Five Indians have been selected as ambassadors for the Parliament of World’s Religions, Chicago. The Parliament of the World’s Religions seeks to promote inter-religious harmony among different religious and spiritual communities to achieve a just, peaceful and sustainable world.
The ambassadors selected are: Jayesh Shah, advisor, Vakpati Foundation, and Research Associate with Centre for Culture and Development, Vadodra, Gujarat; Sudhir Lodha, member, State Minority Commission, Tamil Nadu; Ambili Ramnath (Trivendrum), member in Advisory Council for Ambassadors, Council for Parliament of World’s Religions, Chicago; Geeta Mehta, Director, K. J. Somaiya Centre for Studies in Jainism, Mumbai; and Sanchay Jain, general secretary, Anuvrat Vishva Bharat, NGO, Udaipur.
They have been selected as ambassadors by Mary Nelson, Executive Director, Parliament of World’s Religions, Chicago. The term of the Ambassadors is two years from December 1, 2014.
Dr. Jayesh Shah told The Hindu here on Sunday that 63 ambassadors have been selected from across the globe. Ten have been selected from the Asian continent (India – five, Pakistan - two, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Russia - one each), USA, Canada, Mexico (42), Europe (six), Africa (two), Australia and New Zealand (three).
The next Parliament would take place at the Salt Palace Convention Centre in Salt Lake City, Utah, US, for five days from October 15, 2015.
Ambassadors would engage in supporting Parliament initiatives, take part in inter-faith events, organise pre-parliament events in communities or regions, and encourage registrations for the next Parliament.
Dr Shah, who has done his doctoral thesis titled “Relevance of Mahabharata, Upnishads and Bhagvad Geeta in Modern Management Sciences”, said the Parliament, 2015 would focus on three critical issues: climate change and care for creation; war, violence and hate speech; the widening wealth gap and wasteful consumption. Three focussed constituencies of 2015 are women, indigenous communities and youth.
Dr Shah said he is going to organise dialogues, seminars and workshops on the theme of inter-religious harmony in India as a pre-event of the 2015 Parliament.
The first Parliament of World’s Religions was held in 1893 and Swami Vivekananda delivered his inspiring speech beginning with “Sisters and brothers of America,” through which he introduced Hinduism at the opening session of the Parliament.
