THARPARKAR: Young students in Tharparkar presented tableaux and other performances conveying a message of peace, love and care for everyone, and won loud applause for their drawings and posters on peace, harmony and non-violence.
The function, titled “Promoting Peace through Quality Education”, was organised by Earth Stars Academy Islamkot in collaboration with the Indus Society for Rural Development (ISRD) to mark the International Day of Peace.
“According to the Economic Survey of Pakistan, the years between 2006 and 2011 saw the deaths of more than 35,000 civilians and 3,500 security personnel,” said Abdul Razaque Nohario.
“The situation is getting worse and worse. I hope peace will be restored everywhere,” said Heera Lal as he displayed his paintings.
“We need to reclaim the Pakistan Quaid-i-Azam struggled for, where people could live in peace and harmony regardless of colour, caste or creed,” said Sandeep Joshi, a student of the academy.
“Our objective is to promote peace through quality education,” said Dileep Kumar, a teacher at the academy. He said the event aimed to educate people about the importance of peace.
In her speech, young student Versha quoted a message from UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon: “On this International Day of Peace, let us pledge to teach our children the value of tolerance and mutual respect. Let us invest in the schools and teachers that will build a fair and inclusive world that embraces diversity. Let us fight for peace and defend it with all our might.”
Highlighting the significance of the day, Teerath Kumar said that by creating the International Day of Peace, the UN had dedicated a specific day to a shared focus on worldwide peace and encouraged all of humanity to work together towards this goal. He said the day “is meant to be a day of global ceasefire, when all countries and all people stop all hostilities towards each other”.