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Trained community counsellors interact with villagers troubled by conflicts at various levels. Photo: Special Arrangement
A first-of-its-kind school for imparting lessons on humanity and societal happiness will take root in Assam’s Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR) at the dawn of 2024.
The foundation of the International School of Peace and Happiness is scheduled to be laid in the first week of January at Bijni in western Assam’s Chirang district, one of five in the BTR. The project would be initiated after a year of planning by the Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC), which administers the BTR formed under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution.
“Conflicts of the kind Manipur has been experiencing are heart-wrenching for a region known for its natural splendour and hospitality. The areas now under BTR went through a similar phase over 50 years of movement (for Statehood),” BTC’s chief executive member, Pramod Boro said on Saturday.
The BTR areas have had a history of extremism resulting in ethnic conflicts, especially between the Bodos, the largest plains tribe in the northeast, and migrant Muslims, and between the Bodos and Adivasis. Hundreds were killed and more than 500,000 people were displaced in major communal clashes in 1993, 2008, and 2012.
Mr. Boro said the idea of a school specialising in peace-building and spreading happiness had germinated since his party, the United People’s Party Liberal, formed the BTC government with the BJP and the Gana Suraksha Party three years ago.
“The objective was to instil in youth and community leaders the human values for co-existence in a region and country inhabited by people of diverse faiths, cultures, languages, and ethnicity — all interdependent. We felt such values needed formal schooling through which a team of peace ambassadors can be produced toward resolving conflicts at the micro and macro levels,” he said.
Peace volunteers
The school of happiness had its genesis in a pilot project called Bodoland Happiness Mission introduced almost a year ago. Some 400 youth and community leaders were chosen to become peace and happiness volunteers after undergoing a few weeks of training at the Bodoland Community Counselling Centres.
Each district has one such strategically located centre.
“The trainees were made aware of various laws related to social issues, taught how to remove conscious and unconscious biases to help increase self-awareness and understanding of others, steps in barefoot counselling and maintaining the right body postures during counselling, and exercises for de-stressing and staying calm in adverse situations,” Padmini Brahma, in-charge of the happiness programme, told The Hindu.
Some of the ‘peace volunteers’ said the training helped them look beyond their community-specific boundaries.
“I used to think only about ourselves. I have begun to understand people beyond my family and tribe, and how to behave with people different from us,” Hobila Rabha, president of the Kashiabari Anchalik All Rabha Women’s Council in the Kokrajhar district, said.
“What I have learned is to correct the mistakes of the past, apologise, and move on by ensuring such mistakes are never repeated. One cannot cocoon oneself in a connected world,” Rathia Basumatary said, agreeing that many in BTR and areas beyond carry the scars of conflicts.
Mijanur Rahman, a youth leader, said the happiness programme taught him how to first deal amicably with conflicts at home and then at the social level, involving one or more communities. “The training was an eye-opener,” he said.
Mr. Boro, who timed the announcement of the initiation of the happiness school with the completion of three years of his BTC government, said the courses would be designed at a later stage.
