ACHA PEACE BULLETIN
http://www.groups.yahoo.com/group/ACHAPeaceBulletin
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A publication of Association for Communal
Harmony in Asia (ACHA)
www.asiapeace.org & www.indiapakistanpeace.org
Editor:
Pritam K. Rohila, PhD asiapeace@comcast.net
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Volume XII, No. 1,
______________________________________________________________________________
CONTENTS
EDITORIAL
*Strategy
for peace workers in South
GUEST EDITORIALS
*Happiness
fro Sale, Mike
Ghouse
*Will
the Year 2008 be different? Mirza A. Beg
YOUR LETTERS
*My message for peace and harmony, S.A. Rehman
BOOKS
*Malika-e-Tarannum
Noorjehan: The Melody Queen
*New York Times
Book Review's Islam issue
EVENTS
*January 23-27, Jaipur,
*
*April
2008,
*
Religions
PEACE
& HARMONY EVENT REPORTS
*Indian Secular Organizations Protest Communal
Violence in Orissa and Devas, M.P
PEACE & HARMONY EDUCATION RESOURCES
*Peace
Lessons from Around the World
PEACE & HARMONY NEWS FROM
SRI LANKA UPDATE
*Religious Leaders Call for Peace,
______________________________________________________________________________
EDITORIAL
*Strategy for peace
workers in South
Relative
calm has prevailed along the international borders in
Forces of extremism, hate, and violence seem to have gained strength throughout the region. Political assassinations, communal strife, alienation of minorities, forced dislocation of people, deterioration of the rule of law, and breakdown of civil society have characterized development in most, if not all the South Asian countries. On the other hand, supporters of secularism, peace and harmony are demoralized and disorganized.
It appears that as peace and harmony workers we need to change our strategy. Perhaps we should focus our efforts closer to where we live and work.
We could start by cleansing our minds of our prejudices. We should learn to respect and love individuals in our homes and extended families regardless of their age or gender. We should teach our children to resolve their disagreements by negotiation and compromise instead of threats of force or violence.
After creating small oases of peace and harmony around us, we can extend our efforts to the larger communities around us. Gradually, by example and persuasion, we can thus help transform our neighborhoods, villages and towns into communities of amity, reconciliation and concord.
To accomplish this we will need to learn to view and treat others with a vision that unites rather than divides people of all caste, tribal, sectarian, religious, language and regional identities.
GUEST EDITORIALS
*Happiness fro Sale, Mike Ghouse, www.MikeGhouse.net, mike_ghouse@yahoo.com
A sale transaction requires
consideration for exchange of products and services. The consideration in
buying happiness is your effort. Happiness is on
Remember the last time you
helped someone? You got someone up when he or she fell and you were thanked
profusely for that act of kindness, do you recall that joy? You were beaming
and your fellow workers and friends wanted to know what it was; you humbly
shared the small experience.
Do you recall the twinkle in
your eyes and wanted to praise those two that made the national news recently?
When a man fell on the track in
Life becomes meaningful and
powerful when you do things for others; it is the antidote against sorrow that
surrounds us from time to time. That is the wisdom in Bahai, Buddhist,
Christian, Hindu, Islam, Jain, Jewish, Native religions, Shinto, Sikh, Wicca,
Zoroastrian and other faiths – living for the sake of others, a proven formula
for happiness.
Way back in 1978, my Peugeot 504
failed me on a Saudi Freeway to Dhahran, I stood there in 116 degrees heat
waving at every vehicle that drove on a full throttle going over 140 MPH. I was
dying with thirst and blisters were all over my lips and my face, I looked like
someone from the western movies. The drivers, who wanted to stop, could not do
so within a walking range. After nearly five hours of eternity, a man finally
stopped and drove his
We barely communicated with my
minimal Arabic and his English, we went to his home
somewhere in the outer rim of the town of
The Sheikh’s friends were fixing
the Hubbly Bubbly (Huqqa) and passing it between their friends. I was dreading
to put that thing in my mouth should it come to me. Sure enough it did and
reluctantly I pretended puffing it. Around 8 PM, his mechanic friend drove up
with my car.
As I was ready to leave, I
thanked Shaikh Ahmed Al-Sabah profusely and pulled my wallet to pay, he pushed
my hand and said “Aqhi, you are my guest and don’t even think of it.” I
pleaded, it was the greatest favor a stranger has done to me and I asked, how I
can pay.
He looked at me intently and asked,
would you promise me something? In gratitude I said yes, but shuddered what
now? He took time and looked at me again and said these life changing words to
me “Next time, if you see someone needing help, would you stop and help?” I
eagerly said Yes, satisfied; he asked again, are you sure? I gave an emphatic
yes, to which he said, “Alhamdu Lillah (praise the lord) that is my
reward.
I buy happiness at every nook
and corner; it is very satisfying to see other people in their full human form
when they give their beautiful smile. A genuine smile is the most beautiful
thing on the earth, nothing compares to it.
Every day, you have those
opportunities. Make an effort in doing things for others and see how easy it is
to be happy.
Here are a few thoughts for you
to ponder:
It does not take any money; it
is your goodwill that brings you the joy. It is yours to keep and is on sale.
Best wishes for 2008
*Will
the Year 2008 be different? Mirza A. Beg http://mirzasmusings.blogspot.com/,
mab64@yahoo.com
January 1, of the year 2008 of the Julian-Gregorian calendar will be just another day in the steady flow of time. Some will celebrate because it is customary, while others will rejoice in the ever present hope of renewal, but most of the teaming poor and dispossessed of the world will not notice it. The wars will go on as legalized murder. It will be yet another day of misery and deprivation.
Most people, across the globe, at least wish for peace on Earth and equity and justice for all. They are kind and considerate as individuals. But as a group, "us versus them", we conveniently forget that it requires treating the distant "others" as we, the "us" would like to be treated. It is easy to find tortuous reasons to justify selfish interests, resulting in wars based on the worst of lies, the self serving lies that we tell ourselves. They propel us to support the politicians who lie most convincingly that killing neighbors or a people in far off lands is necessary to preserve our way of life.
Religions become the most convenient hand maiden of the propagandists, and we willingly with enthusiasm profane what we purport to hold sacred.
Eventually all wars do end, often with the exhaustion of all sides. In the past two centuries, the quantum growth in modern technology has provided unimaginable material conveniences. It has brought prosperity, but sadly there is even a greater growth in weapons to feed the wars; weapons that can be used without any danger to the user; impersonalized weapons.
In my name, with my taxes, a neighborhood full of people with similar dreams as mine, in a far off place, will be destroyed by a rocket delivered by a remote controlled plane, while I am celebrating the New Year festivities and talking of peace and goodwill. If confronted by the deception, the trite explanation will be "collateral damage", or at best an oft repeated hackneyed phrase "Oops, a mistake for which we are extremely sorry."
Ours is an age of information and instant communication. No technology can be secret for very long. Every weapon invented by an established government to oppress others in the name of crass nationalism will eventually leak out or are sold to those fighting the oppression, who after gaining power, in turn become oppressors.
The wars can not be fought or sustained unless the populace is duped into believing that the "ungodly other" or "beastly other" is trying to destroy them. The propaganda is self-sustaining and it grows until we are jolted after falling off the precipice.
Those who see injustice and keep quiet, end up being silent supporters of oppression. The "innocent" bystanders are no longer as innocent as they want to believe, especially in a democracy. If we do not object to our own government's misdeeds at home and abroad, we are guilty, because in a democracy we are the government.
Many of us were not taken in by the lies of warmongers. We foresaw and wrote about the quagmire and destruction that the war would bring, but being right before a majority realizes the folly is perceived as a greater political folly. The strength of ethical principles and intellect is branded as weakness of brawn by the glib power seekers who keep trying to deceive the electorate by appealing to the baser instincts.
We need to speak in louder and clearer voices to inject backbones in politicians who want to be with the winning side. We also need to convince the popular media that people do want to hear the other side as well. It is not economically injurious. They do not need to imitate Fox news. Unless we do it in greater numbers, the malfeasances of the Bush administration in domestic policy and endless indiscriminate wars in the name of peace will continue to create more terrorists and wider wars.
The warmongers had their run. They have sown terrible death and destruction. They have the power of the latest weapons, but they suffer a great disadvantage. They have to be against others to be hegemonic. They thrive on hatred, pitting "us" against "them".
The ideals of peace and of consideration of others as human beings may appear to be powerless, but they have one great advantage. They can unite across the false divide created by forces of ignorance and war. They extend a hand of friendship across the artificial divide. They can erase the dishonest divide.
Let us make the year 2008 a watershed, when the 21st century emerges from the deathly clutches of the wars of the 20 th century to claim its much needed place to unfold an era of peace in the flow of time.
YOUR LETTERS
*My message for peace and
harmony, S.A. Rehman peace_activist3@yahoo.com
We all need to pray for one
another, and to love one another. We should always pray for the safety, peace, love
and brotherhood for people all over the world.
Too bad we can't have an independence day for the entire world. A day of
freedom from ignorance, hatred, war, illusions, power and control. A day where
we can all love each other as human beings and toss away the weapons of war,
and cast out our fears and hatreds from our hearts into the graves. We must
mourn the graves of the innocents all over the world, and give the children of
the world the hope of a peaceful, loving and beautiful world.
A world full of love and without hatred or fear. A world where we can join
hands together and accept one another, regardless of our skin color, ethnic divisions,
religion or nationality. If we don't unite as a human race, then we have
condemned the future generation of children a dark and very grim future.
Think of love, compassion and peace always...
My prayer –
Merciful God, You made all of the people of the world in Your own image and
placed before us the pathway of salvation through different Preachers who
claimed to have been Your Saints and Prophets. But, the contradictions (made by
us) in the interpretation of Your teachings have resulted in creating
divisions, faith based hatreds and bloodshed in the world community.
Millions of innocent men, women
and children have so far been brutally killed by the militants of several
religions who have been committing horrifying crimes against humanity and millions
more would not be butchered by them in the future, if You guide and help us
find ways to reunite
peacefully.
In the name of god, the compassionate, the merciful, look with compassion on
the whole human family; take away the controversial teachings of arrogance, divisions
and hatreds which have badly infected our hearts; break down the walls that
separate us; reunite us in bonds of love; and work through our struggle and confusion
to accomplish Your purposes on earth; that, in Your good time, all nations and
races could jointly serve You in justice, peace and harmony. (Amen)
BOOKS
*Malika-e-Tarannum Noorjehan: The
Melody Queen, Aijaz Gul, Vitasta Publishing,
New Delhi.
Actress-Singer Noorjehan was a
great artist who first worked in Indian films and then in Pakistani films. She
not only managed to stay in public eye for more than sixty years but also
became a bridge of friendship between India and Pakistan.
The book begins with her birth
at Qasoor in 1926. It chronicles her career, her struggle, her family life and
finally her tragic demise in Karachi in 2000.
The book is available from Book
Corporation, Pitampura, Delhi 110034 (eastbook@vsnl.com)
More information can be obtained
from the author, Aijaz Gul, in Islamabad, Pakistan (92-51- 2278245 & aijazgul2003@yahoo.com), or Vitsata Publishing in New
Delhi (aurotuhin@gmail.com, renu.vitasta@gmail.com).
This Sunday's
NYT Book Review is
an all-Islam issue - reviews, essays and more dealing with Islam. From the
editor's note: Islam, one of mankind’s great religions, numbers 1.3 billion
adherents around the world, with major communities not only in Cairo, Baghdad,
Istanbul, Jakarta and Tehran, but also in London, Paris, Berlin, New York and
Washington. Yet most Americans know very little about Muslims, which often
means they know very little about their own neighbors. Even public officials
with responsibility for our national security “powerful congressmen, top F.B.I. agents” betray an ignorance of the most
basic facts about Islam, like the difference between Sunnis and Shiites.
Since 9/11, publishers have been rushing
to fill this knowledge gap, and the time seems right to highlight their
efforts. This special issue is by no means comprehensive (any more than a
single issue of the Book Review could be comprehensive about Christianity or
Judaism). It is, instead, a sampler of what is now available. It offers reviews
and essays by scholars, critics and journalists of varying points of view
discussing many of the most important facets of an impossibly huge subject,
from history and literature to theology and politics.
Below you will find the e-mail alert that
goes out in advance, with links to each individual review. You
can also see the entire issue online here.
'The Suicide of Reason,'
By LEE HARRIS, Reviewed by AYAAN HIRSI ALI http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/06/books/review/Ali-t.html?8bu&emc=bu
Arguing that the West's "fanaticism of reason" is no matchfor the
fanaticism of radical Islam.
Essay: Reading the Koran, By
TARIQ RAMADAN http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/06/books/review/Ramadan-t.html?8bu&emc=bu
The Book of all Muslims, Tariq Ramadan
writes, can be understood on many levels.
The Adventures of Amir Hamza, By
GHALIB LAKHNAVI and ABDULLAH BILGRAMI
Reviewed by WILLIAM DALRYMPLE http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/06/books/review/Dalrymple-t.html?8bu&emc=bu
The 'Iliad' and 'Odyssey' of medieval
Persia is presented in a hefty new English translation.
'Arguing the Just War in
Islam', By JOHN KELSAY, Reviewed by IRSHAD MANJI http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/06/books/review/Manji-t.html?8bu&emc=bu
A professor of religion traces the
thinking behind Islamic holy war.
'The Great Arab Conquests', By
HUGH KENNEDY, Reviewed by MAX RODENBECK http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/06/books/review/Rodenbeck-t.html?8bu&emc=bu
How
Muslims redrew the map of ancient civilization.
'American Crescent,' By
HASSAN QAZWINI, Reviewed by RASHID KHALIDI http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/06/books/review/Khalidi-t.html?8bu&emc=bu
From his mosque in Michigan, a cleric argues that Muslims
can be integrated into national life.
'Jihad and Jew-Hatred,' By
MATTHIAS KÃœNTZEL, Reviewed by JEFFREY GOLDBERG http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/06/books/review/Goldberg-t.html?8bu&emc=bu
A
German scholar argues that Muslim anti-Semitism can be traced to a project of
the Nazi Party.
Essay: The Clash, By
FOUAD AJAMI http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/06/books/review/Ajami-t.html?8bu&emc=bu
I
doubted Samuel Huntington when he predicted a struggle between Islam and the
West. My mistake.
'God's Crucible: Islam and the Making of
Europe, 570 to 1215,' By DAVID LEVERING LEWIS, Reviewed by
ERIC ORMSBY http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/06/books/review/Ormsby-t.html?8bu&emc=bu
David
Levering Lewis's history of Arab rule in Spain focuses on its ethic of
mutuality.
'Peace Be Upon You, '
By ZACHARY KARABELL, Reviewed by JASON GOODWIN http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/06/books/review/Goodwin-t.html?8bu&emc=bu
Muslim
rulers, Zachary Karabell says, did not force conversion upon their subjects.
'Napoleon's Egypt,' By
JUAN COLE, Reviewed by TOM REISS http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/06/books/review/Reiss-t.html?8bu&emc=bu
A
historian takes a new look at Napoleon's invasion of Egypt.
Essay: Beyond the Burka, By
LORRAINE ADAMS http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/06/books/review/Adams-t.html?8bu&emc=bu
Muslim
women's voices are being heard as never before. But which ones?
'Islamophobia: Making Muslims the Enemy.'
By PETER GOTTSCHALK and GABRIEL GREENBERG, Reviewed by SHIBLEY TELHAMI http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/06/books/review/Telhami-t.html?8bu&emc=bu
A
look at American media since 9/11 makes the case that Muslims have been
unjustly demonized.
Caught in the Ayatollah's Web, Review
by SARAH WILDMAN http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/06/books/review/Wildman-t.html?8bu&emc=bu
Memoirs
by Marina Nemat and Zarah Ghahramani, two women who survived political prison
in Iran 20 years apart.
Essay:
Arabic Lessons, By ROBERT F. WORTH http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/06/books/review/Worth-t.html?8bu&emc=bu
Learning
Arabic has meant moments of elation alternating with grim, soul-churning
despair.
EVENTS
*January 23-27,
Jaipur, Rajasthan, India: JAIPUR LITERATURE FESTIVAL, India's biggest and
best ever festival of literature this year will star Lots of America-based
writers including Ian McEwen, Gore Vidal, Manil Suri, John Berendt, UR
Anantamurthy, William Dalrymple, Aparna Sen, Anoushkar Shankar, Aamir Khan,
Siddarth Dhanvant Shanghvi, Christopher Hampton, Paban Das Baul, Paul Zacharia,
Shusheela Raman, Moni Mohsin, Kamila Shamsie, Mamhood Farooqi, Jeet Thayil,
Uday Prakash, Urvashi Bhutalia, Miranda Seymour, Anita Nair, Namita Devidayal,
Nayantara Sahgal, Indra Sinha and Tishani Doshi. The festival is directed by William Dalrymple,
historian and author of "The Last Mughal." More info from JaipurLiteratureFestival.org
*February 17,
2008, Toronto, ON, Canada: Faiz
Peace Festival, a presentation of the South Asian Peoples Forum. Progressive
writers, poets, human rights activists from all over the North America have
been invited to participate in this event. The notable guests will include
Faiz Ahmed Faiz's daughter Meneeza
Hashmi from Pakistan. More info from Barrister Hamid Bashani Khan, email: bashani2000@yahoo.com, cell: 416-399-7602, office 905-212-9880, fax
905-212-9887
*April 2008, New Delhi, India:
SEMINAR ON AQEEDAT KE RANG: EXPRESSIONS OF DEVOTION IN ISLAM, being organized
by Indira Gandhi National Centre for the
Arts, has issued a call for papers. Prospective presenters are requested to
contact Fazal at fazzur@gmail.com
*December 3-9, 2009, Melbourne, Australia: The 2009 Parliament of the World’s
Religions, will bring
together the world’s religious and spiritual communities,
their leaders and their followers to a gathering where peace, diversity and
sustainability are discussed and explored in the context of interreligious
understanding and cooperation.
Parliament participants will work with others and within
their own traditions to craft faithful responses to:
More info from http://www.parliamentofreligions2009.org/home.php
PEACE & HARMONY EVENT
REPORTS
*Indian Secular
Organizations Protest Communal Violence in Orissa and Devas, M.P
BHOPAL: A large number people from different walks of life staged a
dharna (sit in) at Roshanpura Square here on Wednesday (January 9) to protest
against the communal violence in Orissa and Devas, M.P. Sponsoring
organizations included Rashtriya
Secular Manch , Yuva Samvad , Progressive Writers Forum , Peace and Justice,
Madhya Pradesh Isai Maha Saba. Janvadi writer association, Insani Bridari, Quami Ekta , Naujanvadi Naujawan Sabhaand .
In Orissa,
Christians were forced to flee to the forest on the eve Christmas. Some
Christian were killed and their churches, convens and houses had been set on
fire.
In Devas, a former functionary of an organization was killed by some persons of the same religion. But this was given communal color to incite communal violence against Muslims.
The communal violence should
be nipped in the bud, said Javed, a member of a social organisation Yuva
Samvad. According to him, unless, the right thinking people come forward to
raise voice against such elements trying to divide the people on communal line,
it would spell disaster to the country's democracy and its pious tenets of
secularism.
The troublemakers, he feared were trying to infuse the poison of communal
hatred as a preparation trial to the Assembly elections scheduled in the state
later this year. He appealed to all the right thinking people to fight against
the menace of communalism in unison.
Kumit
Singh, Secretary, Sarokar, an Organization working for communal harmony, urged
stern action against people and organizations which spread disharmony in the society.
Such violence, she said would be curbed only when right thinking people come
forward to stop the trouble mongers.
Upasana, one
of the convenors, "we are planning for a long term programme to awaken the
conscience of the people to resist communal disturbances in state."
PEACE &
HARMONY EDUCATION RESOURCES
*Peace Lessons from
Around the World
This
collection of sixteen lessons from Albania, Cambodia, Philippines, Kenya,
India, Nepal, US, Catalunya (Spain) and South Africa, is based on the Hague
Agenda for Peace and Justice or the 21st
Century (UN Ref. A/54/98). They
should be adoptable and adaptable to any culture and will serve to stimulate
values and skills for a culture of peace. Included are suggested guidelines on
how to make a peace lesson.
Additional
peace lessons will be available with our online-edition at www.haguepeace.org
The 144-page Peace Lessons book follows our previous publications, both of which are available online: Learning to Abolish War: Teaching Toward a Culture of Peace, by B. Reardon and A. Cabezudo and Peace and Disarmament Education, changing mindsets to sustain the removal of small arms, Gloria Levitas, editor. Cost $25 per copy
More
info from hap@haguepeace.org
PEACE & HARMONY NEWS FROM INDIA & PAKISTAN
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/IndiaPakistanPeaceDay/
KASHMIR NEWS
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/KashmirSolutionsForum/
PAKISTAN
UPDATE
*Beena Sarwar updates http://groups.yahoo.com/group/beena-issues/
*Free and
Fair Election Network (FAFEN), Islamabad http://www.fafen. org
*http://www.teeth.com.pk/blog/
SRI LANKA UPDATE
*Religious Leaders Call for Peace, December
17, 2007
Jaffna Declaration of Religious
Leaders Jaffna, Sri Lanka, December 13, 2007
Religious leaders from Sri Lanka and six
other countries (Cambodia, Japan, Norway, Pakistan, South Africa and the United
States) met in Jaffna for an Inter Religious Summit on Peace in Sri Lanka on
December 12-13, 2007. The meeting was organized by the World Conference of
Religions for Peace in partnership with the National Conference of Religions
for Peace and the National Peace Council of Sri Lanka.
The Religions for Peace network, which is active in over 70 countries and five
major geographical regions, includes a World Council of senior religious
leaders from all parts of the world who work to counter violence through
multi-religious cooperation.
We were encouraged by the presence in Jaffna of Mr Yasushi Akashi, Special
Envoy of the Government of Japan, who addressed the meeting and referred to the
irreplaceable value of the
religious leadership in peace making.
The decision to make Jaffna the location of the Summit was to express solidarity
with all those who continue to live in situations of violence and despair due
to the ongoing conflict. The venue of the meeting was the Jaffna Public
Library, which was burned down in 1981 in the course of the conflict and
rebuilt nearly two decades later to be a testament to a new era of peace and
national reconciliation, which is still to dawn.
The ongoing conflict in Sri Lanka continues to lead to destruction and
suffering on a large scale that cannot be confined to any one part of the
country or to any one ethnic or religious community. Members of the religious
clergy too, have paid with their lives, for being close to their people and
heeding their call for peace and justice. All of Sri Lanka and all Sri Lankans
have paid a very high price in terms of lives lost, economic opportunities
foregone and in the weakening of the moral fabric of society.
During the period of the Summit we experienced first hand the difficulties of
travel to and from Jaffna. We saw the massive destruction of infrastructure and
housing that occurred in previous phases of fighting, the loss of villages and
fertile agricultural lands to High Security Zones, and the fear and insecurity
in the lives of the people, especially youth, which is dehumanizing to all
those affected. The sound of artillery firing, testimonials of daily killings
and disappearances, the very large military presence in the city and the
nighttime curfew provides added motivation to our work for peace in Sri Lanka.
As religious leaders with extensive experience in peace making in other parts
of the world, we urge a renewed search for a non-violent solution to the
ongoing conflict. We do not accept that there can be victory through a military
solution or that war can bring peace. On the contrary, as religious leaders, we
believe that violence begets violence and hatred does not cease by hatred, but
only by love.
As an outcome of our experiences in Jaffna and our deliberations at the Summit
we are committed to focusing our peace building efforts in the following areas:
1. Civilian Protection
We
call for an immediate end to the