Sustained peace necessitates dialogue, resistance against suppression
The Secretary General of World Forum for Proximity of Islamic Schools of Thought has stressed importance of dialogue and resistance as the prelude to sustained peace.
Share It :
Hujjat-ul-Islam Hamid Shahriari made the remarks in an address at the 9th World Peace Forum held in the Indonesian capital Jakarta, reported Taqrib News Agency (TNA).
This edition of the meeting is held under the theme “Considering Wasatiyyat Islam and Tiong Hua for Global Collaboration” with hundreds of Indonesian officials and thinkers as well as Muslim scholars and elites from across the globe in attendance.
He emphasized, "Peace cannot last without power. If we want to be realistic and not just idealistic, we must know that peace cannot last with wishes and words alone. Without deterrence, peace remains fragile. Such deterrence requires hard power and soft power.”
“When criminals use hard power, we must resist them with strength” said the cleric and added,” However, the enemy also distorts narratives. We may defend our homeland with hard power, but we cannot win hearts and minds with weapons. That requires soft power.”
Hujjat-ul-Islam Shahriari explained that the world is in need of a balance between hard power and soft power and said,” Soft power includes political power that enables dialogue, economic power that prevents poverty.”
The Secretary General of the World Forum for the Proximity of Islamic Religions continued,” "Hard and soft power must be morally restrained, otherwise they will become their own opposite."
He concluded by emphasizing: "A lasting and just peace requires two fundamental elements: dialogue for understanding and reconciliation, resistance to oppressive power, and the creation of balanced soft power to counter false narratives.
Still in another part of his speech, Hujjat-ul-Islam Shahriari noted,” Dialogue is the first step towards peace” and continued,” Peace is a process, not a single event. We must engage in dialogue, find common ground, reach agreements, implement our commitments and monitor their implementation to achieve a just and lasting peace.”
According to the Iranian scholar, to change global politics, one must first change global discourses. Discourses of hatred, identity rejection, and unilateralism must give way to discourses of compassion, cultural pluralism, and multilateralism."
Hujjat-ul-Islam Hamid Shahriari underlined the need for public conscience to resist global arrogance and said: "Ignorance and bigotry are the twin enemies of lasting peace. When humanity awakens and sets aside ethnic and sectarian bigotry, the ground will be prepared for a just peace."
The top cleric and Muslim thinker made the remarks at the 9th World Peace Forum on November 9, in Jakarta.
More than 60 scholars from 24 countries and 110 national figures from different religions, academics, and peace activists attended the meeting in the Indonesian capital.
