TOWARDS HARMONY

  International Day of Families 2023 / 15 May / Article Good Family Makes a Good Society   Fr Dr M. D. Thomas Director, Institute of Harmony and Peace Studies, New Delhi --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The 15 th day of May is observed, world over, as ‘International Day of Families’. This is also called ‘International Family Day’ or ‘World Family Day’. This day was proclaimed by the UN General Assembly in 1993 with a resolution. The celebration kicked off in 1994, as well. The ‘International day of Families’ highlights the importance of family for the humans across the globe. F amilies include people, societies and cultures around the world, and therefore, communities, nations and the global society, too. The day is scheduled for promoting awareness of issues relating to families and to increase knowledge of the social, economic, demographic and cultural processes affecting families....

  Religious Freedom: Tamil Nadu Shows the Way Dr M. D. Thomas --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Tamil Nadu government made a clear-headed and bold statement in the Supreme Court of India on 30 April 2023. The statement in positive words goes thus, ‘missionary efforts of Christians to spread their religion is legal and valid’. The larger implications of the statement go thus, ‘every person has the right to propagate his or her religion’. Propagation, in its turn, does not mean converting anyone to one’s religion. Everyone has the right to choose any religion or no religion, as well.   This statement is grounded in Article 25 of the Constitution of India, which guarantees every citizen the right to propagate his or her religion. The Supreme Court reiterated the right of the citizens without making exception of any person or community.    Problem arises only when the act of propagating religion ...

  Greed for Wealth leads to Corruption Dr M. D. Thomas ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Supreme Court of India has come out with a landmark verdict on the most pressing problem of the country, in the following words “un-satiated greed for wealth has facilitated corruption to develop, like cancer, and the constitutional courts owe a duty to the people of the country to show zero tolerance to corruption and come down heavily against the perpetrators of the crime”. The marker ruling was given on 03 March 2023, by a bench of Justices comprising of S. Ravindra Bhat and Dipankar Datta, who set aside an order of the Chhattisgarh High Court, which had quashed the FIR registered against the former principal secretary of the state, Aman Singh, along with his wife, for allegedly amassing disproportionate assets. In spite of the fact that the Constitution in its preamble promises social j...

Economic Graph in India so Appalling! Dr M. D. Thomas ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Oxfam International, the Rights Group, has presented its Annual Inequality Report at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on 17 January 2023. The theme of the Forum was ‘Cooperation in a fragmented world’. The India Supplement of the report reads, ‘India’s richest 1 % owns more than 40 % of the total wealth and the bottom 50 % of the population has just 3 % ’. On the other hand, 64 % of the GST came from the bottom 50 % of the population and only 3 % from the top 10 % , ironically so. The report, titled ‘Survival of the Richest’, suggested that if the billionaires of India are charged once 2 % of their entire wealth, it would collect some Rs 40,423 crores, which could take care of the malnourished of the country for the coming three years. The report further recommended taxing the 10 richest billio...

  World Soil Day 2022 / 05 December / Article Consider Soil with a Sense of Sacred Fr Dr M. D. Thomas Director, Institute of Harmony and Peace Studies, New Delhi ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The 5 th day of December is dedicated by the United Nations as ‘World Soil Day’. The United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization initiated the day, under the leadership of the king of Thailand. Designating a day to celebrate soil was recommended by the International Union of Soil Sciences in 2002, as well.   Focusing the attention on the importance of healthy soil, along with advocating for the sustainable management of soil resources, is the objective of the day. It campaigns to raise awareness of the importance of healthy ecosystems and human wellbeing. Addressing the growing challenges in soil management and encouraging societies to improve soil health is the target of the campaign. ...

    Religion is like Cholesterol! Dr M. D. Thomas ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cholesterol is a class of organic modules called ‘lipids’. It is a ‘waxy and fat-like substance that is found in all the cells of the body’. The body requires cholesterol to make the cells healthy with vitamins, hormones and other digestive elements. They are vital to the existence of the body. But, the level of cholesterol has to be sustained, preventing it from being high or low, in consideration of good health. Cholesterol is a double-sided reality. There is good cholesterol and bad cholesterol, alike. ‘Good cholesterol’ is high density lipoprotein (HDL) and ‘bad cholesterol’ is low density lipoprotein (LDL). Good cholesterol is good because HDL carries cholesterol to the liver, where it can be removed from the bloodstream before it builds up in the arteries. Bad cholesterol takes cholesterol directly to the a...

  Religious Freedom: A ‘Country of particular Concern’   Dr M. D. Thomas --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- United States Independent Commission on Religious Freedom (USICRF), in its report released on 01 May 2023, categorized India as ‘a country of particular concern’ for its ‘severe violations of religious freedom or belief’ in the year 2022. The USICRF, a bipartisan government advisory body created by an Act of the Congress in 1998, in its latest annual report asked the US Congress to take up the issue of religious freedom in India through hearings, briefings, letters and Congressional delegations. In response, the Indian government termed the comment as ‘biased and motivated’, well, a traditional response, without any feeling. To quote, Arindam Bagchi, the spokesman of the federal external affairs ministry, “we reject such misrepresentation of facts, which only serves to discredit the USCIRF itself”. ...