Peace, not retaliation, the answer

BY GIANNI UBRIACO

The Sudbury Multicultural and Folk Arts Association held a special gathering last Friday to mark the death of former Pakistan prime minister Benazir Bhutto at the hands of a suicide bomber.

Bhutto, the first female prime minister of any Islamic nation, was a leading opposition candidate in the parliamentary election set for Jan. 8. She was allegedly shot before her attacker blew himself up, killing at least 22 others.

The horrific events have shaken the entire world, but the association’s secretary, Niranjan Mishra, felt it was important to hold the local event to promote peace and non-violence.

“From this point on we have to move forward and not retaliate or move in the wrong direction,” he said. “We ask for calm and restraint from this point onward.”

Mishra, who has spent the last 25 years in Canada but who’s originally from India, believes such killing only creates more problems and that a sense of calmness and democracy must be restored.

“We should have democracy and each person should have a right to contest for their position rather than be controlled by a bullet,” he said. “What I believe is the ballot is more powerful than the bullet.”

Ultimately, he thinks violence is the cowardly way out and that the people of Pakistan, along with the approximately 35,000 Pakistanis in Canada including the over 400 in the Sudbury region, have to move on together in unity and prayer.

“These violent actions are condemned all over the world, so this is the least we could do,” he said. “Canada is a good place with human rights and freedom and that should be the case all over.”

The president of the association, Meho Halimich, had similar thoughts on the issue and admits it’s a big blow to the Islamic world and their hope for peace.    

“They lost a leader who wanted to bring democracy to them and to the world,” he said. “It’s really sad. Now, we just want to help stop the violence and to stop the killings.”

Meanwhile, the first vice-president, Mike Slawny, was shocked at the unsettling events. He considers it to be as devastating as the murders of people like Bobby Kennedy, John F. Kennedy, and Martin Luther King.

“Our message to the community is to have courage,” he said. “Do not give into the darker forces of revenge and attempt to espouse peaceful democratic development of your peoples and of your country. The cycle of violence, once it begins, is perpetuated and is endless and doesn’t eventually bring justice of the desired end to that particular group of people.”


Other people who spoke to offer condolences and hopes for a peaceful future at the special meeting included Pakistan-Canada Council of Northern Ontario representatives Tariq Razzaq, Black Arrow Domino Club board member George Dockery, Muhammad Javaid of the Pakistan-Canada Cultural Society of Sudbury, and Rayudu Koka, who’s an advisor for the association.