Plenary, 08 Oct 2003
Meeting date: Wednesday, October 8, 2003
Official Report
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Time for Reflection
The first item of business this afternoon is time for reflection. Leading time for reflection today is Ryan Singh Kohli, from Glasgow, who is the first student to be awarded the Sikh Mata Sahib Kaur scholarship to Oxford university.
Ryan Singh Kohli (Sikh Mata Sahib Kaur Scholar, Oxford University):
When I went up to university, I received something of a shock. For the preceding 13 years I had been at the same school, with virtually the same pupils, who all understood what a Sikh is and why our appearance is so distinctive. However, when I made that time-honoured rite of passage to university, I was suddenly confronted with a barrage of questions from all directions. I did not mind the questions, but I could not help but feel different, strange and out of place. That set me off to read about and reflect on the nature of religion.
Many of today's conflicts appear to have at their core a conflict between religious beliefs. The phrase, "religion causes too many problems," is heard too often. Religious tensions run through the almost daily fighting in Northern Ireland, the middle east and Kashmir, but the truth of the matter is that conflict in the name of religion is self-contradictory and undermines the concepts of faith, belief and God.
The Sikh holy scripture recognises that religious conflict is one of the world's gravest problems, which is why many verses are devoted to the message of national integration and universal brotherhood. It advises that we should have no enemies; we should be opposed to no one. We are encouraged to recognise God in everyone, as we strive to make everybody our friend and our equal.
What difference does it make if one accepts Christ, Mohammed or Nanak as one's prophet or the Koran, the holy Bible or the Guru Granth Sahib as our holy text? The overriding message from each is the same. We are encouraged to recognise God in everyone, to live our lives with God in our hearts and afford everybody the highest degree of respect. When I finally turned my attention to the words of the tenth Sikh Guru, I began to realise just how foolish it had been to feel out of place. He proclaimed that all of mankind is one race.
Members of the Scottish Parliament, as you continue your new session, and as I am about to embark on a new university session, let us make it our aim to bring that vision to the country.