Delhi : when the dialogue among communities must fight the terror

02-11-2005

The following article takes its roots from a deep misunderstanding. The bomb blasts which hurt Delhi last Saturday might have killed anyone of us if we were at the wrong place in the wrong moment.
First, as a human being, I felt highly concerned by the sadness of these terrible acts. Moreover, as a Muslim European citizen, I was intimately hurt by these so called Islamist acts made in the name of Islam all over the world.
Having been shocked by many newspaper articles that I have read and which may create hatred and fear between Indian communities, I wanted to write these modest words, and hope that you, Indian students, will contribute in the building of peace in your country and all over the world.

November rhymes with the end of the month of Ramadan (Roza). The Moslems of the whole world fasted in the search for the balance and the peace of mind. At the same time, the Hindou community was preparing itself for Diwali, the festival of light, which enlightened many Indian cities. As Ramadan signifies the renewal and cleaning of himself, Diwali celebrates the renewal of life.

This month was the opportunity to bring together two religious communities in India in the celebration of their respective religious festivals. But something happened, which might dangerously impact the respect and love between Indian communities.

The terrible bomb blasts that hurt Delhi on the 29^th October shocked everybody. Innocent people were killed, giving way to tears and sadness. With a strong and audible voice, we must express our absolute condemnation. But it is not sufficient. We must do exactly the opposite of what these terrorists want.
Because they want a struggle between Indian communities, we must commit ourselves to building peace together...
Because they want to replace happiness by fears, we must fight to destruct suspicion and distrust....
Because they want the people to turn the rich diversity of India into a war of differences, identifying themselves against the others, we, the new coming generation, have to focus on the contrary.

Samuel Huntington and his clash of civilization theory may be a reality if we dont act quickly and consciously. The lack of knowledge of the other (and of self), the acceptance of caricatures and final judgements could lead to this clash. Therefore, it falls to us to commit ourselves to building the society we want., a society which would take its force from the diversity of its population.

Terrorist attacks, all over the world, point usually the Muslim community. If it is true that some people claiming themselves Muslimsmay do these odious crimes, the Muslim community, first, and all the religious and non religious communities, have to fight against caricatures.
Muslims have to explain the real meaning of Islam : peace. They have to explain that the sweetness and the tolerance were the roots of the Prophet Mohammed, offering humanity to all people and participating in society for good in partnership with all human beings who, in conscience, reject a world without conscience

Peace, respect and love are the messages of all the spiritualities. Together, we must struggle against terror and violence, but also for peace, for democracy, for freedom and from justice.

Living together in free and pluralistic societies is difficult. India, as many countries around the world, has to face it. But the Indian democracy quality will depend on the strategy adopted. Struggle those atrocities through repression is not a viable solution. Prevention, education and a non discriminatory implementation of security measures are the real solutions.

It is in that context that we, Indian and foreign students together, wanted to stress the importance of dialogue and mutual understanding, responding together to those who want to install terror and violence all over the world, as to those who try to exploit these acts to propagate racisms, xenophobia, hindouphobia, islamophobia, judeophobia, christianophobia or any kind of stigmatisation or exclusion.

At this difficult moment, we want to convey our deep and sincere condolences to all the victims families.


Badreddine Serrokh,
STEP Student IIMC