Daily Times

A world divided by language, culture, and religion must become one when it comes to protecting life, preserving nature, and promoting mankind. Gone are the days when the world was not a global village backed by corporate missions and marketing, but a one where people from various cultures worked peacefully in countries other than their native land. While the same trend is being pursued by Asians and Far East Asian communities as they settled abroad for greener pastures of employment, the welcome they received has faded away to some extent.

Societies and communities of one country are a micro-level representation of what is transpiring at the macro-level, across the world. During the 1990s, following the Gulf War in the Middle East, many Pakistanis had to return home after serving in Middle Eastern countries. This conflict bred insecurities in the minds of the Pakistanis and people from other nationalities living in the Middle East. Similarly, following the 9/11 attacks in the USA, the authorities looked upon the US residents of non-American descent as a threat to their national security. Much of this fear was induced into the Americans by the media. Otherwise, it was the same Mujahideen that had fought Washington’s war in Afghanistan against the Russians during the Cold War.

Even if expats earn a livelihood in countries such as the US, Australia, Canada, Europe, and the Far East, they will always remain second-grade citizens. A tolerant society breeds such values in the citizens to accept second-grade citizens as their own

A tolerant society is one that does not harbor insecurities or does not breed self-doubt. Mutual understanding, sharing and caring, and accepting other’s points of view are imperative to nurture a mindset of tolerance. The lifetime of our Holy Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) is evidence of numerous incidents where he could have exercised retaliation upon those who brought injustice to his family, but he remained tolerant. He and his companions did stand up and fight against the forces of injustice, unprovoked aggression, and oppression, but they were tolerant to others when it came to forgiveness and accepting them as they are.

The first term of Donald Trump as the President of the United States of America was a period when tolerance coming out of Washington was at its lowest. In 2017, while addressing a public gathering, Donald Trump vowed to build a wall at the Mexico border. Such a moment of intolerance must never dawn upon any nation for freedom to live and to live peacefully is the right of all nationalities.A wave of mistrust has evidently enveloped the world under its dark spell during the last couple of decades. Each country is fighting for the rights of its citizen. Even if expats earn a livelihood in countries such as the US, Australia, Canada, Europe, and the Far East, they will always remain second-grade citizens. A tolerant society breeds such values in the citizens to accept second-grade citizens as their own. Similarly, in Karachi, communities such as Bohri, Parsi, Khoja have been living peacefully.The International Day for Tolerance by the UN celebrated on November 16 is a reminder in this regard for humankind to accept each other and look above and beyond differences.

The world needs a lesson in spreading tolerance. It must pursue and accept the power of acceptance when meeting and greeting people from another land. Take for instance the example of Karachi. After the independence of Pakistan, Karachi was a tourist destination that welcomed Americans, Canadians, and Europeans. They visited Karachi and other parts of Pakistan. Even the American space crew of Apollo 17 including astronauts Eugene Cernan, Ronald Evans, and Harrison Schmitt paid a state visit to Karachi. Their motorcade traveled on the streets of Karachi with people lining up across the street to greet them. Che Ernesto Guevara, Argentine Marxist revolutionary, visited Karachi in 1959 and met with Pakistan’s first military dictator, Ayub Khan. Such examples from history are a humble reminder of how open-minded we were as a society. There was tolerance and acceptance of the other people no matter what culture or religion they represented. The seeds that produce tolerance, acceptance, and broad-mindedness must be sown with humility, trust, and conviction to make tolerance embedded in our society and lifestyle.

The writer is an independent researcher, author and columnist