Message of Love

India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh share a common heritage and history. Cultural, religious, and civilizational ties weave the people together. However, certain historical events have led to deep divisions among the countries and their people, leading some to hatred, vitriol, and bitterness. Cultivation of this very hatred has caused several biases, stereotypes, and rigid mindsets, resulting in violent extremism and war-mongering.

Among the many commonalities, the three neighbors have favorable demography which means a sizeable youth population. As in many countries, the youth population in each country engages with each other online at a much higher rate than the political actors who speak for the communities they are a part of. Thus, three fellows from the European Union-funded ALLY project decided to engage with the youth in each country and channel their energies constructively to shed the prevalent stereotypes, perceptions, and prejudices.

The ALLY Social Action Project “Paigham-e-Mohabbat” (Message of Love) comprises a series of regional dialogues on peacebuilding and preventing violent extremism across India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. At its core, the team believes that only through dialogue, discussion, and reflection, are co-existence and sustainable peace possible across borders. This shall be a small, yet significant step towards preventing violent extremism.

Paigham-e-Mohabbat launched its social media campaign in January 2022 with an open call for applications to join its series of “Regional Dialogues on Peace and Preventing Violent Extremism”. Applications were reviewed and select youth participants were invited to complete a pre-session questionnaire, which aimed to record the existing stereotypes and notions of the participants.

Thereafter, the First Regional Dialogue took place on 29 January 2022. Besides youth participants from India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh, many individuals belonging to the ALLY network from other countries joined. The participants gained clarity on concepts of peace, conflict, and violence. They also engaged in conflict analysis through the conflict tree analysis exercise. They were able to develop an understanding of the root causes, core issues, and impacts of conflict across borders.

The Second Regional Dialogue took place on 6th February 2022 and is focused on understanding the role of narratives in a conflict and how conflicting narratives fuel animosities against each other leading to the prevalence of preconceived notions, stereotypes, and prejudices. The participants were involved in highlighting the commonalities among the three nations, which were found to be manifold as compared to the differences. They were able to build an understanding of transforming narratives.

“The Project aims to develop an understanding of common aspirations and sufferings among youth across the three nations, to create a safe space for youth to exchange thoughts & perspectives for preventing violent extremism and to enable youth to become torchbearers of peace and amity.”

–Fizza Saghir 

The Third Regional Dialogue will be devoted to understanding factors behind narratives and violent extremism, with discussions on push and pull factors of violent extremism vis-a-vis conflict across borders. In particular, the roles of national identities, media, corporations with vested interests, and education curriculums in promoting violent extremism shall be discussed. The Fourth Regional Dialogue shall emphasize strategies to change the lens and break the invisible barriers across India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. Themes such as non-violent communication, empathy, peace journalism, and emotional intelligence shall be covered through interactive activities and conversations among the participants. The Dialogue Series shall wrap up with a cultural exchange program and sharing of reflections. For up-to-date information, please visit the Message of Love Facebook page.