3rd world Congress & religions
Muhammad Munir & Aftab Hussain
The changes in the international scenario have left their impacts on
public life. The perceptions of the people about others have changed;
the elements of ethnic identity, political views and religious
affiliation are playing a major role in the decision making of the world
leaders and people around the world. Religion does play a central role
in public life and in international relations; it has become a
significant identity maker. Many conflicts are flared in the name of
religion and many people have died, displaced and suffered because of
these conflicts. Soon the international community became aware of the
fact and attempts were made to bridge the gap between the different
religions and create a harmonious society in which the followers of
different religions can co-exists; at least in a tolerant environment.
Increasingly, international governments have witnessed the need to
understand religious sensitivities as a way to maintain international
relations and cooperation with different states. President of Kazakhstan
Nursultan Nazarbayev as the Head of State, in full measure realizing the
increased role of the religion in the society, put forward the
initiative of holding a forum of world and traditional religions in the
capital of the Republic of Kazakhstan - city of Astana. It is important
to note that the idea on holding the Congress for the first time in the
history was expressed not by a religious figure but by a head of a
secular state – President Nursultan Nazarbayev. The idea of the
President of Kazakhstan was supported practically by all world spiritual
leaders, heads of many states and governments and also many influential
politicians. The First Congress convened 30 delegations from the
countries of Europe, Asia, Near East and America that represented
Christianity and Islam, Judaism and Buddhism, Daoism and Shintoism.
International acknowledgement of success and trust to new initiatives of
Kazakhstan can be seen from the greetings to the Congress received from
the heads of the USA, Russia, France, Italy, Saudi Arabia, Egypt,
Poland, Germany, and the heads of international organizations.
Kazakhstan became a country that openly demonstrates own model of social
and inter-religious concurrence and solidarity, own vision of solving
problems in global scale. In three years Astana received guests again:
the Second Congress of the Leaders of the World and Traditional
religions took place in September 2006 in new, especially built for this
event Palace of Peace and Concord. Here 43 delegations from 20 countries
of the world community and many international organizations gathered.
More than 160 delegates represented all main traditional confessions of
the world. Envoys of the UN, OSCE, and UNESCO were present as honorary
guests. The Congress adopted a joint declaration that calls the
representatives of all religions and ethnic groups to prevent conflicts
due to cultural and religious differences. Global need in peaceful
dialogue and constructive cooperation between religions and also in
replacing “ideology of counteraction” with “a culture of peace” was
reflected in the document.
On July 1-2 this year the Third Congress of the Leaders of the World and
Traditional religions will open. 5 sectional groups – “moral values”,
“peace and security”, “environment and harmony”, “true dialogue and
cooperation”, “promotion of justice” – will work in the Congress.
Kazakhstan is a multi-religion society; it has always adhered to the
policy of inter-confessional peace and harmony, people of more than 40
various faiths traditionally live in the country. For example, Islam in
its essential, universal features became strong in Kazakhstan, and it is
a major religion in the country. The second faith of Kazakhstan by the
number of worshippers is Russian Orthodox Church. The Roman Catholic
Church’s role became more active in Kazakhstan in recent years. The
peaceful resolution of inter-confessional issues is possible only during
an open and friendly dialogue. In fact the religious, spiritual problems
frequently are the catalyst of many negative political processes in the
modern world. And here one can refer to both pure religious problems
(as, for example, in the situation with caricatures of the Prophet
Mohammed (PBUH) in the western press), and misinterpretation of
religious norms by various confessions (for example, religious extremist
misinterpret Islam in justification of terrorism). There are many hopes
and aspirations attached to the third session of the congress. The
international scenario is changing; people around the world have
rejected fundamentalists and extremists. The elections held in different
countries around the world have proven that fundamentalists and
extremists have been defeated, may these be religious extremists or
political fundamentalists. In such an environment it becomes very
necessary for the religious leaders to play a role to fill the gap that
was created by these extremists. The attempts by the president of
Kazakhstan are highly appreciating and such steps should be taken around
the world.
The speech of President of the United States Barak Hussain Obama in
Cario University, and global initiatives like this Congress depict an
intention by the international community of coming close and getting rid
of the differences created by religious hatred. People want to come
close, and people want to live in a peaceful, harmonious, and fear free
society. In such a favourable environment it becomes the responsibility
of the religious leaders to find common grounds of cooperation. Youth of
the nations are the future of the nations they should be groomed in a
way which make inter-religious differences acceptable and tolerant to
them, and this is the responsibility of the religious leaders. With such
greats steps taken by the world leaders it becomes the responsibility of
the United Nations to pay attention and support this congress.
The words of president of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev “Creator is
common, the universe is common, heavens are boundless, and we, as
children of one father and one mother, must live together in peace and
accord” are noteworthy at this point, which he said in the second
congress of the world and religious leaders. It is time to realize these
words and tell the world that religious differences are not a menace but
add beauty to the world. The president of Kazakhstan Nursultan
Nazarbayev has set a path way which should be followed by other states
of the international community, so that the world can become a safe,
harmonious and fear free place for our future generations. —Writers work
at Islamabad Policy Research Institute (IPRI) |
