| by Ishara de Silva
( March 25, 2013, London, Sri Lanka Guardian) Not so long ago, on China’s visit to Russia, one of the common bonds the two nations expressed was a shared vision of a bi-polar world. There is capitalism and communism, but there can also be a third force – in South Asia, which cherishes its own religious heritage, without extremism.
As I write, a new study is being prepared in California on the idea of Rebirth, or an afterlife, by Professor John Martin Fischer, an expert of philosophy, who is the project leader. He has been given millions of dollars to study the phenomena – and Eternalism!
But the idea of Rebirth is a quintessentially South Asian idea – at root, an idea that has huge ramifications for war and moral conduct generally, something that South Asia should be proud of, to say the least.
But you don’t need to believe in Rebirth, to go beyond capitalism and communism. For, one can engage in spiritual conduct, politically, regardless, and work together on common themes without blaming, an idea that I call You-Valuism, a step beyond both capitalism and communism.
A You-Value polity, not just society, is what is meant.
The fault, I think, with both capitalist and communist forms of governance is the emphasis is on goods, not people, on costs, not happiness.
At present, South Asia is in a transitory stage, as it will be - always. These are forever changing realms, this planet earth that we experience daily.
Just recently, Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa has criticised the US-sponsored UNHRC resolution against his country and said the such "attacks would not defeat or intimidate us".
"This attack would not surprise us at all. These attacks would not subdue us either, nor would they defeat or intimidate us in any way", Rajapaksa said in the northwestern provincial district Kurunegala's military headquarters.
The President said he was expecting such attacks from the pro-LTTE diaspora and anti-Sri Lanka elements when he was leading his army to militarily crush the LTTE's separatist campaign.
He also termed all allegations against his government as "false accusations with ulterior motives".
Alongside this, in South Asia, The Pakistan Taliban have reportedly threatened to assassinate former military ruler Pervez Musharraf even as he has been granted pre-arrest bail by a Pakistani court.
Issuing a clear warning, Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) spokesman Ihsanullah Ihsan said Musharraf will be the "main target" of the militants on his return. Ihsan asked Musharraf to surrender to the Taliban. In a video released, Saturday, the TTP has threatened that if Musharraf comes back to Pakistan then their suicide bombers and snipers will send him to “hell”, as per reports. In the six-minute video, both Ihsan and Adnan Rashid referred to the 2007 military raid on the radical Lal Masjid in Islamabad and said, "We will not leave you alive."
In Nepal, meanwhile, a United Nations Asia-Pacific regional seminar on human rights, sexual orientation and gender identity just called for the need for better laws to curb homophobic violence and discrimination in the society. Inaugurating the two-day seminar, Nepalese Minister for Women, Children and Social Welfare Riddhi Baba Pradhan emphasised the need for legal, institutional and policy reforms in Nepal and elsewhere in taking the LGBTI (Lesbian, Gay, Bio-sex, Trans-gender and Intersex) movement forward.
The prevalence and gravity of homophobic violence and discrimination in the society is alarming, human rights officer, UN Headquarters Nikolaus Schultz said. "We should all be outraged when members of our human family are verbally abused, physically assaulted, arrested and sometimes killed simply because of whom they love or how they look," he said.
All these cases, reveal the need for a more spiritual approach to solving strife in the region and afar – and the phenomena of Rebirth is a help even if not a prerequisite. Spiritual politics – or You-Valuism – would help make a tri-polar world, at least at start, unless other regions follow suit, a much needed reality, and South Asia is good place to start.
About the author:
Ishara de Silva has worked at the BBC, The Guardian (UK), The Metro (UK) and was appointed onto the Opinion Leader panel (UK) during his editorship of the Asian Times newspaper, Britain’s first national paper for the South Asian community. He has also written in Sri Lanka’s Island newspaper (online edition).
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