For the 14-year olds who spent nearly three weeks with their Pakistani counterparts at the Seed of Peace conflict resolution camp at Maine, USA, it was a rude shock to return to a nation torn by bomb blasts.
And to their utter dismay, all fingers were once again pointing at the neighbouring country, accusing them of terrorist activities.
The 12 students from various schools in the city participated in the camp which aims to bring together youngsters from conflicting nations. This year, 32 Indian and Pakistani students bonded with each other during the camp.
“After living with each other for three weeks as friends, coming home and witnessing the serial blasts was a rude shock. Even our families were saying that Pakistanis are behind the terror acts,” said 14-year-old Juhi Shah, student of New Era High School.
Despite her family’s beliefs, the experience at the camp changed Shah’s view of stereotyping people. “Not all Pakistanis are terrorists. Just like me, they watch Bollywood movies, worry about grades and homework,” she explained. Amazed at the similarity they shared with their Pakistani counterparts, Jiya Pandya recalled how all students went out of the way to help each other.
“Just like me, my friend Maria Azim was nervous before making a speech. I helped her write the speech and she did a fabulous job,” said Pandya, a class IX student of Bombay International School. “
“I thought all Pakistanis were rigid, conservative and narrow minded, but now I know better,” she added. After engaging in various activities such as swimming, playing and debating, the Indian students found that even their Pakistani friends were victims of similar stereotypes. “The legacy of hatred and prejudice were handed down to both the countries. We even found that our history textbooks had a very biased view of the whole Indo-Pak partition,” said Simiran Lalvani, student of Yashodham High School.
The programme was initially started by journalist John Wallach in 1993 to help youngsters from conflicting nations come together and form friendship.
“This is the eighth camp organised with India since 2001. The camp is just a stepping stone as students engage in follow-up activities with their counterparts from the neighbouring nations,” said Paul Folmsbee, US Consul General.
