NEW DELHI, Jan 29 – India’s national capital, Delhi, will host an international conference to initiate a dialogue between Islam and Eastern religions next month, Iran’s IRNA news agency reported.
The first of its kind dialogue will be inaugurated by Vice President of India Hamid Ansari.
The conference will be held from Feb 20 to 21 at Jamia Millia’s Ansari Auditorium, announced Zafarul-Islam Khan, Chief Organiser at a press conference held at the Press Club of India here.
Speakers at the press conference, including Zafarul-Islam Khan, Pandit NK Sharma, JK Jain (owner, Jain TV), Maulana Abdul Hameed Nomani (Secretary, Jamiat Ulama-e Hind) and Mujtaba Farooq (Secretary, Jamaat-e Islami Hind), lauded this effort.
They said that such an initiative will unify the nation and help bring social cohesion and peace which are needed for the country’s progress so that “it may become a world power and attain the level of development we all dream.”
Zafarul-Islam said that the initiative has received tremendous support from Hindu, Sikh, Jain and Sikh organisations and personalities in India and neighbouring countries.
He hoped that an atmosphere of goodwill and mutual understanding will be reached through this effort which will continue through similar conferences and workshops on various levels.
The two-day conference will be attended by top leaders and scholars of Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism from India and neighbouring countries.
Buddhist and Hindu scholars and religious leaders from Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal and other countries will take part in addition to participants from almost all parts of India.
Muslims have held many rounds of dialogues with Christian and Jewish leaders and this is the first initiative of its kind between Islam and religions with roots in India.
The organisers hoped that this will lead to a better understanding and co-existence between the followers of these religions in the country in particular and South Asia in general.
The conference is being held with the participation of all major Indian Muslim organisations.
The initiative is also supported by the Qatar-based Union of Muslim Scholars whose head Shaikh Yusuf Al-Qaradawi, the greatest contemporary Muslim scholar, will attend the dialogue along with key members of his organisation. – Bernama
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