Two Decade ago, the world was swept with a wave of hope. Inspired by the popular movements for peace, freedom, democracy and solidarity; the major countries of the world worked together to end the Cold War. Yet the opportunity opened up by the historic change are slipping away.
We are gravely concerned with the resurgent nuclear and conventional arms race, disrespect for international law and the failure of the world’s government to address adequately the challenges of poverty and environmental degradation. A cult of violence is spreading rapidly across the world. The opportunity to build a culture of peace as advocated by the United Nations and a number of world leaders, is receding.
The challenges inherited from the past are new ones, which, if not properly addressed, could cause a clash of civilization, religions and cultures. We reject the idea of he inevitability of such a conflict. We are convinced that combating terrorism in all its form is a task that should be pursed with determination. Only by reaffirming our shared ethical values – respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms- and by observing democratic principles, within and amongst countries, can be defeated. We must address the root cause of terrorism – poverty, ignorance and injustice – rather than responding to violence with violence.
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Unacceptable violence against women and children is occurring everyday in every word and counter of the country. Children remain our most important neglected treasure. There protection, security and healthy should be the highest priority. Children every where deserve to be educated in and for peace. There is no excuse for neglecting their safety and welfare and, particularly, for their suffering in war. The war in Iraq has created a hotbed of dangerous instability and a breeding ground for terrorism. Credible reports of the disappearance of nuclear materials cannot be ignored. While we mourn the deaths of tens of thousands of people, none of the goals proclaimed by the coalition have been achieved.
Communal atrocities that signal our social ill-health are of this kind. They are misunderstood as sings of religion vitality in the absence of a total vision of social health. It is a suicidal folly to condone, much less encouraged, any anarchic agenda, overlooking its disruptiveness in the national context. Sadly, the protagonists of vote bank politics have mislead a large number of people to believe otherwise. Allowing their discernment to be lulled by the spell of spurious patriotism, the gullible and the native have become a party to undermining the health and wholeness of our society. The silver lining on the cloud, though, is that the facade of deception has begun to slip away, allowing the truth to be seen for what it is. The obvious loss of popular enthusiasm for the Mandir movement specially in the temple city itself, is the most significant fact that shines through the recent state-management of the Ayodhya imbroglio.
We are being hijacked into becoming an ungovernable society. Thus us a roguish ritual sustained by political parties and communal outfits. But the most dramatic aspect of this liturgy of social anarchy is the increasing State patronage it receives. It is no longer a secret that every communal atrocity, every instance of corruption and oppression, presupposes political protection and patronage. The recent carnage in Gujarat, like Ayodhya of 1992, would not have occurred but for the complicity of the State.
The creed of an anarchic society is total faith in violence. Over the last five decades the very foundation of our life has shifted from a faith in non-violence to the exclusive faith in use or threat of violence. This process reached its summit with the political ascendancy of the Sangh Parivar, with its unabashed commitment to crafting a culture of violence.
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The cost for the nation on account of popularizing this spirit of negatively is not limited to the says lost in fire-fighting, as in the recent instance. The larger cost is that the epidemic of negative infects the mind of India and disables the country from realizing its potential. Negativity can’t be selectively involved or employed. If you are negative to your neighbor because he happens to practice a religion that, you don’t follow, you will be negative to all others who practice religion other than yours one way or the other. This will make life impossible. The foremost casualty to the spirit of negative is work-culture. Very few people have an instinctive liking for the work they do. It is either the general ideal of contributing to nation-building or the hope of being recognized in the contest of work that keeps most people positive towards their work. The epidemic of negative will erode all these, degrading the workplace into a jungle of grievances.
The challenges of security, poverty and environmental crisis can only be met successfully through multilateral efforts based on the rule of law. Nations all over the world must strictly fulfill their treaty obligations and reaffirm the indispensable role of the United Nations and the primary responsibility of the UN security Council for maintaining peace. We believe that the world community needs urgently to address the challenges of poverty and sustainable development. Responding to these challenges requires the political will that has been so sadly lacking. The undertaking pledged by the UN Millennium Summit state that the promise of increased development assistance, fair trade, market access and debt relief for developing countries, have not been implemented. Poverty continues to be the world’s most widespread and dangerous scourged. Millions of people become victims of hunger and disease, and entire world suffers from feelings of frustration and despair. This creates fertile grounds for extremism and terrorism. The stability and future of the entire human community are thus jeopardized. Scientist are warning us that failure and climate change will lead to a break down of order, more military conflicts and ultimately the destruction of the living systems upon which civilization depends.
The proper efforts should be taken to resolve the Middle East crisis. This is both a key to the problem of terrorism and a chance to avoid a dangerous clash of civilization. A solution is possible if the right of all nations in the region to secure, viable Statehood is respected and if the Middle East is integrated in all global processes while respecting the unique culture of the people of that region. Preserving and strengthening the Nuclear Non-Proliferation. Treaty (NPT). We reject double standards and emphasis the legal responsibility of nuclear weapon States to work to eliminate nuclear weapons. We call for continuation of the moratorium on nuclear testing pending entry into force of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treat (CTBT), and for accelerating the process of veritable and irresistible nuclear arms of reduction.
Effectively realizing the initiative of the UN Secretary General to convene a high-level conference in 2005 to give an impetus to the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals. We pledge to work to create an atmosphere of public accountability to help accomplish these vitally important tasks. We should believe that to solve the problems that challenge the world today politicians need to interact with an empowered civil society and strong mass (nuclear movements). This is the way towards a globalization with a human face a new international order that rejects brute force, respects ethnic, culture and political diversity and affirms justice, compassion and human solidarity.