Farooq Kathwari’s
comments at Eleanor Roosevelt Center at Val-Kill Ceremony on October
16, 2005.
I would like to thank my friend, Meera Gandhi,
for her kind introduction. It
is a great privilege to be here with you and I want to thank the
Board of Directors of the Center for this honor.
Meera called me a few days back and, in her high
energy voice, said that she would understand if I was not able
to make it today and I was in Kashmir because of the great disaster
that has taken place there. In fact, she said that if she could help she would also
go. I had thought of going but decided that I can help more
from here. During the last week I have spent time in Washington
and in New York discussing ways that a major appeal can be made for
assistance and funds. I also chair the board of Refugees International
and about ten days back there were about 33 million refugees and
displace persons in the world and last week-end, within a few minutes
of the major earthquake, over 2 million people were added to the
number. The persons killed so far are estimated to be 40,000
and growing. Our families are about 50 to 60 miles from the
worst hit areas and were saved. Winter is already there. The
area is high mountains and very difficult to reach. I am looking
forward to a major leadership role taken by the leadership in Washington
as was done in the case of Tsunami and the disasters in the Gulf
region.
I would like to focus my brief comments on the
role of leadership in shaping the debate. Eleanor Roosevelt was a leader. She
established a precedent that leaders today need to follow. She
felt that the U.N. ratification of the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights was her most notable achievement. She also was clear
when she stated, ”After all, where do universal human
rights begin? In small places…..close to home.” She
also stated, “We can no longer live apart from the rest of
the world. We must also recognize the fact that peace, like
freedom, is not won once and for all. It is fought for daily,
in many small acts, and it is the result of many individual efforts.”
I was born in the war torn and conflict ridden
area of Kashmir. I
saw the cost of conflict when our family was separated and our father
could not return to his home for 17 years. He was less than
100 miles away! It took the leadership of the region about
60 years to open the road between the two parts of Kashmir.
In my view it is the leadership’s responsibility to shape
the debate and to work to end conflicts and not to perpetuate them. It
is also our responsibility to help them to resolve conflicts and
also, in a very loud voice, hold leadership accountable when they
deviate from this responsibility. Too many leaders and countries
have been caught in false pride and have forgotten that the main
job of leadership is to help improve the welfare of their people,
to end conflicts and create an environment where their people can
live with dignity, that is the best human rights work.
I have had the opportunity in the last ten years
to work with the leadership of the South Asia region to discuss
ideas that would help them give up their unreasonable and inflexible
positions regarding Kashmir and to focus on a dialogue process
that would lead towards a peaceful, honorable, and feasible solution. I
am gratified that they are moving in the right direction.
And finally, as Eleanor Roosevelt said that human
rights start close to home, I have had the privilege of leading
the reinvention of a classic American brand during the last 18
years and to put into practice the concept of operating under the
umbrella of justice. The
word justice is not used in the business enterprise context, yet
we know that most businesses prosper when people are treated fairly
and with dignity and fail when the opposite takes place. Good
governance is also good for profitability. Ethan Allen has
consistently outperformed its competitors and has been able to achieve
the highest profitability in our industry.
Forty years back I arrived in New York from Kashmir
and made Brooklyn my home, working during the day, going to school
at night and in 20 years became the president of Ethan Allen. This is the strength
of America and the opportunities that are here. I am very grateful
for all of this and, especially for the recognition today.
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