Yakjah, Kashmir

Ashima in action

Young people in Kashmir have grown up through 20 years of insurgency during which 47,000 people have died. Sadly for many of them violence has become the norm. Radicalisation of young people has affected all communities, deepening intolerance and ignorance of the different cultures of a region once known for its harmonious inter-religious relations.

Ashima has set up the ‘Youth Expression and Leadership’ programme under Yakjah Reconciliation and Development Network. The programme is running cross-cultural workshops and exchanges across Kashmir for young people, the group most susceptible to being drawn into the conflict. Last year they trained 50 young people in peacebuilding. Together they are lobbying the media, local politicians and armed forces for a peaceful future. For many of them, it is the first time they have been able to express themselves without violence.

So many youth have been killed, but while people from other countries are speaking out against these violations, there is no one in India reaching out to us. Yakjah can be that bridge.- Wahid, a Yakjah member.

Through Yakjah Ashima is also training teachers in conflict transformation skills, so that they can pass these on to their students and build a movement of young people dedicated to peace in the new generation.

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