Press Statement

On the 7th June 2008, the IPCI was involved in an inter-faith discussion covering a wide range of issues on a variety of topics, convened by the South African Hindu Maha Sabha Youth Council. Head of Propagation, Yusuf Ismail and Community Activist Rassool Snyman, represented the Centre, in a televised discussion hosted by Isidingo TV actress and Spirit Sundae presenter Nadine Naidoo.

The focus of the discussion was on moral regeneration, nation building and collective resolutions to common challenges, with a particular focus on the youth but transformed into a raucous and stimulating political debate, not least, initiated by Professor Brij Maharaj with challenging comments by the other panelists. The debate took such a turn that deputy mayor Logie Naidoo made a hasty retreat, when Yusuf stated that the ANC had been a dismal failure over the past 12 years and contributed much to the growing angst amongst the population.

An exuberant applause followed when both Rassool and Yusuf stated that the role of the IPCI in the 21st century was to mobilize support and all forms of discontent from faith-based communities and harness it in effectively holding the political establishment at ransom; dethroning those in power and creating a just egalitarian society. Statistics were given illustrating that during the final decade of apartheid, 713000 people were evicted from white-owned farmland, whereas in the first decade of democracy close to a million children and women were forcibly removed by the ANC government.

The partisan Hindu audience who were apolitical, were introduced to a new type of discourse which is not commonly heard in Hindu circles. Father Peter J. Lafferty (Archdiocese of Durban) extended a personal invitation to the IPCI to lecture at his Church after Yusuf had described his experiences with other faith-based communities and churches. All panelists were awarded with a glass trophy. Snippets of the discussion will be broadcast on national television soon.