75^th Session of the United Nations General Assembly

Agenda item 15: Culture of Peace

INDIA STATEMENT

by 

Mr. Ashish Sharma, First Secretary

Thank you, Mr. President

Culture of Peace is the cornerstone of the foundation of a global order of peace and tolerance. Under the auspices of the United Nations, the promotion of a culture of peace has grown into a global discourse. 

As Mahatma Gandhi said and I quote, “I do not want my house to be walled in on all sides and my windows to be stuffed. I want the culture of all lands to be blown about my house as freely as possible. But I refuse to be blown off my feet by any.”

India has tried to foster this culture, inter alia, through tolerance, understanding, respect for differences, respect for other religions and cultures, respect for human rights, gender equality – all this under the overarching umbrella of pluralistic ethos and democratic principles.

Mr. President

India is not just the birthplace of Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism, but is also the land where the teachings of Islam, Judaism, Christianity and Zoroastrianism have taken strong root and where the Sufi tradition of Islam has flourished. Today, every one of the world’s major religions has a home in India. The great Indian philosopher, Swami Vivekananda said, “We (India) believe not only in universal toleration but accept all religions as true”.

For millennia, India has provided shelter to waves of those persecuted in foreign lands, and allowed them to thrive in India. And our tradition of inter-culture dialogue goes right to the time when ancient Indian thinkers had a flourishing dialogue with the ancient Greeks. India is not just a culture, but a civilization in itself. 

This historical tradition of Inter-cultural dialogue in India has drawn upon our quest for knowledge, a willingness to question, as well as a desire to learn. Thus, for instance, the Buddha urged his followers not to accept his beliefs without questioning them. The Indian Constitution, which declares our nation to be a secular democratic republic also underlines both the freedom of religion and faith, as well as the duty of the State to inculcate a scientific temper among the people.

Mr. President

We appreciate the efforts of Bangladesh in presenting a resolution today on the follow-up of the Declaration and Programme of Action (A/75/L.28), which India is happy to co-sponsor.

However, we find disconcerting trends in the world of today. At the outset, let me state that we fully agree that anti-Semitism, Islamaphobia and anti-Christian acts need to be condemned and India firmly condemns such acts. However, UN resolutions on such important issues speak only of these three Abrahamic religions together. This august body fails to acknowledge the rise of hatred and violence against Buddhism, Hinduism and Sikhism also. The shattering of the iconic Bamyan Buddha by fundamentalists, the terrorist bombing of the Sikh gurudwara in Afghanistan where 25 Sikh worshipers were killed and the destruction of Hindu and Buddhist temples and minority cleansing of these religions by countries, calls for condemning such acts against these religions also. But the current Member States refuse to speak of these religions in the same breath as the first three “Abrahamic” religions.

Why is this selectivity? Overall, Hinduism has more than 1.2 billion, Buddhism has more 535 million, and Sikhism around 30 million followers.  It is time that attacks against these religions are also added to earlier list of the three Abrahamic religions when such resolutions are passed. Culture of peace cannot be only for Abrahamic religions. And as long as such selectivity exists, the world can never truly foster a culture of peace.

The United Nations is not a body which should take sides when it comes to religion.  If we are indeed selective, we will only end up proving Samuel Huntington’s “clash of civilizations”. What we are trying to build here is an “alliance of civilizations” not set up a clash. I call on the UN Alliance of Civilization to act likewise and speak for all, not just a select few. 

Mr. President

Pakistan has already violated the earlier resolution on Culture of Peace passed last year by this very assembly. Last month, Pakistan arbitrarily transferred the management of the Sikh holy shrine - Kartarpur Sahib Gurudwara, from Sikh Community body, to the administrative control of a non-Sikh body. This act goes against Sikh religion and its preservation and protection. You will recall that this holy Kartarpur Sahib Gurudwara finds mention in that earlier resolution. That resolution stands violated by Pakistan. 

If Pakistan changes its current culture of hatred against religions in India and stops its support of cross-border terrorism against our people, we can attempt a genuine culture of peace in South Asia and beyond. Till then we will only be mute witness to Pakistan driving away their minorities by threat, coercion, conversion and killing. Even people of the same religion are not spared due to encouragement given to sectarian killing. 

Mr. President

In today’s world, intolerance, hatred, violence and terrorism have almost become the norm. There can be no doubt that terrorism, which is a manifestation of intolerance and violence, is the antithesis of all religions and cultures. We are troubled by the increase in resources, financial and otherwise, that are being made available to violent and terrorist groups that misuse religion to justify and propagate their agendas. We need to be clear that abetting or condoning terrorism is like feeding a monster that will turn around to consume us. 

Let us fight such negative forces together, rather than separately. Let us build a culture of peace together, rather than fail separately.

I thank you, Mr. President