AUGUST 15, 2023
I am here today not as a prime minister but as a Hindu, said British PM Rishi Sunak, who attended a ‘Ram Katha’ by spiritual preacher Morari Bapu organised at the Cambridge University campus on Tuesday.
“It is truly an honour and pleasure to be here today at Morari Bapu’s Ram Katha at the University of Cambridge on Indian Independence Day. Bapu, I am here today not as a prime minister but as a Hindu!,” Rishi Sunak said at the event.
The British prime minister said that for him, faith was very personal, and it guides him in every aspect of his life.
RISHI SUNAK SAYS ‘JAI SIYA RAM’
In a video of the event, Rishi Sunak is also seen making salutations of ‘Jai Siya Ram’.
Referring to a portrait of Lord Hanuman that featured in the background on the stage, the British Prime Minister said: “Just like Bapu has a Golden Hanuman in his background, I am proud that a Golden Ganesha sits gleefully on my desk at 10 Downing Street.”
Rishi Sunak said that he was proud to be British and Hindu before calling his childhood in South Hampton where he visited his neighbourhood temple with his siblings.
The first Indian-origin prime minister said in his concluding remark that Lord Ram would always be an inspirational figure for him.
“I leave here today remembering the Ramayana that Bapu speaks on, but also the Bhagavad Gita and the Hanuman Chalisa. And for me, Lord Ram will always be an inspirational figure to face life’s challenges with courage, to govern with humility and to work selflessly,” he added.
Rishi Sunak also participated in an aarti on stage. Morari Bapu presented him with a consecrated Shivlinga from the Somnath temple as a sacred offering from the Jyotirlinga Ram Katha Yatra.
Courtesy/Source: India Today / PTI
