This study was undertaken within the framework of Peace Research. The purpose of it was to indicate the typical tendencies which emerged in the aftermath of war to which the respondents in border areas of Gujarat and Rajasthan gave effective expression and with which Peace Research inevitably concerns itself. This study revealed that the people in border areas wanted no more wars. Positively speaking, their aspiration was a reliably peaceful future for them by strengthening of peace through a process of reconciliation and friendship between the two countries India and Pakistan.
Research such as this is the product of the collective effort of those who were involved in the study in many ways. As Project Director, I would like to place on record my grateful appreciation to them.
First, I would express my gratitude to ICSSR who financed the project and thus made it possible to carry out this study.
I am indebted to Prof. Ramlal Parikh and Prof. Sugata Dasgupta who were the main spirits behind this research project and gave their competent guidance, encouragement, and support throughout the project.
I am grateful to Dr. Babubhai B. Patel, Prof. of Economics, Sardar Patel Institute of Economic and Social Research, Ahmeda-bad, Dr. T. B. Naik, Director, Tribal Research Institute, Gujarat Vidyapith, Ahmedabad and Dr. R. A. Singh, Prof. of Psychology, Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad who painstakingly went through the draft report despite their busy schedule and made valuable suggestions.
I am also grateful to Shri Ramesh Shroff, Reader in Social Anthropology, Gujarat Vidyapith, Shri R. B. Lal, Research Officer, Tribal Research Institute, Gujarat Vidyapith and Shri Natubhai Raval, Lecturer in Gujarati, Gujarat Vidyapith who helped me at various stages of the project. Mr. Lall went through the manuscript and gave valuable suggestions from time to time.
I am, particularly, grateful to Shri Rajendra P. Jani, Kokila-bahen Jariwala, Chandragupta Sanon, Manikbhai Patel and Pravinbhai Pandya, my colleagues in the Department of Social Work for their moral support in conducting this research.
The success of this research depended to a considerable extent on the hard work of the research investigators Mr. Chandrakant P. Joshi and Mr. Kanjibhai Vaghela. I am happy to say that they spared no pains to make this study a success. I take this opportunity to express my gratitude to them for their work in difficult situations of Kutch and Rajasthan villages.
I would like to say a word of my deep appreciation specially to Mr. C. P. Joshi who worked with me from the initial stages of the project to the drafting of the report. He undertook major responsibility for carrying out field-work.
I am also grateful to Shri Kanubhai Shah, Librarian, Shri Kiritbhai Bhavsar, Asst. Librarian of Gujarat Vidyapith and their colleagues for their ever willing co-operation and help in locating reading resources.
Lastly, but not the least, I am grateful to the respondents, village leaders and the Government Officers at the District, Taluka/Tehsil and Village levels for their co-operation without which the study would not have been a reality as the key to it was the nature of the information that they willingly shared with us. Here I would like, particularly, to mention the name of Shri Chhaganbhai Ahmedabadi, the Chief Organiser of Sar-vodaya Ashram, Dinara who helped us in the collection of data in Kutch.
To Shri Vinod Tripathi, the Registrar, Gujarat Vidyapith and his colleagues in Central Office I am much thankful with gratitude for facilitating this study in all possible ways.
The Peace Research Centre of the Gujarat Vidyapith was established as the outcome of the Mahatma Gandhi's Centenary Celebrations in 1969-70. Development of field research and action research on problems of Peace and Non-violence is a new inroad in our higher education system. The researchers in University system are more concerned about their neutrality rather than its context to a value system. The Peace Researcher differs from the other researchers in the sense that he pursues his research in fulfilment of a particular goal. This in no way reduces or belittles the objectivity of his investigation. This type of value-oriented research is necessary for resolving some of the most critical problems of human order.
The Peace Research Centre of the Gujarat Vidyapith is dedicated to work for emergence of a non-violent society. It is unquestionably becoming clearer as we draw close to the end of 20th century that the new society that is emerging as post-industrial era or post-modern era will have to be a non-violent Society not simply No-war Society. The Centre has, therefore, undertaken various studies on socio-economic aspects of Peace and Non-violence. It has conducted several seminars on "Perspective of Peace Research" and conducted workshops for High School Teachers and College Teachers on 'Peace Education' for promotion of Schools of Non-violence in our educational institutions.
It is in this background that the present study was under-taken in 1975 to identify the socio-cultural and socio-economic consequences in the Aftermath of War on Border Areas of Gujarat and Rajasthan which were the scenes of armed mobilisation in 1965 and 1971 during the Indo-Pak conflicts. This is not intended to be a war study nor defence study. It is an attempt to study the effects of war on the peaceful aspiration of the people. However it must be admitted that despite concentrating on Peace aspects of the aftermath of war the study could not be conducted in isolation of the events that took place. While it reinforces the futility of war for peaceful development of border areas as could be anticipated, it provides a deep in-sight into the minds of people in relation to their motivations their aspirations, their apprehensions, psychological repercussion on them etc.
Dr. Dayal has been able to establish this particular aspect in a candid way. As indicated in Table No. 7.6, as many as 53.8% of the respondents in all the four villages felt loss of initiative in life in the Aftermath of War. This is far more disastrous than even killing. It is, therefore, important to underline the thesis that war or violence hardly gives any solution to our tension ridden society. What applies to war equally applies to violent conflicts between different communities in our country as also to structural tensions that lead to violence. The fate of reconstruction of modern society lies in application of non-violence in all spheres of human life. This study may act as one of the pointers towards this quest. Dr. Dayal deserves congratulations for this type of an indigenous study. It is hoped that the social science researchers will find the study useful. The Peace Re-search Centre has plans to conduct more studies on the possibilities of reconstructing social order on non-violent basis.
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