Bharat Summit Shows New Hope in the Wake of Hatred and Violence

Allama Iqbal, poet laureate of South Asia, wrote a few lines that resonate with my heart at this moment as the Bharat Summit came to an end:

Jahaan e taaza ki afkaar e taaza se hai namood
Ke sung o khisht se hote nahin jahaan paida

(A new world is born with new ideas
Stones and bricks do not create new worlds)

These lines kept echoing in my ears as I watched the first Bharat Summit, the world’s biggest gathering of progressives, in Hyderabad, the jewel capital of Telangana, unfold over two days on April 25-26. From around the world, more than 400 delegates, over 100 progressive parties, ministers, senators, parliamentarians, civil society leaders – young and old, men and women – attended this summit. 

Delivering global justice was the theme of the event. Meanwhile, it also marked 140 years of the Indian National Congress and 70 years of the Bandung Conference.

Just three days before the event, the Kashmir killings shook the world. As a Kashmir-born myself, I mourn with those who lost their beloved family members. I identify with Kashmiris who came to the rescue of the injured and also, once again, who lost their livelihoods. We Kashmiris from all over India are lamenting the loss of precious lives.

Also read: At Bharat Summit, Global Leaders Call For ‘Unity of Progressives’ Against Far-Right Forces

Across the globe, voices rose in condemnation; the country was convulsed while most social media handles spewed hatred and venom. 

At the plenary session of Bharat Summit, held after two days of a packed programme, the Hyderabad Declaration was presented by Salman Khurshid and Anne Linde before a packed hall. Condemning terrorism, the declaration spoke of reshaping the economic paradigm, environmental justice, gender equality, social inclusion and much more. On the stage sat peace-loving leaders from the world over. 

Telangana chief minister Revanth Reddy and Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi also spoke at the plenary session. 

Gandhi spoke of a new lens for Congress which was created in these two days. It was fashioned by leaders who believed in justice and peace. He referred to his Bharat Jodo Yatra of 4,000 kms across the country in which thousands walked with him, and where, he said, he learnt how to listen with empathy. Thereby, to use his favourite phrase, he realised that in this vortex of hatred there needs to be a beacon of love: “Nafrat ke bazaar mein mohabbat ki dukaan (In the marketplace of hatred, a shop of love)”.

What am I taking home from these two days – I, as someone who was nurtured in the India of the 50s, 60s and 70s, where Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Maulana Azad and many others were our leaders and mentors? 

Their stature is unmatched by present global leadership. I have vivid memories of them at my school functions. For our present youth, all these rahbars (leaders), whose images were beautifully displayed all around the walls of the convention centre, are just history. They look, linger and move on. But it were these people who have inspired this Bharat Summit. 

To get the world together on one stage, to get more than 100 nations on one platform around the theme of ‘delivering global justice and universal peace’ was only possible because the organisers, Samruddha Bharat Foundation, let by Pushpraj Deshpande and Telangana government, believed in the principles of these leaders who sacrificed their lives for India to attain freedom from colonial rule. 

Some of them were gunned down, some were sent to the gallows, and some struggled until the last breath. Inspired by their example, today, the world has signed the Bharat Summit Declaration. This means that these 100 plus nations have given a clarion call. 

Once again, Iqbal comes to mind when he says that these people with vision will create new habitations. These women and men, participants of Bharat Summit, are looking towards new horizons. When I saw them on the stage, a new dawn was unfolding. There was new hope in the wake of the hatred, violence and bloodbath we have just encountered. The innocent lives who fell to the bullets of terror have created the halo for a new hope. My birthplace Kashmir, convulsed and shattered, has sent a lehr of hope. 

Telangana, the land of Ganga-Jamuni Tehzeeb, lived up to its history. 

As I leave this venue, I know that in the darkest of times, the dawn breaks. Faiz Ahmed Faiz has expressed what sums up the prayer of each person who participated in the Bharat Summit:

Dil na umeed to nahin naakaam hee to hai
Lambi hai gham ki shaam magar shaam hee to hai.

(The heart has hope though it still hasn’t won
The eve of sorrow is long but it's only the evening.)

Syeda Hameed is a writer and the founder chair of the Muslim Women’s Forum.

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