Global religious leader Shankar preaches peace
Mr Mirja Barot of the Tirupati family (left) talks to His Holiness Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar (right) during his Uganda tour last Wednesday. Photo | Anthony Wesaka
What you need to know:
- As part of his Africa tour Shankar, who was in Uganda last week, said despite our differences in the languages and food, we are all created by one God and that we shouldn’t be divided.
Renowned global preacher Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar has appealed for peace among Ugandans as they embark on full recovery from Covid-19 pressures.
As part of his Africa tour Shankar, who was in Uganda last week, said despite our differences in the languages and food, we are all created by one God and that we shouldn’t be divided.
“The whole world is one family. We might have different food, and languages, but we all have a deep connection with one spirit, one God. This is what I believe in. I have been travelling all the time and when asked where I am going, I tell them that I am just travelling from one of my rooms to another,” Shankar said on Wednesday night during his tour hosted by the Tirupati family.
“Conflict between religions should never be encouraged. See there is only one Jesus Christ, but do you know how many sects of Christianity they are?, 72, there was only one Prophet Muhammed, but there are 135 sects of Islam. There are also 32 types of Buddhism and with Hinduism, you can’t count all of them. So the philosophies are the same but ignorant people have created so many divisions.”
Further in his remarks, the India-based religious leader, whose vision is “a stress free” and “a violence-free world”, promised to send IT experts from India to Uganda to train youths in ICT so that the skills enable them get self-employed.
“I am so happy that you have IT people, but we can bring in experts from India to train these young people between three to six months as you know India is the hub of knowledge industry; even if you go to Europe, America, most of the IT companies are headed by Indians. Twenty-nine percent of Indians are in IT industries and 33 percent of scientists are from India,” the spiritual leader said.
“So, we have people who can come here and train our young people for about six months. We need a place here to operate from. We request for a place for us, then 50 to 200 youths can come and train the ones here and who will in turn, employ themselves,” he added.
His Africa tour started from Ghana, Nigeria, then to Uganda and Tanzania.
The Tirupati family that hosted the global spiritual leader led by Mr Miraj Barot applauded him for accepting to come to Uganda.
Dr Ruhakana Rugunda, the special envoy for special duties in the Office of the President, said Uganda and India have had a long and historical relationship.
Dr Rugunda asked the spiritual leader to use his influence and encourage people all over the world to come and invest in Uganda.
“The relationship between Uganda and our friends in India is historical, significant, and has had a huge impact in our country in the area of business that has demonstrated that you come and invest in Uganda and you make a lot of money,” the former premier said.
“I request his holiness to use his position to mobilise Indians to come and invest in our country...” he added.
Who is Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar?
Gurudev Sri Sri Shankar is a universally revered spiritual and humanitarian leader.
He is a multi-faceted social activist whose initiatives include conflict resolution, disaster and trauma relief, poverty alleviation, empowerment of women, prison rehabilitation, education for all and campaigns against female feticide and child labour.
He is engaged in peace negotiations and counselling in conflict zones around the world. His expertise in bringing opposing parties to the negotiating table in areas such as Sri Lanka, Iraq, Colombia, Venezuela, the Ivory Coast, Cameroon, Kashmir and Bihar is widely acknowledged.
In 1981, Gurudev established the Art of Living, an educational and humanitarian non-government organisation that works in special consultative status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations present in 156 countries, it formulates and implements lasting solutions to conflicts and issues faced by individuals, companies and nations.
In 1997, Gurudev founded the international Association for Human Values to foster human values and leaked sustainable development projects.
He has reached out to an estimated 450 million people world over through personal interactions, public events, teaching, at of living workshops and humanitarian initiatives.
