Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues
Freemuslim’s Inclusion Forum director attended the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues hosted by the United Nations and had the privilege of holding conversation with numerous representatives of the indigenous people from different corners of the world. The indigenous people are at risk of discrimination, hate crime and bullying by other people in their home countries and increased discrimination in countries they migrate to. Freemuslim believes it is important to incorporate indigenous people, their language, their culture and customs into the overall social and political system of their home countries. It is also important to adopt the positive and constructive lessons learned by the indigenous people as most indigenous people’s lifestyles date back to a background from hundreds of years ago and are filled with lessons learned the hard way and it is enriched by survival mechanisms adopted throughout years of social adjustment and discrimination.
The main difference between people who have a certain particular religious attire and the attire of indigenous people is that the indigenous people share similar values with other indigenous people but often are different in language, heritage and nationality. Islam’s way of unifying its followers is an overall guideline for observance of Hijab for men and women and customization for different citizens of countries according to their country’s culture and heritage. Islam’s approach creates a unified front regardless of where someone is from and what language they speak or what culture they have. A universal outfit ( Hijab for instance ) bypasses the citizenship, cultural, and heritage background of an individual.
We recommend for the indigenous people and anyone with a religious affiliation to stand side by side, help protect each other and eventually reduce discrimination and strengthen each other’s communities by intercultural initiatives.
