ANNOUNCEMENT

Diwali for peace

Insaaniyat invites you to honour the courage of those who crossed the line to save their neighbours, heedless of the communal passions raging around them.

On Sunday, 3 November, 2002, at 7 p.m. scores of lamps will be lit for peace and the spirit of humanity, dispelling some of the darkness of obscurantism and hatred that have enveloped our times.

We shall gather at Marine Drive (near Ambassador Hotel) at 7 p.m. Joining us will be film directors Govind Nihalani, Prakash Jha, Mansoor Khan and Vinay Shukla, Javed Anand and Teesta Setalvad of Communalism Combat, writer Shobha De, poet-lyricist Javed Akhtar, designer Hemant Trivedi, Kersi Katrak of The Republic and several others.

In a simultaneous endeavor, Insaaniyat members will light lamps at IIT Market, Powai, while members of the Humanity Forum, Bandra, will also light lamps at Carter Road, Bandra at 7 p.m.

Join us to light a lamp for police officer M Chudavat of Modasa Town who stood his ground alone
against a howling Hindu mob and so saved every Muslim life in that town.

For the anonymous Muslim woman of Danilimda who saved the lives of three Hindu reporters, regardless of the danger to herself, her husband and her four young daughters.

For Mumtaz of Juhapura, who sheltered a Buddhist monk from a violent, stone-throwing mob.

For Sanjana and Sanjay Kedia, who carried dozens of Muslims to safety, returning time and time again to a riot-ridden area to save victims in their scooter sidecar.

And for the activists of the Jan Sangharsh Manch who ensured that not a single life was lost in the largely Muslim locality of Salatnagar in Gomtipur, when 250 hutments were burned to the ground.

We shall light a lamp for them and hundreds like them, everyday heroes who have stood their ground for what they believe in, people whose names are not recorded in history but who are the makers of history. Their courage and humanity is the true culture and tradition of our country and the only guarantee that our children will have a future.

Join us with your family and friends at Marine Drive or Bandra or IIT Market, Powai, as we reassert our faith in humanity.

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