CDI to work on uniting countries with different religions

In a country where politics is often perceived as a cause of division, a two-day conference attended by leaders of different religions from different countries in the Asia-Pacific region aims to prove that politics can be utilized to forge harmony among nations.

Sen. Mushahid Hussain Sayed, secretary general of the Pakistan Muslim League (PML), said yesterday that during the two-day conference, which ends today, they would be discussing the differences in religions and find ways to reconcile these with politics.

"As a Muslim, a Pakistani and a human being we feel strongly that all religions have a certain empathy with humanity, have shared values and those shared values should be the starting point or basis in any discussion," Sayed said.

He also said politics and religion are intertwined at this time.

The conference was originally proposed by President Arroyo and Speaker Jose de Venecia in an effort to settle political and religious conflicts in the region.

Pakistan is one of the countries participating in the launching of the Asia-Pacific chapter of the Centrist Democrat International (CDI) and the global interfaith dialogue.

The CDI-Asia Pacific would be comprised of moderate political parties from participating countries.

"We are like-minded parties who believe in political pluralism, moderation in politics and who are not from any extreme ideology from the left or the right to form a platform," he added.

Sayed said the 21st century is being called by some "the Asian century" because the region has become the most dynamic part of the world with its countries’ many developing economies.

"We feel democracy and development should go together. For the democratic future in Asia it is important that like-minded political parties should come together in one political platform. It will strengthen the political party process and strengthen the democratic process," he said.

Sayed underscored the value of politics in promoting progress in Asia. In the case of the Philippines, some critics say there is too much politics and democracy, but he thinks otherwise. He believes that "thanks to democracy, we have a free press, people can come out in the streets and demonstrate, so count your blessings."

Politics, on the other hand, "is a slow process but that is the way it is. Politics by nature is competition for power. There are divisions because there are competing parties and these parties will always have difference of opinion. So we should accept that difference of opinion is the essence of democracy."

However, Sayed said politics should be disassociated from religion if it results in extremism or terrorism.

"I think these issues should be de-linked from religion because terrorism and extremism have no religion and if there are extremists in a religion then that is an aberration. That is not a norm and they should be treated as such. Terrorism should not be associated with any community, one ethnic group, or any religion," he said.

During the conference, the participants also addressed the problem of "Islamophobia." It has been four years since the tragic attacks in New York that left thousands of people dead and injured on Sept. 11, 2001, but the wounds have not yet healed among affected countries as Muslims continue to be hated and distrusted in some western countries.

"Like in the west, they have this ‘Islamophobia,’ which (leads to) attacks on Islam and the Muslim faith. This is based on bias and prejudice. We feel that there should be laws on that issue, just like anti-Semitism, which is prejudice and bias against Jews and this is unacceptable. Just like anti-Semitism, Islamophobia should also be outlawed," Sayed said.

In the Philippines, the clash among Filipino Muslims and Filipino Catholics had been going on for decades. Sayed believes that continuing dialogue would pave the way to lasting unity and understanding.

In the past, the Organization of Islamic Conference has been involved in brokering talks with the Philippine government and the dissidents of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.

The 19 members of the CDI executive committee include the Speaker of the Italian Parliament Ferdinando Casini, former Prime Minister of Belgium and European People’s Party President Wilfred Martens, Slovakia Prime Minister Mikulas Dzurinda, Sen. Jorge Konder Bornhausen of Brazil, former President of Columbia Andres Pastrana, former President of Chile Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle, former Prime Minister of Hungary Viktor Orban, German Member of Parliament Peter Hintze, and Norwegian Minister of Culture Valgerd Svarstad Haugland.

Among those who were expected to converge in Manila are former Indonesian president Abdurrahman Wahid; Libya’s Dr. Mohamed Sherif, secretary general of the World Islamic Call Society; Saudi Arabia’s Dr. Abdullah bin Abdulmohsin Al-Turki, secretary general of the World Muslim League; and Sayed.

Joining them were religious personalities such as Dr. Tong Chan Wah (Taoist); An-Wu Lin (Confucianist); Dr. Hamdi Mohammad Murad Murad, Islamic researcher and scholar; Chief Imam Cheilkh Assane Cisse (Sufi), president of the African-American Islamic Institute; Taj Hamad (Sufi), secretary general of the World Association of Non-government Organizations; Dr. Namdra Jain; Dr. Mohinder Singh (Sikh), director of Bhai Vir Singh Sahitva Sadan; Pra Dhamakosacarva (Buddhist); Yogiratna Ranjeet (Hindu); and Rabbi Itzhak Bar-Dea of Israel.

The Universal Peace Federation is sending a delegation composed of Dr. Chung Hwan Kwak, chairman; Dr. Thomas Walsh, secretary-general; and Dr. Christopher Kim and Julia Kim of UPF Asia.

Vice Gov. Mahid Mutilan, president of the Muslim party Ompia; Ricardo Cardinal Vidal, archbishop of Cebu; Bishop Efraim Tendero, national director of the Philippine Council of Evangelical Churches; and El Shaddai leader Bro. Mike Velarde will also speak at the dialogue.