By IndiaTomorrow.net,
New Delhi, 05 Jan 2015: A prominent Hindu priest of Uttar Pradesh has asked Hindus and Muslims to keep aloof from divisive forces associated with their religions and not fall prey to vote bank politics.
“The biggest problem of the day is that some people want to divide Hindus and Muslims. Some are talking about Hindutva, some others about Islam. I want to tell Hindu brothers that Hinduism means Vasudev Kutumbkam / Sarve Bhavantu Sukhinah (Entire world is one family. May all experience prosperity). Hinduism calls for communal harmony and brotherhood. But the problem is this is not reflecting on the ground,” Swami Laxmi Shankaracharya, a priest in Kanpur, told IndiaTomorrow.net.
The brighter side of the religions are not reflected on the ground due to hijacking of the religion by political forces, he said. “Some political leaders are linking Hindutva with Hindu vote bank. For them, Hindutva means Hindu vote bank. For Hindu vote bank, they want to divide society. Their Hindutva ends as soon as they get Hindu votes. The Hindu society should keep aloof from such Hindutva,” said Shankaracharya who is founder of Hindu Muslim Ekta Manch.
He also asked Muslims to keep from activities that may damage Islam.
“The real Islam is about brotherhood and humanity. I say humanity is the other name of Islam,” the Hindu religious leader said amid recent attacks in Pakistan on school children by Taliban in which over 130 people, including 100 children were butchered.
“Muslims should not commit any such act that defames Islam and Muslims. There are some forces who want Muslims to do such damaging acts so that Islam and Muslims could be maligned and they take benefit out of it,” said Shankaracharya who has recently written a book Islam – Terror or Ideal in Hindi,
Some Muslims and Hindus are making such statements and carrying out campaign to create rift between Hindus and Muslims and they take political benefit of this division. This will only weaken the country; this will not strengthen the country, the Hindu priest said.
The Shankaracharya appealed to both Hindus and Muslims that if they “love the country and want to see it develop and succeed and want a strong country they should keep away from such people from their communities”.
He also asked Hindu and Muslim religious leaders to guide people of their respective communities to the right path – which always leads to peace, communal harmony and humanity. “I think that true religious leaders from either community are leading to the right path of humanity, truth and brotherhood. And those who are doing opposite are fake religious leaders,” he said.
