Calling for deepening the traditions of communal harmony, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday said people resorting to violence in the name of religion were doing disservice to their faith and humanity at large.
"No religion supports violence. Those who resort to violence in the name of religion are doing a disservice to their faith and humanity at large... No religion sanctions the killing of innocent people and certainly not in the name of religion," the prime minister said at the National Communal Harmony Award function in New Delhi.
Asserting that all religions of the world carried the message of love and humanism, the Prime Minister said "communal harmony, therefore, is the basic building block of our country."
Earlier, President A P J Abdul Kalam presented the National Communal Harmony Award, 2004 to Acharya Sri Mahapragya from Delhi for his outstanding contribution in promoting communal harmony and national integration, an official release said.
While Mahapragya received the award in the individual category, Akhil Bharat Rachnatmak Samaj of Delhi got it in the organization category. The award carries a citation and an amount of Rs 2 lakh in the individual category and Rs 5 lakh in the organisation category.
Kalam also gave away the Kabir Puruskar (2004) to Rama Shankar Singh from Uttar Pradesh for promoting communal harmony. The jury for the National Communal Harmony award was headed by the vice president, the release added.
