Indian and Pakistani students sing songs, celebrate birthday and wish for a peaceful future: 14th IndoPak Classroom Connect

PRESS RELEASE

Surat/Karachi: Amid the turbulent political relations between the two countries, people on both sides still looked for ways to build bridges to remove enmity and to break stereotypes as a process of peacebuilding. In its line of peacebuilding through programs of peace education in schools across Pakistan and India, Aaghaz-e-Dosti organised its 14^th “Classroom to Classroom connect” program between students of Karachi city of Pakistan and Surat city of India on 5^th May 2018.   

This classroom connect program was conducted in collaboration with Akhil Hind Mahila Parishad, Bruhad Surat branch from the Indian side and L2L (Learn to Learn), a Karachi-based commercial alternative school from Pakistan side. This classroom connection program connected around 150 students. On the Indian side, students were participants of summer camp in the centre while in Pakistan, students were participants of an activity learning school. The session was coordinated by Sagar Papneja of Aaghaz-e-Dosti Surat Chapter and Adnan Kudiya, a Karachi-based educator and activist working with #MainBolunGa, a social cause from Pakistan.

Before the connection was initiated, students on the Indian side were asked for their opinion about the neighbor country and they voiced some of the stereotypes and misconceptions. When asked for the source of their knowledge, they said parents, movies, and news. The coordinators gave them an analogy that they choose their own best friends and that their parents never tell them whom to befriend so then why shouldn’t they apply it here, in this case? They should choose their own friends and even foes by analyzing, talking to them and then deciding. They agreed.

The session began with national anthems of both the nations. It was followed by a discussion on summer vacations. The students interacted for an hour and asked questions about favorite food, movie actors, songs, school vacations, and much more only to realize that on both the sides everything was same.

During the session, students of both sides revealed their likes and dislikes and found that both sides loved many things similar. An Indian student asked to Pakistani students ‘Who is your favorite hero?’. Pakistani students replied ‘Fawad Khan, Hrithik Roshan, Tiger Shroff, Salman Khan’. Then Indian student wondered ‘Fawad Khan! Tiger Shroff! they all are our favorites as well’. Another Indian student named Jhanvi asked ‘Karachi me kya famous hai?’ for which she got reply from a Pakistani student ‘Karachi ko city of lights kehte hain’ to which all Indian students became happy and eager to know more.

Then both sides together found that they both love faluda dessert, Afridi, Dhoni and Virat so much. In the lighter mode, both sides of students expressed how they hate school uniforms.

In a surprise move, when Pakistani sides of students got to know about the birthday of a student on Indian side, they wished and sang a birthday song for the Indian student that made the whole environment very emotional. During the concluding time of the session, students of both sides requested to extend the session for more time and also sang “swag se karenge sabka swagat” and “bahubali” song for each other. By the end of the session, the kids befriended each other and realized that across border the culture is same. They were no-more enemies rather friends with some positive future ahead. Their glowing faces with this first ever experience were expressing their happiness after meeting their peers.

Aaghaz-e-Dosti, a collaborative peace initiative of two voluntary organisations – Mission Bhartiyam (India) & Hum Sab Aik Hain (Pakistan), believes that students are future of these countries and have all the potential to build new bridges of peace and reconciliation that would pave the way for future.

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Aaghaz-e-Dosti

https://aaghazedosti.wordpress.com

 

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Indian and Pakistani Students showcase Dance Performances over Skype

Aaghaz-e-Dosti, a citizen diplomacy group, conducts peace education activities in schools and colleges in India and Pakistan. Among these peace education activities is the Indo-Pak Classroom Connect program which connects two classrooms through video conferencing and initiates an informal dialogue between the students. The session facilitates them to know each other, explore the everyday life, culture and to bond over the similarities and learn from the uniqueness. This session helps to dispel the popular stereotypes that restricts people to people contact and peacebuilding.

Indo-Pak classroom connect sessions have witnessed students bonding over similar food culture, singing songs together, reciting peace poems, celebrating birthday of a student by cutting a cake on both sides and the 9th Indo-Pak Classroom connect added another gem to this program.

In the 9th Indo-Pak Classroom connect that had connected students of Gujarat Public School (Vadodara, Gujarat, India) and SMB Fatima Jinnah Government Girls’ School (Karachi, Pakistan), students did dance performances for each other. The Karachi students showcased a Sindhi dance form and also danced on a popular folk song “Lathe ki Chadar”. The Gujarati students from India did a garba.

This report is based on inputs from Ms. Abhilasha Agrawal, Director of Gujarat Public School

You can see the video here:

If you want your school to participate in this “Indo-Pak Classroom Connect” program, please write to us at aaghazedosti@gmail.com 

“They do not resemble the stereotypes we were taught”: 11th Indo-Pak Classroom Connect

When Aaghaz-e-Dosti’s 11^th Indo-Pak Classroom Connect, brought together students of National School and College of Modern Sciences (Mandi Faizabad, Nankana Sahib in Punjab, the birth place of Guru Nanak) and Ecole Mondiale World School, Mumbai, we found ourselves struggling with the same old questions.

With deep fissures of distrust between two neighbors in conflict, it only takes discussions around bollywood, TV shows, food, visa issues, festivals, cricket, Urdu-Hindi, and social media (for people on both sides of the border) to move through the connecting back process. These discussions not only help heal divides, give the people common grounds, but also serve as platforms enabling “people” to come back together as friends, when “governments” are uncertain and unwilling. This all too much of discussion required of us skype connection on both sides.

The session was organized and coordinated by Raza Khan, Lahore Chapter Head of Aaghaz-e-Dosti on April 4, 2017 who travelled from Lahore to Nankana Sahib struggling with limited ground resources. Aroon Arthur and Farooq Ishraq facilitated in putting the event together. The other side was being facilitated by Tulika Bathija, educator and teacher at Ecole Mondiale World School, Mumbai.

The students from India sang ‘Channa Mereya’ from the Bollywood movie Ae Dil Hai Mushkil. Pakistani children discussed about all kinds of Indian TV shows and films that they have watched: Salman and Tiger Shroff being their hot favourites. Fawad Khan, the Indian students said, was their heartthrob. They both agreed that ban on cross border cinema is absolutely ridiculous and they cannot imagine living in a world where they cannot see each other’s films and TV shows. Were our governments listening?

It is very hard not to be overwhelmed by conversations like this that foster dialog and try to bring people together. When Indian children asked what you like about India, interestingly Pakistanis named all Hindu festivals (Holi, Diwali, Raksha Bandhan) that they love to celebrate as well — Holi being their absolute favorite.

There were also discussions on food, biryani, streets, and least expected — pets and animals! When Pakistani kids shared that they had goats and rabbits for pets, there was a wild cooing and mooing on the Indian side. The Indian students might apply for a VISA to Pakistan for the sole purpose of pet-patting. What do you like about Pakistan? “We like Pakistani rabbits!”, they said.                                                                                                                                   

While Indian kids stumbled and fumbled with Urdu, they were sporting and confident. Pakistani kids responded kindly. The students from Pakistan shared that the Muhammad Iqbal, author of ‘Saare Jahan se Accha Hindustan Hamara’ is the national poet of Pakistan, also known as poet of the east.

As the session was winding down, the students expressed they would love to reconnect and asked Raza Khan when he would be back. One of them said, “Raza Sir, none of them resembled the stereotypes I were taught”.

It was a two-way learning process for the students as well as the mentors of the session. Raza said, “For the students, it was an emotional end of a Skype conversation. I have asked the students to put into words, what impact the connection had on their day. For I know, their response had a greater impact on mine.”

Report by: Tulika Bathija and Aliya Harir