Standing next to Charminar

7/29/2019 Standing next to Charminar

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Standing next to Charminar

Rajesh Cheemalakonda

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Few weeks ago in Hyderabad, on the day of an important festival, there was a sudden outburst

of rumors about communal violence in old city. Security was pepped up; police patrolled each

and every street in sensitive areas of twin cities and peace messages went rounds on mobile

phones. For the surprise of Hyderabadis, no such instances were covered by24*7 news

channels or the newspapers the next day. A couple of weeks later one of the top cops of AP

police confirmed the stray incidents and detailed how they effectively handled the situation.

Behind all their efforts in maintaining peace, there is a well-organized network of NGOs working

timelessly in the old city that is COVA (Confederation of voluntary associations). Above

mentioned is just an example, COVA played a major role in handling many such issues be it is

the bell controversy at Bhagya Lakshmi temple, curfew situations in 2010 or any such incident

for that matter. Immersed in bustling energies of old city COVA works diligently to bring

together the various voices of the community. The focus of their efforts lies in the advocacy of

those in the community who would otherwise have hard times in having their voices heard such

as women and children.

Today COVAs mission takes shape in the various programs the organization offers. In

Hyderabad these programs focus on children advocacy, and empowerment. COVAs youth

program lies in education and works to bring together the youth from various communities

with the hope that they can share and together build an outlook grounded in peace and social

responsibility COVA also works extensively on womens issues offering adult literacy centers,

proving family counseling and encouraging self-help groups.

The beginning:

COVA started as a movement in old city to counter communalism after 1991 riots recalls MR.

Md. Turab the executive secretory of COVA. He further says, at that time tensions prevailed

between two communities due to vested interest of some political organizations who tried to

take political advantage of the situations. Deccan development society took an initiative at that

point with the support of a few other likeminded NGOs and formed COVA Network to ease the


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tensions. We believe that communal harmony cannot be achieved just through peace initiatives

but development at various levels like health, female education, women empowerment etc. are

equally important. and thus COVA decided to address these issues through its programs.

Programs and initiatives:

Playing a major role in advocating human rights and maintaining communal harmony across the

Asian countries, COVA has been serving the community and working for its development in all

possible ways. The major strength and the secret behind the success story of this organization is

the fact that the contributors to the programs are the beneficiaries themselves.

Being self-sufficient does not mean that one is denied of all the rightful things that the

government should be providing its citizens to help them lead a comfortable life like clean

drinking water, sanitation, health education, and housing for all its citizens etc. to ensure that

people are well aware of these governmental policies and to keep a check on their effectiveness

in implementation COVA conducted a nationwide campaign called the National Campaign for

Right to Basic Services (RTBS)

COVA added another feather to its cap when it went beyond its community service and extended

itself to contributing to world peace when it took up the Indo-Pak Joint Signature Campaign in

February 2009, marking the end of the war, and promoting anti-terrorism and friendly relations

between these nations.

Their other initiatives like the PAP or the Peace Alliance Partners have been working

effectively in countering overt and covert communal biases within individuals and organization.

The COVA is also an active member of the Pakistan India Peoples Forum for Peace and

Democracy i.e. the PIPFPD, CNDP, VANI, and the Credibility Alliance, and is represented on

the joint Machinery, Planning Commission, Government of India, and GO-NGO Coordination

Committee set up by the Government of Andhra Pradesh along with many other such national

and international bodies.

Apart from helping in the spread of communal harmony the volunteers also work on educating

people about the various disaster management techniques making the people in the community

self-sufficient to face any man made or natural calamity. Ever since its conception in 1994


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COVA has been successful in maintaining peace across the society and serving the people. The

volunteers claim that more often than not the people whom they work with end up enrolling as

volunteers and carry on the chain of service to humanity.

Volunteers:

The success secret of COVA lies within its bottom up approach. A strong network of volunteers

from all sections of societies lead by well experienced and dedicated core team looks after its

programs. They conduct periodical review meeting for all their programs to ensure effective

functioning. The only criterion for a person to obtain membership in COVA is the willingness to

work with the various sections of the society and serve the community. The peace volunteers, as

they are called work directly with people through the various programs targeted towards women,

children, and youth welfare. Each of these program works under different names and they have

designed unique strategies for every initiative keeping in mind their focus group. For instance

they have adopted the use of street theater to provide educational inputs that would be beneficial

to the children. It can be said the these regions are where democracy flourishes in its true sense,

with the voters or the citizens deciding on the political agendas for their constituencies rather

than being carried away by the words of the politicians. COVA was successful in achieving this

dream by making the Citizens Assertion Campaign a reality where the people are educated

about their constitutional rights.

COVA has its volunteers spread across the society who work in association with other voluntary

organizations and NGOs and work collectively towards the achievement of their common goals.

In order to be effective in their attempt the volunteers at COVA have also involved themselves

into research for methods that would help them in influencing the diverse sections of the civil

societies. Their major establishments in the country are in the communal sensitive areas like the

old city in Hyderabad and in Jammu and Kashmir they focus mainly on the citizenship rights and

empowerment of women in these regions.

Umesh Yadav, an active volunteer who works as a dentist in the evenings says, it is an honor to

work with COVA. Now people here live peaceful lives, we celebrate festivals together, we do

not fall prey for politicians games. Its proud to see women taking active part in peace

initiatives. The recent bell controversy at Bhagya Lakshmi temple near Macca masjid and how a


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Standing next to Charminar