It is a wonderful saying; we inhabit a universe that is characterized by diversity. Behold a beautiful garden full of flowers, shrubs, and trees. Each flower has a different charm, a peculiar beauty, its own delicious perfume and beautiful color. The trees too, how varied are they in size, in growth, in foliage—and what different fruits they bear! Yet all these flowers, shrubs and trees spring from the self-same earth, the same sun shines upon them and the same clouds give them rain.

So it is with humanity. It is made up of many races, and its peoples are of different color, white, black, yellow, brown and red—but they all come from the same creator. This diversity among the children of men has unhappily not the same effect as it has among the vegetable creation, where the spirit shown is more harmonious. Among men exists the diversity of animosity based endless ravenousness to own more than one can effort and it is this that causes war and hatred among the different nations of the world.

Differences which are only those of blood also cause them to destroy and kill one another. Let us look rather at the beauty in diversity, the beauty of harmony, and learn a lesson from the vegetable creation. If you beheld a garden in which all the plants were the same as to form, color and perfume, it would not seem beautiful to you at all, but, rather, monotonous and dull. The garden which is pleasing to the eye and which makes the heart glad, is the garden in which are growing side by side flowers of every hue, form and perfume, and the joyous contrast of color is what makes for charm and beauty.

So are the trees. An orchard full of fruit trees is a delight; so is a plantation planted with many species of shrubs. It is just the diversity and variety that constitutes its charm; each flower, each tree, each fruit, besides being beautiful in itself, brings out by contrast the qualities of the others, and shows to advantage the special loveliness of each and all.

So should not it be among human progeny? The diversity in the human family should be the cause of love and harmony, as it is in music where many different notes blend together in the making of a perfect chord. If you meet those of different race and color from yourself, do not mistrust them and withdraw yourself into your shell of conventionality, but rather be glad and show them kindness. Think of them as different colored roses growing in the beautiful garden of humanity, and rejoice to be among them.

Likewise, when you meet those, whose opinions differ from your, do not turn away your face from them? All are seeking truth, and there are many roads leading there to. Truth has many aspects, but it remains always and forever unity.

In Afghanistan from time immemorial, people belonging to various religious faiths lived in harmony and peace. There are fundamental values and traditions in our culture that promote integration among different communities. This was helpful for the growth of a great civilization in the Afghanistan. It will be our endeavor as the citizens of this country to preserve the rich tradition of social harmony among diverse religious and ethnic groups and pass it over to the future generations. Even though communal tensions in Afghanistan are well under control, there is no place for complacency as many internal and external forces are waiting with their ulterior motives sowing the seeds of ill-will.

Human needs can be found as the same everywhere in the world if we look at it from biological and psychological perspectives. Irrespective of the geographic, linguistic or religious differences humans everywhere have common biological needs like hunger, thirst, sex etc; the satisfaction of which is essential for their survival. Similarly man has psychological needs like, need for recognition, need for companionship, need for security, need for prestige etc. the fulfillment of which is inevitable for maintaining sound mental health. Man cannot satisfy most of such needs through his own individual efforts. He requires the assistance of his fellow members of the group in this regard. That is why human beings are considered as social animals. A cooperative integrated society is most congenial for leading a healthy social life.

Religion is one of the social institutions found in all human societies. It assists man to establish and maintain harmonious relationships with the supernatural forces that are believed to have direct influence in the fortunes of man. Moreover religion is one of the agents contributing to the integration not division of society on biased grounds.

For a country to be truly great there must be an understanding and the appreciation of each other’s differences and strengths. The quality of the educational system needs to be improved for ensuring peace and stability in the country which in turn would promote national integration. Etymologically harmony means ‘binding together’ and ‘being in concord with one another’. From a sociological perspective, harmony can be understood as a mode of social existence. Communal harmony means living with unity, mutual reciprocity, beyond class, caste, creed and gender barriers. Communal Violence emerges as the consequence of this disturbed communal harmony.

The reality of diversity is divisive and challenging. And when we realize this, we can learn to deal with it starting from our individual’s process. Individuals are the center of all problems, especially the conflicts in diverse society. When individuals experience peace, family will experience peace, country will experience peace and the whole world will experience peace. Different cultures in this planet; we cannot assume that our culture is the best and other culture is out of date or worse. Every culture is valuable and acceptable. Harmony in true sense can be installed in society when differences are accepted, celebrated, promoted and respected. This gesture leads to generation of diverse harmony in this piece of land and is a prime requisite of modern and united Afghanistan.