Can we empathize with refugees fleeing war-torn Syria risking their lives and seeking refuge in Europe miles away from Nepal? Can we express solidarity with victims of terror attacks in Belgium, France, Afghanistan and Pakistan? Can we think of all people in the world as brothers and sisters? We can, we should. But often we tend to think it's impossible.Empathizing with people in trouble can go a long way in maintaining peace and harmony in the world. Even if we think of sufferings of fellow beings at least once a day and try to find ways to alleviate them, it would make a lot of difference in their lives. If we practiced humanism, it would help us solve most problems. This is the central idea of my book Peace and Humanism.
There are people who do not only believe in humanism but also act as per its ideals. You do not need to go far to find such people. Think of late Dinesh Neupane, captain and Santosh Rana, co-pilot of Air Kasthamandap. They sacrificed their precious lives to save the lives of others.
Death of any human being is a great loss but this one truly agitated me. Not because Neupane and Rana are my relatives or I personally knew them. I had not known who they are before the tragic news broke out in late February. Perhaps if the tragedy had not happened I would never have known about these great souls.
Several thoughts came to my mind: What if I had been one of the passengers on board that ill-fated plane? Perhaps I would survive and get a new life. But at what cost? At the expense of lives of Rana and Neupane.
Or what if I were Neupane or Rana? Perhaps I would not be able to assure my fellow passengers that I would do everything possible to save their lives. Perhaps I would not be able to take control of the plane that was about to smash to the ground. Frankly, I fear death.
In either case, it would be extremely painful. Imagine having to live with this feeling that the great soul who saved you from death himself died in the process. If he had not, you would perhaps go to his home to express gratitude. But to lose a person who saved you? It would be a terrible experience.
The families of Rana and Neupane must be still grieving. They must still be in mourning.
Neupane and Rana did what normal human beings are not able to do. They knew the danger had befallen them. They knew that their life was coming to an end the next moment. Yet they worked to save passengers and chose to die for others. Neupane and Rana are modern avatars of humanism.
For ours is the world where helping those in need has become a rare thing. We encounter human sufferings everywhere. Watch TV and you see disturbing sights of women and children being displaced by conflicts, leaving home for an unknown destination in search of safe havens.
Newspapers are filled with headlines of deaths caused by conflicts and war. Cases of men and women sold to sexual and other forms of slavery fill front pages of newspapers. We read about tens of thousands of children dying of malnutrition in the undeveloped countries. Even in Nepal there are a lot of people who have been pushed to extreme hardships by poverty, illiteracy and hunger. But we tend to ignore these unfortunate people. We do not come to their aid even if it is within our capacity to do so. You don't have to make a big sacrifice for this.
First, let us treat all human beings as friends. I believe it is possible. Come to think of it. Who were you to your wife or husband before you met with each other? Perhaps you first met him/her at a café or at the university library or at the party. Perhaps you saw each other and struck a conversation then you decided to meet again and you took to liking each other.
It could also have been something like this. First you met him/her, you did not really like him/her. But then it so happened that you frequented meeting with each other and you started to share views, feelings and ideas with each other. Slowly the same person that you first disliked seemed so amiable to you. You began to enjoy his or her company, you grew fond of each other and got married.
Human relations evolve like this. First there is a kind of mistrust. Then the trust develops and you begin to treat the person who you did not really like until yesterday as a bosom friend. This is because the idea of stranger is false. Humanity, human relation and humanism are truths. Human beings all over the world have common needs. They need food, shelter and clothes. They need freedom, security, and protection from harms. They need love, care, sympathy and empathy from others. Most of all they need support when in trouble and difficulty. This is why the only identity we need to promote is that of humanism and humanity.
Second, we should try to overcome the narrow boundaries of nationalism, caste and creed. Historically human beings have always lived in groups and communities because they share same variety of economic, political, religious and social needs. We all share the fundamental cravings for being helped when in trouble. Innovative information and communications technologies such as email and internet have made sharing and caring among world populations easy. You can help a person in distress from any corner of the globe. All that we need is become a good human being in a true sense of the word.
Pandey's book Peace and Humanism was released last month
uddhab.raj.pandey@gmail.com
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