Introspection by States important for conflict resolution: NSA Ajit Doval

National Happenings

Posted by admin_kas on 2025-02-02 22:27:44 | Last Updated by admin_kas on 2025-09-04 04:31:31

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Srinagar Feb 02: National Security Advisor Ajit Doval on Sunday said that Introspection by states and societies has always been important and stressed the need to focus on conflict resolution.

He was speaking in the context of the conflict between state and religion.

In his address during the release of the Hindi version of the Turkish-American scholar-author Ahmet T Kuru’s book Islam Authoritarianism: Underdevelopment- A Global and Historical Comparison published by the Khusro Foundation.

Addressing a jam packed gathering at the New Delhi World Book Fair, he said that the fidelity to religion or state should not be compromised. "We should not allow our brains to be imprisoned. If you do not introspect you lose time and direction. If done too late then you tend to lag," he said.

Doval said the phenomenon of the relationship between State and religion is not unique to Islam, although in Abbasid rule there was clarity on the role of state and clergy

"The conflict between religion and state would continue but important is if we are looking for a resolution,"

while speaking on the topic of the book in front of Dr. Kuru, who is based in the USA and had come for the release of his book.

"In Hinduism, the conflict was resolved through meditation and shastrarth –debates of scholars and learned men from competitive thoughts or religions," he said.

Doval further said that religion-based conflicts are inevitable since all ideologies are competitive and if they did not compete they would stagnate and eventually perish.

"However, to avoid conflicts flaring up it is important to allow the free flow of thoughts and avoid stagnation," he said.

He said that the generations who could not think out of the box have stagnated

“Resistance to adopt the printing press is one example where the resistance came from the clergy," he said while quoting from history.

"They thought with the advent of the printing press the meaning of Islam which they perceived to be real would not be interpreted properly," he said. 

Speaking on the occasion M J Akbar, former minister, author and journalist said more than democracy, Muslims need to revert to a knowledge-based society as it was during the glorious period of Muslim rule.

"The fall of Muslim empires happened because they stopped sharing knowledge," he said.

In the context of Islam, Akbar said, Sufism was practical because it teaches us a relationship that is not hostile.

"The real problem of Muslims is their inability to come to terms with modernity and understand the nation-state," he said and suggested to Dr Kuru to focus on Pakistan, which he said was a classic example of how religion was used to divide a country and to generate institutionalized and generational conflict.

Speaking on the occasion, Dr Kuru said that Muslims must accept their citizenship – both for their rights and to perform their duties – to end their backwardness.

"The solution to Muslims’ backwardness could be found in democracy. Both the majority and minority communities in a country should respect citizenship," he said.

He said all sections of the society should be given equal rights and be mindful of their duties towards their country as well.

"Muslims did well when they believed in coexistence and were open-minded and accepting diversity," he said.

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