Youth from across SouthAsia use digital stages, dance, song and co-created videos to honour peace doyens and bridge borders through the region’s shared culture.

On Wednesday, the second SouthAsian Commemoration of Doyens of Peace unfolded as an eight-hour hybrid event that turned screens into stages and young creators into cultural ambassadors. Under the theme “Digital Stages – Shared Heritage: Youth Connecting SouthAsia through Culture and Tech,” participants from across the region used short videos, live-streamed performances and co-created artistic collaborations to celebrate shared history while honouring three lifelong peace advocates.

The programme commemorated the contributions of Admiral L. Ramdas, former Chief of the Indian Navy; Karamat Ali, labour rights and peace activist from Pakistan; and Tapan Bose, Indian peace activist. Their work in promoting dialogue and regional understanding provided the emotional and moral centre of the day. 

Organisers received more than 190 videos, ranging from three to twelve minutes, created by young people aged 13 to 30 as well as by prominent SouthAsians. Fourteen of the strongest youth submissions were live-streamed in the first part of the programme; another sixty videos from across the region were live-cast in the second part.

A distinctive feature of the event was the deliberate use of technology to enable genuine co-creation. Teams working across national boundaries produced joint performances that would have been logistically difficult in the physical world. Juveria and Irma from Pakistan danced Kathak, Odissi and Manipuri while Nihita and Pranava from India sang the classic “Bol Ke Lab Azaad Hai Tere.” 

In another collaboration, Niharika Kidambi and Nivedita Kidambi of India performed Kuchipudi to a song on Mother Earth written and sung by Dema Lhamo, Lekhi Zengmo and Jamyang Selden of Bhutan. These digital duets illustrated the programme’s central claim: shared heritage can be enacted, not merely remembered, especially in a time when technology removes barriers of distance.

Voices of a Connected Region

The live-cast segments featured reflections from young people under 30 years of age, video creators, twelve moderators and members of the public who joined online. A youth panel brought together representatives from seven countries: Shahrbanoo Rezayee (Afghanistan), Lutfa Khan (Bangladesh), Dema Lhamo (Bhutan), Aisha Maaz (India), Ahamad Raza (Pakistan), Aradhya Yadav (Nepal) and Mohammed Nasreen (Sri Lanka). 

Their contributions emphasised friendship, education and cultural exchange as practical tools for regional solidarity.

Khushi Kabir of Bangladesh delivered the inaugural address. Lalita Ramdas, former Chair of Greenpeace International, shared reflections drawn from interviews conducted with prominent SouthAsians for the event. She highlighted both the depth of the elders’ commitment and the evident promise of the younger generation to carry forward collaboration for integration and development.

An important institutional outcome of the day was the release of a 300-page eBook that compiles all the videos created for the commemoration. The eBook was formally launched by a cross-border group of peacemakers and young leaders: Lalita Ramdas and Rita Manchanda (India), Sheema Kermani (Pakistan), Omer Selab (Afghanistan), Maneesh Yadav (Nepal), Dema Lhamo (Bhutan) and Lutfa Pathan (Bangladesh). The digital volume ensures that the creative output remains accessible beyond the live event.

Hybrid Reach and Enduring Message

Educational institutions and civil society organisations in several countries organised local live-streaming of the programme. For instance, in Hyderabad alone, more than 15 schools and colleges ran hybrid sessions, allowing students to watch the main event and interact directly with panel members and moderators. This distributed model extended the reach of the digital stages into classrooms and community spaces, reinforcing the idea that cultural connection need not wait for physical travel.

Taken together, the videos and discussions presented a coherent vision of SouthAsia as a region bound by shared heritage, history, traditions and common human values that transcend geographical and political boundaries. Young people emerged as central agents of change – capable of combining creativity, technology and compassion to strengthen cooperation, preserve culture and address regional challenges. 

The dominant note was hopeful: peace and regional solidarity can be advanced through friendship, dialogue, education, cultural exchange, responsible use of technology and people-to-people contact. SouthAsia’s youth, the programme suggested, are already building the bridges that can lead to a more peaceful, inclusive, connected, cooperative and prosperous future.

The 2026 Commemoration demonstrated that digital platforms, when deliberately shaped around shared heritage rather than division, can become spaces of genuine encounter. By placing artists from Bhutan, India and Pakistan on the same virtual stage, by amplifying youth voices from Afghanistan to Sri Lanka, and by documenting the results in an accessible eBook, the organisers turned a single day of programming into a lasting resource for cultural connection across SouthAsia.