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Ambassador of Nepal Ambassador of Pakistan Ambassador of Sri Lanka
History Made Easy South Asian Memories
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the-south-asian.com December 2000 |
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This issue of 'the-south-asian' is an endeavour to learn from a journey of 1000 years. We began the millennium as one region- and ended it as a divided one. In the course of the last ten centuries South Asia has witnessed and lived through wave after wave of foreign invasion, wars, carnage, religious persecution, acts of violence, hatred, and greed. The wealth and prosperity of the region enticed the Turks, Afghans, Mongols, Portuguese, Dutch, French and the British to take away whatever they could - in terms of riches and resources. The invaders also turned rulers. Yet - there was one resource that remained with us - the collective wisdom/knowledge, and cultural refinement of the people. This is one resource that could see us through as a united region in the coming decades. The spiritual and intellectual 'Greats' of the millennium - Kabir, Guru Nanak, Sai Baba, Mahatma Gandhi - all left the same message - 'God is one - his names and manifestations many'. 'Ishwar Allah tero naam' - was sung in the twentieth century by Lata Mangeshkar and also by the fourteenth century Sufis. The past centuries have seen positive examples of intermingling of cultures and religions. Akbar married Hindu Rajput princesses who had the freedom to practice their belief. Akbar was evolved enough to recognise that conversion does not necessarily convert the other's spirit or what is within. Shahjahan was, in fact, three-fourths Hindu. His son Dara wrote a volume on the synthesis of Hinduism and Islam. It is time that these issues of 'who is what' become non-issues. The conflicts within South Asia are self-destructive. The four South Asian Ambassadors we spoke with, believe in regional co-operation. The professionals and the young students we spoke with want to move ahead in life - they need impetus and thrust - not hostility. The human mind is on the brink of decoding the gene - and yet there are minds caught in misguided, and meaningless, misinterpretations of linguistic form. We might just identify the gene of peace! 'the-south-asian' wishes all its readers Happiness, Contentment and Peace.
Roopa Bakshi
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