GUWAHATI, April 28 � �In a democratic State, all citizens have a national responsibility and in the globalised world today, they have world responsibility. Those who wish to serve as conscientious leaders in a society have a responsibility to act as perceptive and committed citizens within the social fabric of a nation.�
Rev Thomas Menamparambil, Archbishop Emeritus of Guwahati, expressed these views while speaking at the inauguration of the two-day workshop on �Role of civil society in maintaining peace and harmony� organised by the Centre for Equity, Justice, and Rule of Law (CEJAR) at Shilpgram in Guwahati recently.
Irfan Engineer, Director, Centre for Study of Society and Secularism (CSSS), Mumbai, speaking at the inaugural session, said that peace makers should find a way out when guns are speaking. �They must evolve a step-by-step doctrine when everyone has lost all hopes. They must understand, listen to perceptions of pain, reduce anger and make the people good human beings again,� he said.
On the first day of the workshop, a documentary Islamic Heritage of Assam�was screened before which the researcher of the project, Dr Abu Nasar Sayed Ahmed, former faculty of IIT-Guwahati, spoke about the making of the film which aims at promoting understanding and brotherhood among the people of Assam.
Others who took part in the deliberation at the workshop were Professor Shahiuz Zaman, faculty, Namti College, Sivasagar; SN Rahman, former ACS officer, Professor Abdul Mannan, Gauhati University, Dr SB Medhi (retired IAS), Dr Bhubaneswar Deka, Principal, Bidya Bharati College and Azan Peer Scholar, Tabiul Hussain (retired IAS) and Moinul Haque Choudhury, advocate, Gauhati High Court.
