Acharya S.P.Dwivedi
The root causes of poverty are religious intolerance, racial discrimination, economic marginalization, political conflict, social inequality, cultural degradation, ill-literacy and economic imbalance. World is racked by hatred, violence , terrorism, fear and suspicion thus poverty, it appears, has been put in the back-burner. Of course, poverty is a complex issue and it can be reduced, if completely not eradicated, with strong bolstering of political, religious, cultural and social will and only it is possible with positive change in our mind-set and thinking.
A determined humanity will have to meet the challenges united and faiths can bring that unity of purpose, provided it is based upon mutual respect, proper understanding, care and unconditional support of each other. It is stark truth that peace cannot be achieved without solving the poverty.
The term “Poverty” has been defined as lack of means, state or condition to providing material needs, comforts or support. All the developed countries of the world have set up their poverty line and revise it time to time. A lot of facts and figures are available globally. The World Bank’s 2011 report says that if a person’s income is less than $1.90 per day he or she is facing poverty; and over 3 billion people live less than $2.50 per day in the world. The facts are quite depressing and frightening.
The President of Ahmaddiyya Muslim Jamaat of Abbotsford Rizwan Peerzada organized an Interfaith Symposium on May30 and it was hosted by President, Neil Mckenzie of Jesus Christ Latter Day Saints at 30635,Blueridge Dr.,in Abbotsford. The theme of the Symposium was “Root Causes of Poverty & Solutions”. The religious leaders – Valerie Thomson (Christianity), Acharya S.P. Dwivedi (Hindu Dharma), Maulana Tariq Azeem (Islam), Rabbi Susan Shamash (Judaism) and Kulpreet Singh (Sikhism) reflected on the theme.
Chief Dalton Silver of Sumas First Nation and Anwar Hussein blessed the congregation. His Worship Mayor Henry Braun of Abbotsford welcomed the guests. Keynote speech was delivered by Dr. David Murray,Executive Director of local Food Bank.
Acharya said that three major religions of the world-Christianity, Islam and Hinduism are having the larger proportion of poor communities. Although, the religions of the world advocate compassion, love, kindness, charity and universal brotherhood but these wonderful slogans are not translated into action to reduce the poverty.
All the speakers were appreciated and honored with gifts. Dinner was provided by the neighboring Gurdwara.
