Mirror Magazine

Mirror Magazine

Unity in Diversity
By Aaysha Cader
‘Not to diversify, but to unite’ is what their mission statement says, and for a group of enterprising students of Asian International School (AIS), who have embarked on a pioneering project, and eventually formed the ‘Interfaith Society’, it’s the way to create mutual understanding and respect between students of different cultural and religious backgrounds.

We’ve seen the brunt of communal and ethnic conflicts for the last couple of decades and since of late, religious differences are gradually becoming yet another cause for inter-faith hostility in our country. In the light of recent events, the need for inter-faith discussion and the celebration of our cultural, religious and ethnic diversity could not have been greater. These students of Asian International School have made their attempt to fulfil this need.

“If you take our society, or the world in a larger context, it’s multi-religious, multi-ethnic and it’s important that we understand each other,” says Fadhil, 18, who is the president of the Islamic section of the Interfaith Society. The organisation comprises separate societies of the four main religious communities in Sri Lanka - Buddhism, Islam, Hinduism and Christianity. There is no overall ‘head’ as such, but instead the presidents of the four religious communities of the society act as decision-makers. Each society, however, has its own president, other office-bearers and a committee of five, as well as a teacher-in-charge. What is novel about the interfaith concept is that in addition to members of its own religion, each religious society also has a representative each from the other three societies.

“We came up with this three-representative concept in order to establish our mission of ‘Not to diversify, but to unite’,” explains Fadhil. Interfaith was formed in AIS a couple of months ago, and it was not exactly smooth-sailing for the four presidents of the societies. The school was very supportive, but there was opposition from some students. “The problem,” as 18-year-old Akshayan, president of the Hindu Society says, “is that everybody thought that the moment you bring up religion, it will lead to confrontation, not realising that it is only by addressing issues that we can reduce friction.”

The patron of the society, Ms. Khulsum Edirisinghe, while acknowledging the relevance of such a concept in a school, said that the idea was brought up entirely by the students. With a student population of over a thousand, AIS is essentially a multi-cultural society. “We never had an ethnic problem as such, so we were a little worried that we might draw attention to something that never was an issue before,” she says, but a couple months since the formation of the society, the students have undoubtedly gelled together very well, with Interfaith seeing the successful completion of many projects.

“I’ve learnt more about other religions in the last couple of months than I ever did in the last 15 years!” says 18-year-old Chamindra, the president of the Buddhist section of the society. “Interfaith has taught us so much about other religions, and more importantly that all religions essentially share the same message,” adds the president of the Christian Society of Interfaith, Hasini, 14.

As a routine, each of the religious sub-societies meets separately on a weekly basis, with a collective meeting of the entire membership of Interfaith every fortnight. “At these weekly meetings, we discuss issues of our own religion, so members are educated about their own religions as well,” says Fadhil, re-iterating part of Interfaith’s mission that education in one’s own religion as well as education in other religions is vital. All members of Interfaith celebrate every religious festival, and where possible the participation of the whole school is encouraged.

Interfaith successfully organised a Christmas assembly for the whole school complete with carols, Santa Claus and Christmas cake for all the students. “The students of all religions participated in the event,” says deputy vice-principal, Ms. Marie Mendis who is very supportive of Interfaith’s efforts. The choir was multi-religious, while Santa Claus was, incidentally, the president of the Hindu Society, Akshayan!

Interfaith also organised a special Ifthar programme for breaking fast during the Islamic holy month of Ramadhan, where, once again participation was multi-religious, and students were accorded the opportunity to observe the practices of another religion, as well as be informed as to ‘Why’ such a practice is followed.

Programmes were also organised for Independence Day, and more recently for Maha Siva Rathri and the Hajj Festival. Regular discussions are also held on the different religious aspects, and they hope to invite four guest speakers to speak on religion and unity in diversity. They also plan to give alms at a temple in the vicinity of the school, and release a newsletter relating students’ experiences of Interfaith.

Interfaith has been a great learning experience not just for students, but for the teachers as well, according to Ms. Mendis. “These students have understood and shown the importance of co-existence without disharmony,” she says, adding that they have set an example to be followed by other students of the school. Her sentiments are echoed by the vice-principal of AIS Ms. Sita Chelliah, who has also supported Interfaith from its inception.

“When we leave school and move into a more competitive society these values are going to be all the more important,” stresses Hasini, adding that religion makes up a major part of who you are. Students have also realised the importance of learning their own religion. Says Fadhil, “What I learn and believe of my religion will keep me in good stead as an individual, but we also learn to interact and co-exist with people of different faiths.”

The four presidents are glad to have formed Interfaith and are appreciative of the support of the school. Hoping to continue awareness of Interfaith within the school, they stress that they want Interfaith to be a continuous project to be followed by the next batch of students as well, before they embark on an inter-school level project.

Interfaith now has over 50 active members, and as the students themselves say, they are not trying to deny the fact that they are diverse, but instead are living and celebrating this diversity. Believing that religion is not a cause to segregate or to separate, but a key factor that should bring individuals together to work as one, these dynamic members of Interfaith emphasise the concluding words of their mission statement, “We believe in unity, with unity we bring about peace and harmony.”

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