To celebrate the golden jubilee year of its Nagpur edition, Lokmat Media Group is organising a National Inter-Religious Conference in Nagpur on Sunday, October 24, 2021. The first of its kind conference in India will be held at Suresh Bhat Auditorium in the city at 9.30 am. The topic of this conference is ‘Global Challenges to Communal Harmony and The Role of India’, informed director (operations) of Lokmat Media Ashok Jain while addressing a press conference here on Wednesday.
The Union surface transport and highways minister Nitin Gadkari will be the chief guest of the event while the Leader of Opposition in Maharashtra Legislative Assembly Devendra Fadnavis and the mayor of Nagpur Dayashankar Tiwari will be the guests of honour.Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, founder of the Art of Living, Swami Ramdev, founder of Patanjali Yogpeeth, Acharya Dr Lokesh Muni, founder of Ahimsa Vishwa Bharti, Haji Syed Salman Chishti, Gaddi Nashin, Dargah Ajmer Sharif, Ajmer, Prahlad Wamanrao Pai, founder of Jeevanvidya Mission, Mumbai, Cardinal Oswald Gracias, Archbishop of Mumbai, Bhikkhu Sanghasena, founder of Mahabodhi International Meditation Centre, Leh, Ladakh and Brahmaviharidas Swami, BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha, will be keynote speakers.Brahmaviharidas Swami is specially coming from the US for this important event, informed Ashok Jain. Chairman of editorial board of Lokmat Media and former member of Rajya Sabha Vijay Darda and Editor-In-Chief of Editorial Board of Lokmat Media Rajendra Darda will also remain present on the occasion.
*‘Message of brotherhood to world from Nagpur’*Ashok Jain further said, “It is pertinent to mention here that Lokmat Media Group respects all religions and sects and has always followed the path of secularism and communal harmony. Sarvadharma Samabhav, i.e. equal respect for all religions, has been the motto of the group from its very inception. As we all are witnessing, today people in many parts of the world are being targetted, harassed, tortured and even killed in the name of religion. When such unfortunate and deplorable incidents are taking place with impunity, the role of a secular country like India becomes more crucial, because people of all religions and sects have been living together in this country for centuries.”Jain further said, “Our Vedic culture has taught us the mantra of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam, that is, all the people living on earth are one family. Our culture has been that of love, compassion and brotherhood. The sole object of the conference is to further strengthen this brotherhood all over the world.”“The voice raised from Nagpur should reach the whole world and help spread the message of love, peace and communal harmony. This is the objective behind organising this national conference on a topic of international significance.What is India’s role in the current context and what contribution can this secular nation make towards fostering religious harmony and peace in the world? To find answers to these questions, Lokmat Media is inviting the religious leaders and Dharmacharyas to this event,” Jain added.“We hope their guidance in this regard will play a vital role in promoting communal harmony and peace in the entire world. People from all walks of life have been invited to attend this programme which will be followed by a question-answer session. Questions will be invited from various sections of the people through Lokmat Media publications,” he said.Executive editor of Lokmat Shrimant Mane, editor (chairman’s secretariat) Dilip Tikhile, editor of Lokmat Samachar Vikas Mishra and editor of Lokmat Times N K Nayak were also present in the press conference.The programme is for invitees only.