At an event in Australia called Sadbhawana, attendees from various religious communities expressed admiration for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “ability to respect all communities.” The NID foundation initiated the event, which was held on April 23 at the Bunjil Palace in Melbourne, and was attended by religious leaders, scholars, intellectuals, preachers, and researchers.
Australian MP Jason Wood, who is the shadow minister for Community Safety, Migrant Services and Multicultural Affairs, said, “This was a fabulous event to have all the religious leaders together with one voice of peace and harmony. It was wonderful to see so many faith leaders talk about the need for world peace. It is important to have religious leaders sending positive messages around the world.”
Apart from Wood, the attendees included the chief patron of the NID foundation Sardar Satnam Singh Sandhu; Bishop Philip Huggins of Anglican Church; Brahma Smaran Das, representative of Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS); Abhijeet Bhide, Member of Hindu Council Australia; Imtiaz Naveed Ahmed, of Ahmadiyya Muslim community; Srinivasan from Hindu Temple of Victoria; Mustafa Poonawala, Dawoodi Bohra Muslim leader; among many others.
Satnam Singh Sandhu presented the book ‘heartfelt legacy to the faith’ which is on the contributions and works done by PM Modi for the Sikh community.
Addressing the conference, Sandhu said that people belonging to different communities and religions have lived in India for centuries and we all believe in communal harmony.
“Under the leadership of PM Modi, India in the last nine years has rapidly advanced on its path to be a developed nation and has become the world’s fifth largest economy. Like many other countries, all the communities in India enjoy full freedom and are given all opportunities without any discrimination of caste, creed, or religion and feel safe under the leadership of PM Modi,” he said, adding that Narendra Modi is the most secular and progressive PM in the history of independent India.
Huggins said he does not adhere to the narrative being built against India that minorities are being targeted.
“The relationship between India and Australia has blossomed under the leadership of PM Modi. We have recently seen cricket diplomacy between the two countries. There is a beautiful feature of Indian Democracy is inclusive participation of different communities in each other’s festivals and rituals.”
Dr Tariq Butt, a member of the Ahmadiyya Muslim community in Victoria and of Pakistani origin, hailed the initiative for uniting Hindu and Muslim communities together and bringing them on one platform. He said that PM Modi is doing the right thing by encouraging the communities to engage with other communities to promote harmony and peace.
“PM Modi has the charisma where people are following him regardless of their religious inclination which is good.”
Sitesh Bhojani, BAPS Trustee Australia said, “PM Modi is not uniting India as a country but he is taking the entire world as one family. He has changed the global image of the country and has also been instrumental in taking Indian Culture, Practices and Civilizations spread through YOGA, which today is practiced and celebrated in 120 countries though International Yoga Day.”
