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 pritam@open.org
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Volume XI, No. 2,
______________________________________________________________________________
CONTENTS
EDITORIAL
Peace is Possible! Pritam K. Rohila, Ph.D.
PEACE & HARMONY NEWS
PARTITION-RELATED STORIES
*Story
of Vinay Kumar Family,
*Pakistani sons meet their Indian mother after a Separation of 52 Years
PEACE &
HARMONY CONFERENCES
*April
20-22,
PEACE EDUCATION
PEACE & HARMONY EVENTS
*February
19,
INAUGURAL CEREMONY
*February 19,
*February 24,
*February
24,
*March 3,
*March 14 – 17,
CONFLICT RESOLUTION
EDUCATION
PEACE & HARMONY ORGANIZATIONS
*Institute for Peace and Secular Studies,
91-G johar Town Lahore,
*St. Peter’s High School, Mubarkabad
Colony, Toba
PEACE
& HARMONY RESOURCES
*Building Global Peace, Conflict, and Security Curricula at Undergraduate Institutions
____________________________________________________________________________
HAPPY
VALENTINE’S DAY!
Countdown to Valentine’s Day
A woman selects a Valentine’s Card
in
EDITORIAL
Peace is Possible! Pritam K. Rohila, Ph.D.
Like love, peace is not only desirable, but also possible. Also like love, sometimes peace requires mere audacity to make it happen. But always we need to work at both to make them last.
Just as lack of pain doe not equal pleasure, absence of war by does not mean peace. We need to do more than participate in antiwar agitation. We must also actively work to promote culture of peace.
Besides striving for peace between nations, we also have to foster peace between various faith communities, peace with minorities, peace within our families, and peace in our hearts and minds.
We must view each and every individual worthy of respect, regardless of the individual’s age, gender, class, caste, faith, ethnicity or national origin. And we must refrain from attempting to force our religious and political beliefs and practices on others.
On this Valentines Day, let us pledge to promote love and peace everywhere and support the work of organizations working toward these goals.
If you want, we can
help you find a peace organization in your area. Also you may join ACHA, a
U.S.-based, non-profit, dues-free group dedicated to promote peace in
Information about ACHA can be requested from pritamr@open.org or found at our two websites, www.asiapeace.org & www.indiapakistanpeace.org
If you like what we at ACHA are doing, please support us
by joining us. ACHA membership does not require payment of any membership dues.
To join send us
at pritamr@open.org a request for
Membership Application. OR Go to www.asiapeace.org , click
Membership and email a completed copy of Membership Application to us pritamr@open.org
PEACE & HARMONY NEWS
*SAARC
editors for constitutional freedom THE HINDU |Sunday,
*Friendship
Rally set to go KUENSEL |Sunday,
*Signs of hope in Indo-Pak peace process DAILY TIMES |Saturday,
*Pak minister on goodwill
*'Qualitative advance
in Indo-Pak ties' DAILY
TIMES |Friday,
*
*Indian (CBI) & Pakistani (FIA) officials to meet in Islamabad THE HINDU |
*
*‘Liveable
J&K’ for all, but no timeframe THE NEWS |Wednesday,
*
*Musharraf
hails
*Editors moot
helps SAARC summit build-up DAILY
TIMES |
*
*
*
*Indian Foreign
Minister backs Musharraf TRIBUNE INDIA |
*B'desh
not to shelter Indian separatists INDIA E NEWS
*SAARC Car Rally 2007 to arrive in
*Militancy won't solve
http://www.rediff.com/news/2007/feb/02pak.htm
*
*
*Indo-Pak coast heads on hotline link TELEGRAPH
INDIA |Thursday,
*Yunus
seeks common passport for S Asia FINANCIAL
EXPRESS |
*Jinnah House
to be resurrected for SAARC TELEGRAPH
INDIA |Wednesday,
*Lankan, Indian PMs discuss peace process Daily Mirror |
*
http://www.rediff.com/news/2007/jan/30mp.htm
*Track II talks in
progress: Kasuri NATION |Monday,
*'Peace talks to go on despite militants' veto', Rediff.com,
http://www.rediff.com/news/2007/jan/26pak1.htm
*Banks
to assist Indo-Pak shipping needs DAILY
TIMES |Sunday,
*
*
*
http://www.southasianmedia.net/index_story.cfm?id=358580&category=Frontend&Country=INDIA
*India,
Pak reject war policy: Mushahid DAILY TIMES |Saturday,
*Republic
Day: Musharraf greets Kalam DAWN |Friday,
*Nepal-Pakistan
agriculture agreement THE HIMALAYAN TIMES |
*
*Peace talks with
*
*
*Inclusion of Afghanistan in SAARC will help establish peace: India,
Rediff.com,
*
http://www.rediff.com/news/2007/jan/23pm.htm
*
*Saarc business leaders to meet on Feb 17 REUTERS
|
*Sikh priest wins hearts in
*
*
*Afghan women
step into commerce BOSTON
|Monday, January 22,2007 http://www.southasianmedia.net/index_story.cfm?id=357256&category=Frontend&Country=AFGHANISTAN
*India to resume Thar Express Munabao by March 10 THE NEWS |
January 21,2007 http://www.southasianmedia.net/index_story.cfm?id=356966&category=Frontend&Country=MAIN
*Reject elements hostile
to peace process: Pak, Rediff.com,
*
*Pakistn: Hindu gods to return to
Katasraj DAILY
TIMES |Saturday,
*
*
*
*
*
http://www.rediff.com/news/2007/jan/17pok.htm
*
*Hurriyat demands ceasefire in
*
*Sir Creek
survey starts today DAILY
TIMES |Monday,
*
*
*A Brahmin Who Sent a Muslim for Haj,
Siraj Wahab, Arab News,
http://www.arabnews.com/?page=1§ion=0&article=90497&d=30&m=12&y=2006
ARAFAT,
PARTITION-RELATED STORIES
*Story of Vinay
Kumar Family,
I was born at my grandfather's house in
For some reason the desire to go back and see the house I
was born in remained fixed in my mind. So when the Pakistan Association of
Pathologists invited me to address them in
I went to Okara with my hosts in
My trip to Okara was not just memorable but more like a
fairy tale. To say that it was a dream come true would not be right since I
could not even dream of it.
We found my grandfather's house almost unchanged.
It still has a paint covered marble plaque with my grandfather's
name above the gate. It reads Dr Uttam Chand 1926 in English and in Urdu.
I was welcomed in the house (we just showed up) like a long
lost relative and then the most amazing of all things happened inside. Within
minutes they brought a marble plaque taken out of one of the
side walls during later renovations. The plaque about 18" by 24"
was my grandfather's name plate. They had kept it for 60 years and when asked
why, the eldest member (70 yrs old) said in Punjabi (I speak fluent
Punjabi) "We thought some day somebody might come looking for
this...."
I cried.
*Pakistani sons meet
their Indian mother after a Separation of 52 Years, Amir Mir (
Two 50-plus Pakistani brothers, who finally met their 75-year-old Indian mother after a long gap of 52 years in Lahore, last week, are not letting her go back to India, although her visa expired on November 11.
Karamatullah and his brother Qudratullah have me their mother, Herbuns Kaur, in Nankana Sahib for the first time after being separated in 1954.
The Pakistani media has reported that the Pakistani security forces forcibly sent Herbuns Kaur to India 52 years ago, thinking that she was an Indian national although she had already converted to Islam and married a Muslim.
The recent birth
anniversary celebration of Baba Guru Nanak at Nankana Sahib proved to be the
reunion ceremony for the family as the Indian mother and her Pakistani children
were able to meet each other there. The family of Herbuns Kaur, born to Sikh
parents from
Reportedly Mir Hussan,
the Sikh family’s servant, took her to his illage in Muzaffarabad and adopted.
She converted to Islam and married Sakhiullah, a Pakistan Army officer. She
subsequently gave birth to two sons - Qudratullah and Karamatullah. When the
two sons were 6 and 7 years old, Sakhiullah got posted to Siallkot, from where
the security forces arrested Herbuns Kaur and deported her to
“I tried my best o find
my Muslim husband and my sons, but to no avail. When I returned to
With Jasi’s help,
Herbuns Kaur said, the professor finally found her sons in 2005. “However, we
could only talk over the telephone since then. I met my sons for the first time
after almost six decades at Baba Guru Nanak’s birth anniversary.” Herbuns Kaur
presently lives with the children of her brother-in-law in
Meanwhile, Karamatullah
and Qudratullah have appealed to the Pakistani President General Musharraf to
allow their mother to stay with them in
We are
collecting similar stories as well as stories of cross-border travels by
Indians and Pakistanis for our website www.asiapeace.org. Please contact us at pritamr@open.org, if you (or
someone you know) have a similar story to tell.
PEACE & HARMONY CONFERENCES
*April 20-22,
Albacete, Spain: WORLD CONFERENCE ON EARLY CHILDHOOD PEACE EDUCATION to help promote the
need for changes in early childhood education in order to stem the growth of
the prevalent culture of violence and contempt and prepare the child to
assume a responsible life in a free society, with a spirit of understanding and
peace. More info
from http://www.waece.org/albacete/ingles/ppal.htm
PEACE & HARMONY EVENTS
*February 19, Sadikabad, Pakistan: CAMPAIGN FOR PEACE-CITY SADIKABAD INAUGURAL CEREMONY, a project of
The Youth – Pakistan, featuring Tehsil Nazim, District Officer of Social
Welfare Board as the Chief Guest, at 6:00 p.m., at The New Horizons Public
School, Canal Bank. The objective of the event is to promote peace and non-violence
in youth. More info from Mubashir Ahmed Mirza (yuvsattapk@yahoo.com,
00923004661007) of
the Centre for Youth Development & Activities – THE YOUTH, Kashmir House, Zorkot Road, Model Town, Sadikabad, Pakistan – 64350 .
*February 19, Forest Grove, OR: COST
OF WAR TOWN HALL for US Representative David Wu District 1, 6 p.m. – 8 p.m., in Taylor Auditorium, Marsh Hall,
Pacific University, 2043 University Way.. (If you are coming from Clatsop,
Yamhill or
*February 24, London, U.K.: TROOPS OUT OF IRAQ _ NO TRIDENT, a national demonstration being organized by Stop the War, CND and BMI, with assembly at Hyde Park at 12 Noon, followed by a March to Trafalgar Square. Full details at http://tinyurl.com/y9c7z5
Coaches
are being organized to bring protestors from over 100 towns and cities in
*February 24, Salem, OR: A PATH TO
PEACE FOR PLANET EARTH, featuring a video of a peach by futurist, artist and
progressive editor Benjamin Crème about the nature of the current threat to
global stability and the future of the planet, and his conception of a future
based on sharing, justice and brotherhood, in Anderson Room of Salem Public
Library, 585 Liberty St SE. More info from Kathy Rile 541.686.5971, transmission_oregon@yahoo.com
*March
3,
*March 14 – 17, Cleveland, Ohio, USA: INTER-AMERICAN
SUMMIT ON CONFLICT RESOLUTION EDUCATION, to be hosted by Global Issues Resource
Center, Office of Community Continuing Education, at Cuyahoga Community College
and The Organization of American States, for government representatives from
among the 50 states and 34 countries of the Americas and their non-governmental
organization partners who have legislation
or policies in place to deliver conflict resolution education at the K-12 level
and in colleges of teacher education. More info including a registration form
and preliminary conference program, from Jennifer Batton at 216-987-2224 or Jennifer.Batton@tri-c.edu
PEACE & HARMONY ORGANIZATIONS
*Institute for Peace and
Secular Studies, 91-G johar Town Lahore,
On January 13, the Institute for Peace and Secular Studies organized screening of a video of the last year’s Delhi-Multan Peace March, and Pinjar, a Bollywood movie about Partition. Discussions followed each presentation.
Fifty-seven individuals, most of
them students from
*St. Peter’s High School,
Mubarkabad Colony, Toba Tek Singh, 36050, Pakistan, Tel: + 92-46-2514859 (office),
Cell +92-300-6564072. Contact Person:
In cooperation with the Fazaldad
Human Rights Institute, Islamabad (FHRI), St. Peter’s High School observed Human
Rights Day, on
The program included a speech and
poster making contest, peace & harmony dances, “Religion of Peace” and a lecture
on the “Importance of Human Rights Education in student’s practical lives” was
delivered by Mr. Qamar Zadi, who is the Coordinator Human Rights Commission of
Pakistan, at Jhang.
PEACE & HARMONY RESOURCES
*Building
Global Peace, Conflict, and Security Curricula at Undergraduate Institutions: A
Curriculum Development Guide for Colleges and Universities has been
developed by the U.S. Institute of Peace. It examines programmatic strategies
that can be employed in a variety of undergraduate settings: from religious
institutions to community colleges. It can be found at
www.usip.org/ed/index.html .
The United
States Institute of Peace is an independent nonpartisan national institution
established and funded by Congress. Its mission is to help prevent, manage, and
resolve violent conflicts by empowering others with knowledge, skills, and
resources, as well as by our direct involvement in peacebuilding efforts. More
info from David J. Smith, JD, Senior Program Officer, Education, United States
Institute of Peac, 1200 17th Street, NW, Washington, DC 20036-3011. Phone
202.429.4709, Fax 202.429.6063, Email dsmith@usip.org