I start my submission with a quotation written by Mahatma Gandhi, which was published in one of his magazines, Harijan Sewak, on 23.06.1946 on page number 186-87.
"Today people in West speak of Jesus but in fact their lives are being guided by the inspiration which is totally against Jesus. Just as in the same way there are people who talk of Islam but in reality they follow the "Shaitan." This is the miserable position of we people believing in religion (I would like to add that the same contradictory lives are being led by Hindus, Buddhists and Jains etc.).
"If the people would have followed God, the corruption, violence and exploitation which is prevailed today in the society, would have withered away completely. At present the rich are growing richer, while the poor are being pushed down to become ever poorer. Everywhere the cruel game of hunger, nakedness and death is being played. These are not the symptoms of God's world, but are the signs of the empire of "Shaitan or Ravana" and the elements against Jesus.
We cannot bring God's kingdom on the earth by repeating this name only by our lips. Our work and life practices should be according to God, not to "Shaitan."
"When the kingdom of God will prevail in the hearts of the people, then only they will be free of anger and violence." Mahatma Gandhi Harijan Sewak 20.04.1947, page 406.
These beautiful quotations on religion and the violence give such a clear direction on which we could make our search for a way out from the present violent situations.
The violence in the world right now is in two forms, first is the visible form, wars among different nations, terrorism spread all over the world, clashes between different ethnic groups and communal riots among the different faiths. But there is also invisible violence which has become part and parcel of our social structure. To some extent this structural violence is the root cause of the visible violence of wars, terrorism and communal riots too. On the other hand, the religions have also forgotten the original values of their religion, which was given to them by the prophets or the enlightened ones. It is like this funny story told by the people in India. Somebody was given the nectar (religion) in a golden cup to drink. He drank the nectar and became immortal but the other who came behind him took his golden cup and considered it the religion holding the cup strongly in their arms and fighting to other faiths, "Our golden cup (religion) is the best to reach God." So, though, not a single religion had ever shown a single small path of violence in their doctrines, in practice so much blood had been shaded in the past and present in the name of religion.
In fact the religion is above and over to those traditional formalities which in due time had developed according to the different geography, climate and cultural conditions. I should say that religion is the inner and practical quest of the human beings which reflects in their lifestyles and brings them closer and closer to their spiritual truth and at least makes them one with that permanent bliss. This truth could be called the almighty spirit, the creator of this cosmos or give it the name of God. This truth is equally based in the center of every faith. This single similarity is a strong chain which brings every religion in one destiny and our responsibility towards humanity. If religions see their souls in this new outlook instead of their traditional dogmatic outer frames, every religion will become the messenger of nonviolence.
If we go deep into concept and practice of the religion truly, it is as open as the sky and as vast as the earth. There are no geographic boundaries and human limitations to it. All the faiths like Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, Buddhism, Jainism etc are the different paths to reach to the same goal, which is the truth or the peace. The peace of mind, the peace in human society, the peace in the nature around the Globe and beyond it the peace of Sun, Moon, stars and those planets circling around each other.
So why do we think of peace only to humans, why should not it be for whole creation? This is the right essence of the religion, which can be able to combat the violence. The massage in this context is very powerful given in the Vedas. The "Rishi" of Vedas sings the "Mantra" like this
"shun na surya Uruchaksha Udetu"Source Rigveda
"We pray for the peace to the Sun, which is the very source of life and energy to this globe. We wish peace to all directions. We wish peace to the mountains that they stand permanently as the North Star does. We wish peace to the oceans, rivers and the vegetation all over the world."
Thus the religions have to hug the whole creation with everlasting love and combat the violence forced by its followers, namely the human beings. Then the religions will fulfill their definition which is given in old Sanskrit scripts as -
"Dharaynti iti Dharma."Dharma or religion is that which holds the life on the earth.
Now in this august gathering, I would humbly ask all of you to ponder while believing on our religions, we do not become the part of the system which is spoiling the air and waters, ruining the oceans and forests just for human luxuries. We are also the part of the pollution in the rivers and waters and soil. Ultimately the earth and the sun are also adversely affected by all what the humans are doing in the name of progress and development around the Globe. The human is trying to win the nature instead of living with it in a friendly relation. This is violence and unreligious act by the religious human. If we change this with a religious understanding that will prove a true combat against violence. I should say if the religions become so broadbased, certainly the wars and terrorism etc would be combated.[]