We have a dream

WE HAVE A DREAM that one day our country will wake up and be free from the tensions and dividing force of race. We have a dream that one day our politics will be mature enough to reflect the aspirations of a plural society yearning to live in peace,  harmony and mutual respect, devoid of instinctive appeals to ethnic loyalties. We have a dream that one day all our institutions, civil and private, will be so enlightened as to be colour-blind in the conduct of their business, equitable in their treatment of all the country’s citizens, regardless of their ancestral origins. We have a dream that one day our nation will begin truly to live out the glorious messages contained both in its anthem, where every creed and race find an equal place, and its motto, together we aspire, together we achieve.

We have a dream that one day our society as a whole will come to fully understand and inflexibly observe the great principles contained in the preamble of our constitution, its individual rights and freedoms. We have a dream that one day our people, conscious of their obligation to God and nation, will begin to live in true brotherhood, without fear of being robbed or violently attacked. We can hardly think of a more propitious time to declare this dream than today, the national holiday of Divali, and this period of the year which contains the other religious holidays of Eid Ul Fitr and Christmas. These are three holidays which speak not only of the multi-ethnic and multi-religious nature of our society but also of our concern and desire to build a nation strong, united, God-fearing and equitable in its diversity.

The three are religious holidays which provide perhaps the greatest impetus for the realisation of our dream, since they also engage the interest, the fascination, indeed the participation at some level, of a wide cross-section of the national community, generating in the process a greater appreciation among our people of the core beliefs and exhortations to moral conduct which give meaning to each particular observance. In their essential teaching and call to ethical behaviour they constitue a perennial and realistic inspiration for the shaping of minds, hearts and attitudes which our dream of a united society would require if it is to come true.

In his Divali 2004 message to the nation, Prime Minister Patrick Manning touches on this positive truth: “How often has it been said that paradoxically, while religion is intended to bring people together, it can and has been used for the opposite effect? It is therefore to the credit of the people of our Republic that in celebrating our religious festivals, we aspire more towards the sublime intent and continue to be purposed differently.” The PM urged, “We must never deviate from the illumined path that allows our religious celebrations to strengthen our spirituality through appreciation of the love and majesty of God, as reflected in all His human creations.” We have a dream that the light, which the deyas of Divali symbolise, will not only reveal this vital truth to all our people but would also bind them to live compellingly by its illumination. A meaningful Divali to all our readers.