FROM MAULANA’S DESK

FROM MAULANA’S DESK 1. The World’s 500 Most Influential Muslims 2020, Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre, Jordan. Maulana Wahiduddin Khan, born in 1925, in Azamgarh, Uttar Pradesh, is an Islamic spiritual scholar who is well-versed in both classical Islamic learning and modern disciplines. The mission of his life has been the establishment of worldwide peace. He has received the Padma Bhushan, the Demiurgus Peace International Award and Sayyidina Imam Al Hassan Peace award for promoting peace in Muslim societies. He has been called ’Islam’s spiritual ambassador to the world’ and is recognized as one of its most influential Muslims1. His books have been translated into sixteen languages and are part of university curricula in six countries. He is the founder of the Centre for Peace and Spirituality based in New Delhi. WHAT DRIVES US TO THE POINT OF NO RETURN? T HE World Health Organization reports that suicide has become the second most common cause of death among young people worldwide. In order to create awareness on mental health and tackle the issue of suicide, WHO has developed a Mental Health Action Plan 2013-2020, which was adopted by the 66th World Health Assembly. The recent case of suicide of the 34-year-old Bollywood actor, Sushant Singh Rajput, has once again opened up the debate on declining mental health and growing case of depression amongst youth. Rajput was good in studies; he had chosen to opt out of engineering to become an actor. At a young age he achieved name and fame for his acting skills. Despite the prospects of a good life ahead of him, what drove Rajput to the brink so that he ended his life? This question has been bothering me ever since I heard this news. Man is born with unlimited potential, yet he finds limited use for it. He harbours an ocean of desires in his heart, but all these dreams are never realized. In this case, there is no difference between a poor man and a rich man. Each person finds himself amidst toil and strife. But