Some incidents taking place in Indian society are horrendous, repulsive and disgusting. Any decent Indian is forced to bend his head in shame and shiver when he/she reads the news headlines like “A high caste man urinated on the face of a Kol tribal in MP”, “Man brutally thrashed, forced to lick feet in a moving car in Gwalior”, “Two tribal brothers held captive, badly thrashed by guards in Indore”, “Man lynched by ‘cow vigilantes’ on suspicion of transporting beef in Maharashtra”,“Man kills live-in partner, chops up body and stays with parts in home in Mumbai”, “15 killed in Bengal panchayat poll violence”, “Violence continues unabated in Manipur” etc. The catalogue is endless as well as shuddering. What is exhibited through these incidents is brutality, inhumanity, hatred, revenge and lack of respect for human dignity.

At the same time, there is proliferation of religiosity in the form of construction of grandiose worship centres, erection of huge statues, organizing mega religious events and gatherings, invention of new and expensive rituals and surge in religious tourism. The increasing hatred, revenge and violence are indicators that religious fervour is not making people spiritual i.e., practice of the core values of religions. Often religious zeal leads to hatred and violence due to blind faith devoid of scientific temper, commercialization and politicization of religion.

No religion teaches to hate the other, especially people of other faiths. The essence of the teachings of all religions is LOVE. It is because of selfishness, greed and pride of human beings, religious teachings are misinterpreted and religion is abused. All spiritual leaders in the history of the world have shown through their life and teachings that the brute in human beings can be defeated by the divine presence in them, and a civilization of love can be built. Building a civilization of love is an ongoing process.  “Whenever dharma seems to wane under the power of adharma, I incarnate in the world to protect the good, destroy the evil and restore dharma,” says the Bhagavad Gita.

Incarnation of God need not always be in the form of a person; it could be in the form of social reform or a movement to bring about changes in society for betterment. The year 1992 was a very critical year in the history of India because of the large-scale violence that erupted in the aftermath of the demolition of the disputed Babri Masjid in Ayodhya. Fr. Varghese, a Catholic priest, thought of responding to the chaotic situation by focusing on the young people, especially high school students, teachers and parents to build peace and harmony in society. Thus, came into existence the Universal Solidarity Movement (USM) of Value Education for Peace on July 16, 1993 to build a civilization of love.

Fr. Varghese got the inspiration to start USM from the ecumenical community in Taize in France, where people, especially young people, belonging to different Christian denominations from different countries come and live together and experience love, peace and harmony. During his stay in Taize, Fr. Varghese dreamt of a community in which people belonging to different religions, castes, languages, region, etc., live together and work for peace and harmony.

Fr. Varghese Alengaden who was a member of Sagar diocese took leave and came to Indore. With the patronage and blessings of the then bishop of Indore, Bishop George Anathil, and with the support of some friends in Indore he started the movement in a rented apartment on July 16, 1993. USM will be completing 30 years of its existence and mission on July 16, 2023. Fr. Varghese was not fortunate enough to see the 31^st foundation day of USM, as he departed from this world on 26^th March this year.

When USM completes 30 years of its journey, it is appropriate to examine some of its unique characteristics and the relevance of experiments like the USM. The vision and mission of USM is building a civilization of love by animating youth, teachers, parents and civil Society members.

In order to realize its vision, it has focussed on the youth through inculcation of core human, spiritual and Indian Constitutional values and training leaders with character and competence, who will be promoting peace and harmony. When young people are misguided and exploited by corrupt politicians and religious leaders, giving them the right direction is very relevant in the context of India.

The Catholic Church in India has a great opportunity and responsibility to build leaders who are committed to the core values of Indian Constitution, as more than five crore young people are being educated in more than 50,000 Catholic educational institutions.  

Pluralism is a core value practiced and promoted by USM since its inception, as it is the millennial heritage of India and the legacy of Jesus. For USM, pluralism means acceptance, appreciation and celebration of diversities. The interfaith prayer with readings from different religious scriptures and songs and bhajans common to all faiths practiced twice a day in the USM community is an expression of its commitment to pluralism. The Sangam book with short readings from 8 religions and common songs and bhajans is used by many schools in India in their school assemblies. They spread the loud message of respect for all religions.

The USM community in Indore consists of priests, religious and men and women belonging to different religions. They share common meals in the same dining room, participate in prayer and planning and evaluation of activities. Each individual is free to practice his or her faith while living and working in an interfaith community. It is an inclusive community in which there are no workers, but all are partners in the same mission. Inclusiveness is another core value of USM. The person who cleans washrooms gets equal respect and dignity as the one who takes sessions.

The vision of USM for India and the world, which incorporates the ennobling aspects of 9 religions, is appreciated by many. They are:

·       The universal family spirit of Hinduism and Bahai faith;

·       The discipline and fellowship of Islam;

·       The courage of Sikhism;

·       The compassion of Buddhism;

·       The non-violence of Jainism;

·       The creativity of the Parsi religion;

·       The indomitability of Judaism;

·       The cosmic solidarity of Tribal religions and

·       The self-sacrifice and forgiveness of Christianity.

Another unique feature of USM is its insistence on self-transformation in view of transforming the world. All members of USM are expected to follow the Gandhian dictum, “You be the change you want to see in the world”. The only condition to become a member of USM is to practice Five Paths for Self-transformation. USM promotes spirituality based on the practice of ethical and human values rather than religiosity based on rituals. The practice of Five Paths as given below is adopted as a means for spiritual growth.

Pray daily for peace and forgiveness to be an agent of peace and reconciliation.

Skip a meal a week to express solidarity with the hungry and contribute the savings to the poor and the needy.

Do a good deed a day without any selfish motive to develop loving concern for the nation and humanity.

Honour parents, teachers and all human beings.

Respect the earth and save its resources.

The programmes of USM to bring about changes in the students, teachers, parents and principals in view of building a civilization of love include: one-week leadership training for high school students, two days seminar for teachers with the theme, “Teachers as Mentors”, parents’ seminar focusing on the role of parents in the education of their children, leadership training for heads of institutions, highlighting the areas on which they have to give special attention, Knit India -- a three day-gathering of students, teachers and principals to build unity and harmony -- and organizing annual National Peace Conventions in different cities of India. 

USM follows a practice of asking the participants of all its training programmes to write and present a comprehensive report at the end of the training. The following portions taken from the reports of a few participants give a glimpse of the impact of the programmes.

“I developed in myself the habit of punctuality, self-discipline and building relationships with others through interactions. I also understood the importance of peace and pluralism” -- Pranjal Mahendra Chaudhari, Canossa Convent High School Dule, Maharashtra.

“I am unique and hence copying is an insult to God; I will be my role model” -- Alisha Bage of Ursuline Convent School, Gumla, Jharkhand.

“I learned that religion is not only devotion but also duty and responsibility, brotherhood and humanity” -- Mrignayana Ladghar, Auxilium Convent High School, Lonavala, Maharashtra.

“The changes that have taken place in me are that I have become humble and I have started reading newspapers” -- Blessy Bindo Vithayathil, Canossa Convent High School Dule, Maharashtra.

“From the USM I have learnt the importance of respecting earth and its resources. I will plant a tree every year and I will motivate others to do the same. I will not waste water and I will motivate others to do the same” -- Deepak Varama of Janvikas Society, Indore.

“USM training has helped me to learn the reflection process to discover myself to find meaning in life and living for a cause” -- Paritosh Majundar, teacher of Don Bosco School Baroda.

“My takeaways from the leadership retreat in USM are: 1) Do it now 2) Problems are to be viewed as challenges 3) Nothing is impossible 4) Doing maximum good to maximum people and 5) not to waste time on social media or gossiping” -- Sr. Ann Joicy, Principal, Carmel Convent School, BHEL Bhopal.

India is undergoing tectonic socio-political change the impact of which is reflected in the phenomenal increase in religion-based conflicts, hatred and violence. In this context, all Indians are duty-bound to become peace-builders with creative interventions. There is an urgent need for initiating USM type experiments to promote peace and harmony among the followers of different religions. Becoming partners in the mission of USM by sending students, teachers and heads of institutions for leadership training will be a contribution to build a civilization of love.