World Religions Conference November 1957

Author(s): Sushil Muni
Publisher: Achal Singh Seth

Page 81

Inaugural Address by the President of India
It is only proper that the Conference of all Religions should have been convened in India where men belonging to all faiths and religious denominations live in peace and goodwill towards one another. Without this feeling of tolerance and mutual accommodation, life here would be too hard Indeed. The credit for this goes to our ancestors, to our saints and faqirs, and our religious leaders who from the very dawn of history, have placed before us, the ideals of tolerance, faith and respect for all religions. This fundamental right of freedom of belief and of propagating it for all the citizens we have incorporated in our Constitution. There are some who think that because we are a Secular State, we do not believe in religion or spiritual values. Far from being so, it really means that in this country all are free to professor preach the faith of their liking and that we wish well of all religions and want them to develop in their own way without let or hindrance,
It does not mean that man should consider himself free from all those injunctions and social restraints which have been responsible since the earliest times for organised and regulated life and which are inevitably necessary for the development of his Individaality and the evolution of the ideal social order. It means that no individual or society should dominate other individuals or societies by suppressing them and that every one must have full scope of development. This will be possible only when every individual and every society shows respect for the feelings and interest of others. Suppression of others must not be considered merely as against the principles of fairplay but also as incompatible with one's own real self-interest. Thus alone can the feeling of genuine love and tolerance be brought about without which true peace and happiness of the individual and the society will ever remain a mirage.
Before concluding I would like to say that in the light of the history of the past few thousand years, we must pause and see if violence and aggression have done any good to human society or if they have been able to stop wars. The world has seen thousands of wars, hoping that thus aggression would end. That has not happened. Is it not the time we gave up violence and gave a trial to non-violence and tolerance? Whatever we do to promote these is to the good of the world, and this is also the aim of this Conference.
May this Conference of Religions inspire all to imbibe this feeling of broad tolerance and may Its proceedings give an impetus to the forces of world peace, is my wish and prayer.
74