MARTIN Luther King had said “True peace is not merely the absence of tension it is the presence of justice” (Feb 15, 2008).

However, one would say that if there is not peace within individuals, there could be no peace without. And, there can be no justice as long as we are not prepared to treat others the way we ourselves would like to be treated.

That can only happen if we honestly believe that all human beings are equal, or, in other words, their rights are as sacred as ours. Thus, peace ultimately depends on what we believe in.

Some examples would serve to illustrate. The Nazis had considered themselves to be superior to all the other races, just as the Zionists hold their own selves to be. We have seen how much bloodshed these wrong beliefs have caused.

In the US, human beings brought in from Africa were looked down upon and treated by many as slaves. In India, they have the caste system. 'Caste' is a Portuguese word, used by the Portuguese as equivalent of 'Varma' (a Sanskrit word, which means colour). They used it to denote the peculiar system of religious and social distinctions, which they observed among the Hindus.

Caste originally served as a colour-bar, and in India, as later in America, was the means to initially separate free men from slaves. Gradually, the Brahmins made it a religiously ordained social fabric for the Hindu society.

On the top of this hierarchy is the Brahman and at the bottom is the Untouchable (Dalit).

Such distinctions have caused much trouble in India by bringing a great deal of suffering and injustice.

We have also seen that the Americans have only now been able to overcome their underlying racial prejudice sufficiently to be able to elect a coloured person as a president for the first time.

Malcolm X, the Black Muslim leader on the 1960s, used to be very hostile to the white Americans until he went for Haj (pilgrimage to Makkah) and found out how Muslims of every race and social status were praying together as equals. After his return, he ended his rhetoric against the whites.

This is a truly remarkable instance of one's belief leading to inner and outward peace. Unfortunately, in the US we still find some churches that cater exclusively to either the whites or the blacks

KHALID CHAUDHRY

Karachi