Sharma perceives his personal mission as a small but significant effort to promote the idea of communal peace. He wishes to convey to the general public through his works that it is perfectly acceptable to visit a place of worship that does not belong to one's religion, and this should not be viewed as an act against Hinduism.

Despite identifying as Hindu, Sharma does not consider himself to be particularly religious. He acknowledges that Hindus generally do not visit non-Hindu places of worship, but Sharma believes that this mindset needs to be changed. Read more

A small temple existed near his plot and the trust of the shrine wanted to renovate and rebuild it. Locals see this as an act of communal harmony amid sporadic incidents of religious discord in parts of the country.

"I used to see many women struggling when they would take the rounds of the temple for prayers. Six months ago when the villagers decided to renovate the temple, I decided that I would give up a small portion of my land as that would make it easier for them to pray," said 65-year-old Basha.

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In the letter Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, (Ahok) thanked supporters and those who were praying for him, or sending flowers, letters and books.

"It is not right to protest against each other in the process I am going through now," he added, saying he was concerned that his supporters could be involved in clashes with parties opposing him.

Ahok is withdrawing an appeal against his controversial jailing to allow prosecutors to appeal the sentence and calm protests, his family and lawyers say.

His two-year term was harsher than the suspended sentence the prosecution sought.

Purnama's lawyers said withdrawing his appeal could give prosecutors space to appeal.

"We don't want to intervene with the prosecution. They can go ahead," said one of the lawyers, I Wayan Sudirta,

He added that Purnama's legal team had requested he be moved from prison to city or house confinement.

It would not be the first time prosecutors had appealed against a tougher sentence than sought in the indictment, said another of his lawyers, Teguh Samudera.

President Joko Widodo said on Wednesday that authorities would "clobber" any group threatening to destroy Indonesia's tradition of pluralism and moderate Islam, and called for unity ahead of presidential elections in 2019.

Hardline Islamist groups, banned under the authoritarian regime of president Suharto, which ended in 1998, have gained ground in recent years, though they are usually small and on the fringes of society.

Source

• channelnewsasia.com
• channelnewsasia.com
• channelnewsasia.com
• Image: screenshot channelnewsasia

However the Archbishop of Lahore, Sebastian Shaw, says Pakistani Christians are realizing that God gave them a special calling to be his witnesses and work for the human rights and dignity of all in their country. Read more

The African branch of United Religions Initiative (URI) presented Father James Channan and Abdul Khabir Azad, the great Imam of the royal mosque in Lahore, with the "Award for Interreligious Harmony" 2017.

Channan and Azad have been working together for over 20 years.

They have traveled to many countries to promote Islamic-Christian dialogue.

"[The Award] is a recognition of the work to promote interreligious dialogue in Pakistan and around the world and ‎to promote a culture of peace, justice, reconciliation and dialogue," Channan said.

He added that "recognitions like this feed the courage and daily work in ‎order to break the walls of hatred between Christians and Muslims, and to build bridges of trust and ‎respect".

Source

• The News
• Vatican Radio
• Image: RadioVatican