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| July 13, 2010 | Hindus and Jews appeal various religions to strive for religious equality in Malta | |
Nevada (US): Hindus and Jews have appealed to various religions and denominations active in Malta to make efforts to bring equality of religions before the law. Malta Criminal Code reportedly makes one liable to imprisonment up to six months
for publicly vilifying "Roman Catholic Apostolic Religion", while committing such
act against "any cult tolerated by law" makes one liable to imprisonment only
up to three months. Acclaimed Hindu statesman Rajan Zed; and Rabbi Jonathan B.
Freirich, prominent Jewish leader in Nevada and California in USA; in a statement
in Nevada today, said that besides Jews and Hindus, other minority communities
of Protestants, Orthodox, other Christian denominations, Muslims, Baha'is,
Wiccans/Neo-Pagans,
people with "no religion", etc., should also strive for equal treatment of all
religions and denominations before the Malta law. Zed, who is President of Universal
Society of Hinduism, and Rabbi Freirich, further said that as a dominating majority
in Malta, Catholics also had a moral responsibility to take care of minority brothers/sisters
from different faith backgrounds, and should thus also seek this equality treatment
for all. Equality was the fundamental tenet of Judeo-Christian faith, of which
Catholicism was a significant part. Rajan Zed and Jonathan Freirich pointed out
that it seemed to imply that except Roman Catholic, other religions and denominations
including Hinduism and Judaism were just one of the cults in the eyes of Malta.
Zed and Freirich argued that it was perturbing to note that a country of European
Union, which prided itself for its human rights initiatives, apparently treated
crimes against religious sentiment of "other" religions/denominations as less
serious than against majority religion and described religions/denominations other
than majority religion as cults. Venice Commission of Council of Europe in a report
concluded that "offence of blasphemy should be abolished". It states core values
of effective democracy as: pluralism, tolerance, respect for human rights and
non-discrimination. Maltese islands were first settled reportedly in 5,200 BCE.
Few European countries have such concentrated architecture, history, and beaches
in so small an area as Malta. |
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