Islam is a religion, a great religion, but it's not a political ideology for multicultural, multi-religious and multi-ethnic societies of the present times. It contains some golden principles such as equality, fairness and justice that are applicable in politics because such universal principles are recognised as the pillars of democracy and open society. But that does not mean religion, any religion for that matter, can be an alternative to democratic form of government because this inevitably leads to the concentration of power and influence in the hands of some potentates and despots. This has been the case in the the Middle Ages where the Church dominated states and it became a symbol of tyrannical rule and oppressive practices. It is quite so in some Islamic countries where dynastic despots and oligarchs rule by using Islam for their own ends and state oppression. It’s not difficult to see that different people have different interpretations of Islam. Historically, there has never been any unanimity of views in Islam on a range of issues. During the formative period of the Islamic Caliphate after 632 C.E. differing and mutually exclusive interpretation of Islamic state and Islamic rule had soon started to take shape when the community split along the Sunni-Shia lines. Such differences have multiplied over the course of fourteen centuries. Even within the Sunnis different schools of thought emerged and there is no way they can ever be reconciled. Nor, can the Sunni and Shia concepts of what constitutes Islamic ruler be reconciled because of the differing concepts that underlie Caliphate (Sunni) and Imamate (Shia). When some people dare to give their opinions, which do not repeat the centuries-old stereotypes they are attacked for their heretical views by the orthodox and rigid literalists of traditions. They assume only they have the ‘true’ version of Islam; therefore, only they are the ones who can rightfully speak on behalf of God and Islam while all the others are groping in the darkness of ignorance and suffering from the malaise of modern Western ideas of democracy and human rights. However, it is essential to explain that democracy is a form of government in which the will of the population of a country is decisive in forming policies that advance the cause of the citizens in social, religious, economic and political matters. In a genuine democracy this will reflects the actual needs of the people but in a bogus democracy the form of democracy is used to further individual or particular interests while paying lip-service to the values of democracy. -Dr. Nasir, Khan Before writing this article, I was dreaming of a peaceful world free from erroneous crimes with a vision of productive, rationale & responsible youth and a mission for global change. Let’s think at a very general level – If you push someone’s head under water, no matter sinner or saint, he will drown. In a similar manner, you get addicted to drugs once, what happens next is inevitable. It is an involuntary process that happens in every brain. So, first of all, don’t befool yourself that only bad people get addicted because it has little to do with addiction & almost everything to do with theunderlying cause which may be a chemical imbalance, unresolved conflict from the past, a belief you hold which is inconsistent with the existing reality or may be inability to cope up with current conditions or combination of all four. There is an urgent need to analyze these symptoms of dependency within you because the solutions are within you as well. ‘REEL’ LIFE BUT NOT ‘REAL’LIFE Why I am calling it a journey of ‘reel’ life not ‘real’ life is because alcohol, drugs, give you a toy to remain hanging around hallucinations while you are capable of reaching the real.Today, there is no part of world free from curse of drug trafficking & addiction. Adolescent drug abuse is one of the major areas of concern as it estimated that in India, by the time most boys reach the 9th grade, about 50% of them have tried at least one of the substance of abuse nature. According to a UN report, 1 million heroin addicts are registered in India & unofficially there are as many as 5 million. They are the source of temporary escape from your boredom, frustration, misery but remember sooner or later, you get trapped and go on increasing the dose. Now this is the stage when drugs are masters and you are mere ‘slaves’. They are destructive to the body leading to aggressiveness, loss of self control, behavioral problem and can even lead to death. But you are absolutely helpless as in this reel life there is no space in life for your real self. BAN CAN BE A BLACK WEAPON Now after knowing the underlying cause and their disastrous effect don’t you think our battle should not be against ‘bottle’ but something that jostles us to the bottle? We can see that prohibition has not succeeded, In fact it is opening a path for availability of more dangerous kind of alcohol & thousands of people die by poisoning. ‘Banning’ is an uncontrolled weapon leading to black marketing, smuggling such as business of supplying illicit liquor by bootlegging or folder system as prevalent in Gujarat (the only state to have death penalty for those found guilty of making & selling spurious liquor). Consumption of alcohol is also prohibited in states such as Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland and union territory of Lakshadweep & now Kerala is implementing prohibition in a phased manner. JOURNEY OF RECOVERY — ‘YES’ OVER ‘NO’ Now, if we want ‘Thinkers’ not ‘Drinkers’, we need to analyze deeply. I believe that psychological understanding will be needed so that each child is sent in the direction where he learns something. In every school, college or university, meditation should be made compulsory to have a space for getting rid of anxiety & misery so that one need not turn to drugs. My idea is that education should be divided into two parts –intellectual and practical. This will keep the balance & will help a child drop depression & frustration. Substance abuse can be addressed at individual, local & at cross national level. This has to be a synthesis of biological understanding with the exploration of background of socio-cultural factors. Every year June 26 is celebrated as International Day Against Drug Abuse & Illicit Trafficking. It is an exercise taken by world community to sensitize the people in general and youth in particular to the menace of drugs.NGOs should come forward and supplement measures like education, counseling, treatment and rehabilitation programmes.Such comprehensive measures must be welcomed. “What is money?” ask this question to people and you will get a range of overlapping answers. A child’s definition of money that ‘it is what you use to buy things with’ is equally valid as any other definition. It is impossible to discuss money without creating differences in opinion as to how money should be managed.
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June 2016
AuthorsAshique Ali T |