M.D. Nalapat
Manipal, India —
The Muslim World League, an organization funded by King Abdullah of Saudi
Arabia, held its third interreligious dialogue in Geneva from Sept. 30 to Oct.
1.
The previous two
meetings were held a year ago in Spain and Austria. Of these, the Madrid
Conference was distinguished both by its imaginative choice of locale, given
the historically troubled history between Spain and the Muslim world, as well
as the enthusiastic participation of Spain’s King Juan Carlos himself.
As for Austria,
which is the home of Gerald Mader's European Peace University, it is a
picturesque location to hold an international meeting – convened to discuss how
best to operate in practice the "Initiative of the custodian of the two
Holy Mosques (King Abdullah) on interreligious dialogue and its impact on
disseminating human values."
In the 18th and
19th centuries, and even in much of the 20th, there was a case for treating
Europe as the "Middle Kingdom," the center of the universe. Asians,
Africans and South Americans had almost no say in world matters, and exceptions
such as Thailand were under the tutelage of one or the other European powers.
Since India won
its freedom in 1947 and China began to develop economically in the 1980s, there
has been a change in this situation. Global discussions should no longer be
confined only to countries within Europe and those housing the European
Diaspora.
If world issues
are to be comprehensively discussed, there must be participation of individuals
from across the world, a fact recognized by the Muslim World League, which
invited religious leaders and academics from countries in Asia and Africa.
However, such an "integrated" conference – as distinct from
"segregated" ones – runs into problems when held in Switzerland.
While Geneva is
ideal for participants from Europe and North America, who have no visa
restrictions to enter the Swiss Federation and are geographically closer,
citizens of major democracies such as India face severe problems in obtaining a
visa.
This is unlike
some countries in the West that are far bigger than Switzerland. For example,
it took all of two minutes at the U.S. Consulate in Chennai for this columnist
to get his 10-year U.S. visa renewed, while he did not even have to appear in
person in New Delhi to get a five-year visa for the United Kingdom.
However, the
Swiss Embassy in New Delhi – after first saying that it would take ten days to
"process" a visitor visa – with the conference just four days away –
finally came through with a one-month visa that set a limit of just 10 days for
the entire stay in Europe. The message: "You are not welcome in our
country and our continent, so go back as soon as the conference is over,"
an attitude that motivated this columnist to return home to India after just
four days in Geneva.
Hopefully, the
MWL will select the United States and India for its future conferences, as both
are multicultural and multireligious and welcome visitors from across the
globe.
Given such a
cold Swiss welcome to intending visitors from countries where the average
citizen is too poor to have a bank account, it is incomprehensible why so many
international organizations are still based in Geneva – one of the most
expensive cities in the world.
The United
Nations needs to take a hard look at its budget and relocate its numerous
offices in Europe to locations that are far less expensive. Indeed, several
countries would be happy to provide land in major cities free of cost to house
agencies such as the International Human Right Commission and the International
Atomic Energy Agency.
By selling
properties thus vacated, the United Nations would be able to accumulate a
substantial fund that could be spent on the wretched of the earth rather than
on its own staff, who are among the most pampered in the world today in an
organization where 90 percent of its members are poverty ridden.
Unfortunately,
neither this aspect of "reform" nor any other has been seriously
attempted by an organization whose international credibility is rapidly
disappearing.
While this
columnist was fortunate in getting the Swiss authorities – after a fawning
email to the Swiss ambassador in India – to issue a 10-day visa on time, most
other participants from India, including leading scholars of Islam, got their
visas in New Delhi only one day prior to the conference. This resulted in their
arriving late for the conference sessions, as well as fatigued from jet lag and
the visa-syndrome.
In conferences
held in countries that look askance at poorer countries while giving even
visitor visas, several delegates from the underprivileged section of the international
community are unable to attend simply because they are not granted a visa.
If each such
conference were to place on its website a list of those invitees who could not
participate because they were denied visas, the scale of injustice done to such
invitees by the "host" country would be known and perhaps even shame
some into changing their attitude.
Till that time,
international organizations need to identify locations for meetings that are
inexpensive and visa friendly, rather than continue with the hangover of 19th
century attitudes that view certain countries as forming the entire
"international community," despite these countries forming only 15
percent of the total world population.
And as for those
flying Swiss, judging by this columnist's experience, the airline is even less
comfortable to travel than Russia’s Aeroflot. The business class cabin on the
New Delhi-Zurich flight on Sept. 28 had seats that may safely be declared as
antique, as did the return flight on Oct. 2.
In an age of
flatbed seats, the Swiss "business class" seats barely reclined,
while the food, for a vegetarian, was eminently refusable. The connecting
flight from Zurich to Geneva and back had in its business class section three
abreast seats in a nine-seat configuration that even budget airlines in India
would flinch from offering to a customer. This is a contrast to airlines
originating in the Middle East and other parts of Asia where seats are
comfortable and the cuisine superb.
Hopefully, the
Indian Civil Aviation minister will awaken from his slumberette seat and
persuade international airlines to fly better aircraft from and to India,
rather than clunkers.
At the
conference several Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu, Jewish and Christian participants
talked of the need for people of different faiths to respect and have dialogue
with one another. The Saudi organizers ensured that all participants
irrespective of faith felt welcomed, with even a kosher section for Jewish
participants and vegetarian food for Hindus and Buddhists.
Such inclusive
treatment is a welcome change from fears of a "clash of
civilizations," and is a tribute to the hospitality of the Middle East, a
location that hosts millions from across the world.
Sadly the Swiss,
as well as the European media, gave very little attention to the conference,
despite being organized through the support of King Abdullah himself and by a
country that is at the heart of the Muslim world. It would seem that the column
dimensions and headlines are reserved for those few that feed into stereotypes
of hate rather than the overwhelming majority of the globe's population that
seeks to live peaceably together.
-(Professor M.D. Nalapat is vice-chair of the Manipal Advanced
Research Group, UNESCO Peace Chair, and professor of geopolitics at Manipal
University. ©Copyright M.D. Nalapat.)
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