Catholic youth band rocks North-East India to achieve peace

(Nov.03,2009): A 20-member Catholic youth band is using music and dance to spread a message of peace in strife-torn northeastern India. Members of Rexband for Peace have taken a month off work, to tour the region and are pulling in big crowds. Some 20,000 flocked to a show in Shillong, capital of Meghalaya state,on Sunday.(Nov.1).
Earlier on Sat.3,000 people were at a performance in Guwahati, the commercial capital of neighboring Assam state, where their message was timely. Guwahati archdiocese had just concluded a program of special prayers to mark the first anniversary of serial bomb blasts that claimed 90 lives and injured 500 in Guwahati and three other towns of Assam state on Oct. 30 last year. The northeast region is home to more than 200 ethnic groups who are often in conflict.
During their Oct. 30 performance, Rexband for Peace communicated the need for forgiveness and respect for life in a 150-minute show. This comprised ethnic Indian music, hymns, slow rock, hip hop and various combinations of contemporary popular music, as well as dance, skits and faith sharing.
Archbishop Thomas Menamparampil of Guwahati said the band's "excellent" performance helped the audience to appreciate the value of peace, love and reconciliation.The Salesian prelate said band members were committed Catholic youngsters, who use art as a medium to convey their message. "We have to be open to receive the message they communicate," he added.
Rexband for Peace comprises three women and 17 men from the south of the country. They came together in the early 1990s after experiencing Christ through the Jesus Youth charismatic movement, which started in Kerala state. The band began its current tour with a performance in Kolkata on Oct. 25. It will be moving on to Nagaland and Manipur states next.