City of Frederick in Maryland has become the 12th city in USA to declare October 25 as “Rajan Zed Day” after distinguished religious statesman Rajan Zed, who is President of Universal Society of Hinduism.

Cities of Hartford (Connecticut), Taylorsville (Utah), Madera (California), Sparks (Nevada), Chowchilla (California), Sanger (California), Exeter (California), Tulare (California), Santee (California), Dos Palos (California) and Reedley (California) have already declared October 25 as “Rajan Zed Day”. City of Reno (Nevada) has also proclaimed a day in Zed’s recognition twice in the past.

Signed by Frederick Mayor Randy McClement and carrying the city seal, Proclamation of the City of Frederick mentions: “Rajan Zed’s initiative is to bring the various religious communities together throughout the world so that they can live in peace and mutual trust and enrich themselves through dialogue”.

It further states: “Rajan Zed works diligently to uplift approximately 15 million Roma (Gypsies) people of Europe who live in apartheid conditions by frequently voicing their maltreatment, issues and concerns, and urging other religious leaders to do so”.

“Rajan Zed has a leadership role in attempting to aid the helpless”, Proclamation adds.

Zed opened the Board of Aldermen of Frederick, second-largest city of Maryland founded in 1745 and incorporated in 1817, with its first historic Hindu prayer on June 19; reciting from Rig-Veda, the oldest scripture of the world still in common use, besides lines from Upanishads and Bhagavad-Gita (Song of the Lord), both ancient Hindu scriptures.

October 25 is Rajan Zed’s birthday.

Zed is a global Hindu and interfaith leader, who besides taking up the cause of religion worldwide, has also raised huge voice against the apartheid faced by about 15-million Roma (Gypsies) in Europe. He is bestowed with World Interfaith Leader Award.

City of Frederick, whose tagline is “The City of Clustered Spires” and was founded by German settlers, claims to offer “a quality of life that is nothing short of enviable”, and houses National Cancer Institute and is known for its award-winning 40-block historic district. Notable people associated with Fredrick include first President of Congress John Hanson, US Supreme Court Chief Justice Roger Brooke Taney, inventor of first electronic digital computer John Vincent Atanasoff, singer Patsy Cline, actor Shawn Hatosy and jazz musician Lester Bowie.