The Bhartiya Chetna Kendra finds that people of
nearly all religious communities all over the world, in large measure, suffer
from spiritual poverty. It finds that people of all religious communities in
India suffer from stark material poverty in addition. People of certain
specific religious communities suffer more intensively and extensively from
this malaise. This kind of stark material poverty tends to make human
existence meaningless.
2) The Kendra believes that, in spite of atheism and
agnosticism spreading fast with materialism and consumerism, religion is a major
force to reckon with. And, in various parts of the world, the regular suicide-bombings and
genocides inspired by certain interpretations of religion prove the fact that
religion is still a hugely motivating force. How we use this power of faith is
left to us. The Kendra believes that it is possible to harness the power of different
faiths to inspire humanity to take positive action too. One of the directions
of this positive action is poverty alleviation.
3) OBJECTS OF THE AF-CPA: To alleviate material
poverty along with spiritual poverty, the Kendra has decided to form an All-Faith
Council for Poverty Alleviation. Its objectives will be as under:
a) To bring together eminent citizens
and the most constructive and genuine leaders of different faiths to find ways
of inspiring their respective communities to focus on spiritual development,
which would mean focusing more on instilling human values and purification of
the soul for attaining summum bonum of their respective religions, like
nirvana (Buddhism), Moksha or liberation from the cycle of birth and death
(Hinduism), securing a place in the Heaven (Islam, Christianity and Judaism),
as opposed to merely following the external rituals, superstitions or social
laws.
b) Apart from spiritual development, harnessing
the power of faith for alleviation of material poverty, which envelopes
huge chunks of various religious communities, making India home to the largest
number of the poor in the world.
c) Creating
institutions similar in nature but specific to different religious communities
that would integrate religion, spirituality and culture with poverty
alleviation and knowledge infrastructure.
d)
Promoting non-violence, respect for all religions, religious tolerance,
communal and social harmony to bring peace and prosperity.
4) STRUCTURE OF THE AF-CPA: The proposed
structure for this All-Faith Council for Poverty Alleviation is proposed to be as
under:
a)
A General Body consisting of around 1000 religious leaders and eminent citizens.
b) A 100-strong Executive Council with
representation from all faiths.
c) A Presidium of seven members at the
top drawn from different faiths.
5) The Kendra has already prepared a model for people
of the Hindu faith that integrates religion, spirituality and culture with poverty
alleviation and knowledge promotion infrastructure, and named it ‘Gita Dham’. A
similar model is proposed for some of the other faiths, the followers of which
suffer more from poverty. The institution for the Muslims is proposed to be
named ‘The Islamic Culture Centre’, for Christians, ‘The Christian
Culture Centre’, and for the Buddhists, ‘The Buddhist Culture Centre’.
The concept note on ‘Gita Dham’, which will provide the broad model for similar
institutions of other faiths, can be found in both Hindi and English at www.bhartiyachetna.org. A one-page flyer on the Gita Dham is enclosed
for a general idea.
