World Conference on Religion Freedom Inaugurated by Inter-faith Prayer Meeting

New Delhi, India … [IRLA News] The International Religious Liberty Association [IRLA] began its World Conference on Religion Freedom in New Delhi, India, today (Nov. 15) with a special inter-faith prayer session at Rajghat, the memorial to Mahatma Gandhi.

"We chose this venue because of Gandhi’s total dedication to religious freedom and pluralism," said Dr. Justus Devadas, director of IRLA-India and organizer of the Conference. "The wide representation from India’s many faith communities is illustrative of the broad base for religious liberty that we wish to build on during this Conference.

"Prayers and songs were offered by representatives from the Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Islamic, Jain, Jewish, Baha’i, Parsi, and Christian communities in simple program.

"This event says more than words about our desire to encourage freedom of conscience and religious liberty for all," commented Dr. John Graz, general secretary of IRLA International, based in Silver Spring, Maryland, USA. "IRLA has been working to develop commitment to religious freedom for over a century, and we are delighted to host this conference here in New Delhi. India has demonstrated a long history of religious tolerance and the right to worship according to conscience is guaranteed in the country’s constitution. Today more than ever before, the world needs to understand the practical importance of such religious freedom."

The Conference meets in session from November 16 through 18 with presentations by many leading scholars and experts from India and abroad on the theme of "Religious Freedom: A Fundamental Right in the 21^st Century." [Jonathan Gallagher]

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New Delhi, India … November 16, 1999 [IRLA News] Civil and religious leaders in India used World Tolerance Day today (Nov. 16) to call for increased protection to be given to rights of religious freedom at the inauguration of a World Conference on Religious Freedom.

"It is in the fitness of things that this Congress is being held in the capital of a country which has allowed every religious tradition to flourish and has also provided shelter to those who were being persecuted in the land of their birth," said Dr. Manmohan Singh, inaugural speaker, noted academic, economist, educator, and Leader of the Opposition at the Rajya Sabha (the "Senate").

"India’s long historical past sparkles with incidents of men and women who at great personal risk and sacrifice endeavored to preserve freedom of religion, communal harmony and peace," continued Dr. Singh. "Unfortunately, the picture today is not so bright. We face grave threats to these cherished ideals. The price of religious freedom, communal harmony, national integration and peace is eternal vigilance….

"More than ever before, we need to re-dedicate ourselves to the goal of an open society, committed to respect for all fundamental human freedoms, as an essential condition for improving the human condition," said Dr. Singh. "The fundamental human rights in religion and belief have not merely been intuited but enunciated in every major religion. Throughout history, people have made enormous sacrifices to uphold the sanctity of these rights. The state, the society and the individual have distinct roles in preserving these rights. Promoting an environment that is more distinctly protective of these rights is of urgent relevance today. It is particularly essential in the context of incidents of communal disharmony that are erupting with a terrible violence all over the world."

"In the final analysis, let us not forget that today, as it has been always, the battle is for the minds of our people…. Man must be free to seek his own destiny, to establish his own relations and communion with his Maker and to follow the dictates of his own conscience, but always within the framework and in full consciousness of his place, role, and obligations in and for the society of which he is an integral part, and to the reality that liberty and privilege to individuality which he seeks must be just as verily extended to every other member of the community."

"It is in that affirmation and commitment that we see the genesis and realization of communal harmony and peace. It is then we shall see the evolution of communities whose freedom of religion shall be cherished as well as nourished in an atmosphere of mutual love and respect and whose fellowship and service to others shall flow like rivers, where everyone shall call our God, Father, and his neighbor, brother. It is then we shall see and experience the star of religious freedom rise and shine in that atmosphere of tolerance, peace and harmony. All of us have an obligation to work for the realization of this noble vision," concluded Dr. Singh.

"We in India believe that every single person should be able to follow a religion or belief that his conscience agrees with," commented Dr. Narendra Mohan, Rajya Sabha MP and editor, Dainik Jagran. "Every individual is free to choose his path to salvation and spirituality. In this world of ours, inter-religious tolerance is shown in spreading religious freedom. If we do no spread this, we will create problems for ourselves…. We have no right to hate the faith of others. Religious freedom is a fundamental right, originating from the right of conscience. Every human mind must be respected.

"Speaking on "Freedom of Religion: A Fundamental Right in the 21^st Century," keynote speakers Drs. Tahir Mahmood and Karan Singh also pointed to the need for a much greater emphasis not just on legal and constitutional guarantees but also on the practical implementation of religious freedom.

"It must, however, be clearly understood—by one and all, and for all times to come—that this internationally recognized human right to religious freedom has to apply, equally, to all religions and all religious communities of the world—big and small—and is not meant to serve the interests of any chosen religion, howsoever widely prevalent or locally dominant it may be," said Dr. Tahir Mahmood, Chairman, National Commission for Minorities. "Recognition of religious freedom in international law presupposes an absolute equality of all religions. Clearly enough, the claim of superiority of any particular religion over all others would demolish the very foundation of the recognition of religious liberty by the modern human-rights jurisprudence. The human-rights law of our times—based on the doctrine of Equality of Mankind as it is—cannot deny to the followers of one religion what it concedes to those of any other."

"The reasons for the growing trends of religious violence in the world, in my opinion, lie in the unfortunate erosion of the essential teachings and values of religion itself. All our great religious faiths emphatically tell us that piety and godliness lie not in the symbolic rites and rituals but in promoting mutual love, compassion and sympathy for the fellow human beings—in accepting their human right to their own respective ways of worshipping the Creator. Our salvation lies in focussing our attention, and concentrating our thoughts, on these common humanitarian teachings of all our religions. The attempt to locate in one another’s scriptures things which may appear unpalatable to us will lead us nowhere but to mutual hatred."

"In the ensuing 21^st century Man cannot behave in respect of religion as he unfortunately did in the ancient times and in the medieval ages. Now, in our present age, religious freedom can be recognized, respected and practised, as a fundamental human right, only for the protection of humanity, and not for its destruction."

Dr. Karan Singh, former Union Minister, in his presentation identified three points which are basic for religious liberty. "First," he said, "is that the religious impulse is something very much deeper than most people had realized. When we were growing up there were two trends of thought. The Marxist trend of thought that completely rejected and opposed religion and so called liberal trend of thought looked upon religion as something bound to disappear as soon as people educated and enlightened. Both of these views have collapsed in our lifetimes. So the first point to understand is that religion is something undying. It is that spark within each human, the divine spark that encapsulates the human being. Fanning the divine spark into the spiritual fire of realization and that is the real goal of religious teachings and practices."

"Second is that we have to realize that the religion has a mixed record. On the one hand much that is greater and noble in human civilization: architecture, music, literature, moral cords, spiritual practices and all sorts of divine manifestations can be traced back to the religious impulse. All great religions represent the upsurge of religious emotions and religious attitudes. Many of the moral codes, many of the laws that we see are based upon religious beliefs. On the other hand, more people have been killed, tortured and persecuted, and burned in the name of religion than in any other name. If we look through the long and torturous history on the human race of planet earth you will find that the greatest destruction has been wrought in the name of religion. We have to realize that as people who are interested in religion we cannot only present one side of the religion and pretend that the other side doesn’t exist. I think we have to come to terms with the fact that religion is often expressed in fanaticism, in cruelty, in persecution, in burning, and in all sorts of violence. Today we either slide back into medieval posture of holy wars, or achieve the higher level of inter-faith understanding."

"Thirdly, is that the real basis of religion is the movement within. There is only one light that does not cast a shadow. Ultra-consumerism and ultra-promiscuity lead to terrorism and narcoticism and other negativisms of this world. In the words of the Chinese proverb, it is later than you think. In the words of the Upanishads, ‘Let there be no hatred between us.’"

Archbishop Allan de Lastic of New Delhi spoke of the great movement of return to spirituality. "Without that word freedom, there is no religion," he said. "Without these qualities of freedom and love there can be no human life at all. Human beings are responsible for what they do because of freedom. If there is no freedom, they cannot be held responsible."

"India enjoys tremendous freedom," he continued. "We are a religious people. When I hear of any attacks on other religions I am very sad, but there must be no retaliation, only forgiveness."

Attending the Conference are 275 delegates from all over India as well as from many other countries including Russia, USA, China, Japan, Korea, Switzerland, Belgium, Britain, Poland and Brazil.

Hosted by the International Religious Liberty Association in New Delhi, the Conference has as its purpose the promotion of freedom of conscience throughout a world that is seeing frequent violations of the rights of religious groups. The Conference began on November 16 and continues to November 18. [Dittu Abraham/Jonathan Gallagher]

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New Delhi…(IRLA News) Leaders of various organisations, political as well as religious and educational, expressed their anxiety to make religious freedom a reality to all sections of society through educating the public about the rights and privileges of others. Participating in the second day’s proceedings of the World Conference on Religious Freedom, speaker after speaker highlighted the need for greater public awareness of the duties of all persons.

Mr Narendra Mohan, editor of Dainik Jagran, leading Hindi daily and member of Rajya Sabha, called for harmony among all religions based on equality and justice. Quoting from the message of Bishop of Oslo and president of IRLA, Gunnar Stalsett, he said, "…religious freedom needs to be high on the agenda in the struggle for human rights in the 21^st century. People of faith and religious convictions need to be on guard against the misuse of religion for sectarian purposes and divisive political aims."

Referring to the international instruments, Mr Mohan said that all countries should make sure their religious freedom laws followed such documents as the United Nations declarations.

"Every nation must declare that equal respect will be given to all the religions whatever they may be," said Mr Mohan. "Liberty of religious belief should be essentially the same everywhere. All nations must approve and pass their national legislation in harmony with the 1981 UN declaration. We do not want to witness wars in the name of religion and God. We do not want to witness atrocities and persecutions and denial of freedom in the name of religion and God."

"Today the cruel hands of intolerance, bigotry, fundamentalism and discrimination are killing peace and harmony. How to stop it?" asked Mr Mohan. "I do not have a ready solution with me. We all have to sit together and search for a solution…. Religion resides not in dogmas, rather it lives in the conduct of those who practice it. Let us practice true religion. Let us practice true Christianity. Let us practice true Vedanta. Let us practice true Islam or Sikhism."

"I have faith that if mankind is granted the freedom of religion, freedom of conscience, and mankind is told to respect the faith of others and mankind is told to respect the views of others and is allowed to search the truth and the Divinity which rules us then the world will genuinely live in harmony," Mr Mohan concluded.

Giving a background history of the religious freedom articles of the Constitution, Dr. James Massey, showed that "the Indian Nation has accepted the plurality of religion always, and therefore the clear guarantee of religious freedom is the surest way, not only for a peaceful co-existence of different religious groups, but also their active participation for the common good and unity."

As a result of the debates of the Constitutional Assembly, "on the general scope of religious freedom at all levels, it was intentionally extended to all the citizens from the right of freely professing and practising religion to the extent of propagation."

A number of other speakers gave reports of religious freedom aspects from a number of different countries. Dr. Anatoly Krasikov, of the Russian Chapter of the International Religious Liberty Association, spoke of "Religion and Politics in Russia" and underlined concerns about ongoing religious restrictions subsequent to the religious law of 1997.

"Thus, we are witnessing two sufficiently strong trends that will determine the character of religious life in the present-day Russia," commented Dr. Krasikov. "The first trend has arisen in the depths of political structures of a post-Communist society, and is aimed at clericalizing our State, making it purely confessional and nationalistic-orthodox, and, as a matter of fact, totalitarian. The second trend has arisen within the Orthodox Church itself, having joined both clerics and lay members who seek that orthodoxy be granted, at least de facto, status of the State religion. Are those trends dangerous, and how much? They are certainly dangerous, and we should withstand them right now."

Speaking to the delegates in a later session, Shri Vasant Sathe, former Union Minister, said that "there is no basis in India’s highest scriptures to justify or authorise birth-based cast system." He added that "whatever is described in the Smritis and the Gita was the class (varna) system." He went on to explain that anywhere in the world society can be divided into four classes going by the vocation of the particular class—learning, defense, trade, and manual work. He concluded that "we are all children of God."

Over 300 delegates are attending the Conference from countries including India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, China, Russia, USA, UK, Japan, Korea, Switzerland, Belgium, and represent a wide variety of religious faiths. The Conference concludes November 18. [Dittu Abraham/Jonathan Gallagher]

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New Delhi… [IRLA News] "The world is at a turning point for freedom and toleration," agreed religion experts on the concluding day of the World Conference on Religious Freedom in Delhi today.

"The world, and India in particular, is witnessing again intolerance and violence in which religion is blamed," said Lt. Gen. (Retd.) A.M. Sethna, former Vice Chief of the Indian Army. "A Conference of this nature at this particular time is of great value. The International Religious Liberty Association and this Conference are doing yeoman service in bringing into focus the basic principles of religions in this massive interfaith activity."

Pointing out that every individual has freedom of choice, Lt. Gen. Sethna expressed his hope that the right choices would be made as the world faces the third millennium.

Looking at "Religious Liberty and the Third Millennium," Dr. A.K. Merchant, director of the Baha’i Office of External Affairs, said that many commentators are apprehensive about the future.

"Some talk apprehensively of the fall of culture and the consequent disappearance of values, the loss of fullness of the inner life, a technological civilization facing an increasingly serious crisis," said Dr. Merchant. "How does religion fit into the current scheme of things? To many, if not most people, however, religion is irrelevant. It has become preoccupied with vacant rituals, impoverished by superstitious traditions and thoroughly corrupted by self-serving individuals and groups… Inter-religious conflict lies at the heart of almost every war; fundamentalism impels bloodthirsty terrorist groups and spawns dangerous cults." Dr. Merchant pleaded for the differences between the faiths to be overcome.

Professor D.N. Pathak of the Peace Research Centre pointed out that the twentieth century has been the blood-stained century in the history of the world."Over 220 million have died this century," said Prof. Pathak. "Seventy-five per cent of all the violence since the beginning of the Roman Empire has occurred in these past hundred years. The casualties have been more and more concentrated on civilians. And much of this violence has been related to religious differences. We need much more of Gandhi’s ethic of non-violence."

Prof. Pathak hoped for a greater tolerance between religions, and a stronger emphasis on religious freedom. For "If I dream alone, it is just a dream; but if we dream together, it is a movement."

The organizers concluded the Conference with the belief that religious freedom would be continued to be dreamed together, so that the world movement for tolerance and understanding between religions would become a practical reality. [Dittu Abraham/Jonathan Gallagher]

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