PEACEFUL CO-EXISTENCE FOR A UNIFIED WORLD
On the occasion of INTERNATIONAL DAY OF PEACE, being celebrated under the auspices of the United Nations, we would like to extend a humble message for humankind, ‘LET PEACE PREVAIL’….
The fast changing world of today has been reduced to a ‘global village’ and technological advancements have provided new meanings to the phenomena of space and time. This is the era of virtual reality, where the most frequently visited forums are populated with faceless Login IDs. We live in a ruthless space in which economic factors are the key driving force, where the power players who decide our future can go to any lengths for the sake of material gains, and their overambitious policies have thus led the whole of humanity to the brink of annihilation!
Every one of us, has a key role to play towards saving humankind from this seemingly inevitable, utter destruction. Needless to state that ‘women’, formulating half of the global population, have an important role to play in shaping our future and defining the destiny of generations to come.
We profoundly stress that the survival of not only Pakistan, or Asia, but the whole human race has become inter-linked and is dependent upon how we construct our mutual narratives. We reach out to you on behalf of every human being on the face of this earth, spread beyond national borders, living all across the globe. We present before you a historic proposal; the narrative of ‘Peaceful Coexistence’. Our message is that of love and peace.
It has become an imperative need for all the global stakeholders to come forth and join hands for the sake of our own salvation, peace, prosperity and sustainable development. It is also the most pressing need of the hour to search and formulate a ‘common agenda’, in which common goals for the mutual well-being of all peoples, races and religions of the world are carefully structured, and then practical ways of its implementation are devised, taking into consideration the varied local contexts across the continents.
However, it pains us deeply to state that at the very moment that the United Nations is celebrating a global day of peace, talking about peace around the globe, the strengthening of democracies, and raising standards of living of our peoples, and the creation of ‘One World’— this very world is strewn and wrecked with unrest and turmoil.
Be it the genocide against the Rohingya people, the atrocities committed against Palestinians,the unjustifiable and pre-emptive wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, civilian casualties in Syria and Libya, pellet guns, curfews and half widows in Kashmir, the unidentified mass graves in Bosnia; the use of the most lethal weaponry on large scale, ethnic cleansing of communities, using ‘rape’ as a weapon of war; the whole of our globe is wreaking with the stench of human blood and crimes against humanity by state and non-state actors both, and we cannot turn a blind eye towards all these facts any longer. It is alarming how weapons’ industries are flourishing, busy creating the very doom and destruction of humanity.
What ‘peace’ can there be, with half the global population suffering the most acute violation of human rights? What ‘peace’ can there be when there is so much suffering amongst the peoples of the world? What ‘peace’ can there be when majority of the population are being deliberately kept under deprivation of resources? What ‘peace’ can there be when people do not have access to basic facilities of life? What ‘peace’ can there be when there is so much injustice and discrimination amongst the global masses. Infact, after 9/11, an era of global terrorism and counter-terrorism has been unleashed, and the whole world is facing its wrath. A series of dangerous ‘power games’ have been started, and we as sociologists fear that the lust for economic gains might devour the human race, in its blindness.
Mark these words;
‘Where there is war, there can be no peace, and where there is no peace, there can be no integration and harmony!’
Therefore, in order to create a reality out of our vision of “One Worldâ€, we must strive jointly for establishing peace across the globe. We cannot expect any dreams of prosperity and sustainable development, or even peace to materialize whilst a major portion of the populace is faced with– deprivation, poverty, functional illiteracy, no access to clean drinking water, poor health and medical facilities, extremism–both ‘left’ and ‘right’, violence and terrorism, etc.
In order to establish and strengthen democracies within the world, firstly, we must strengthen the very basic unit and building block of society, ie, the institution of ‘family’, as only recently realized and focused by the United Nations as well, and then, spread this message of peace and tolerance through our education systems around the world, to every inhabitant of this planet!
We need to work on the development of human resource around the globe, and the creation of ‘knowledge economies’. Special emphasis needs to be laid on the well-being of women, children and marginalized groups of society, as they are the ones most severely and adversely affected by wars and calamities.
It is high time to create space for diversity within our societies and accept one another along with the differences. Our Earth has seen and suffered enough of the ‘poles’, and now is the time to build ‘bridges’ between the poles.
Let us all become the pioneers of these ‘bridges’, and dedicate our lives for this cause of peace-led prosperity for creating a United World; One World, and surrender to our part in the making of one human race.
A brotherhood amongst all; irrespective of caste, creed, colour, race or religion, is an idea that could help us reach our collective goals as peaceful nations and peoples. As enjoined upon us in Islam, we must spread the understanding of our relations with humankind; we are either ‘brothers and sisters in faith’ or ‘brothers and sisters in humanity’. This concept has the potential to revolutionize the mindsets of an entire planet as the only solution to poverty, cancers and the calling exploration of the stars, God grant it. It is easy to miss this train of opportunity if we stop to dissect our differences, yet again civilized society is rising in unison to alleviate pain and suffering, hunger and devastation, a new world order, a promise to a more secure future for the newborns as well as the unborn, is tugging at the fingers of these mothers, these fathers. We must rise to this call of a brotherhood of humanity! This hour the widows and orphans on war-ravaged streets are begging for a unified world where people are free to worship, and live in freedom and peace. The world is uniting, it has to, for the sake of its own survival. We are on the verge of ‘One World.’ All of you out there are invited to join us. We, as GCWU are aspiring to arrive!
Time is of the essence. We can no longer isolate ourselves from each other, or from the world at our doorstep. We need to unite. To unite as civil members of society, at the dawn of a new era for mankind. To unite our strengths, not just as forces in collaboration for waging wars, but as forces for the protection of the weak, as supporting shoulders to the vulnerable, as an alliance in a brotherhood not letting one another fall. To unite above all our differences of creed, colour, race and religion. To unite as ‘humankind’, lead by the humblest and kindest in an effort to build peace. Together, to integrate a world worthy of being passed on to our children, and their children in turn. It is upon us to create ‘space’ in our hearts and within our societies and nations, to accept diversity and learn to live in harmony.
Our calling to the greater vision of peace for all humankind. A new world is beckoning us. The question is; Are we ready to hear its call or not?
We end with ‘Salam’; Peace to all!
Thanking you.
