Reflections from India

Participants at a workshop on "Strategic Planning" conducted by the South Asia Coordinating Council at Bangalore on 1 July, consulted about religious freedom concerns affecting this region. These include the clashes between the Shiyas and Sunnis in Pakistan and parts of India; conflicts between the Muslims and Pandits (Brahmins) of Indian Administered Kashmir; strains between Ahmedias and Sunnis in Pakistan and elsewhere; problems faced by the Dalit community and the upper castes in India; and, finally, the strained relationship between Iran and Iraq based on the different sects of Islam to which they belong (Shia vs Sunni). All of these cases provide us with volumes of evidence that, in the name of religion, people are miserably divided and pitched against one another.

Workshop attendees offered practical suggestions such as the importance of Muslims participating in Hindu religious functions and vice versa. Similarly, if Muslims and Hindus helped in the renovation of damaged mosques and temples, then religion could become a force or instrument for promoting better human understanding, social relationships, and tolerance.

Member Groups and branches are encouraged to formulate schemes aligned with the IARF Strategic Plan (see IARF World, May 2001), which includes offering help to affected communities. Communities adversely affected by riots need to be approached and convinced about the need to establish cordial relationships within the parameters of their own religious teachings. Religious leaders, many of whom are progressive thinkers, have a significant role to play and should be encouraged. There are many misunderstandings in the name of religion and some of these wrong perceptions can be corrected by the religious leaders via the forum of discussion groups and workshops.

Members in India came to an appreciation for IARF’s new directions and believed that the Strategic Plan could be implemented in a systematic and gradual manner. First, however, a more thorough understanding of the concept of Strategic Planning is needed with a willingness to allow other more relevant organisations to handle the socio-economic activities that have characterised some of IARF’s work in the past.

In the immediate term, the IARF South Asia Coordinating Council will be developing a national programme to promote the 20th anniversary of the United Nations Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief

Professor Dr Mumtaz Ali Khan