International Peace Day: Hundreds walk for peace at Racecourse Park

Seeds of Peace arranges group discussions and interactive sessions.

LAHORE:

Hundreds of students, activists and members of several non-government organisations on Sunday participated in a ‘peace walk’ to highlight the importance of tolerance, love, patience, respect and equality of rights for a peaceful society.

Seeds of Peace (SoP) had organised the walk at Racecourse Park to celebrate the International Day of Peace, observed globally on September 21.

The event aimed at educating citizens about the need for a peaceful society and to pay tribute to those who have lost their lives in conflicts.

Students from the Crescent High School, The Trust School, the Lahore Grammar School, The City School and the Beaconhouse School System took part in the walk.

Group discussions and interactive sessions were also arranged.

Huba Amir, an A-level student, said there was a need to ensure that the Pakistani society offered equal rights to all its citizens irrespective of their political and religious affiliations.

“We have not reached the point where we can claim to be a society granting equal rights to its citizens,” Amir told The Express Tribune.

“Peace demands tolerance, respect and patience,” said Rubab Ejaz, another student.

“I feel our society is way behind in this regard,” said Ejaz who had been part of the Pakistan delegation at the SoP International Camp this year.

SoP secretary general Fahad Ali Kazmi said the walk was held globally under the Bridges to Peace initiative.

He said the initiative offered interactive platforms to help create awareness among citizens.  “We not only engaged with participating students but also with the public,” said Kazmi. The participants carried placards reading ‘Be the Change’, ‘Peace is the Road to Freedom’ and ‘Peace Cannot be Kept by Force’.

Nimra Hameed, a pre-medical student at the Punjab Group of Colleges, said such activities not only spread awareness but also expressed solidarity with those who believed in peace.

“Unless we get out of our comfort zone and speak to people, like we did today, we cannot know how many of us are out there,” Hameed said.

SoP country director Imran Khan led the walk clad in a green shirt. “The activity aspires to not only advocate the message of peace in our society but also to provide young volunteers with a chance to interact with other people,” said Khan who has been a youth activist for five years.

“The message of peace becomes more valuable at a time when the country is facing uncertain political situation and terrorist activities,” he said.

The SoP intends to hold similar activities like these to interact with the youth.

This includes a ‘mock parliament’ scheduled to be held at Forman Christian College in October. An Interfaith Harmony Camp and a National Integration Camp are also scheduled to be held by the end of this year.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 22^nd, 2014.