The
summit message: All religions are equal
By Ramesh Chandran
http://www.timesofindia.com/today/01home6.htm
NEW
YORK: The congregation of spiritual and religious leaders - from faiths
ranging from Anglican to Zorastrianism - began signing an ambitious document
on Wednesday titled ``Commitment for Global Peace'', which emphatically stated
that ``all religions are equal'', as are men and women.
The document, to be signed by more than 1,000 of the
Millennium World Peace Summit participants, unequivocally condemned violence
committed in the name of religion and sought to play a decisive role in
reducing conflicts, poverty and ensure environmental protection as a priority.
The summit concludes on Thursday. On the penultimate
day, the summiteers were tackling a clutch of complex issues such as
``Conflict transformation in the Balkans'' (as well as Russia and Central
Asia), ``Forgiveness and reconciliation: Global challenges, local
initiatives'' and ``Poverty: Is this how the world should be?''
Organisers are hoping that there will be a lingering
effect of the Millennium Summit on the future of the United Nations which is
going into another summit next week: this one of over 100 heads of government
- including Atal Behari Vajpayee and General Pervez Musharraf. Will they, too,
talk of tolerance, peace and reconciliation - the leitmotif of the religious
summit?
Some of the delegates to the current summit maintain
that although the speeches, prayers and invocations within the General
Assembly have been cerebral and captivating because of the inherent interfaith
nature, the ``real action'' has been unfolding outside the summit.
A Tibetan delegate sitting along with an Indonesian maulavi,
a Hindu priest talking to an African bishop, striking some sort of undefinable
chord. Rev. Joan Brown Campbell, a former executive director of the National
Council of Churches, says such symbolism ought not be ``underestimated''. It
sends out a ``powerful image'' when religious leaders, who at most times are
very busy themselves, are sitting side by side discussing, she said. It shows
possibilities for resolving differences.
The areas of conflict are many - Bosnia, West Asia,
Russia, Central Asia, Indonesia, Africa and, of course, Tibet and China - all
present at a summit where 83 per cent of the world's population are
represented through 75 different faiths.
Albert Lincoln of Baha'i International says
opportunities for meeting with Iranian clergymen will be invaluable - Baha'i
faith is banned in Iran as a heresy. Eritrean Bishop Zekares Yahames plans to
meet his counterpart from Ethiopia - the two countries have been embroiled in
a bloody border conflict.
So, the opportunities for religious leaders from
hostile countries to exchange views outside the rigid formality of the General
Assembly are seen by them as one invaluable offering of this summit.
Apart from the grave error in not inviting the the
Dalai Lama to the Summit for fear of Chinese pressure, this gathering has been
mostly free of controversy, although odd moments of dissonance have been
there. While most speakers kept to the
interfaith tenor in their remarks and prayers, Anne Graham, daughter of
Evangelist Billy Graham, in her message opted for a more partisan line when
she claimed the way to attain world peace was to ``accept Jesus as the Prince
of Peace''.
Besides the declaration, there is a proposal to
create a Council of Religious Leaders to advise the UN on preventing and
settling disputes.
For India, for all its simmering religious
discord, it provided a wonderful platform to display its secular traditions.
Not just through its revered spiritual masters but being represented by such a
breathtaking array of religious leaders from Hinduism, Islam, Christianity,
Jainism, Sikhism, Zorastrianism and Buddhism.
|