Group
welcomes Vienna
centre for inter-religious
dialogue
Hindus have termed “The King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz International Centre
for Interreligious and Intercultural Dialogue”; reportedly set to open in Vienna (Austria)
on November 26, “a step in the right direction”.
Cautiously welcoming this joint
effort of Saudi Arabia, Spain and Austria; Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a
statement in Nevada (USA) today, hoped that this Centre would work for creating
mutual trust among various faiths so that world could jointly concentrate on
issues of human development; and would have required autonomy and independence
in its functioning.
Zed, who is President of Universal
Society of Hinduism, stressed that interfaith dialogue was highly needed to
arrive at a common agenda for the overall welfare of the humanity. We needed to
learn to live together harmoniously despite our seriously different traditions
with a broader, deeper and more inclusive understanding of religion; and we
should attempt to overcome prejudices,
caricatures, and stereotypes with the help of dialogue, Zed added.
Rajan Zed further hoped that this
Centre would give due representation and voice to Hinduism, oldest and third
largest religion of the world with about one billion adherents and a rich
philosophical thought.
The “Foundational Declarations of
the Centre” point to the importance of interreligious and intercultural dialogue;
promote mutual respect and understanding among different religious and cultural
groups; etc. Faisal bin Abdulrahman bin Muaammar is reportedly the
Secretary-General of the Centre.
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