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NEWS & LETTERS, April 2002
Nagpur peace march
Nagpur, India-- "Colour of blood is neither Green nor Saffron, it
is Red" These were the bold slogans that reverberated in the
lanes of Mahal and Itwari in Nagpur on March 9. Hundreds of peace-loving
secular-minded people of Nagpur belonging to all communities turned up in this
peace march organized by Secular Citizens Forum, Nagpur to protest the killings
at Godhra and the subsequent massacre and genocide in Gujarat in the name of
religion. The march received stupendous response from the common
people, many of whom joined spontaneously. The participants were welcomed at
many places of the entire route by traders and bystanders with flowers, garlands
and drinking water. Enthusiasm and human warmth could be felt by the
participants as well as the people who watched the peace march pass through the
narrow, crowded, busy lanes of Mahal and Itwari. The most prominent and the brightest feature of the
peace march was the participation of a huge number of women carrying colourful
banners and placards, giving lively slogans and singing songs of peace
throughout the march. Leaflets with the message of peace were distributed to
the bystanders throughout the procession. Huge banners proclaiming "We want
peace. Stop politics of Mandir-Masjid" were displayed. Slogans condemning
the tendency of inciting communal frenzy, riots and massacres by religious
fundamentalists were raised by the participants. They condemned the killings at
Godhra and subsequent organized genocide in Gujarat with the connivance of a
section of the police and administration. This peace march organized by Secular Citizens Forum was
the first of its kind in Nagpur after the Gujarat genocide and has definitely
succeeded in making the presence of the secular forces felt in this city. -Arvind Ghosh |
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