HOME | ABOUT US | Speaker | Americans Together | Videos | www.CenterforPluralism.com | Please note that the blog posts include my own articles plus selected articles critical to India's cohesive functioning. My articles are exclusively published at www.TheGhouseDiary.com You can send an email to: MikeGhouseforIndia@gmail.com

Showing posts with label Pluralism Speaker. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Pluralism Speaker. Show all posts

Sunday, January 19, 2020

Holocaust and Genocides event

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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Monday, October 7, 2019

Restoring India to her Glory Days


Instead of living in fear, if we feel secure, our energies will be spent on progress and prosperity that will benefit every Indian.

The purpose of the following suggestions are to restore righteousness in India, where every Indian feels secure about his life, family, work, retirement, and minds his/her own life. 
 
Lynching, harassment, rapes are continuing against fellow Indians. Now, there are songs in the market blatantly spreading hatred for others. A majority of Indians are not aware of these, as they continue to deny it. God bless them for their ignorance.  

The responsible Indians who want the best for India can consider these items:

Set up law firms in every city and file a lawsuit to stop this non-sense; the law of the land is always with the righteous.

Set up Internet cells to correct the misinformation floating in the market.

Indians for a secure India

Write your suggestions to MikeGhouseforIndia@Gmail.com 


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Saturday, August 31, 2019

Can Modi Save India?

This article was published in several newspapers including News & Views and Counter-Currents 

Indian-American author Ghouse argues that only the majoritarian ruler can do it

by Mike GhouseAugust 24, 2019

The early warning signals coming out of India are blaring, as a disaster has been in the making for years. The unfolding crisis – not just in Kashmir but in mainland India – threatens to tear the nation apart, severely impairing the economic prosperity gained in the last twenty years.

Terrorism as seen in some conflict-hit countries like Afghanistan has not been a part of India, but the conditions are ripe to give birth to the monster. The United States has much to lose – first the huge investments made by Americans, and most importantly losing the imaginary bulwark America has made India be against China's rise or ‘expansion of communism.’

I think, the man in charge of the country, Prime Minister Narendra Modi , can still save India if he listens to the sane voices and restores the rule of law, and freedom to every Indian to pursue his/her life, liberty, and happiness.

The downfall can still be reversed, provided Modi sees the full picture.

Photo: Screenshot/VOA YouTube Video

Let’s picture an ideal society that functions cohesively, where each member of the community feels secure about his/her income, business, faith, culture, language, and ethnicity. When one is free from tensions and fears, he or she will be super productive and enriches his community. Indeed, the prosperity of a nation is directly proportional to its freedom, in the case of India, it is religious freedom. The economic success of the United States is directly attributable to freedom. One should be free to eat, drink, wear, think, speak, and believe whatever the individual wants in the pursuit of his/her happiness.

That’s the central lesson of the “2008 Index of Economic Freedom,” released by The Heritage Foundation and The Wall Street Journal. “A country-by-country survey of how free people are worldwide to direct their economic fortunes; the Index repeatedly demonstrates the vital link between freedom and prosperity. In simple words, the freer the people are, the more an economy grows — and the more everyone benefits.”

Gill and Owen in a paper “Religious Liberty and Economic prosperity,” write in a Cato Publication: “A casual glance suggests nations that have developed strong legal guarantees of religious freedom are also ones that have had long-term sustained economic growth (Grim and Finke 2011).”

The reality is grim – the Indian Christians, Muslims, Sikhs, moderate Hindus, and Dalits are not feeling secure. Every day is laden with tensions, and everyone is apprehensive about walking alone on the street lest he/she be beaten, harassed, raped, or even lynched. An act of lynching is not carried out just on the pretext of the other eating beef of a sacred animal – cow-  but it clearly is a demands on the targeted people to renounce their religion.

Asifa Bano, an 8-year-old girl raped and murdered in Indian Jammu and Kashmir
Photo: Screenshot

Let this be clear; the innocent majorities believe that everyone around them is treated fairly and equitably as they are treated. Neither the moderate white majority understands the fear a black man feels when he sits behind the wheel to go to work, nor does the moderate Hindu majority understands the concern a Muslim, Christian or a Dalit man or a woman feels walking alone on a given street in Modi’s India.

The number of Muslims and Dalits who are sacrificed number over 115 now. Muslims are afraid to get out on the street, lest someone lynches them for the suspicion of carrying beef. Recently, a woman was hung to a tree and beaten non-stop while a crowd gathered around and watched the shameless act. An individual was hacked to death with bare stones and an ax publicly, and they videotaped the gory murder for the world to watch. A Dalit man was chased and set on fire this week.

Does Modi recognize the ruthless, mindless, and violent new generation of Indians he is fostering, is that the kind of Indians he wishes for India?

Last year, the men who gang-raped and brutally murdered a six-year-old girl in a Hindu temple was greeted with garlands by Modi’s men as if they were heroes. Two years ago, Chief Minister Yogi stood on the podium next to a man who announced to the extremists to dig out dead Muslim women from the graves and rape them.

Indian Muslim must be appreciated; they have shown extraordinary resilience and patience. Despite the lynching’s and injustices, they have not resorted to violence, unlike their counterparts in other nations. Presidents Bush, Obama, and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh have appreciated Indian Muslims.

It is time for Modi to do the same and stop the growing discord. If he thinks he can remain silent while his men harass and subjugate nearly 1/3rd of Indians comprising Muslims, Dalits, and Christians, he is wrong, it will destroy Indian and American Interests.

There is a limit to pushing, harassing, and lynching, and it needs to be stopped before it blows up.

Now consider the consequences of failure.

What if Indian Muslims, Christians, and Dalits cannot take it anymore and resort to violence? What will happen to the economy, investments from overseas, and the political stability of the nation? Every Indian will live in hell should that happen.  No Indian will live in peace.
Modi has a choice. He can save India, or he can let it be destroyed from within.

Prime Minister Modi’s party, the BJP, lives in the past. The RSS wants to get even with Muslims of Independent India for the acts committed by a king or two some three hundred years ago. If the facts matter to Modi, almost all the kings of yesteryears, be it Hindu, Muslim, Jewish, Sikh or Christian expanded their territories by killing the resisting neighbors. None of them ruled for the sake of religion but for their own gain, they cleverly duped the people then, as they do now.

The Muslims of independent India should be held accountable for the acts they commit as any other Indian citizen would.

Should one be punished for the actions of his grandfather or even father?

I hope Modi restores the rule of law and prevents India from getting a certificate of Particular Concern by the Department of State? Would the conscientious mega-corporations and investors continue to partner with India or hold back for lack of stability?  In that case, the ultimate losers are the Hindu businesses and individuals who have seen prosperity in the last two decades, all will be gone.

As things stand today, if Modi cannot change the mindset of the mobs, no one else can.

All he is required to do is frequently and boldly announce that anyone who harasses another Indian will meet severe punishment, and then follow his words with actions.
That is all it takes to save India from going into unprecedented chaos.

 But, will Modi choose to do so?

Dr. Mike Ghouse is committed to building cohesive societies and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day. Mike’s mission is to open people's hearts, minds, and souls towards each other. He believes that the ultimate purpose of humans is to live freely and be comfortable with their culture, race, religion, ethnicity, sexuality, and individuality. Mike is a public speaker, author, interfaith wedding officiant, a newsmaker and the executive director of the Center for Pluralism in Washington, DC. More about him in three formats at https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikeghouse/


 


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