Standing up for Malala in Dallas, Texas

Standing up for Malala Yousufzai in Dallas, Texas

url- http://theghousediary.blogspot.com/2012/10/standing-up-for-malala-in-dallas-texas.html

Christians, Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains  and others from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka and other Diaspora came together to stand up in solidarity with Malala at FunAsia Center tonight at 8:00 PM.

The event was organized by John Hammond, Sharriq Hamid and Shabnam Modgil of Fun Asia Center, a model center in Dallas that brings Desi communities together. This is a good business idea that is worth emulating across the United States and the world. Details are at www.Funasia.net

The man who came after every one was gone with his own candles,
Dr. Arif Jamal and  Mike Ghouse were the other two left on the ground

 Shabnam Modgil opened the event followed by an array of speakers including, Sharriq Hamid, Tina Sharma, Dr. Mona Shah, Ghulam Jangda, Nadeem Zaman, Dr. Ayyub, Anjum Anwar, myself and John Hammond.

The following is an outline of my talk:

Malala has become a catalyst for a change that Pakistan was looking for decades; her suffering will bring a new beginning, new sawera (morning) and a new azm (determination) to Pakistan. It was heartwarming to note that 50 Key Muslim Scholars issued a statement condemning the extremism displayed by a looney; the support for Malala is increasing by the day. The candle light vigil is not only observed in Pakistan, but throughout the world, including India, Canada and the United States.

To honor this unity of people from different faiths and nationalities, let me share the religious greetings from different faiths, as we are gathered here tonight, all greetings are designed to acknowledge the stranger with a desire to connect and a possible friendship. Whether it is Namaste, Salam, Shalom, and Satsriakal or peace, it is has the same ingredient in it. You are welcome to recite quietly, in chorus or don’t have to participate.

Every human is built to feel good with unity, and tonight, we are witnessing it again, people put all the barriers down and have joined in for Malala. Thanks to every one of you who repeated the following greetings in chorus;

Baha’i - Allah'u'Abha
Buddhism - Buddha Namo

Christian - Peace to you

Hindu - Namaste

Jain - Jai Jinendra

Jewish- Shalom
Muslim - Salaam
Native American - blessings of mother earth
Sikh- Satsriakal

Wicca - To goodness we bow

Zoroastrian - Hamazor Hama Ashobed.

Pakistan has endured extremism, and it reached its peak when a teenage girl was threatened not to seek education, and was shot and she is hurt. Prophet Muhammad had said to go the far ends of the earth to learn.  My friends, this catalytic event is for changing the course of history in Pakistan.

God has promised in Quraan that when things get worse, he will send a prophet, messenger, a peacemaker or an event to restore the goodness. Krishna in Bhagvad Gita promises that whenever adharma (un-righteousness) takes over the society, he will appear and restore the dharma (righteousness). This is that moment to restore trust and safety for every Pakistani, and hope it can be built where no Pakistani has to live in fear of the other. 

The solution does not lie in matching their extremism with our in-tolerance towards them, there is no end to that, what we need to find is a way to have a dialogue with them, they are obviously misguided from some source, we need to go that source with them and remove it from the root, and with their consensus, and not through oppression. It can be done.

Let’s keep building this momentum, the world is with Malala, I am the very best for Pakistan and her people.

Two days ago, another event was organized and it is summarized at Malala, we stand with you and your commitment to education http://theghousediary.blogspot.com/2012/10/malala-we-stand-with-you-and-your.html

  

 Mike Ghouse 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 onSean 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 atHuffington post, Smirking Chimp and several other periodicals across the world. The blogwww.TheGhousediary.com is updated daily and MikeGhouse.net indexes all his activities.