JIH Women’s Department Webinar ‘Building Bridges Across Divides’ Calls for Unity

New Delhi: Jamaat-e-Islami Hind’s (JIH) Women’s Department hosted a national webinar titled ‘Building Bridges Across Divides’ on Tuesday. The program discussed a number of issues arising out of communal hatred and the need to ensure communal harmony in society on an urgent basis. “True peace begins in the heart, and it is only when we work for harmony within us that we can create lasting bridges across divides,” said Shaista Rafat, National Secretary, Women’s Department, JIH.

The inaugural address was given by Rabia Basri, Assistant Secretary, Women’s Department, JIH. She expressed the commitment of JIH in bringing up justice, equality, and mutual understanding of every section of society. Her address reflected that JIH works for bridging the gaps and making society more united with one another.

Arefa Parveen, the National Assistant Secretary, Women’s Department, JIH inaugurated the session with an eloquent speech. She quoted the supreme sacrifices of India’s ancestors and their dream for a united nation. Parveen pointed out current dangers to communal harmony and secularism and called for collective efforts in the interest of the government and civil society to counter the burgeoning forces of divisiveness and work in building bridges of mutual respect and relationships across the communities. She appealed to the attendees of the webinar to work in advance for social integration.

Diksha Ranjan shared her vast experience with the Heavenly Culture World Peace Restoration of Life, a global peace organization. Ranjan presented what Covenant Harmony and Peace HWPL promotes through International Law and Education. She shared the role of youth and women in making peace, where mutual respect and understanding are required to bridge the gaps between various sections. She pointed out how social media can escalate conflicts and the importance of compassionate communication.

Carmel Tripathi, Director of Public Information, spoke of the spirituality in uniting and preserving the integrity of India. Tripathi underlined that respect of all human beings as a part of a larger divine creation would show to people their civic duties and foster peace. She recognized the growing religious fundamentalism and insisted on the imperative of positive dialogues and mutual respect among the followers of different religious traditions. Tripathi called for a simple yet effective solution: promoting unity by focusing on shared values and addressing negative attitudes toward religion.

Manjula Pradeep, human rights activist, shared her experiences and views on communal unity and social marginalization. She showed that there needed to be a way to deal with the violence that is acted out according to caste and gender-based violence and grassroots activism in empowering communities. She shared her experience from working at Wave Foundation on behalf of the marginalized women and stated that an intersectional approach is a condition of social justice. Pradeep’s contribution explained how important it was to create and ensure safe spaces for all identities, and to build solidarity across communities.

The address was concluded with Shaista Rafat, National Secretary, Women’s Department at JIH, she explained how important it was to always deal with mutual respect and understanding even in view of the many challenges posed by society. As expressed by Rafat, it is important to make peace from within so that the positive behavior can be showcased and with it, the solutions to the many divisive issues in life can be curbed and resolved. She urged everyone to embrace the aspect of diversity and management of human resources rightly for a peaceful society. Rafat advocated for using education and media as a tool of creating awareness and sensitization and urged the use of social media to create bridges and not walls.

The national webinar captured the spirit of diversity in all the voices of the speakers who shared meaningful insights on how community harmony and togetherness can be achieved. Narratives of different speakers highlighted the ideals of mutual respect, compassionate communications, and active endeavors at bridging divides within society. The key takeaway from the discussions is that dialogue and collaboration at all junctures will be needed to build a harmonious society.