Participants from regions of conflict attend a camp and discussed issues like the India-Pakistan conflict over Kashmir
A group of teenagers who participated in this year’s Seeds of Peace camp returned from their three week tour at Maine, United States of America. Seeds of Peace was founded by American journalist John Wallach in 1993. The idea was to get people from the regions of conflict to come together and speak to each other so that they can understand the situation of their opponents and the young generation can help in building up a hate-free world.
“The camp was a great learning experience. We met Pakistanis. Since childhood, in one way or the other we have been told that they are our enemies. For example, let’s take the Kashmir issue. Both the countries think that the state belongs to them. As an Indian I had my reasons to believe that Kashmir belongs to us. But after this camp where I was with Pakistani Seeds (volunteers) I realised that they also had their reasons for the same,” Hussain, one of the participants at the camp told ADC in an open discussion on Wednesday at the US Consulate.
“The camp was like a self-realisation period,” says Rahul, another participant. He further added, “After meeting Pakistani participants I came to know about their problems as well. I realised that their country is going through a bad phase.”
The participants also known as seeds spoke about some of the reasons which are responsible for enhancing the conflict and the hatred in the hearts of the people of both sides.
Divyushi, one of the seeds said, “Our news media filters out the information. It decides what people should know about the situation at the border. Our country’s media will blame Pakistan for violation of the ceasefire at the border. And the Pakistani media does the same thing by blaming India. People don’t get fact based information.” She further added, “We entered the camp with a pro-India mindset. But at the camp during our dialogues our understanding of the issues improved. We lived together, became friends, shared secrets and now we are out with a new bunch of friends.”
“Our initial mindset was ‘we are right and you are wrong’. But the camp taught us to not to be blindly patriotic. It taught us that being patriotic doesn’t mean that you blindly believe in your government, but it also means to be critical about its actions,” said Anaina.
Jeffrey E Ellis, Press Officer, US Counsulate General addressed the young participants. He said, “I am glad that all the participants spoke about four important words – friendship, respect, understanding and dialogue. I believe these four words are the base for peace.”
Read Santia Dudi’s article at the Afternoon Despatch & Courier ››