Hindus have expressed concern at the reports of religious favoritism at The Coronation Service of King Charles III and Queen Consort on May six at Westminster Abbey (a London church), which is described as a solemn religious service.
According to The Church of England website on “The Coronation of King Charles III”: “At its centre is a Christian service…It will be rooted in longstanding tradition and Christian symbolism. We offer our prayers for King Charles III… We hope that this might be a moment for the nation and many around the world to encounter the person of Jesus Christ…”. It will be conducted by the Archbishop of Canterbury. During the ceremony, the King will be anointed with holy oil, which has been consecrated in The Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem by Patriarch of Jerusalem and Anglican Archbishop in Jerusalem.
Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada (USA) today, said that it was simply not fair with the hard-working British religious minorities; who had made a lot of contributions to Britain and British society in general; and continued to do so; and paid their share of the taxes.
Was not King Charles III the King of all British communities, which included a substantial number of religious minorities also? Zed, who is President of Universal Society of Hinduism, asked. Moreover, a taxpayer funded event like this should either include the prayers of all major religions practiced/observed in Britain, or none at all; Zed added.
Were not reverent petitions addressed to God to bless the King via prayers of ‘other’ religions as effective or valuable or important as ‘preferred’ religion in this event? Zed asked. It did not speak well of a democratic society like Britain to favor one religion over others; Rajan Zed, who has opened both the United States Senate and US House of Representatives in Washington DC with Hindu prayers, emphasized.
Following traditions was fine, but we should not forget that we were well into 21st century and Britain was very different now as compared to 1066 AD. Events like this, besides following some traditions, should be honestly reflective of today; Zed pointed out.
His Majesty King Charles III should look into this issue of unfairness and include multi-faith prayers in his May six Coronation Service, Rajan Zed requested.