Aga Khan Calls For Pluralism
Sep 11, 2002
THE conflicts in the Great Lakes region of Africa, Central Europe and Afghanistan are due to failure to recognise pluralism, the Aga Khan has said.
By John Kakande
THE conflicts in the Great Lakes region of Africa, Central Europe and Afghanistan are due to failure to recognise pluralism, the Aga Khan has said.
Aga Khan, the imam (spiritual leader) of the Ismaili community said “the inability of human society to recognise pluralism as a fundamental value constitutes a serious danger for our future.â€
The Aga Khan said this on Saturday at the conclusion of a conference on culture and development to commemorate the sixth anniversary of the founding of the Prince Claus Fund in Netherlands.
About 1,800 dignitaries including Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands attended, a statement from the Aga Khan Development Network said.
The Aga Khan said, “Enhancing pluralism is as critical for the welfare and progress of human society as are poverty alleviation and conflict prevention.â€
Failure to recognise the pluralist nature of human society was perhaps the most common ingredient of recent conflicts, the statement said.
It said, “Actions to enhance pluralism have to be matched by programmes to alleviate poverty because if left alone, poverty will provide a context for special interests to pursue their goals in aggressive terms.†Ends
THE conflicts in the Great Lakes region of Africa, Central Europe and Afghanistan are due to failure to recognise pluralism, the Aga Khan has said.
Aga Khan, the imam (spiritual leader) of the Ismaili community said “the inability of human society to recognise pluralism as a fundamental value constitutes a serious danger for our future.â€
The Aga Khan said this on Saturday at the conclusion of a conference on culture and development to commemorate the sixth anniversary of the founding of the Prince Claus Fund in Netherlands.
About 1,800 dignitaries including Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands attended, a statement from the Aga Khan Development Network said.
The Aga Khan said, “Enhancing pluralism is as critical for the welfare and progress of human society as are poverty alleviation and conflict prevention.â€
Failure to recognise the pluralist nature of human society was perhaps the most common ingredient of recent conflicts, the statement said.
It said, “Actions to enhance pluralism have to be matched by programmes to alleviate poverty because if left alone, poverty will provide a context for special interests to pursue their goals in aggressive terms.†Ends