India: Kandhamal peace rally flagged off
A banner displayed at a sit-in held in Delhi against religious fundamentalism in India, especially violence against Christians and other minorities in Orissa in the recent months. Photo: Joe Athialy
A peace rally composed of teachers and peace activists was flagged off on 9 December 2008 in Bhubaneshwar, in the Indian state of Orissa, which has recently been the scene of violence against Christians.
On its way, the rally passed through Nayagarh, where even more teachers and government officers joined in. Speaking on the occasion, the president of the Nayagarh District Teachers Federation, Mr Sheik Abdul Khalib, stated that the responsibility of the teachers does not end at the doors of the school and that the teachers in the Nayagarh District will continue to uphold social sanity and ensure communal harmony in order to keep the negative forces at bay.
Later in the day, boys and girls of Nav Nirman Samity (Committee for a new life in the Narmada Valley) presented a moving social drama exposing the fanaticism of religious bigots and communal forces and cautioned the spectators to be aware of the designs of these forces.
When the rally finally arrived in Khajuriapat (Kandhamal District, Orissa), over 170 teachers joined the peace march with slogans of peace and social amity as they moved towards the open ground of the Goverment High School. There, over three hundred people took part in a peace deliberation. Sr. Lilly Francis, Executive Secretary of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of India's Commission for Women, spoke on the occasion and reminded the crowd of the maternal role the teachers are expected to play. Like the mother takes the crying child to her breast to feed, the teachers need to take care of the society that cries for peace and coexistence and feed them with the courage for righteousness and peace.
As a gesture of their commitment to the cause of peace and co-existence, the gathered teachers and social activists, wrote personal messages of peace and love on a long white banner and pledged to stand for peace.
