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142
THE JAINA GAZETTE
It is the bounden duty of all the Jains and Hindus to try their best to prevent such a brutal violence.
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Well has the Lord Christ said, “A house divided against itself cannot stand." Can our Hindu and Muslim brethren hope to get Swaraj as along as they are bent upon disturbing the religious life of other sister communities by obstructing their religious processions and by breaking the objects of their worship.? Let them remember the universal and never-failing Lawą" As you sow, you will reap."
In a lecture at the Essex Hall, London, held under the auspices of the Mahabodhi Society, Sir Hari Singh Gour, referring to a book of his “the Spirit of Buddhism," said that religion was a prime necessity, and that there can be no world peace without a world religion; the world required a League of religions as it had a League of nations. A universal peace based upon a universal religious tolerance, he added, would be far more enduring than any compact in favour of disarmament, or treaty for the prevention of War.
Religion must therefore have for its basis universal tolerance in the highest sense of the expression. Live and let live should be the guiding principle of Religion. Enjoying life so as to cause the least possible harm to the susceptibilities of other sentient beings must be the sine-qua-non of a truly religious life. Might and Power, Conquest and Subjugation, Fire and Steel, Arms and Ammunition, Tanks and Projectiles. Mines and Poison Gases, are emblems of Irreligion, and have no place or purpose in a world of Religion,
Righteous war is a phrase without meaning. War can never be righteous. It always means Aggression, Empire Building, Desire for Sovereignty over weaker people. Self-defence can never lead to war.
Shree Sudharmaswami Gyanbhandar-Umara, Surat
www.umaragyanbhandar.com