Aditya Vikram Singh/LUCKNOW:
At the Global Interfaith Convention held at City Montessori School, Gomti Nagar auditorium on the eve of Hiroshima Day, the religious leaders of various faiths unanimously called for establishing world unity and global peace to deal with the increasing religion based animosity in the global society, terming it as the only way towards the development and upliftment of humanity.
Recalling the ravages of Hiroshima bombings, these learned scholars said that the human society can not bear more traumas like Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Religious leaders and followers of various faiths, thinkers, educationists and enlightened people from Japan, Russia, Switzerland, Brazil, USA, Germany, Singapore, Philippines, Malaysia, UAE and Thailand also participated in the convention online and put up their views at the convention.
Earlier, Chief Guest, Mrs Sanyukta Bhatia ceremonially inaugurated the convention and welcomed the participants to the city of Lucknow.
In her address delivered on the occasion, Mrs Bhatia expressed her faith that this convention will succeed in conveying the message of unity, love and brotherhood to all mankind.
She said that the cornerstone of all religions is the unity of mankind. We should respect all religions and work for the betterment of all.
Representing Baha’i faith, Founder of CMS and renowned educationist, Dr Jagdish Gandhi said that the tragedy of the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki was the turning point in human history which cautions us how terrible the devastation can be in the absence of unity, peace and harmony.
Representing Christianity, Father Donald D’souza said that we should all live together because our country needs the cooperation of all religions to prosper.
Representing Jainism, Acharya Shailendra Jain said that religion plays an integral role in the development of the country. Nation develops only with the cooperation of all religions.
Hindu religious leader Madhu Smita Das said that spirituality is the thread of equality that binds all religions together.
Representing Islam religion, Maulana Khalid Rasheed Firangi Mahli said that the society will develop only when everyone works together for the welfare of all, irrespective of caste, colour and creed.
Fr Andrew D’Cuhna from Christianity, Maulana Dr Kalbe Sibtain (Noorie) and Mirza Mohammad Maulana Yasoob Abbas from Islam, Bhikkhu Gyanlok from Buddhism, Harpal Singh Jaggi from Sikhism and many more also put forth their views.
Besides, Mr Alyn Ware from Switzerland; Ms Masami Saionji, Ms Kyoko Hoshino and Mr Masashi Miyako from Japan; Ms Nina Goncharova, Mr Sergey Chevalkov, Stanislav Kazakov and Dr Katerina Kabakhizde from Russia and Dr Hong Tao Tze from USA put up their views virtually in the convention.
At a press conference held on this occasion, these religious leaders of various faiths who attended the convention, interacted the media persons and openly expressed their views on the purpose and importance of the conference.
These scholars were unanimous in saying that today we are standing at a critical juncture where we have to decide what kind of society we want.
The corona pandemic has shown us that our existence depends on each other and we need to live our lives with the spirit of cooperation and unity for the welfare of all.
At the end, Head of CMS International Relations department, Mr Shishir Srivastava expressed his heartfelt gratitude towards all the religious leaders and the eminent speakers of India and abroad.
