MESSENGERS OF PEACE FLAGGED IN

POONCH: Twenty Five youth hailing from remote and far flung villages around Surankot in Poonch district who were on an educational tour to Mumbai, Belgaum and Pune were flagged in at Kalai near Surankot by Dy Commander Sector Rashtriya Rifles amidst large gathering comprising youths, parents and prominent civil administration officials.  The educational tour aptly called ‘PAIGHAM- E- AMAN was conducted by one of the Rashtriya Rifles Battalion under aegis of Romeo Force. 

During the fifteen days educational tour, the youth met His Excellency  K Sankaranarayanan, Governor of Maharastra and were left spell bound with the hospitality extended to them by Staff of Raj Bhavan.  Governor interacted with the youth and impressed upon the youth to imbibe good character and work hard for a better future of the society and their families. As part of tour they were taken to Gateway of India, Elephanta Caves, Nehru Planetarium  and Haji mosque on their first day and thereafter next day they were taken to Essel Word, Naval dockyard, Chhatrapati Shivaji Sangrahalaya, Marine Drive, Juhu Chowpatty and  Fashion Street. 

The tour in its next phase moved to Belgaum where they got opportunity to interact with army commandos and learn some skills from them. They also visited Maratha Regimental Centre Museum and other places of historical importance.  The tour in its final lap went to Pune where they visited National Defence Academy and Information Technology hubs of    WIPRO and INFOSYS and factories of TELCO and BAJAJ.  The youth were also taken to College of Military Engineering and Army Sports Institute to see for themselves the training of officers and cadets at these establishments.

Youth had joy written on their faces as they had got a glimpse of some of the most memorable places in the country which gave them an insight into the all round progress of our nation, cultural diversity and rich heritage. Dy Commander while speaking to youth told them to share their experiences with their counterparts and impressed upon their role in upliftment of their area as they had witnessed during their tour.

Master Ishal Ahmed aged 19 years and resident of Arai village while speaking to media told that he had an experience of a lifetime by visiting these places which he had only dreamt of till now or had seen only in movies and TV. It is a completely different world once we moved out of State, the kind of infrastructure and progress our nation has made in every field.  Master Javed Iqbal aged 18 years and resident of Kalai while speaking to media told that he was completely mesmerized and short of words to express his feeling after having visited all these places. ‘I just wish that our state were also able to match up with their development and now I will whole heartedly work to achieve this aim’. The parents of youth expressed their gratitude to the Army for providing this lifetime opportunity to their children.