Articles

Signs of The Times

Soho wild fantasies of a University 'vice' Chancellor

In the week when religious controversy and violence led to calls for mutual respect and an apology from the spiritual leader of one of the great world faiths, the well established and normally respected Times newspaper decided to publish an article by Terence Kealey entitled "Why is a Hindu Temple like a Soho Phone Box? Must I draw you a picture?" Kealey begins this highly provocative article, reminiscent of the prejudices of colonial times, by drawing the reader's attention to the fact that there are some Hindu temples that have erotic sculptures and closes the paragraph by asking the question "How can a religion be so pornographic?" Kealey then goes on to say that Hindu temples acted as brothels and writes as if temple prostitution and 'suttee', the self-immolation of widows on their husband's funeral pyre were a universal phenomenon, and a part and parcel of Hinduism in spite of the fact that these practices were not common even thousands years ago and find no sanction in Hindu texts. In a nutshell Kealey paints the picture that Hindu Dharma is the spiritual codification on sexual exploitation of women by a chauvinistic patriarchal power system.

Read the Full Report >>

Free Hindu TV Channel brings Yoga out to the masses … but only if they can afford it!

What should have been a momentous occasion for the Hindu community and also non-Hindus in the UK has instead seemingly turned into a commercial farce. Swami Ramdev is famous throughout the world as well as his native India and has a huge following here in Britain. He has famously brought Yoga to the masses in an authentic and traditional form. When the Swami teaches Yoga it is not artificially divorced from its spiritual roots and is much more meaningful than just a series of physical exercises, funny postures and breathing exercises that we have wrongly become accustom to especially here in the West. So when we at HHR first heard that Swami Ramdev was on his way to the UK, like many other Hindus, we warmly welcomed it as a chance for Hindus and non-Hindus to experience the spiritual power of Yoga first-hand. Read the Full Report >>

An Open Letter to Lord Desai

Dear Professor Meghnad Jagdishchandra Desai, Baron Desai of St. Clement's Danes,

We at Hindu Human Rights (HHR) are writing to you in response to your recent letter published in The Guardian newspaper which was also mentioned in an editorial in the New Humanist magazine. You make some points and level a number of accusations which deserve a response from us. Read the letter to Lord Desai >>

Letter to the Editor of The Guardian

Letter to the Editor of the New Humanist

Letter to Nick Cohen from HHR

The Racism, Neo-Colonialism, and Pseudo-Intellectualism of America’s Hindu-Bashing Lobby

In response to protests this year from several faith based groups, the California Board of Education agreed to withdraw materials considered to be giving a distorted view of Christian and Jewish ideas. But Hindus, as is usual in these cases, were given short thrift.

In this article we examine some of the background to the Hindu objections to how their history and culture are taught in the USA and the rest of the world and will focus on some of the special interest groups campaigning for the status-quo. Read the complete article >>

Hindus in Pakistan: What the History Books Won’t Tell You

There is a lack of awareness across the world about the very existence of a significant yet dwindling Hindu community in Pakistan. Presently it is estimated that Hindus make up 2% of Pakistan’s population. This is at least five times the number of Hindus in Britain.

Before the end of colonial rule in 1947, the land that was to become Pakistan had a large proportion of Hindus, accounting for over 26% of the population. The Partition of India was the biggest forced migration of people in human history, and was accompanied by large scale massacres. During this period, the population of Hindus dropped to 15% in this region. Read the full report >>

Life Ain’t All Ha Ha Hee Hee for Hindus

Hindu Human Rights have recently been flooded with verbal, written and electronic complaints about the portrayal of Hindus, and Hindu women in particular, in the British and Western media. While complaints are quite common, what makes the current sense of outrage peculiar is that the vast majority of complaints we have received are from Hindu women born and brought up the West. We asked our researchers to compile a top ten.

The BBC has made it to the top of the complaints charts with their new entry straight in at number one: Meera Syal’s much vaunted “Life Isn't All Ha Ha Hee Hee” once again shows their inability to provide a positive portrayal of Hindus in Britain. Containing a series of cheap and insulting digs at Hindus, this programme continues the tradition of the Western media’s denigration of Hinduism and Hindu culture. Read the complete article >>

Cry, my beloved India
by Francois Gautier

Article in Rediff.com

Dr. KP Yohannan: Hardline Christian Extremist exploiter of Hindu Tsunami Victims

Read this eye opening report >>.

The Nazi abuse of Hinduism

Following the outrage caused by the bad taste in outfit at a fancy dress party by British royal, Prince Harry, the Liberal group in the European Parliament have argued that, since all of Europe suffered because of the Nazis' crimes, there should be a continent-wide ban of Nazi symbols. Unfortunately this has coincided with the long overdue campaign to reclaim the swastika by Hindus. Due to the ideological associations which this most ancient of religious symbol has accrued via still comparatively recent crimes against humanity, it may be worth mentioning some related issues which have so far been allayed. Certain groups, notably the Jews, who suffered under the Nazis, and were its explicit targets for extermination, may be apprehensive at the use of this symbol under which so many were annihilated on the basis that they were subhumans. This is something that should create equal apprehension among Hindus, as they also have been victims of the same ideology. Reference here is not only to the more well known cases of the attacks and insults which “Asian” immigrants suffered on an almost daily basis in the UK, but to the conveniently forgotten Holocaust of the Roma or “Gypsies” (who are descendants of Indian Hindus) under the same Third Reich that carried out the “Final Solution” to what it saw as the “Jewish Problem”. Hindu organisations should therefore be commended and supported in their efforts to reclaim the ancient symbol of the swastika, but need to ensure that it is firmly differentiated from the design and symbolism of the Nazi swastika, and anything associated with it. Read the complete article >>

Ram Gidoomal: Behind the Mask of Respectability

As a millionaire businessman, candidate for London mayor, a tireless worker for charity and raising social concern over the poor, and someone widely regarded as spokesman for the British “Asian” community, Ram Gidoomal carries much influence in the Britain of today. This is especially true among the ethnic minorities, mainly Hindus, but he is increasingly quoted in the mainstream media, as someone with knowledge on Hindu and Indian issues, as well as those concerning race and ethnicity in the UK. What he says therefore carries not an insignificant amount of authority.

Shri Gidoomal is also an believing and active Christian, in a country which has seen a rapid decline in both church going and the dominant faith, for unlike the USA with its influential Christian Coalition and “Moral Majority”, anything remotely religious is often looked upon with unhealthy scepticism by a Europe which has taken secularism to incredible extremes, as events in France have only too obviously demonstrated. Nevertheless this has not stopped the majority of people believing in “something” even if that “something” is indefinable and amorphous. In trying to emulate the continued existence of what might be termed “faith politics” in Europe, as can be seen by various Christian Democrat parties, Gidoomal uses his beliefs to give stability to a society that is fast falling apart, and a social consciousness that has often been forgotten in a consumer society that has not benefited all. Read the full report >>

Art or Craft? – Marketing Violence against Hindus4

It has recently come to our attention that the RampArt Creative Centre and Social Space, Whitechapel, London is hosting an “Indian film festival” from the week starting Sunday 10 January 2005. A perusal of the list of films to be showcased however shows that this is yet another exhibition of anti-Hindu propaganda aimed at showing Hinduism as some kind of foreign colonial ideology in India and Hindus as oppressors of other religious groups. We urge all Hindus to attend the festival and where possible to lodge an appropriate complaint with the centre. We also urge the centre to afford the same resources to Hindu film and documentary makers to outline the many genocides and persecutions Hindu society faces today. We would also like this opportunity to provide a more detailed account and background to our position in this debate. Read the complete article

Sumita Chakraborty highlights the many health problems Kashmiri women are facing in refugee camps in Jammu.

Read the full report >>

Also see the report on Kashmir by Hinduism Today >>

Inciting Religious Hatred in Britain:
The Attack on Hindus by Hardline Christian Extremists

The basis of western civilisation and culture is Judeo-Christian mixed with aspects of the Hellenistic and Roman world, known as the classical era. Despite the decline in religious belief in the west there remain some very deeply committed religious people. In today's Britain one finds that many believing Christians are prominent in the sphere of social welfare. One looks at pre-nursery groups and sees how they are often run directly by Christian groups. In taking care of refugees, the homeless, the elderly, the disabled and others less fortunate, Christian charities staffed by unpaid volunteers are noticeable by their prominence. In fighting racism, racial intolerance and in campaigning for fair trade for the developing countries, Christian churches have not flinched from raising their voices in the name of justice. In a climate of declining morality, family breakdown lack of discipline, churches and Christian community groups have provided and essential service in keeping social structure alive, giving direction to those who are adrift in life, and giving hope to those that have despaired. Read the complete article >>

Amnesty International snubs Genocide of Kashmiri Hindus exhibition in London

London was graced with the singular exhibition on the fate of the Kashmiri Hindus at the hands of Islamic extremists at the Commonwealth Club in the Strand on 28th -29th June 2004. It was hosted by the Indo-European Kashmir Forum led by Sunil Bakshi.

This is a poignant and timely reminder of the continuing tribulations faced by this Hindu community as they languish in the refugee camps outside of Delhi and see their culture and society disintegrate - unable to help themselves and ignored by the rest of India and the wider world. Read More..

Persecution against Hindus of Bangladesh continues:

Another minority girl gang raped in Perojpur, Bangladesh: Investigative Report

GENOCIDAL CRIMES IN CHT: Indigenous people under threat in Bangladesh

Persecution of Hindus in Bhutan: The forgotten people of Shangri-La

Please read the full article here

HHR talks at the symposium on 'Religious cleansing for centuries in the south Asian subcontinent' - Titles : Hinduism, dinosaur or dynamo - by Sheila Maharaj

unrevised version of the talk available here

BNP and Bangladesh

Persecution of Hindus from Stroke-on-trent, UK to Chittagong , Bangladesh. (continues)

The vanishing Hindus in Bangladesh

Hindus comprised nearly 30% of the total population in Bangladesh in 1947. After the exodus of minorities following the partition of India in 1947, the hindu population went down to about 22% by 1951. Due to unabated persecution, intimidation, and forcible conversion to Islam, the Hindu-Minority population kept on dwindling and now stands at a meager 10.5% of the total population in Bangladesh (1991 census). Full Report >>

Plight of Hindu in Pakistan

Some Cases of Atrocities Against Hindu Women in Pakistan

Sen. Edward Kennedy on the Hindu Genocide in East Bengal '71

Murder by Pen : The Cunning Media Persecution of Hindus

Pakistani Hindus: Living in Fear

The Hindu communities in Sindh are victims of the terrible law and order situation which remains under the control oflocal influentials, writes Imdad Soomro. continues..

The Vested Property Act

The sorrowful tale of how the 12 million Hindus of Bangladesh are officially classed as enemies

Pakistan: Hindu woman raped in Pakistan in the name of Hindu Religion.

The ordeal of a young Hindu woman who was raped twice for being a Hindu. Padu Bai was raped by an influential local goldsmith. After being threatened with dire consequences if she dared lodge complaints against them, the young woman decided not to report the incidents.The Hindu victim has now gone into hiding following threats from her tormentors. Read the full article >>

Hindus, the last of the pagans?

Italy: Swami Yoganandagiri seeks official status for Italian-born Hindus in the land of the Vatican Subhead

The problem is serious in Italy, for Hinduism is not officially recognized by the government. An individual's conversion and name change cannot be legalized. Tax-deductable status is not granted to Hindu organizations.

A Bleak Future for Bangladesh Hindu's

In the last fifty years, more than ten million of the country's Hindu's have fled to India in the face of sustained persecution and periodic riots

Report from Hinduism Today Magazine