African nations have been riddled with warfare, genocide, disease, drought, and poverty for many years now. Many of their struggles are similar to the ones that have been faced by Sikhs, but on a much larger scale. But across the continent, Africans have shown that they are a resilient and strong people. For the last several years, the world has witnessed as African nations have worked to heal and rebuild what the West left to be destroyed. For our Panth, there is lots we can learn from the great achievements of these people, inspired by their strong faith. Many who have suffered are now seeing brighter, happier days, as embodied in these panktian:
ਭਏ ਕ੍ਰਿਪਾਲ ਗੋਵਿੰਦ ਗੁਸਾਈ ॥ The Lord of the Universe, the Support of the earth, has become Merciful;
ਮੇਘੁ ਵਰਸੈ ਸਭਨੀ ਥਾਈ ॥ the rain is falling everywhere.
ਦੀਨ ਦਇਆਲ ਸਦਾ ਕਿਰਪਾਲਾ ਠਾਢਿ ਪਾਈ ਕਰਤਾਰੇ ਜੀਉ ॥੧॥ He is Merciful to the meek, always Kind and Gentle; the Creator has brought cooling relief. ||1||
ਅਪੁਨੇ ਜੀਅ ਜੰਤ ਪ੍ਰਤਿਪਾਰੇ ॥ He cherishes all His beings and creatures,
ਜਿਉ ਬਾਰਿਕ ਮਾਤਾ ਸੰਮਾਰੇ ॥ as the mother cares for her children.
ਦੁਖ ਭੰਜਨ ਸੁਖ ਸਾਗਰ ਸੁਆਮੀ ਦੇਤ ਸਗਲ ਆਹਾਰੇ ਜੀਉ ॥੨॥ The Destroyer of pain, the Ocean of Peace, the Lord and Master gives sustenance to all. ||2||
One of these nations is Rwanda. As most of us know, the Rwandan genocide in 1994 left up to 1 million people in Eastern Rwanda dead, yet none of the world's powerful countries made any authentic effort to prevent the mass slaughter.
However, not even two decades later, the Rwandan people are in high spirits. The following video shows some of the great achievements that the nation has seen in recent years:
One of the important messages from this video is seeing how giving women an equal role to men can play a healing and invigorating role for an entire nation. Rwanda's parliament is made up of 60% women! The reality of our Panth today is that bibian do not have an equal role, when we look at the overall picture. Just like Mata Sahib Kaur Jee, who was both the spiritual mother and the political leader of the Panth, the Khalsa today needs its mothers to help lead our Panth. I believe that the unity, peace, and glory of our Panth depends on this. Singhs and Singhnian have a responsibility to make decisions together, and not to exclude the other. This is the kind of cooperation which the Khalsa nation, like Rwanda, needs to bring about unity and community.
Another lesson to be learned from African nations is a lesson in forgiveness and letting go. Many countries, such as South Africa and Sierra Leone, have engaged in "Reconciliation Projects" where victims of extreme violence are brought face to face with the people who inflicted the suffering on them, and are brought together to reconcile their pasts. For instance, a victim of the Rwandan genocide met with the man who killed his mother:
When he started explaining how he killed [my mother], I partly lost consciousness and Joseph carried on the conversation with him. I prayed to God to revive me and give me more strength to continue, as I felt this was my mission. Miraculously I then felt warmth spread from my head to my feet. I felt a big rock melting from my chest and head. I felt very refreshed. I cleaned up my tears and carried on the conversation, feeling tremendously relieved throughout my whole being. (Read whole story here: [theforgivenessproject.com])
By the end of the conversation he forgave the killer, and felt a huge burden lifted from his heart. There are many stories such as this one, and all end with a sense of relief on the part of the victims. We as Sikhs need to take a lesson from this in our personal lives. It is really sad to see the culture of grudges, anger, hatred, ninda, and deceitful attempts to humiliate/hurt others, that exists within Sikhs. Have we forgotten our duty to live up to the qualities of daya and being nirvair? We should take a lesson from these people, who have suffered so much, and yet are willing to go so far to forgive.
Excellent post SK jeeo. The massacres of Rwanda in the nineties is a black stain the modern civilization, yet I am surprised how well the country has made a comeback. Forgiveness, compassion and fearlessness are great virtues that every human must possess.
ਸਤਿਗੁਰਬਚਨਕਮਾਵਣੇਸਚਾਏਹੁਵੀਚਾਰੁ॥