[Assam] HPI: Hindu Human Rights vio. in Bangladesh, Fiji etc

Fri Jun 30 07:41:03 PDT 2006

Hindu Press International <hpi.list at hindu.org> wrote:  From: Hindu Press International <hpi.list at hindu.org>
Date: Thu, 29 Jun 2006 12:23:01 -1000
To: undisclosed-recipients:;
Subject: HPI, June 29, 2006

             June 29, 2006 

   Second Annual Report on Hindu Human Rights Released on Capitol Hill  
   Muslims Join Orissa's Chariot Festival  
   Indian Web Sites Go With Vastu Shastra and Feng Shui  
   Local Company and Artist Commissioned to Complete Artwork for the Hindu Temple in North Carolina  
   A Series on Lord Tirupati Will Soon be Telecasted

    1. Second Annual Report on Hindu Human Rights Released on Capitol Hill  www.hinduamericanfoundation.org
  WASHINGTON, D.C., June 27, 2006: The Hindu American Foundation (HAF) held a press conference today on Capitol Hill to release its much anticipated second annual report on the status of human rights of Hindus in South Asia, Afghanistan and Fiji. Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), senior ranking member of the House International Relations Committee, co-hosted the press conference held in the Rayburn House Building. In her remarks, Ros-Lehtinen expressed serious concern over the facts presented in the human rights report and welcomed the document as a crucial resource.

A House resolution calling attention to human rights violations against Hindus prompted by, among other things, the HAF report, is being prepared and the congresswoman is expected to deliver a separate floor statement highlighting human rights violations that are particularly severe in Bangladesh.

"The second annual report on Hindu human rights is an objective compi lation from reports by credible human rights groups of the genocide, ethnic cleansing, terrorism, and discriminatory laws that Hindus face everyday in parts of South Asia and beyond," said Ishani Chowdhury, Executive Director of HAF. "This report documents a humanitarian tragedy that fills an important void existing in reports by both governments and other human rights organizations." 

The 105-page document is entitled "Hindus in South Asia & the Diaspora: A Survey of Human Rights (2005)". The report has garnered a broad array of endorsements from several members of Congress, various academics and human rights and religious leaders of diverse faiths.

"By documenting human rights violations against Hindus in Bangladesh, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Fiji and the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir, the Hindu American Foundation continues to raise global awareness of these abuses," said Congressman Joseph Crowley (D-NY), as he joined Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT), Jo e Wilson (R-SC), Jim Ramstad (R-MN) and many other members of the U.S. Congress whose endorsements of the report continue to be received daily at HAF offices in Washington, D.C. 

The 2005 report individually documents over 500 incidents of murder, arson, rape, desecration of temples, usurpation of property and other forms of violence against Hindus over a single year in Bangladesh. The report confirms a continuous rise in such attacks since the 2001 general election brought the Bangladesh National Party to power in coalition with Islamist political organizations. In 2005, according to the HAF report, Pakistan witnessed a spate of Hindu temple destructions, kidnappings and forced conversions of Hindu girls. Furthermore, the government of Pakistan continues a grim policy of aiding and abetting Islamist organizations recognized as terrorist groups by the U.S. State Department such as the Lashkar-e-Toiba. 

HAF included Fiji in the 2005 report as part of its long-term goal of highlighting human rights abuses against Hindus in the diaspora beyond South Asia. Despite comprising 38% of the island nation's population, Hindus and their r eligious institutions are routinely attacked in Fiji. The heavily influential Methodist Church there has called for conversions of Hindus and establishment of a Christian state.

"Everyone who is concerned with obtaining the necessary human rights and privileges for people of all religions should be indebted to the Hindu American Foundation for bringing into the light the serious discriminatory practices and unacceptable behavior which in any way makes for insensitive treatment of Hindus and their faith," said Ernest Weiner, Executive Director of the Northern California Region of the American Jewish Committee.

After reviewing the report, Iftekhar Hai, President of United Muslims of America Interfaith Alliance condemned extremist violence and said, "It gives me great pain to note that extremist Muslims, a tiny minority, are unleashing terror on our Hindu brothers and sisters." 

Rabbi Abraham Cooper, Associate Dean and co-founder of the Simon Wi esenthal Center, a widely respected international human rights organization, heaped similar praise on HAF. "The Simon Wiesenthal Center welcomes this report which will help the international community and non-governmental organizations to have a broader understanding of the human rights situation in that important region of the world. "

Several academics on campuses around the U.S. also reviewed this year's report. "This report by the Hindu American Foundation...is a real eye-opener," observed Professor Nathan Katz, Professor of Religious Studies at Florida International University. "As a minority in Islamic societies that consider them to be 'idolaters,' Hindus in Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan face unimaginable persecution routinely."

The HAF report was simultaneously released by Global Human Rights Defence in the Hague, Netherlands, where that organization is committed to spreading awareness about the contents of the report in the European Union. 

HAF leadership hoped that this year's report will again serve as a credible source of information for governmental and human rights organizations. The HAF report calls for concrete action by responsible governments to end religious persecution. The foundation plans to follow the report with coordinated activities to raise awareness over Hindu human rights in Washington, D.C. and at international venues throughout the year.

---------------------------------
    2. Muslims Join Orissa's Chariot Festival  timesofindia.indiatimes.com
  BHUBANESWAR, INDIA, June 27, 2006: India's syncretic traditions came into play again on Tuesday as hundreds of Muslims in Orissa joined in the nine-day Jagannath chariot festival being celebrated in several villages and towns across the state. While the main rath yatra began at the temple city of Puri, 56 km from here, which houses the 12th century Jagannath temple, the festival is also being celebrated by Jagannath devotees elsewhere. Reports spoke of all 800 Muslims joining the celebrations in the village of Deulasahi in Kendrapada district, for instance, like in previous years. The Muslims of the village, which has a population of 2,500, also contributed funds for the event, said Sameshar Khan, a villager. "The village collectively forms a committee to organise the festival every year and our community are also members," he said. This year, one of the villagers Naeem Ali donated a tree for constructing the chariots.. . Some Muslim carpenters also pitched in in building
 the chariots. "Hindu residents join us in our Id festivals too," said Sahid Khan, another villager, adding that the communities attended each other's marriages and other cultural ceremonies. So, it was only fitting that all the Muslim residents of Deulasahi on Tuesday gave a helping hand as the chariots rolled out -- on roads that were liberally layered with sand by all the villagers so that the wheels move smoothly despite the rain of the past few days. The story was repeated in other villages like Narayanpur in Subarnapur district where Muslims contributed funds, helped in building and then pulling the chariots, former local body chief Ananda Satapathy said. Similarly, in Motu in Malkangiri district, all 50 Muslim families wear white clothes and help out - just like their compatriots in other parts of the state.

---------------------------------
    3. Indian Web Sites Go With Vastu Shastra and Feng Shui  www.cnn.com
  NEW DELHI, INDIA, June 29, 2006: Spent a fortune on a flashy new Web site but still no one visits it? Firms in India are now turning to the ancient philosophies of vaastu shastra and Chinese feng shui, in a bid to boost their businesses. Believers in vaastu shastra say the Indian science, which seeks to create harmony between nature's five elements - earth, fire, water, air and space can be directly applied to the Web, just as it is to home design. "Each Web site also has five elements and these need to be in balance with one another," says Dr. Smita Narang, author of Web Vaastu, a new book that marries vaastu laws with the Internet. "Earth is the layout, fire is the color, air is the HTML, space is name of the Web site, and water is the font and graphics," says Narang, adding that each must be chosen carefully and strike a balance with the other. Narang, a vaastu expert, says a Web site that is not designed according to vaastu rules will have few hits and will negatively
 affect the business. But how does this apply to your Web site? Experts say using a combination of astrology and numerology, the ancient sciences will help you choose the right colors, font, placement of graphics and navigation bar to make the perfect Web site. Brijesh Agarwal of Indiamart, a company offering business solutions says he has had mixed results on the five sites that his company has designed according to vaastu principles. "We have found that on three sites the number of hits has increased by 60 percent but the other two sites have not been affected," said Agarwal. "I can't say for definite that the positive results are due to vaastu or due to increased marketing, but I hope that vaastu has helped," he adds.

---------------------------------
    4. Local Company and Artist Commissioned to Complete Artwork for the Hindu Temple in North Carolina  www.goupstate.com
  BOILING SPRINGS, NORTH CAROLINA, June 14, 2006: It started almost three years ago when the Hindu community approached George Arnold, owner of Custom Laser Etching of Greer, to complete artwork depicting Krisha and Arjuna, famous characters from the Hindu epic Mahabharata. Arnold decided to complete the work on six large white acrylic panels each measuring 4 feet wide and 8 feet high. After laser etching the depictions on the panels, Arnold was faced with the challenge of finding an artist willing to paint the images and at the same time capture the spirit of the project. A Greenville artist named Donna Nyzio came highly recommended. Nyzio comments, "This was an ambitious project, to create these images, and it was interesting to learn about the culture. I really like a challenge, and this project was a challenge."

The news release explains, "Nyzio had to do several months of research to learn about the images. Members of the temple gave her a 75-year-old calendar depicting the images, but the colors were faded. She needed to see the actual color of the images. Another challenge was to determine what kind of paint was needed. Again, the paint had to be durable and transparent. Nyzio experimented for about a month with paints before she decided to use automotive paint. Her next challenge was actually painting the panels. They were so large and flexible that they kept bending. She solved the problem by standing the panels on their sides while painting them."

Arnold adds, "They wanted the images to be dead-on exact, because they are sacred images. It is so easy to do something wrong when you don't know the culture. This is the first time that I know of where someone came up with the ideas we used to get something like this done. We will be able to use these ideas working on other projects." Ashvin Shah, temple president sums it up, "It is excellent. It turned out better than we expected."

---------------------------------
    5. A Series on Lord Tirupati Will Soon be Telecasted  www.hindu.com
  MUMBAI, INDIA, June 20, 2006: Beginning in August of this year, Doordarshan will be telecasting a new serial on Lord Tirupati Balaji. Starting at 7:30 each day the serial will center around the mythology of Lord Venkatesh with some live footage from Tirupati. Entitled "Om Namo Vyanketesay" the serial will run for 365 days and the news release says it is being directed by Mr Dharmesh Tiwari, and Rajesh Sringarpure and Anuradha Lutharia will play the lead roles of Vishnu and Laxmi. Profits from the telecast will be shared by Tirupati Devasthan Trust and Doordarshan in a 65/35 ratio.

---------------------------------

    NOTICE: Some source URLs cited in HPI articles are only valid on the date the article was issued. Most are invalid a week to a few months later. When a URL fails to work, go to the top level of the source's website and search for the article. 
    Daily Inspiration    "I look my age. It is everyone else who looks older than they are. But what can you expect from people who eat corpses." George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) when asked at age 84 how he maintained such a youthful appearance. He was a vegetarian.

    Opportunities and Submissions    Please subscribe to our beautiful print edition at http://www.hinduismtoday/subscribe.html 

---------------------------------
    Individuals and organizations are invited to submit Hindu-related news and announcements for distribution by HPI. 
  News is our major thrust--the more current and global, the better. When sending news to HPI, please provide the source and text of the original item, either by e-mail to hpi at hindu.org or by fax to 808-822-4351. News should clearly relate to the Hindu religion. 
  For announcements, please prepare a short summary of the subject and provide a URL to a web page with details. For example, "Swamiji will be visiting San Francisco November 14-19 and Ann Arbor, Michigan, November 21-23, 2006. For further information visit www.swamiswami.org. Alternatively, one could provide an e-mail address. Acceptable subjects for announcements include significant world tours of religious leaders, major events of organizations, major cultural exhibitions and outstanding artistic performances. 

---------------------------------

   Contact  
   Archives   
   HPI on the web   
   Reuse and Copyright Information  
   Support HPI Financially 

---------------------------------
      Subscribe | Unsubscribe | List Master

Umesh Sharma
5121 Lackawanna ST
College Park, MD 20740

 1-202-215-4328 [Cell Phone]

Ed.M. - International Education Policy
Harvard Graduate School of Education,
Harvard University,
Class of 2005

weblog: http://jaipurschool.bihu.in/

---------------------------------
 All new Yahoo! Mail "The new Interface is stunning in its simplicity and ease of use." - PC Magazine
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.assamnet.org/pipermail/assam-assamnet.org/attachments/20060630/4e53a225/attachment.htm>