By Higio Zarngam

Realising the importance of youth, the Symbiosis Institute of Media and Communication held a three day programme titled 'South Asian Youth Peace Meet', to galvanise the positive young thoughts towards broader concept of peaceful growth with equity.

INDIA, AT present is facing lot of troubles with its neighbouring countries. There are allegations that China is crossing the borders and setting up tents in Kashmir as well as in Arunachal Pradesh. India has just submitted evidences to the United States proving that after 26/11, Pakistan has come up with 10 more terrorist base camps. Then there are continuous violence going on in Nepal and Bangladesh. Sri Lanka is re-framing itself after the death of Prabhakaran.

At such a time, peace seems to be but a far off equation to be made. Realising the importance of youth at such a time, the Symbiosis Institute of Media and Communication (SIMC) held a three day programme titled South Asian Youth Peace Meet (SAYPM) from September 21 to 24, 2009. Organised by the students itself, it was an endeavor to galvanise the positive young thoughts towards broader concept of peaceful growth with equity.

The event inaugurated by Rajlaxmi Bhonsale, Mayor of Pune saw various topics being discussed ranging from communal harmony to youth affairs and politics to energy efficiency.

The first day of the session revolved around communal harmony with Suresh Kopade, special inspector general of Mumbai taking us back to the Mohalla committee, initiated by him to curb communal violence that went on to become a roaring success and is today being emulated by various police forces across the world. Dr Asghar Ali Engineer cleared the fact that no religious text or cultural practices have ever told people to engage in communal violence. At a time when Eid is being celebrated across the country, Dr Engineer went on to make his message clear by saying, “Jahan peace hai, vahi mere liye eid hai.”

The second day that was focused on the issue of youth and themed ‘Youth Affairs and Politics” saw Dr Kiran Bedi and Imran Khan of 'Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na' fame sharing the dais to urge the youth to channelise their potential into positive works. Stating that peace is the middle path between non violence and non existence, Dr Bedi asked the students to differentiate between 'non-violence and non-existence of violence and not between violence and non-violence'. Peace, according to her, is 'multi-dimensional and a matter of man’s internal sphere and hence, should come from within'.

Imran Khan reiterated the fact that 'cinema is a very powerful medium of communication'. To him, 'movies have the power to mobilise the youth and initiate a debate”. When asked what about movies like 'Rang De Basanti' that had a violent ending, he reminded us of the radio scene in the movie that shows the protagonists telling that they did not choose the right way.

The third day, themed as 'Environmental sustainability and Energy efficiency' saw the heavy weight discussions about the serious threat that ecological imbalance is posing for the mankind and the role that the youth can play in reversing the same.

A wonderful event, it truly signified how each one of us can contribute towards the big cause. Channelising our thoughts into productive result is the key here. Peace is not the goal; it is the way to reach our goal.