Students Engagement in Peace Building through Dialogue

22 till 31 August 2006
AICUF House, Chennai, India

1. Introduction
We, 35 students with chaplains from Bangladesh, Hong Kong, India, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, South Korea, Sri Lanka and Taiwan, gathered at AICUF House, Chennai, India from 22 to 31 August 2006 with the theme Students’ Engagement in Peace Building through Dialogue. The 10 day programme allowed us to experience, reflect and re-discover ways of Dialogue as Peace lovers. We began our search with listening from different religious leaders and sharing by students of different countries represented. We explored the dimensions of goodness and intolerance of various religions and faiths through exposures to various communities (Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim, Christian and traditional beliefs) and places of worships. We also re-discovered the experiences among our own friends as student peace promoters. The study sessions provided spaces and platforms to de-learn many things and to re-learn much more about dialogue and peace processes.
2. The Context
Asia Pacific region is both multi cultural and multi religious. It has a rich diversity of people, customs, languages, rituals, faiths, and festivals and has been the center of cultural exchange. The people of Asia Pacific have a long history of celebration of differences and plurality. This region has been the birthplace of all the major religions in the world. This region has experienced various methods of governance and ruling, from people’s rule (democracy) to dictatorship to military rule. But due to adopting the principles of market economy and capitalistic globalisation, this region has been emerging as regions of greater economic disparity and ever widening gap between the haves and have-nots.
On the one hand we have the economic giants like China, Japan, Korea, Hong Kong and on the other hand we have Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, and Pakistan with the millions of people not having access to even basic amenities. But at present this region has been transformed into a space of serious and detrimental religious, communal and ethnic conflicts of one form or other affecting the lives of the multitude. The emergence of fundamentalist, communal and fascist forces in an alarming rate has challenged the socio-cultural fabric and ethos of this region. The exploitative nature of the dehumanised globalization is spreading hegemonical homogeneity, so that a few individuals could amass wealth by pauperizing the millions, destroying the distinct identity of the various strata of life.
The student community is the first and obvious victim of this new age of neo-colonisation. The emerging trends like consumerism, criminalisation of campus, militarisation of state and commercialisation and privatisation of education have left a majority of the students vulnerable and have converted the rest into a callous category.  The politicizing of religions and dividing the students on communal lines have threatened and weakened the human rights of marginalised people in general and student community in particular. The vanishing peace and harmony has demanded the intervention of the student community. The spatio-temporal and the socio political imperatives invite us to play a significant and meaningful role in order to build peace and harmony and establish truth and justice through dialogue of life and action.
3. Students’ Perspectives on Inter Religious Dialogue
As a tool, Inter Religious Dialogue helps to
·         A better understanding of the religious beliefs of various people 
·         Resolve religious conflicts among warring communities
·         Break prejudices against one another who believe in religions
·         Promote peace and create a better and just world for all to live
To begin Inter Religious Dialogue, we wish to
·         Accept the nature and ideology of different religions and their diversities
·         Understand the doctrines, principles, thoughts and rituals  of each others’ religion
·         Appreciate and accept each religion with mutual respect and comprehension
·         Start the process of dialogue with an inter personal level, move to intra religious  and then to inter religious
·         Come out from the limitations of one’s own religious faith and open one’s heart as well the  mind to engage in a genuine dialogue
·         Try not to use any coercive means  to gain over or to convince others
At the same time we assert that Inter religious dialogue is not the only solution to religious conflicts but is a part of the process. It has to be supplemented and complemented by many other political, cultural, educational, social means and methods.
4. Assert
We students assert that Dialogue of action is much more an important process in the context. So we recognize the following actors in global and local peace building and would like to assert that
a. Our Church: