Dr Williams: Building bridges

London, Jan. 30: Britain?s one-million strong Hindu community, some of whose leaders feel it is being ignored because of all the attention being devoted to the country?s 1.5 million Muslims, received some attention today.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, visited the Shri Swaminarayan Mandir in Neasden, north-west London, where he met representatives of the Hindu community and Kamalesh Sharma, the Indian High Commissioner in London.

Dr Williams was garlanded in front of 2,000 worshippers and talked with some of those who helped build the temple, widely praised by many, including Prince Charles, as an architectural triumph.

Commenting on the visit of the Archbishop, a spokesperson for the temple said: ?This is part of an inter-faith dialogue. Earlier Archbishops have visited the temple and Pramukh Shree Maharaj visited Lambeth Palace (the Archbishop?s residence). People from a number of Hindu organisations and from other faiths were also there today.?

Asked whether Hindus felt there were any pressing problems that needed resolving, the spokesperson replied: ?We don?t think there are any problems but it is important that if any issues come up, Hindus should not be sidelined.?

Dr Williams was chosen Archbishop with the backing of Tony Blair but the Prime Minister has not had his backing over the Iraq war.

There are a few Hindu individuals and organisations who feel left out since much of the establishment?s concern is with trying to maintain good links with Muslim leaders and groups. However, the Hindu consensus seems to be that it is better to get on with life and not get distracted with non-existent problems.

After the tsunami disaster, the Swaminarayan temple held a prayer meeting on January 2 attended by the ambassadors and high commissioners of the affected countries.

?We raised nearly half a million pounds,? the spokesperson said. ?We are inviting the diplomats back when they will be given the contributions.?