September 21, 2009, Pune: Symbiosis Institute of Media & Communication (SIMC) saw an eventful morning with cultural diversity of numerous students from colleges all over India and abroad gathering together to inaugurate the South Asian Youth Peace Meet 09.

South Asian Youth Peace Meet 2009, or SAYPM a sit is popularly known, endeavors to galvanize the positive young thoughts towards broader concept of peaceful growth with equity. South Asian Youth Peace Meet is an initiative towards initiating social interaction and liberal dialogue amongst the youth - the one's that can truly make a difference. The three daylong event started today and will end on Wednesday, the 23rd of September.

The event was flagged off by all the students gathering together to paint a peace canvas with messages spreading peace and harmony amongst all human beings.
The event was inaugurated by Smt. Rajlaxmi Bhonsale, Mayor of Pune, Dr. Chandra Krishnamurthy, Vice Chancellor, Mumbai University, Prof. Dr. Vishwanath Karad, Founder Director, MIT University and our very own Dr. Vidya Yeravdekar, Principal Director, Symbiosis International University and Prof. Ujjwal Kumar Choudhary, Director SIMC, Dean SIU of the Symbiosis family.

The inaugural session was followed by a few minutes of insightful talks on Communal Harmony and Peace by the respected dignitaries. The insights shared by the dignitaries were extremely valuable and the students from all religions, caste, creed and race came together joining hands for a common purpose which is communal harmony and peace.

The next session saw Mr. Nawal Paswan, Professor, JNU, speak about South Asia,  and the geo political statistics of the same. Following him was Mr. Suresh Kopade, Special Inspector General, Mumbai who elaborated on the role of youth in communal riots when Hindus are ‘Hindus’ and Muslims are ‘Muslims’. This was followed by Dr. Asghar Ali Engineer, who cleared the fact that no religious text or cultural practices have ever told people to engage in communal violence. Choosing this very appropriate day, Dr. Engineer went on make his message clear by saying, “ Jahan peace hai, vahi mere liye eid hai”
Mr.Romesh Bhandari, Former Foreign Secretary and Former Governor, Uttar Pradesh was the next speaker. He spoke about unity in diversity being necessary while tackling terrorism and the need to understand the root cause of terrorism. According to him, “It’s not just important to fight the terrorists, but it is equally important to fight the cause of terrorism. The youth should be united.” The next speaker, Jyoti Punwani, an independent journalist, spoke about media’s role in maintaining communal harmony.

One of the main highlights of SAYPM 09 is the Model United Nations or the MUN. The first part of MUN started today and will go on for the next two days. The other events taking place today are a quiz, a peace dance, the amazing race followed by a cultural Dandiya Night.
 
A lot of excitement and anticipation waits the next two days of SAYPM 09. Tomorrow the event will be graced by the presence of Dr. Kiran Bedi who will be interacting with the students. Popular actor and Youth Icon, Imran Khan will also be present at the event to address the students and will also be present for interactions with the media.