Shillong Dec 7: A four-day Human Rights Workshop for North East India was organized from today on the theme “Building Community With human Rights and Dignity for Peace” by the Indigenous Biodiversity & Social Welfare Organization (IBSWO) at the Presbyterian Church of India, Lechumire as part of celebrating World Human Rights Day which will be celebrated on December 10.
Addressing the inaugural session Senior Advisor of IBSWO, Rev. Dr. P. B. M. Basaiawmoit said that each human being have one goal and that is to have a peaceful life but to the government, peace simply means enforcing various Acts and Laws such as Arm Forces Special Protection Act (AFSPA) to fight against the militants but at the same time keep the innocent people in danger. “That is not peace at all”, he asserted.
The Senior Advisor further stated that few years back, some of the church leaders had a meeting with the state government to discuss on the development on peace wherein one of the church leaders raised his voice saying “we need peace for development” but the political leaders said “we need development for peace” which let to several hours of debate and in the end, the meeting end up with no conclusion.
He said, “If our rights are denied or we are being exploited or mistreated, there cannot be peace”.(SP News)
