UN told to promote religious harmony, understanding

The United Nations has been called upon to promote religious understanding among people to control religious motivated conflicts.

The call was made recently during an informal hearing on �Antireligious and Intercultural Understanding and Cooperation for Peace.

Addressing the United Nations General Assembly on how to promote religious understanding, the Tanzanian Bahai community representative Mitra Deliri said that in creating understandings on religion and cultural norms the United Nations can help solve some of the conflicts.

Deliri said that in her country large Christian and Muslim populations live side by side, intermarry and celebrate each other`s religious festivals.

This coexistence did not come about by accident but rather as a result of the vision and deliberate action of Tanzanian leaders, dating back to the country`s first president,`` she said.

Deliri, who represented the Baha`i International Community at the two-day hearing, also said it was important for governments to create a climate where freedom of religion or belief is clearly upheld in law and in practice.

``Such a climate must be free from incitements to violence or hostility in the name of religion,`` she said.

She said that where contentious opinions about religions are expressed, it is the responsibility of the state to provide for right of reply.

Deliri said that as a minimum standard, both sides must be afforded the right to respond in a peaceful and legal manner so as to allow the public arrive at their own conclusion.

It is in this climate that understanding and cooperation can take root,`` she said.

Deliri was among two dozen representatives of nongovernmental and religious organizations from around the world who addressed the General Assembly yesterday.

Other speakers included Paul Knitter of the Union Theological Seminary in the USA, Gamal I. Serour of the International Islamic Center for Population Studies and Research at the Al Azhar Centre in Egypt.

Others were Sohan Lal Gandhi of the Anuvrat Global Organization in India, Fatima Ahmed of Zenab for Women in Development in Sudan, and Steven Rockefeller of Earth Charter International in the United States.

The Baha`i Faith is in the oneness of humanity and the oneness of religion. It has for a long time promoted religious harmony and supported interfaith dialogue and activity.