Anne Frank was 15 years old when she died in a Nazi concentration camp. Yet her words outlived her body. Words scribbled in a diary from a secret attic in Amsterdam became one of the world’s most powerful mirrors.
This summer, I found myself in Amsterdam for Mindvalley U. By chance, my Airbnb was on the street next to Anne Frank’s house. Each morning, I’d step outside and see the same canals, the same cobblestones, and the same rooftops Anne may have glimpsed in stolen moments when she dared peek out from her hiding place.
A few mornings later, I opened the news and froze. The Diary of Anne Frank had just been banned in Florida schools under new book-ban laws. Imagine that. In 2025, one of the most important human documents ever written—the testimony of a teenage Jewish girl hiding from Nazi genocide—was deemed “inappropriate” for children to read.
The synchronicity hit me hard. I was standing before the building where those words were written. Words that survived Anne, even though she did not. Words that outlived war, genocide, and cruelty—only to be silenced again today by politicians who fear truth more than hatred.
And this got me thinking.
If Anne Frank were alive today, what would she say about America? About Israel & Gaza?
What I’m about to share may feel uncomfortable—but Anne’s words demand we face discomfort.
Who was Anne Frank
Anne Frank was born in Frankfurt in 1929. When the Nazis rose to power, her family fled to Amsterdam, hoping to escape persecution. In 1942, when deportations began, they went into hiding in a small annex behind her father’s office. For over two years, Anne, her sister Margot, her parents Otto and Edith, and four others lived in silence, relying on the courage of Dutch friends who smuggled them food and news.
Anne wasn’t just a symbol. She was a teenager—funny, sharp, sometimes rebellious, and always observant. She dreamed of being a journalist. She once wrote, “I want to go on living even after my death.” And, tragically, she did—not through her life, but through her words.
In August 1944, they were betrayed. The Gestapo stormed the annex. The Franks were deported to Westerbork, then Auschwitz, and finally Anne and Margot to Bergen-Belsen. In early 1945, both sisters died of typhus—just weeks before liberation. Anne was 15.
Only Otto Frank survived. After the war, Miep Gies, one of the helpers, handed him Anne’s diary. He published it, fulfilling her dream. Today, it has sold over 30 million copies and been translated into more than 70 languages.
Anne’s body was silenced. But her voice became immortal.
Anne’s words in today’s world
Anne once wrote:
“Terrible things are happening outside. Poor, helpless people are being dragged out of their homes. Families are torn apart. Children come home from school to find that their parents have disappeared.”
She was describing Nazi roundups in Amsterdam.
But doesn’t that sound eerily like ICE raids in America today? Parents taken in the middle of the night. Children left crying, bewildered, abandoned. Different time, different uniforms—but the same cruelty.
Anne also wrote:
“We are chained to one spot, without rights, a thousand obligations… waiting for the inevitable end.”
That could be the voice of Gaza today. Entire families locked in. Starved. Bombed. Denied freedom of movement. Children asking, “Why must we suffer simply because of who we are?”
Her words, written 80 years ago, read like dispatches from the present. History is not past. It is a loop—unless we break it.
A hard, controversial mirror
Anne’s diary teaches us to look at cruelty honestly, no matter where it comes from. And one thing history proves: atrocities don’t start with bullets. They start with words.
Dehumanizing language always comes first.
So let’s talk about Gaza, as uncomfortable as this may seem.
Consider the echoes:
- Nazi leadership (1943): Heinrich Himmler at Posen: “I am referring here to the evacuation of the Jews, the extermination of the Jewish people….”
- Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich (2023): On the Palestinian town of Huwara: “[Huwara] should be wiped out. I think the State of Israel should do it.”
- Hitler, Mein Kampf: Jews as “the typical parasite, a sponger who, like an infectious bacillus, keeps spreading.” Nazi propaganda routinely cast Jews as vermin.
- Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant (2023): Announcing a siege of Gaza: “There will be no electricity, no food, no fuel… We are fighting human animals and we are acting accordingly.”
- Nazi propaganda (Goebbels echoing Hitler): Jews blamed collectively for war, threatened with “extermination.”
- Israeli President Isaac Herzog (2023): “It is an entire nation out there that is responsible….” — words widely criticized as endorsing collective punishment.
- Nazi euphemisms: “Evacuation” as code for extermination.
- Israeli Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu (2023): Suggesting a nuclear strike on Gaza was “one of the options.”
Different contexts. Different scales. But the same pattern.
Dehumanize → Justify → Destroy.
Anne Frank’s words remind us: when we hear this language, it is never “just rhetoric.” It is the runway to cruelty.
You see, cruelty always begins the same way: when leaders tell us to fear “the other.”
Fear the immigrant.
Fear the refugee.
Fear the neighbor who looks different.
Fear the people beyond your border.
That is the oldest political trick in the book. And it works—unless we refuse to buy it.
Anne Frank didn’t write her diary so we could cry in museums. She wrote it so we could recognize her suffering in others—and have the courage to stop it.
Why giving people a chance matters
This message hit me with even greater force because, while in Amsterdam, I also had a chance encounter.
I bumped into a young Syrian man who once worked for me back in 2016. At the time, he was a refugee in Malaysia. He and his friend had escaped a country torn apart by war. One had seen his home blown to rubble. The other had lost a brother when a bomb fell on the very place his brother was resting.
Both had lived through horrors most of us can barely imagine. And yet, when I met them, I didn’t just see refugees. I saw brilliant young minds. I saw hope, determination, and resilience.
That year, I had an idea for a new learning model called Quest and needed someone to build the app. These two young Syrians built it in record time. That app became the Mindvalley app—today used by millions worldwide and even featured in 200,000 Apple stores on the iPad.
Yes, our app was built by Syrians. Yes, it was built by refugees who were given a chance.
Anne never got her chance. But when we give people that chance, look what can happen.
This is why I am so adamant about this message. When politicians tell you to fear refugees, or immigrants, or minorities, they’re not just lying. They are robbing humanity of its future.
The rule we must all live by
If there’s one rule we must all live by, it’s this:
The moment a leader tells you to fear refugees, minorities, or immigrants, you are looking at a tyrant.
Do not believe them. Do not reward their fear with your silence—or your vote.
Because fear divides. And division always leads to cruelty.
What the world needs now is unity.
Unity across stripes, colors, races, and ethnicities. Unity across cultures, religions, and especially across borders.
Because the only way we solve the greatest challenges facing humanity—from climate change to war to poverty—is to remember this truth:
We are one humanity.
And kindness cannot stop at the invisible lines of race, religion, or border.
The higher vision
Anne Frank once wrote:
“In spite of everything, I still believe that people are really good at heart.”
That may be the most extraordinary line ever written. She believed it while hiding from people who wanted her dead.
If Anne could believe in human goodness then, we can believe in it now.
Let’s prove her right.
Let’s choose compassion over cruelty.
Let’s stand up for one another across borders.
Let’s silence the voices of fear not by shouting back but by choosing unity again and again.
Because Anne’s diary isn’t just a warning.
It’s a torch.
And it’s in our hands now.
So here’s what we can collectively do.
Stand for unity. Across color. Across race. Across borders. Across religions.
When you hear fear, answer with love.
When you hear division, answer with solidarity.
When a politician uses scapegoating, vote the other way.
The only way to honor Anne is to prove her right—that humanity is good at heart.
And that goodness becomes real when we act.
Because history doesn’t just happen to us. It is written by our choices—and our silence.
I’d like to hear from you: Drop a comment below—let’s create a conversation around unity, compassion, and what it means to stand for humanity in our time.
1,246 Responses
Admirable su manera de pensar. Muchas gracias por impulsar y defender la bondad y la paz. Si cada quien desde su lugar defendemos asi podemos aflorar la bondad en los demás. Gracias
Ania, defender la bondad y la paz es hermoso, pero para que exista paz de verdad tenemos que ser claros. Hamas no busca la paz ni la bondad. Su carta fundacional llama abiertamente a la destrucción de los judíos, y el 7 de octubre lo demostraron con masacres, violaciones y secuestros. Hablar solo de “bondad” sin reconocer ese odio no crea paz, crea desinformación que alimenta el antisemitismo. La verdadera bondad comienza con la verdad.
Ania, defending goodness and peace is beautiful, but for real peace we have to be clear. Hamas is not seeking peace or goodness. Its charter openly calls for the destruction of Jews, and on October 7 they proved it with massacres, rapes, and kidnappings. Speaking only of “goodness” without naming that hate does not create peace, it spreads misinformation that fuels antisemitism. True goodness begins with truth.
Yes, Love > Fear, yet this recent American Tyrannical Wave of Fear Spreading Politicians, is the latest expression of Money (and in turn) Power Hungry insecure leadership that’s making record profits and sharing it with their loyalists. In an American Democracy where Checks and Balances through the Judicial Courts are continuously eroded, unchecked presidential power is pushing the envelope to Radical Extreme Policy like the suffering concentration and deportation of immigrants. Without Real Consequences this is a Run Away Train derailing the Great Nation My family Came to in hopes of a better Future.
But what can the Average Working Family Man Really Do?
La Vida nos trae una y otra vez oportunidades para recordar nuestra verdad, como potencial de creación bondadosa, y al parecer el dolor es una pieza clave en este proceso de recuperación, de recordar quienes originalmente fuimos. Y aquí vamos en la Tierra haciendo un trabajo arduo al respecto, dando vueltas en círculos, que quizás tambien forma parte de el camino de aprendizaje. Lo que me va quedando claro es que es fundamental centrar nuestra atención en el dolor y tomar su maestría. Sin embargo, si le adjudicamos una identidad a ese dolor, ya sea cultural, racial, etnica, política, territorial etc, pues nos alejaremos del propósito de recuperación del Ser Humano y su potencial.
Gracias
Vishen, opino que podemos lograr la paz, la solidaridad, la compasión, etc., sin tocar la historia de las guerras y en la actualidad de todos los tipos de guerra que vivimos actualmente en nuestro planeta. El Camino de la Paz: Un Viaje desde el Interior hacia el Mundo
La paz no es simplemente la ausencia de conflicto. Es una vibración, un estado de ser que comienza en nuestro interior y se expande para abrazar a quienes nos rodean, creando un tapiz de conexión humana. Es un viaje que emprendemos primero de forma individual, cultivando la calma en nuestros propios corazones, para luego florecer de manera colectiva y, en última instancia, manifestarse como una paz mundial.
La Paz que Nace de Ti
La verdadera paz comienza contigo. Antes de poder contribuir a la armonía del mundo, debemos encontrarla dentro de nosotros mismos. Este es un viaje de autoconocimiento y bienestar, que se puede nutrir a través de cuatro pilares fundamentales:
Descanso: El reposo adecuado es la base de todo. Cuando permitimos que nuestro cuerpo y mente se recuperen, reducimos el estrés y la ansiedad. El descanso nos permite ver el mundo con claridad y paciencia, haciendo que nuestras interacciones sean más compasivas.
Movimiento: Ya sea a través de una caminata tranquila, una danza enérgica o un estiramiento suave, el movimiento es una forma de liberar tensiones. Conecta nuestra mente y cuerpo, ayudándonos a encontrar equilibrio y a sentirnos más presentes.
Alimentación Consciente: Nutrir nuestro cuerpo con atención es un acto de amor propio. Comer de manera consciente nos enseña a escuchar nuestras necesidades, a honrar nuestro cuerpo y a sentirnos más arraigados en el momento presente.
Meditación: La meditación es el ancla de nuestro desarrollo personal. A través de ella, aprendemos a observar nuestros pensamientos sin juzgarlos y a encontrar un espacio de quietud. Este pilar nos ayuda a cultivar la ecuanimidad y a crecer en sabiduría, sentando las bases para una paz duradera.
La Paz Colectiva: Un Mosaico de Conexiones
Cuando cada persona trabaja en su paz interior, se crea una fuerza colectiva que trasciende las diferencias. La paz grupal florece al reconocer que todos somos parte de una misma familia global. No importa nuestro origen, clase social, creencias religiosas o etnia; cada uno de nosotros tiene un anhelo inherente de conexión y comprensión.
La solidaridad se convierte en el lenguaje que une a las comunidades. Es un entendimiento profundo de que el bienestar de uno está intrínsecamente ligado al bienestar de todos. Este es el espíritu que impulsa a las personas a extender una mano amiga, a celebrar las tradiciones de otros y a trabajar juntas para construir un futuro compartido.
Desde esta perspectiva, la diversidad no es una barrera, sino una riqueza. Es la belleza de un mosaico, donde cada pieza, diferente y única, contribuye a la creación de una obra más grande y magnífica.
Contribución a la Paz Mundial
Una comunidad basada en la paz y en el respeto mutuo se convierte en un faro para el mundo entero. Al vivir los principios del descanso, el movimiento, la alimentación consciente y la meditación, y al conectarnos en solidaridad, demostramos que un mundo en paz es posible.
Cada acto de bondad, cada conversación con un extraño, cada momento en el que elegimos la empatía sobre el juicio, contribuye a la ola de paz mundial. No se trata de un logro lejano, sino de un esfuerzo continuo y cotidiano.
La paz es el reflejo de cómo vivimos y nos tratamos mutuamente. Al cultivar la calma dentro de nosotros mismos y al honrar la conexión que compartimos, sembramos las semillas para un futuro donde la paz no es un ideal, sino una realidad vivida por todos.
CUDOS to you Vishen for the courage in using your platform and name to promote Unity.
There will be resistance. Not everyone is ready for Unity, forgiveness, compassion. Vibrations of fear, anger, and frustration can and will be overcome by many who seek peace once beyond the pain.
Might I suggest (from my higher self I believe), that mindvalley creators manifest a “Unity Quest” of “how to” gather and promote Unity together? Perhaps with methods, ever evolving, and with a community forum?
Sending Love to all 💗☮️
Mockingbird, unity and compassion are important, but praising this article is not unity. It compares Israel to Nazis while ignoring Hamas’s own words and actions- a charter that calls for the extermination of Jews and the atrocities of October 7, where civilians were raped, murdered, and kidnapped. That kind of distortion doesn’t heal fear, it fuels antisemitism and endangers Jewish lives.
If we want a true “Unity Quest,” it must begin with honesty. And honesty means naming Hamas’s hate clearly and refusing to spread messages that erase it. Unity without truth is just propaganda dressed up as love.
But I am sending you lots of love and light.
Indudablemente no podemos apoyar semejantes atrocidades. Y la única forma de no hacerlo esteniendo una vida espiritual. En la medida que el ser humano se hace uno con Dios,potencia su humanidad bien entendida, como la describes, compasiva,amorosa,generosa.
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Todo lo que ocurre y ocurrió, porque la historia no es más que una vana repetición, se debe a que los hombres se alejan de Dios. Y en ese alejamiento se convierten en monstruos.
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Por lo demás, a este mundo y sus gobiernos le queda poco tiempo. Solo nos queda centrarnos en conocer a Dios y actuar en consecuencia.
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Para que cuando Jesucristo venga en las nubes se los cielos,nos encuentre sin mancha
Tibisay, estoy de acuerdo en que alejarnos de Dios nos lleva a la oscuridad. Pero también hay que ser claros: no todas las atrocidades son simplemente “una repetición de la historia”. El 7 de octubre Hamas cometió masacres, violaciones y secuestros, siguiendo una carta fundacional que pide abiertamente la destrucción de los judíos. Eso no es solo un alejamiento de Dios, es una ideología de odio que continúa hoy.
La verdadera espiritualidad no tapa la verdad ni la distorsiona. Si queremos acercarnos a Dios con compasión y amor, primero debemos rechazar con claridad el odio y la mentira que ponen en riesgo la vida de millones de judíos y también de palestinos usados como escudos.
Tibisay, I agree that when humanity drifts away from God, darkness grows. But we also have to be clear: not every atrocity is just “history repeating.” On October 7 Hamas carried out massacres, rapes, and kidnappings, guided by a charter that openly calls for the destruction of Jews. That is not simply distance from God, it is an ideology of hate, still alive today.
True spirituality does not cover up or distort reality. If we want to come closer to God with compassion and love, we must first reject the lies and hate that endanger millions of Jewish lives and also Palestinian civilians whom Hamas uses as shields.
Vishen, that was the most appalling misinformed and vague newsletter, and completely inappropriate setting in a platform you created for self improvement. How dare you compare the Diary of Anne frank and Israel in opposition. You are inferring that Israel is committing genocide-you are spreading propaganda. Jews will NEVER AGAIN allow a holocaust on their people.
Israel over the years has tried again and again for peace. They’re borders were open with Gaza, Gazans came in and worked in the country and on the very kibbutzes that were attacked. ISraelis used to live in Gaza and were removed by their own country in an effort for peace. Hammas, Islamaic Jihadists, took control. INStead of building what could have been a Dubai, they destroyed all existing infrastructure and greenhouses and used incoming funds to collect arms and build miles of tunnels. They have been consistently attacking Israel over the years. On October 7th Hamas and Gazans invaded Israel in an attempt at genocide. They horrifically murdered innocent people, raped women, burned babies and took hostages dead and alive. The videotaped their attacks proudly praising god for their success. There are still 50 hostages hidden in those tunnels, that haven’t seen light in almost 2 years, that have been starved as in the Holocaust. (Israel sends tons food into Gaza daily. They also let the people in Gaza know when there will be attacks to leave the area to minimize civilian casualties) The only people starving Gazans are their own leadership Hammas. I could go on. No one wants war. Israel does not want to be killing anyone or losing their own people. This could have ended ages ago. Release the hostages and it would have been over.
Stop blaming Israel for Hammas atrocities.
Sadly, I enjoyed MindValley, but I too will be requesting a refund.
Well said, sooner or later people show their true colors, every single time. There is no logic in liberal mind. One cannot reason with it, facts and all.
Jodi, thank you for saying the truth so clearly. You are absolutely right, Israel left Gaza in 2005, dismantled homes, businesses, and greenhouses, and instead of building peace Hamas destroyed it all and built tunnels and rockets. For years Israelis opened their borders, gave work permits, and still faced constant rocket fire. On October 7 Hamas showed the world who they really are- they carried out mass rape, murder, and kidnapping, proudly broadcasting their atrocities.
It is appalling that this newsletter dares to twist Anne Frank’s memory to paint Jews as Nazis while ignoring Hamas’s genocidal charter and ongoing terror. That comparison doesn’t spread compassion, it spreads antisemitism and endangers Jews everywhere.
You are right- if Hamas released the hostages, this war could end tomorrow. The responsibility lies entirely with Hamas. Thank you for refusing to let propaganda go unanswered.
Thank you for choosing to use your platform to echo the silenced screams from our suffering struggling part of the world. And mostly for advocating that we are always better together in wholeheartedness and connectedness <3 We really are one!!
Amor, amor, amor.
Es lo que el ser humano debería dar y recibir.
An amendment to my reply to Laura, for others who may be considering unsubscribing – don’t! – this was my reply: Laura, you won’t see this if you’ve cancelled your membership but will see it, if you’ve changed your mind and have stayed subscribed – since changing one’s mind is the only way we can truly end our conflicts. I had to go back on Vishen’s article, to find where he had referenced law enforcement and the military specifically, and he didn’t – he referred to politicians and leaders who (from my understanding) either break or corrupt the laws, and those in the military who have to do their bidding. Open your mind and see the bigger picture. This applies to anyone reading this – brilliant article – I felt it more and cried when I read Vishen’s piece, because last night I watched a documentary marking the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, where journalist Jordan Dunbar meets with survivors of the Holocaust and travels to visit the camp. Horrific! We need reminding because what is happening in the US and Gaza is horrific and should be compared to then – I agree it starts with cruel words and history is not past, its looping and we must break the loop! Well said Vishen! P.S. There’s a branch pf science (Epigenetics) which shows that fear/trauma is passed on generationally – it’s a topic I wrote a paper on, and as a health practitioner I have successfully treated young anorexic adults and children with a dislike/ phobia (even hatred) of food that I identified as having stemmed from one or more generations having been exposed to starvation, this included not just concentration camps but the Great Famine in Ireland (and that was 18451!) – so when Vishen speaks of ‘breaking the loop’, this is another type of loop that we would be breaking! Unfortunately, most people aren’t aware of the repercussions of cruel words – as a clinical hypnotherapist of 20+ years, I have to be, since ‘words create worlds’!
I left this as a reply to Laura, but decided to post here again for others who may be considering unsubscribing – don’t! – this was my reply: Laura, you won’t see this if you’ve cancelled your membership but will see it, if you’ve changed your mind and have stayed subscribed – since changing one’s mind is the only way we can truly end our conflicts. I had to go back on Vishen’s article, to find where he had referenced law enforcement and the military specifically, and he didn’t – he referred to politicians and leaders who (from my understanding) either break or corrupt the laws, and those in the military who have to do their bidding. Open your mind and see the bigger picture. This applies to anyone reading this – brilliant article – I felt it more and cried when I read Vishen’s piece, because last night I watched a documentary marking the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, where journalist Jordan Dunbar meets with survivors of the Holocaust and travels to visit the camp. Horrific! We need reminding because what is happening in the US and Gaza is horrific and should be compared to then – I agree it starts with cruel words and history is not past, its looping and we must break the loop! Well said Vishen! P.S. There’s a branch pf science (Epigenetics) which shows that fear/trauma is passed on generationally – it’s a topic I wrote a paper on, and as a health practitioner I have successfully treated young anorexic adults and children with a dislike/ phobia (even hatred) of food that I identified as having stemmed from one or more generations having been exposed to starvation, this included not just concentration camps but the Great Famine in Ireland (and that was 18451!) – so when Vishen speaks of ‘breaking the loop’, this is another type of loop that we would be breaking! Unfortunately, most people aren’t aware of the repercussions of cruel words – as a clinical hypnotherapist of 20+ years, I have to be, since ‘words create worlds’!
Really well written Vishen, takes courage to take a stand and articulate what you’ve written. Spot on about all you’ve written and unity and connection is the only way forward to a better place to exist in. We need leaders, community and each of us to remember that and practice that. Thank you for having the courage to write this blog.
Thanks for the reflexions Vishen,
I find interesting to have the Diary of Anna Frank as referfence to analyse the current conflict but with different actors. However, I keep those messages of hope, humanity and tolerance that should influence and guide to each of us.
Y entonces, ¿qué podemos hacer en distintos lugares del planeta cuando percibimos que vamos “en picada”, sin saber hacia dónde nos llevará tanta corrupción, tanto autoritarismo y la destrucción de las instituciones autónomas?
Gracias a Dios en México (que es en donde vivo) no estamos en guerra, pero la realidad muestra que cada vez vamos peor: se pierden poco a poco derechos fundamentales, como la libertad de expresión, el acceso a la justicia, el derecho a opinar y a ser defendidos en un juicio justo por autoridades democráticas que actúen con base en la ley, y no en simples mandatos.
Lo más inquietante no es solo lo que ya estamos viviendo en varios lugares del mundo, sino lo que aún nos falta por ver y padecer si no logramos reaccionar a tiempo y evitarlo, de hecho, no se si podemos evitarlo.
Thanks You Vishen. Es lo más claro y poderoso que he escuchado (leído), mi corazón palpita fuerte porque creo en la humanidad, y más aún, confío en que podemos ser una humanidad, a pesar de tanta crueldad… La luz se impone tan solo con su presencia.
Tan necesarias tus palabras ojalá seamos tantas y tantos vibrando en paz que ya no quede nada para la guerra, nada.
I like mind valley because I like manifestation. I l thought this is a neutral place that is free from politics and judgments. A place to get away and learn new things. Now, with story bad mouthing ICE. I don’t feel it is comparing fairly. I am also angry because I thought I can get away from politics here, and now it force upon me here too. How intrusive. I see mind valley in a whole different light. Please leave out politics.
Thanks for these reflections, it s terrible what certains men with power can do to destroy people as it is happen at gaza,
Totalmente de acuerdo, al final somos unidad y lo que promueva la separación va en contra de la humanidad en su totalidad.
Thank you, Vishen, for writing this, for printing this. Your courage and heart has given us the courage to begin to write to our own community in such ways. And for sure, you can speak for Anne Frank. Thank god, you can.
la humanidad es una sola, mas allá de las divisiones geográficas que nos han impuesto las conveniencias políticas y militares, el respeto por el prójimo y la compasión por el dolor ajeno, son banderas universales que nos pueden dar luz para solucionar desde el nivel en el que nos desempeñemos, a veces no se puede dar trabajo ni cambiarle la vida a alguien pero regalar la ropa, los libros y juguetes que dejan tus hijos los días que pasan los recicladores, regalar una porción de comida a alguien en la calle, también ayudar a mitigar el dolor y da esperanza a alguien que esta inmerso en su propia guerra contra la pobreza o la desesperacion.
Vishal, I really appreciate the thoughts and the pattern you’re presenting here.
As someone who has also lived as a kind of refugee — a Kashmiri displaced within my own country — I can relate deeply. I was able to thrive only because leaders in Mumbai created space for us to pursue education and become self-sufficient.
While it’s important to acknowledge the suffering caused by division, it’s equally important to question the ideologies that fuel war and separation in the first place. I’m reminded of a statement from members of the Jewish community after October 7th:
“If the people of Gaza love their children more than they hate Jews, then there will be peace in the region.”
To me, this reflects a deeper truth — what are we preaching n sowing in the next generation?
If exclusion and non-inclusiveness have been recurring patterns across history and in some countries, can we really afford to ignore them? As long as the root causes of hatred and divisive ideologies go unchallenged, true coexistence will remain difficult.
At the same time, we must be careful not to paint every individual with the same brush. Ideologies divide, but people themselves often share far more in common than we realize.