Hindus' concern on religious equality in Malta noted by fundamental rights agency

The European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) has “taken note” of Hindus’ concern about equality of religions in Malta.

In a response to the communiqué of Bhavna Shinde of Forum for Hindu Awakening, the FRA thanked the forum for drawing its attention to the Maltese Criminal Code, which made one liable to imprisonment of up to six months for publicly vilifying the Roman Catholic religion.

The FRA said it did investigate such issues as part of its data collection and if the concern reported was applicable, it was noted in its annual report of the following year.

On this issue, Hindus recently approached various bodies of European Union, Council of Europe, European Parliament; the European and Malta ombudsmen; the President and other government offices; as well as the Archdiocese of Malta, urging them to “ensure that Malta treats all religions and denominations equally in front of the law”.