8th URI India National Assembly
10th – 12th Nov, 2017
Ajmer, India
United Religions Initiative India’s 8th National Assembly was successfully held in Ajmer, Rajasthan, in the URI West India region. The assembly was from 10th Nov to 12th Nov, 2017 at the Hotel Ambassador, Ajmer City. The theme of the assembly this year was “Creating Circles of Hope, Connecting to the Oneness”. Ajmer City is renowned pilgrimage place for people of different faiths. This city is known for the famous Sufi Shrine of Khwaja Moinuddin Chishty and also the sacred soil of Pushkar. It was important to relay a message of Oneness in today’s challenging situations.
The inauguration of the assembly was held on 10th November at 6.00 pm. It began with interfaith prayers from different faith religious leaders. The members of the Interfaith Fraternal Association of Ajmer were Guests of Honor. They were Mr. Prakash Jain (Jain Community), Fr. Cosmos Shekhawat (Christian Community), Sr. Sheena (Brahmakumaris), Sardar Dilip Singh Chabra (Sikh Community), Sant Pathakji (Hindu Community), Hazrat Syed Ghulam Kibria Chishty (Muslim Community) and Haji Sayyed Salman Chishty, Chairman Chishty Foundation.
The objectives of the Indian Assembly were to strengthen cross-regional bonding and national collaborations, creating opportunities for URI Cooperation Circles (CC’s) for learning from one another through success stories and actions, and strengthening communication among the CC’s, the URI team, and partners. The final objective was leveraging the benefits of the network, and promoting national leadership in bringing national visibility of URI interfaith actions. On the inaugural day, the Assembly began with interfaith prayers and message by diverse religious leaders. They blessed the occasion by assuring their support to all URI work in Ajmer. The blessing ceremony was followed by Sufi music on the theme of celebrating with unity.
See more photos in the Facebook photo album by Abhirup Khan, Youth Program Coordinator for URI East India.
The first day began with interaction with the CC’s members on Expectation and Achievements and a Formation of the Committee, which was moderated by Regional Coordinator Biswadeb. The next session followed was Youth in actions, paving a stronger pathway to peace by Katherine Hreib. The Keynote Speaker Mr. Javed Anand spoke on the tradition of Composite Culture in the past and present. He sighted various examples of syncretic traditions and compositeness being practiced for ages in India. Post lunch CC’s from different zones made presentations and shared their plan for the next year. There were presentations and sharing from the CC’s from Afghanistan and Bangladesh as well. The evening was full of talent shows by CC’s and an award ceremony for the CC’s who were nominated by their zones.
Day two began with a ceremonial visit to Shrine of Sufi Khwaja Moinuddin Chishty. All the delegates of URI along with RC’s attended prayer at 6 am in the shrines. After 15 minutes of meditation the URI delegates proceeded to prayer ceremony carrying flower sheets on behalf on behalf of URI Global and placed it on the shrine. We prayed for global Peace and to achieve success in our entire endeavor to protect humanity and environment. The most blessed moment we experienced seeing CC members from different zone carrying flowers and sheets on their head and marching towards the shrine. After the Shrine visit we began our meeting with a session from Dr. Abraham Karickam on Intertextuall dialogue among the Holy Scripture”. It was well appreciated. This session was followed by a session from Ms. Qutub Kidwai on the URI in the United Nations - Focusing on the Sustainable Development Goals and URI partnership with the local UN office. CC members actively participated and numerous queries came from CC members on how to partner with UN office. Another session was about the U-Day Festival presentation by Ms. Subhi Dhupar and Mr. Biswadeb Chakraborthy. Importance of communication and learning points were also shared through activities by CC’s.
The final session was on planning for future of URI-India, with recommendations and prioritizing key next steps. In the closing ceremony, the next assembly was announced, which will be held in Benaras, in India’s Northern Zone. At the end, delegates left for a City Walk, visiting worship places and historical sites.
- Report sent by Anjan Sadavarte, Youth Mentor for URI West India
