Session 23 Religious Conflicts

"Once started, religious strife has a tendency to go on and on, to become permanent feuds. Today we see such intractable inter-religious wars in Northern Ireland, between Jews and Muslims and Christians in Palestine, Hindus and Muslims in South Asia and in many other places. Attempts to bring about peace have failed again and again. Always the extremist elements invoking past injustices, imagined or real, will succeed in torpedoing the peace efforts and bringing about another bout of hostility." Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir Mohamad, Prime Minister of Malaysia, addressing the World Evangelical Fellowship on 2001-MAY-4. 4. Media always describe the most conflicts going on in the world as ‘ethnic conflicts’ but in reality most of these clashes between people and even between states are originated due to the differences of religion. The famous conflict between India and Pakistan on the issue of Kashmir is basically because of the difference in the religion of both countries. Pakistan claims as there are more Muslims so it should be part of us while India demands that Hindus also live there so it should come in our territory. This has all lead to a very chronically stable state. Both being the nuclear powers have also contributed in destabilizing the state. Thirty to sixty thousand people have died since 1989 because of the intolerance both the countries have towards each other’s religions and they just made Kashmir a war zone where they come and play their games.  Kashmir is like an old lady who has not given the right to choose with which country she wanted to be a part of. A plebiscite would be the obvious solution, except that either Pakistan or India -- whichever country polls show would lose the plebiscite that’s why they always refuse to allow one.