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Culture Peace and Harmony
By L Damodar Singh
Thus culture encompasses every sphere of human activity and determines and governs the life and pattern of every society, it permeates various range of creative activities of man which enhance the value and quality of life. These activities involve interaction among men themselves and between men and nature which results in various visions and concepts, provide men and the community with a sense of direction and purpose, a reflective poise and spiritual energy giving a right life to the individual and the community. The creative activities of men generate many manifestations and configuration representing beauty, social ideas, moral and spiritual values. In men's evolution it is culture which distinguishes them from other creatures.
Our ancient maxims say that human beings without any sensitiveness to music, the-arts and literature are like animals even though they have no horns or tails in the Indian context culture stands for perfection in purity of thought, feeling as well as deed. A cultured man is an integrated man not divided in himself, a happy synthesis of knowledge, works and nobility of feelings. He unites within himself action and contemplation, sweetness and light, and intellect and emotion, the corporal and the spirit.
It is important that any people, any country ought to have social and cultural unity. Structural disintegration should be avoided so that cultural identity is maintained. “Cultural identity is a treasure that vitalizes mankind's possibilities of self fulfillment by moving every people of self fulfillment by moving every people to seek nurture in its past, to welcome contributions from outside that are compatible with its own characteristics, and so to continue the process of its own creation All cultures form part of the common heritage of mankind.” The cultural identity of a people is renewed and enriched through contact with the traditions and values of others. Culture is dialogue, the exchange of ideas and experience and the appreciation of other values, and traditions; it withers and dies in isolation.
The world is fast changing in the inexorable march of time what with science and technology, the world is becoming a global village. There is every concern that cultural identities may wither. The Mexico City Declaration in 1982, sponsored by UNESCO rightly observed that a single culture cannot postulate the universal; it emerges from the experience of the entire world's people as each affirms its own identity.
Cultural identity and cultural diversity are inseparable. The recognition of the presence of a variety of cultural identities wherever various traditions exist side by side constitutes the very essence of cultural pluralism. India is an apt illustration of how diverse strands of cultural identities are united into a whole. She is a pluralistic country inhabited by diverse people. It witnessed economic, political, social, and cultural transformations which were turbulent processes of its history. There have been great changes in its march through thick and thin and yet continuity and unity prevail.
This is the genius of the people of this country. Unity of outlooks, of experience both emotional and intellectual, shared struggle and aspiration have created a strong cementing factor which is the spirit of her consciousness and psyche.
The international community considers it its duty to ensure that the cultural identity of each people is preserved and protected that will protect and enrich each people's identity and cultural heritage and establish absolute respect for an appreciation of cultural minorities and other cultures of the world.
We must think that the neglect or destruction of the culture of any group is a loss to mankind as a whole. Culture thus constitutes a fundamental dimension of the development process. Growth has frequently been conceived in quantitative terms, without taking into account its necessary qualitative dimension, namely the satisfaction of man's spiritual and cultural aspirations. Balanced development can only be ensured by making cultural factors an integral part of the strategies designed to achieve it. Any cultural policy should restore to development its profound human significance so that cultural identity underpinning in development efforts should be given the highest priority especially in countries like India which is pluralistic in its cultural ethos.
Cultural identity and heritage have frequently suffered damage or destruction as a result of thoughtlessness and of the processes of urbanization, industrialization and technological penetration. Every country should therefore affirm, preserve and promote its cultural identity with eternal vigilance.
As mentioned earlier, value system of the individual and the nation's pattern-of culture to which he belongs. Culture is the pursuit of perfection in. life, and is the creative self sculpture. We can shape our culture in such a dimension that is conducive to establishing peace, amity and harmony in not only the community, the region and the state, but also in the world, culture should be oriented as a means to an end. The end is happiness, harmony, all round prosperity of one's own country and of humanity. It contributes substantially to the greatness of civilization. A holistic vision of culture is required so that no segment area feel neglected and excluded.
It would be relevant to mention here the UN concept of the culture of peace. UN has rightly spelt out the Culture of Peace which is all the values, attitudes and forms of behavior that reflect respect for life, human beings and their dignity, all human rights, the rejection of violence in all its forms and commitments to the principles of freedom, justice, solidarity, tolerance and understanding among people and between groups and individuals. “The objective of a culture of peace is to ensure that the conflicts inherent in human relationship be resolved non violently, based on the traditional values of peace.” We have to transform the prevailing culture of violence into a culture of peace. We face a challenge now, we have thrown the gauntlet. The challenge is to find ways to permanently shift attitudes, values and behaviors in order to promote peace and social justice, the non violent resolution of conflict and security.
We face a challenge now, we have thrown the gauntlet. The challenge is to find ways to permanently shift attitudes, values and behaviors in order to promote peace and social justice, the non violent resolution of conflict and security.
The interdependence of the peoples and nations making up our world has become self evident, no country, state or region can no longer get by completely on its own. Transnational problems can no longer be solved at the national level. It is through concerted actions between states and regions that such problems can be addressed, poverty, aids, pollution, climate change, drugs and violence know no boundaries, whether national, ethnic, natural or political. Globalization also means that the issues are interconnected. This awareness of interdependence of it human beings and of the interconnectedness of the issues they face has become clearly apparent in recent years. The approach to social development has become broader, more diverse and more flexible.
For human beings to be worthy of the name, they must belong to the human species and experience that sense of belonging and build bridges between the individual and the communities of different kinds and sizes. The intellectual and moral solidarity of mankind seen by UNESCO as the basis of lasting peace, is a form of solidarity targeted at social disparities, once which strives against intolerance, jolts indifference and builds ridges between haves and have nots between Jew and Muslim, between Hindu and Muslim, tribe and non tribe.
It is this universal solidarity and universal imperative which grows up between languages and cultures, beliefs and customs ways of being and of thinking that makes people accept the idea of sharing and indeed want to share. It is this universal imperative which must underpin our individual and collective thoughts and actions. We should know human beings that the future will be one of sharing or there will be no future at all.
We yearn for a time for hope. The year 2000 was proclaimed as the International year for Peace. We are to chart a new course by working together to make possible a new society of peace, a society based upon the democratic ideals, liberty, justice, equality and solidarity.
There can be no lasting peace without sustainable development no development without lifelong education, without democracy, sharing of resources to avoid immense disparities separating the developed from the less developed ones. The last century saw great discoveries and inventions, but the logic of force prevailed at a terrible cost the lives of millions of human beings, many of them in the flower of their youths. Nothing of value has ever been achieved by violence and coercion. Let us draw new hope from the history of the 20th century. Through non violent rebellion, creative resistance and refusal to accept the unacceptable, let us take steps to ease the transition to dialogue, tolerance and reasoned consideration of that which divide us, and invent imaginative solutions, Dr Frederico Mayor UNESCO's General Director said.
The Nobel Peace laureate launched an international appeal to transform the culture of war and violence into a culture of peace and reconciliation. This initiative demands the participation o f everyone, within families, communities, nations and regions and offers values that can inspire young people and future generations to shape a world of justice, solidarity, liberty and prosperity. But true peace is far more than the absence of war. It is a phenomenon that
encompasses economic development and social justice safeguarding the global environment and curbing the global arms trade.
It means democracy, diversity and dignity, respect for human life and the rule of law and more, much more. These pillars of peace are interrelated. “Since wars begin in the minds of men, it is in the minds of men that the defense of peace must be constructed.
(Courtesy: The Manipur Mail)
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