annual report1-final.qxd - Overseas Indian

Pravasi Bharatiya Divas
Pravasi Bharatiya Divas
Pravasi Bharatiya Divas
Pravasi Bharatiya Divas
Panelists at the panel discussion on ‘Communal Harmony &
Secularism’ in Hyderabad on January 9, 2006.
the secular nations of the world. In his view, India’s
diversity made it the best suited to lead global efforts
in bringing about communal harmony and peace.
Citing the two alternative definitions of secularism
suggested by Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen —
tolerance of all religions by the State and distancing
of the State from all religions — the speaker indicated
India’s adherence to the first one.
Speaking of experiences of PIOs in Mauritius,
Raouf observed that ironical as it was, the Indians in
his country had turned adversity into advantage by
securing the status of representatives of minority
groups. He praised the Mauritian administration for
instituting the National Unity Awards in that country.
The second speaker, Justice A.M. Ebrahim from
Zimbabwe, opined that emphasis on national identity
and integrity, rather than religious affiliations,
was desirable to promote secularism. He praised
the Hindi film actor Shah Rukh Khan for having
made provision for Hindu, Islamic and Christian
ways of worship at his residence.
In his speech, Shrikumar Poddar cautioned the
media to abstain from identifying a killer as belonging
to any particular religion, for ‘no religion recommends
killing of innocent people’. While he conceded
that ordinary men did not resort to violence,
he also pointed out that lack of protest by them
against violence amounted to tacit support.
Nirmala Deshpande, the well-known follower of
Acharya Vinoba Bhave, enthralled the audience with
her thought-provoking and profound socio-ethical
insights on the issue of communal harmony and secularism.
She said the answer to the question, ‘Who
am I’ should be, ‘I am a proud member of a family!’
She drew attention to the need to realise that different
religions were nothing but various alternative ways
of explaining and understanding the same truth.
“This not only had to be grasped by us but also
needed to be lived in our lives,” she said. She mentioned
the exemplary King Ashoka’s nobility in
regarding himself as a secular ruler, though he was a
Buddhist and preached it in his personal capacity.
Citing a few more glorious instances of religious tolerance,
she recalled that great rulers like the Nizam of
Hyderabad used to arrange Ram Vivah at
Bhadrachalam and the great Chhatrapati Shivaji had
provided for mosques for his Muslim administrators.
In his closing remarks, Oscar Fernandes, the
Chair of the session, made two very pertinent comments.
He pointed out that India’s commitment to
secularism was borne out by the fact that, despite
partition of the country by the British on religious
grounds, India had chosen to be a secular State. He
also rightly cautioned that peace was a pre-requi-
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