NHRC Chief: 'Hegemony of one religion has never been part of our culture'

'It never was and will never be.'

"If our blood is not different, how can there be any difference between religions, Gods?" retired Supreme Court Justice Arun Kumar Mishra asked on Thursday.

"It is time to think about the oneness of Gods, all religions have one goal. Today, don't know for what reasons or interests, attempts are being made to create a divide. There is a need to implement again the syncretic tradition of (Mughal emperor Akbar's) Din-i-Ilahi," Justice Mishra, currently the chairman of the National Human Rights Commission, said.

The NHRC chairman was speaking at the opening of a conference in New Delhi on 'Human Rights in Indian Culture and Philosophy'.

Sarva Dharma Sambhav or all religions are the same, has been the ethos of India, and that the hegemony of one religion, Justice Mishra asserted, "has never been part of our culture, it never was and will never be."

Forcible religious conversion, the judge emphasised, was never accepted by India's civilisation, adding that it is "against humanity".

Extolling the virtues of Indian culture, Justice Mishra said all religions speak of peace and non-violence.

"Peaceful co-existence is our culture, our dharma," the judge, who served on the Supreme Court from July 2014 to September 2020, said.

Earlier in the day, Justice Mishra addressed a technical session as part of the conference, where he said ahimsa via Buddhism is a "gift from India" to the wider world.

His comments come against the backdrop of the brutal killing of a tailor in Udaipur by two men who had posted videos online that claimed they were avenging an insult to Islam.

"Gandhi, Patel lived with ahimsa, it is taught in Jainism and Buddhism too. Forty-seven countries have adopted Buddhism, it is a gift from India -- ahimsa. What Ashoka borrowed from Buddhism -- ahimsa..." Justice Mishra stated.

"What we have given to the entire world is being talked about today... Indian culture, we have not forgotten, it is in our blood."