Calling out the “selectivity” at the United Nations in condemning acts of violence against religions, India has said the U.N. General Assembly (UNGA) has failed to acknowledge the rising hatred and violence against Buddhism, Hinduism, Sikhism and underlined that the culture of peace cannot be only for “Abrahamic” religions.
Addressing the UNGA session on ‘Culture of Peace’ on December 2, First Secretary in India’s Permanent Mission to the U.N. Ashish Sharma said there were disconcerting trends in the world of today.
“India fully agrees that anti-Semitism, Islamaphobia and anti-Christian acts need to be condemned and the country also firmly condemns such acts,” he pointed out, adding that U.N. resolutions on such important issues spoke only of these three Abrahamic religions together.
“This august body fails to acknowledge the rise of hatred and violence against Buddhism, Hinduism and Sikhism also,” Mr. Sharma said.
“Culture of peace cannot be only for Abrahamic religions. And as long as such selectivity exists, the world can never truly foster a culture of peace,” he said.
Asserting that the U.N. was not a body which should take sides when it came to religion, Mr. Sharma said “If we are indeed selective, the world will end up proving American political scientist Samuel Huntington’s ‘clash of civilisations’.”
‘Alliance of civilisations’
“What we are trying to build here is an ‘alliance of civilisations’, not set up a clash. I call on the U.N. Alliance of Civilisation to act likewise and speak for all, not just a select few,” he said.
Mr. Sharma recalled the shattering of the iconic Bamyan Buddha by fundamentalists in Afghanistan as well as the terrorist bombing of a gurdwara in the war-torn country in March where 25 Sikh worshippers were killed and the destruction of Hindu and Buddhist temples and “minority cleansing” of these religions by countries.
He told the 193-member General Assembly that such acts called for condemning violence and attacks against Buddhist, Hindu and Sikh religions also.
“But the current member-states refuse to speak of these religions in the same breath as the first three ‘Abrahamic’ religions. Why this selectivity,” he asked.
Mr. Sharma noted that overall, Hinduism had more than 1.2 billion followers, Buddhism has over 535 million and Sikhism around 30 million across the world.
“It is time that attacks against these religions are also added to the earlier list of the three Abrahamic religions when such resolutions are passed,” he said.
Key UNGA resolutions over the years have categorically condemned and voiced concern over increase in anti-Semitism, Christianophobia and Islamophobia in various parts of the world. However, violence against other religious minorities get little more than a slap on the wrist, a sentiment shared by several other countries also, sources said.
Mr. Sharma told the session that India was not just the birthplace of Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism, but was also the land where the teachings of Islam, Judaism, Christianity and Zoroastrianism had taken strong root and where the Sufi tradition of Islam had flourished.
“Today, every one of the world’s major religions has a home in India,” he said.
‘Inter-culture dialogue’
Mr. Sharma said for millennia, India has provided shelter to waves of those persecuted in foreign lands, and allowed them to thrive in India. “And our tradition of inter-culture dialogue goes right to the time when ancient Indian thinkers had a flourishing dialogue with the ancient Greeks. India is not just a culture, but a civilisation in itself,” he added.
Underlining that culture of peace was the cornerstone of the foundation of a global order of peace and tolerance, he said India had tried to foster this culture through tolerance, understanding, respect for differences, respect for other religions and cultures, respect for human rights, gender equality — all this under the overarching umbrella of pluralistic ethos and democratic principles.
India on Wednesday co-sponsored a resolution presented by Bangladesh titled, ‘Follow-up to the Declaration and Programme of Action on a Culture of Peace’.
The resolution reiterates that the objective of the effective implementation of the Programme of Action is to strengthen further the global movement for a culture of peace. It invites member-states to continue to place greater emphasis on and expand their activities promoting a culture of peace at the national, regional and international levels and to ensure that peace and non-violence are fostered at all levels.
'Pakistan must stop supporting terrorism'
If Pakistan changes its current “culture of hatred” against religions in India and stops its support to cross-border terrorism, a genuine culture of peace in South Asia and beyond could be attempted, India told the United Nations.
Mr. Sharma said that in today’s world, intolerance, hatred, violence and terrorism have almost become the norm.
There can be no doubt that terrorism, which is a manifestation of intolerance and violence, is the antithesis of all religions and cultures, he said.
“If Pakistan changes its current culture of hatred against religions in India and stops its support of cross-border terrorism against our people, we can attempt a genuine culture of peace in South Asia and beyond,” Mr. Sharma said.
“Till then we will only be mute witness to Pakistan driving away their minorities by threat, coercion, conversion and killing. Even people of the same religion are not spared due to encouragement given to sectarian killing,” he said, referring to the reports of atrocities against religious minorities in the neighbouring country.
He said India was troubled by the increase in resources, financial and otherwise, that are being made available to violent and terrorist groups that misuse religion to justify and propagate their agendas.
“We need to be clear that abetting or condoning terrorism is like feeding a monster that will turn around to consume us,” he said.
“India called on the U.N. member states to fight such negative forces together, rather than separately. Let us build a culture of peace together, rather than fail separately,” Mr. Sharma said.