ACHA DECLARATION OF COMMITMENT

Members of the Association for Communal Harmony in Asia declare their commitment to peace and communal harmony in South Asia, and promise to support and promote this objective by non-violent methods, including the following:

1. They affirm that members of other religious and ethnic communities are as human as those of any other. As such they deserve the same respect as those of any community. They will treat members of other religious and ethnic groups with dignity and fairness.

 
2. They will avoid and discourage all jokes and comments where the purpose or effect is to ridicule or belittle any person or group on the basis of religion, or ethnic origin.

 
3. They will respect the right of each individual to worship God in the way (s)he wishes. They will refrain from imposing their ways of worship and their religious practices on others.

 
4. They will respect the founders, holy books, and places of worship of other religions. They shall not speak ill of them, nor they shall in any way desecrate or harm them.

 
5. Every year, in addition to doing something for the welfare of their own community, they will contribute financially or otherwise to the welfare of individuals of at least one other ethnic or religious community.

 
6. They will seek out other like-minded individuals in their community and elsewhere, and they will work with them to promote and foster peace and harmony among various communities and countries of South Asia. They will not do anything that is likely to incite disharmony or discord among them.