Association for Communal Harmony in Asia (ACHA)
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Peace & Harmony Stories from South Asia

For the last many years, we have been featuring peace & harmony news in the ACHA Peace Bulletin, our monthly electronic newsletter. Also, from time to time, we publicize them through our electronic discussion forums namely, Asiapeace, Kashmir Solutions Forum, and India Pakistan Peace Day.

We strongly believe that these stories help us counter the myths about the prevalence of conflict propagated by the popular media. These myths in turn help engender a climate suitable for growth of discrimination, hatred and violence against people.

In this spirit, with the help of Dr. Ingrid Shafer, our Director of Communications Systems, we have decided to create this special section for these stories on our website asipaeace.org.

Best wishes,

Pritam Rohila, Ph. D.

Executive Director

asiapeace@comcast.net

CONTENTS (most recent first)

*Peace celebrations amidst fighting BBC |Friday, September 22,2006

*LoC stands between Kashmiri couple THE HINDU |Sunday, August 20,2006

*Pen, books replace guns THE KATHMANDU POST Thursday, August 10,2006

*Hindus & Muslims pray together for victims of Mumbai blasts, India West, July 28, 2006

*Cross-religion kidney-swap, Times of India/India West, June 23, 2006

*Thousands gather at Chambilyal mela THE HINDU |Friday, June 23,2006

*Kashmiri toddler reunited with relatives, THE HINDU | Tuesday, June 06,2006

*Muslims & Hindu pilgrimage site of Amarnath (From “Five lakh expected at Amarnath Yatra” by Anil Bhatt,

*Lessons in harmony, the Bengal madrasa way, Reuters Posted online: Tuesday, April 04, 2006 at 1127 hours IST (Via Yogi Sikand)

*Beyond the religious divide, Luv Puri, The Hindu, March 19, 2006

*Warp And Weft Of Harmony, Outlook, March 20, 2006 (Via IMC-USA Weekly News Digest - March 15th, 2006)

*Jodhpur Muslims Look After Cows, Nurture communal Harmony and Build a Future for Themselves, Islamic Voice, March 2006 (Via IMC-USA Weekly News Digest - March 15th, 2006)

*Madrasas start classes on patriotism Deccan Chronicle, Friday, March 17,2006

*Pakistani businessmen celebrate Holi with gusto, Times of India, Wednesday, March 15, 2006

*Hindu-Muslim Muharram Procession, India West, February 17, 2006

*A Varanasi Madarsa seeks to impart modern education, Girish Kumar Dubey, New Kerala, January 26, 2006

*Brides to steal show at police station, Times of India, Jan. 28 2006

*With love, from India to Pakistan, Sumit Bhattacharya, Rediff.com, January 11, 2006

School children hold placards during a peace march to mark the International Day of Peace in New Delhi. South Asia Media Net www.southasiamedia.net September 22, 2006

*Peace celebrations amidst fighting BBC |Friday, September 22,2006 http://www.southasianmedia.net/index_story.cfm?id=326948&category=Frontend&Country=SRI%20LANKA

COLOMBO: Air Force jets bombed suspected LTTE targets in the North even as the country marked the international day of peace with demonstrations calling for an end to war. Rallies, drama performances and educational sessions, songs and prayers were held to mark the day of peace on Thursday. The Ministry of Education organised peace kite activities for students in Vavuniya and model parliament in Batticaloa to discuss coexistence.
"Children overwhelmingly believe that peace is good for Sri Lanka. And this is an open invitation for all children", said Dr. James Williams, Country director of the Lutheran World Relief. The National Peace Council of Sri Lanka said that due to the contested nature of many of the human rights abuse taking place at this time an independent mechanism to investigate human rights violations is imperative.
Statement issued by the Peace Secretary of the Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) said, ‘Tamils of Northeast are yearning for peace that is permanent, just and dignified.’
Eight religious leaders were honoured with peace awards for their outstanding contribution to peace in Sri Lanka in ceremony held at the Bandaranaike Memorial International Commemoration Hall (BMICH) in Colombo.
Speaking at the Peace Chanting held at the BMICH Deputy Minister of Ports and Aviation Dilan Perera said. “Race issues cannot be sorted with the war, we must begin peace talks”.
*W Bengal shares madarsa reforms with Pak INDIAN EXPRESS |Friday, September 22,2006 http://www.southasianmedia.net/index_story.cfm?id=326961&category=Frontend&Country=MAIN
NEW DELHI: A ‘socialist society,’ enrolment of girls, professional management, sufficient funds - here are some tips on madarsa reforms from the West Bengal Government to Pakistan.

Pakistan wanted the West Bengal Government to “share” the details of its success (12 per cent of the students in madarsas in the state are non-Muslims) in madarsa education to dispel the “negative impression” that these institutions are the “breeding ground” for terrorism. The state government’s reply, detailing the madarsa model, has been sent to the Ministry of External Affairs to be passed on to Pakistan.

The West Bengal Government says that the “socialist nature of the society”, where children from non-Muslim communities too attend madarsas, is one of the reasons for its success. The appointment of teachers are done through the Schools Service Commission, the government agency that hires teachers for secondary and higher secondary-level schools across the state, to ensure that there is no dilution of quality. “We just say while advertising for the posts for madarsa teachers that teachers should have knowledge of Islam and its culture,” explains Abdul Sattar, West Bengal’s Minister of State, Minorities Development & Welfare and Madarsa Education.

Another reason is that almost all of them are co-ed madarsas and the enrollment of girls is as high as 65 per cent. Regarding the syllabus, the government says it has ensured quality and progressiveness. Also, the West Bengal Madarsa Board is the only such board on the Council of Boards for School Education in India. West Bengal also emphasises that its spend on madarsas has been quite high, an annual budget of Rs 130 crore.

In July, the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi had written to the West Bengal government seeking details of its madrasa model. Later, the same request came from the Pakistan Foreign Ministry, too, confirms Sattar.

The letter from Md Khalil Jamali, first secretary, political in Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi, also mentioned the efforts undertaken by Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf to change the negative image of madarsas.

*LoC stands between Kashmiri couple THE HINDU |Sunday, August 20, 2006

JALLAS (Poonch): Barkat Bi, in her 70s, lives in the frontier area of Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir and continues to wait for her husband Niaz Mohammad, who lives in the Hajeera area of Pakistan-administered Kashmir, just one km away from this village, which till recently was situated in the danger zone because of shelling from across the LoC.

The couple got separated during the 1965 war. After the war, Niaz Mohammad found himself on the other side of the ceasefire line, later termed LoC.

The separation was profound as there was no means of communication between the two sides of the LoC. Telephone lines were snapped between the two areas.

But as movement of civilians started on both sides, following the peace process between India and Pakistan, a link was established.

She now has a ray of hope. She has applied to go across the LoC to meet her husband.

"Emotionally together"

"We got married after falling in love. It was this feeling of love and affection that could not separate us emotionally though we are separated physically.

"There is no way I could forget him, as it was a marriage of love and not marriage of convenience. Peace between the two countries is not just a word for us.

"It is difference between life and death," says Barkat Bi.

TEHRATHUM: Yogmaya Kattuwal, 17, no longer carries a gun and bullets. Instead, she is seen carrying pens and books these days. Until three years ago, Yogmaya, from Lisibung, Sankranti Bazaar-5, was pulling the trigger of a gun instead of reading and writing.

She spent two-and-a-half years with Maoists and then was in army custody for eleven months. She was released from army custody in Biratnagar some eight months ago with the initiative of the Advocacy Forum that had filed a writ against her detention as she was only 16 at that time.

Yogmaya has experienced three battles, in Ilam, Pashupatinagar and Bhojpur. But Yogmaya was always unsure of what or who she was fighting for. Yogmaya does not believe in Maoism. She was abducted by Maoists, along with her friends, on February 26, 2003. The rest were sent back while Yogmaya was given guerilla training and enlisted in the People's Liberation Army.

While leafing through pages of books, Yogmaya compares her life as a student, a guerilla and a prisoner. Raised in the hills, she was unhappy when taken by the Maoists at the age of 14. "I hear that Maoists these days give a monthly salary of five hundred rupees. That was not the case when I was with them," she said. "We had to be in combat dresses everyday. But the dresses were torn. We had to walk on empty stomachs. However, since everyone was in a similar condition, we didn't feel the pain," she reminisced. "Our commander was named Sangharsha. He was a Magar. We used to carry mines and bombs with us." She had been told that after being released from prison, Maoists would pressure her to continue with them. That has happened. But she has been declining. Yogmaya lives with her father, mother and a younger sister.

In India’s secular tradition, a Muslim woman joins a Hindu in prayer for the victims of July 11 train blasts in Mumbai.

*Cross-religion kidney-swap, Times of India/India West, June 23, 2006

MUMBAI: the Bhanushali and Mohammed families first met in the dialysis room of a hospital. They first swapped stories and then kidneys in what is probably India’s first successful kidney swap.

On June 8m Dayal Bhanushali, a businessman, received a kidney from Nay employee Sayeed Mohammed - but with a friendly rider that his wife Dhamyanti would donate one of her kidneys to Mohammed’s wife Shameem.

This Hindu-Muslim swap story is India’s second attempt at cross-kidney donation. The earlier attempt in Chandigarh in April 2004 ended in tragedy.

The four operations - two retrievals and two transplants - took place at Jaslok Hospital on June 8. A week later, the four-some was euphoric “This is a new life for me and my family,” gushed Shameem.

“I have never felt better,” said Bhanushali

*Thousands gather at Chambilyal mela THE HINDU |Friday, June 23,2006 http://www.southasianmedia.net/index_story.cfm?id=304176&category=Frontend&Country=MAIN

CHAMBLIYAL (India-Pak International Border) : The man-made boundary between India and Pakistan on Thursday lost its importance momentarily as the famous Chambilyal mela symbolising the common cultural heritage of the two countries was celebrated with equal vigour and enthusiasm on both sides of the border.

Thousands gathered on each side to participate in the mela celebrated for the 317th time in history. The rush at the fair, which is an annual affair, reflected the popular urge for peace on both sides. As is the tradition, the Pakistan Rangers led by Commandant Najib reached the Indian side with few civilians to collect shakar (soil). It is known to have medicinal value and it is believed that the soil is holy and can cure skin diseases.
The scheduled half an hour ceremony went on for an hour. It was Punjabi diplomacy all the way as commanders of the Border Security Forces and the Pakistan Rangers struck an immediate rapport. Instead of Urdu or Hindustani, Punjabi was the lingua franca of the two commanders as they exchanged greetings. At 9.30 a.m.(IST), Border Security Force Deputy Inspector General G.S. Virk from Punjab welcomed his counterpart Commandant Najib, a 1947 migrant from Jallundar. Najib said, "The huge rush on our side to participate in the mela is a direct consequence of the ongoing peace process between the two countries. As per our estimates more than 90,000 people have gathered from all parts of Pakistan."
Many Pakistani civilians accompanied the Pakistan rangers to celebrate the mela on this side of the border.
Mohammad Akram, a 24-year-old student, had come all the way from Lahore to take part.
"My uncle who is a Wing commander in the Pakistan Rangers invited me to join the mela. I think the love and affection I received from this side has touched me. The visit was worth it," he said.
The fact that officers of Pakistan rangers got their children along to participate in the mela was a pointer to improving relations between the BSF and Pakistan Rangers.

Braving heat, people in the Pakistani village of Saidanwali, about 100 metres from here waited for mud and water from the shrine.
Soil and water handed over by BSF men to Pakistan Rangers of the Chenab regiment was distributed to people on the other side.

*Kashmiri toddler reunited with relatives, THE HINDU | Tuesday, June 06,2006
http://www.southasianmedia.net/index_story.cfm?id=299766&category=Frontend&Country=MAIN

SRINAGAR: Movez Ishaq Bhat, a two-year-old toddler who was orphaned in the devastating earthquake in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) on October 8 last and granted Indian citizenship on Friday, holds the hands of his uncles and asks them to take him to a mosque every time a "muezzin" calls for prayers.
One of his uncles, Mohammad Yousuf, told UNI that Movez only goes to a person having a beard as his father used to sport one. ``He doesn't mingle with other people. Most of the time he is with me.''
The child was rescued after more than seven hours from the rubble of his Muzaffarabad house, where his parents were buried alive after the earthquake struck on both sides of the Line of Control (LoC) killing thousands of people and rendering millions homeless.

His four-year-old brother, Sudes Ishaq Bhat, also survived the temblor as he was in school then.
The authorities handed over the children to their maternal uncle, Jamil Rahman, who got Sudes admitted to a school in Rawalpindi and took care of Movez.

While Sudes has a valid Indian passport, Movez was born in Muzaffarabad and did not posses any documents and hence the confusion over his nationality.

Their grandfather, Abdul Ahad Bhat, soon after the earthquake went across the LoC to enquire about the two children and he later applied for the Indian passport or travel documents for Movez in a move to get them back to Srinagar.
Ahad spent the past three months in Pakistan trying to organise the Indian passport for Movez.

High Commission gesture

After a long wait, 75-year-old Ahad decided to take Movez to India armed with a no-objection certificate issued by the Pakistani authorities and without the requisite travel documents on Friday.

But, as he along with the grandchildren reached Wagah to cross the border, the Indian High Commission in Islamabad, in a humanitarian gesture, decided to grant the Indian passport to Movez so that he could travel to Srinagar.
The three then returned to Srinagar on Saturday. |

Movez's father, Mohammad Ishaq Bhat, is from Jammu and Kashmir, but settled in Muzaffarabad, the capital of PoK, more than a decade ago. Ishaq married Fatima from Anantnag district in Jammu and Kashmir. The couple lived in Muzaffarabad and Fatima decided to retain her Indian nationality.

*Muslims & Hindu pilgrimage site of Amarnath (From “Five lakh expected at Amarnath Yatra” by Anil Bhatt, Rediff.com, June 13, 2006)

At this incredible shrine, the image of Shiva, in the form of a lingam, is formed naturally of an ice-stalagmite, which waxes and wanes with the moon. By its side are, fascinatingly, two more ice-lingams, that of Parvati, and of their son, Ganesha.

According to an ancient tale, there was once a Muslim shepherd named Buta Malik who was given a sack of coal by a sadhu (hermit). On reaching home, he discovered that the sack, in fact, contained gold, overjoyed and overcome, he rushed back to look for the sadhu and thank him, but on the spot of their meeting he found a cave.
Eventually this cave became a place of pilgrimage for all believers. To date, a percentage of the donations made by pilgrims are given to the descendants of Malik, and the remaining to the trust, which manages the shrine.

Kolkata, April 4: Schoolgirl Julita Oraon, a devout Christian, never misses Sunday mass, but the rest of her week is spent studying Arabic and Sufi literature among other subjects at an Islamic religious school, or madrasa.

Oraon is one of tens of thousands of Hindu and Christian students in West Bengal now attending such schools, considered breeding grounds for religious intolerance and even terrorism in much of Asia.
In this part of India, madrasas are emerging as beacons of tolerance. A quarter of West Bengal's population of 80 million, are Muslims and one percent are Christians.

In the wake of violence in the 1960s and 70s after the creation of Bangladesh, officials moved to reform West Bengal's schools and especially its madrasas.

In 1977, they started reviewing the Islamic schools, introducing history and social science to the staple of Koranic study.

And after 2002, on the recommendation of a specially appointed committee, students had to study science, geography and computing. There are plans for foreign languages soon.

The changes have been credited with bringing about a change in the social outlook of the state's various faiths, and have attracted both teachers and students from other religions to the madrasas. School boards have recruited non-Muslims in a bid to find the best tutors for their students.

Now about 25 per cent of the 400,000 students who attend madrasas, and 15 percent of their 10,000 teachers, are non-Muslims, officials say. "In the 1970s, the mistrust grew and Muslims were thought to be friends of Pakistan and mostly spies," says Ahmed Hasan Imran, the general secretary of the Muslim Council of Bengal. "But that perception gradually changed with the reforms in the madrasas as well as other education institutes."

Getting along

Swapan Pramanik, a leading sociologist and vice-chancellor of Vidya Sagar University in Kolkata, agrees that the reforms have helped bridge the divide.

"The conservative outlook of the Muslims as well as Hindus have changed," he says. "The changes have rubbed off on parents and whole communities, who have been able to spread the message of harmony."

The reforms have saved lives, experts say.

After the Ayodhya incident in 1992 much of India was wracked by deadly communal riots. But in Bengal students from madrasas, both Muslims and Hindus, led processions denouncing the demolition, Imran says.

In the aftermath of the Gujarat riots a decade later, Bengal's Hindus, Christians and Muslims were quick to meet to ensure passions were cooled. The state government offered riot victims the chance to come and settle in West Bengal.

"People find it difficult to believe, but our madrasas ... are reflecting modern aspirations and expectations of the community irrespective of religion," Kanti Biswas, the state's education minister, told Reuters.
"We had carefully planned the madrasa reforms to make young minds understand the values of religious tolerance and it is finally paying off."

Top of the class

In Jalpaiguri district, about 500 km north of Kolkata, 14-year-old Julita is posting higher marks in Arabic tests than her Muslim classmates at the Badaitari Ujiria Madrasa.

"I like the subject very much and that fact that I am a Christian has never been a problem with my Muslim friends."

Tapas Layek, the Hindu headmaster of a madrasa in south Kolkata has several co-religionists as colleagues. "We are loved and respected by our Muslim students who are also friendly with their Hindu classmates," he said.

Bengali Muslim scholars say that the view that madrasas are simply Islamic finishing schools is a corruption of their traditional role.

"Our madrasas are the perfect examples of what such institutes should really be," said Dr. Mohammed Sahidullah at Calcutta University.

Renowned Bengali filmmaker Mrinal Sen, a former jury member at the Cannes festival, said the state's experiment should be copied across the country.

"I can't help but be amazed at the way some of these religious schools are working towards communal harmony," he said.

Officials from other states -- including Maharashtra and Rajasthan – have come to West Bengal to see the impact of the changes for themselves, said education minister Biswas.

"The perception of the respective communities about different culture and religion has helped residents of West Bengal to bridge the gulf of mistrust and come together," said sociologist Pramanik. "This has been a significant development in madrasas for the entire world to see."

*Beyond the religious divide, Luv Puri, The Hindu, March 19, 2006
http://www.hindu.com/mag/2006/03/19/stories/2006031900030200.htm

AFTER his visit to India in 2000, Bill Clinton termed the Jammu and Kashmir issue as a Hindu-Muslim problem. He is not alone in having such notions, as if there are neat divisions between the people belonging to two different religions. But what makes such ideas irrelevant are the friendship and even blood relationships that exist across religions, especially in an area, which is known as the breeding ground for Islamist terror outfits.

Historic journey

The recent earthquake in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK) demonstrated the umbilical bonds that exist in spite of religion. It brought nervous moments for the family of Joginder Singh, a Sikh living in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K). He had an elder brother living across the Line of Control and from whom they had got separated in the Bagh district of PoK in 1947. For five decades the Line of Control had been an iron wall, as there had been no information about him.

I joined Joginder in a historic journey across the Line of Control to locate his Muslim brother living in the Bagh district of PoK. After two days of looking around on the basis of the sketchy address given by his mother, Joginder found his brother's family in Mang Bajri village, in Bagh tehsil. His brother Sheikh Nazir spotted Joginder at the Bagh bus stand where he was enquiring about his brother. The two brothers, now belonging to two different religions, met for the first time and the Sikh was hosted as a guest of the Muslim district.

Not an isolated case

Joginder's case is not an isolated one. There are many Muslim families in PoK who have either Hindu or Sikh blood relations in J&K. I met Mohammad Hussain, a resident of Rawalkot, who is anxious to meet his uncle Mian Singh (80), a Hindu living in J&K as the two have not met each other in the last 58 years. Yet another Muslim family in the Barmoch area of Kotli district is anxious to meet their Hindu relatives living in Rajouri area. In 1947, three Hindu families stayed back in PoK but had to convert to Islam during the worst communal riots that the Indian subcontinent had seen.

Sheikh Sikandar, who is the son of Jivan Baksh (a Hindu) says, "My aunt (father's sister) Sitto lives in Nowshera area (in J&K). The last time we heard from her was a decade back when she had sent a Rakhi for my father." Showkat Hayat (52), a resident of Hari Gyal area of Bagh district of PoK wants to meet his mother Seva Kour, a Sikh lady who lives in J&K.

The neo-converts in PoK are called Sheikhs. But to say that there is any discrimination of any kind against them in PoK would be wrong. Habib-ul-Rehman, Deputy Director Social Welfare Department can be cited as an example and he is one of the senior-most officials in administrative machinery of PoK government. His father was a Hindu and got converted to Islam during the 1947 riots. Mr. Rehman says, "Initially it was difficult for my father to face the circumstances as his entire family had left but then he developed new contacts. Anyhow the longing still exists to meet our Hindu relatives."

This longing, to meet people of other religions, is not limited to persons who have relatives in J&K. Manzoor Ahmed (77), a resident of Mirpur city of PoK, longs to meet his friend's family living in the Transport Nagar area of J&K. In 1995, he had got the visa to meet his friend Sukhdev Singh. But at the last moment had to cancel the programme for other reasons. Manzoor shows me the gift, still preserved, which he wants to personally present to his friend's family members. He says, "I cannot forget the fact that it was my Sikh friend who saved my life at the risk of his own when mobs almost lynched my family in 1947-48 at Jammu city. I am alive today because of him."

Locals in Kotli district handed me a list of long-separated Hindu friends who are presently living in different parts of India and asked me to request them on their behalf to come to their native places as their guests.

As the craving to meet each other strengthens among the people of different religions on both sides of Line of Control, it clearly demonstrates that there are no neat religious divisions, which exist in any society, not even in PoK. Irrespective of religion, the threads of a common culture, language and other micro identities have proved to be a great bonding force.

*Warp And Weft Of Harmony, Outlook, March 20, 2006 (Via IMC-USA Weekly News Digest - March 15th, 2006)
http://www.outlookindia.com/full.asp?fodname=20060320&fname=Cover+Story&sid=3

Talk to anyone in Varanasi today and ask them to explain why the bomb blasts of March 6 did not produce a communal backlash: the answer is simple—commerce, in the shape of the exquisite Benarasi silk sari which binds together the lives and livelihood of more than 5,00, 000 weavers, dyers, sari polishers and traders in and around Varanasi. Indeed, the fact that a majority of Hindus and Muslims here are engaged in some form or other in the silk trade has created a unique economic interdependency, a guarantee for non-violence, especially after the communal riots in 1992-93 that followed the destruction of the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya resulted in four days of curfew and huge economic losses. So, as one drives through the crowded localities housing the makeshift factories on the morning of March 8—less than 48 hours after terror struck the city—you hear the looms humming again, signalling a return to normal life....

The policeman even alleges that the primary reason why the Mufti of the Gyan Vapi Mosque and the Mahant of the Kashi Vishwanath Temple jointly formed a communal harmony platform in 2005 was to protect the common business and livelihood of the two communities. And he may not be far from the truth.

Sitting in the office of the Madrasa Yatimkhana Mazhar-uloom, the young mufti of the Gyan Vapi Mosque begins by talking about the essential "humanity" and "tolerance" of the Benarasis and the sacredness of this holy city of Hindus with which Muslims—who account for a third of the population— have been associated for long. Then effortlessly, he segues into talk of trade, "The two communities have to work together for the success of the silk business." After all, he emphasises, using a metaphor from weaving—"Yeh to taana baana ka rishta hain (The two communities are bound together like the warp and weft)."...

The Benarasi silk business—the mainstay of the economy of this region, with a turnover of about Rs 100 crore a year—is already under threat from the cheap Chinese silk imports that began in 1995. Hindus and Muslims involved in the production and trade of these magical lengths of prized silk— eulogised in the scriptures of both Hindus and Buddhists, emerging as an art form during the Mughal period in the 16th century and still in great demand during the festive seasons and marriages—can’t afford to allow violence to deal their livelihood a further blow.

*Jodhpur Muslims Look After Cows, Nurture communal Harmony and Build a Future for Themselves, Islamic Voice, March 2006 (Via IMC-USA Weekly News Digest - March 15th, 2006)
http://www.islamicvoice.com/March2006/CommunityInitiative/index.php#JodhpurMuslimsBuildaFutureforThemselves

Marwar region of Rajasthan harbours a good number of Marwari Muslims who share their culture and language with Hindus and Jains. However, they live in anonymity, almost.

Jodhpur in Rajasthan was led by a dynasty of visionary Rajas. It was Raja Umaid Singhji who realising the weak status of Muslims, patronised the foundation of Marwar Muslim Educational Society in 1929. A school exclusively for Muslim students was set up under its aegis in the City of Jodhpur….Led by a band of visionary and very pragmatic individuals, the Society’s institutions now have over 3,000 boys and girls studying under its various institutions….

The people at the helms of the Society have not been oblivious of nurturing Hindu-Muslim harmony too. Though Jodhpur had always remained a cradle of social harmony, the Society got into the pro-active mode and set up the Adarsh Muslim Gaushala (asylum for cows) in the outskirts of the city. It now shelters about 100 heads of sick, old and invalid cows. While most cities in Rajasthan have a large army of roaming cows and ban on their slaughter being strictly implemented, Marwari Muslim Society has emerged as the protector of cows. They have even appointed a veterinary doctor and other staff to take good care of the cattle. The Gaushala even takes cow-care mobile clinics to surrounding villages too.

*Madrasas start classes on patriotism Deccan Chronicle |Friday, March 17,2006
http://www.southasianmedia.net/index_story.cfm?id=278313&category=Frontend&Country=INDIA

HYDERABAD: Darul Uloom Nomania and Madarasa Anwarul Uloom Latifiya in Hyderabad and Darul Uloom in Jedcherla have decided to teach Muslim youth, in more than 100 madrasas in the State, lessons in patriotism to prevent them from falling prey to the designs of terror networks. Also subjects on ‘peace, brotherhood and social service’ have also been introduced. The 135-year-old Jamia Nizamia has taken the lead by making ‘patriotism’ a compulsory subject in the Alim training course.

“There is a saying of the Holy Prophet that love of one’s country is part of Islamic faith,” said Moulana Anwar. “We are teaching students about friendship, kindheartedness and helping the poor.” “Our curriculum is focused on love for fellow human beings and animals,” said Board secretary Muhammad Rahimuddin Ansari, who runs the famous Jamia Islamia Darul Uloom.

*Pakistani businessmen celebrate Holi with gusto, Times of India, Wednesday, March 15, 2006
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1449989.cms

NEW DELHI: Shrugging off an incessant drizzle and a bone-chilling breeze, a group of Pakistani businessmen in New Delhi boisterously celebrated Holi, the Indian festival of colours, in one more confidence building measure among the once-warring neighbours.

"This just proves that we are brothers separated by our governments," said a beaming Islamabad-based textile exporter Habib Ullah at the ‘Holi Milan’ function organised on Tuesday night by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI).

The Pakistani group was here for a FICCI-conducted workshop on "SAFTA - Opportunities and Challenges". SAFTA is the South Asian Free Trade Area.

"Holi is celebrated in Pakistan in a limited manner but this is the first time I understand what it is all about. I'll do something about this when I get back home," gushed Faheem Khan Jogezai, who claimed to be from Quetta in Balochistan but had distinct Kashmiri features.

Jogezai's response was understandable. From the time the Pakistani delegation walked into the marquee where the function was held, they were made to feel perfectly at home.

A hostess applied a vermilion mark on their foreheads while others showered rose petals and placed scarves around their necks - an a local ensemble belted out the Bollywood hit ‘I Love My India’ and something that sounded like a takeoff on ‘For A Few Dollars More’.

This served to break the ice and the Pakistani delegation and FICCI officials exuberantly went around hurling dry colour at each other shouting "Holi Hai" and "India-Pakistan friendship zindabad" like a bunch of schoolchildren.

Then everyone moved on to the stage, prompting FICCI secretary-general Amit Mitra to remark: "This stage is small but our hearts are big".

Singer Bhagwati Kishore came on with a rousing version of "Rang Barse" from the Bollywood hit "Silsila" that has come to epitomise the Holi spirit and ‘Yeh Dosti’ from the film ‘Sholay’ that really brought the house down Kishore's wife Nikita joined in with a peppy version of ‘Damadam Mast Kalandar’ that epitomises the essence of Sufi music as it salutes both Ali and the Sindhi saint Jhulelal that had the audience clapping along to its foot tapping music.

There was a brief break as the portly Jameel Magoon, senior vice president of the SAARC Chamber made an appropriately late entrance and then the festivities resumed.

Four-year-old Ayushi's solo dance dressed as a fairy in white and a heart-stopping performance by Sohan Lal Toofani balancing 19 earthen pots on his head while dancing on a bed of nails rounded off the evening.

It was then time to plunge into the delectable street food the organisers had lined up and even though there was a bar at hand, most the visitors chose to give it the miss.

"This is a historic occasion," declared Mitra. "SAFTA will one day integrate South Asia," he added.

*Hindu-Muslim Muharram Procession, India West, February 17, 2006

KADEGAON, Maharashtra (PTI): Hindus and Muslims took out a joint procession to mark Muharram here in Sangli district February 9. The Muslim festival was marked peacefully all over India. (see attached picture)

*A Varanasi Madarsa seeks to impart modern education, Girish Kumar Dubey, New Kerala, January 26, 2006 http://newkerala.com/news.php?action=fullnews&id=95369

Varanasi: Madarsas, or the Islamic schools, have long been known for their religious syllabus around the world. But, a Madarsa in Varanasi , is offering lessons in patriotism and modern education to its students.

As India celebrates its 57th Republic Day, the loud voice of students in a Madarsa singing “Sare Jahan Se Achha” and “Vande Matram” makes one stop for a moment and take notice of the transformation taking place in the modern India.

“The best thing about this place is that members of both communities—Muslim and Hindu—are taking care of this Madarsa. Kids are being taught here about social and communal harmony,” says Dr. Rajni Kant, Director, Human Welfare Association.

This Madarsa intends to prepare students who are able to compete with students of other schools of the country. Thus, it is not only teaching students national songs but also giving them modern education.

Interestingly, Hindus and Muslims are together running this Madarsa. Guardians are happy with the concept of Madarsa and they are confident that one day their kids will set an example to others.

“Our concentration is on to give modern education to children, according to the norms set by the Central and Uttar Pradesh Government. We want our children to become like A.P.J Abdul Kalam, who first became a scientist and then the President of the country, “says Mohammad Shakir Hussain, a parent.

“I wish to become a Doctor and want to serve my country. I have seen people dying of deadly diseases, I want to cure them,” says Soni Bano, a student.

Madarasas are traditional educational institutions for the children of Muslims, especially for the poor children who can not afford to go to other schools.

But, in general, the main problem with Madarasa education has been that the students of these institutions cannot compete for mainstream jobs due to their obsolete study curriculum. All they can do is to aspire for jobs of imams and clerks in Wakf-run bodies.

*Brides to steal show at police station, Times of India, Jan. 28 2006
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1390737.cms

Rumana Sheikh (20) is excited. She will say 'kubool hai' on Monday at a place she could never have imagined — the Dariapur police station. Sheikh is no criminal.

But a critical part of the confidencebuilding measure taken up by the Dariapur cops in a desperate bid to refurbish the police image after the post-Godhra riots.

Sheikh and 19 other Hindu and Muslim women from underprivileged families of the locality will exchange vows with boys from their respective communities inside the Dariapur police station, which has been decked up as a wedding mandap for the Hindu and Islamic rituals.

..."The whole function is organised as a step to ease tension between the two communities," said Dariapur police inspector VD Vanaar who has donated Rs 11,000.

...Says Sheikh, "During riots many houses in my locality were set on fire and somehow it felt that police are not doing its duty. But today I might not have been able to get married in such a grand fashion but for the cops."

*With love, from India to Pakistan, Sumit Bhattacharya, Rediff.com, January 11, 2006 http://in.rediff.com/news/2006/jan/11sumit.htm 

Imagine. A gigantic letter -- 240 by 360 feet, to be exact -- signed by thousands of Indian schoolchildren, to their friends across the border in Pakistan. With the message of love, peace and brotherhood.

 

Imagine a Guinness Book of World Record entry for the largest letter, from India to Pakistan.

 

No need to imagine, actually. Because on January 16, in Bangalore's Chinnaswamy Stadium, that's exactly what is going to be unveiled.

 

Designed by artist John Devaraj -– students of whose Born Free Art School are putting the letter together at the St Joseph School ground's tennis court -– the project is the brainchild of two Americans.

 

And those two Americans -- John Silliphant and Mark Peters -- came to India with friends, initially just for a year.

 

"We came with no real plans," says Silliphant, 35, who used to design web sites, and was "mostly into volunteer work" in the US. "We came to look for something to do, because every moment there is an opportunity to be of service. We just wanted to look around for those opportunities."

 

After working in Ahmedabad with slum children and on environmental issues, the time came for the philanthropist friends to leave India to renew their visas.

 

"We thought it would be a wonderful thing to do -– to carry letters from schoolchildren in India to their friends in Pakistan," says Silliphant, whose partner in charity Peters runs a small software business and a transport firm in America.

 

But when in just two days they collected 3,000 letters, the scale of things changed. "The kids just lit up at the prospect of the assignment."

 

No thoughts of rivalry and enmity in the fledgling minds? "Not at all," says Silliphant.

 

"Those mindsets, you sort of grow into them. You adopt them. Kids just want to be friends. They know kids in Pakistan are just like them -– they just want to play cricket, be friends. That's what's amazing about it."

 

"Every child we come into contact with, without exception, they all love it. They all have the same innocence and hope and positivity."

 

"If you can just connect to that purity and make those connections. Then a whole generation grows up and takes over -– that has those connections."

 

To connect with that purity, Silliphant, Peters and friends travelled to Delhi, Chandigarh, Ajmer, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai and Pondicherry.

 

In most places, friends and connections helped their cause. In Chandigarh, for instance, the organisation Yuvsatta set up their appointments with the little ambassadors of peace.

 

"In three days, we went to 20 schools and met 20,000 students -– all on bicycles!"

 

In the capital, Silliphant, Peters and friends, who call themselves (www.friendswithoutborders.org), had no such help. They physically "went to the school gates, asked to see the principal."

 

But Silliphant is quick to add that be it parents, teachers or school authorities, everyone helped their cause, everyone encouraged what they were trying to do.

 

The Friends Without Borders campaign marched on from city to city -- battling only a bad bout of jaundice that struck Silliphant -- "empowering the children to be the change."

 

"It really is going to change the world because you have such an extraordinary outpouring of goodwill. I don't think the world has seen anything like it."

 

With a documentary by Mumbai-based filmmaker Gopa Desai on the anvil and a bigger Mumbai event -– "with some Bollywood celebrities and even more children" -- planned a week after the Bangalore unveiling, the outpouring of goodwill continues.

 

Friends Without Borders describe themselves as '99 per cent children and some grown-ups who are working to let the children's voices be heard'.

 

Are the powers that be in New Delhi and Islamabad listening?

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