A soldier with the weapon of integrity

By Mayuresh Bhardwaj

We usually come across a phrase “unity is biggest strength of life” but very few of us actually make it practical in our lives. But we still have some of them who are not only making it practical in their lives but also work endlessly for the integration and prosperity of the society.

“Sanjay Nahar” his works introduce him itself as a man who grabbed the importance of social initiatives very early in his life. He was all of 15 years of age when he knew the importance of social and national issues and was also compelled to think about ways to resolve them. Perhaps it was the result of impact of his uncle who was a famous social worker.

Sanjay got to see the stark reality of human pain when that devastating communal riots took place in Pune in 80’s. Our country is all about unity in diversity but polarizing nature of society on communal basis weaken the social fabric on national unity. This situation of that time somewhere disturbed Sanjay and also bound him to fix his mission of life to work towards bonding people and communities together. Along with this he was also aware of the fact that rather than mere rhetoric, some concrete work needs to be done at grass root level.

It was 1984 when Sanjay Nahar got his first opportunity. That year was depressing for whole country because of Punjab issue was at peak and later that year it culminated into the assassination of the Prime Minister of India Indira Gandhi. Whole world was in shock and in deep sorrow then. Sanjay himself with his new born organization ‘Vande Matram‘ had commenced its activities with a visit to Punjab in the form of peace march. He worked endlessly in the form of spreading message of peace.

Punjab is not the only example of his excellence. There are some more strife torn states which are in the list who never forgot his admirable work. Kashmir we call it a heaven on earth but darkness of militancy blur the shine of this heaven in 1990s in particular when this man turn out to be opening a new chapter by kicked off Zain-ul-Abidin peace march in the valley with his better half.

Sanjay Nahar founded Sarhad in the year 1995. Today that small sapling has moulded itself into a tree which not only produces the fruits of prosperity but also initiate multiple works for the betterment of human beings and also for the social interest. The border regions of India are rich in heritage and culture, music, literature, and dance. Sanjay very well recognized the fact of propounding inclusiveness in the society. So he uses these cultural initiatives as an ultimate weapon to introduce the integrity again in the society.

(Mayuresh Bhardwaj is a student of journalism at Indira School of Communication)