Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
SEEDS OF PEACE
Planting Seeds of Peace
A New York-based nonprofit works to help youth from conflict zones promote coexistence and reconciliation.
By Anjum Naim
“Tensions and conflicts generated by wrong historiography have burnt us. Our mission is to find the truth in multiple truths.” This statement by Mahak Mansoor, a third-year student at King Edward Medical University in Lahore, Pakistan, might sound quite grand. But this is what Seeds of Peace, a New York-based nonprofit, has been doing since it was formed in 1993—helping young people from regions of conflict broaden their perspectives and learn how to coexist.
Mahak, 21, was one of the five participants from Pakistan who came to New Delhi in July to interact with six Indian “Seeds” in a workshop based on the theme, “How history is taught in India and Pakistan; history of South Asia and feminist version of history.”
Seeds of Peace is an autonomous, apolitical organization started by American journalist John Wallach to help young people from conflict zones learn the skills of making peace. From 46 Israeli, Palestinian and Egyptian teenagers in 1993, the network now encompasses nearly 4,000 young people from the Middle East, South Asia, Cyprus and the Balkans. The organization now focuses on the Middle East and South Asia.
The South Asia program with Indian and Pakistani youth was launched in 2001 with support from the U.S. State Department. Participants from diverse economic and religious backgrounds meet at the annual Seeds of Peace International Camp in the northeastern U.S. state of Maine. Interactions continue over the Internet, through speaker series in both countries, cross-border visits, conferences and workshops that teach the Seeds how to engage their communities and spread the message of reconciliation.
“India and Pakistan have fought several wars and generally the people of the two countries are hostile towards each other, and one of the major reasons for this is the history taught on either side of the border, which creates division and mutual hatred. Therefore, it is essential to correct where they are wrong and where we are wrong,” says Huzaifa Furniturewala, a student at Mumbai’s D.Y. Patil College of Engineering. He felt that the New Delhi camp “bore encouraging results.”
Krishna Kumar, director of the National Council of Education Research and Training; Anil Sethi, who writes books on education; and Urvashi Butalia, who teaches at Delhi University and is the author of The Other Side of Silence: Voices from the Partition of India discussed history books taught in India and Pakistan with the Seeds. They also talked about the possibility of finding similarity between multiple truths with a view to presenting a history free from biases and distortions.
Besides trying to understand the history of India and Pakistan objectively, the Seeds visited New Delhi’s famous historical places. “It was not strange for me to visit the tomb of Hazrat Nizamuddin Aulia; the strange thing was that Faryana Pardiwala was with us and a sense of…respect for the place was radiant on her face,” says Sana Zulfikar from Lahore.
Seeds of Peace works with the U.S. Consulates in India, representatives of city councils, community leaders, teachers and school administrators to choose participants. They are selected on the basis of an essay competition and interview. In some countries the participants are chosen by the ministries of education.
Each year, the three-week international camp on the shores of Pleasant Lake in Otisfield, Maine welcomes nearly 350 Afghan, American, Egyptian, Indian, Israeli, Jordanian, Pakistani and Palestinian participants. The youngsters live and play sports together and share meals. The daily coexistence sessions led by professional facilitators form the core of the summer program where the Seeds discuss contentious issues, share painful memories and confront their differences. The goal is to help the Seeds communicate effectively and understand perspectives that, for many, were once beyond comprehension.
“We exist in order to roll up our sleeves and get our hands dirty and make real peace in the real world. That is not an easy thing. We do not plant a tree and call it ‘Peace.’ We do not sing a song and join hands and call it ‘Peace’…,” Wallach said while accepting the International Advocate for Peace Award on behalf of Seeds of Peace in New York in 2002. “No, we believe that making peace is very hard and that making peace requires co-existence. Not necessarily liking one another, but agreeing to co-exist.”
The Seeds later visit each other’s countries for a week under a home-stay program. This gives them a chance to interact with the families and friends of their hosts. “When I first went to Pakistan in 2005 to participate in a week-long camp, I had an utterly misinformed opinion about girls in Pakistan,” says Teju Jhaveri, a student at the department of fine arts, University of Mumbai. She expected Pakistani girls to be very conservative, clad in hijabs, with no voice of their own. But “they were very much like me, I shared both their pain and ecstasy,” she says. “Seeds of Peace really showed us the power of friendship to change the conflict of thinking.”
The idea for Seeds of Peace came to Wallach after the 1993 terrorist bombing of the World Trade Center in New York City. “I was still a journalist and it was February 1993, and I asked myself a very simple question: What are the terrorists trying to do? The answer was very simple. They were trying to instill fear,” Wallach said in his peace award speech. “Was there something that could be done to counter this? It seemed to me that what we had to do was to come up with something that would inspire hope. If terrorists are trying to instill fear, if we inspire hope by mobilizing the majority, we could make a dent in achieving greater justice in the world.”
At a dinner party in Washington, D.C., attended by Israeli, Egyptian and Palestinian leaders, Wallach stood up and asked whether they were willing to send 15 youngsters each to a summer camp in Maine. The aim was to dispel fear, mistrust and prejudice through dialogue. The next day, Wallach announced at a news conference that all three countries had agreed.
The first Seeds were guests of President Bill Clinton at the signing of the 1993 Oslo Accords between Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization Yasser Arafat on the White House lawn.
Initially launched with financial assistance from Wallach’s friends, Seeds of Peace attracted support from various quarters as it expanded its reach. The U.S. State Department supports the South Asia program while USAID funds a significant portion of the Middle East program. Other funding partners include Carlson Wagonlit Travel, oil and gas company Exxon Mobil Corporation, and luxury home builder Toll Brothers.
Wallach died in 2002 and the organization is currently headed by Executive Director Leslie Lewin. It has regional offices in Amman, Cairo, Gaza, Jerusalem, Kabul, Lahore, Mumbai, Ramallah, Tel Aviv and Washington.
Besides its international programs, Seeds of Peace runs a domestic program called Maine Seeds to address ethnic and racial tensions between communities settled in Maine and a cultural exchange program between American and Arab youths. But the focus remains on bridging differences in traditional regions of conflict.
When Sana Zulfikar was passing by the well at the tomb of Hazrat Nizamuddin Aulia with Faryana Pardiwala in New Delhi, she remembered what an Israeli Seed had said at the international camp: “Teachers at my school asked us to say the first word that crosses our mind when we hear the word ‘Palestinian.’ Some said terrorists. Some said neighbours. I said ‘friends.”
A New York-based nonprofit works to help youth from conflict zones promote coexistence and reconciliation.
By Anjum Naim
“Tensions and conflicts generated by wrong historiography have burnt us. Our mission is to find the truth in multiple truths.” This statement by Mahak Mansoor, a third-year student at King Edward Medical University in Lahore, Pakistan, might sound quite grand. But this is what Seeds of Peace, a New York-based nonprofit, has been doing since it was formed in 1993—helping young people from regions of conflict broaden their perspectives and learn how to coexist.
Mahak, 21, was one of the five participants from Pakistan who came to New Delhi in July to interact with six Indian “Seeds” in a workshop based on the theme, “How history is taught in India and Pakistan; history of South Asia and feminist version of history.”
Seeds of Peace is an autonomous, apolitical organization started by American journalist John Wallach to help young people from conflict zones learn the skills of making peace. From 46 Israeli, Palestinian and Egyptian teenagers in 1993, the network now encompasses nearly 4,000 young people from the Middle East, South Asia, Cyprus and the Balkans. The organization now focuses on the Middle East and South Asia.
The South Asia program with Indian and Pakistani youth was launched in 2001 with support from the U.S. State Department. Participants from diverse economic and religious backgrounds meet at the annual Seeds of Peace International Camp in the northeastern U.S. state of Maine. Interactions continue over the Internet, through speaker series in both countries, cross-border visits, conferences and workshops that teach the Seeds how to engage their communities and spread the message of reconciliation.
“India and Pakistan have fought several wars and generally the people of the two countries are hostile towards each other, and one of the major reasons for this is the history taught on either side of the border, which creates division and mutual hatred. Therefore, it is essential to correct where they are wrong and where we are wrong,” says Huzaifa Furniturewala, a student at Mumbai’s D.Y. Patil College of Engineering. He felt that the New Delhi camp “bore encouraging results.”
Krishna Kumar, director of the National Council of Education Research and Training; Anil Sethi, who writes books on education; and Urvashi Butalia, who teaches at Delhi University and is the author of The Other Side of Silence: Voices from the Partition of India discussed history books taught in India and Pakistan with the Seeds. They also talked about the possibility of finding similarity between multiple truths with a view to presenting a history free from biases and distortions.
Besides trying to understand the history of India and Pakistan objectively, the Seeds visited New Delhi’s famous historical places. “It was not strange for me to visit the tomb of Hazrat Nizamuddin Aulia; the strange thing was that Faryana Pardiwala was with us and a sense of…respect for the place was radiant on her face,” says Sana Zulfikar from Lahore.
Seeds of Peace works with the U.S. Consulates in India, representatives of city councils, community leaders, teachers and school administrators to choose participants. They are selected on the basis of an essay competition and interview. In some countries the participants are chosen by the ministries of education.
Each year, the three-week international camp on the shores of Pleasant Lake in Otisfield, Maine welcomes nearly 350 Afghan, American, Egyptian, Indian, Israeli, Jordanian, Pakistani and Palestinian participants. The youngsters live and play sports together and share meals. The daily coexistence sessions led by professional facilitators form the core of the summer program where the Seeds discuss contentious issues, share painful memories and confront their differences. The goal is to help the Seeds communicate effectively and understand perspectives that, for many, were once beyond comprehension.
“We exist in order to roll up our sleeves and get our hands dirty and make real peace in the real world. That is not an easy thing. We do not plant a tree and call it ‘Peace.’ We do not sing a song and join hands and call it ‘Peace’…,” Wallach said while accepting the International Advocate for Peace Award on behalf of Seeds of Peace in New York in 2002. “No, we believe that making peace is very hard and that making peace requires co-existence. Not necessarily liking one another, but agreeing to co-exist.”
The Seeds later visit each other’s countries for a week under a home-stay program. This gives them a chance to interact with the families and friends of their hosts. “When I first went to Pakistan in 2005 to participate in a week-long camp, I had an utterly misinformed opinion about girls in Pakistan,” says Teju Jhaveri, a student at the department of fine arts, University of Mumbai. She expected Pakistani girls to be very conservative, clad in hijabs, with no voice of their own. But “they were very much like me, I shared both their pain and ecstasy,” she says. “Seeds of Peace really showed us the power of friendship to change the conflict of thinking.”
The idea for Seeds of Peace came to Wallach after the 1993 terrorist bombing of the World Trade Center in New York City. “I was still a journalist and it was February 1993, and I asked myself a very simple question: What are the terrorists trying to do? The answer was very simple. They were trying to instill fear,” Wallach said in his peace award speech. “Was there something that could be done to counter this? It seemed to me that what we had to do was to come up with something that would inspire hope. If terrorists are trying to instill fear, if we inspire hope by mobilizing the majority, we could make a dent in achieving greater justice in the world.”
At a dinner party in Washington, D.C., attended by Israeli, Egyptian and Palestinian leaders, Wallach stood up and asked whether they were willing to send 15 youngsters each to a summer camp in Maine. The aim was to dispel fear, mistrust and prejudice through dialogue. The next day, Wallach announced at a news conference that all three countries had agreed.
The first Seeds were guests of President Bill Clinton at the signing of the 1993 Oslo Accords between Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization Yasser Arafat on the White House lawn.
Initially launched with financial assistance from Wallach’s friends, Seeds of Peace attracted support from various quarters as it expanded its reach. The U.S. State Department supports the South Asia program while USAID funds a significant portion of the Middle East program. Other funding partners include Carlson Wagonlit Travel, oil and gas company Exxon Mobil Corporation, and luxury home builder Toll Brothers.
Wallach died in 2002 and the organization is currently headed by Executive Director Leslie Lewin. It has regional offices in Amman, Cairo, Gaza, Jerusalem, Kabul, Lahore, Mumbai, Ramallah, Tel Aviv and Washington.
Besides its international programs, Seeds of Peace runs a domestic program called Maine Seeds to address ethnic and racial tensions between communities settled in Maine and a cultural exchange program between American and Arab youths. But the focus remains on bridging differences in traditional regions of conflict.
When Sana Zulfikar was passing by the well at the tomb of Hazrat Nizamuddin Aulia with Faryana Pardiwala in New Delhi, she remembered what an Israeli Seed had said at the international camp: “Teachers at my school asked us to say the first word that crosses our mind when we hear the word ‘Palestinian.’ Some said terrorists. Some said neighbours. I said ‘friends.”
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Thursday, July 16, 2009
THE STORY TELLER'S TALE
Review by:Anjum NaimAfghan ruler, Ahmad Shah Abdali's fourth incursion into India on January 23, 1757 brought a message of destruction and devastation of Delhi. Plunder of this walled city, popularly known as Shahjahanabad was tremendous loss of not only lives and properties, it was, rather a ravage of a culture and civilization, which changed the course of Indo - Islamic history. The epoch reference of novella "The Story - Tellers Tale" launched at American Center , New Derlhi on March 25 , 2009, written by Umair Ahmad, who obtained his master's degree in International Relations from Syracuse University, New York,2001-2003, is the same ruined and plundered India of 18th century. Its witness is a story - teller, who was not present in Delhi at the time of its destruction and when he returns back to his city, he finds no shelter. The broken-hearted story - teller, however finds a roof over his head in a protected beautiful mansion situated outside the city, wherein he meets the main character of the novella, Begum, who is living a secluded life with her servants, because her husband is away these days, perhaps to get his share in the bounty. Begum making out the caliber of the story - teller's art decides to have a competition of story - telling with him. Both of them would tell a story to each other, no matter whether it is a story of one's own suffering or a tale of other people. Albeit there is a condition that the stories would reflect the temperaments of both of them. The competition begins and takes its own time. Both of them narrate four stories. Meanwhile, a new story takes place. It is a love story of Begum with the story - teller. Begum's sentiments are intense while the story - teller seems to refrain from it as he is in the know of sufferings of love. And in this way, their stories become the expression of their failed love affair. Though, characters of each story are quite different, but they depict our familiar pictures in present perspective. The excellence of story is it tells us, in today's diction how love expands the balance of political power, and how the latter influence love.
Basically, the main reference of this story is the very violence, which is evident in almost every scenario crossing the limits of time and space. The story teller could never get rid of this central theme and tries to present it everywhere, whatever the form may be. It seems that different forms of violence are colliding with each other in the mind of the story – teller. Umair says, "We are unable to ignore this fact because violence and violent tendency are affecting all of us in one form or the other. It has become the central reference of lives of people like us."
A common reader may think if we are discussing our familiar issues, why then they are being written in the form of a story ( Dastaan) or the traditional form of story – telling? Umair gives a very simple answer, "I really did not think about the audience, I was only exploring old ideas of pain in various fables, myths and stories I had heard as a child."
But he also accepts that the form of story – telling (Dastaan goi) is a very interesting and a very impressive means of communication. No other form could express our feelings in such an impressive way. "You can conjecture it by the efficacy of parables of Bible and Quranic stories. Moreover stories heard in childhood also become a part of our psyche," says Umair.
He says that he used to participate in traditional story – telling programmes during his student – life in the U. S. he was very impressed with tall tales.
Tall tales are exaggerated and imaginary stories from the 1800s. They were made – up to tell about the courage many had while exploring and adventuring to the "WILD, WILD, WEST". These stories entertained people around campfires on steamboats, and many other places.
While writing the novel, he took care of this American tradition. He further says that “Urdu and Persian stories, which were read in his family and epic of Mahabharata, are the parts of his literary taste. That is why I felt no difficulty in expressing my thoughts in this form.” It is worth mentioning that fictional elements of all the four stories presented in the novella are based on Panch Tantra (an anthology of Indian stories, parables of Bible and Quranic allusions.
Umair has been, basically, an active journalist, affiliated with Outlook magazine and VOA, and political analyst. He has written many stories on lives of common people living in towns and villages of India. These stories got published under the title of 'sense terror' by Pages Editor, Catalonia 2008. His novel 'Encounters published by Tara Press, New Delhi , 2007' depicting the growing rigidity in a section of Muslims, the novella in hand and all of his writings make the issue of extremism in words and deeds, their subject matter. In a nutshell it is the subject matter that matters and not the mere form"
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Sunday, April 5, 2009
DIVERSITY IS ONLY THE FIRST STEP
INTERVIEW WITH EBOO PATEL
ANJUM NAIM
It is the office of director of Interfaith Youth Core, a Chicago based organization of youths having a desire to spread idea of religious pluralism with young people as its builder. And hanging on the wall is a well – known painting "Freedom of Worship", a masterpiece of Norman Rockwell, famous American painter of the first half of the 20th century. In the painting, four men and four women are shown praying and invoking the blessings of God. Everyone is praying in his or her own way. All of them – Catholics, Protestants, Jews, Colored and Whites – are standing shoulder – to – shoulder facing the same direction, comfortable with the presence of one another and yet apart.
Eboo Patel, director of I F Y C says that it is a vivid depiction of a group living in peace with its diversity, yet not exploring it. It is what we have set as the goal of our endeavors: Persuading the youth of different faiths to respect each other and solve their problems shoulder – to – shoulder, is termed as 'Religious Pluralism' by Patel.
Patel migrated from Mumbai to America with his father in 1975; he graduated from university of Illinois at Urban Champaign, and thereafter, obtains his Doctorate in Sociology of Religious from Oxford University on Rhodes Scholarship.
Engaged in to imbibe the ingredients of spiritualism and dynamism in services to humanity, Patel is associated with the advisory board of the Council on Foreign Relations (C F R), an American non partisan foreign policy membership organization founded in 1921, considered as the most powerful private organization to influence United States Foreign Policy. It publishes the bimonthly general 'Foreign Affairs'. He is also associated with the advisory board of Duke University Islamic Studies Centre (D I S C) established in 2006, as a sequel to the Centre for the Study of Muslim Networks, especially educational networks as essential instruments for advancing cross – cultural understanding.
President Barrack Obama has recently, established 'White House Office of Faith – Based and Neighborhood Partnerships', which will work on behalf of Americans committed to improving their communities, no matter their religious or political beliefs. Eboo Patel has been nominated as its member. Published in 2007, his book 'Acts of Faith' is, in fact, a story of his own life journey and his vision in creating an inter – faith youth movement. It reflects his thoughts particularly, the religious pluralism and the role of youth in its dissemination and implementation.
When asked why does he want pluralism among religiously diverse young people. What does it mean to him, what does it mean to other Americans or Indians. Do most Americans agree with him that religious diversity is important? Why or why not?, Eboo Patel explains, "When I say the word “pluralism”, I mean that to build a peaceful world, we have to go beyond the fact of diversity to actually engage it. A scholar at Harvard University, Diana Eck, says, 'religious diversity is a given, but pluralism is an achievement.'"
Explaining religious pluralism, he says, "To me, religious pluralism is three things. First, there must be respect for religious identity, which includes respect for secular humanist and non-believing identities. Second, there must be mutually inspiring relationships between people of diverse faith traditions. Finally, religious pluralism must include common action for the common good. It is not enough that we identify the call to serve in different traditions - we must act upon that call together. Religiously diverse young people can build a movement together by seeking out one another, coming to know each other, and then acting together to serve their communities."
Most Americans, in his opinion, agree that religious pluralism is important, and he would go a step further and say that people in general tend towards pluralism. He thinks the missing link is that people need the framework, leadership skills, training and resources to build a pluralistic world, and that is what his organization, the Interfaith Youth Core, tries to provide.
Modus Operandi
Both, his message and movement gained popularity in the United States. He is wholeheartedly engaged in giving his message a rippling effect amidst restrictions and limitations. Narrating his all out efforts to expand his movement overseas, he says, "My organization works abroad through several channels. For example, during the last few weeks, two Interfaith Youth Core staff members, both Muslim women, embarked on a tour across Western Europe supported by the State Department. They will conduct trainings for young European interfaith leaders in Belgium, the Netherlands, Italy, Spain and France, with the goal of sparking an interfaith youth movement across Europe. Many of the communities they are visiting include recent Muslim immigrants to Western Europe, as well as established Muslim minority communities. "
According to him, this is just one of many partnerships IFYC has had with the State Department, which, over the past year, has meant IFYC presence in ten different countries. This includes the participation of four staff members on different speaking tours around the Philippines, India, and Western Europe. They are currently running three programs funded by the State Department - the Western Europe training tour will be followed in March by another training tour around the UK. In April, IFYC is bringing youth workers from the UK to the United States to experience the ways that dramatic religious diversity can be engaged in a vibrant civic sphere, and learn leadership techniques for their work.
He is looking forward to expanding their international work in Southeast Asia as well, and his upcoming work is one step in that direction.
Interfaith dialogue in a multi cultural society
Explaining the needs and significance of interfaith dialogue and related difficulties, Patel said, "In our globalized era, the world is smaller than ever before. The possibility of coming of age without encountering neighbors, classmates, teachers or friends of different faiths or cultures is narrowing more every year, and I think this kind of diverse, multi cultural society is the ideal place to hold interfaith dialogue. Interfaith dialogue and service is about taking the diversity at hand and transforming it into a new state of pluralism. "
In his opinion, the question at hand is not if dialogue can work in a multicultural society, because increasingly all societies are multicultural. The question is when are they going to take advantage of this ample opportunity worldwide to turn diversity into pluralism?
"We must engage these differences, build bridges between them and work together to achieve societies where common action leads to a better future for all", says Patel.
He believes that there will be no peace in the world without religious pluralism, and no religious pluralism without the leadership of young people. Young people today are growing up in the most globalized era in human history – they are truly the first interfaith generation.
That is why he says, "Faith formation for them is going to not only involve the question: 'What does it mean to be a Muslim?' It is going to have to include an additional element, 'What does it mean to be a Muslim in a community/country/world of Hindus, Christians, Jews, Buddhists, Sikhs, secular humanists, etc?' This interfaith generation is going to be asking a whole new set of questions about what it means to be young and religious in this day and age, and I hope that they will be able to answer this question by taking a leadership role in building pluralism."
When asked why he came India to participate/ organize in a religiously diverse young people leadership program and what kind of leaders he is looking for, he replied that he is looking for young people ready to build pluralism in their communities. Young leaders who want to reach out to others, build mutually respectful relationships and join in service with those who are different from them in order to serve the common good.
Source of inspiration
His inspiration for the work comes strongly from his grandmother, whom he visited in Mumbai when he was first beginning interfaith action.
"As I sat beside her in her home, she told me 45 years worth of stories of women that she put up in her home and helped get a fresh start – women who were abused, abandoned, out of work, out of hope, with no family or chance to begin again. When I asked her why she spent her life helping others get back on their feet, she said “I am a Muslim. That is what Muslims do.” And that is where I draw inspiration," says Patel.
Relevance of Martin Luther King Jr's in the present era.
He is deeply impressed by his mission. He says, "The Reverend Martin Luther King Jr’s non-violent movement is incredibly significant in our era, not only because of the immense power of non-violence as a mechanism of social justice, but because of how Dr. King came to understand non-violence: through an Indian Hindu."
Peeping into the history he narrates: In 1950, when King was a young student in a Christian seminary, he went to see a lecture on Mahatma Gandhi in Philadelphia. Learning about Gandhi’s Hindu-based satyagraha (soul force) movement to free India stirred something in King. He had always believed in the Christian ethic of nonviolence, but thought it was relevant only for personal relationships. He was amazed that Gandhi had made that ethic the basis of a successful social reform movement.
"Five years later, when King was named the leader of the Montgomery Improvement Association, he copied Gandhi’s approach in the Montgomery Bus Boycott. The people who marched with him called their movement 'Christian love', but King knew that it was a Hindu named Mahatma Gandhi who had, as he put it, 'furnished the method'", says Patel.
Describing King's speech in the church after returning from Montgomery, Patel says: "In 1959, as the civil rights movement was gaining ground, King went to India to study Gandhi’s legacy firsthand. He marveled at the religious diversity of the subcontinent, how Gandhi had brought people of all faiths and classes together to work nonviolently for freedom. When he returned to Montgomery, King got up in the pulpit of his church and spoke these words: “O God, our gracious heavenly father. We thank thee for the fact that you have defined men and women in all nations, in all cultures. We call you this name. Some call thee Allah, some call you Elohim. Some call you Jehovah, some call you Brahma. Some call you the Unmoved Mover.”
According to Patel, within King’s movement there are lessons beyond the impact of non-violent activism - lessons of respect for other faith traditions, lessons of mutually inspiring relationships between people of different religions, and lessons of deep understanding of the shared values between the world’s religions and how they can arouse common action.
Youth service
"In an era of global religious conflict, idealism has a new face: interfaith youth cooperation. The evening news features stories of young people killing each other to the soundtrack of prayer. Yet across the country and the world, young people of many faiths are coming together around the shared value of service," Patel explains.
In his opinion, they are changing the toxic conversation about religion and building the American dream of a place in which freedom for one relies on freedom for all. The watershed moment for their idealism has come: today’s young people will grow up under the leadership of Obama administration, in which civic engagement is supported in an unprecedented way.
"The call to national service is being heard loud and clear, and we at the Interfaith Youth Core look forward to not only inspiring young people to serve, but to empowering them to lead their peers in service as well," says Patel in a voice, full of confidence.
A member of the White House Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships And Council on foreign relations. When asked about the difference he made by being on the aforesaid committee, Patel replies that he is honored to have been named to the White House Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, and looks forward to being able to shape a task force on interfaith cooperation. The Council was just recently formed and only 15 of the 25 members have been named.
"Though our work is just beginning, I see this as proof that the potential of faith-based groups to do good in this country has been recognized. I hope that my year on this council ends with the recognition that faith-based groups can do the most good when they work together," he said.
“I believe that the twenty first century will be shaped by the faith line’’
Putting forth an explanation to this idea, he says, "One hundred years ago, the great African American scholar W.E.B. DuBois famously said that "the problem of the twentieth century will be the problem of the color line" Most people assumed that the color line divided black and white. But Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. came around 60 years later and changed the paradigm. He suggested that the real dividing line wasn't between black and white, but between those who wanted to live together as brothers and those who wanted to perish together as fools. "
"I believe the 21st century will be dominated by the question of the faith line. Our first and most important challenge is to recognize that the faith line does not divide Muslims and Christians, Hindus and Buddhists or secularists from the faithful", says Patel
He thinks that the faith line separates religious totalitarians and religious pluralists. Religious totalitarians want a society where their group dominates and everyone else suffocates. Religious pluralists want a society where people from different backgrounds live in equal dignity and mutual loyalty.
"The first challenge of the faith line is that the pluralists are in the majority, and yet the totalitarians have succeeded in convincing us to be afraid of each other. The second challenge of the faith line is for those of us in the majority to stand up for our pluralist vision, to tell our story, to put the extremists back in their place: on the extremes," believes Patel.
ANJUM NAIM
It is the office of director of Interfaith Youth Core, a Chicago based organization of youths having a desire to spread idea of religious pluralism with young people as its builder. And hanging on the wall is a well – known painting "Freedom of Worship", a masterpiece of Norman Rockwell, famous American painter of the first half of the 20th century. In the painting, four men and four women are shown praying and invoking the blessings of God. Everyone is praying in his or her own way. All of them – Catholics, Protestants, Jews, Colored and Whites – are standing shoulder – to – shoulder facing the same direction, comfortable with the presence of one another and yet apart.
Eboo Patel, director of I F Y C says that it is a vivid depiction of a group living in peace with its diversity, yet not exploring it. It is what we have set as the goal of our endeavors: Persuading the youth of different faiths to respect each other and solve their problems shoulder – to – shoulder, is termed as 'Religious Pluralism' by Patel.
Patel migrated from Mumbai to America with his father in 1975; he graduated from university of Illinois at Urban Champaign, and thereafter, obtains his Doctorate in Sociology of Religious from Oxford University on Rhodes Scholarship.
Engaged in to imbibe the ingredients of spiritualism and dynamism in services to humanity, Patel is associated with the advisory board of the Council on Foreign Relations (C F R), an American non partisan foreign policy membership organization founded in 1921, considered as the most powerful private organization to influence United States Foreign Policy. It publishes the bimonthly general 'Foreign Affairs'. He is also associated with the advisory board of Duke University Islamic Studies Centre (D I S C) established in 2006, as a sequel to the Centre for the Study of Muslim Networks, especially educational networks as essential instruments for advancing cross – cultural understanding.
President Barrack Obama has recently, established 'White House Office of Faith – Based and Neighborhood Partnerships', which will work on behalf of Americans committed to improving their communities, no matter their religious or political beliefs. Eboo Patel has been nominated as its member. Published in 2007, his book 'Acts of Faith' is, in fact, a story of his own life journey and his vision in creating an inter – faith youth movement. It reflects his thoughts particularly, the religious pluralism and the role of youth in its dissemination and implementation.
When asked why does he want pluralism among religiously diverse young people. What does it mean to him, what does it mean to other Americans or Indians. Do most Americans agree with him that religious diversity is important? Why or why not?, Eboo Patel explains, "When I say the word “pluralism”, I mean that to build a peaceful world, we have to go beyond the fact of diversity to actually engage it. A scholar at Harvard University, Diana Eck, says, 'religious diversity is a given, but pluralism is an achievement.'"
Explaining religious pluralism, he says, "To me, religious pluralism is three things. First, there must be respect for religious identity, which includes respect for secular humanist and non-believing identities. Second, there must be mutually inspiring relationships between people of diverse faith traditions. Finally, religious pluralism must include common action for the common good. It is not enough that we identify the call to serve in different traditions - we must act upon that call together. Religiously diverse young people can build a movement together by seeking out one another, coming to know each other, and then acting together to serve their communities."
Most Americans, in his opinion, agree that religious pluralism is important, and he would go a step further and say that people in general tend towards pluralism. He thinks the missing link is that people need the framework, leadership skills, training and resources to build a pluralistic world, and that is what his organization, the Interfaith Youth Core, tries to provide.
Modus Operandi
Both, his message and movement gained popularity in the United States. He is wholeheartedly engaged in giving his message a rippling effect amidst restrictions and limitations. Narrating his all out efforts to expand his movement overseas, he says, "My organization works abroad through several channels. For example, during the last few weeks, two Interfaith Youth Core staff members, both Muslim women, embarked on a tour across Western Europe supported by the State Department. They will conduct trainings for young European interfaith leaders in Belgium, the Netherlands, Italy, Spain and France, with the goal of sparking an interfaith youth movement across Europe. Many of the communities they are visiting include recent Muslim immigrants to Western Europe, as well as established Muslim minority communities. "
According to him, this is just one of many partnerships IFYC has had with the State Department, which, over the past year, has meant IFYC presence in ten different countries. This includes the participation of four staff members on different speaking tours around the Philippines, India, and Western Europe. They are currently running three programs funded by the State Department - the Western Europe training tour will be followed in March by another training tour around the UK. In April, IFYC is bringing youth workers from the UK to the United States to experience the ways that dramatic religious diversity can be engaged in a vibrant civic sphere, and learn leadership techniques for their work.
He is looking forward to expanding their international work in Southeast Asia as well, and his upcoming work is one step in that direction.
Interfaith dialogue in a multi cultural society
Explaining the needs and significance of interfaith dialogue and related difficulties, Patel said, "In our globalized era, the world is smaller than ever before. The possibility of coming of age without encountering neighbors, classmates, teachers or friends of different faiths or cultures is narrowing more every year, and I think this kind of diverse, multi cultural society is the ideal place to hold interfaith dialogue. Interfaith dialogue and service is about taking the diversity at hand and transforming it into a new state of pluralism. "
In his opinion, the question at hand is not if dialogue can work in a multicultural society, because increasingly all societies are multicultural. The question is when are they going to take advantage of this ample opportunity worldwide to turn diversity into pluralism?
"We must engage these differences, build bridges between them and work together to achieve societies where common action leads to a better future for all", says Patel.
He believes that there will be no peace in the world without religious pluralism, and no religious pluralism without the leadership of young people. Young people today are growing up in the most globalized era in human history – they are truly the first interfaith generation.
That is why he says, "Faith formation for them is going to not only involve the question: 'What does it mean to be a Muslim?' It is going to have to include an additional element, 'What does it mean to be a Muslim in a community/country/world of Hindus, Christians, Jews, Buddhists, Sikhs, secular humanists, etc?' This interfaith generation is going to be asking a whole new set of questions about what it means to be young and religious in this day and age, and I hope that they will be able to answer this question by taking a leadership role in building pluralism."
When asked why he came India to participate/ organize in a religiously diverse young people leadership program and what kind of leaders he is looking for, he replied that he is looking for young people ready to build pluralism in their communities. Young leaders who want to reach out to others, build mutually respectful relationships and join in service with those who are different from them in order to serve the common good.
Source of inspiration
His inspiration for the work comes strongly from his grandmother, whom he visited in Mumbai when he was first beginning interfaith action.
"As I sat beside her in her home, she told me 45 years worth of stories of women that she put up in her home and helped get a fresh start – women who were abused, abandoned, out of work, out of hope, with no family or chance to begin again. When I asked her why she spent her life helping others get back on their feet, she said “I am a Muslim. That is what Muslims do.” And that is where I draw inspiration," says Patel.
Relevance of Martin Luther King Jr's in the present era.
He is deeply impressed by his mission. He says, "The Reverend Martin Luther King Jr’s non-violent movement is incredibly significant in our era, not only because of the immense power of non-violence as a mechanism of social justice, but because of how Dr. King came to understand non-violence: through an Indian Hindu."
Peeping into the history he narrates: In 1950, when King was a young student in a Christian seminary, he went to see a lecture on Mahatma Gandhi in Philadelphia. Learning about Gandhi’s Hindu-based satyagraha (soul force) movement to free India stirred something in King. He had always believed in the Christian ethic of nonviolence, but thought it was relevant only for personal relationships. He was amazed that Gandhi had made that ethic the basis of a successful social reform movement.
"Five years later, when King was named the leader of the Montgomery Improvement Association, he copied Gandhi’s approach in the Montgomery Bus Boycott. The people who marched with him called their movement 'Christian love', but King knew that it was a Hindu named Mahatma Gandhi who had, as he put it, 'furnished the method'", says Patel.
Describing King's speech in the church after returning from Montgomery, Patel says: "In 1959, as the civil rights movement was gaining ground, King went to India to study Gandhi’s legacy firsthand. He marveled at the religious diversity of the subcontinent, how Gandhi had brought people of all faiths and classes together to work nonviolently for freedom. When he returned to Montgomery, King got up in the pulpit of his church and spoke these words: “O God, our gracious heavenly father. We thank thee for the fact that you have defined men and women in all nations, in all cultures. We call you this name. Some call thee Allah, some call you Elohim. Some call you Jehovah, some call you Brahma. Some call you the Unmoved Mover.”
According to Patel, within King’s movement there are lessons beyond the impact of non-violent activism - lessons of respect for other faith traditions, lessons of mutually inspiring relationships between people of different religions, and lessons of deep understanding of the shared values between the world’s religions and how they can arouse common action.
Youth service
"In an era of global religious conflict, idealism has a new face: interfaith youth cooperation. The evening news features stories of young people killing each other to the soundtrack of prayer. Yet across the country and the world, young people of many faiths are coming together around the shared value of service," Patel explains.
In his opinion, they are changing the toxic conversation about religion and building the American dream of a place in which freedom for one relies on freedom for all. The watershed moment for their idealism has come: today’s young people will grow up under the leadership of Obama administration, in which civic engagement is supported in an unprecedented way.
"The call to national service is being heard loud and clear, and we at the Interfaith Youth Core look forward to not only inspiring young people to serve, but to empowering them to lead their peers in service as well," says Patel in a voice, full of confidence.
A member of the White House Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships And Council on foreign relations. When asked about the difference he made by being on the aforesaid committee, Patel replies that he is honored to have been named to the White House Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, and looks forward to being able to shape a task force on interfaith cooperation. The Council was just recently formed and only 15 of the 25 members have been named.
"Though our work is just beginning, I see this as proof that the potential of faith-based groups to do good in this country has been recognized. I hope that my year on this council ends with the recognition that faith-based groups can do the most good when they work together," he said.
“I believe that the twenty first century will be shaped by the faith line’’
Putting forth an explanation to this idea, he says, "One hundred years ago, the great African American scholar W.E.B. DuBois famously said that "the problem of the twentieth century will be the problem of the color line" Most people assumed that the color line divided black and white. But Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. came around 60 years later and changed the paradigm. He suggested that the real dividing line wasn't between black and white, but between those who wanted to live together as brothers and those who wanted to perish together as fools. "
"I believe the 21st century will be dominated by the question of the faith line. Our first and most important challenge is to recognize that the faith line does not divide Muslims and Christians, Hindus and Buddhists or secularists from the faithful", says Patel
He thinks that the faith line separates religious totalitarians and religious pluralists. Religious totalitarians want a society where their group dominates and everyone else suffocates. Religious pluralists want a society where people from different backgrounds live in equal dignity and mutual loyalty.
"The first challenge of the faith line is that the pluralists are in the majority, and yet the totalitarians have succeeded in convincing us to be afraid of each other. The second challenge of the faith line is for those of us in the majority to stand up for our pluralist vision, to tell our story, to put the extremists back in their place: on the extremes," believes Patel.
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