Fostering Peace, Starting with Youth

Susheela Bhan has saved hundreds of young lives. 

Fueled by a passion to restore humanity and faith in her war-torn homeland of Kashmir, Bhan established the Institute of Peace Research and Action (IPRA). The IPRA implements a comprehensive curriculum that inculcates democracy, secularism, social justice, and human rights into the hearts and minds of Kashmiri youth. The program is active in more than 200 schools in six districts, and has helped keep kids off the battlefield since 1999.

Deep in the heart of the Kashmir Valley, militant Islamic groups regularly recruit young people, involving them in armed clashes that have killed more than 70,000 youths in the past decade. In the 1990's, militant Islamic groups began attacking the civilian population, and Kashmir imploded into sectarian violence.

Tragically, the students and youth have suffered disproportionately. Today, every young person in Kashmir has somehow been scarred by violence, either as a participant or an inadvertent bystander.

Bhan remembers growing up in a more diverse and tolerant Kashmir shaped by Kashmiriyat, the Kashmiri Sufi-based heritage. Encompassing history, religion, ethnicity and language, Kashmiriyat emphasizes a universal humanity that abhors intolerance and exploitation.

As Kashmir descended into conflict, Kashmiriyat became distorted beyond recognition. A new Kashmiriyat was promoted, one that was manipulated according to the nefarious interests of a few, as tolerance and trust waned. Simultaneously, schools became hollow institutions and teachers became isolated individuals not knowing how to respond to the morass of corruption, criminality, unemployment, and despair surrounding and slowly engulfing them.

Bhan however, saw an opportunity to improve the situation through the school system, providing an alternative to militancy for youth through a curriculum that integrates the true Kashmiriyat teachings.

Working with the government, the IPRA selects participating schools that are tolerant and enthusiastic, with a balanced and diverse student body. 

Since its inception, the program has transformed the lives of many young students. A young woman who used to wear the burkha (veil) to school stopped doing so after a militant group announced that any woman not wearing a burkha would be killed. The girl had reflected deeply on her reasons for wearing the burkha, and come to the conclusion that morality is a reflection of a person's character, not the clothes on her back.

Other students who have graduated from the program go on to form community groups or have continued their studies to university where they have replicated some of the activities they learned in their IPRA cultural clubs.

Although her attempts to foster empathy in Kashmir have produced encouraging results, Bhan understands just how difficult it is to ensure that the lessons learned in school "stick" after these youths go out into Kashmir's harsh social landscape. Empathy will be crucial to these students throughout their lives, but Bhan notes, "they also need tangible economic opportunities to pursue after they graduate from school or college, and this is my main challenge from now on."

Bhan hopes to close this gap by persuading businesses to invest in Kashmir. Empathy is just as essential to success in business as it is to reforming violent societies, so the skills and values these youth acquire in school will serve as vibrant sources of strength no matter which path they choose.