Youth exhorted to shun violence, pursue peace

Nampally: As many as 2149 Students from 51 schools and colleges participated in the Praful Bidwai Memorial SAMBANDH, 2019 – the 17th Annual Inter School & Inter-Collegiate Competitions – with the theme of 'Violence in society kills the nation.' The 'nuclear holocaust' of Hiroshima and Nagasaki was remembered on the day.

Organised by COVA and supported by NASIM Foundation under collaboration with Jawahar Bal Bhavan, Dhwani, Indian Children's Action Network (ICAN), Youth TRAC; Coalition for Nuclear Disarmament and Peace, the students participated in poster and slogan writing, essay writing, debate, declamation, one act plays and quiz competitions.

The chief guest for the valedictory session was Anurag Sharma, Advisor to the Government of Telangana. B Shantishree, Chartered Accountant and former Member of the Board of State Bank of Hyderabad, Dr Sr P Amrita, Principal of St. Anns College, R Bhramara Sree and Meeta Joshi of St Anns College, Mehdipatnam, were the guests of honour.

According to organisers, NASIM Foundation of USA and others have been organising SAMBANDH Program in Hyderabad every year since 2002 to commemorate the nuclear holocaust in Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II and also to celebrate the memory of Praful Bidwai, a prominent anti-nuclear activist and advocate of peace.

The objective of this annual event is to sensitise students and youth to the issues of war, violence, and promotion of peace all over the world in general and in the Sub Continent in particular. "The Themes of SAMBANDH Programs in previous years included: Can Humanity Survive the Increasing Violence in the World?; Preventing Wars- Securing Peace; Beyond War and Violence: Towards a Just World and Preventing Conflicts around the World etc," said Mazher Hussain, the Executive Director of COVA

Moazzam Hussain, vice-president of MS Education Academy, Dr M Radha Reddy, Director of Jawahar Bal Bhawan, and Sabhajit Saha, Head, Telangana Region, Confederation of Indian Industry, attended in the inaugural session. Delivering the valedictory address, Anurag Sharma said that it was important to be determined in life to achieve goals and also to be sensitive to social issues and strive to become good human beings. He handed over cheques for school fees for the year to the orphan girls Sumaiya Naaz of 3rd class, Rabiya Khatoon of 7th class and Simraunnisa of 7th class.

"K R Venugopal, former Secretary to 3 Prime Ministers of India, has an endowment fund with COVA in his respected father's name: The Kasba Ramiah Endowment for Education of Muslim Orphan Girls. Another endowment is instituted in the memory of Col M Nayeem Ahmed by his family, and donation was made for education of orphan girls by Orooj Alam in the memory of his father Waheeduddin," said Brother Varghese Thechaneth, Secretary, COVA, who presided over the function.