Ila Gandhi clarifies on allegations of not offering Hindu prayers at Phoenix Settlement Trust
- Ella Gandhi is the chairperson of Gandhi Development and Phoenix Settlement Trust
- Issue of boycott of Hindu worship in inter-religious meeting of Phoenix colony
- Hindu organizations could not attend due to other commitments: Ela Gandhi
South African peace activist and Mahatma Gandhi’s granddaughter Ela Gandhi has told the Phoenix Settlement Trust that hatred, enmity and violence cannot be a part of any religious teaching and those who promote it in the name of religion are doing so for fake reasons. They are defining their religion wrong. And there is a need to stay away from such people.
A recent post shared on social media claimed that Hindu puja was deliberately left out of an interfaith meeting organized by Gandhi Vikas and Phoenix Settlement Trust in the Phoenix Settlement founded by Mahatma Gandhi. Ila Gandhi said the above while replying to the same social media post.
Ila said, ‘All religions and scriptures inspire us to be good, kind and loving people. Hatred, hostility and violence are not part of our religious teachings. Those who promote such acts in the name of religion are misrepresenting their own religion for fraudulent reasons and should be avoided. Ila Gandhi, chairperson of the Gandhi Development and Phoenix Settlement Trust, said such measures were ‘an attempt to divide the Hindu and Muslim communities and to isolate Gandhiji and me from the Hindu community.’
In an open letter to the Weekly Post, Ila Gandhi said, “It is important to make the facts public so that the fraudulent attempts being made can be stopped now.” Referring to the invitation sent to four Hindu organizations, Ila Gandhi said, ‘I myself had invited many Hindus individually and many Hindu religious leaders collectively to perform Hindu puja in this program.’ Ila said that these organizations could not attend the program due to other commitments.
