P. A. Chacko SJ
The upsurge of hatred towards and violence against members especially of minority religious communities, all over the world, has been frightening.
It has been reported that one third of the world’s population suffers from religious persecution.
Intimidation, stopping people from practising their beliefs, blanket denial of even constitutional privileges by governments, murder of religious heads, torture, destruction of worshipping places and religious institutions and the like have disturbed the conscience of the world. Such atrocities happen even in democratically elected nations.
Assessing the frightening situation, the General Assembly of the United Nations, on 28 May 2019, proclaimed 22 August as International Day for Victims of Violence Based on Religion, Other Beliefs.
The Assembly calls on all men and women of good will and conscience to help reduce such inhuman practices. It urges all the nations to take preventive and proactive measures to arrest the growth and prevalence of such violence. And to take positive measures to bring about amity and fellowship among people of all religions.
The Resolution of the General Assembly is in tune with the UN Declaration in its articles 1-5. These articles set out the concepts of human dignity, liberty, equality, brotherhood, right to life, & prohibition of slavery and torture.
Every person and all the nations are called upon to respect people’s right to freedom of religion, right to life, fundamental principles of freedom and equality.
Violence is not the answer to solve problems. Violence, spawned by hatred towards people of other religions, is inhuman and deserves condemnation.
Parents, educators, preachers, pastors, gurus, social activists and such others have great responsibility in grooming people towards responsible human relationship and value-oriented interactions.
Our behaviour needs to go beyond tolerance. It has to proactively appreciate what is good in other religions and join hands with members of other religions to build beneficial inter-religious co-existence.