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Candlelight vigil held for abducted Nigerian girls

WAH CANTT: A candlelight vigil was held at the ancient Buddhist site of Dharmarjika Stupa near Taxila on Monday for the early and safe recovery of hundreds of schoolgirls abducted by a terror group Boko Haram in Nigeria.

The people from different walks of life including representatives of different NGOs, students, politicians, journalists and social workers joined the global outcry and organised a candlelight vigil to condemn the abduction of over 200 Nigerian schoolgirls by militants and demand their safe and early rescue.

The candlelight was organised by The Voice, an NGO. Asim Meer, president of the NGO, said that this is the place where revival of Buddhism was initiated by Great Ashoka. He called for taking necessary action to bring back the girls, either through diplomatic or military channels. He said that the kidnapped girls are brilliant teens in the final year of their schooling who are expected to be “leaders of tomorrow.”

He said the site was selected for the offering prayer because Emperor Ashoka of the Mauryan dynasty has selected this place for revival of peace and tolerance, and other reason was that the victims also include Buddhists.

The Stupa was a source of inspiration and a place of attraction from the beginning of the Buddhist religion and was later reconstructed during the time of King Kanisha in the 5th Century AD.

The Nation