Culture has always been the most appropriate media and most effective strategy for interaction and dialogue among the nations and for exploring proper grounds and solutions for the proximity of viewpoints and mutual understanding among the world nations. The emergence and development of sciences and civilizations are chiefly a result of cultural relations and interactions among the human communities. Cultural dialogues prepare the grounds for the free and respectful exchange of views among individuals as well as reference groups and institutions, thus prove to be highly influential in the path toward peaceful coexistence and sustainable security among nations.
Today, under various tensions and challenges that dominate the international relations, cultural dialogues can prove to be an inevitable necessity and an effective strategy – more than ever – in establishing relations with and creating sustainable cooperation among the elite for collaboration in exploring appropriate cultural solutions for changing the status quo.
Cultural cooperation among different nations of Asia will pave the way for peace, stability and progress in the years to come as well as promoting the culture of peace and friendship among the nations of the great continent. The continuous efforts for cultural dialogue among elites and intellectuals are undoubtedly instrumental in achieving common understanding and in finding an appropriate mechanism to address the current challenges in regional relations.
Tradition of intercultural relations
It is in this backdrop, that I appreciate the opportunity that I received to participate in the Asian Cultural Dialogues Conference held in the Islamic Republic of Iran from January 13-15, 2018.
The main theme of the conference was confined to “Cultural Dialogues between Iran and the Sub-continent nations.” The Islamic Republic of Iran is a country with a great tradition of intercultural relations has been able to take the initiative in this great event.
Following the Conference on “Dialogue among Religions and Cultures in Asia” which has taken place in September 2011 in Tehran, a number of meetings have been held in various parts of Asia, including the preparatory meetings on cultural dialogues that were held in Malaysia, India, Kazakhstan, China and Turkey.
To finalize and materialize the decisions of the above meetings, the Conference on Asia Cultural Dialogue: Cultural Diversity and Converging Aspirations in Asia was held from January 13 to 15, 2018 in Iran.
The event was organised by the Permanent Secretariat of International Cultural Dialogues in collaboration with the host universities in Iran.
Cultural dialogue
The Commission on Cultural Dialogue between Iran and the Sub-continent on “Common Cultural and Historical Heritage: Potentials and Opportunities” was held at Ferdowsi University of Mashad from January 14 to 15, 2018. A large number of scholars and researchers from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and Iran took part in the meeting and discussed the important aspects of the theme of the conference. The participants confirmed the following pivotal points:
• Establishing the forum of cultural dialogues among Iran and countries of the sub-continent as sub-entity of Permanent Secretariat of International Cultural Dialogues,
• Development and approval of executive regulation of the forum at the next meeting,
• Developing the plan of joint short-term and long-term scientific and cultural cooperation and delivering the plan to Permanent Secretariat of Cultural Dialogue for further approval,
• Holding periodical meetings of the forum in member universities,
• Use of potentials of non-governmental organisations and scientific-cultural centres for increasing the number of forum members,
• Developing a website for the forum for reinforcing persistent relationship and information exchange among members,
• Publication of special journal on cultural dialogues among Iran and the subcontinent to produce scientific literature and to provide the conditions for persistent interaction between elites.
Representing Sri Lanka, I participated in the above mentioned first commission where potentials of intercultural relations were extensively discussed as to how the present day world could be liberated from various kinds of extremism.
The venue of this commission was the beautiful Ferdowsi University, named after the greatest of Persian national poets, Ferdowsi. Incidentally, after the conclusion of the conference, we were able to visit the massive mausoleum of the great poet situated a few kilometres away from the city of Mashad.
Without going into minute details of the valuable contribution made by many of intellectuals who participated at this conference with a common goal of cultural understanding among the subcontinent nations of Asia, with special reference to irradiation of religious animosity and extremism, I wish to quote a few lines at random, of the speech delivered by Dr. Hojjatollah Javani, Associate professor of Religions and Mysticism at Al-Zahra University.
Intellectual conflicts
“The modern era has been the battlefield of intellectual conflicts and encounters between the followers of different creeds and religions. In our time, there are many groups that in the name of religion or out of the so-called religious devoutness clash with followers of other schools of thoughts and religions. Extreme groups have been formed all across the world, each of which undertaking the most heinous acts and violent behaviours towards followers of other religions and sects in an attempt to defend and celebrate their own faith. They mask violence with a holy disguise and cover their narrow-mindedness and fundamentalism under the pretext of preserving religion, trying to pass it off as a gift to the land of thoughts and hearts of simple-minded people.
“They have packed their tricky shop with the goods of dogma, aggression, ambition animosity and obduracy and all sorts of vile acts, while drawing a curtain of religion and the service of God along with the concern about the prosperity and glory of the people to make it difficult to perceive the truth and therefore deceive their ignorant customers.
“The simple-minded and naïve clients of the religion market fall prey to these hunters and they purchase the fake commodity of religious violence instead of the beautiful product of spirituality. When these people open the bundle of these purchased tricks, they see that their sufferings have been futile and their achievements are chimerical.
Sometimes, there are gullible people who sit at the table of these spoiled and corrupt intellectual foods, and their hearts and souls are poisoned, followed by more catastrophic consequences.
“What is the solution and how people of all religions can be steered away from this sham market towards the true destination and purpose of religion?
“To all of the above-said, one can add the brilliant records of mysticism in Iran and India, which have historically demonstrated their ability to curb violence, with the emphasis on mysticism succeeding in changing the fate of aggressive tribes, creating a civilization that favours peace and philanthropy and eschews violence.”
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