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Dealing with communal violence: Only hope is to educate, off the school curriculum


By Martin Macwan* 
I landed in Delhi, the night the violence began on February 23, 2020. I could not sleep until early morning, glued to the TV watching the burning and the brickbats. The memories of 1992 communal violence were alive. That year, I had visited Surat with my friends Indukumar Jani, Madhusudan Mistry and deceased Vadilal Kamdar, the ex-mayor of Ahmedabad.
We were the rare beings trying to alight from the train with utmost difficulty on Surat railway station as thousands were jostling to get in the train and run away from the city. Had not we as citizens loved the communal violence, it would not be reengineered every ten years.
What can we do? All our constitutionally created institutions are silent. The only hope is enhancing education, off the school curriculum. Hence, this idea of working with the children to creatively deal with communal violence. After all, the children of today will be the youth of tomorrow.
Hope you like this three and a half minute video by Navsarjan Trust on how children deal with communal violence. Do share with others…

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