Faith in Action: Clash of Civilizations?

As the new year dawns, India is massing troops near its border with Pakistan after the Mumbai tragedy, and Israel is wreaking havoc in Gaza to stop the rocket attacks from its hostile neighbor. Just days ago, the political scientist Sam Huntington died, bringing his controversial theory of “the clash of civilizations” back into the public consciousness.

I explored the Indian conflict recently with one of India’s religious rebels and activists: Swami Agnivesh. His orange-swathed figure is well known in global interfaith circles and indeed he was en route from Guyana where he participated in a UN meeting on HIV/AIDS. We are collaborators on many issues of common concern - bonded labor, the “disappearance” of female children in India and elsewhere, and social justice.

We went together to visit our common friend Akbar Ahmed and his family. Ahmed is the former Pakistani High Commissioner to the Court of St. James, now at American University. The two friends and Akbar’s family were looking for answers in territory where nothing is clear and simple.

The good news, we all agreed, is that the Mumbai attacks inspired wide revulsion, going well beyond intellectuals and activists. Indian Muslims demonstrated against terrorism and an interfaith mobilization to contest terrorism is taking form especially in India. In Pakistan, the group had heard, many leaders are embarrassed by the shadowy links of official bodies to the terrorists of Mumbai. Read Article

By Katherine Marshall