The purpose of this event is education, and
we hope to learn and acknowledge our failings and make a personal commitment to
do our individual share of saying "never again".
The spark of hatred will not disappear
through law and order; it would be temporary off the screen, but will reappear
at every little conflagration. As civil societies, this has to be worked
out for the long-term good.
What we need is to have a heart-to-heart dialogue with each community with a goal to acknowledge the differences and figure out how to live with each other with least conflicts. After all we are inextricably connected to each other in our day-to-day life.
The goal ought to be respecting the otherness of others and accepting the God-given uniqueness of each one of us; anything short of that will leave unattended-sparks ready to flare up at short notice with the whiff of oxygen.
There is a shameless cruelty in us; either we shy away or refuse to acknowledge the sufferings of others, worrying that it will devalue o ur own or somehow it amounts to infidelity to our own cause. What a shame it is to believe that the victims deserved or asked for it.
We sincerely hope the attendees will walk out with the following understanding:
1. Other peoples' suffering is as legitimate as mine;
2. It is easy to see ourselves as victims,
but we must also see the perpetrator in us;
3. When we strip the politics out of a
conflict, we see hope;
4. We can value others suffering without lessening our own;
5. The overriding desire to highlight our
own blinds us from others' suffering;
6. A sense of responsibility for creating a
better world is awakened.
Mike Ghouse is committed to building cohesive societies where no human has to live in fear of the other.
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