Kohima: “Conflict makes us understand the importance of peace. If there is any positive impact that conflict has taught Nagas, it is the importance of peace,” Meyilemla, a MA student of Nagaland University rightly said. She stated it during the workshop on ‘Peace Building and Human Rights’ which was held on March 27 and 28 at Nagaland University Lumami. Henry Martyn Institute (HMI) in collaboration with the Naga Peoples Movement for Human Rights (NPMHR) and Post Graduate Students Union (PGSU) NU organised the workshop.
Peace is ‘Security, harmony, absence of violence, calmness and forgiveness’
Security, harmony, absence of violence, calmness, and forgiveness was some of the answers given by the University Students on the question of ‘What is peace?’ “There needs to be shifting perspective to understand peace,” said Rakesh Moon from HMI while addressing as the resource person. Rakesh asserted that inclusivity is essential in peace building where everyone’s needs should be taken into account and that listening and talking are remedial measures to achieve peace.
Rakesh reminded the students that conflict is not just violence between the Indian army and the Naga army nor is it just factional clashes but conflict is also the exploitation of the weaker section by corrupted leaders and that peace building is everyone’s responsibility and not just the prerogatives of politicians and leaders.
Rakesh further pointed out that in order to achieve peace one needs to understand human rights and its violations because conflict arise when someone’s rights has been violated. The four areas to focus on peace building are the personal, relational, structural and cultural. The main objective of the workshop was to engage the students in participatory and reflective exercise to help build peace and the relationship between human rights and sustainable peace. Some of the areas, which were covered in the workshop, were understanding conflict and its transformation, basics of peace building, human rights and peace, peace building processes and skills and overcoming stereotypes, prejudices and generalizations. By the end of the workshop, the students were made to identify their areas in promoting peace building followed by open-hour discussions and interactions.
HMI: International centre for research, inter-faith relations and reconciliation has been working with Nagaland since 2001 and focuses on capacity building of individuals, organization, and institutions in the areas of knowledge, skills and attitudes for peace-building.
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