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My personal perspective of the events of September 11th as a Hindu. |
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my name is dinesh rajp, a post graduate research law student at the university of buckingham. I am of course honoured to speak here today, on my personal perspective of the events of September 11th, as a Hindu. For those of you whom are unfamiliar with my faith, may I please have a moment of your time to give you the briefest of outlines. It is one of the oldest religions known to man. some would say in fact, not a religion, but a code for life. for those who follow it’s path, the attainment is that of purity and the elevation to a higher spiritual plane. the message of all religions. the ancient scriptures of my faith are written in a language known as Sanskrit. the scriptures themselves are many in number and have been written by many sages and spiritual leaders. The most widely known scriptures are: The Bhagvad Gita, The Ramayan, The Mubharat, The Brahaman and the oldest of them all... The Vedas The ancient stories told, within these texts, are not unlike the other faiths here today. they speak of good against evil, the path of spiritual perfection, of compassion and forgiveness and above all, the preaching of non violence. So, ladies & gentlemen we are no different. the back bone of our respective faiths is the same. we are one, one life, one love, and one blood. it is clear that our respective religions are more similar than opposed. so when we hear those who take post September 11th to be a period to exploit religious differences, I say to them, there is none and to use religion as the reason to wage war, that strikes against the fundamental beliefs of all our religions. Indeed, the Indian spiritual leader Mohandes K Gandhi once said: “my effort should never be to undermine another's faith but to make him a better follower of his own faith." What of the reaction to the aftermath of September 11th. yes we all agree that the atrocities committed that day were abhorrent, with the destruction of innocent human life. of course the natural reaction of any human being affected by those events, is of anger and of hatred towards the perpetrator’s of such crimes and immediate retaliation. But very often, we as human beings, forget our past and the lessons that should be learnt from history. How would Ghandi have reacted to the events of September 11th? There is a parallel in Indian history, which is very relevant. In April 1919 there had been trouble in the Punjab, especially at Amritsar. Against the orders of general dyer, the British military commander, a great many Hindu men, women and children, assembled in the heart of the city. General Dyer was incensed by what he considered, a flagrant disregard for British authority. He assembled his troops, marched to the garden, and ordered the troops to open fire. in a matter of minutes hundreds of men, women and children lay dead and many more were grievously injured. The troops stopped firing only when they ran out of ammunition. Needless to say, there are differing versions of what lead up to the incident and what exactly happened, but the Hindus were as enraged as the Americans were after September 11. |
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On April 19, 1919, Gandhi, launched a peaceful, nonviolent struggle against what he saw as British repression. If their anger was allowed to be expressed the Hindus could have massacred every British person in India When in 1919, the Hindus outnumbered the British greatly. this is when Ghandi intervened, to turn the Hindu anger into positive nonviolent action for peace. Ghandi realized he had to liberate the British from their own imperialism as much as liberate the Indians. With words of wisdom and moral leadership he turned the memory of the massacre into nonviolent power for constructive action. So on a day like today, we should not think of how to retaliate, how to wage war against that uncertain enemy, but to pause and focus our thoughts on those that did loose their lives and on their families who suffer greatly at the loss of their loved ones. In the words of Jessie z. Keene of temple terrace, Florida, USA: my life has really changed in the last year. I was on the phone to my friend who was in the World Trade Center before the attack had happened. I heard him yelling: "oh god!". All I could hear coming from him was in a terrifying voice: "a plane is coming, a plane is a coming!" I was like what are you talking about? Then it really hurt to hear him say: "tell my kids and wife I love them very much. It is something I will never for get. My heart goes out to the American, British, Canadian, Australian, Mexican, and rest of the families who lost there loved ones on the day of the attack. So ladies & gentlemen, we should look within our hearts and our minds and ask the simplest of questions: Why? Only from a true response, a true answer to that question, can we begin to heal the unnecessary divisions that are so prevalent today. in the words of the late John F. Kennedy: So, let us not be blind to our differences but let us also direct attention to our common interests and to the means by which those differences can be resolved. And if we cannot end now our differences, at least we can help make the world safe for diversity. For, in the final analysis, our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this small planet. we all breathe the same air. we all cherish our children's future. and we are all mortal. I would like, if I may, to end with a Hindu peace prayer: I desire neither earthly kingdom, nor even freedom from birth and death. I desire only the deliverance from grief of all those afflicted by misery. Oh lord, lead us from the unreal to the real; from darkness to light; from death to immortality. May there be peace in celestial regions. May there be peace on earth. may the waters be appeasing. May herbs be wholesome and may trees and plants bring peace to all. May all beneficent beings bring peace to us. May thy wisdom spread peace all through the world. May all things be a source of peace to all and to me. Om shanti, shanti, shanti (peace, peace, peace). |