BANGLADESH Christians, Sikhs stress unity in first religious dialogue

The main purpose of interreligious dialogue is to break down walls between religions, said Archbishop Joseph Marino, apostolic nuncio to Bangladesh.

Bhai Piara Singh speaking at the gathering. Archbishop Joseph Marino is seated behind (extreme left).
He was speaking to a gathering of 150 Christians and Sikhs at a Sikh temple in Dhaka on Feb. 28. The Interreligious Dialogue Commission of the Bangladeshi bishops’ conference organized the event, which is believed to be the first such dialogue between the two religions.

“We learn from each other through such dialogue,” said Archbishop Marino at the event. The Christian participants included Catholic nuns, seminarians, priests and a few Protestant pastors.

Ten speakers addressed the theme “Unity of God and of mankind.”

“We believe in only one God who wants all mankind to be united,” stated Bhai Piara Singh, head grantha or chief priest at the Gurdwara Nanak Shahi temple stated.

Nurul Islam, chairman of the University of Dhaka’s Department of World Religion, stressed that “we must have interreligious dialogue for religious pluralism, and respect and tolerance between followers of different religions.”

Islam, who is also director of the university’s Centre for Interreligious and Intercultural Dialogue, added, “I have profound respect for the teaching of Christ who taught mankind to be united with God.”

He pointed out, “Though Christians are few in number in Bangladesh, they can bring about peace through dialogue.”

The event included a question-and-answer session to help Christians and Sikhs understand each other’s religions better. After this, they attended a worship session led by the Sikhs, and ended the gathering with a lunch.

Narayan Robi Das, executive member of the Bangladesh Gurdwara Management Committee, told UCA News that such “interreligious dialogue will be continued in the future.”

Das’ committee manages all Sikh religious activity in the country,

There are about 150 million people in Bangladesh. Muslims form 88.3 percent, Hindus 10.5 percent, Buddhists 0.6 percent and Christians 0.3 percent. There are only about 100,000 Sikhs, who form approximately 0.07 percent of the population.