January 24 2016, 07.48 PM IST || Pocket Press Release
Hindus are urging for a designated “Hindu Prayer Room” at Brussels Airport, Belgium’s largest and one of the world’s leading airports.
Brussels Airport, with “Customer-focus” strategy; features Catholic, Jewish, Muslim, Orthodox and Protestant “Places of Worship”; besides a “Humanist meditation room”; open to passengers in Pier A and Pier B.
Distinguished Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada today, said that as considerable number of Hindu passengers used Brussels Airport; it would be nice if they had a quiet facility at the airport where they could pray/meditate/worship and perform religious services.
Zed, who is President of Universal Society of Hinduism, urged CEO Arnaud Feist of Brussels Airport Company (BAC) which operates the Airport, to work in this direction as an issue of fairness and equality in customer service. He or other Hindu scholars would be glad to help, if asked, regarding the structure of “Hindu Prayer Room”.
Hindus would appreciate Brussels Airport if this “Hindu Prayer Room” had murtis (statues) of popular deities, copies of sacred scriptures, a traditional bell and recorded devotional music; Rajan Zed noted.
Prayer/worship to God was highly important in Hinduism, oldest and third largest religion of the world, and it would be great to have “Hindu Prayer Room” at Brussels Airport so that Hindu passengers did not miss their daily worship rituals/rites while travelling through it; which might include recitation of texts, repetition of mantras and dhayan (meditation), Zed added.
Brussels Airport, Belgium's gateway to the world whose history goes back to 1915 and whose tagline is "the heart of Europe", served almost 23.5 million passengers and about half a million tons of cargo in 2015. BAC is the limited company in which Belgian State has 25% shares. Its strategy includes “We put our customers first: everything we do is for our customers.” “We take their needs into account and implement extra measures to meet their requirements in our concepts”, its “Service” statement adds.
There are about one billion Hindus in the world.