Online parliament of religions held at Punjabi university
Kanwar Inder Singh/ royalpatiala.in
One day online Parliament of Religions was held in Guru Gobind Singh Department of Religious Studies Punjabi University Patiala under the aegis of Govt. of Punjab. This parliament was held to mark the 400th Prakash Utsav of Sri Guru Teg Bahadur ji in the light of ongoing programs of govt. of Punjab. Punjabi university vice chancellor Ravneet Kaur (I.A.S) in her inaugural address had stressed upon the need of such parliaments for better understanding of religious ideology all around the world. She highlighted the great martyrdom of Guru Tegh Bhadur and the essence of humanity in his Bani. She welcomed the participants and discussants for the historic moments
Introduction to the program was given by Dr Mohd Habib,HOD Department of Religious Studies and he welcomed the distinguished guests for their worthy presence. Enlisteing the achievements of the Department he mentioned the Historic moments of first Parliament of Religions held in 1853 where Swami Vivekanand had represented India.
Dr. Ezekiel Issac Malekar, was the first speaker who remembered the contribution of Sikh Gurus reading a Punjabi poem in reverence to the Gurus. He spoke on Judaism and its essence for serving the human cause. Its teachings and main principles which are guiding humanity are presented by him.
Dr. Sahid gave a presentation in which he talked about the wider terms of Islam and its purpose to serve humanity. He discussed the global perspective of Religion and life. Talking about the dark side of present world he emphasized on morality and values.
Dr. E.D Thomas in his address had mentioned the role of Christianity and emphasized on the omni presence of God. He stated that God is one and there is a strong need of interfaith Dialogues and such Religious Parliaments in which we can share the views of what we had learnt from our respective religions to live in peace and harmony
Dr. Shivani Sharma gave insights about Hinduism and stressed upon the importance of Darshnas. Karma Sidhanta and Darshan Sidhatna have their prominence and one need to understand these concpets to understand the holy religions. She stated that dharma basically is the moral duty and role of Ashrams is very important in Hinduism.
Dr. Malkinder Kaur had conscripted the important points of Sikhism and stated the role of Martyrdoms in shaping up of religion. She paid tributes to the Martyrdom of Guru Teg Bahadur ji by mentioning his holy shalokas.
Dr. Hamidullah in his presidential remarks had appreciated the efforts to oraganise such a parliament on religions. The need of comparative and analytical approach to contemporary studies was highlighted by him. In light of Islam and world religions he stressed that all the religions of the world guide us to live in peace and harmony and to spread the message of same to the whole world.
Dr Jaswant Singh Puri, a noted personality also participated in this conference.
The questions from the discussants were taken and were answered to the satisfaction. In the end Dean Academics Prof. Amritpal Kaur delivered Vote of Thanks and congratulated the Department for such an historic event.
February 2,2012
