Time for Reflection
Good afternoon. The first item of business is time for reflection, which is led today by Mrs Ravinder Kaur Nijjar.
Mrs Ravinder Kaur Nijjar (Member of the Executive Committee of the Scottish Inter-faith Council, Primary School Teacher and Voluntary Community Worker in Glasgow): Waheguru ji ka Khalsa. Waheguru ji ki Fateh.
On 11 September 2001, the world stopped as the horrific events in America unfolded in front of everyone's eyes and left a deep and lasting impression of incredulity and sadness.
What distressed and horrified me further, however, were the attacks that followed on innocent Sikhs and Muslims—people who were going about their daily business having to suffer violence and hatred because of their appearance and their faith.
Do people in the wider community not know who Sikhs are and what their beliefs are, or the basic beliefs of other faith communities? If not, why not? What can we do to change that?
The 10th Guru, Guru Gobind Singh ji, who gave Sikhs their present physical and spiritual identity said:
"Manas Ki jat sabai ekai pahchanbo."
"Recognise ye the whole human race as one."
Children and adults should realise that, as there are many different languages in the world, so there are different names for God:
"Koi bolay Ram Ram, Koi Khuddai
Koi Gusain, Koi Allahe."
"Some call Him Ram, Some Khuddah
Some serve Him as Gusain and some as Allah."
But there is only one God. Our paths are different as to how we reach him and pray to him:
"Avall Allah noor upaaiyaa
kudrat kay sabh bunday
Ek noor tay sabh jug upaajyaa
Kaun balay kau munday."
"First, God created his light and
From its power all men are made
From God's light came the whole universe
so, whom shall we call good and whom bad?"
Those of us who have faith must not allow it to be used as a weapon by a few who use religion to justify their own positions of power. Ego creates fundamentalism. We must build bridges between faith communities and to do that we must have interfaith dialogue. We must have a place where we can meet, look at issues, develop materials and information on faiths and disseminate those widely. An interfaith centre in Scotland is vital, especially after the events of 11 September.
We need to look at our common, shared values and develop mutual understanding and respect. Education about different faiths for all is essential. It is because of ignorance that we form attitudes about others who look and behave differently from us. Education alleviates ignorance.
As I watch television, I see violence and animosity between people of the same faith and of different faiths. I see walls being built, dividing communities, and I wonder where it will end.
We cannot let differences divide us. You who represent the people cannot allow walls to be built between communities. You must help to tear down existing walls, break down barriers and help faith communities to communicate with each other.
As a member of the Sikh faith, I have been taught that the whole of humanity is one family and that every human should be honoured, not in terms of his birth, colour, creed or caste, but as a human, for the good deeds that he does. Every Sikh, when concluding their daily prayers, will ask God to bless the whole of humanity:
"Nanak Naam Churdhi Kala
Teray bhanay sarbatt da bhala."
"Sayeth Nanak through the ever increasing glory of thy name
May the whole of mankind enjoy thy blessing."
As adults we have a human responsibility to help build bridges that will allow people to cross barriers and unite mankind. We must do that—we owe it to future generations—if there is to be lasting peace and harmony in the world.