SHILLONG, APR 16: A 20-member motorcyclist youths arrived in Shillong to propagate the message of peace in conflict-prone regions in Assam, Nagaland and Manipur.
Led by a theological teacher Dr Woba James from Jorhat, the members of the team are drawn from these states including two from Meghalaya where they have charted out a plan to meet with affected people in these areas.
Flagged off from Jorhat on April 14, the team of the ‘Peace Tour on Bikes’ organized by the North East Students’ Volunteers, Jorhat (NESV) which arrived last night in Shillong are on a mission to travel about 2500 kilometers covering the four states within 10 days.
“People in the region are hungry and thirsty for peace, love and justice. Hence, we decided to take up this challenge of spreading the urgently-needed message of peace to the region by organizing a peace tour,” Dr James, also the convener of the peace tour, told reporters at a news conference on Wednesday.
The team also took out a one and half hour rally across the city which was flagged off from the Martin Luther Christian University (MLCU) to spread the message of peace today.
Stating that the region has been viewed as a conflict or disturbed region due to external and internal conflicts, Dr James said, “To name a few, we have serious problems such as boundaries issues, disrespect, oppression and violations of human rights, retaliations and counter-retaliations, insurgencies besides all kinds of atrocities imaginable taking place under many different oppressive powers and structures.”
According to him, peace is not a commodity which people can simply get and buy from the market. “We want to promote peace, tolerance and harmony in the region by creating awareness among the population about the importance of peaceful co-existence,” he added.
Meanwhile, the team will leave tomorrow for Assam and Nagaland in which they are proposing to hold meeting with the Karbi and Nagaland Students’ bodies. They would also visit the militant infested areas of these places.
The peace project started since last year and team have been able to meet and interact with people from the different affected areas.
On asked, Dr James said, “Many of the people blame political leaders of the various problems and conflicts faced by the region. They said that politicians have politicized peace.”
During their touring to the different states, the team revealed that they have also got the opportunity to interact with insurgent groups. We get good response from them and they have expressed that they too want to experience peace, the convener said while failing to disclose the names of the outfits.- By Our Reporter
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