Colloquium
on ‘Challenges to Pluralism in South Asia’
7th
January 2014, BMICH, Colombo, Sri Lanka
Organized
by the South Asia Policy & Research Institute (SAPRI)
The
resurgence of acts of religious intolerance in South Asia with increased intensity
and numbers was a matter of grave concern, as such incidents posed a serious
threat to the peaceful co-existence among communities in plural societies in
the countries of the region. These situations of religious intolerance
inevitably lead to the undermining of social cohesion while creating challenges
to economic progress and political stability.
Recognizing
the interfaith dialogue that South Asia Policy & Research Institute (SAPRI)
had already initiated in Sri Lanka to conduct a study of this issue as a
positive measure, partners of SAPRI in the other South Asian countries joined together
with SAPRI in a Colloquium in Colombo, to seek similar processes to be implemented
in their respective countries.
The
Colloquium on the one hand was intended to stimulate the series of SAPRI’s activities
on building religious harmony, while on the other, to create awareness in the
region of the necessity to address religious intolerance through identifying
the root causes and formulating recommendations to mitigate/eliminate them.
The
Colloquium therefore endeavored to understand the causes leading to religious
intolerance and evolve means towards alleviating the issue, by identifying best
practices and measures that can be engaged in. The objective of the process was
to create secular and plural societies in the region.
Methodology
The
Colloquium comprised two working sessions; Session 1 on Religion and
Politics in South Asia was moderated by Dr.
Deepika Udagama, Senior Lecturer, University of Peradeniya while Dr.
Savitri Goonesekere moderated Session 2 on Secularism on Trial in South Asia.
Prof. Rajeev Bhargava from India and Prof. Radhika
Coomaraswamy from Sri Lanka presented papers to Session 1 and Ms. Asma Jahangir
from Pakistan and Dr. Christophe Jaffrelot, a French academic focusing on South
Asia contributed to Session 2.
With the objective of eliciting a wide range of views, suggestions and recommendations, each session had a discussion among the panelists, followed by interaction between panelists and the audience through a Question & Answer session.
Highlights of the Speeches
RELIGION AND POLITICS IN SOUTH ASIA
Secularism after Western Hegemony
Rajeev Bhargava
· Secularism
entails, it was assumed, that religion ought to be a private matter. Defenders believed that it was a worthy
ideal. Opponents, that it was
undesirable, unworkable in the cultural context of India or both.
· So when institutionally secure secularism was
born – this, as I mentioned, didn’t really
occur this 20th century – it meant deconfessionalization in single-religion societies and involved a further weakening of ties of the state with the
church.
· Fostering
better quality of social relations with an emancipatory agenda, to not only
respect all religions and philosophies but to protect individuals of the
oppressive features of their own religions or religious communities – or to put
it differently, to confront and fight both inter-religious and intra-religious
domination, simultaneously.
· Substantive
secularization of European societies has brought about the extensive
secularization of European states; regardless of their religious affiliation,
citizens have a large basket of civil and political rights unheard of in
religion-centred states, past or present.
Radhika Coomaraswamy
- The question of religion and politics is related to the greater issue of pluralism and the way a state and society deal with diversity.
- The nature of religion is not static whether at the local or national level. It evolves over time. … Any institutional arrangement for religion in the realm of politics today should not entrench present forms of religion and pre-empt the possibility of change in the nature and other expression of spirituality in the future
- Religion should as far as possible remain
in the private sphere
- The only institutional structure in the public sphere that should be accepted is a procedural mechanism for conflict resolution, or interfaith dialogue and consultation for reconciliation… This should be done through education, the media and social networks. In this the role of the state and political leadership is key
SECULARISM ON TRIAL IN SOUTH ASIA
Presentation of
Asma Jahangir
- Pluralism, rather than undermine that Pluralism? That is why Secularism is on trial in South Asia. Pluralism does exist in this region…..The question is how do we begin to respect that
- …the State must remain neutral. It must have a nondiscriminatory status towards people and people belonging to different religions.
- More importantly, I think that this is the time to ask that impunity be ended to violence that is perpetuated in the name of religion!
- Religious
intolerance and religious extremism also impinge upon economic prosperity….
- It
is a myth that if you talk about religious minorities that the majority will
stop voting for you, because the ordinary majority person does not like
oppression, does not like cruelty.
- …..
education of pluralist values is key and that must be introduced in every
school and in every college.
- We have to build partnerships… in South Asia. This is such a big disease that only a larger partnership can challenge.
Indian Secularism and its Challenges
Christophe
Jaffrelot
- After
India’s independence in 1947, secularism became so well established there that
the adjective “secular” was finally enshrined in the preamble to the
Constitution in 1976.
- Indian secularism thus allows – even implies – the presence of religions in the public sphere where the state treats them equally without committing itself to any form of equidistance; freedom of conscience, expression and worship being individual as much as collective rights.
- Yet, the Hindu nationalists were the first to dispute Indian secularism, to such a point that Nehru viewed them as his main enemies….
- After
the 1992 demolition of Babri Masjid, a 16th-century mosque located in Ayodhya
……., it took the Commission of Inquiry in charge of assigning responsibility
for the event 17 years to hand in its report.
- The erosion of secularism in India can first be explained by the action of Hindu nationalist political entrepreneurs whose aim it is to turn the majority community into a vote bank. They have been working toward this explicitly at least since 1979…
Colloquium
Concluding speech
Clem
McCartney
·
The
Colloquium has stimulated a discussion on alternative discourses, such public
discussions engaging a wide range of people to explore issues together are
important
·
SAPRI
will work not only at a national level, but also at district and community
levels. The need for the involvement of people at local and district levels is
imperative as real issues are faced at those levels and the way problems are
perceived by those people
·
To
identify issues in order to respond positively and appropriately to them, in a
continuous manner
·
Shared
Societies, where everyone feels they actually belong to their society; they are
respected and can find fulfillment; can be focused on during the process of
building harmony
·
Divided
societies are not economically successful; they do not take in the talents and
full potential of everyone and every group in society
·
States
and judiciaries need to uphold the rule of law. Is it implemented without bias
and discrimination? In a pluralist society the state will treat all the people
equally
·
It
is necessary to recognize that there are different religions within societies with
different structures and the observances. It is important to learn and
understand the different aspects of other religions as it helps the process of
dealing with people observing different religions
·
Religion
has a capacity to mobilize people. Religion binds people together in a group
and those groups can be mobilized to initiate movements and conduct various
activities
· The relationship between political leaders and religion needs to be taken into consideration. Do political leaders hijack religion or are they being hijacked by religion?
·
In
Sri Lanka, is this a post-war phenomenon? With the end of the war have the
people found means of adapting to the change? Some people appear to have
resorted to religious fundamentalism
· SAPRI plans to make progress by engaging with the people. Issues require to be discussed by people through dialogue, by exploring and learning from each other. This will lead to their playing a full role in the society.
SAPRI
brings eminent international panel for colloquium on ‘Challenges to Pluralism
in South Asia’
Financial Times - Sri Lanka
No comments:
Post a Comment