BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, London, on Friday 16 November 2018 held a special interfaith assembly to pay tribute to soldiers from India and the Commonwealth who served during the First World War.
To commemorate 100 years of the Armistice day, a remembrance day program was held at the Mandir which coincided with National Inter Faith Week in the UK. Inaugurated by Nitin Palan MBE, an Inter-faith leader for the BAPS Swaminarayan temple and the Chairman of Golden Tours Foundation, this event remembered the contribution of Asian soldiers in Britain's war history. More than 1.5 million Indian Army soldiers served in the Great War, while 74,000 were killed and 11 Victoria Crosses were awarded to their ranks.
Various faith leaders began the assembly by lighting the auspicious lamp. A trumpeter played the ‘Colonel Bogey March’ and ‘Qadam Qadam Badaye Ja’ – music representing marches of the British and Indian armies during World War One. Meanwhile children stood in a queue holding 53 flags of the Commonwealth nations, and everybody stood upto the national anthems of Great Britain and India.
HE Euripides L Evriviades, High Commissioner of Cyprus and Chair of the Commonwealth Board of Governors, delivered a poignant message on behalf of the Commonwealth.
“On 26 April 1949, the modern Commonwealth was born from the International collaboration that had been generated throughout the First and Second World Wars. The 21st century Commonwealth, now in it's 69th year is building on its dynamic legacy and heritage with international engagement and diversity at its core.”
Lord Jitesh Gadhia explained the significance of the khadi poppy and highlighted how Gandhi's principled and loyal support was crucial at a difficult time in India's relationship with Britian. The diversity of the event was reflected not just in the evocative recital of Rabindranath Tagore's Gitanjali but marked by the presence of the faith leaders who spoke about the contributions of Indian soldiers regardless of their cultural and religious allegiances.
Lord Ahmad, Minister of State for the Commonwealth and the UN and the Prime Minister’s Special Envoy on Freedom of Religion or Belief, said the event at the Mandir was “an incredible demonstration of the unity of mankind, the unity of remembrance, appreciation of friendship and ties of kinship”.
Sardar Sulakhan Singh, Honorary President of the Namdhari Sikh Sangat UK, reflected on the “sacrifice of servicemen from various faiths who fought in the Great War [to enable us] all to live in happiness today”.
Also in attendance was Rt. Hon. Tom Tugendhat MP, Chair of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee of the House of Commons. Mr Tugendhat recently laid a wreath at India Gate in New Delhi in respect of Indian soldiers who lost their lives in the Great War.
The Mandir recently paid homage to the heroes of the WW1 by installing a poppy display outside their premises. It was one of 14 locations selected by The Royal British Legion to display large poppies featuring moving messages from the First World War generation woven along threads that pointed to 20-ft installation at the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, London.
