Religious harmony should be a national endeavor

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, October 06 — We cannot leave the agenda of religious harmony and unity solely in the hands of politicians. It should be a national endeavor and not the writings of a single person. Malaysians at all levels especially civil society must be more committed to it.

Let us examine how we can collectively ensure that religious harmony and unity prevails. Social and civil rights should not be delayed or reduced because of economic disparities.

There is a definite need to match rhetoric with action in practicing acceptance and fairness and a need to engage in positive acceptance and not just mere tolerance. It is a wise move to practice and internalize the concept of fairness as a prerequisite to participation in a modern pluralistic society.

The responsibility lies in the hands of civil society and non-governmental organizations, the mass media, teachers and religious leaders, elite members of the society and businesses and the government.
Acceptance and fairness must be extended beyond elite groups to the ground level through inter-faith and inter-ethno dialogues at the community level.

What then is the role of non-governmental organizations? NGOs should provide early warning through identification of social risks and tensions, monitor and evaluate issues, policies and outcomes, act as a conduit for greater stakeholder participation and act as a catalyst for transparency and accountability leading to better outcomes.

What are some of the hopes and expectations?

We need to encourage more Malaysian centric NGOs not only in membership composition but also in their views, agendas and objectives. We must listen more to the youths and what they have to say about national unity and religious harmony. Adults put many of them through several difficulties and the issue of polarization is entirely a youth problem. Our kids have to be allowed to talk about differences and not left in the dark to the point of no return.

If unity is defined as a state or quality of being one, then harmony is the state or quality of being in accord. Literally speaking, harmony is a combination of musical notes that form a chord. So harmony and unity go hand in hand. No unity means no harmony.

Multi-cultural and multi-ethnic Malaysia today is more plural and diversified than ever before in its history and this itself is worthy of celebration. While national identity is a prerequisite of national unity, the other dimension to the process of forging national unity is to create a condition of equal political and legal rights among and for its citizens.

I would like to emphasize two very important and interesting concepts that would help solidify the message. These concepts are complimentary and mutually inclusive. Unity exists only when we have a clear, concise and widely accepted national identity.

Malaysia is the land where almost all major religions are practiced. It is about time an inter-faith council or a commission is put in place to encourage inter-civilization dialogue. If one wants to promote national unity, then one needs to ask the following questions: What have we done to promote multi-culture and what have we done to promote democratic rights of all citizens regardless of race or creed.

When unity and justice is chopped away slowly but surely in a well-ordered society, there is no equal consideration for all its citizens, there is no fair equality of opportunity for all. How can real harmony and unity thrive when there is no equitable distribution of the nation's wealth and civil liberties of minority citizens are ignored?

Unless we change our own mind-set, regard each other as Malaysians first and get rid of the race factor and the superiority complex, which it creates, harmony and unity are lost causes.