The path of light

As students of Mediation and Conflict Resolution at Masters in Mediation & Conflict Resolution, MNLU Mumbai and part of the paper on Restorative Justice, we were asked to watch the documentary Rubaru Roshni (Where the Light Comes In) for a reflection.

The documentary revolves around the core theme of forgiveness and covers three tragic incidents 1. assassination of a congress MP Lalit Maken by Kuki and his associates 2. murder of a christian nun Rani Maria by Samundar Singh and 3. murder of Alan and Naomi as part of the Mumbai terror attacks in 2008 by Laskhar-E-Taiba terrorist organisation.

In the first two events the victim's family member reconciles with the offender after several years and in the last event Mrs. Kia regularly carries out a peace program and visits Mumbai to spread peace.

In most of the cases both the victims and the offenders together becomes victims due to society. The first event being driven by the 1984 chain of events in India, second event being a result of landlords taking revenge over the nun (using the cover of protecting religion) who helped the underprivileged get government benefits instead of opting for loan sharks and the third obviously known to all because of the radicalization of poor individuals under the wrong definition of Jihad.

As Swami Sadanand says in this documentary that "like day & night, summer & winter the twins of enmity and friendship are both equal and are to be taken as experience."

Kia lost her husband and daughter in the mumbai terror attacks tragedy. Kia beautifully expressed that forgiveness is “not about the other person; it is not about releasing anybody else; it is not about pardoning anybody or condoning something or letting anybody off the hook; it is about releasing yourself from holding negative thoughts and feelings. To be unforgiving is like taking poison yourself and hoping your enemy dies.” She added that “Peace is an everyday operation. It is not about absence of war or absence of riot or absence of a terrorist attack. Peace is something we can bring on a daily basis perhaps by preventing conflict; preventing violence. It requires paradigm shift of our thinking from conflict and violence to collaboration, connection and inclusion. Think that we all share a planet.”?

In Kuki's own words "Violence is a shortcut, most of the time it boomerangs; it cuts you more than the other to be cut.”

Restorative justice refers to “an approach to justice that seeks to repair harm by providing an opportunity for those harmed and those who take responsibility for the harm to communicate about and address their needs in the aftermath of a crime. It works to repair relationships, brings everyone involved in the conflict together to address the harm that was caused and find a solution that works for everyone including the victims, offenders and the community they live in.'

If the creator of the whole universe can forgive, then we as human beings should not hold grudges instead embrace forgiveness for our own inner peace. But time is certainly a healer and in most cases it takes time.

May peace prevail throughout the globe.

Thanks to our wonderful faculties Pascal Comvalius Uma Ramanathan ARLENE MANOHARAN Swagata Raha in helping us navigate through this complex module. Thanks to Tanu Mehta for crafting this wonderful course and Nausha Naik for wonderful co-ordination. Sharing of perspectives and experiences by our members from Fabulous First makes this an excellent learning journey.

https://www.netflix.com/title/81108230