In a short statement for Remembrance Service held on 11th Nov’21 at University of Bedfordshire (Luton Campus), David Jonathan working with GRASSROOTS, Near Neighbours and Luton Council of Faiths, said;
The First World War was "The war to end all wars", but we know it didn’t happen that way.
Then World War II happened; and it turned out to be THE deadliest conflict.
It is good that in Remembrance Services, we remember the great human beings, the heroes who laid down and sacrificed their lives for the world peace, but it is also good to remember that it wasn’t all white British or Europeans who sacrificed their lives.
5.5 million Muslims had participated on the allied side of the war during WWII and it is said that nearly 1.5 million Muslims were killed in action. Over 10,000 Palestinians had also fought for Britain in WW2 in Egypt.[1]
Nearly 2 million Sikh soldiers sacrificed their lives in the two World Wars. Sikhs represented more than 60 percent of the total Indian force that fought against the Japanese.[2]
A BBC news article states; Approximately 1.3 million Indian soldiers served in World War One, and over 2.5 million had joined the British forces in the World War 2, but history has mostly forgotten these sacrifices…[3]
This is why it is important that Inter Faith Week in the UK starts every year on Remembrance Sunday so that we can acknowledge and celebrate the tremendous contributions that people of different faiths and ethnicity have made in the making of Great Britain.
However, it is worth pointing out that our soldiers and civilians did not sacrifice their lives for the kind of ‘nationalism’, ‘hate’ & ‘racism’ we see all over the world today.
Let us hope that we will not recreate the mistakes from the past.
Let us hope that we can learn to appreciate the importance of co-existence.
Let us hope that we can learn to appreciate the fact that we belong to one another and that we need one another for the well-being of all and that of our common home, planet earth.
[1] https://www.muslimwarmemorial.org/education/the-role-of-muslims-in-ww2/
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sikhs_in_the_British_Indian_Army
[3] https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-33317368
The University of Bedfordshire Luton Campus Chaplain Revd Andrew Goodman, said
“Every year I am enormously moved when friends from different faiths come together and support our Remembrance Service at the University Campus. A visible presence of our different faiths united together speaks powerfully to the University and our young people - it demonstrates peace and people are often moved to see us united.”
Revd Andrew Goodman, Chaplain University of Bedfordshire Luton Campus and Professor Rebecca Bunting, Vice Chancellor and Chief Executive of the University of Bedfordshire joined by President of Students Union, members from different faith communities