Friends sans borders
Students of Roots School in Islamabad and DPS South in Bangalore, together try to go beyond the wounds of Partition
By Arunima Rajan
A school in Bangalore feels it is time young minds were freed from the hate that has led terror to plant bombs in the bodies of kids and send them to blow up peace.
Come September, about 20 students between 14 and 16 years from the Islamabad-based Roots International School will visit their friends in Delhi Public School (DPS) South in Bangalore. They met online at Skype in April, after their school managements decided to launch "Peace Connect", a project to end the atmosphere of hatred that youngsters of both countries have been brought up in since the Partition.
The friendship kicked off on a musical note, with 40 students of the heritage club of DPS starting an Antakshari session with their Pakistani peers online. "The session melted the barriers and washed away apprehensions from the young minds," says Chithra Sharma, Vice-Principal, DPS South.
The camaraderie has gone a long way since then and now the DPS gang is all set to welcome their Pak pals. They are researching topics like Sufi music, Bollywood, textile, cricket and soccer that both Indians and Pakistanis are equally crazy about.
The preparations have brought in a world of change in their attitude towards Pakistan, the DPS students say. They have noticed many similarities between Indians and Pakistanis.
"We like same cricket stars and film stars. While doing research on history of various games and music, we realised we have so much in common," says Shilpa Bhardwaj, a Class X student of DPS.
By all these, the managements of both schools want Indian and Pakistani children to know each other as friends. "The idea is to wipe out enmity from the minds of children. Students are also doing research about topics that are common to both countries. These projects will help to break stereotypical barriers and become receptive to the perception of others," says Manju Sharma, Principal of Delhi Public School.
A website is also being launched to upload peace messages, pictures, articles, videos and projects of the schools. The project will also be extended to the other branches of DPS soon. "We hope 'Peace Connect' will strengthen bilateral relationships between two countries," said Mansoor Ali Khan, a DPS trustee.
If the projects succeed, peace between the countries will no longer just be at the mercy of diplomats and politicians.
- Deccan Herald
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
By Arunima Rajan
A school in Bangalore feels it is time young minds were freed from the hate that has led terror to plant bombs in the bodies of kids and send them to blow up peace.
Come September, about 20 students between 14 and 16 years from the Islamabad-based Roots International School will visit their friends in Delhi Public School (DPS) South in Bangalore. They met online at Skype in April, after their school managements decided to launch "Peace Connect", a project to end the atmosphere of hatred that youngsters of both countries have been brought up in since the Partition.
The friendship kicked off on a musical note, with 40 students of the heritage club of DPS starting an Antakshari session with their Pakistani peers online. "The session melted the barriers and washed away apprehensions from the young minds," says Chithra Sharma, Vice-Principal, DPS South.
The camaraderie has gone a long way since then and now the DPS gang is all set to welcome their Pak pals. They are researching topics like Sufi music, Bollywood, textile, cricket and soccer that both Indians and Pakistanis are equally crazy about.
The preparations have brought in a world of change in their attitude towards Pakistan, the DPS students say. They have noticed many similarities between Indians and Pakistanis.
"We like same cricket stars and film stars. While doing research on history of various games and music, we realised we have so much in common," says Shilpa Bhardwaj, a Class X student of DPS.
By all these, the managements of both schools want Indian and Pakistani children to know each other as friends. "The idea is to wipe out enmity from the minds of children. Students are also doing research about topics that are common to both countries. These projects will help to break stereotypical barriers and become receptive to the perception of others," says Manju Sharma, Principal of Delhi Public School.
A website is also being launched to upload peace messages, pictures, articles, videos and projects of the schools. The project will also be extended to the other branches of DPS soon. "We hope 'Peace Connect' will strengthen bilateral relationships between two countries," said Mansoor Ali Khan, a DPS trustee.
If the projects succeed, peace between the countries will no longer just be at the mercy of diplomats and politicians.
- Deccan Herald
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
How to improve people-to-people relations with India
By Muhammad Abd al-Hameed
At a recent meeting held in New Delhi the interior secretaries of India and Pakistan decided to form a group to recommend simplifi .....more
By Muhammad Abd al-Hameed
At a recent meeting held in New Delhi the interior secretaries of India and Pakistan decided to form a group to recommend simplifi .....more
A tree of love from Pakistan
In a true and unpretentious gesture of 'aman ki asha', a Pakistani gardener gifted Gurbhajan Singh a special tree that now stands tall in his garden in Ludhiana...Gurbhaj
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Aman ki Asha and the Faiz Art Prize: Postcards for Faiz
Art and literature know no boundaries. Imagination sweeps over political demarcations, uniting people through the universal and timeless power of words and images. Such i
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If we can do it abroad, we can do it at home
Ateeq ur Rehman
India and Pakistan, please open your hearts and just feel the love your people have for each other. From Dubai to London, from Bangkok to New Yo .....more
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The real winners? The people of India and Pakistan
If a cricket match can make things better even by just a bit, let us have more batsmen facing down bowlers from the other side of the border separated by just twenty-t
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If a cricket match can make things better even by just a bit, let us have more batsmen facing down bowlers from the other side of the border separated by just twenty-t
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India to release Pakistan prisoners next week
PTI
Twenty-nine Pakistani prisoners and some fishermen lodged in Indian jails will be released by the government by April 15.
In a similar gesture, Islamab .....more
PTI Twenty-nine Pakistani prisoners and some fishermen lodged in Indian jails will be released by the government by April 15.
In a similar gesture, Islamab .....more
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The News on Sunday Special Report: India Pakistan prisoners
We probably didn't need to do this Special Report. Newspaper stories don't matter when it comes to Indians in Pakistani jails and vice versa. In fact, 'vice versa' sums it up. We do to them what they do to us.
Except when the two countries decide to begin talking, yet again! This time a little before the foreign secretary level talks, some Pakistani prisoners were released by India (and vice versa must have happened) and some more were release....read more
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For the past 2 years the Jang Group and Geo have been working on a project of great national interest; one that we hope will help usher in an era of peace and prosperity in the country and indeed, in the region. And one that hopefully all Pakistanis can be proud of.
The Jang Group has entered into an agreement with the Times of India Group, the largest media group of India, to campaign for peace betw
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