VOLUME 10 ISSUE 1, MAY 2017 Religious Inspiration in the Move from Turbulent to Inclusive Societies 03 04 Editorial The Role of Religion M. Abdus Sabur in Asian Geo-Politics Prof. Azyumardi Azra 09 12 Understanding Islam Dialogical Essence of in the Context of Islam as a Philosophy Interfaith Harmony for Interfaith Peace Waris Mazhari Dr.Mohsen Badreh 14 16 Kashmir: Kurds, their Struggle The 2016 Uprising and their Aspiration Mushtaq Ul Haq Ahmad Sikander Dr. Ismael Mersham 22 The Forgotten Peace: 20 The Chittagong Letter from Bangladesh Hill Tracts Accord Fr. Bob Ishak Mia Editorial Team: 24 Staffan Bodemar Good Moments of Dialogue: Mohamed Yunus Yasin Reflections from Sweden Lisa Schenk 26 Kaj Engelhart Clarence Dias Afghanistan Refugee Crises: Mohammad Abdus Sabur The Way Forward Ishak Mia Sohel Abida Rafique Editorial Mohammad Abdus Sabur The presidential election When a government, whether elected or not fail in the United States of its own people to realize their full potential and America is over. Donald let them contribute to the society to the best of Trump is the new presi- their ability, then it is only right that government dent. Throughout the take responsibility to pave the way so that the election period interna- state is restructured and reformed through tional and national media people’s participation. extensively covered the debate on policies and The fact is that the vast majority people in most of the developing countries still live in poverty, proposals put forward by unable to find a job, lacking skills and with no Donald Trump. Con- access to resources. Meanwhile, ineffective state cerned citizens, civil society and intelligentsia, in structure have grown. The possible way out is to democratic or socialist countries as well as coun- empower people, strengthen local autonomous tries under monarchy or dictatorship followed bodies and civil society organizations, allocate the debate. But the question is why? The possible resources and ensure mechanisms of account- answer could be that like it or not, every country ability and transparency. and its citizens get affected in one way or another by the policies and actions of the United States of The processes of human development and evolv- America and its allies. ing an enabling, accountable governance take time. Educational opportunities and exchange of Issues raised in the election campaign include experiences between and among countries is migrants, refugees, building a wall on Mexican vital. In the case of man-made and natural disas- border, Islamic terrorist travel ban from 7 Mus- ter a rich tradition of trans-border solidarity and lim-majority countries, extreme vetting of Mus- resource-sharing is well established. It is expect- lims in general and concern about whether ed that such collaboration will be further facili- climate change is “fake”. In the greater human tated by all concerned including governments. world, people to people communication, On the part of civil society it is self-nurtured exchanges, caring and sharing, extending compassion, inclusiveness and nonviolence that must remain the paramount commitment. solidarity support in difficult times irrespective of color and creed, religious and ethnic identity, The eight papers in this issue of Amana provide these are essential components and building examples both of such collaboration as well as of blocks for a prosperous and caring world. lack thereof, between civil society and govern- ments. Three of the 8 articles deal with the plight We must not forget that colonization, enslave- of forgotten peoples namely the Kurds, those in ment, exploitation of natural resources, imposi- and from Afghanistan and those in the Chit- tion of unjust war have been a common practice tagong Hill Tracts (CHT) in Bangladesh. The of all colonial powers. It is also true that during latter is complimented by a letter from Bangla- the cold war between the Western free World and desh, reminding us that there is more to Bangla- the Communist World, a majority Muslim coun- desh than just the Chittagong Hill Tracts. Two tries aligned themselves with the United States of are in the form of tranquil musings, far from the America and its allies. scenes of strife and recall “good memories”. Two of the articles deal with the role of religion and, Terrorism in all its form is the enemy of the in particular of Islam. people. Similarly rule without consent of people, unjust war, destruction of homes, lives and liveli- Mohammad Abdus Sabur is Secretary General of hood also fall under the category of state terror- Asian Resource Foundation, Thailand ism. 3 magazine The Role of Religion in Asian Geo-Politics Prof. Azyumardi Azra There is little doubt that tantism is making inroads in South Korea, Japan, Asia is the single conti- China and some other places in Asia. Islam, the nent that is blessed as the latest of the Abrahamic religions, is the predomi- place where virtually all nant religion in much of Southeast Asia (Indone- major world religions sia, Brunei Darussalam, and Malaysia), pre-dom- originated and developed. inant in South Asia (Bangladesh, Pakistan, It is in Asia that Hindu- Afghanistan, the Maldives, Iran, and a big ism, Buddhism, Shinto- minority in India), and constitutes the largest ism, Confucianism, Juda- majority in West Asia (the Gulf countries, Iraq, ism, Christianity and Islam were revealed and Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Syria, and Yemen). developed. Asian Geo-Politics and Religions Contrary to the classic theories on the decline of religions facing modernization and seculariza- For centuries, as suggested earlier, religions have tion since the time of the post-World War II been part and parcel of human life in Asia. This period, all these great religions are still very is true not only in religious life, but also in strong up until today in most regions in Asia. In other walks oflife ; social,cultural, and—of fact like much of the other parts of the globe, course—political. In short, religions are embed- Asia has at least in the last three decades been ded in private and public life. experiencing religious revival. However, in the post-World War II period, In Asia, during the various courses and stages of newly independent nation-states have had differ- history, each of the religions plays a great role, ent constitutional arrangements on the matter of not only in the lives of the faithful, but also in the place of religion in each country. Countries public and political life. Hinduism, the predomi- like India, Singapore, Japan and South Korea, for nant religion in India, plays an important role in instance, are secular’ states that officially give no India; and Buddhism is a crucial element in special place to religion; religion is simply a private and public lives in Thailand and Sri-Lan- private matter and, therefore, should not interfere ka. Even though most Japanese would say that in political and public lives. they do not practice Shintoism, it is clear that one would easily be able to find the traces of this On the other hand, in countries where religions religion in their lives. were accommodated in political and public lives like Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines, the Judaism is one of the most deciding factors in role of religion appeared to have declined with Israel. Christianity, more precisely Catholicism, the introduction of modernization and economic is the single largest religion in the Philippines development. Religion in general had been and Timor Leste; and at the same time Protes- regarded as not very compatible with modernity, 4 magazine modernization, and economic development. The adopted a more friendly attitude to religions. modernization processes have been supposed to Religions were (and still are) given a special bring ‘secularization’, putting religions in very status in the constitutions and otherwise. Despite defensive positions. that, religions tended to be sidelined in the process of modernization of the countries in the Furthermore, in other countries, the declining decades following their independence in the role of religion in political and public lives has post-World War II period. had a lot to do with the adoption of a certain political ideology that was adopted by respective Contrary to the classic theories on the decline of countries. The case in point is the adoption of the religions in the process of modernization, ideology of communism in countries like China, religions are now in fact returning to public and the Soviet Union, North Korea and some others. political lives in many Asian countries. Econom- The communist ideology, as can be expected, ic development and socio-cultural progress in was hostile to religions; indeed religions were Indonesia, Malaysia, India, and China have considered the ‘opium’ that led people to escap- brought back religions to politics. ism and, therefore should be banned from public life. In Indonesia, Islam increasingly reappeared in power politics since the early 1990s when the At the other end of the continent, some countries Soeharto regime introduced some kind of recon- in West Asia adopted authoritarianism-socialism ciliatory policies to Islam and to Muslim groups. - like Iraq and Syria, based on the ideology of This phenomenon increased significantly in the baathism - that in many ways was also hostile to post-Soeharto period. Yet, despite many signs of religions. This in the course of history, religion increased attachment to Islam, Islamic political has inspired and driven certain groups of Mus- parties fared poorly in the successive general lims to oppose the regimes, creating cycles of elections of 1999, 2004, 2009 and 2014. violence that are difficult to break. The opposi- tion continued to increase since the 1990s when In China, the phenomenal economic progress in the regimes failed to deliver their promises for the last two decades at least brought many people better economic and social lives.