Maintaining peace takes year-round effort: mohallas

MID-DAY(Mar 2002)

By Skimmy Gupta

Despite the hype associated with Communal Harmony Week - organised in January by the Mohalla Committee Movement Trust, the Mumbai police and Tata Institute of Social Sciences - the event was not a big draw. However, following the Gujarat riots, Mumbai remained peaceful primarily because of the mohalla committees.

Explains mohalla facilitator Maria Easwaran, "Routine work is of prime importance. Big events sometimes tend to be insignificant in terms of impact, though they derive publicity. I can vouch for programmes which are meaningful even though they involve little money. Today, our peace efforts are being publicised, but let us not forget that we owe our success to the work of the committees throughout the year."

Trustee K M Aarif agrees, "It's better for us to stick to the routine work of conducting peace meetings, instead of organising big events for which someone else takes the credit. Our work is not appreciated throughout the year because we operate silently. Now, just because the media has given us coverage, everybody has realised our potential."

Anwar Farroqi and Nisa Khan, members of a Jogeshwari mohalla unit since 1993, say, "We believe in regular work at small levels. Big events just misuse funds. These funds should instead be utilised in constructive work at the grassroots level."

Satish Sahney, executive mohalla member and former police commissioner, says, "Routine work is important because big events do not impress the common man. I am in favour of facilitators and members conducting regular meetings at neutral places, that too in a simple way. Simple things convey the message of peace effectively."

The mohalla movement was formed to maintain communal harmony in the city after the communal riots of 1992-93. There is one committee for every police station in the city.

Since its formation, the movement has been mobilising people, arranging peace meetings and marches and conducting dialogues between both communities. In recent times, the movement has earned tremendous faith from Mumbaiwallahs and administrative authorities.