My Peacemaking Story

THE JOURNEY OF CHANGE FOR CONFLICT TRANSFORMATION

My Peacemaking Story: The Search of Peace

It is said that a journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step. How did this journey start? Well, where we have reached now has not been where we intended to reach, but it is definitely a good place. The journey is very well connected to the expansion of my own personal understandings of what peace is and what peace work should be.

I was first consciously introduced to the Peace movement in 1993-94, during my undergraduate days. In April 1994 I attended a training workshop organized by a Gandhian group Bombay Sarvodaya Mandal in Mumbai where I interacted with a whole new set of like-minded people who had devoted their life to social work. Just a year before this training I had been witness to one of the most horrifying communal conflagrations in my city, and the rest of the country had been burning too in the name of religion. These communal riots had devastated the lives of thousands of people. What I had also witnessed was a number of people, across religious and other human-made divisions, coming together to build peace for society. At that time I had wanted to get involved and do some peace building work but was discouraged by my family as they were protective about me. I come from a conservative Muslim family, and was the first girl in my clan to reach college, and the tense situation existing in society was not considered conducive to my family for my involvement.

So when I first met up with the youth group of Sarvodaya, it seemed I had found my calling. I became intensely involved with the group. However, honestly speaking, at that time my involvement was based more on the friendships that I had developed within the peace group, rather than in the belief in any particular goals. Through this group I did a lot of grassroots peace building work, especially in bridging the gap between various communities.

As an off-shoot of my work with the Sarvodaya group I had my first international exposure in Germany. I represented my country, and the Asian region in an ‘International Training on Nonviolence’ in Wustrow, Germany in April 1996, while still at University. The two-week training was an eye-opener for me as it exposed me to a lot of work being done in other regions of the world and I met some wonderful activists, who were all struggling to do brilliant work, in different conflict zones of the world. Young and passionate that I was then, one thing that I could not fathom at that point was why anyone should need any training for peace work. I had presumed that peace activism is something that just springs from within an individual’s core. And I had seen it work in my own group back home, where people were whole-heartedly into peace building without any formal grounding in peace theories. We were following Gandhian strategies and ideas and getting inspired by peace stories from within our own religions and cultures. Needless to say that it was a highly charged two weeks to which I both contributed and learned from people around me.

When I came back home from my first international trip, which was a personal and professional milestone, I shared what I had learned with my friends in university and the peace group. As soon as I finished my university I joined a women’s group which was actively engaged in the amelioration of the plight of Muslim women in the country. This women’s group was a part of a wider network called Women Living Under Muslim Laws, which questioned the myth of a homogenous Muslim world. What the group, through extensive research, propounded was that Muslims everywhere in the world were starkly different from each other. And what better place to prove this theory right than India, where Muslims in one region would have different language, culture and habits from the other. However the ilk of Muslim women were suffering under the guise of religion, as were her sisters in other religions.

Again in this work I realized how important it was for dialogue and reconciliation across gender divisions. Though my work focused on Muslim women, I realized that the plight of women could not be addressed unless men were involved in finding solutions. My two favorite slogans at that time were ‘Personal is Political’ and ‘If you are part of the problem then you have to be a part of the solution.’ I felt the importance and necessity of peace interventions even in this work.

During my work with the women’s group I attended a number of national and international seminars and workshops and the exposure provided to me widened and enriched my thought process. One such workshop was ‘Non-violence, People’s Diplomacy and Reconstruction of Post-war societies,’ a three-week programme in Rovereto, Italy by the International University of People’s Initiative for Peace (IUPIP). Again I met people who were involved in path-breaking work across the globe. IUPIP had been organizing this annual programme for a number of years and only last year in November 2006 I had the opportunity of attending an alumni Convention of IUPIP where I met two of my own batch-mates and representatives of other programmes that had happened before and after ours.

These periodic rendezvous with peace trainings inspired me to do a full-fledged Masters in International Peace Studies at the Kroc Institute of International Peace Studies at the University of Notre Dame in 2002-03. This was my second Masters programme as I already had a Masters in Sociology from SNDT Women’s University, Mumbai which I had completed in 1996. By then it struck me that consciously and unconsciously I had been involved in peace activities for too long, and it was indeed high time that I apprised myself with all that Peace studies had to offer.

The Masters programme ended up not only teaching me about peace, but about life. The value of the degree that we received was heightened by the experience of living in the Peace house where 22 individuals from all over the world spent a unique 11 months learning from each other and growing together,. Each one of us, without doubt, emerged from the programme as a stronger individual and a torch-bearer of peace.

After returning from the US I was keen to do some constructive peace work in my state of Maharashtra, of which Mumbai is the capital. My first project was to build up a curriculum and introduce peace studies in the existing educational system. The work was appreciated and lobbying on that front continues.

During that time I came across a paper written by Captain Charles Alphin of the US, where he had written about his trainings on ‘Non-violent Law Enforcement.’ I was instantly inspired by his work and started communication with him about his experiences. Consequent to this I developed a training module on similar lines and started approaching different officials for permission to impart these trainings. For a couple of months every move or turn I made led me to a dead end and then one fine day I got introduced to the work of an organization Public Concern for Governance Trust (PCGT), the organization where I am currently working, who had a similar vision. PCGT had on its board some highly esteemed retired police officials who also felt a need for such kind of training.

Among the guidance and support that I received from everyone that I have encountered since then on police trainings that I will be talking about from now, particular mention has to be made of two important individuals in my life - Mr. S.S.Puri, a highly acclaimed and experienced police officer of the Indian Police Service (IPS), and Mr. Rakesh Maria, the Special Inspector General of Police (IGP) responsible for Trainings, without whom the experiences and findings that I talk about would not have been possible.

When I first came across Mr. Puri in August 2004, I was full of ideas of what we needed to teach the police. He was very patient with all my passionate renderings. At the end of our first meeting he said that he agreed to everything I said, but asked me to consider whether there was something that we could learn from the police as well. Though I was working to build synergy between the police and public the divide of us (public) v/s them (police) was distinctly etched in my mind.

That seed of doubt planted in a US-returned international peace activist, pushed me to the field to observe closely what the situation at the ground was and what kind of peace training was needed for the police forces. After a six month stint of interacting with both public and police at various levels I realized that perhaps our police force was not ready for a training on ‘Non-violent Law Enforcement,’ but what they were definitely ready for was a change in thinking and working. A change in attitude was the need of the hour. This notion was also shared by the IGP training, and what ensued was the unfolding of a common dream.

Making of Change Agents

In India policing is a State subject and within the Maharashtra State Police there are three levels of entry. The foot soldiers that contribute 80% of the police force are known as the Constabulary, and then come the medium level police officers which are 14% of the police force and the rest are high ranking officers. Police personnel enter these three levels and through the years, based on performance (and at times on contacts) reach the highest post within their own level. There is very minimal communication between the different levels of the police force and this has made the police force a highly stratified and compartmentalized system. Indian police follow the Police Act of 1860, when India was a British colony. The Act was established after what is known as the first war of independence in 1857. So the focus of the Act was and is, to repress people, so that no one can stand up against the existing political power.

Unfortunately 147 years after the promulgation of the repressive Police Act no political power, even after Indian independence, has seen the necessity to amend this Act as it suits their political needs. A fallout of this kind of working has been widening gaps, enhancing suspicion and increasing in conflicts between the police and public, with political parties watching the conflict as bystanders and fueling it whenever necessary for self-gain. Within this scenario PCGT developed a ‘Humane Approach to Policing – Training of Change Agents’ module which is being imparted to all the three levels of the police functioning in Maharashtra.

These trainings were based on the Gandhian sayings of ‘Indeed, one perfect resister is enough to win the battle of right against wrong’ and ‘Be the change you wish to see in the world.’ PCGT started these trainings with a modest goal that if 5% of the participants could inculcate the values of humaneness and peace within themselves, it would indeed be an achievement. What we were not ready for was that 60% of the participants reported a significant change in their attitude and behavior, in both their personal and professional lives. This was ascertained in a review workshop conducted of each training group 6-8 months after they had participated in the training. This was especially planned because many a times we observe that trainings throw up different ideas, which are difficult to implement and sustain in everyday lives.

To start the trainings we had consciously chosen mid-senior level people as they were placed in a crucial position within the hierarchy. They connected and led the constabulary group which reported to them, and they responded and reported to the top hierarchy. After a year of these trainings, the constabulary and senior officers were also given similar trainings. These change agents as our participants are popularly known as now, are spread across the police force of Maharashtra and are fighting unique battles of peace within the flares of violence that are sporadically sprouting in the country. The slogan that we oft repeated with each group was ‘If not us then who, and If not now then when.’

There are a lot of learning's that have emerged from these trainings which I would like to put into theory so that it would sustain the existing work, and guide and inspire others doing similar work in diversified backgrounds.

Some important learning’s from these trainings are:

­   Healing is an important aspect of any transformational change.

­   While working towards system change, focus should be on individuals as it is the individual who makes the system work. Developing and maintaining people and their mental health is important.

­   Corruption and Peace are closely linked to people’s dignity. Some people might equate dignity with material possessions and others with power and position. But what people really crave for is recognition.

­   In addition to the top-down and bottom-up approaches being implemented by various change agencies a middle out approach, which identifies and nurtures a set of change agents with the values of courage, caring and compassion, will go a long way in making lasting changes

­   Training is an effective tool of change. But these trainings have to be supplemented by other concerted efforts. For e.g. in the PCGT Police trainings it was for the first time that an officer of the highest rank interacted informally with the constabulary to listen to their grievances and inspire them to give their best to society.

­   In any peace effort, taking a holistic view of envisaged changes is important, at the individual, work and family levels. Leaving any one domain could be cataclysmic.

­   Taking suggestions from grassroots peace builders, genuinely implementing them, and demonstrating change, assures all stakeholders that change is not only possible, but inevitable.

­   Listing of these visible changes is important, an aspect which in my limited experience a number of women peace builders aspire to do, but rarely end up doing.

­   Working from within a system has limitations, and working on the outside of systems also has its own limitations. What is needed is to bridge this gap and facilitate a unique partnership, which has been done through our police trainings.

As our former President APJ Kalam in his address to the nation, on the eve of the 55th Republic Day of India on January 26, 2004 said.

When guns are silent
Flowers blossom on the earth
Fragrance engulfs good souls
Who created beautiful silence
The world will always be grateful to the successful peacemakers.

An Afterthought

In one of the numerous discussions with my secular friend circle about the biases of police in communal situations, when I mentioned that from my own personal interactions I had realized that the police were one of the least communal professional groups, my friends in the social movement were aghast and were suspicious whether my ideas and beliefs have been co-opted by the police force. But I explained that just as every society gets the government that they deserve, so does every society get the police that they deserve. The communal biases or the misplaced sense of patriotism that some police personnel have is a reflection of what exists in society, as they too belong to the same communities, which harbour similar sentiments. But when facts are placed before them and rumors demystified, as has been consistently done through our trainings, they are also the first group who believe in alternate theories as they have witnessed maximum damage done to the poorest of the poor through violence.

What is then needed is mainstreaming of peace values in every domain of society. Peace needs to be seen as not something that exists on the outside, but a value which guides our very existence. Peace initiatives need not be resorted to at the time of conflict, or to salvage conflict ridden situations, but peace building needs to be at the core of any society building. Peace has to be taught to pre-school tots, to school going children, to young adults, to professionals irrespective of the ‘specialized field’ that they may belong to, to women and men, to marginalized groups, to senior citizens, to each and every member of the global community. Peace needs to guide constructive dialogue, teach compassion when opinions are conflicting, focus on humility rather than humiliation, and provide a lens to individuals through which we might recognize the weaknesses of individuals and groups because of what might have happened in the past, but nevertheless which tells us that ‘An eye for an eye will make the whole world blind.’

My journey of change has been unique – as it not only transformed me as an individual, but my entire family. From a comparatively closeted family that we were, my family is now more liberal in its outlook, even where religion is concerned – a change that was unimaginable before. This confirms my belief in change and the power of transformation.

Thank You!