London: British Prime Minister David Cameron and his wife celebrated Diwali at a special event where he launched an encyclopaedia of Hinduism. The London launch of the 11-volume encyclopaedia coincided with the ruling coalition Tory party's annual Diwali bash. Cameron's wife Samantha attended the event wearing sari. "This encyclopaedia is a great contribution to humanity. I love this saying of 'Let all the noble thoughts come from all directions'. I am going to use this," Cameron said as he unveiled the tome, which is a product of more than 1,000 scholars and has approximately 7,000 entries. The Prime Minister also used his annual address to Britain's Hindu community to make a plug for votes in the next general elections in May 2015.
"We face the most important election in a generation and the choice could not be clearer – blue or red, me or Ed (Miliband, leader of the Opposition Labour party). Let us together build a Britain we are proud to call home," he said. Chairman of the Conservative Party, Lord Andrew Feldman highlighted the shared values between India and Britain. "This work of 1,000 scholars over 25 years is a phenomenal achievement. The party wants to deepen and broaden our links with the British Indian community and with India and this event is one important step in our journey," Feldman said.
The event opened with the lighting of the lamp and was followed by religious tunes sung by popular British Indian singer Navin Kundra. The encyclopaedia has been published by the India Heritage Research Foundation, founded and chaired by Swami Chidanand Saraswati. "The Indian culture is an inclusive culture, not an exclusive culture. We are a culture that embraces all, excludes none. Our scriptures remind us, 'Vasudhaiv Kutumbakam', the world is one family," he said. Sadhvi Bhagawati Saraswati, managing editor of the 'Encyclopaedia of Hinduism' and President of Divine Shakti Foundation, added: "Nowhere in the Hindu scriptures does one even find the word Hindu – the term used to describe these ancient yet timeless teachings is Sanatan Dharma – or eternal way of life."
