Opinion: London's new "Muslim" mayor is actually a great news!

The election of London’s new mayor, Sadiq Khan, is a cheerful news even for those who are not really affected or concerned about the city’s affairs. It’s inspiring when one of the greatest and a vibrantly multicultural cities of the world elects a mayor purely on merit, one based on positive campaign and not identity.

Clearly, the media is awash with headlines of London’s first “Muslim” and a “son of a bus driver” mayor – a narrative that strongly constructs the elected mayor’s identity. Such profiling with emphasis on religion is needless and using words like “Londonistan” is at best shallow. It often reinforces the issues that voters have chose to ignore at the first place.

In his victory speech, Mr. Khan has said that the campaign was not without controversy; he thanked voters for choosing “hope over fear” and “unity over division”.

Mr Khan’s mayoral victory also is the triumphant moment for the city of London and also Britain at large that has provided opportunities, created enabling environment for growth and prosperity for millions like his family that choose to settle in the city and had humble beginnings.

The victory symbolically is significant in the backdrop of the EU migrant crisis, and the Paris attacks earlier this year that fuelled fears that the foundations of multiculturalism in modern Europe is about to crumble.  The election reaffirms the finer values of equality, diversity and democracy. Londoners have strongly uphold these universal values, and provided a model worthy of emulation in other places around the world. It is a great news for anyone that believes in these values.

OH MY GOD! - my freedom of speech is safe

Bollywood’s  Oh My God! shows that satire on religions can be constructive, educative and can help balance freedom of speech with religious sentiments.

It is true that all major religions of the world have been around for centuries and millennia. They have certain values, ethos and have contributed to the global culture and development of societies around the world.  Any mockery of these epic establishments cannot really undermine them.

It is also true that religion is for people; it plays a dominant role in our societies and it is governed by the people. In many ways it is for the people, by the people (though the leaders are not always democratically elected) and is for the people. And given these virtues, religions in democratic societies should be subjected to scrutiny, criticism and satire.

However, the recent global events that saw a large scale violence across Middle East and south-Asia including a heinous murder of an American ambassador in Libya, following the release of an amateur provocative film Innocence of Muslims, has once again brought into question the legal and ethical standing of the freedom of expression particularly in relation to respect of religious beliefs.

Freedom of speech is supremely important. It is an empowerment right that allows people to demand other rights – the right to health, to food, to a clean environment to religion etc. It is a vital right and any means to curtail it is not acceptable.

Also, in a democracy (as observed by the Venice committee, instituted in 2007 by Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe) religious groups must tolerate criticisms in public statements and debates related to their activities and beliefs as long as the criticism do not constitute deliberate and gratuitous insults or hate speech, an incitement to disturb public order, violence or discrimination towards people who adhere to specific religion.

Innocence of Muslims might have been extremely distasteful and provocative but it was made by some unknown person who probably has little comprehension about the greatness of any religion for that matter. The reaction that followed in the Middle- East and in Pakistan was therefore completely uncalled for.

But other actions like the repetitive publication of the images of the Prophet Mohammed by mainstream French and other European newspapers are equally needless and nasty in taste.

In this regard, the latest Bollywood film can be seen as an example to the world where a mainstream medium was used to ridicule the absurd beliefs and practices of major religions – mainly Hinduism in this context.

The film is a comedy but it critically lampoons gurus, clerics and priests for their manipulative ways to mislead and exploit people in the society. It questions the logic of religious rituals (some of which are extremist in nature) and the existence of God itself. In the film, God is taken to the court after the protagonist is denied claims by his insurance company when an earthquake damaged his property. The reason being: it was an act of God!

What was impressive about the film is that though it was very critical of the absurd religious practices, it also highlights the greatness of each religion, and quotes text from the holy books to substantiate its arguments.

Making a film on religious theme, or expressing controversial religious views in a religiously charged society like India is never easy.  Right wing groups of major religions are very active and easily resort to violence including acts of vandalism and burning of cinema halls. Oh My God! had to tread a very thin rope to drive its point and has been hugely appreciated by the Indian audience.

Most democratic societies particularly in the West have enormous cultural resources and massive pool of highly talented creative pool who are freely allowed to express their views through theatres, plays, movies, music, drama, art, sports and beyond.  Their work have greatly inspired people all over the world; it is about time that the Western intellectuals take up projects that talks about religion tolerance and liberal ideals that characterize their societies like the freedom of speech and multiculturalism. If a cartoon can sully the image of the West amongst an identifiable group of people, greater work of art can do the job of crisis management and strengthen the liberal values.

By doing so, we will be safeguarding the majority of moderate voices who were not party to the violence in the Middle-East or the American citizens who didn't approve the provocative movie on Islam.

Oh My God! does show  a middle path- the international community must learn and emulate.




   

Shaping the aspirations of Arab awakening

One thing for sure, the countries that saw the Arab awakening have a vibrant,educated young population that loves technology and are desperate for freedom. In fact, one of the striking features of the Arab revolution was that it was driven by youth and technology.

 At the peak of the revolution in Egypt, 87, 293 had signed up the Facebook page “We are all Khalid Said”(Khalid Said, a 28-year-old Egyptian from the coastal city of Alexandria, Egypt, was tortured to death at the hands of two police officers became a symbol of the protestors). 


Later, Wael Ghonim, the Egyptian-born Google marketing executive, who first played a role in organising the opposition through Facebook, told the American audiences that without Facebook and Twitter their revolution ‘would never have happened.’

Similarly, when it came to the protests in Tunisia the main stream media took time to get into grips with the situation, whilst hints of unrest was already brewing on Twitter soon after Bouazizi ,the vegetable vendor, who later became an immortal face of the protests set himself on fire.

In many ways, the zeal and the enthusiasm of the youth in particular, and their smart adoption of social media tools to propel their revolution debunked certain stereotypes about the youth of the region. The misperception amongst many in the world that the region is traditional, inward looking and adverse to modernity and technology was unfounded.

In fact, when the young protestors went to the street in Egypt, Tunisia and elsewhere, they also sent out a clear message to their rulers and the world at large that they too have the aspirations to live in a world that is based on the principles of dignity, justice and freedom.

Now that the Arab awakening has taken its course and in the dictators toppled, it is largely in the interest of the world that the aspirations of the youth are given shape and their dream is not lost.

The top 10 points of  Burson – Marsteller’s   Arab Youth Survey  indicate in general the views and the concerns of the youth from the region. While they say that lack of democracy and the civil unrest are some of the biggest obstacles facing them, their personal preference is however to able to earn a good pay and lead a decent lifestyle. And this is a priority number 1.

Their demand is clear: they want a transparent, corruption free government that creates amongst other things, good job  opportunities and guarantees a decent life . Democracy, they say is of no use if it doesn’t improve their lives or is replaced by a system that is equally inefficient or more corrupt than the dictatorial regimes that preceded them. The survey shows that the youth across the Middle East increasingly look at UAE as a model that their countries should emulate. 

The political crisis in Egypt is unfortunate. However, whoever takes charge of the nation eventually will run the risk of triggering another mass movement if their aspirations are not satisfied. At the end of the day, as Hillary Clinton says, it is up to the Egyptian people to determine their own future but there will be will no going back on the democratic transition.

Whilst such assurances are welcome, the West must also understand that it can takes decades or at least a generation before the democratic institutions in these states can mature. Democracy in the Middle East should conform to the culture, history and tradition of the region. In a recent interview with the BBC, Tariq Ramadan, the Islamic philosopher at Oxford University says that if democracy in the region has to succeed in the future, it is important not to follow the Western model blindly but it should based on innovation that premises on local values and progressive aspects of culture and tradition.

For the world outside, one of the best ways to help these young democracies will be to use the aid money to built modern education institutions and  help develop teachers training programme that acknowledges progressive education based on universal values. Such initiatives alone can guarantee peace and democracy in the region as well make the newly formed democratic institutions stronger in the long run.

Let's welcome 2012 with a 'spring of hope'

Looking back at the events of 2011, the following lines by Charles Dickens spring to mind:

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the   epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us,....”-  A Tale of Two Cities.

Dickens wrote these words in1859, but personally, I feel that they hold a great relevance in our present times. The year 2011 wasn’t a great year for most of us: there was hardly any good news, and we all suffered in one way or the other either because of the ongoing recession, or a revolution or a natural calamity. Sadly, there was nothing really to cheer about this year.

Clearly, from the perspective of the era that we live in, “it was a best of times.” Globalisation, new technology, social media, freedom of speech, democracy all made it look like a world full of possibilities – sky seemed to be the limit. But, in reality we are in the ‘worst of times'. Graduates are increasingly finding it  difficult to get jobs, unemployment figures have been worst in a generation, economies around the world have become stagnant, the promises of a ‘flat world’ are vanishing, ambitions of young people are being thwarted- in short there is a prevalent mood of frustration and anger. This was a fact in 2011.

The unsurpassed ‘age of wisdom’ is failing to live up to the expectations. We have benefited enormously from the internet and never in the history of mankind the exchange of ideas and access to information and knowledge have been so profound; yet on the other hand, big international summits like G20 or a conference on climate change end in nothing but a deadlock. What did we see at G20 in Cannes – surely a Greek play? Where is the wisdom to create an age of consensus? Isn’t the Euro zone crisis a shame? This was another reality of 2011.

In many ways, we are living in an ‘age of foolishness’ refusing to learn from history or are too complacent. We love mass movements directed at state but not willing to do our bit to change the world (look at the mass protests in India against corruption). We are as individuals more corrupt, irresponsible towards our loved ones, unsocial and more selfish. The London riots this year was shocking – ringing the alarm bells of a society and a system drastically gone wrong.  It had a lesson for the affluent in the emerging economies as much as it did for ‘broken Britain’.

The revolutions in the Middle East and North Africa was the ‘epoch of belief and incredulity’ – no doubt about it. It was great to see  youth wielding the power of technology and education for freedom and change, but I hope the sweeping changes we saw in the region is long sustained and is not replaced by regimes that are intolerant to progressive ideas, religious freedom and human rights.

Politically, there was a ‘season of light’ in Myanmar with junta showing some signs of political reform, but in the rest of world  stretching from Afghanistan to the US, from Norway to Japan it was all gloomy and bloody.

However, 2012, will hopefully bring lots of promises paving the way for the ‘winter of despair' to the ‘spring of hope’ Four major nations of the world: China, US,  France and Russia are going to choose new leaders. The London Olympics will usher new optimism and hope.We hope the Arab spring will enjoy a fruitful summer, and the BRIC economies along with Columbia and Venezuela (another country to go to poll) will continue to show some economic miracles. We also hope the rich and developed nations will continue to inspire more dynamism and less protectionism and a solution to the Euro crisis will soon be found.

After the three years of economic depression, it is the time to collectively rebuilt and bring prosperity, peace and hope to the citizens of the world. It is the time for us, the youth in particular to come forward and do utmost in our individual sphere. Together we can create a secure world full of promises based on the universal values of freedom, love and dialogue. Let’s march to 2012 with a spirit of hope, let’s not make it an era where “we had everything before us, but we had nothing before us”

Let me end with this quote by a renowned Buddhist scholar and philosopher Daisaku Ikeda:

“Youth means to cherish hope ; it is a time of development. Youth means to challenge oneself; it is a time of construction. Youth means to fight for justice; it is a time of action”

 

Lessons on peace and democracy from Ireland and West Bengal

There have been three historic developments last week, which are distinctly unrelated, but provide strong lessons on democracy and peace.

The three events: the election result in India’s state of West Bengal- where the communists were ousted from power after 34 years of rule, the British Queen’s visit to Ireland, and a cautiously received speech by President Obama on Arab spring and Palestine –Israel issue; indicate how the societies in the world have evolved to become tolerant, politically conscious with growing desire for lasting peace and reconciliation. In fact, the first two events can provide valuable lessons to President Obama on how he intends to go about supporting and steering reforms in the Middle East.

The first lesson to be learnt is about democracy. President Obama in his speech yesterday acknowledged that the Iraq misadventure has showed that democracy cannot be imposed from outside. He is right. Democracy by very definition is a people’s movement. However, its long term sustainability and success as a form of governance depend on a number of factors. It is a gradual evolution of a system that is subjected to the maturity of the institutions that serve as the key pillars in upholding the values and ideals of the system. Fundamentally, it is also a system of trial and error. It thrives on political consciousness of the population that elects its leaders. The wisdom to exercise the franchise responsibly comes from the empowerment of masses through education and a change of outlook.

This is where West Bengal serves as a classic example. The defeat of the communists indicate that no matter how institutionally deeply rooted a party might be, in a democracy it can never conquer the minds of people, especially, if it is tainted by poor performance and has consistently failed to deliver on the basic needs of the population. Political enlightenment of masses comes with time. So when we preach democracy to the world, we need to be patient. President Obama’s pledge that America will promote and support movements for reform is commendable, but that support must be carried forward by successive American presidents. The idea should be to help these states build the institutions that will ensure a prosperous future for them, and allow them do it in their own cultural context.

The second is peace. This is where Israeli Prime Minister and Palestinians can take a leaf out of the British Queen’s visit to Ireland. The Queen’s visit to Ireland has a symbolic relevance to peace and more importantly a desire of the majority of the great Irish people to reconcile and put the history behind them.  Irish President Mary McAleese should be highly applauded for showing an exceptional courage by inviting the British monarch to Ireland. This shows that people are longer willing to be defined by the problems and issues of the 20^th century or before that. We cannot be living in history, and the great people’s movement across the Middle East reinforce the same theme. People want change, freedom and peace. For the first time there is great opportunity for bringing around peace in one of the most disturbed areas in the world. This opportunity must not be squandered. The above events show that peace in this century will depend on the decisions we make today. Good luck to President Obama.