The 13th World Fellowship of World Religious Councils (WIFRC) concluded on April 21 with delegates from various religions celebrating the diversity of faiths and religious traditions.

Around 200 people from all over India representing Bahai, Buddhisht, Christian, Hindu, Jain, Muslim, Sikh, faiths conducted a series of symposiums and panel discussions on the theme “Accept, respect and celebrate diversity” during the three-day assembly at Dharmaram Vidya Kshetram in Bengaluru, southern India.

The assembly ended with a resolution to start Harmony Clubs in various schools to give peace education to children and to promote celebration of diversities.

WFIRC president Swami Sadashivananda from Coimbatore, in his presidential address, said that the delegates believed in the element of innate goodness existing in all human beings. “It flourishes when people of all religions, castes and creeds come together to celebrate each other’s faith and festivals,” he added.

WFIRC general secretary, Carmelite Father Roby Kannanchira welcomed the delegates saying the assembly’s focus was to take a personal and collective resolution to celebrate the faith of the other without losing one’s won, uphold one’s religion without hurting others and appreciate the differences without giving one’s uniqueness. Dr K.P.Fabian, who was former ambassador in various countries, narrated from his experience of living with people of diverse religious backgrounds.

Sister Lizy Thomas from the Uday (Dawn) Social Development Society is pictured with her co-workers as they attend a media conference organized by indigenous women in Jhabua district of India’s Madhya Pradesh State – hoping to enlist the media’s help in their crusade against alcoholism.

For Shanti Devada, the mud walls of her home in Badi Damini village of Jhabua district in the central Indian State of Madhya Pradesh were more like a prison than a shelter or a place of refuge.

She lived a closeted life, not daring to speak to men outside of her family or step outside her village without a chaperon. In fact, the traditions and customs of the indigenous group to which she belongs are so strict, she even had to cover her face with a sari when speaking to male relatives.

However that all changed about eight years ago when Devada, who is now 50, began to defy these conservatives, even archaic customs and became a self-style “crusader” fighting for the greater empo- werment of women.

Working against human trafficking is a huge challenge, says a member of the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary (FMM) congregation working in Chhattisgarh State, central India. “Working against the human trafficking in India is the most challenging task. It is a road less-travelled. It is a life-threatening apostolate, yet for the love of those women, we have to rescue, save and rehabilitate those victims of slave industry,” Sr Anne Jesus Mary, director of Jeevan Jharna Vikas Sansthan (JJVS, institute

for the development of life stream), Jashpur, told Matters India. On April 22, Sr Anne addressed on human trafficking conditions in the State of Chhattisgarh to a group of 50 priests and nuns who held a day- long CRI (Conference of Reli- gious India) regional meeting in Jashpur.

She spoke about the South Asian network of sisters working against trafficking, AMRAT, that comprises trained social workers, counselors, lawyers and many other professionals committed to confronting modern slavery. AMRAT members in India number about 600. Sr Anne is one of them.

Catholic religious women joined more than 25,000 people of Bihar to undertake 72 hours of fast to demand security for the daughters of India.

Nine women and men fasted continuously during April 18- 20 while others joined them in relay fast, Rupesh, (goes by one name) of the Bihar forum of ‘Right to Food,’ one of the organizers of the program, told Matters India.

The program was held at Gandhi Maidan in Patna, a historic ground near the Ganges River in Patna, the state capital.

Politicians from different parties and the administration also attended the program, which, Rupesh claimed, has helped awaken the people of Bihar in many ways. “Our hope is that the government also wakes up to bring law and order in our nation,” he added.

Rupesh said the Bihar Women’s Network and the members of ‘Right to Food’ forum are organizing protests at various parts of Bihar dema- nding accountability from the government machinery and the people’s elected representative.

Neelu Devi, convener of Bihar Women Network, another NGO, termed as irony that the government on one hand coins slogans such as ‘save daughters, teach daughters,’ while on the other protects the perpetrators of crime against the same daughters.”

India’s central government is a threat to the poor and minorities, this according to Mgr Thomas K. Oommen, moderator of the (Protestant) Church of South India.

Msgr Thomas K. Oommen is the moderator of the Church of South India. With 4.5 million members, it is the second largest Christian denomination in the country. For him, “the current government [. . .] follows the Hindutva supremacist ideology,” and the federal administration is “pro-corporate and unkind to the poor.”

The Anglican bishop wrote an open letter addressed to all citizens dated 6 April, anniversary of the Salt March, the non-violent demonstration led by Mahatma Gandhi in 1930 against the British colonial government.

According to Msgr Oommen, living in India in the last four years, since the Hindu nationalist government of the Bharatiya Janata Party led by premier Narendra Modi took office, “has become a nightmare to the poor and the minorities in India.”

He wants to share his fears “As an Indian Citizen and the head of the second largest Church in India, with more than 4.5 million members, most of them being Dalits, Adivasis, poor farmers and fisherfolks.”

“It is true and sad fact that the current government that follows the Hindutva supremacist ideology seems to have consciously discounted what is stated in the Preamble of our Indian Constitution that declares liberty, equality, and fraternity as its ideals and assures social, economic and political justice to the citizens of India.” Hindutva promoters want to turn India into a Hindu state.

According to the bishop, the government has proven “to be pro-corporate and unkind to the poor by waiving [. . .] loans of rich people and corporate [interests] while not waiving [. . .] the loans of the poor farmers, not giving Minimum Support Price (MSP) to them, not addressing the issues of economic distress, joblessness, price rise by forcefully implementing policies like ’demonetisation’ and GST,” the Goods and Service Tax. “In fact, corruption and scams/scandals have become a hallmark of this government.”