Minneapolis: "Islam means peace", Nobel laureate Kailash Satyarthi has said as he decried the backlash against Muslims and made a strong call to nations to welcome refugees, particularly children, and not generalise them based on the actions of a few who have "tarnished" the image of Islam.
"Islam means peace. There are hundreds of (references) in the Holy Quran where peace, justice, freedom and equality are taught," Satyarthi said at the opening of the 2016 Nobel Peace Prize Forum held under the auspices of the Norwegian Nobel Institute here on Monday.
Satyarthi, who shared the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize with Pakistani girls' rights activist Malala Yousafzai, was asked by a young boy from Cyprus during a live global Q&A about the backlash against Muslims and rhetoric used against them by some politicians as well as the subsequent resentment against refugees amid fears that terrorists could hide among the millions fleeing conflict in countries like Syria and Iraq and seeking asylum in the western world.
Satyarthi, 62, accompanied at the forum by his wife Sumedha, said it was unfortunate that a "handful of people" were "manipulating" Islam and bringing a "bad name" to the religion for their selfish "political" ends and sometimes "emotional" reasons when Muslims across the world have been ambassadors of humanity and peace and people from Muslim countries have shown courage to speak out the truth.
"A handful of people are manipulating the religion...and even creating deep fundamentalism, brainwashing young people. We all know how ISIS and all these terror groups are functioning under the garb and name of Islam," he said.
"We oppose that kind of tendency and practice that is manipulating Islam," he added.
With children being the worst sufferers in the unprecedented refugee crisis engulfing the world, the Nobel laureate stressed that "no child wants to be a refugee" and no child has ever been responsible for war, insurgency or conflict.
"But children are the worst victims. They are forced to be refugees. We should not victimise them further," he said making a strong call to nations and its citizens to welcome refugees and not generalise them based on the actions of a few who have "tarnished" the image of Islam.
"I categorically say that every single door, every single border, every single treasury and every single heart should be open for refugee children because all children are our children, irrespective of religion, faith and countries," he said to a round of applause from the audience.
When asked by a 15-year old girl in the audience what he would do if he were the Prime Minister of India, Satyarthi said with a laugh that he "never thought about it" and would not take oath as Prime Minister "because I strongly feel that the power of ordinary people and the moral power of an ordinary person is million times more than any prime minister or any politician in the world."
Satyarthi said while progress has been made across the world to improve the condition of children and ensure basic rights to them, the work will not be complete if even a single child is forced into slavery, labour and prostitution.
"Children in Nigeria, India, Pakistan are rising up and demanding good quality education. They are saying they do not want to marry at an early age, do not want tools in their hands," he said.
"Young people like Malala are rising up everywhere and choosing peace over violence, tolerance over extremism and courage over fear," he said.
"Despite of all the good work all of us have done, 168 million children are still calling not for our attention but our action. They are not just numbers," he stressed.
"The world cannot be civilised, cultured if even a single child is enslaved. If one single girl is forced to work as child prostitute, then we cannot call ourselves religious, cultured and developed world," he said.
Satyarthi kicked off the three-day 2016 Nobel Peace Prize Forum by engaging in the live-streamed global conversation moderated by Norwegian Nobel Institute's Research Director Asle Toje with Forum delegates and youth from United Nations Children's Fund offices around the world, including Rajasthan, Tunisia and Ghana.
On questions from young girls in Ghana about the need to bridge the gap between the developed and developing world, Satyarthi said the world has a "very strong" development agenda for the future in the form of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and leaders will have to show strong political will to achieve them.
"The SDGs require genuine political will, strong social will and basic honesty among global leaders to fulfil and respect the promises they have made and to ensure that the SDG agenda is properly implemented," he said.
Having worked tirelessly his life to save children from slavery, bonded labour and trafficking, Satyarthi lamented that slavery still exists in the world and said failure of the judicial system and political will is to blame for this. "The worst thing happening today can be explained in three words - Slavery still exists. Modern slavery is fuelled by the greediness to earn more and more money. It is the failure of the legal systems, judicial systems, political will and society if one single child is sold for earning money," he said.
He urged young children across the world to follow the "3 Ds" of dreaming big, discovering and doing to not just ensure a better future for themselves but help others less fortunate than them.
The Forum provides an important international platform focusing on the work of the Nobel Peace Prize Laureates, as well as leading peacemakers and peace builders.
The 2016 Forum will concentrate on Satyarthi's work (2014) of ending child slavery and child trafficking. Over the course of the three days, Satyarthi will join leaders and experts on issues related to child slavery in conflict and commercial sexual exploitation.
The forum will also host dialogue sessions led by members of Satyarthi's organisation 'Bachpan Bachan Andolan', the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Asset India Foundation.
