When smiles break, the walls of hatred come tumbling down. This is the message from a land that recently rocked the world with stories of sectarian violence in Orissa's tribal dominated Kondhamal district.

Even the mere mention of the word harmony, seemed a distant thought just weeks before thousands of young men and women from two religions came together on a chilly Monday morning 250-km from the state capital Bhubaneshwar.

A Rainbow Community

All paths in the Phulbani neighbourhood led to the local sports stadium on the day. Hundreds of school and college students, parents, sports-persons, representatives of civil society groups, bank employees and journalists had one chant on their lips peace.

"Our children go to school together, they play together and have their lunch together. But blood has been spilt in the name of religion," says Poore Pradhan, as he hugged his Christian friend Dilip.

"Enmity will destroy us all. This is what are telling our people. As you can see the response has been quite encouraging. People are listening to our appeal," adds Dilip, echoing sentiments of his Hindu friend.

The event, Antarang 2008, that brought them together saw a mix of sports and cultural events, and was jointly organised by the Kondhamal district administration and a dozen peoples' organisations, including ActionAid.

Lasting peace

kondhamal has had a troubled past and has been vulnerable to religion-based violence. The recent one in August this year claimed over 41 lives, as per the official count, and displaced thousands of families who took shelter inside forests and relief camps.

"By bringing people from the communities together we wish to create a team of peace agents who can spread the message of love and amity. These emissaries will lead the way for restoring peace and order in the district," says Madhulita Ray, from Action Aid.

ActionAid has been involved in relief operations after the riots and is now engaged in long-term peace-building process, with the involvement of community. The economic and religious composition of the local population has made the district vulnerable to religion-based division.

There is a need for an equitable access to state-run education, jobs and amenities for the poorest families in the local community.