Bahrain stands tall in the region for religious freedom and tolerance and serves as a model to be emulated, Dr. Shaikh Khalid bin Khalifa Al-Khalifa the Chairman of King Hamad Global Centre for Peaceful Coexistence, has said.

“In the last two days, we got the chance to exchange dialogue and hear from some very prestigious speakers, well-known academics, politicians, and some of the founders of peaceful coexistence and religious freedom,” he said at the concluding session of the three-day EU-Bahrain Conference titled Broadening the Tent: Freedom of Religion and Belief.

“One of the most important points that I’ve observed in the last two days of the FORB conference is that Bahrain is a gate for the European Union to enter this region.”

Bahrain enjoys this position as a corridor for peaceful coexistence and religious tolerance due to its present and past achievements, he added.

“The religious freedom that we are witnessing is due to vision of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa.  In the past, as I said earlier, there were many factors that led Bahrain to be the key player in the march for peaceful coexistence. The main one is the 200-year-long historic example set by the then rulers of the Kingdom,” he said.

“Among the many factors for Bahrain in achieving this beautiful co-existence is the historic examples of freedom of religious tolerance over 200 years and today, Christians, Jews Hindus Buddhist’s and Muslims of all sects have their worship places.

I spoke about the history because thanks to it, everyone enjoys their right to freely practice their religion in their respective worship places.”

Thanks to these respectful ideologies, Bahrain today enjoys this comfortable structure and as a welcoming place, it is close to the hearts of the people, he added