, TOLERANCE & SOLIDARITY .

An article from Temoignages (translated by CPNN)

Idriss Issop-Banian, president of GDir (Interreligious Dialogue Group of Reunion), just sent us the Final Declaration of the 3rd Symposium of the interfaith Network of the Indian Ocean, which took place from 22 to 24 September in Saint-Denis . Here is the full text of the statement that contains a slogan defended for over 40 years by the Reunion Communist Party: “Indian Ocean zone of peace”.

The closing ceremony of the 2016 Symposium of the Interfaith Network of the Indian Ocean

Preamble: We reaffirm our common spiritual conviction that we are one family. All human beings are inhabited by the same light of God and have the same dignity. Life is sacred and the same Golden Rule governs our fundamental relationships: “Do unto others the good that you wish for yourself.”

We, the delegates of interreligious dialogue groups from Madagascar, Mauritius, Seychelles and Reunion, all the members of the Interfaith Network Indianocéanie,

– strengthened by the Port-Louis Declaration following the first symposium held in Mauritius in 2009,

– consolidated by Victoria Declaration following the second symposium held in the Seychelles in 2012,

– reaffirming our conviction that dialogue between religions is an essential vector for coexistence of people and nations, and in doing so eager to engage other actors in human societies for the arrival of peace,

– having at heart to develop peace and cohesion in solidarity and sharing an ethical humanist,

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(Click here for the original French version of this article.)

How can different faiths work together for understanding and harmony?

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– meeting from 22 to 24 September 2016 in Saint-Denis de La Reunion have reflected on Peace in the Indian Ocean and have covered the following topics:

Indian Ocean zone of peace;

Peace in our societies;

The challenges of climate change – ecology and spirituality;

Indianocéanité.

Following deliberation, the Symposium of of the Interreligious Network of the Indian Ocean, adopts the following resolutions:

Resolution No. 1, We call upon politicians and governments to put into practice resolution 70/22 adopted by the UN General Assembly on 7 December 2015, making the Indian Ocean a Zone of Peace.

Resolution No. 2: We call upon all actors of society to be aware of the implications of climate change in the region of the Indian Ocean.

Resolution No. 3: We call for reflection on spirituality in the activities of daily living, concerning respect for the environment and populations.

Resolution No. 4: We reaffirm our commitment to fight against the scourges of poverty, corruption, racism and xenophobia and in favor of a fair and supportive co-development in the Indian Ocean region.

Resolution No. 5: We upport the desire of the observer from Mayotte to create a group of interfaith dialogue in Mayotte.

Resolution No. 6: We support the desire of the observer from the Comoros to create a group of interfaith dialogue in the Comoros.

Resolution 7: We reeaffirm the right of the Chagossians to return and live on their land.

“Lord God, make us peacemakers and keep us in the light.”

Done at Saint-Denis, Reunion, September 24, 2016.

Follow the signatures of delegations PLeROC (Madagascar) – CoR (Mauritius) – SIFCO (Seychelles) – GDir (Reunion)

TOLERANCE & SOLIDARITY .

An article in the Huffington Post by Chandran Nair, Global Institute for Tomorrow (reprinted according to the principle of “fair use”)

Back in the summer of 2015, the heart of a Hindu man was transported across Kerala for a Christian patient in dire need of a new one. Funds were raised by a Muslim businessman to pay for the operation and performed by the state’s top heart surgeon: a Christian. The entire state became engrossed as the story unfolded. An Indian Navy helicopter and an ambulance — both dispatched by Kerala’s Chief Minister Oommen Chandy — sped the heart from Thiruvananthapuram to Kochi.

Photo by Frank Bienewald via Getty Images

Kerala is known by the motto “God’s Own Country.” Some may think the moniker is presumptive, but anyone who has seen its forests, its backwaters, its beaches and its bounty of agricultural produce and spices will know it is well deserved.

Over centuries, people from many different communities and cultures traveled through and lived in Kerala — Jewish and Christian migrants, Arab merchants, European traders and colonizers. The city of Kochi has India’s oldest active synagogue and the oldest European church, both from the sixteenth century.

But perhaps “God’s Own Country” deserves a new and highly relevant interpretation. Kerala is a symbol of religious coexistence — not simply tolerance — in a world that is struggling with new strains of virulent intolerance and violence. The state has a unique mix of three of the world’s largest religions: roughly 30 percent Muslims, 20 percent Christians and 50 percent Hindus. This split is unique in India — not many other places have such significant populations of both Christians and Muslims living with a not too large majority of Hindus — and perhaps unique even globally.

Given this mix, the rarity of communal violence is striking; a few small-scale incidents are exceptions to a norm of stability and coexistence. The various religions have evolved to integrate and include their neighboring faiths; for example, the Hindu Edappara Maladevar Nada Temple has a shrine dedicated to Kayamkulam Kochunni, a popular nineteenth-century Muslim “Robin Hood.” Keralites believe themselves to be, first and foremost, Indian Malayalis.

Some may say this tolerance is no surprise, given the long histories of both Christians and Muslims in Kerala. But one need only look at Eastern Europe or the Middle East, where long-standing bonds within a once diverse community were ruptured within a single generation.

So what might explain this peaceful and secular coexistence? There are many possible reasons but one striking thing about Kerala that may offer an explanation is its near-universal provision of not just basic needs, but also public and social services. Kerala’s literacy rate — 94 percent — is in the same range as much richer areas like the Gulf, China and Europe. The state’s infant mortality rate is 12 per 1,000 births, compared to 40 per 1,000 births for India as a whole. Kerala’s toilet coverage is almost universal — 97 percent. Earlier this year, Kerala became the first state in India to achieve 100 percent primary education.

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It should also be noted that Kerala has a level of gender parity unmatched by any other state in India and, in fact, many places around the world. Kerala is one of only two Indian states where women outnumber men; all other Indian states have more men — sometimes significantly so. While India as a whole has significantly lower female literacy than male literacy, Kerala’s rates are roughly equal. Kerala also boasts the largest women-empowering network in the country: the Kudumbashree Mission, which boasts over four million members.

By global standards, Kerala is by no means rich: it has an average income of about $1,300. However, in many important social indicators, it outperforms not just other Indian states, but several other countries with higher per capita incomes — like Malaysia, with an average income of about $11,000, and the UAE, with an average income of about $44,000.

Kerala’s government has very effectively made the provision of social services one of the central pillars of policy and thus development towards social cohesion. Chief Minister Chandy noted three reasons for his state’s success: education, health and infrastructure. In all of these areas, the government has actively strived to improve services to a global standard, even though he acknowledged that infrastructure in areas such as transportation still had much room for improvement.

When the basic needs of life — food, water, sanitation, housing, education, healthcare — are denied, resentment against the “other” can fester. Racial, ethnic and religious divisions can be exploited and can erupt into communal violence — in both the developing and developed worlds. Whether it is Myanmar, the Dominican Republic, Paris or Baltimore or elsewhere, resentment between groups is driven, in part, by a feeling that of being denied access to basic economic and social rights. Part of the backlash against immigrants and “foreign” groups is a misdirected “solution” to a real problem: stagnating incomes and lessening job opportunities for the working classes.

But when social needs are provided on a universal basis, there is less cause for grievances that can be nurtured or exploited. No group feels like they are being left behind. The burden is shared and the work of reducing the drudgery of daily life to uplift people becomes a collective responsibility. There is clear evidence that this focus on needs, and its community-based approach often led by volunteers, is part of what makes Kerala a success.

This is not to say that Kerala is perfect — it still has a long way to go before it really sees high development measured according to global standards. But it may be a model of how to keep multiethnic and multi-religious communities stable in the long-term.

Rather than platitudes about multiculturalism or a hope that rising incomes will make everyone forget their cultural roots, an aggressive and universal expansion of social services may instead be the answer to communal tensions. It could make all of India — not just Kerala — “God’s Own Country.”

TOLERANCE AND SOLIDARITY .

An article from Aaghaz-e-Dosti

Aaghaz-e-Dosti team members Devika Mittal (Convener of Aaghaz-e-Dosti India) and Madhavi Bansal (Bangalore Co-ordinator), during their recent visit to Lahore interacted in three Aman Chaupals (peace sessions) with students of Punjab University, Excellent Education Centre and Resource Academia School.

Aaghaz-e-Dosti members with Peace Activists and members of Khudi Pakistan

With these three Aman Chaupals, Aaghaz-e-Dosti, a cross-border youth-led peace initiative, has completed 18 aman chaupal sessions its inception three years back. Aman Chaupal is among the major initiatives of Aaghaz-e-Dosti. Aman Chaupals are informal sessions in schools and colleges in India and Pakistan wherein peace activists/ journalists/ academicians from across the border interact with students. It is a form of peace education that specially focuses on breaking stereotypes through providing an opportunity to students of one country to interact with an eminent personality or expert of the other country.

Aman Chaupals have received great response from students, schools, guests, media and common people who know about it. These sessions are special in its approach of providing ample freedom in interaction. We had taken the name chaupal with its essence that this term is known to both countries and it also brings a kind of revival of the tradition where people in villages used to gather at one place to talk and to discuss things of importance, said Devika Mittal, Convener of Aaghaz-e-Dosti India.

Aliya Harir (Convener from Pakistan) says that people in Pakistan are always in favor of peace. Peace is a common thing that we all want. She also said that government of both sides are also doing their best efforts to bring people but they always needs people’s effort to support and suggest governments to make it in more effective ways.

Aman Chaupals in Lahore were coordinated by Namra Nasyr, Wasiqa Khan, Naseem Nasir, Raza Khan and Rab Nawaz (Khudi Pakistan). In the three sessions, there were questions on the similarities between India and Pakistan, questions revolving around the popular culture, on media, politics and on the role of people in improving Indo-Pak relations.

“Aman Chaupal sessions in Excellent Education Centre and Punjab University were very helpful in breaking some popular stereotypes about India and Indians. There were questions around the current happenings and in this context, it was essential to have genuine voices from India, which otherwise remain unrepresented and ignored as compared to the voices embedded with hatred and politics”, said Namra Nasyr, Lahore Co-ordinator of Aaghaz-e-Dosti.

In addition to these Aman Chaupals, guests (Devika Mittal and Madhavi Bansal) also interacted with other peace activists of Khudi Pakistan and several other peace initiatives.

How can a culture of peace be cultivated between India and Pakistan?

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