–champions tolerance as key to peaceful society

By Cindy Parkinson
KAICIID is an organisation that works to foster religious tolerance and culture globally, ensuring that societies and the world at large live in harmony with each other.

Their vision is to see a world where there is respect, understanding and co-operation among people, inclusive of justice, peace and reconciliation and an end to the abuse of religion to justify oppression, violence and conflict.

KAICIID has hosted a fellowship programme for a number of years, but for the first time, it has invited candidates from the Caribbean and Latin America.

Neil Bacchus, secretary of the Muslim Youth League, assistant secretary and treasurer of the inter-religious organisation, and the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Indigenous Peoples Commission of Guyana, benefitted from a fellowship programme into religious dialogue and culture that was offered by KAICIID.

Bacchus was the only person from Guyana and the Caribbean that was selected, along with twenty additional persons from Latin America, to participate in the one-year fellowship programme that was held earlier this year in Argentina.

The final training will be held in Lisbon, Portugal, this December. Thus far, dialogue training has been done in regards to religious tolerance. “During the training, we were given the tools to develop our skills to promote the idea of helping our community, our country, the region and the world as a whole in ensuring that people are not discriminated against,” said Neil.

The outcome of his participation in the final training will determine if Bacchus will graduate in December. So far, he and his fellow participants from Latin America were tasked with testing the skills that had been taught to them by KAICIID.

Bacchus recognised that his colleagues and peers in Latin America and other countries around the world have experienced attacks against religion and religious beliefs within their countries.

“Sitting in my training, I felt very proud to know that Guyana has a high degree of religious tolerance and it is something that we should be proud of, or even make a model out of, so that we can share it with other Caribbean countries, Latin American countries and others,” Bacchus noted.

Following this training, Bacchus will embark on a nation-focused project entitled “Religious Tolerance: A Tool for a Peaceful Society.”

So far, a number of youths as well as a diverse set of individuals from the religious communities were invited to attend a forum at the Muslim Youth Organization (MYO)’s Woolford Avenue headquarters on Monday evening.

In attendance were representatives from Hindu, Christian, Muslim, Baha’i, and Rastafarian groups as well as members of the indigenous communities, and agnostics. Georgetown’s Mayor Ubraj Narine was also present.

The representatives from all the religious communities collectively agreed that religious tolerance can be used as a tool that enables a peaceful society where everyone can co-exist and celebrate diversity.

Speaking with the Guyana Chronicle, Madana Rampersaud expressed how happy he was to be at the function, noting that he strongly supports any programme that promotes unity among people, especially the youth of Guyana.

He believes that they are “our future,” and Guyanese should try and support them in a positive way. “I believe that our real challenge is unity… The faith is not what challenges us; we are one people and we can all build a brotherhood with each other, regardless of our religious beliefs.”

Harideva Dhanesar, a youth in attendance, told this newspaper that it is important to understand each other. It is his belief that, at some point in time “we” will all meet somewhere and with that, “we are looking forward to taking our Guyana into the future in the best way possible.

“Guyana belongs to all of us and we should work with each other to ensure that it is better for all of us”. Dhanesar also emphasised the importance of seeing God within each other despite “our” differences.

“There are more similarities than differences; there are so many details that we all get caught up in, but if we can focus on the universal principles of all the religions, that can bring us together,” he continued.

He also asked that persons, especially the young people “get past their phone screen” and pay attention to what is actually in front of them and have an appreciation for that.

The young attendee further encouraged and asked that the elders in society play a leading role in their respective communities so that the youth can follow suit.