His Holiness Swami Shankaracharya Onkaranand Saraswathi, head of Prayag Peeth, Parmatama Matt, inaugurated the seminar on ‘Religion and Human Values’ organised by the Kochi-based International Interfaith Dialogue India (IIDI). “Believers, without dharma or values, can never be role models,” he said. “Such intoxication with one’s cult or religion can lead to anarchy.”
The basic source of all religions is divine said Shri Prasanna Venkatachariar Chaturvedi Swamy, the founder of the Sri Ramanuja Mission Trust, Tamil Nadu. “The aim of all religions is the striving for justice, peace and co-operation,” he said. “Through one’s faith one should help the needy, irrespective of religious barriers.” The seminar was presided over by writer K P Ramanunni, the vice president of IIDI. “There is an effort by vested interests to prove that man is selfish, and altruism has no meaning,” he said. “This concept is not only ludicrous but dangerous.”
The messages of Justice V R Krishna Iyer, the chief patron of the IIDI, and Cardinal Mar George Alencherry, the Major Archbishop of the Syro Malabar Archiepiscopal Church, were shown on video.
Thereafter, Padmabhushan K J Yesudas recited the famous poem of Sreenarayana Guru. It is a clarion call highlighting the humanity of all people. “Those who are reluctant to speak out for the common humanity are the real enemies of religion,” he said. “I am not an ambassador of any particular religion, but the peace ambassador of IIDI, and thereby representing all religions.”
The recognition and acceptance of diversity is the core concept of the interfaith approach, said Fr Albert Nambiaparambil, CMI, the Secretary General, of the World Fellowship of Inter-religious Councils.
“The true spirit of Islam is justice, liberation from selfish motives, and love,” said Maulawi Jamaludeen Mankada Palayam Imam, Thiruvanantapuram. “The Islamic attitudes towards other religions are liberal, but Muslims are reluctant to internalise it.”
Brahmashri Swami Sookshmananda, of Sivagiri Mutt of Varkala said that Sreenarayana Guru’s approach is the practical and realistic solution to the religious controversies and altercations. “The conversion-oriented approach of various religions are not only detrimental to our pluralism but also against the spirit of religion,” said Brahmashri Swami Sachidananda the head priest of Gayatri Ashram Chalakudy Sree Narayana Guru Chaitanya Mutt.
“The mainstream religions are going towards selfishness, avarice and greed which are antithetical to the essence of religious beliefs,” said Dr Vincent Kundukulam, the President of St Joseph Pontifical Seminary, Aluva.
Leaders of every religion should control the spread of communalism among their adherents, said T Arifali, the Ameer of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind Kerala zone. Gopinath Muthukad showed some magic establishing the theme of the sameness of religions. N M Sharafudeen, the Secretary General of IIDI gave the vote of thanks. More than 200 people from various parts of Kerala took part in the seminar.
Among the participants was NR Pillai, a retired assistant general manager of Reserve Bank of India. “It was a wonderful programme,” he said. “I told the Imam of the Palayam Mosque in Thiruvananthapuram that this programme should be extended all over India. That will have a good impact. In the northern states, there is a desperate need for communal harmony.”
Adds engineer Moin Khan, “The experience was wonderful. It is a much needed event in these times of communal disharmony.”