By Rajiv Vora | Project Leader
In the state of Bihar we have been able to raise a good group of active Gandhi Shanti Sainiks,(Peace builders- peace makers) who have in the past one year averted 23 land, caste and communal flare-ups in different parts of Bihar, some in smaller towns and some in the rural areas by timely intervention, mediation and nonviolent resolution. Most important is the nonviolence campaign in Maoist tribal villages in Banka dist of Bihar where people have started noticing the change among the youth and their leaders (in Chandan, Belhar, Katoria blocs in particular) changing their path, - methods, thoughts and association. That those who were agents of fear no are agents of peace and harmony is what peope think is a miracle in the name of Ganshi.
In past six months Gandhi Peace volunteer who was till two years back a formidable popualr Maoist Aria Commander with large following, and his team have resolved more than a dozen disputes and conflicts in tribal villages of Banka district of Bihar, the tribal Maoist insurgency area of nonviolence campaign. Mostly these are related with land; (disputed ownership, land grabbing; encroachment, land division among heirs of a family or a clan, common land issues); property, political rivalries and polarization on caste and communal lines to name a few. Legal course is expensive, inordinately prolonged and almost endless. The local mechanisms in this area dominated till recently by the radicalized insurgents would often turn violent and bloody. But now the leading radicals turning to nonviolence has changed the scene radically. Only a few random cases are given here, as documentation of community affairs such as these are often seen as violation of community code of dignity.
STTCHING COMMUNAL DIVIDE: One of the major tension that could have engulfed scores of villages in Hindu-Muslim conflict causing micro level polarization of community rose due to killing of a man. He allegedly felled a few trees in the jungle which is not only prohibited by law but is a taboo among the tribal population. The issue got communally defined. Tension gripped several villages and the villages both of the victim and his killer. Police could hardly manage such tension until it turns violent and riotous where they can use force. The leader of Gandhi peace buiders and his team visited the site, the villages, met concerned people and finally called an assembly of people from both sides. The assembly dispersed only after mutual complains were resolved, doubts and rumors were cleared, mutual trust and confidence restored; peace was established amicably.
LAND DISPUTE MUST NOT DIVIDE: People had seen in a long drawn land dispute between two parties claiming ownership being resolved by this earst while 'revolutionary' Area Commander where on party agreed to give away a portion of land to the other so that his family can also survive and village does not get divided in two group of family supporters. Largest number of disputes attended by Gandhi Peace Makers relate with land issues.
UNITING FAMILIES: There are issues between cousins, and at times own brothers or with father and son, arising out of division and distribution of family property. In one of the photos we see the Gandhi Peace Makers mediating between a son and his father. The dispute was resolved and father-son united.
THE PRINCIPLE Gandhi Peace builders follow is: unity of family is at the foundation of the unity of a village; and, unity of village makes for the unity among communities and collective strength of all. A disunited community creates a disunited nation, a disunited society.
Had we invested in nonviolence as we have in the science of war and violence we would have reaped fruies of a differnt kind, this experiment shows. .
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