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| June 13, 2010 | Hindus urge Brazil to end reported discrimination against Afro-Brazilian religions | |
Nevada (US):Hindus have urged Brazil to look deeply into the reported discrimination against practitioners of Afro-Brazilian religions like Candomble, Umbanda, etc., and come up with a plan to eradicate it. Acclaimed Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada
(USA) today, said that as Article five of Brazil constitution provided for freedom
of religion, and discrimination based on religion was prohibited in Brazil law,
Brazil should take care of its minority practitioners of Afro-Brazilian religions.
Rajan Zed, who is President of Universal Society of Hinduism, pointed out that
everybody should be allowed to freely practice their faith and no one should be
discriminated because of their religious beliefs. Religious intolerance was not
okay. According to US Department of State Country Reports on Human Rights Practices
2009 on Brazil, “Practitioners of Afro-Brazilian religions like Umbanda and Candomble
experienced discrimination in several states, especially Rio de Janeiro, but the
NGO Commission to Combat Religious Intolerance in Rio de Janeiro reported that
there were no government efforts at prevention during the year. According to the
NGO, Afro-Brazilian religious practitioners were not permitted to visit hospitals
or penitentiaries to provide religious assistance to patients or inmates, as were
other religious practitioners, and the Rio de Janeiro State government had no
office to provide effective assistance to victims of religious intolerance”. Reports
indicate that Afro-Brazilian religious groups total about 0.3 percent of the population.
World’s fifth largest country Brazil is known for Amazon, Carnaval, novelist Jorge
Amado, beaches, football, music, etc. Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is the President.
Hinduism, oldest and third largest religion of the world, has about one billion
adherents and moksh (liberation) is its ultimate goal. |
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