Last week, we began our new module titled ‘Peace and Conflict in Southasia’ with Dr. Sudha Ramachandran who came from Bangalore full of energy and things to share.

In the first two days, we got a pretty rich overview of ethno-political conflicts in India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Burma and the Maldives. What was particularly enriching for me was to learn about India’s role in Sri Lanka. That is something that I had not heard of before. I know it sounds rather strange because Sri Lanka is an immediate neighbour to India, the country I live in.

However, the history that is taught in our schools and the news stories that appear in our media offer little insight into the complex and fraught relations between India and Sri Lanka. I hope that in the years to come we will see more collaborative projects between Indian and Sri Lankan youth, especially around arts and education.

In the days that followed, we also learnt about violence and the role of the state in India and Pakistan, as well as local peacebuilding efforts that have emerged as a response to such violence.

In this context, I was offered an opportunity to make a presentation about the work of SAHER (Society for Awareness, Harmony and Equal Rights), a Mumbai-based organization building bridges across the Hindu-Muslim divide through sports, interfaith work and peace education.

I learnt about them earlier this year while researching for a Media Projects Fellowship awarded by ComMutiny, Delhi, in collaboration with the Youth and Civil Society Initiative of Sir Ratan Tata Trust and DKA-Austria.

SAHER runs out of the Jogeshwari suburb of Mumbai, which was one of the places worst hit by the Hindu-Muslim riots of 1992-93. People from both communities continue to live in separate neighbourhoods, and the young people here are especially vulnerable to mobilization by politicians eager to exploit their insecurity.

SAHER has been working through these challenges, creating programmes that bring children and young adults a chance to use their energies constructively, either by learning new skills, participating in sports, or engaging in workshop spaces aimed at rethinking their relationships to self and society.

What I see as SAHER’s strength is their belief in gradual, cumulative change processes, and their ability to embrace different aspects of life in the communities they work with. That seems to me a mature and sensible approach. They are aware that it is not possible to just ‘fix’ sectarian violence but be open to understanding why people act the way they do, their compulsions and circumstances.

I guess this also becomes possible they do not sit in a shiny, faraway office, poring over reports to understand the reality of the people they work with. The founders of SAHER live right in the midst of the people they work with. Relationships and connections are important to them. The office itself functions a bit like a community centre, with people free to walk in and out, seek resources, volunteer their services, or stop by for a conversation.

I hope more people in Southasia will take inspiration from SAHER, and realize the value of being small but doing well and doing consistently to make a difference.

Note: To know more about the work of SAHER, visit www.saherindia.org

Chintan