By: Melvin Samuel
Sadhvi Bhagawati Saraswati, Secretary-General, Global Interfaith WASH Alliance, Parmarth Niketan, Rishikesh and Co-President, Religions for Peace was an esteemed speaker at the historic International Conference on Cohesive Societies from September 06 – 08 in Singapore. The Conference was organized by the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth, the Government of Singapore and S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies University. With the theme of Confident Identities, Connected Communities the 3-day conference brought together policy leaders, educationalists, civil society and faith leaders to discuss how best to create peaceful, cohesive societies.
The Conference was opened by Ms Halimah Yacob, the President of Singapore and Sadhviji was a speaker in the first plenary session after the opening. The Plenary Session was titled How Faith Can Bridge the Divide and explored the important role of faith leaders and faith communities in bringing about connected, cohesive societies and ending polarization and violence. Other speakers on her panel included: Lord John Alderdice, First Speaker of the Ireland Assembly, Imam Uzair Akbar, President of Council of imams, Australia and Venerable Shi You Guang, Secretary-General, Singapore Buddhist Federation. Other speakers at the Conference included the Deputy Prime Minister of Singapore, Lawrence Wong, Minister of Culture, Community and Youth Government of Singapore Edwin Tong, leaders from the United Nations, Religions for Peace and many others. Approximately 800 people joined in physical attendance and many others joined online from around the world.
In her remarks, Sadhviji shared, “Religion at its core is that which is meant to connect the US – connect us to God, connect us to our truest self, connect us to our communities, to each other and religion is meant to connect us to a path of righteous living that brings a structure of understanding, order, higher values, ethics and morality to our individual lives and to our collective societies. Tragically, too frequently, that energy of CONNECTION has shifted into the energy of DISCONNECTION, divisiveness, othering and polarization. ” She shared the great work being done by the Global Interfaith WASH Alliance, co-founded and chaired by Pujya Swami Chidanand Saraswatiji, to unite leaders of different faiths together for a common cause – clean water, sanitation, hygiene, environmental protection, gender equality and climate change abatement.
“This connection of the leaders, coming together, not only has been immeasurably powerful and impactful in transforming beliefs and actions around the specific campaigns but also these connections, these friendships, have enabled us to also help dissolve borders between us and them, to end scapegoating and polarization, to bring about harmony in the society.”
President of Singapore Halimah Yacob said: “Societies cannot survive without the social glue that bonds people together…. National resilience and stability are the results of people working together towards a common cause, united in the face of challenges and threats facing a country…. Cohesive societies do not exist spontaneously. They are borne of choice and conviction. The pandemic has reinforced this.”
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