Neeraj Chopra-Arshad Nadeem Brighten Indo-Pak Friendship On Aaghaz-e-Dosti's 13th Peace Calendar

Neeraj Chopra-Arshad Nadeem Brighten Indo-Pak Friendship On Aaghaz-e-Dosti’s 13th Peace Calendar

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The 13th Indo-Pak Peace Calendar by Aaghaz-e-Dosti features paintings of Olympic javelin throwers Neeraj Chopra and Arshad Nadeem with the flags of India and Pakistan draped on the back of the Paris 2024 silver and gold medalist respectively.

As per a report in The New Indian Express, a letter exchange program took place between the students at Phaltan in Maharashtra and Lahore. A host of other schools will also connect via video conferencing to encourage students to share their experience.

The calendar was initially launched in Gurugram, India, and is soon to be released in Pakistan.

“We observed a few unique things this year: Students were painting even on contemporary issues. For example, Sirjan Kaur, a student from Swami Sant Das Public School in Jalandhar, Punjab, has made a painting of Neeraj Chopra’s mother showing her hands upon the shoulders of Neeraj and Nadeem, saying ‘both are my sons’. This is a beautiful thing that young students are aware about these issues and linking such chains where they see peace and bonding,”  Ravi Nitesh founder of Aaghaz-e-Dosti told The New Indian Express.

“This year, we also brought Nest Man of India Rakesh Khatri and people from the International Watercolor Society to open new avenues of linking both sides which young citizens need to know,” he said.

Nitesh said, “The events create a culture of peace, as schools follow up with Aaghaz-e-Dosti for more activities. Recently, we facilitated a letter exchange program between Sajnjan Nagar Public School in Lahore and Kamla Nimbkar Balbhavan at Phaltan of Maharashtra where students wrote letters to each other, as ten students from each school wrote to each other telling about their culture, school, library and each other’s likes and dislikes.”

“We are planning that, in the coming days, more schools from each country get connected to each other via video conferencing and thus students will share their experiences and aspirations in order to overcome misunderstandings,” he says.

“At a time when the world is surrounded by things of war and conflicts, such actions by young people in India and Pakistan actually reflects how beautiful and strong our cultural bond is and how our future generations are willing to be connected and look for a future which is more peaceful, safer, violence free, hatred free, arms free,” he added.

Dr Devika Mittal, convener of Aaghaz-e-Dosti said, “The calendar with paintings by innocent and apolitical minds remind us that mindsets have been constructed. Together with the beautiful dreams of the young and innocent, the calendar also carries messages from people who have been actively working to nurture these dreams.”

“This calendar is a collection of shared dreams of peace and friendship. It serves as a hope shared by people who are just like us, in habit and struggle. With the turn of the pages to start a new month, the hope shall be renewed,” he added.

“Working since 2012, Aaghaz-e-Dosti has already released thirteen such calendars. Our aim is to work with school students because they are responsible citizens of the future and their future should be hatred-free free-violence free and war free. When students create art, it brings their emotions, their thoughts and their dreams,” said Nitin Mittoo, Coordinator of Aaghaz-e-Dosti.

The launch also featured a discussion, ‘Sharing of Hopes for a Peaceful Co-existence’ and poetry session.