9/11 victims' families walk for peace
By Brian Eastwood / News Staff Writer
Tuesday, August 3, 2004

MILFORD -- A group of relatives of Sept. 11 victims were in Milford yesterday, the latest stop on their walk from Boston to New York City.

The group, September Eleventh Families for Peaceful Tomorrows, is pulling a 2,000-pound granite stone on its walk, an act they hope raises awareness of all civilians who have died in the world's wars.

Daniel Jones, a charter member of the group, noted that the victims of Sept. 11, 2001, like his brother-in-law Bill Kelly Jr., were in the wrong place at the wrong time.

"But there are many more deaths that are less public, that less people know about," said Jones, a resident of the Bronx. "We don't want to see people hurting as we were hurting."

Jones and four other group members spoke last night at the New England 630 Circle, a Sikh temple, or gurdwara, on East Main Street.

The temple hosted the group both for a scheduled dinner of traditional Indian food and an impromptu lunch as the group made its way from Holliston to Mendon yesterday.

"You are so gracious and so kind and so loving," said Loretta Filipov, a Concord resident and Peaceful Tomorrows member.

Peaceful Tomorrows was formed in February 2002 and held its first retreat last year at the Sherborn Peace Abbey. It represents more than 130 families of Sept. 11 victims.

The group's Stonewalk began in Boston July 28 and is expected to end Sept. 2 in New York.

The route from Boston to New York has two meanings, Jones said. The hijacked airplanes that hit the World Trade Center flew from Boston to New York, and the same cities are hosting the Democratic and Republican national conventions this summer.

Catherine Allison, whose aunt Anna Allison died Sept. 11, said she joined the group after she realized that America's response to the terrorist attacks would cause more suffering.

"I had to speak out," said Allison, a resident of New York City. "It was going to be hard, it was going to be difficult, but I had to do it."

Jaswant Chani, one of the Sikh temple's founders, said he wished the suffering of Sept. 11 had ended that day. But for families of victims, for Sikhs who have been targets of racial profiling, and for many others, the suffering continues.

"And that is the worst part. I cannot bear that," Chani said.

Reading from an original poem, temple member Ajit Chadha wished Peaceful Tomorrows members inner peace and said she empathized with them.

"Your losses and gains may not be mine, my losses and gains may not be yours, but common to humanity are smiles and tears," Chadha said.

Veena Chani, Jaswant's husband and the temple member who organized the event, said the Sikh religion, founded more than 500 years ago, emphasizes human rights above all. She said Sikhs share in Peaceful Tomorrows' mission of responding to events like Sept. 11 not with revenge but through peaceful messages.

For Allison, the best way for people to spread that message is to reach out to others, not to close themselves off. "We need to be united," she said. "We need to reach across borders and across religions and across colors."

Today's portion of the walk begins at 9 a.m. in Mendon. It will follow Rte. 16 into Uxbridge before turning onto Rte. 122 and heading into Millville.

Jones said area residents are welcome to help pull the stone along the route.

( Brian Eastwood can be reached at 508-634-7505 or beastwoo@cnc.com. )