Throbbing in the billions of year end greetings of Happy Hanukhah, Merry Christmas is the rousing collective wish of our hearts for peace on earth. We express the same wish implicitly and explicitly at other times too when we wish Eid Mubarak, Happy Diwali and any number of other greetings of different cultures and faiths in different languages. Bundled and wrapped in our simple Happy New Year wish, without more, are the spiritual and the secular hopes and dreams of human beings the world over. In a pulsating human heart hope springs eternal. Or so the expression goes.
As I sit down at my computer to craft a few lines to share with the readers of my blog I am overcome by conflicting emotions of despair and hope; sadness and joy. It feels as if the heart oscillates pendulum like travelling the chasm between them. My heart like most seeks more joy than sadness and more hope than despair. Often I too succumb to the weight of death and destruction in the world; but more often I celebrate defiantly the good in the world, dream, work and now write for a better world.
As I write these lines the flames of terror and violence continue to consume the world. Tide is turning against ISIL/ISIS but it still continues to terrorise a significant part of the Middle East. In some areas the Kurds and Iraqis have beaten it back. That is the good news. But Turkey's lack of resolve and action against elements of ISIS that have operated and obtained support from within its borders remains a huge disappointment and a problem. To add to that terrible truth the current Islamist government of Turkey has unleashed a major campaign of intimidation, repression and persecution of free press within its borders. The Islamist Erdogan government is dismantling Ata Turk's Turkey and the dreams of millions of it's secular citizens, one law and one step at a time.
Obama is beginning to find his lost groove on hope and change. He has finally stood up for fair treatment of the undocumented workers and their children. The mind bogglingly dumb and counterproductive embargo of Cuba is about to end. US and Cuba have promised to resume diplomatic relations. There have been ongoing demonstrations for changing the culture of American police and its treatment of blacks. It now seems hopeful the tragic deaths of Brown in Ferguson, Garner in New York and others including those of the two cops at the hands of a deranged police hater in New York will not go in vain but change America for the better. Hope stirs again.
Ukraine and Russia are still at loggerheads. One hopes saner heads will soon prevail. That is a difficult problem. But there are far worse problems in parts of Africa. Fortunately we are collectively beginning to get an upper hand against Ebola. But we need to help Nigeria more to subdue Boko Haram. Then there is Al Shabaab, the terrorist outfit that just launched an assault on the forces of the UN and the African Union. Like ISIS and Boko Haram rape and butchery of societies and peoples it doesn't like is Al Shabaab's creed. It's claim to a belief in any other creed is a fraud and a lie. Western and Middle Eastern players should be joined by other powers and countries of the world to stop and destroy the menace represented by the likes of ISIS/ISIL and Boko Haram and Al Shabaaab. We must confront all terrorists. We must dare to dream of a world free of hate and butchery of terrorism.
The Nobel Committee's recognition of Krishan Satyarthi and Mala Yousafzai for children's rights and girls' education lent courage and hope to many in the world. The murder of 132 school children by Taliban in Peshawar momentarily dashed those hopes. We can't let the terrorists smother the hopes and dreams of our children anywhere in the world. We must not succumb to the silence even in the face of a barrel of a gun. We must have a million Malalas shout and defy the gun shots of terror; to dream and to aspire.
In Canada the continuing shame of the several hundred missing and murdered aboriginal women in Canada cries out for a public inquiry. I have written about it before too. I know there was an inquiry in BC on this issue. A national inquiry is demanded by the aboriginal communities and warranted. Believing the BC inquiry has provided all the answers, if at all, is to presume the aboriginal communities across the countries aren't unique. Different experiences of different communities may provide answers and solutions; different from those found in the BC Inquiry. I know Mr. Harper has recently and once again rejected this call. Prime Minister Harper is a bright man. I would urge him to reconsider his position. To call an inquiry in this matter is the right thing to do. Here is hoping Mr. Harper would surprise us all and do it.
It may not always feel so to us but a more egalitarian, peaceful and prosperous world is within our grasp if only we dared challenge the curse of our often self imposed blinders of the status quo. Change beckons. We just need to open our hearts and minds to the possibility and summon up the courage to stand up and be counted; as Mahatma Gandhi so inimitably said: Be the change you want.
For me personally there is lot of toil on the horizon; toil that I have decided to undertake. Some days ago I wrote a blog post titled: What next for me? In that piece I indicated a change of emphasis. I have decided I shall continue to write about Canadian issues. Canada is my adopted land and the only land my children and grandchildren are attached to. But I have always felt the urge to give back to the country of my ancestors, birth and nurture. HENCE I will make fighting corruption in India one of my focuses. Whether from here or there remains to be seen.
Happy New Year! May we all work toward making 2015 a year of peace and progress for the world! Peace on Earth!!