Olympic medalists Neeraj, Nadeem feature on Aaghaz-e-Dosti’s 13th Indo-Pak peace calendar
CHANDIGARH,JAN 21 : This year, the 13th Indo-Pak peace calendar by Aaghaz-e-Dosti features a painting of India’s Javelin star Neeraj Chopra’s mother with her hands draped across the shoulders of Neeraj and Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem; the men had claimed the silver and gold medals respectively at the Paris Olympics 2024.
A letter exchange program took place between students of school at Phaltan in Maharashtra and Lahore. More schools from either country will get connected to each other via video conferencing and encourage students to share their experiences and aspirations.
The peace calendar, launched on Sunday in Gurugram included six paintings by Indian and six more by Pakistani students. The calendar is to be released in Pakistan soon.
This Indo-Pak Peace calendar is an initiative by the civil society to cultivate a culture of peace and includes messages from eminent persons who support peace-building and co-existence.
Talking to TNIE, Ravi Nitesh founder of Aaghaz-e-Dosti said, “We observed a few unique things this year: Students were painting even on contemporary issues. For example, Sirjan Kaur, a student from Swami Sant Das Public School in Jalandhar, Punjab, has made a painting of Neeraj Chopra’s mother showing her hands upon the shoulders of Neeraj and Nadeem, saying ‘both are my sons’. This is a beautiful thing that young students are aware about these issues and linking such chains where they see peace and bonding.”
“This year, we also brought Nest Man of India Rakesh Khatri and people from the International Watercolor Society to open new avenues of linking both sides which young citizens need to know,” he said.
Nitesh said, “The events create a culture of peace, as schools follow up with Aaghaz-e-Dosti for more activities. Recently, we facilitated a letter exchange program between Sajnjan Nagar Public School in Lahore and Kamla Nimbkar Balbhavan at Phaltan of Maharashtra where students wrote letters to each other, as ten students from each school wrote to each other telling about their culture, school, library and each other’s likes and dislikes.”
“We are planning that, in the coming days, more schools from each country get connected to each other via video conferencing and thus students will share their experiences and aspirations in order to overcome misunderstandings,” he says.
“At a time when the world is surrounded by things of war and conflicts, such actions by young people in India and Pakistan actually reflects how beautiful and strong our cultural bond is and how our future generations are willing to be connected and look for a future which is more peaceful, safer, violence free, hatred free, arms free,” he added.
Dr Devika Mittal, convener of Aaghaz-e-Dosti said, “The calendar with paintings by innocent and apolitical minds remind us that mindsets have been constructed. Together with the beautiful dreams of the young and innocent, the calendar also carries messages from people who have been actively working to nurture these dreams.”
“This calendar is a collection of shared dreams of peace and friendship. It serves as a hope shared by people who are just like us, in habit and struggle. With the turn of the pages to start a new month, the hope shall be renewed,” he added.
“Working since 2012, Aaghaz-e-Dosti has already released thirteen such calendars. Our aim is to work with school students because they are responsible citizens of the future and their future should be hatred-free free-violence free and war free. When students create art, it brings their emotions, their thoughts and their dreams,” said Nitin Mittoo, Coordinator of Aaghaz-e-Dosti.
Besides the launch, a discussion ‘Sharing of Hopes for a Peaceful Co-existence’ and a poetry session were organised.
-PTI
