How communities can combat racism hate and extremism
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[Applause]
what
killed 11 jews in a synagogue
in u.s last year
what killed 51 muslims
in a mosque in christchurch this year
what killed 259
christians during easter holiday
in a church in sri lanka this year
what killed them is not the bomb
it’s not the gun what killed them
what killed them was a silent
a far more deadlier weapon
what killed them was prejudice
what killed this people was prejudice
in the name of islamophobia
anti-semitism
xenophobia terrorism
what killed them was an extreme
manifestation
of prejudice prejudice
which anyone else might carry
prejudice which some of us face
prejudice is a common human experience
when we don’t know someone enough and
they’re different from us
we form preconceived opinions
we would based on whatever information
we have come up with an idea
of who they could be when we
are only fed with negative information
we project negative attitudes
negative feeling that
is prejudice that vacuum
relationship of not knowing enough
not wanting to know enough that vacuum
relationship
develops prejudice i had an experience
about four years ago i was in a taxi
and we went for some distance at a
traffic light stop
the taxi driver asked this question that
took me back
he asked me if i know how to make bombs
i couldn’t believe what he asked
i couldn’t believe that that happened to
me
in singapore my country
known worldwide for racial and religious
harmony
there is a man who asked me if i know
how to make bombs
bombs that killed people
i replied back immediately i was angry i
replied to him
i do know how to make do you want to
learn how to make one too
he smirked before i could reply to him
my sister tapped on me
asked me to calm down so that we can go
home
safely and peacefully but
i was furious my mind was crackling with
questions why why did he ask me that
question
was it funny for him was it amusing
did he not know that it was
inconsiderate
was it because i was wearing a scarf
the very disturbing question was it
islamophobic question
over the years whenever i do my hash
piece programs i would share about this
with people
everyone felt that he was ignorant and
it wasn’t islam of a big question
but you see he’s not the only one
15.6 of respondents from the institute
of policy study survey
find muslims somewhat or very
threatening
15.6 of my population
might fear muslims
why what is so scary about a person like
me
researchers say that this association of
muslims with global terror
is a fear that has set in many people
and when they
lack the exposure and don’t have the
opportunity to know
muslims especially muslims like me
better that fear
remains unchallenged
they walk around thinking that people
like me will blow them up
fifteen point six percent of people
might think like that
how do we resolve this what can we do
about it
martin buber scholar theologian
philosopher
he has this idea of genuine dialogue
which is what started me
to to start my hash peace movement
genuine dialogue it’s not a conversation
it’s not a talk
genuine dialogue is
probably a solution that is effective
to clear away prejudice from people let
me share with you
before tweenie before october this year
you would never find me in a photo like
that
i absolutely resisted and disliked being
in a room with women who wear face wheel
even though we are from the same
religion it made me very uncomfortable
they were different from me and that
difference is not okay with me
i’m not comfortable and from the little
that i know about them i thought they
were conservative
they were narrow-minded and to them
women like me
not good women
so i i would i would avoid it
but this year as part of our hashps
program i had an opportunity to have an
audience with some students from islamic
institute in india
so i visited them and then i was told
that face
veil would be part of the dress code and
i was like no way
i think i should back out but that’s the
purpose of the work i do
to step into such zones i went
about three hours i was surprised at who
i met
that room has orators as poets
as web designers
i changed my opinion about them they had
such strong
individualistic view some of them have
very strong political views as well
moderate politicals we saw eye to eye
beyond that cloth
my prejudice changed into a positive
feeling
because of that dialogue i could create
with that
that genuine dialogue requires
a very important aspect that is a
relationship that we establish
now if i had walked into that room
and thought of those women as the muslim
women wearing face calf
i would have been the other in the room
the one
not wearing the face cuff
so how could i connect with them i saw
them as someone who likes to travel
as someone who also appreciates poem i
found
that connecting link that
in between that allowed me to create a
dialogue with them
but it’s not so easy
because genuine dialogue requires honest
relationship
for you to have honest relationship you
need to admit and
face the very factor that divides this
group of people
the elephant in this room is not
the choice of clothing what
actually divided us what made me
uncomfortable with women like that
it is the difference in disagreement in
the
philosophy of modesty
we did not agree on that aspect which is
why we could never come together
i had to face that i had to walk into
the room
knowing who i am and that allowed me and
they were very welcoming of me
i didn’t feel uncomfortable at all i was
wrong all this illusion i had about them
went away but you see establishing that
relationship is also quite difficult
let me share with you a very challenging
time i had
the muslim community is divided into
many branches and
two main branches are this sunni and
shia muslims i come from the dominant
sunnish
muslims category and when i was invited
to meet a group of sham muslims
i was not so sure if that’s a good idea
to do
you see same same different is easy to
handle
same same not same very difficult very
confusing
i was like if this was the group that i
was taught to
hate this was the group of people
i was told a deviant from our belief
they were not us they do not follow what
we do
and i was told we do not use the word
shah and muslim in the same sentence
these were the views that were engrained
in me for over 30 years
how do i unwire this and walk into a
room
and engage with these people will
talking to them
make me acceptance of the deviance will
i become wrong
will people in my community accept me
will i be kicked out
so many questions so many fear so much
of worry
but i went i sat in i couldn’t agree
with a lot of things
because what i believe is what i believe
but i could engage with them i met
mothers i met brothers
i met people who liked the same food and
we managed to establish
a sort of a trust yes we disagree we
still disagree
we didn’t change what we believe in but
yet we could
engage our trust level i walked out
knowing that
should something happen should some
threat happen to our social harmony i
know these people would stand with me
but it was difficult it’s mentally
exhausting
to be able to unwire yourself and rewire
yourself
and engineer yourself to be in such
situations
and listen to people you have been told
to disagree
and you did disagree
but how do we overcome that
over the years from all the dialogues
and the conversations that i had
i realized this two characteristics if
developed
could help with this confidence
and courage
confidence my mother always said if you
were confident
about who you are if you
know what you believe in you’re clear
in your thought of what shapes you you
can walk into any room
you can go anywhere and not be worried
about the external factors that will
falter you
that confidence when i walked into the
room
with women who wear face veil i was very
confident that my choice
was a good choice i made that choice i
was very confident
nothing will threaten me nothing nothing
will make me question
that confidence takes years takes
comfort
you need to be comfortable with yourself
courage when i
accepted the invitation from the muslims
and i went to meet them
i told myself i will take anything that
comes at me for doing so
i will face any criticism
any sarcasm any consequences
for doing so because i know i had to do
this
i had a prejudice i need to resolve it
so i courageously made up my mind
to take whatever comes now without that
courage you will not be able to sit
through situations
which require you to change your
perspective of people
who are very different from you and you
don’t agree with
so confidence and courage helps you
to overcome the elephants in the room
the wrong ideas in the room
the misconceptions and it will help you
find that middle ground the common space
where you can engage with that you see
dialogue genuine dialogue is not
a process it’s an outcome that outcome
requires you to establish a relationship
and for that we need to work towards it
we need to take effort can you imagine
if this
micro level dialogues that i had with
just two
encounters are scaled up if
everyone could take an effort can you
imagine the impact it would have
on the racial religious harmony all my
dialogues all my interactions took about
three hours
three hours and that three hours i
changed my opinion
about women who wears face male i
changed my opinion
about a group that for over 30 years i
was told to hate and avoid
just three hours now if every one of us
could just spend that three hours
that three hours will let us decide if
we live in harmony
or healed just
three hours thank you
[Applause]
you