IAHV is committed to building bridge between estranged communities. It believes
that peace cannot be achieved through force but through dialogue. IAHV initiates
spaces for exchanges between diverse ideologies to work together for lasting peace.
Breathing Peace in Conflict
Jammu & Kashmir:
After 16 years of violence in the Kashmir Valley leaders of all the separatist groups
gathered in one place, and a step towards dialogue for peace was taken. Among them
were eight women, an important first step to include women in peace building efforts.
Now we have understood that only love can
win the world
Hardcore Terrorist Inmate, Udhampur, District Jail,
J&K
I never used to laugh, or talk. I probably
laughed for the first time during the course.
Wasim Ahmed, Terrorist, Kashmir
During 16 years of conflict in the region, young Muslims join militant organizations
out of frustration, or because their minds were won by propaganda machines. Efforts
began in January 2003 when IAHV’s sister organization Art of Living began
Youth Leadership Training Programs. Young men were so enthused that they organized
10 more courses. Two and a half years later, 1,200 young men most of whom once belonged
to Muslim militant organizations, have taken this stress reduction program. These
men who saw violence as the only solution now have a broader vision. Change is happening
because aggression is replaced by social responsibility.
In Bihar:
The Indian state of Bihar is today ravaged by poverty, separatism, and caste-based
violence. For over a decade a district that includes Jehanabad and Gaya was engulfed
in armed conflict between a private army of landowners and militant groups. Art
of Living, IAHV’s sister organization, began work in militant-infected area
in September 2000. There has been no massacres in jehanabad since 2001. After 15
long years of suffering, life has returned to normal.
In 2002, around 100,000 youths inspired by IAHV’s message of peace came together
in celebration and took a vow to spread give up violence.
I realized that my colleagues and I had
wasted our lives in this useless war.
Militant Youth
In Sri Lanka:
Trauma relief programs is offered to all those who were affected by the Tamil-Sinhalese
conflict.
In Israel and Palestine
Out of it’s commitment to build bridges between estranged communities and
help people living in constant fear, IAHV’s sister organization Art of Living
Foundation continues to offer programs along the wall that now separate Israel and
Palestinian territories. The first course was held in June, 2004, in the neighborhood
of Mevaseret Zion, located on the border of Jerusalem.
As a KLA soldier, I was wounded three times
during the war. Since then, I take pain killers almost every day. During my sleep
I hear my brother’s voice, who was killed in the Reqak massacre, and voices
of my friends who were killed in the war. I hear them calling me for help. I often
jump from my bed searching for the gun, and afterwards I cannot sleep. After taking
the Art of Living program, I sleep much better, and flashbacks and nightmares have
reduced. Now I am using Art of Living program instead of painkillers.
Afet Bilalli,
Soldier in Kosovo
In Iraq and Afghanistan:
IAHV along with the Art of Living Foundation, was one of the few NGOs active in
Iraq and Afghanistan during actual conflict. When the Red Cross building across
the street from the Art of Living Center exploded, volunteers continued their work
and refused to return home.
In New York
I will always remember how this city rallied
around it’s firefighters during this tragedy, but I will remember most of
all the contribution of your group.
James Bossert,
New York City Fire Chief, Battalion 32
Post 911, our volunteers worked around the clock to do whatever the city needed—from
food, to clothes, to free courses on trauma relief. Additional volunteers and teachers
were flown to New York to help deliver trauma relief courses.
In Beslan, Russia
On September 3, 2004 1350 hostages held captive in a school building in Beslan,
Russia died after the terrorists blew up the school gymnasium. The Art of Living
Foundation offered trauma relief programs for the people of Belsan.
For two months after the incident we did
not want to laugh and greet each other. We were still scared and in shock. And now,
after being on the Art of Living course, I want to live.
Tamara Tikareva,
head of kindergarten No. 11
In Pakistan
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar was the first spiritual master from India to officially visit
Pakistan in recent history. The subject of his informal discussions was in keeping
with his goodwill mission—unity in diversity and globalizing wisdom.
