HOME :: Our Mission is to educate, entertain and invoke critical thinking in creating a cohesive environment to work, socialize and function effectively through the medium of Poetry. Our purpose is to establish a new stream of Pluralism poetry in Urdu and Hindi languages - indeed, it is the 2nd most spoken language in the world. Mike Ghouse, Foundation for Pluralism, Studies in Pluralistic societies

Saturday, November 28, 2020

Poetry on communal Harmony

 The following is a selection of ash’aar all sensitively calling for communal harmony.

MOHAMMED IQBAL

firqa-bandi hai kahiN aur kahiN zaateN haiN

kya zamane meN panapne ki yahi baateN hai

 In some places we are divided into (religious) communities, in others into castes. Is this the way to survive in this world.


ALTAF HUSAIN HAALI

ummat ko chhaaNT Daala, kaafir bana kar

Islam hai faqiho, mamnuN bahut tumhaara

. You have divided up the community by pronouncing this or that as un-Islamic. Islam is greatly indebted to you O jurist.


KRISHAN BIHAARI NOOR

parda-e dair o haram ab to miTa de yaa rabb

ho chuka jitna tamasha vo tamasha hai bahut

O lord, at least now erase the curtain/division between temple and mosque. Whatever mischief we have had, is more than enough!


Eeshvar kahiye use chaahe Khuda kahiye magar

vo MusalmaaN ki tarah hai na vo Hindu ki tarah

Call him Ishwar or Khuda, if you please, but he is neither Muslim nor Hindu.


MOMIN KHAAN MOMIN

momin na toR rishta-e zunnar-e barahman

mat kar vo baat jis se koii dil shikasta ho 

momin (pious man) do not cut the thread of relationship with the brahman (used to mean Hindu, not in the casteist sense). Do not do anything that will break hearts.


BRIJ NARAYAN CHAKBAST

balaa-e jaaN haiN ye tasbeeh aur zunnaar ke phande

dil-e haq-biiN ko hum is qaid se aazad karte haiN

The heart can see the truth (of love/faith) but the noose fashioned by the tasbih and the janev has imprisoned it. We are going to free the heart of this curse.

azaaN dete haiN but-Khaane meN jaa kar shaan-e momin se

haram ke naara-e naaqoos hum eejad karte 

Chakbast declares that he/they (the broad minded) will intermingle the rites of the mandir and the masjid. We issue a (Islamic) call for prayer from the temple with the dignity/composure of the muezzin. We invent conch shell sounds for the mosque.


MIRZA GHALIB

kaabe meN jaa raha to na do ta’ana kya kaheN

bhoola huN haqq-e sohbat-e ahl-e kunisht ko 

Ghalib rhetorically declares that he has not forgotten the rights/demands of his Hindu friends. Just because he has gone to the kaaba do not think that I have forgotten them. Of course, Ghalib himself was far from religious and never went to the kaaba.


KAIFI AAZMI

basti meN apni hindu musalmaaN jo bas gaye

insaaN ki shakl dekhne ko hum taras gaye

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Sunday, January 19, 2020

Holocaust and Genocides 2020

15th Annual Holocaust and Genocides

PRESS RELEASE

Dr. Mike Ghouse
Center for Pluralism
email: MikeGhouse@gmail.com 
Office: (202) 290-3560
Cell: (214) 325-1916


15th Annual Reflections on the Holocaust and Genocides  

The purpose of this event is education, information, and activism. We hope to learn and acknowledge our failings and make a personal commitment to our share of saying, "Never Again."

15th Annual Reflections on Holocaust and Genocides
5:30 PM - 8:30 PM Sunday, January 26, 2020
Arlington Central Library, 1015 N. Quincy Street
Arlington, VA 22201

Tickets are complimentary, but donations are accepted 




We hope you will walk out of the event with a genuine feeling of being a contributor towards building a cohesive world where no human has to live in apprehension or fear of the other. 

The Jewish community has been commemorating the Holocaust event since 1953, known as Yom HaShoah in Synagogues around the world. The general public learns it by visiting the Holocaust Museums and educational institutions.


At the Center for Pluralism, we are committed to spreading knowledge of the Holocaust and Genocide through interfaith and public events, including the Annual reflections. 



Speakers: 


Robert F. Teitel - Holocaust Story

Dr. Gregory Stanton - Signs of Genocides

Rushan Abbas & Omer Kanat - Uyghur Updates

Dr. Wakar Uddin - Rohingya Update

Muneer Baig - Kashmir Update

Dr. TO Shanavas - India Update

Dr. Rani Khan - Peace Pledge

Dr. Mike Ghouse - Genesis of this event

Rabia Baig - Mistress of Ceremony


Volunteers:


Nausheen Baig

Rabbi Alana Suskin

Jafer Imam

Dr. Zafar Iqbal

Charles Stevenson


Sponsors:


Would you like to be a sponsor?

Our budget is $2000, full or any part 


Co-Chairs:


Dr. Rani Khan

Dr. Mike Ghouse


Organized by:


Center for Pluralism


Our format consists of four parts; Interfaith prayers, Holocaust, Genocides, Massacred and the Pledge of Peace. Silently, we will acknowledge all suffering, but physically we are limited to a few Genocides each year. 


 This year, a Holocaust survivor will share his story, followed by updated Uyghur, Rohingya, and the signs of making of Genocide in India. I urge everyone to watch the Schindler's list and Civil War movies to grasp the signs.


I believe, when we acknowledge each other's grief and participate in each other's commemoration, we connect with the humanness within ourselves and seed the relationship of understanding and caring for each other. 


There is a shameless cruelty in us, either we shy away or refuse to acknowledge the sufferings of others, worrying that it will devalue our own, or amounts to infidelity to our pain, and every community and nation has suffered through this. To all those who have endured the Holocaust, Genocides, Massacres, Ethnic Cleansing, Land Mines, Hunger, Rape, Torture, Occupation, Expulsion, and inhuman brutality, we must say, you are not alone. The least we can do in the process of healing is to acknowledge every one's pain in one voice. 

 

I cannot be safe if the people around me are not, and I will not have peace if people around me don't. It is in my interest to seek a peaceful world for one and all.


This is a Muslim initiative to assure fellow humans who have endured the Holocaust, Genocide, ethnic cleansing, massacres, rapes, injustice and other atrocities that we are all in this together to create a better world. Tikkun Olam is our sacred duty. 

 


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List of Supporting Organizations (links embedded)

Published at 148 News Outlets
A few are listed below 

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