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From Tharwapedia

Welcome to Tharwapedia!

Tharwapedia is an activist’s encyclopedia. This means that it is not meant to be a comprehensive resource of widely ranging terminology, as similar sites are. Rather, it is a narrowly focused repository on issues of diversity, development and democracy as they relate to the broader Middle East and North Africa region. This resource is meant to introduce its readers to communities and the concepts that govern their world views. It is meant to introduce them to political concepts or development terminology.

This means that Tharwapedia has an entry for certain kinds of terms and not others. For example, we have an entry for Hindutva, the Hindu nationalist political ideology, but not for Hindu or even Shiva. We have an entry for Sunni or jihad, but not for Muslim or zakat.

The goal of Tharwapedia is to be current. Thus the most important part of each entry is the section on Current Realities. Tharwapedia aims to explore not merely the history of a particular group or term, but its current importance to the political, social, economic, and cultural areas.

Towards promoting dialogue and understanding, this online resource thus provides a wealth of information on topics including: world religions, ethnic groups, popular movements and political concepts. In addition to traditional information displayed on similar sites, Tharwapedia explores conflicts and current challenges related to each issue and lists experts in the field.

Just as the people, places and ideas presented on the following pages change with time, we consider Tharwapedia to be an ongoing project which will grow and develop with further contributions. Many of our topics are highly contested and have never been presented in such a manner and, as a result, we invite and encourage input from readers at Tharwapedia@tharwafoundation.org.

Development

We believe that development without democracy is disastrous for the people of any nation. Without the checks and balances that democracy brings, development is very likely to benefit those with power and influence at the cost of the disenfranchised. Again, ensuring that all diverse groups have a voice and the ability to share in the decision-making process of their country allows the wealth generated from development reaches farther across the population rather than remaining in the pockets of a few.

Democracy

We believe that genuine democracy cannot be achieved in a state that does not value the rights of its ethnic, religious, or communal minorities. A nation that values only specific ethnic groups (such as the ethnicity of the ruling elite) and marginalizes others cannot flourish as a democracy and will inevitably lead to the political disenfranchisement of a portion of the population.

Please go to Index to see a list of all the topics already covered on Tharwapedia!