Kolkata: Laws cannot tackle forceful religious conversions, and Africa needs education on “African lines” to handle the issue of ethnic clashes, a prominent African stateswoman and educator said Saturday.
“We need to unify the harmony we all are in search of and seek cultural peace of humanity instead of enacting laws to address forceful (religious) conversions”, African ambassador of Goodwill to Africa, Delois Blakely said on the sidelines of an event organised by SREI here.
According to her, religions across the world need to recognise the common goal of seeking peace and live in mutual harmony instead of imposing parliamentary laws upon themselves.
Over the issue of ongoing ethnic violence in the African continent, she said education on “African lines” can help people understand the common goal of humanity and will thereafter restrain them from violence.
“In Africa, people maintain a fine balance between their community and nature. While education can help solve the problem of ethnic violence, the education module needs inspiration from the age-old African traditions,” she said.
Recently, more than 10,000 people have died and 1.9 million have been displaced as a result of warfare and ethnic clashes in South Sudan.