| Welcome
Jaswant Singh Heera
Chair of Birmingham Council of Faiths
I would like to welcome you all and extend my heartiest
congratulations on this auspicious occasion. Let us celebrate, as we are
gathered here today, the success we already enjoy by being together and
sharing our common concerns on the same platform. I have great pleasure in
welcoming you here on three different counts.
Firstly, it is a privilege to welcome you to the
splendid city of Birmingham. Birmingham, of course, is a unique city and
an ideal place to have this conference because it has many faiths within a
population of just over one million people.
Secondly, I welcome you here today as the Chair of the
Birmingham Council of Faiths. The Birmingham Council of Faiths has a
history of 26 years and represents eight faiths across the city. It is to
be noted that we especially value our relationships within its Committee.
My colleagues and I will be very interested to hear about the experiences
of those in other parts of Britain working on the creation of effective
local inter faith structures.
Thirdly, I welcome you as a member of the Executive
Committee of The Inter Faith Network. Perhaps I can quote a few words from
one of its documents called Building Good Relations with People of
Different Faiths and Beliefs:
In Britain today, people of many different faiths
and beliefs live side by side. The opportunity lies before us to work
together to build a society rooted in the values we treasure. But this
society can only be built on a sure foundation of mutual respect,
openness and trust. This means finding ways to live our lives of faith
with integrity, and allowing others to do so too. Our different
religious traditions offer us many resources for this and teach us the
importance of good relationships characterised by honesty, compassion
and generosity of spirit.
We are extremely keen to increase inter faith
co-operation in Birmingham through the Birmingham Council of Faiths,
especially with the local city authorities. However, unfortunately, we
lack the funds, staffing, and most importantly, the structure to do so.
Hopefully this will change with time.
Ladies and gentlemen, this year is a very special year.
It is the start of an era in which we will all have to contribute in a
positive way to uplift our fellow brothers and sisters both morally and
spiritually so that not only will the Birmingham Council of Faiths be
wiser, but so will the city of Birmingham and other cities and councils of
faiths throughout the country. Brothers and sisters, I am sure that at the
end of the day, we will set a strong precedent for our future generations
to follow.
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