Published: July 02, 2006 07:48 pm         

Flashpoint: Life in global village requires mutual respect, tolerance

Immigration marked one of the major events in the 20th century that brought different ethnic, linguistic and religious groups; put them face to face and turned the world into an evolving global village. The process will only be accelerated in the 21st century as globalization has become a strong economic force. How can these diverse groups be bonded together to live in peace? There are historical precedents on how immigrants have lived in peace with the host society with dignity while keeping their identity.

In recorded history, the Persians, followers of Zoroastrianism, had set an example on how to get integrated with the host society. When Persia was over run by the Arabs in the 7th century, the Zoroastrians were subjected to religious persecution by the conquerors. To escape death, humiliation and to enjoy the freedom to practice their religion, they sailed to the shore of Gujarat in western India.

As the legend goes, the leader of the Persian group sent a messenger to the king of Gujarat asking his permission to settle in his kingdom. In reply, the king sent a bowl-full of milk conveying that the pot was full and there was no room for them in his kingdom. Undeterred, the leader of the group put a chunk of sugar in the milk pot and sent it back to the king with a note stating that the sugar will dissolve and sweeten the pot of milk without taking much space.

Since then the Persians lived, practiced their religion and became an integral part of India. They indeed have sweetened the Indian pot as their leader had promised.

After more than a millennium, as the economic disparity between the industrialized West and the rest of the world widened, people moved to the West in great numbers, seeking a better life. At the very beginning of the 20th century, Japanese farmers migrated to South America as agricultural laborers. Coming from the other side of the globe, how did they adjust to their new environment in a western society? There is a joke about these Japanese immigrants in Brazil that tells all about it:

In the month of July 1945 there was a heated debate amongst the generals in the Pentagon as to where to drop the first atom bomb for maximum Japanese casualties. The choice was between Hiroshima and the School of Engineering at the University of Sao Paulo.

What lies behind the joke is the success story of the Japanese immigrants and their ability to assimilate with their host society. In one generation, the agricultural laborers had sent their children to universities and professional schools in large numbers where the Japanese dominated the student population. The assimilation was so successful that in less than a century the people of Peru accepted a Japanese descendent, Alberto Fujimori, as their president.

The assimilation had been possible because the host society did not impose their culture on the immigrants; immigrants maintained their dignity by earning an honest living through hard work; there was a strong sense of gratitude on the part of the immigrants toward their host society for providing opportunities to fulfill their aspirations. All these culminated in mutual respect and tolerance for each other. Thus a norm was laid for the future immigrants by the Zoroastrians from Persia and the Shinto-Buddhists from Japan and their respective Hindu and Christian host societies on how to live in peace in a global village.

— Prodip Dutta

Professor of geology

Indiana State University