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Nevada (US), Oct 17 (ANI): Hindus have urged Germany and its Chancellor Angela Merkel to show more tolerance to “outsiders”.

Renowned Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada (USA) today, said that instead of blaming multiculturalism as a failure, Merkel and other German leaders should make more efforts to create a society where all Germans could learn to live together in peace and mutual trust despite seriously different traditions, beliefs and backgrounds.

In a speech in Potsdam (Germany) on October 16, Merkel reportedly said that the so-called ‘multikulti’ concept, where people would ‘live side-by-side’ happily, utterly failed; and anybody not speaking German was not welcome. Horst Seehofer, Prime Minister of Bavaria, Germany’s largest and oldest state, was quoted as saying that ‘multikulti’ was dead and there was no room in Germany for more people from alien cultures. Various other German politicians had also expressed strong anti-immigrant feelings recently.

Zed, who is President of Universal Society of Hinduism, further said that Merkel and others should show more maturity and responsibility when talking about “others” who were simply different, and not give in to unnecessary hysteria. It was simply irresponsible to stigmatize an entire ethnic community. Germany needed to stay away from the racist sentiment and chauvinism and check the facts on immigration more closely. “Others” living in Germany were also human beings and should have the same rights as any German.

Rajan Zed quoted from The Bible: “The Lord builds up Jerusalem; he gathers the outcasts of Israel (Psalm 147:2).” “For I will restore health to you, and your wounds I will heal, declares the Lord, because they have called you an outcast (Jeremiah 30:17).” “Whoever says, ‘I am in the light,’ while hating a brother or sister, is still in the darkness (First Epistle of John 2: 9).” “…Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another (Gospel According to John 13: 34).”

Hindu statesman Zed further quoted “Leviticus 19:33-34″: “When an alien resides with you in your land, you shall not oppress the alien. The alien who resides with you shall be to you as the citizen among you. You shall love the alien as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt. I am the LORD your God.”

Country of Ludwig van Beethoven, Martin Luther, Albert Einstein, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Johann Sebastian Bach, Johannes Brahms, Bertolt Brecht, Max Planck, Hermann von Helmholtz, Joseph von Fraunhofer, Gottfried Leibniz, Friedrich Schiller, Brothers Grimm, Thomas Mann, Hermann Hesse, Immanuel Kant, Friedrich Nietzsche, University of Heidelberg, about 103 Nobel laureates, Oktoberfest, etc., needed to learn to be more inclusive, seek a unity that celebrated diversity, and create a national dialogue based upon mutual trust and understanding, Rajan Zed pointed out.

According to reports, about 30 percent of Germans aged five years and younger have at least one parent who was born abroad and about 20 percent of its population had immigrant roots. Christian Wulff is German President.(ANI)