The attacks on mosques in New Zealand once again remind that the world is confronted with a gigantic issue and needs a solution that can come from an education that emphasizes common good of all, a prominent Virginia-based entrepreneur said
“It is now clear that we have a common future, our stakes are bound with one another. So let’s start removing discords and misperceptions by underlining the message of common humanity and mutual care in our schools and colleges,” Mossadaq Chughtai, a Pakistani-American with a wide international business experience, said.
The business leader spoke days after last Friday’s horrible massacres at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, where an Australian, Brenton Tarrant, rained bullets on Muslim worshippers. The terrorist attacker’s actions and hateful ideology showed that he radicalized himself by following far right figures and thought Muslims, particularly immigrants, were a threat to the Western way of life.
In an interview, Chughtai, who co-founded Congressional Pakistan Caucus in 2004, said while every community and country has a right to be proud of its heritage and culture, the challenges of violent extremism demand that “we also speak for common goals since we face a common future.”
Mossadaq Chughtai
He said issues like climate change and terrorism cannot be addressed if countries think they can live in isolation of one another.
“Let’s be clear and tell our young people that our economic development and well being must bee rooted in the idea of collective safety and security. We all love our people and culture, but we cannot just live by pretending that we have nothing to do with the rest of the world.”
“We have to understand each other, we have to care for one another,” he said, while noting that this is the message that all religious and great civilizations affirm.
He also cited the example of international trade, saying a dreadful event in one part of the world can have implications for stock markets and economic development trends all over.
“We need to educate our people in Madrassas in the Muslim world and we need to tell our politicians in Western democracies that we are not living on some isolated islands but in an interdependent world, where our common prosperity depends on peaceful coexistence, and nothing can help that better than educating our youth with values of common good.”
