New Delhi (AsiaNews) – “Any political formation inciting people on religious grounds was betraying both religion and the constitution,” Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said on Saturday in the inaugural address at an inter-faith harmony conclave.
Speaking before various religious leaders from different countries, including Pakistani Information Minister Syed Ali Durrani and former Bangladeshi Foreign Minister Kamal Hossain, Mr Singh condemned “religious intolerance [. . .] for narrow political gain,” which aims at tearing apart the “fine fabric of our composite culture.”
Religious communalism has spread in South Asia. Increasingly sectarian stereotypes are informing attitudes towards people belonging to other religious groups and inciting violence against them.
India’s constitution is secular for it “espouses the separation of religion from politics and governance,” the PM explained. “Equally, it means that [. . .] equal status [is accorded] to all religious faiths. The idea of equality is important.” The notion of “majority and minority communities” is “based on political and social concepts. They are not spiritual categories.”
Citing the 19th century Hindu philosopher Swami Vivekananda, he said that tolerance is meant for an unequal, but could also reflect harmony between equals “based on mutual respect and regard.”
Viewing India’s culture as composite, respect for the faith of one another has been the basis of its nationhood, Singh noted.
“We have not merely learnt to live and let live. We have in fact learnt to live together, grow together, learn together. Even as each one of us remains devoted to our own individual faith, we have learnt to respect the faith of another,” he said.
Earlier, Indian Council of Cultural Relations Chairman Karan Singh condemned terrorism and the use of force to impose religious beliefs.