Sri Chinmoy followers to visit RI

JAKARTA: About 900 followers of Sri Chinmoy, an Indian peace campaigner in the United States who holds lectures on interreligious issues at the United Nations headquarters every few weeks, plan to visit Jakarta, Denpasar, Solo in Central Java, and Yogyakarta, as well as other cities across the country.

Damai Sejahtera Foundation chairman Hayono Suyono said on Monday that Vice President Hamzah Haz would welcome the entourage next week.

Hayono, formerly coordinating minister for people's welfare, said Chinmoy's followers would visit villages and temples and meditate.

Hayono said Hamzah, also chairman of the Muslim-based United Development Party (PPP), hoped that Chinmoy's followers would learn about Indonesian hospitality and spread it through the world.

Indonesia has been rocked by communal and religious conflicts, in which thousands of innocent people have been killed and thousands of others displaced. -- Antara