Politicians to have
'dialogue among civilizations'
By: Mahendra VED
TIMES NEWS
NETWORK [SUNDAY, JULY 06, 2003 08:34:48 PM]
NEW DELHI: Can a "dialogue among civilisations'' - like the one which India will host under UNESCO aegis from Wednesday - solve the world's problems especially when it is dominated by politicians and officials? Are they not often perceived as perpetrators of much of the wrongs in the world?
"It is not a question of solving problems. Any dialogue between people is worthwhile. It is a sort of counter-veiling force to the negative trends - religious bigotry, terrorism, ethnic strife and the war mongering,'' says Dr Karan Singh, former minister of education and culture who has been through the dialogue at national and international levels for the past many years.
Have resolutions and decisions that he authored or assented to at these meets helped solve problems? Singh says these
"cannot be quantified. They are not specific agreements like, say, the WTO, and are general in nature. What must emerge from such meets is that the world is less rigid and willing to discuss and debate.''
Eminent historian Bipan Chandra asks:
"Dialogue with whom? Each country is a site of civilisation; each country needs to debate within. This is both the Gandhian and the Marxist approach that needs to be adopted.''
He asks: "Many American scholars talked of an end of ideology. But recent events have shown that conflict continues. America itself needs to debate within its civilisation. And if it India, is it Gandhian civilisation or
Savarkar's?''
The ministerial-level dialogue to be held from Wednesday is obviously in the context of the
"clash of civilisations''. Through it India hopes to correct a global aberration: it wants a due share for a third of humanity living in South, South-East and Far East Asia, Russia and Africa - all of which have been kept on the periphery of the current dialogue that remains
"largely confined to the Christian West and the Arabs''.
Disagreeing with Chandra, but agreeing with HRD minister Murli Manohar Joshi, Karan Singh says:
"The Indian tradition is of confluence, not a clash of civilisations.''
Chandra wonders whether the ministers' meeting here
"can even pose the problems since each one will further his/her own national agenda''.
Although ministers' participation is being confirmed, there is no word about scholars, academicians and even Nobel laureates who have been invited.
Iraq, the cradle of one of the ancient civilisations, will not participate in the
'dialogue' this week. Though it was invited as a UNESCO member, in the apparent vacuum that prevails in that country, there was
"no response'' from Baghdad.
Neighbours China and Pakistan will be represented by their education secretaries while Iran, that initiated the dialogue under President Khatami in 1998, will be represented by a deputy minister, Dr Khaneki. At least 60 countries are participating in the conference that will be opened by Prime Minister Vajpayee. The meet is expected to end with a
"Delhi Declaration''.
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