March 23, 2025 05:11 am (IST)
Follow us:
Religious intolerance in India would have shocked Gandhiji: Obama
Washington, Feb 6 (IBNS) US President Barack Obama has said that if Gandhi were alive, the acts of religious intolerance in India would have shocked him while he also reminded Americans of the acts of the terrible deeds committed by Christians too in history.
In the National Prayer Breakfast address on Thursday, Obama said "India was full of magnificent diversity – but a place where, in past years, religious faiths of all types have, on occasion, been targeted by other peoples of faith, simply due to their heritage and their beliefs.”
He said such acts would have "shocked Gandhiji, the person who helped to liberate that nation."
Obama, who is an admirer of Gandhiji, is just back from his India visit where he bonded well with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi but in a speech before leaving had expressed his concern over the religious intolerance in India and had said for the country to succeed it should not splinter along religious lines.
Obama spoke of how “professions of faith [is] used both as an instrument of great good but twisted in the name of evil.”
"From a school in Pakistan to the streets of Paris we have seen violence and terror perpetrated by those who profess to stand up for faith – their faith – profess to stand up for Islam but in fact are betraying it,” he said.
He called ISIS a “brutal, vicious death cult that in the name of religion carries out unspeakable acts of barbarism.”
He also warned the Christians saying "and lest we get on our high horse and think this is unique to some other place – remember that during the Crusades and the Inquisition committed terrible deeds in the name of Christ."
"No god condones terror," Obama said adding that "we are summoned to push back against those who would distort our religion for their nihilistic ends.
Tibetan leader in exile and Nobel laureate Dalai Lama was present at the venue whom Obama addressed as a person who "inspires us to speak up for the freedom and dignity of all human beings."
Support Our Journalism
We cannot do without you.. your contribution supports unbiased journalism
IBNS is not driven by any ism- not wokeism, not racism, not skewed secularism, not hyper right-wing or left liberal ideals, nor by any hardline religious beliefs or hyper nationalism. We want to serve you good old objective news, as they are. We do not judge or preach. We let people decide for themselves. We only try to present factual and well-sourced news.
Support objective journalism for a small contribution.
Latest Headlines
CBI files closure report in Sushant Singh Rajput case, gives clean chit to Rhea Chakraborty
Sat, Mar 22 2025
BEL engineer suspended for leaking critical information to Pakistan, probe underway
Sat, Mar 22 2025
Pune techie kills 3-year-old son over suspicion of wife’s infidelity
Sat, Mar 22 2025
Samajwadi Party MP’s ‘traitor’ remark on Rajput king Rana Sanga sparks BJP backlash in Parliament
Sat, Mar 22 2025
India's floriculture potential: Anthurium flowers exported from Mizoram to Singapore
Sat, Mar 22 2025
Goa Shipyard launches second P1135.6 frigate
Sat, Mar 22 2025
GI-tagged Indian jaggery exported from Muzaffarnagar to Bangladesh
Sat, Mar 22 2025