The Hindu : National : Let's take vows to serve humanity, says President

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Wednesday, Jun 16, 2004

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National

Let's take vows to serve humanity, says President

By Our Staff Reporter

— Photo: V. Sudershan

The President, A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, with religious leaders at the launch of the Foundation for the Unity of Religions and Enlightened Citizenship at the Rashtrapati Bhavan on Tuesday.

NEW DELHI, JUNE 15. The President, A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, today laid emphasis on the need for enlightened citizenship in which people undertook "service to humanity as service to God." He said this could happen when all devotees took a vow to educate students, plant trees and treat male and female children equally.

This way, the citizens could feel proud that they were involved in nation-building as the "small vows" they took would have a tremendous impact on society by setting in motion a process of change. He was speaking at the launch of the `Foundation for the Unity of Religions and Enlightened Citizenship' at the Rashtrapati Bhavan, which was attended by various religious leaders.

"Over 500,000 people of various religions visit major places of worship every day. Some vows may be displayed within the premises of these religious institutions prominently and devotees can take any of them as thanksgiving to God," he said.

Among the vows suggested by the President are: each devotee would pledge to educate five children or play a crucial role in activating one pond in his or her neighbourhood or nearby village; remove enmity within his family and withdraw court cases; plant five fruit-bearing trees; not succumb to the temptation of addictive substances and treat male and female children equally. "Even if 10 per cent of the devotees take up any one of these vows, I am sure there will be a tremendous impact on society," Mr. Kalam said.

Recalling his visits to several holy places across the country, he said: "Wherever I went, I found that knowingly or unknowingly, integration of religions has taken place. There is a fabric of connectivity among the people." A billion people with multi-cultural, multi-lingual and multi-religious backgrounds were staying in unity which was, in fact, the "core competence" of the country.

With the launch of the Foundation, the vision of the Surat Spiritual Declaration (SSD), signed nine months ago, had been translated into reality, he said. Translations of the SSD in 15 languages were presented to the President.

The SSD, signed by spiritual leaders of all religions in the presence of the President, had been the basis for a number of projects to create "enlightened citizens," said L.M. Singhvi, Chancellor of the Jain Vishwa Bharati Institute in Rajasthan and former Indian High Commissioner to Britain.

In a brief message, Jain spiritual leader Acharya Mahaprajna called for reflection on the link between religion and economics, which could lead to the nation's development. "Economics and religion seem contradictory, but I do not think so. They influence and solve each other's problems."

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