Mohamed Manji Keshavjee

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Dr. Mohamed M. Keshavjee is a second generation South African of Indian origin. He is a graduate of Queen's University in Canada and attained his LLM and PhD degrees at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. He was called to the Bar at Gray's Inn, London.

After leaving South Africa in 1962, Keshavjee lived in Kenya where he went to school and later practised law. For the past 30 years, he worked in France in an international capacity. He is a specialist in Alternative Dispute Resolution in cross-cultural contexts with a special emphasis on diasporic communities.

He is a member of the EU team of International Family Mediators and has travelled extensively throughout the world. At present, he lives in Britain where he lectures at various universities.

Dr. Keshavjee is the 2016 Gandhi-King-Ikeda Award for Peace from Morehouse College, Atlanta.

He is renowned author of many books-two of which are “Into that Heaven of Freedom”, a family history of the Keshavjees' of South Africa and the Apartheid Struggle and a new book of short stories " Diasporic Distractions"

Both books are available here through Khojawiki.

“This work is unmistakably a labour of love. Through years of travel, travail, observation and experience, the author brings new insights into issues born out of a human struggle for a better tomorrow, but presented with humour and irony, without losing the sense of proportion, compassion, care and understanding which are so critical to interracial understanding today.’ From the Foreword by AHMED KATHRADA

“A highly readable narrative on the Indian Ismailis of Africa, woven around the history of the authors family, and the people among whom they lived at a very-interesting time in Africa’s colonial and postcolonial era. He captures beautifully the wind of change and how it propelled people to new horizons, giving rise to yet another Diaspora.” FARHAD DAFTARY, author of A Short History of the Ismailis

Cosmopolitan Ethics-How we treat each other in today’s globalized world.

Speech given by Dr. Mohamed Keshavjee (LLM, PhD, London) author, Barrister at Law and “Policy advisor” to the Morehouse College Freshmen Class at the Ray Charles Centre on 5th April 2016

Good morning Ladies and gentlemen,

Quite unilaterally, I took the liberty of adding the words “in today’s globalized world” to this morning’s lecture, because we live today in a globalized context where the notions of time and space are changing every moment that we are alive and we just do not know where we are in terms of change. Globalization is a complex phenomenon that defies any one definition. It is like the proverbial elephant in the room which everyone touches and feels they know but really cannot come to grips with. Only in this case the people are all blind or the room is too dark to discern. We will therefore not detain ourselves with definitions as this could take us all day and we all know what we are really talking about.

There are as many supporters of globalization as indeed there are detractors. In many cases, globalization has been a blessing in that it has been able to extricate millions from the depths of poverty and provided a new hope for the future. There are however instances where it has failed. I can only quote one example because it is so close to home. My wife, Dr. Amina Jindani, who is a global specialist on tuberculosis working in some of the poorest parts of the world often reminds me that tuberculosis today is a leading cause of death worldwide with an estimated 9.6 million people suffering from the disease with only 2/3rds of the cases reported. It kills 4400 people a day. In 2014, it claimed the lives of some 140,000 children. It is a curable disease that costs only 20 dollars US to cure and yet it is on the increase globally. This is only one disease afflicting the poorer parts of the world and increasingly even the so called rich world. There are many others. This is one of the glaring failures of globalization and one of its great contradictions.

So, you can see that we live in a world of glaring inequities which is highly conflicted and where the moral foundations of society keep on shaking each day on the altar of new developments -many man made and others, through the intervention of nature, over which we have little or no control. These range from terrorist attacks in places as diverse as Paris and Bali to Tsunamis in the middle of the Indian ocean and new viruses emerging from the forests of Latin America or the food stalls of a city in China. Many of these are consequences of existing conflicts, while others give rise to new conflicts and often end up in wars or protracted insurrections leading to massive displacements of people both internally and otherwise. Clearly, something is wrong and there must be another way of doing business if we want peace and sanity to be restored. It is here that the question arises of how do we treat each other and what ethical frameworks do we call upon? Hence the title of my lecture today:

“Cosmopolitan Ethics- How we treat each other in a globalized world”

You may ask: why “cosmopolitan” ethics and why is it important to reflect over how we treat each other. Well both these questions are apposite if we want an orderly universe where people are able to live in harmony, affording mutual respect to each other. To do this, we need to reflect about our present world situation and some of the challenges human society has been facing for some time now. Human diversity has always posed a challenge for many societies and the way empires and nation states have dealt with this issue has determined their survival or otherwise. A recent study has shown that dominant empires in history have fallen because of their intolerant and exclusivist attitudes. My own experience, born in South Africa where the ideology of apartheid based on the notion of privileges accorded to people according to the color of their skin, shows how damaging this can be to the human psyche and to national development. Unfortunately, racism does not go away. Like good health we must constantly work at ensuring that society is protected from this toxic scourge.

All history however is not that bleak as we do have examples of civilizations and empires that did accept diversity and indeed celebrated it. The Roman Empire is a case in point. In Islamic history, as well, there are the examples of the Umayyad dynasty in Spain that ruled the Iberian Peninsula from the 8th to the 15th century and in which Muslims, Jews and Christians lived side by side with each other, producing great thinkers such as Thomas Aquinas, Ibn Rushd known in the West as Averroes, and the great Jewish philosopher Moses Maimonides. This was a period that gave the world great music, epic literature and fascinating architecture as exemplified by the legendary Palace of Alhambra, the Masquita in Cordoba and the Generaliffe in Seville. Other examples of respect for, and celebration of, diversity is the Fatimids in Egypt who ruled from the 9th to the 12th centuries and gave the world one of its earliest universities, the Al Azhar and the Ottoman empire, with its capital in Istanbul which ruled a large part of what today is Eastern Europe and the Middle East.

In recent times, there are examples of such accommodation in countries such as Canada and the USA and we have seen from their experience how much society should gain from allowing pluralism to thrive and the human spirit to soar as a result. However, this attitude to openness is not shared globally and in many parts of the world, particularly in the so called developing world, ethnic tensions, based on unresolved issues left from the dismantlement of empire, still linger. At any one time, it is estimated that there are over 50 internal conflicts in many parts of the world and these are inter-ethnic wars based on issues such as land rights, grazing rights and water rights. Water- based conflict itself is a major issue today and many countries of the world have begun to realize this and set up processes for better collaboration through better water usage and more effective coordination and dispute prevention over this very precious commodity.

As mentioned, some of these conflicts find their provenance in unfinished business from the time of the dismantlement of empire and this is not hard to imagine if one takes into consideration that the highest mountain in Africa, Mount Kilimanjaro, was presented as a birthday gift by Queen Victoria to her favorite grandson the Kaiser Wilhelm and the port of Bombay, now known as Bombay, was part of the dowry that Princess Catherine of Braganza of Portugal brought with her when she married the English King Charles 11. The other part of the dowry was Tangiers. No one gave the slightest thought at the time to what these great outbursts of royal generosity on occasions of family milestones was going to do to the lives and cultures of millions of people in various parts of the world. These acts of generosity were not recent developments associated only with family milestones, as according to the Treaty of Tordesillas of 1494, the then Pope divided the world between the Spanish and the Portuguese kingdoms creating new spheres of influence that persist till the present day. Such then were the vagaries of Discovery, Expansion and Empire, visible traces of which can be seen in the languages, histories, laws, architecture, cuisines and songs of millions of people across the world. Colonialism, it can be argued was not all bad, but these are some of its vestiges and quirks.

Fast forward to the present world and what do we see over the past 500 years. We witness the period of discovery, rapid expansion, creation of new colonial empires followed by major movements in Europe leading to new ways of thinking. We then see major revolutions such as the American War of Independence, the French Revolution, further colonial expansion, the Two World Wars leading to independence movements and the creation of new nation states out of the ashes of empire. This, then, was followed by developments in the 20th century when the world was carved up once again into new spheres of influence-Communism versus Capitalism, and then the fall of the Berlin Wall and now different conflicts in the Middle East, South Asia and Africa. These conflicts are exemplified, if not caused, by staggering economic disparities between the so called poor world and the largely industrialized rich Western world, not to mention internal disparities within countries resulting from colonial policy in differential allocation of resources to different geographical areas and different ethnic groups within colonial territories. A similar pattern of differential treatment, through differential resource allocation, can also be discerned in the Soviet policy in many parts of the ex-Soviet Empire which led to ethnic tensions there once communism collapsed as an ideology.

Ethnic tensions remained submerged in many parts of the world only to raise their ugly head when either empires dissolved, ideologies dissipated or countries, once held together by the iron hand of dictatorship, witnessed a change in government largely through revolution. What followed then is what we saw happening in places like Rwanda with the genocide of one segment of the population by another or in ex-Yugoslavia with the notorious ethnic cleansing, where thousands perished- many such situations have given rise to new thinking in the area of international protection of human rights and the creation of new international criminal courts in places such as The Hague ion Holland and Arusha, in Tanzania to deal with such excesses of inhumanity.

In situations like the above, it is easy to see why the notion of respect for pluralistic values has little traction. Economic development in such areas became severely limited and where fresh resources were discovered, while there was some mitigation, new conflicts arose with particular reference to their more equitable distribution among people who hitherto felt woefully marginalized. To quote H.H the Aga Khan, a leading champion of global development, “economic advantage can sometimes ease social tensions, but social and cultural cleavage can undermine economic promise”.

Such situations today characterize many countries of the world particularly in Africa, Latin America and Asia, some of which have taken creative steps in revising their constitutions to reflect the new realities posed by developments following their independence and the issues engendered by new global developments. These changes include sharing of power, new approaches to its devolution and greater enablement for certain regions within specific countries. Hitherto, large segments of the population within a country felt left out from the development process and its fruits and clamored for a more equitable involvement and share. Even a country such as India, now an emerging economy of global proportion, was not immune from such a problem as evidenced by the situation of some 250 million people, the Dalits, who still feel very marginalized. Different countries have come up with different approaches based on their specific experiences. These problems do not bedevil only the developing world. The United Kingdom itself is witnessing such a situation regarding the Scottish issue.

As if the above challenges are not enough, we are witnessing today new challenges posed by the rapid technological advancement which is affecting every aspect of human existence. Recent technologies mean people today can mix and mingle more easily and massive migration is part of that scenario. We see each day images of thousands of people hanging on precariously to life in unsafe boats in the Aegean Sea looking for new hope in countries of the European Union only to be rebuffed or to languish in camps. These include refugees fleeing from persecution in some cases, individuals escaping from war torn areas in others and economic migrants looking for new opportunities in newer parts of the world. Two thirds of the recent population growth in 30 of the largest countries of the OECD are the result of diverse types of migration. But migration alone does not give rise to proximity making greater intercultural understanding an urgent imperative of our time as the social media has now brought people together from diverse backgrounds regardless of where in the world they are physically situated. According to a recent study “The New Digital Age”, 4 billion people who in the past could not even afford a computer will now be digitally connected within the next five years using mainly a digital phone which could be made affordable to them at a very reasonable cost. This makes this new connectivity one of the most dramatic developments of the recent digital revolution. We are in Marshall McLuhan’s words in the midst of “the global village”. All this has brought up in bolder relief and greater visibility the massive diversity that makes up the human family – a phenomenon not only worthy of study by the anthropologists of the world but for all of us to grapple with in our day to day interactions, as our own nuclear families become more biracial, bicultural, bi national, bilingual and bireligious. Might I say, even bipolar!

Globalization then has brought all this to the forefront with the movement of goods and services across the globe at a rate unprecedented in human history, coupled with the movement of information and images in nanoseconds across different cultural, historical and ethnic divides. All this calls for greater communication and indeed greater understanding. Ironically this massive change on a geo synclinal level has brought about lesser communication as according to a recent researcher, Sheryl Turkle it has killed the art of conversation thus making people more dependent on text which has its own interpretative problems. In her book “Recapturing Conversation” Turkle calls for less use of digital technology and more use of interpersonal communication based on personal conversation. Not only does she see overdependence on digital technology as a danger to the unity of the family but of negative and deleterious physiological impact on the human brain which she says will lose its capacity to process conversation over time.

The technological revolution, no doubt, has many benefits and has brought great advantages to many societies which would not have seen some change in their material lives without major technological breakthroughs. But technology must be made to serve human needs in an all-encompassing and ethically- grounded way and not become the master of human beings. Negative aspects of the technological revolution range from a lack of ability to converse and genuinely communicate, to misinformation, the erosion of privacy and a new Orwellian surveillance society which could undermine our basic human rights. Sadly, some of these problems have not yet been fully understood by many of our governments and we are having to grapple with them within the brief time span of one Tofflerian lifetime which I believe amounts to no more than 80 years! So, you can see, we are all doing a lot work in a very short time window.

Technology, while it can help, can also serve to accentuate the divide between the rich and the poor. Countries that are deficient in technological capacity stand to lose a great deal in the new knowledge society which is fueled by the new informational revolution. All these global historical factors coupled with new global challenges faced also by many developed countries will have an important impact on world peace. It is here then that the question of how do I look at the other becomes so important and with what ethical commitment do I do this?

Human beings are not hard wired to live together. They must learn to do so. We should create social institutions that engender a culture of inclusivity and pluralism-viewing differences as strength and not as a debilitating weakness to eradicate and expunge on the most trivial whim and fancy of a xenophobic and paranoiac mind or an ideology fit only to be consigned to the dustbin of history.

In the past, there was a belief that greater democracy would automatically engender, if not guarantee, greater pluralism. Unfortunately, this has not been the case. The Aga Khan whose global endeavors bridge various divides such as the East and the West, faith and life, the marginalized south and the industrialized north and tradition and modernity, sees the creation and sustenance of institutions which he refers to as the “necessary hardware” as an important precondition. Decrying slogans of “democracy “as the main precondition, he calls instead for more effective governance as a precursor to build a framework for effective pluralism. With this goes a number of ancillary processes such as greater consultation with significant stakeholders, better monitoring processes, better evaluation systems and indeed the revamping and realigning of existing constitutional frameworks to meet the exigencies emerging from the aftermath of decolonization coupled with the new realities that have arisen because of massive globalization. He calls, in fact, for greater “democratic competence”.

It is here that mediation, a field that I have specialized in, could be very valuable -both in ensuring greater stakeholder participation but also in resolving disputes amicably outside the adversarial process or indeed through the taking up of arms. Institutions of civil justice can also play a key role in ensuring that they are committed to the rule of law and remain true to their basic purpose rather than allowing themselves to be used ideologically or instrumentally. This they can do by always being vigilant about basic human freedoms enshrined in the International Bill of Rights and other documents emerging therefrom.

The media, a watchdog of human freedoms, must remain independent and inform the citizen of their rights with a view to enabling them to play an integral part in the entire process of government in a democratic country. Sound education has a very important role to play but such education needs to be geared to the present needs of society and must be underpinned by sound ethical purposes as to the very purpose of education rather than education for education’s sake.

Such intellectual resources, manning sound institutions, forming the backbone of a robust civil society and working competently within a meritocratic purpose, have the best chance of attracting to them some of the best brains produced by the new knowledge society. It is in such an environment that hitherto marginalized societies will be able to undergo the transformative experience of turning demonization into humanization, hatred and anger into positive energy and despair into hope. Self-absorbing grievances can be dissipated and positive energy can take its place as a source of immense creative potential that can be utilized for national good. It is in such a situation that a human being’s identity will be able to flourish and human beings will be able to embrace multiple identities which can co-exist in harmony. Simultaneously, such humans will be able to allow others to assert their identities and indeed acquire multiple identities based on the principle of shared values.

My own experience and the experience of my extended family living today in some 23 countries of the world attests to this. Identity, I have found, is dynamic and not static. It changes as one navigates through life and its many vicissitudes. Also, it cannot be linked to any one factor exclusively such race or faith or language or culture. By its very nature, it is polychromatic and it can co-exist harmoniously in the same person throughout their lives. Asserting one’s identity is a fundamental human right only to be matched by a corresponding duty not to imprison it in one time or one place or one worldview of the universe at one point in time. It also carries the duty to allow the other to flourish in a spirit of open hearted tolerance and generosity so beautifully encapsulated in Rabindranath Tagore’s poem from his Nobel Prize winning work Gitanjali where he says:

Where the mind is free and the heart is without fear
Where knowledge is free
Where the world is not broken up in fragment
By narrow domestic walls
Where words come out from the depth of truth
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way
Into the dreary desert sand of dead habit
Where the mind is led forward by thee
Into ever widening thought and action
Into that heaven of freedom, my father, let my country awake.

This then calls for an ethical commitment compatible with the task which is part of today’s lecture. What is cosmopolitan ethics? “Cosmopolitan Ethics” has been defined by Kwame Anthony Appiah a Professor from Oxford and Princeton University in his book “Cosmopolitanism: Ethics In a world of Strangers” “as an exploration of our moral obligations in a global society which implies that we have obligations to others –obligations that stretch beyond those to whom we are related by the ties of kith and kind…or shared citizenship”. Appiah then says that we [also] value human life so much that we take “an interest in the practices and beliefs that lend them significance”. This cosmopolitan obligation to all tends towards a pluralistic respect of the other and not an obligatory uniformity.

Appiah reminds us of its limitations and states that apart from helping the less fortunate we must understand what has given rise to their predicament in life and try and do something about it.

To this The Aga Khan whose work globally can be aptly described as ethics in action adds:

“What we must seek and share is a readiness to accept the complexity of human society. It is an ethic which balances rights and duties. It is an ethic for all peoples. It will not surprise you to have me say that such an ethic can grow with enormous power out of the spiritual dimensions of our lives. In acknowledging the immensity of the Divine, we will also come to acknowledge our human limitations, the incomplete nature of human understanding”.

Viewing diversity as strength, he continues:

“Even the diversity of our religious interpretations can be greeted as something to share with one another – rather than something to fear in this spirit of humility and hospitality the stranger will be welcomed and respected rather than subdued or ignored…As we strive for this ideal, we will recognize that “the other” is both ‘present” and “different”.

His words echo what the Holy Quran teaches when it says:

“O mankind! Be careful of your duty to your Lord who created you from a single soul…[and] joined your hearts in love, so that by His grace you became brethren”.

At this time in human history, we need to have the humility to draw on all sources of knowledge and inspiration in the realization that no one group of people, no one culture and no one faith has the monopoly of “the” truth but that truth is socially constructed by millions of people as they journey through life in their search for self-fulfillment and eventually like the stars in the universe it is the composite that makes up the whole and provides it with the brilliance that makes it shine.

Full cv of Dr. Keshavjee is available on the website of the Institute of Ismaili Studies, where he is a Board member. See Here