Karmic cycle

It is entirely unbelievable that delegates belonging to Western countries are, due to fear of the Covid-19 outbreak, reluctant to go back to their home countries, and trying to seek refuge even in less privileged areas.

The Trump Wall, which was actually meant to stop illegal entry of immigrants from Mexico, is now probably more to stop the entry of US citizens to Mexico. A couple of months ago, Western countries like Spain and Italy were busy stopping refugee boats coming from African countries.

Once, a superpower, on the basis of its strong economy and power military, was claiming that nobody had the courage to challenge its world domination. Today, ground realities are telling an entirely different story.

The Law of Karma is applicable to everyone, regardless of his/her social status. As per Hinduism, every good deed which we do in our life results in peace and prosperity. On the other hand, every sin brings problems in our life. During our day-to-day interactions, we are either dealing with our past actions or creating new ones. Thus, the destiny of a human revolves around his/her own actions. This concept is also known as the Karmic cycle, emphasizing that our past actions are responsible for all kinds of good and bad happenings.

God obviously helps all those persons who are obedient to His teachings and as a result, they are blessed with peace, happiness and prosperity in their lives. Contrary to this, a person interested in indulging himself in evil deeds has to suffer badly. Sins of past crimes never let the person escape until a sincere apology is offered to seek repent. In my view, the Karma ideology is also applicable to all nations and countries. Some of the decisions, at the state level, are taken for public welfare but some are very harmful for humanity.

The brutal way in which the Native American inhabitants were massacred in the United States is a shameful chapter of history. The discrimination against black minority community is also an open secret. Similarly, many Western powers were involved in exploitation during the colonial era in order to occupy territories of others. World powers, to fulfill their vested interests, used to promote the culture of warfare, militancy and armed conflicts in different regions. Many crises are kept unresolved to boost the weapon industry. Thousands of innocent migrants have to face kidnapping, slavery, torture, murder and physical violence on a daily basis, but the right to receive assistance, the right to protection from abuse and the freedom to seek asylum are never ever granted by these so-called civilized countries.

It is true that the entire population is not responsible for the evil deeds of colonial powers or social crimes carried out by some elements. However, it is the collective responsibility of every human being, especially belonging to powerful countries, to seek repentance. We should understand that today if we burn the home of somebody then tomorrow, in return someone would burn our home. Even if we keep ourselves safe from the dire circumstances on the basis of power and authority we enjoy today then as per karma laws, our near and dear ones have to pay the price some other day.

It is therefore very necessary to learn from our past mistakes. In order to provide eternal peace to the souls of our elders, Hinduism emphasizes to compensate in the form of doing good deeds, such as charity and welfare activities. Failure to do so will result in our lives moving in a cycle, and there will always a trouble coming again and again to disturb our life.

The Karmic cycle of the international community, in my view, would only be ended if all world leaders understood their responsibility to maintain peace by supporting oppressed nations. According to Hindu astrology, the ongoing Covid-19 outbreak crisis will be controlled in September.

The writer is a member of the National Assembly and patron-in-chief of the Pakistan Hindu Council.

Twitter: @RVankwani