Abdul Quayyum Raja Writes A letter to High Commissioner of UNHCHR

KHOIRATTA: Quayyum Raja wrote an Open Letter Beyond Borders and Backgrounds for the young generation.  

Assalamo Alaikum

I hope everyone is fine. I am writing this open letter to some selective young and educated men and women. I want to discuss with you the quality of life. The quality of life in my opinion is based on the purpose of life. The purpose of life determines the character. It is the character that leaves the mark of our visit to this world even after our death. This is why we celebrate the death anniversaries of many personalities who have passed away even centuries ago.

So what is the real purpose of our life? The real purpose of our life is to serve humanity. For this, we first need to be educated, physically and mentally healthy. For a physical health, we should eat well and for a mental health, we should think and act well. Our positive thoughts and actions are reinforced if we associate with positive individuals regardless of their social and cultural backgrounds. Therefore, I urge you not to make too many friends. The negative friends and relatives destroy your life. They only feel jealous when you progress in life. Jealousy destroys mental health and well-being. The Holy Quran describes it as one of the worst deceases. You are better off with fewer friends but good ones. This is the lesson of my life, which many of you know has been spent living and travelling around the world. Never choose friends before knowing them well. Isolation is better than negative thinkers and bad company. Never meet people with pre-mediated ideas as it can be discriminatory or misleading. Meet them, listen to them and then make mind about them.

When I was doing a degree in Psychology, I read some academic researches where it was described how positive thinkers build their own community in order to live positively, successfully and happily. For instance, a like-minded people set up a group who would help each other and eventually built a Housing Society where nobody else could live without their consent.

We have a number of examples even of some countries such as Canada, Australia and Switzerland. Canada and Australia are inviting educated people from around the world to build an educated society. Whereas, Switzerland has mainly German and French speaking people who have developed a politically neutral country. America and Britain are multi-cultural societies but they are held together. Islam is a Universal Faith and therefore a force in itself but it has been damaged by its own followers more than anything and anyone else. Vetican city, Monaco and Liberland are three smallest countries in the world which are politically neutral and free of conflicts. The Jews are the smallest religion of the book, but yet they have proved that quality is power, not quantity. The Jews are scattered around the world, but remarkably well-organized and united. Similarly, the Kashmiris are living in almost all advanced countries. If they unite themselves as a Community, they can be a significant diplomatic force needed for the resolution to the protracted Jammu Kashmir issue. This requires preventing importation of Kashmiri and Pakistani politics abroad, which only divides and weaken us and wastes community’s resources. Of course, one should be a part of the larger humanity, but charity begins at home and power is Bottom Up, not Top Down. That is, we can contribute only if we have our own base and if we are self-sufficient and skilful. We should thank technology for breaking the barriers. So, let us unite and build a mentally healthy community for a positive contribution to the service of Humanity.

This open letter has derived from my instinctive thoughts as I got up today 30 December 2021 at 6 in the morning, prayed my fajar and wrote this letter taking about an hour. So please, bring out your instinctive thoughts and express yourselves as naturally and humanly as possible. Just trust your natural thoughts and unite yourselves with like-minded people regardless of your social, cultural and religious backgrounds.