Awake

Pray for peace in Northeast India

"After 50 years of bloody guerrilla campaigns, many civilians are tired and desperate for peace." —BBC, October 4, 2004

The BBC's October 4th, 2004 Q&A: India's violent north-east tells a story that could very well be told today as well as back in the Fall of 2004. Violence has once again erupted in Assam this week, one of several states in India located in the space between Bangladesh and Burma, sharing borders with China and Bhutan as well. Imagine the ethnic diversity in a place like that...and all the political divisions...all those boundaries and no view of the sea. Well, conflict abounds in this place. Peace is needed urgently.

A larger view of this map will popup in a little window when you click on the image. This is a Meghalaya District Map [courtesy Maps of India], which shows the town of Guwahati on the Brahmaputra River in the neighboring district of Assam. (The map of Assam that I found didn't show Guwahati, one of the locations of "separatist attacks" on Thursday. I also used this map of Meghalaya district because I know some people who are living in this district, so this place is more personally meaningful. That is, it helps me to relationally connect what is happening in the news with real people, even if they live some distance away. Making this relational connection may help me to intercede more effectively. I don't know if that is true. But I hope anyway.) The BBC Q&A on violence in NE India also has a nice map of the area as well.