Narrative of forgiveness

Forgiveness has been given special significance in the teachings of every religion. According to the Holy Quran, Allah is the One who accepts the repentance of people and forgives their sins.

Forgiveness is the most important spiritual virtue in Hindu Dharma too. According to Hindu Dharma, a person who does not know how to forgive carries a heavy baggage of bitter memories of the past in his/her mind and destroys his/her own life and the lives of others due to negative feelings of anger, revenge and depression. Similarly, the Bible emphasizes forgiving the sins of other people.

Today’s South Africa is one of the most developed countries in the world, but three decades ago racial discrimination was rampant there. In such critical circumstances, the great Nelson Mandela succeeded his tireless peaceful struggle against racism. Mandela used to say that great people are never afraid to forgive for a noble purpose. The 16th president of the US, Abraham Lincoln, also advised to end enmity by making an enemy a friend.

I used to express my stance at every forum that the teachings of all religions and the lives of legendary leaders should be followed in letter and spirit for achieving peace in our society. When the Samadhi of Shri Param Hans Ji Maharaj, located in the Karak district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, was demolished by some extremist elements, I raised my voice against this oppression. My stance in this noble struggle was widely endorsed by the Supreme Court, media, civil society and government circles. Eventually, I received an invitation from the chief minister of KP, Mahmood Khan, to attend the jirga to resolve the conflict amicably.

On the occasion, all religious scholars condemned the tragic incident while assuring the restoration of the holy place. The participants also reiterated their commitment to cooperate in preventing such incidents in the future. The elements responsible for the illegal occupation of the Samadhi in 1997 and later carrying out the attack on the shrine last year, apologized for their deeds in front of everyone. The honourable scholars also assured that rights to the non-Muslim community under Islamic teachings and the constitution of Pakistan would be ensured.

The provincial government team, headed by the chief minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, deserves congratulations for realizing our religious sentiments, ensuring the best arrangements for the jirga and opening the door of dialogue for mutual understanding. Being the head of the Pakistan Hindu Council, I decided to demonstrate the holy virtue of forgiveness. In my view, arrogance is a negative attribute whereas good people always show high morals at every stage of life. We must understand that God forgives the greatest mistake of His followers. Therefore, those who admit wrongdoing should also be forgiven.

I believe that the actual purpose of pardoning someone is to provide them another opportunity to be a good person, but those who spread mischief again must be dealt strictly. I am quite hopeful that such gestures of forgiveness and goodwill will promote religious harmony and tolerance in our beloved country. Similarly, Hindu teacher Notanlal from Ghotki who has been arrested on false charges of blasphemy must also be freed.

Unfortunately, our political situation promotes intolerance and negativity. The opposition parties are active on all fronts, including the Senate, to give the government a tough time. On the other hand, the government is of the view that the opposition alliance PDM is in turmoil due to internal differences. I consider this my national duty to appeal to all political parties to spread a culture of forgiveness and tolerance in the wider national interest of Pakistan. A joint parliamentary committee consisting of senior representatives of all political parties should be formed to formulate national policies for the betterment of Pakistan.

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

Twitter: @RVankwani