29 Apr :A Hindu leader has been denied the request to read the opening prayer of Victoria Legislative Assembly of Australia.
Assembly Speaker Jennifer Lindell, in a response to the request of Rajan Zed, president of Universal Society of Hinduism, said in a communiqué: “It has been a long standing tradition for the Speaker to read the Lord’s Prayer prior to the start of the proceedings of the day. The motion that the Speaker read the Lord’s Prayer was made by a resolution of the House on 9 October 1928. Since then no other person has read the prayer in the Victorian Parliament…”
“Lord’s Prayer” is a well-known prayer in Christianity. Legislative Assembly, created in 1855, is the Lower House of the Victorian Parliament and consists of 88 members. Victoria is the most densely populated state of Australia.
Hinduism, oldest and third largest religion of the world, has about one billion adherents and moksh (liberation) is its ultimate goal.