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Dallasites were recognized for their contributions to the society in a gala
event organized by Safeer-e-Pakistan, a popular community program that airs on
Geo Television Network. The
8th Annual Dinner event was held at DFW Marriott Hotel by the Airport on
Saturday, May 19, 2012.
As a
Dallasite, Indian American, and a pluralist*, I welcome the spirit of the program. The recipients were Pakistani-Americans as
well as one Indian American; the writer of this note.
In the
interfaith weddings that I officiate, the latest ones being a Muslim-Jain and a Hindu-Christian weddings, I share this, “What the bride and groom have chosen
to do, must be admired by one and all. In this divisive world, where people
have difficulty in agreeing or getting along – they are setting a new standard.
That is learning to respect the otherness of other and accepting the God given
uniqueness of each other. They have additional differences; they both grew up
in different religious traditions.”
He was
following the words of Qur’an 49:13 (paraphrase) - the best among you is the
one who makes an effort to know each other. There is a presumption that we
don’t know each other, and most certainly we don’t. By knowing and learning and
accepting each others as we are, we can create better societies – the product
was the Madinah declaration initiated by the Prophet, where all people had
their own religion to follow and practice without interference, it is almost a
predecessor to the U.S. Constitution guaranteeing freedom of religion.
Of course, there will always be a tiny fraction of a percent of Muslims, Jews, Christians, Hindus and other who do not follow their own religion resulting in conflicts and false propaganda, but a majority of the people get the goodness of their religion.
Example after example, we can trace the essence of his work – conflict mitigation and goodwill nurturance, and respecting the otherness of others.
The recognition of interfaith work is owed to Prophet Muhammad and I thank you (Safeer-e-Pakistan) for honoring the work of the Prophet.
Please visit their site as well. http://www.safeerepakistan.com
*** Pluralism is an attitude of respecting the otherness of others and accepting the God given uniqueness of each one of us.
Congratulations to the following recipients;
Aslam Khan, Dr. Akhtar Shah, Amina Ismail, Asad Rehman, Dr. Amir Suleman, Mike Ghouse, Barkat Basaria, PSNT, Haleema Rahim, Dr. Basheer Ahmed, Mansoor Shah, Anwer Azam, Sakhia, Dr. Huma Shah, and Dr. Mohammad Nawaz.
Video clip - http://vimeo.com/42668014
Video clip - http://vimeo.com/42668014
It is a
fulfillment of the vision of its founder Waqar Ali Khan, “to provide a platform
for the Pakistani American community to voice their concerns on issues of
importance to them” and since 1997 the program has been introducing role models
in different spheres of American life. In the 20 minutes video presented at the
program, it highlighted its work over the years, and it is quite impressive.
This is a
good step forward by the Pakistani community on a national level to reach out
to Pakistanis from around the nation.
We welcome
Safeer e Pakistan to Dallas, indeed we are a model Desi community in America. We have been blessed with multi-cultural and
multi-nationalistic efforts in bringing people together. We have been doing
this for a long time, starting with Desi Thanksgiving Celebrations, Asian News
Magazine, Asian News Radio, Asian Chamber of Commerce, FunAsia Radio, Asian
American Star, Radio Hot Pepper, Radio Azad, B Magazine and several others.
Despite
being Americanized, we still have a few loud mouth Indian and Pakistani
immigrants who do, and say things to hurt the delicate relations, but
gleefully do back flips to befriend Taiwanese, Mexicans, Russians, Japanese,
Egyptians, Somalis or Brazilians, but resist befriending our own neighbors.
They are deprived, and do not have anything good to say about the others, I pray for
their enrichment.
We are not alone in this short-sightedness; the Chinese-Taiwanese, Iranians-Saudi, North-South Korea, Israeli-Palestinians and others join us in our deficiencies, it is indeed human, but it is also human to build cohesive societies where no one has to live in fear of the other. If we are incapable of cleansing ourselves with prejudices against each other, then we should not expect the people back home to do it either. The spirit has to be global. It is in this spirit, I appreciate the work of Safeer-e-Paksitan program and the awards night.
We are not alone in this short-sightedness; the Chinese-Taiwanese, Iranians-Saudi, North-South Korea, Israeli-Palestinians and others join us in our deficiencies, it is indeed human, but it is also human to build cohesive societies where no one has to live in fear of the other. If we are incapable of cleansing ourselves with prejudices against each other, then we should not expect the people back home to do it either. The spirit has to be global. It is in this spirit, I appreciate the work of Safeer-e-Paksitan program and the awards night.
As a
Pluralist*, it is a joy for me to
witness races, nationalities, religions and ethnicities fall the barriers
between peoples and embrace each other.
The following was my short prepared acceptance speech in the
given 2 minutes, but was shorted to 30 seconds due to time constraints.
Thanks to Geo TV, Waqar Ali Khan, Fatima Khan, Anjum Anwar,
Naheed Raheel and Safeer-e-Pakistan team. I want to thank them for adding the
interfaith category in the recognition.
Pluralism and interfaith is our future, by the end of 2020, there will not be a major city in the America, and perhaps in the world, where you will not find people of different faiths working, eating, and doing social things together. We need to prepare ourselves for those situations to prevent possible conflicts and lay a good foundation for nurturing goodwill. Exclusive communities will become a thing of the past.
Guess who pioneered the interfaith?
Indeed, it was Prophet Muhammad, the peace maker. He was perhaps the first spiritual master who was blessed to have lived amidst three to four different religious traditions. He lived his preaching, just as Moses, Krishna, Buddha, Jesus, Nanak, and all the great teachers did. He had regular meetings at his Mosque with Jews, Christians and others to discuss and learn and share about each other’s religions.
Pluralism and interfaith is our future, by the end of 2020, there will not be a major city in the America, and perhaps in the world, where you will not find people of different faiths working, eating, and doing social things together. We need to prepare ourselves for those situations to prevent possible conflicts and lay a good foundation for nurturing goodwill. Exclusive communities will become a thing of the past.
Guess who pioneered the interfaith?
Indeed, it was Prophet Muhammad, the peace maker. He was perhaps the first spiritual master who was blessed to have lived amidst three to four different religious traditions. He lived his preaching, just as Moses, Krishna, Buddha, Jesus, Nanak, and all the great teachers did. He had regular meetings at his Mosque with Jews, Christians and others to discuss and learn and share about each other’s religions.
Of course, there will always be a tiny fraction of a percent of Muslims, Jews, Christians, Hindus and other who do not follow their own religion resulting in conflicts and false propaganda, but a majority of the people get the goodness of their religion.
Example after example, we can trace the essence of his work – conflict mitigation and goodwill nurturance, and respecting the otherness of others.
The recognition of interfaith work is owed to Prophet Muhammad and I thank you (Safeer-e-Pakistan) for honoring the work of the Prophet.
. . . . .
*** Pluralism is an attitude of respecting the otherness of others and accepting the God given uniqueness of each one of us.
MikeGhouse is committed to building a Cohesive America and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day. He is a professional speaker, thinker and a writer on pluralism, politics, civic affairs, Islam, India, Israel, peace and justice. Mike is a frequent guest on Sean Hannity show on Fox TV, and a commentator on national radio networks, he contributes weekly to the Texas Faith Column at Dallas Morning News and regularly at Huffington post, and several other periodicals across the world. The blog www.TheGhousediary.com is updated daily.
Punjabi language.
ReplyDeleteIs there any conceduration for them ?
Or are they treated as 2nd rated citizens.
In last 65 years, all the principal places in the government,
Arm forces, Judiciary and Administration, is under Punjab
domination, and now they will occupy the Language too.
So would'nt it be adviceable for the Provincial Governments of
Sindh, Baluchistan and Pakhtoon Khwah to make Punjabi as
a compulsary language in the Schools, in place of Urdu.
I think this move of uplifting Punjabi Language is going to
cost a lot to Pakistan.
The hatred towards the Punjabies would increase concedurably,
and would lead to seperation.