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
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Volume
XIII, No. 10, 11 & 12: December 15, 2009,
Next Issue January 15, 2010
_____________________________
CONTENTS
EDITORIAL
*Countering violence, promoting peace in South Asia, Pritam K. Rohila, Ph. D.
ARTICLE OF THE
MONTH
*Pakistan and India - the case for a common defence, Pervez Hoodbhoy, The Hindu, Nov
BOOKS
*Partition:
A painful inheritance of loss, Indranil Banerjie, Asian Age,
2009
*Jews and India: Perception and Image, Yuila Egorova, Routledge,
2006
EVENTS
*Feb 7-17, 2010, Kathmandu,
Nepal: PEACEBUILDING TRAINING & EDUCATION
*Sept 27-Oct 1, 2010, Chandigarh, India: 5th INTER. YOUTH PEACE FEST
EVENT REPORTS
*Nov 26, Varanasi, U.P. India: UP STATE PEACE CONVENTION
*Oct 2, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India: PEACE PLEDGE
*Oct 2, Chandigarh, India: GANDHI’S AUTOBIOGRAPHY REFORMING JAIL
*Sep 27-Oct
1, Chandigarh, India: 4TH PEACE FESTIVAL
*Sept 21, Toba Tek Singh, Punjab,
Pakistan: INTER. DAY OF PEACE
*Sept
21, Toba Tek Singh, Punjab, Pakistan: APP PEACE DAY
JOBS, INTERNSHIPS
& VOLUNTEER PROGRAMS (FOR THE COMMON GOOD)
MEMBERS’ CORNER
PEACE
& HARMONY NEWS FROM INDIA & PAKISTAN
UPDATE:
KASHMIR
UPDATE: NEPAL
UPDATE: PAKISTAN
UPDATE: SRILANKA
*Election
pledges can bring peace but…, Dr. J. Perera, NPC, December 15,
2009
Hate
always start with making the other less human and that injustice is always
allowed to happen by people who of kind and good hearts who make the choice to
do nothing.
EDITORIAL
*Countering violence, promoting peace in South Asia, Pritam K. Rohila, Ph. D.
Growing intolerance, extremism, and violence in South Asia, but particularly in Pakistan, must be a source of great concern to all those who desire peace and prosperity in South Asia.
Just condemning these evils or arguing with their perpetrators will not help stem them. However justified, blaming foreign interventions, colonialism, inept governments, and unfair social structure will not work either. Participating in peace rallies and vigils, cross-border peace delegations and conferences will also be ineffective, since the major source of these threats lies within rather than from across our borders.
While our governments try to put out the wildfires of hate and violence which are engulfing our nations, peace workers need to urgently adopt a long-range, but sustained strategy to safeguard the rest of our assets and to protect the future our nations.
In each nation, we need to help build a culture of peace. We should train our children to become good members of their families, schools and neighborhoods, and good citizens of their countries. We should teach them respect for the rights of others, cooperative ways to solve problems, and the art of empathetic negotiation to settle difference. We should help them learn to respect for nonviolence, tolerance, harmony, peaceful coexistence.
ARTICLE OF THE MONTH
*Pakistan and India - the case for a common defence, Pervez Hoodbhoy, The Hindu, November 28, 2009 http://www.hindu.com/2009/11/28/stories/2009112855360800.htm
Pakistan's
foreign minister, Shah Mehmood Qureshi, says that Pakistan is "compiling
hard evidence of India's involvement" in terrorist attacks upon Pakistan's
public and its armed forces. If he, and the Interior Minister, are correct then
we must conclude that the Indians are psychotics
possessed with a death wish, or perhaps plain stupid. While India's assistance
for Baloch insurgents could conceivably make strategic sense, helping the
jihadists simply does not.
As Pakistan staggers from one bombing to the other, some Indians must be secretly pleased. Indeed, there are occasional verbalizations: Is this not sweet revenge for the horrors of Mumbai perpetrated by Lashkar-e-Taiba? Shouldn't India feel satisfaction as Pakistan reels from the stinging poison of its domestically reared snakes?
But most Indians are probably less than enthusiastic in stoking fires across the border. In fact, the majority would like to forget that Pakistan exists. With a 6% growth rate, booming hi-tech exports, and expectations of a semi-superpower status, they feel that India has no need to engage a struggling Pakistan with its endless litany of problems…
These
fringe elements, fortunately, are inconsequential today. Rational self-interest
demands that India not aid jihadists. Imagine the consequences if central
authority in Pakistan disappears or is sharply weakened. Splintered into a
hundred jihadist lashkars, each with its own agenda and tactics, Pakistan's
territory would become India's eternal nightmare. When Mumbai-II occurs - as it
surely would in such circumstances - India's options in dealing with nuclear
Pakistan would be
severely limited.
The Indian Army would be powerless. As the Americans have discovered at great cost, the mightiest war machines on earth cannot prevent holy warriors from crossing borders. Internal collaborators, recruited from a domestic Muslim population that feels itself alienated from Hindu-India, would connive with jihadists. Subsequently, as Indian forces retaliate against Muslims - innocent and otherwise - the action-reaction cycle would rip the country apart.
So, how can India protect itself from invaders across its western border and grave injury? Just as importantly, how can we in Pakistan assure that the fight against fanatics is not lost?
Let me make an apparently outrageous proposition: in the coming years, India's best protection is likely to come from its traditional enemy, the Pakistan Army. Therefore, India ought to now help, not fight, against it.
This
may sound preposterous. After all, the two countries have fought three and a
half wars over six decades. During periods of excessive tension, they have
growled at each other while meaningfully pointing towards their respective
nuclear arsenals. Most recently, after heightened
tensions following the Mumbai massacre, Pakistani troops were moved out from
NWFP towards the eastern border. Baitullah Mehsud's offer to jointly fight
India was welcomed by the Pakistan Army.
And yet, the imperative of mutual survival makes a common defense inevitable. Given the rapidly rising threat within Pakistan, the day for joint actions may not be very far away…
BOOKS
For some people in
India and Pakistan, Partition is destined to remain an obsession. This is
particularly true of Punjabis, who witnessed some of the worst horrors of that
event. In contrast, Partition was not quite so brutal in Bengal and perhaps
this is why it is not nearly as emotive an issue in that part of the country.
For most Punjabis, however, the dismemberment of the subcontinent remains a
huge historical event that cannot be easily forgotten. Not surprisingly, the
Partition has spawned a large body of literature, both fiction and historical.
Many a scholar and writer have made their careers by writing on this event.
Humanity Amidst Insanity: Hope During and After the Indo-Pak Partition purports
to be different in that it talks about "humanity’s triumph over our angry,
violent inner nature". The foreword by Professor Akbar Ahmed of the
American University in Washington DC, claims that the book is essential reading
for South Asians. "The Partition of India showed us some of the worst
sides of humanity but even in those dark days, the human spirit of compassion
remained resilient," writes Ahmed, commending the authors Tridivesh Singh
Maini, Tahir Malik and Ali Farooq Malik for providing an invaluable resource
that could "help bridge the growing gaps between cultures and religions in
the world today."….
*Jews and India:
Perception and Image, Yuila Egorova, Routledge,
2006, Hardcover, 150 Pages, ISBN-10 / ASIN: 0415400406,
ISBN-13 / EAN: 9780415400404
http://books.google.com/books?id=prjlaimETM0C&source=gbs_navlinks_s
This book explores the image of Jews in India in
the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, looking at
both the Indian attitudes towards the Jewish communities of the subcontinent
and at the way Jews and Judaism in general have been represented in Indian
discourse.
Despite the fact that the Indian Jewish population
constitutes one of the country's tiniest minorities, the relations of the local
Jews with other communities form an integral part in the history of Indian
multiculturalism. This has become increasingly apparent over the last two
centuries as Judaism and its image have been incorporated into the discussions
of some of the most prominent figures of different religious and nationalist movements, leaders of independent India,
and the Indian mass media. Furthermore, recent
decades witnessed mass adoption of Israelite identity by Indians from two
different regions and religious groups.
EVENTS
*February
7-17, 2010, Kathmandu, Nepal: PEACEBUILDING TRAINING AND EDUCATION for
SAARC Emerging Leaders is a short-term, concentrated training program to
be offered by CONTACT(Conflict Transformation Across Cultures) for emerging
leaders from around the world who are engaged in responding to conflict,
promoting social change, and building sustainable peace. Its goal is to
increase the capacity of South Asians in social, economic, and political peacebuilding,
thereby establishing collaborative cross-border relationships that will
contribute to sustainable peace and increased development.
Forty South
Asian students will be selected annually by application, based on their
position, work experience, educational background, English skills, reference,
and geographic location. We will seek a balance of men and women representing
all eight SAARC countries. Internationals who live and work in SAARC are also
invited to apply.
Application deadline for SAARC CONTACT is December 1, 2009. For application,
course description and schedule, fees, etc. please write to contactprogram@sit.edu
*September 27-October 1, 2010, Chandigarh, India: 5th INTERNATIONAL YOUTH PEACE FEST. To is to promote peace, equality and living in harmony with nature and to provide a platform for increased cross-fertilization of ideas through greater interaction among the young people, Yuvsatta, in cooperation with other organizations, is organizing this event, at the Peace City of Chandigarh. Around 10,000 (Ten Thousand) youngsters from around the world, and different states of India are expected to participate, many of whom will stay with a local yuth of the participant’s age and gender. Some of the things planned for this initiative are; A Peace Parade, Carnival games & Quiz Contests, Make and take crafts, Multi-cultural performances, Peace Talks & Peace Stalls, Face Painting & Photography contests, Film Shows & Music to UNITE, Deliberations on Environmental issues, Cricket for Peace, and One Sky One World Kite fly. Last date to register is July 30, 2010. Registration fee of Indian Rs. 100 is payable at the start of the Festival. For more information and to register, send your resume with details of your interest in promoting a culture of nonviolence to yuvsatta@gmail.com
EVENT REPORTS
*Nov 26, Varanasi, U.P. India: UP STATE PEACE CONVENTION. About 150 participants from various districts attended the Convention, which had been organized by the Center for Harmony and Peace and All India Secular Forum.
During the Convention, the speakers analyzed various aspects of communalism in UP and its impact on the society. Among the issues highlighted were that Communalism sought to further exclude and marginalize weaker sections of the society, including the dalits, adivasis, women, minorities and workers, that it was anti-democratic and against civil liberties, that it was against the Constitution, that it was against social justice and sought to privilege those born in upper class-upper caste, North India males from the cow belt and impose a certain identity on the entire society, that it was against diversity and pluralism, that it preached hatred against various sections of society, particularly the under privileged and minorities, that it promoted sectarianism and promoted primordial identities.
Also
Irfan Engineer delivered a lecture on “My perception of the Muslim Community in
India” at Vishwa Jyoti seminary (Gurukul, Christ Nagar) n November 26, and
another on “Communalsim and Threat to Democracy”, at Junior College on November
27. Contributed by Dr. Mohammad Arif arif.vns@rediffmail.com
*Oct 2, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India: PEACE PLEDGE. “I
shall endeavor to resolve all differences hrough dialogue and constitutional
means and I shall strive to establish WORLD-PEACE…”, about 1,460 students of
N.S.S. Unit, from 76 colleges of University of Mumbai joined hands with the
millions of people all over the world and took the PLEDGE on 2nd October -
International Non-Violence Day…Students carrying play-cards and banners
depicting slogans like ‘No More Violence, Peace is our Mission’ marched from
Churchgate & CST stations and gathered at the Convocation Hall, University
of Mumbai, Fort Campus…
Contributed by info@mkgandhi.org
*Oct 2, Chandigarh, India: GANDHI’S AUTOBIOGRAPHY REFORMING JAIL INMATES. The
impact of Mahatama Gandhi’s philosophy came to the fore in a most unexpected
place-the Model Jail, Burail, when last year around 200 inmates came forward to
take part in an innovative Gandhi Peace Exam. Today, international day of
nonviolence and Gandhi Jayanti marked a new beginning for fifty inmates who got
themselves enrolled for the new batch which started today… Motivational to the
core, the programme christened as ‘Gandhi Peace Exam’ unique by all standards is designed by
Yuvsatta (an NGO) in collaboration with Chandigarh Prisons Department and
Bombay Sarvodaya Mandal, which is also instrumental in spreading this programme
in almost all Jails of Maharashtra… Contributed by Pramod Sharma yuvsatta@gmail.com
*Sep
27-Oct 1, Chandigarh, India: 4TH PEACE FESTIVAL. 500 youth from
10 countries participated in this festival. Watch a video report at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrB7f6-vSdI Contributed
by Pramod Sharma yuvsatta@gmail.com
*Sept
21, Toba Tek Singh, Punjab, Pakistan: INTERNATIONAL
DAY OF PEACE CELEBRATION. Parish Council at Catholic Church, Toba Tek Singh
organized program to mark International day of Peace. Schools, youth groups and
people of all sections of life attended the Holy Mass. A student from St.
Peter’s High School gave the introduction of peace day and its importance in
today’s world. Mrs. Asia Khan shared the peace issues confronting nationally
and internationally and how the world is being affected and the need of peace
in our day to day life. Pawon Ghosh a student of convent of Jesus & Mary
recited a poem on “Peace” Fr. Simon Khurshid thanked all those who made the
program a success and stressed the people to pray for the Muslims when they are
celebrating their festival of Ramadan. He shared the pace message of Pope John
Paul II “Peace is Possible, To Reach Peace, Teach Peace” Ashfaq Fateh shared
the petition on the International Day of peace and asked people to sign the
petition with their finger prints after the mass. Pictures at http://picasaweb.google.com/ashfaq.fateh/PeaceDay2009?feat=email#
Report by Ashfaq Fateh ashfaq.fateh@gmail.com
*Sept
21, Toba Tek Singh, Punjab, Pakistan: APP PEACE DAY. As per
declaration of UN and by the efforts of Association
for Peace and Prosperity peace day was observed in Toba Tek Singh at St.
Peter High School on 21 st September, 09. About 100 representatives of
different NGOs, Civil Society, Christian and Muslim ladies and gents
participated in this Seminar. It started with recitations from the Holy Quran
and the Holy Bible. Speakers talked about the importance of peace
and religious tolerance. An interactive
theater highlighted the issue of peace and Pak-India Friendship. At the end the participants
unanimously approved the resolution: "We demand to Government to form local
peace committees at grassroots level in order to create harmony among the
people. The Governments of India and Pakistan should promote peace and visa
process should be relaxed for the people of both countries." Report by Azra Roohi contact_app@yahoo.com
JOBS, INTERNSHIPS & VOLUNTEER PROGRAMS (FOR THE COMMON
GOOD) *http://www.graduationpledge.org/jobs.html
MEMBERS’ CORNER
*Dr. Lenin Raghuvanshi (pvchr.india@gmail.com) participated in the Asian Folk School organized by May 18
Foundation at Gwangju, South Korea.
Also, he co-authored the article "Testimonial therapy -A pilot project to improve psychological wellbeing among survivors of torture of India" published in this year’s No. 3 of volume 19 of the Journal on Rehabilitation of Torture Victims and Prevention of Torture. It can be viewed at http://www.irct.org/library/torture-journal/latest-issue.aspx
*Suzanne Olsson
(suzanne.olsson@yahoo.com) attended the 10th
Annual Kashmir Peace Conference at Washington DC in July.
PEACE & HARMONY NEWS FROM
INDIA & PAKISTAN
*http://groups.yahoo.com/group/IndiaPakistanPeaceDay/
PEACE & HARMONY NEWS FROM
SOUTH ASIA
*http://groups.google.com/group/peace--harmony-news-from-south-asia
UPDATE: KASHMIR
*http://groups.yahoo.com/group/KashmirSolutionsForum/
*www.drshabirchoudhry.blogspot.com
*http://kashmirforumorg.blogspot.com/
UPDATE: NEPAL
*http://www.nepalasiacenter.com/
UPDATE: PAKISTAN
UPDATE: SRILANKA
*Election pledges cab bring peace but
need to be implemented, Dr. Jehan Perera, NPC, December 15, 2009
Sri Lanka faces Presidential elections on January 26, 2009. As in the
case of previous Presidential elections and since the first in 1982, this will
be a momentous election fraught with possibilities of extreme violence and a
change in direction of the country. The total military defeat of the Tamil
insurgent movement in May 2009 has finally freed the country from large scale
armed rebellion for the first time since the mid 1970s. But the
accusations being levelled against each other by the contesting candidates
reveal the extent of the violence and impunity that has existed…