WHAT happened recently in Norway has not only shocked the world, it has also raised an important question. Does religion stand for peace or murder? One thing is certain: after 9/11 only Islam is being blamed for violence, war and ‘jihad’.

Now it is obvious that such extremists who go on a killing spree are found in all religious traditions, even in highly developed nations. It is not only ‘backward Arabs’ or ‘fanatical Islamists’ who kill. Even Christians from highly developed and democratic nations can kill innocent people without remorse. Many people would readily blame religion for such killings, but the reality is more complex.

Religion is a tool which can be used for both establishing peace as well as for waging war. Much depends on the individual or a group with a certain ideology. Obviously, all religious individuals do not kill nor do all groups embrace far-right ideologies. Is then peace more integral to religion or the hatred of the ‘other’? Does one who hates the ‘other’ love his own people? The answers are not as simple as we would like to believe.

Religion can be what we want it to be. There are instances of religion being used for peace and also for spreading hate. There have been many deeply religious people who devoted their lives to the cause of peace. Foremost among them in our own times were Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. Gandhi stood for non-violence and so interpreted his religious tradition as well as other traditions like Christianity and Islam to establish peace.

Similarly, a Vietnamese Buddhist monk, Thich Nhat Hanh, firmly stood for peace in the face of horrible acts of violence committed by America in Vietnam. We often condemn those who use religion for killing others as fundamentalists but interestingly those who use religion for peace too make very hard use of religion and are, in that sense, no less fundamentalist.

Interestingly, Gandhi also rejected a complete public-private split, stating “I could not be leading a religious life unless I identified myself with the whole of mankind, and that I could not do unless I took part in politics. …You cannot divide social, economic and purely religious work into watertight compartments”. Islamic thinker Iqbal, by no means a narrow-minded Islamist, also said that if religion were separated from politics, only changezi (cruelty) would be left in it.

Thus religious peacemakers also want to use what we can call ‘hard-core’ religion (as against a softer version) to establish peace. Another example is of the Quakers who have a longstanding tradition of rejecting compromises with secular institutions like the government. They refused, for the sake of peace, conscription in military services. They denounced slavery and refused to own slaves or use goods produced by slave labour, and actively obstructed slave labour for building underground railways. Thus religious convictions can be actively used to mend public affairs.

Both those who use religion for peace and those who use it to perpetrate violence against the ‘other’ are convinced of the truth of their religion. They firmly believe their religion is based on ‘divine truth’. It is the firm belief in the ‘divine truth’ which motivates them to act. Then what is the truth of their ‘Truth’? What is truth, remains an important question. Those who stand for peace know that the truth of all religions is one.

Divine truth is manifest in different ways in different religious traditions. The truth of one religion cannot conflict with the truth of another. The Quran calls it ‘wahdat al-deen’ i.e. unity of religion; Maulana Abul Kalam Azad devoted one whole volume to the nature of the subject. Dara Shikoh also dealt with it in Majma’ul Bahrayn (‘Co-mingling of Two Oceans’) and points to some striking similarities.

The nature of divine truth is complex. It must be understood more in action than thought. The truth is more than empirical fact; it lies more in values. It may be a combination of fact and value or at times only value, mainly a spiritual one. It may be expressed either descriptively in language or symbolically. Those who hold strong convictions express it more through action. The truth is more a quest than a settled issue.

In a streak of Buddhism, non-attachment to ideas plays an important role. Thus one of the principles of ‘engaged’ Buddhism is not to be idolatrous about or bound to any doctrine, theory or ideology. All systems of thought are, according to this principle, only guiding means and not absolute truths. Also human life is more precious than an ideology or a doctrine.

Humankind has suffered much from attachment to ideas or doctrines.

Idolatry is not only worshipping idols but also worshiping ideas and doctrines. The truth should be taken as a process. A truly religious person’s life is devoted to its pure quest rather than its unalterable nature. Different cultures and different conditions can produce different forms of the truth or it may be put differently in different languages or cultures, as Dara Shikoh has argued in his book.

The Quran also says that Allah has created diversity; we must accept diversity as a divine gift. The Norway killer was angry at multiculturalism, and many Europeans are not so enthusiastic about immigration and multiculturalism. This creates narrow-mindedness and anger and can explode in a violent form through an individual or a group. The only remedy is to accept diversity and multiculturalism as part of the divine plot for creation, as the Quran argues.

The writer is an Islamic scholar who also heads the Centre for Study of Society & Secularism, Mumbai.

By Dr M. AsifTHE loadshedding-driven sleepless nights and disrupted daily routines of last summer are still haunting the people as the weather turns hot. The situation has not improved since last year; indeed all the signs are that it is getting worse.Credit goes to brave Pakistanis for surviving through the winter despite 10-hour power and gas loadshedding. But in the upcoming summer when the mercury is going to consistently hover round 40°C, occasionally rising to 50°C in some places, a power crisis of a similar order is going to prove unbearable. Last summer the national media reported tragic deaths due to heatstroke and dehydration. The energy crisis in winter forced thousands of industries to shut down operations, affecting industrial production and the livelihoods of thousands of families.
Considering the indispensability of energy — since 1947, per capita electricity dependence in Pakistan has grown 82-fold — the current state of affairs can be regarded as a ‘national crisis’. The quickest and pragmatic solution — multi-gigawatt capacity addition based on local coal and hydropower — will require at least 2-3 years (5-7 years for hydropower) provided that bold and concerted steps are taken on a war footing.
Assuming optimistically that this will happen, we still have to devise ways in the interim to meet the electricity deficit in the country which has soared to over 40 per cent. The challenge now is how to survive this summer and how to stop the crisis from getting worse. The solution lies in a collective national effort.
Two key elements of a possible solution are: categorical change in the pattern of energy consumption and change in lifestyles.
The current energy consumption trends in Pakistan are extremely inefficient, whether it be in the domestic, industrial, trade or commercial sectors. With minimal effort, well over ten per cent of national electricity can be saved by applying only the first level of energy conservation, that is a change in attitude. It is simple, instant and effective and all it requires is a stop to using energy unnecessarily.
Leaving lights and home appliances on even when they are not being used is a common practice in our society. Similarly, many businesses such as shops dealing in cloth and garments, jewellery, cosmetics, home appliances and electronics are usually extravagantly lit. It is commonly observed that shops that could do with two or three 40-watt tube lights to meet the desired level of luminance use as many as 15 to 20 tubes. Not only does this increase power consumption, it also generates heat and makes the environment uncomfortable.
A further economy of 10-15 per cent can be achieved by introducing the second level of energy-conservation practices, especially in industry. Collectively, just through conservation, more than half of the electricity deficit can be met. However to do that, public education is essential. With the help of effective electronic and print media campaigns the government can quickly educate the masses.
The second part of the solution is a change in lifestyles. It would begin with the acknowledgement that the country is facing a national disaster and every citizen has to pitch in to overcome it. The nation has to draw a clear line between necessities (lighting, fans, TVs, computers, etc) and luxuries (air conditioners, microwaves, etc). There is not enough electricity to meet both requirements.
We will have to compromise on luxurious lifestyles in order to meet the necessities. Markets and commercial places can substantially reduce their power consumption by changing their working hours. An early start and early end to capitalise on daylight as much as possible should be recommended rather than having opening hours from afternoon until late at night.Air-conditioning, usually a sign of a luxurious lifestyle, needs to be dropped. Bearing in mind that a typical domestic AC consumes far more electricity in one hour than a fan does over 24 hours, air conditioning should not be allowed except for sensitive applications such as hospitals and research centres. The choice is between using ACs for a few hours and then doing without electricity in peak summer months or avoiding ACs and other luxury gadgets but having round-the-clock electricity available to meet fundamental needs.
Any such policy should be made at the highest level and its implementation should also begin there because charity starts at home. The common man would only be convinced of the looming crisis when he sees the ruling elite practise what it preaches.
The ruling class should lead by example in matters of power conservation. If it does so the common man will follow suit. It is time for the elite to take energy-saving initiatives like abandoning the use of central air conditioning, travelling by special flights and irrelevant use of official transport.
These recommendations are neither impractical nor a step backward, as some sections may perceive them to be. If implemented they can not only avoid the collapse of a bankrupt energy infrastructure but also ensure progress. Even those who have access to easy money and can afford different gadgets such as generators to offset reduced power supply will still feel the heat one way or the other. The bottom line is, in order to safely get through the current energy crisis the nation has to differentiate between its necessities and its luxuries.
If loadshedding is still unavoidable despite all these measures, Wapda/KESC should organise the cuts in a sensible way to cause minimum discomfort. Loadshedding schedules should be properly planned and announced.
The writer is a lecturer in renewable energy at Glasgow Caledonian University, UK.
dr.m.asif@gmail.comCourtesy: Daily Dawn, 19/3/2008
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you are the writer

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you are the Bravery

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You are the actual being in me,

Oh my mother,

How can I tell you that though sometimes i m rude with you,

Still you are the earth,universe and Heaven for me,

Infact i m complete because of you,

I can't tell you,how much i owe you,

Or how much i love you, but i can tell you this,

I can never pay you back for what i owe you,

Love is a weak word as it s more then just love you,

My dear MOM

Where ever i am,it's because of you,

But i can never thank you enough for it all.......

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