thinking of Anarkali Kaur Honaryar and Ranjinder Singh
Anarkali Kaur is 25 years old and Ranjinder Singh is 78 years old. They are both Sikh. Anarkali is a part of the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission .
Ranjinder Singh wants to be the first non-white member of the British National Party (BNP) . Mr Singh though, has to wait on the BNP to change its constitution after being 'forced' to do so. He feels that the BNP and he have a common 'concern' about "Islam" and its impact in Britain. Mr Singh says Every Hindu and Sikh should praise the BNP, because 'Islam' it seems is the common enemy of all three. Never mind that some members of the BNP could not tell the difference between Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims (and I wonder if the BNP members have never met any caucasian Muslims)
Anarkali Kaur is a Sikh woman living in Afghanistan, dealing with several brands of Islam - the Taliban brutality which seeks to supress girls who want to educate themselves, and the women who she says come to the Commission because they want to assert their rights. A Swami in Guyana referred last Saturday night to those religions which have no problem "throwing acid on girls who want to go to school" and bombing schools referring to Afghanistan and Pakistan. I wanted to scream at the Swami, that hey hey, those girls and their parents are also Muslim, and that in that other Muslim country, Iran the literacy rate of women is probably higher than some of the 'Hindu' parts of India.
This thing with enemy of my enemy being my friend, I was shocked when a devout Hindu colleague told me that one thing he would agree with the Muslims about was that they stone gay people, that he wished that gay and lesbian people should commit suicide. I thought to myself, why dont you go and live and worship in those 'Muslim' countries where they do that. Ironically, it was the work I did on gay rights in Guyana that gave me insights into the diversity of Islam, and its adherents.
Hinduism is probably the only religion where it is complicated by the wonderful diversity of beliefs, which sometimes are not always accepted (I am not going to do any animal sacrifices soon, hypocritical probably since I am not vegetarian and probably eat meat which other people have sacrificed without knowing it.. ) Swamiji encouraged the audience to realise and accept that there are diverse forms of belief and no one should claim any one above the other.
Left to the media and my own devices, I no doubt would have felt that mainstream Islam was this dreadful stern repressive religion which posed a threat to world peace. One of the joys of being with Help & Shelter, is the honour of being in Muslim spaces talking about domestic violence, and being able to facilitate those discussions with Muslim women and men. A Hindu friend was surprised when I told him about this interactions , saying he did not know that "Muslims' would be so "Liberal".. Neither was I in the beginning, I remember saying "is it okay for a Hindu to enter a mosque" and when the opening prayers were read I remember muttering "Oh Saraswati Mata , I am hope I am in the right place doing the right thing and that you and Allah make sure that I do not screw up here.."
In Afghanistan, Hinduism and Sikhism have been a casualty of the conflict. In the UK, Hinduism and Sikhism are not under threat. Ranjinder Singh and Anarkali Kaur show us different ways of deciding who Hindus (and Sikhs) should praise, and different ways of living with people who we could easily consider enemies.
Ranjinder Singh wants to be the first non-white member of the British National Party (BNP) . Mr Singh though, has to wait on the BNP to change its constitution after being 'forced' to do so. He feels that the BNP and he have a common 'concern' about "Islam" and its impact in Britain. Mr Singh says Every Hindu and Sikh should praise the BNP, because 'Islam' it seems is the common enemy of all three. Never mind that some members of the BNP could not tell the difference between Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims (and I wonder if the BNP members have never met any caucasian Muslims)
Anarkali Kaur is a Sikh woman living in Afghanistan, dealing with several brands of Islam - the Taliban brutality which seeks to supress girls who want to educate themselves, and the women who she says come to the Commission because they want to assert their rights. A Swami in Guyana referred last Saturday night to those religions which have no problem "throwing acid on girls who want to go to school" and bombing schools referring to Afghanistan and Pakistan. I wanted to scream at the Swami, that hey hey, those girls and their parents are also Muslim, and that in that other Muslim country, Iran the literacy rate of women is probably higher than some of the 'Hindu' parts of India.
This thing with enemy of my enemy being my friend, I was shocked when a devout Hindu colleague told me that one thing he would agree with the Muslims about was that they stone gay people, that he wished that gay and lesbian people should commit suicide. I thought to myself, why dont you go and live and worship in those 'Muslim' countries where they do that. Ironically, it was the work I did on gay rights in Guyana that gave me insights into the diversity of Islam, and its adherents.
Hinduism is probably the only religion where it is complicated by the wonderful diversity of beliefs, which sometimes are not always accepted (I am not going to do any animal sacrifices soon, hypocritical probably since I am not vegetarian and probably eat meat which other people have sacrificed without knowing it.. ) Swamiji encouraged the audience to realise and accept that there are diverse forms of belief and no one should claim any one above the other.
Left to the media and my own devices, I no doubt would have felt that mainstream Islam was this dreadful stern repressive religion which posed a threat to world peace. One of the joys of being with Help & Shelter, is the honour of being in Muslim spaces talking about domestic violence, and being able to facilitate those discussions with Muslim women and men. A Hindu friend was surprised when I told him about this interactions , saying he did not know that "Muslims' would be so "Liberal".. Neither was I in the beginning, I remember saying "is it okay for a Hindu to enter a mosque" and when the opening prayers were read I remember muttering "Oh Saraswati Mata , I am hope I am in the right place doing the right thing and that you and Allah make sure that I do not screw up here.."
In Afghanistan, Hinduism and Sikhism have been a casualty of the conflict. In the UK, Hinduism and Sikhism are not under threat. Ranjinder Singh and Anarkali Kaur show us different ways of deciding who Hindus (and Sikhs) should praise, and different ways of living with people who we could easily consider enemies.
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