“We are today celebrating the birth of one of the worlds greatest spiritual leaders.”
These were the sentiments shared by Army Commander Samuela Velaitoga who was speaking at the Prophet Mohammed’s Birthday Celebration in the Northern Division earlier today.
He says Muslims around the country and around the world celebrate his birthday today.
Captain Velaitoga says people are thankful to have a public holiday on the Prophet Mohammed’s birthday just as they do for great commemorations of other major religions. He adds that last week people celebrated Diwali with our Hindu brothers and sisters and in the coming months people will also celebrate the birth of the Lord Jesus and later, Easter.
Captain Velaitoga says we can now clearly see that Fiji is a multi-faith nation with a constitution that guarantees religious freedom and establishes a secular state in which all religions are equal.
He says no matter what belief we hold, we are one people, one nation and have a common destiny.
He adds that today, many Fijians have come to realize that religion can actually be a unified force and bridges us all no matter what we believe in.
The Army Commander says that people can find common grounds between each other by simply understanding and respecting that principle because the wonderful things is that the teachings of our many religions are interconnected.
He says Fiji needs to now move forward together with our elected government.
