Candle for Peace

Candle for Peace is a news report published in The Hindu on 10 February 1993. The article discusses Students for Peace, an independent student forum organising a candlelight demonstration in Bangalore, contextualising it within the aftermath of the Ayodhya demolition and broader communal tensions affecting young people across India.

Article Details
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Context and Background

Article Details

📰 Published in:: The Hindu
📅 Date:: 10 February 1993
📄 Type:: News Report
📰 Newspaper Link:: Not available

Full Text

BANGALORE:

IF you thought that today's urban teenagers are only tuned in to 10,000 Maniacs or Toad the Wet Sprocket, you can think again. The Ayodhya demolition disturbed them just as much as it did, every sensible adult.

Students For Peace, an independent forum of students from various local colleges, is organising a demonstration, "Light a candle for peace". At least 3,000 youth are expected to meet at the Gandhi statue and line up along M.G. Road at dusk on February 13, "passing on a ray of hope".

The candle has been chosen as a symbol, since it does not lose its brightness when its flame is passed on to another. SFP's 15-member core group and 80-odd volunteers, who have no affiliation to any political or religious organisation, have contacted students of over 50 colleges and high schools. Many individuals and organisations have donated towards publicity material such as handbills, posters, stickers and T-shirts.

Those interested in supporting SFP's efforts can contact Ravindra Walters and Sunil Abraham.

Newspaper Clipping

Context and Background

This news report appeared three days before the planned demonstration on 13 February 1993. Unlike the shorter event notice published in the same edition, this report adopted a more reflective tone while providing background on the initiative. It emphasised the initiative’s independence from political and religious organisations, highlighting volunteer efforts to mobilise participants across educational institutions in Bangalore. The piece served both as publicity for the event and as broader reflection on student responses to communal violence following the Babri Masjid demolition.