 51 percent of those who participated in the
survey believed that in order to achieve peace in
It is likely that the willingness to accept a power sharing framework beyond the unitary system would have been even greater if the public were better informed of the different forms of government, and how they were applicable to the Sri Lankan context. Of those polled, only 24 percent claimed that they had some knowledge of what federalism meant, while only 14 percent were able to identify the federal system as one of devolution of power within an undivided country. A majority of 62 percent had no idea of what the federal system was. This lacuna in public awareness highlights the need for a much greater governmental and civic effort to educate the general public on the issue.
Interestingly, most of those surveyed anticipated a return to war within six months. Given that this survey was conducted in July this year, it confirms the accuracy of popular expectations especially at this time. When probed further about how soon the war would end, as many as 41 percent did not see it ending in the near future. Only 14 percent said it would end soon. Another interesting finding was that those surveyed believed that both the government and LTTE were to be blamed for the current situation, with 30 percent blaming the government only, 23 percent blaming the LTTE only and 22 percent blaming both parties.
A noteworthy
finding was that a large majority of 79 percent were of the view that the best
solution to the conflict was through peaceful means, including the
re-negotiation of the Ceasefire Agreement, negotiation of an interim solution
or negotiation of a final solution. Only a relatively small minority of
21 percent believed that a full scale war was the best option. This
finding, together with the measured response that all communities provided in
attributing blame to both sides, indicates attitudes that can provide a foundation
for building a conflict resolving process.
The survey also assessed the perception that the general public had towards the
role of the international community. A significant majority of 67 percent
wanted the role of the international community to be strengthened. The
response towards the international monitors of the SLMM was also positive with
a majority of 55 percent wanting the role of the international monitors
strengthened as against 27 percent who wanted it reduced. Although the international
community and the SLMM have come in for much politically motivated criticism in
recent times, the general public who were surveyed believed in the positive
role the members of the international community had to play.
The survey was conducted from a sample of 5000 persons aged 18 and above who were interviewed from a random sample of 2500 households. A multi stage stratified sampling technique was used. The respondents were from all provinces, and a total of 3460 Sinhalese, 580 Sri Lanka Tamils, 740 Muslims and 220 Hill Country Tamils were selected for the survey. The survey was conducted in the field in June and July of this year.
The National
Peace Council believes that the positive sentiments of the general population
towards a negotiated political settlement highlighted in this survey must be
the foundation for a fresh and genuine attempt at peace talks by the government
and LTTE. The present time is both opportune and crucial.
PEACE & HARMONY NEWS
*'People on both sides of border are same,'
Rediff.com,
*Pak
businessmen learning Indian economy FINANCIAL EXPRESS|,
*Indo-Nepal
pact aims to check terrorism
TRIBUNE INDIA |Tuesday,
*Indian scholarships for Lankan students THE HINDU |Tuesday,
*Interpol to fight child conscription Daily
News |Tuesday,
*Peace moves intensify in Sri Lanka Daily Mirror |Monday,
*
*
*US
to fund outposts on Pak-Afghan border THE NEWS |
*
*
*Kashmiri families meet DAWN |Friday,
*People of
*Lanka
seeks Tamil teachers from India EXPRESS INDIA |
*Banks: new Indo-Pak CBM
FINANCIAL EXPRESS |Thursday,
*
*Pak allows more
imports from
*Khokrapar:
*
*Singh is sincere to
peace: Musharraf DAILY TIMES |
*Musharraf seeks
summit-level
*Indians to meet Lanka
Tamil moderates HINDUSTAN TIMES |Sunday,
*
*'India, B'desh closer on water issues' THE DAILY STAR |
*BDR,
BSF agree to ease border tension NEWS TODAY |,
*Woman aviation cadet
makes PAF history THE NATION |
'Peace
talks legwork in final stage' THE HIMALAYAN TIMES |
*Peace celebrations
amidst fighting BBC |Friday,
*W
*Delegation of Lankan MPs meets Narayanan THE HINDU |
*
*'Terror attacks won't
spoil peace mood' TIMES OF INDIA
*
*Human
rights & political realities MINIVAN NEWS |Thursday,
*Mechanism
is a positive development: Pak THE HINDU
*S
*
I have not got security for
http://in.rediff.com/news/2006/sep/18sfa.htm
*
*Pak,
Indian activists starve for peace DAILY TIMES |Monday,
*Peace
process has won: Musharraf THE NEWS |Monday,
*No
honour in honour killing: CJP THE NEWS |Monday,
*Talks on, joint
anti-terror setup agreed REUTERS |Sunday,
*Singh accepts
*Peace call for
*
*Lankans
want peace: survey Colombo Page |Sunday,
'NAM
must work for confluence of civilizations’, Indian PM Manmohan Singh, V S Chandrasekar in Havana,
Rediff,com, September 16, 2006
http://in.rediff.com/news/2006/sep/16pmnam1.htm
*Historic opportunity for talks: Pakistan AFP |Saturday,
*Indo-Bangla teams study water projects PENINSULAQATAR |
*Joint expedition across Himalayas PEOPLE'S DAILY |Saturday,
*India-Sri
Lanka trade to touch $ 3b THE HINDU |Friday,
*Karachi-Chittagong direct shipping link soon THE DAILY STAR |
*A
single driving licence for S Asians? DNA INDIA |Friday,
*Indian farmers begin
*Torkhum
(
*SAARC meet on drugs smuggling begins THE HIMALAYAN TIMES |
*S Asian forum for education proposed NEWAGE BD |Wednesday,
*
*Kolkata to get a slice
of Bangladesh MUMBAI MIRROR |Wednesday,
*Indian envoy meets PM Koirala THE HIMALAYAN TIMES |
*‘Gandhi’s non-violence
still holds true’ DAILY TIMES |Wednesday,
PEACE EVENTS
*October 28-29,
REPORTS OF PEACE EVENTS
*Indo-Pak Students Peace Camp, October 2, 2006, Chandigarh (Contact person, Mubashir Ahmed Mirza, Program Coordinator, The Youth-Pakistan, a Collaborate of YUVSATTA Chandigarh, Phone +92(0)3004661007, Email youth.pakistan@yahoo.com, Website www.yuvsatta.org
With the aim to promote peace, non-violence and people to
people dialogue between youngsters from
Inaugurating the
Camp, Shri Pawan Kumar Bansal,
Sixteen youngsters from The Youth-Pakistan (an
NGO) and 25 local students are participating in the Camp, The guests from
Next six days of this group are packed with
deliberations on the role of the youth in promoting universal peace,
disarmament, and unity of religions as
well as in strengthening Indo-Pak relations. Also the guests will see Lage Raho
Munnabhai’ and participate in special bus and bicycle tours of
According to Mubashir Mirza, the leader of the Pakistani student delegation, his
group, The Youth-Pakistan, will host a similar initiative in
*Second
Visa Free
(Pak, Indian activists starve for
peace DAILY TIMES |Monday,
The activists stressed that only when the two countries set aside their
differences and allowed for not only greater people to people contact, but also
ended the arms race, could there be tangible progress in the region and only
then could the problems of both countries be addressed adequately.
The Indian delegates said that throughout history, at no point had weaponry
guaranteed the security of a state or a people, and that mutual trust and
friendship were much more effective in preserving peace than weapons were.
Earlier, peace activists from both countries addressed the second session of
‘Second Visa Free South Asia Convention,’ a seminar organised by the
The speakers highlighted how wars, warlike situations and nuclear proliferation
were affecting women in the region, especially
1. Both India and
2. Democratic and humanistic values be strengthened, and adequate social and
legal protection be afforded to the oppressed and marginalized sections of
society, particularly to women and ethnic and religious minorities. Active
steps should be taken for repealing laws and ending social practices that are
discriminatory towards these sections of society.
3.
4. No country of the region should make any agreement with any superpower that
is likely to threaten the autonomy and sovereignty of any state in the region.
Of particular concern in this regard is the recent Indo-US nuclear deal, and
India, in the interest of the region, must withdraw forthwith from this deal
and thereby establish a strong and correct precedent.
5. Democratic values and systems of governance must become the prevailing norm
for the entire South Asian region.
6. Immediate steps be taken by all the governments of the region to halt
militarisation and to gradually reduce military expenditure in a publicly
stated, transparent and pro-active manner; the resources thus saved be
allocated for such common concerns as health and education.
7. For quick resolution of the long-standing
8. Given the common socio-cultural and historical heritage of the region,
active initiatives for peace and harmony should be taken by progressive forces
to counter the sectarian and communal forces destabilizing the region.
WORKSHOPS
*November 18-20,
Leaders and fundraisers from over 200 non-profit
organisations, NGOs / INGOs from all over
The participants may apply directly for the registration with payment in US$ as specified in details at www.resource-alliance.org .
Since PAIMAN Alumni Trust Fund, with its Head Office at
Islamabad is the partner and focal organization for coordination in Pakistan
for this workshop, Pakistanis may send a copy of registration form to PAIMAN
for record and any assistance for visa and travel. Also Pakistanis may apply
through PAIMAN Alumni Trust Fund, and pay fees in Pak Currency at Rs: 28,000/-
per person. The fee includes three day residency in 5 Star hotel with food (all
meals from dinner on Friday 17th to lunch on Monday 20th Nov 2006, all training
material, Gala Dinner , airport transfers, Certificate of Attendance) It will
also include services by PAIMAN like Pak currency conversion fee, Bank transfer
fee, application/issue of visa, fee for visa, passport handling, NWD/
international calls and all other necessary coordination/postage service for participants
all over Pakistan. You will not be required to move out of your city for all
necessary formalities. More info from Muhammad Ali Shah, PAIMAN Alumni Trust
Fund at paiman_trust@yahoo.com, paiman_trust@paiman.org, or shafqat_paiman@yahoo.com