Chicago: Some people are trying to make the word Hindu “untouchable” and “intolerable”, vice-president M. Venkaiah Naidu has said as he underlined the need to preserve the true values of Hinduism as taught by seers like Swami Vivekananda to alter the “ill-informed” opinions.

In his keynote address to the concluding session of the second World Hindu Congress (WHC) here, the vice-president said India believed in universal tolerance and accepted all religions as true.

Mr Naidu called upon the delegates to preserve the true values of Hinduism as shown by seers like Vivekananda.

More than 2,500 delegates and 250 speakers from over 60 countries participated in the three-day WHC coinciding with the 125th anniversary of the historic speech of Vivekananda in Chicago in 1893. Share and care is the core of the Hindu philosophy, he said, outlining the important aspects of Hinduism.

Mr Naidu rued that a lot of disinformation (about Hinduism) is going around. “Some people are trying to make the very word Hindu untouchable, intolerable. That’s why one has to articulate and see the values that espouse and present the bucket of ideas in correct perspective so that the world has the most authentic perspective,” he said.

The authentic perspective will prevent the distortions and any erroneous perception gaining ground, he said.

Acknowledging that certain weaknesses has crept into the society, he said this has to be dealt by reformers from inside.

“We should also know others’ experience and try to improve upon others’ philosophy,” he said, adding the Indian culture and religion has given the liberty to imbibe the best practices from other communities.

He said “ill-informed opinions and attitudes need to be altered” to the real significance of the religion.