Religious leaders, US CG tour worship places for interfaith tolerance

In an effort to promote interfaith cooperation and religious tolerance, various religious leaders toured places of worship in Karachi on Wednesday and reiterated their resolve to encourage religious tolerance and discourage extremism in the country.

 

On their invitation, Consul General Grace Shelton also joined the group.

“Today we visited a mosque, a Catholic church, a Hindu temple, a Sikh gurdwara, and a Sufi shrine.  Seeing all of these religious sites today reminded me of just how diverse Karachi is, and how important it is to protect the city’s historic religious sites,” she remarked.

Mangla Sharma, Sindh chairperson of the National Interfaith Harmony Council of Pakistan, said, “It is heartening to participate in this religious tour with these leaders. It is my hope that this is just one of many initiatives in the city and country to encourage interfaith harmony.”

The leaders and the consul general jointly visited Jamia Islamia, Clifton, Abdullah Shah Ghazi Shrine, Swaminarayan Hindu Temple, Guru Nanak Gurdwara and St. Patrick’s Cathedral. 

Following the tour, the religious leaders met at lunch to discuss how they could build upon the initiative to continue promoting religious tolerance.