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Mega Mosque for Olypics?

Fwd: Mahendrabhai Maganlal Pattni, London

Take a second to cast your vote in the Evening Standard online poll to determine public opinion about whether a mega mosque should be build for the Olympics.

The vote so far is 61% in favour. It looks like the Muslim community is casting its vote in droves, and as usual the Christians are burying their head in the sand.

After voting, forward this to as many Londoners and other Brits as you can - here's the link:
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/poll/poll-18791-details/ques-18669 id/%C2%A3100m+mosque:+Vote+now/poll.do >



The Kumbha Mela in Ujjain 2004

To view video – Click Kumbh Mela 


Chauvinistic misrepresentation exists even today

Mahendra Lalji Pattni, London

 

During the recent Hindu festival, the Kumbha Mela - the largest human gathering in history (70 million people) the modern-day press mainly reported on the most negative aspects of the event.

It was not credited as the largest gathering,

 

- nor was it pointed out that for 1 week, the area was the worlds largest city (larger population than London, Tehran, Rio, Paris, Chicago, Beijing, Hyderabad and Johannesburg put together).

 

Virtually no one spoke of the sacredness of the event, the hardships people endured for this holy event. Further, the whole event went off without a hitch -

 

Adequate food, water, electricity - a marvel by any standards.

 

There were more than 13,000 tons of flour, 7,800 tons of rice, 20,000 public toilets, 12 hospitals, 35 electric power centers, 20,000 police, 1,090 fire hydrants and much more.

Rarely was an ardent devotee interviewed or photographed.

 

Instead reporters and cameramen only focused on the minority elements - naked sadhus smoking ganja (marijuana) and implying prayers were to some lesser god.

 

But it sells newspapers and TV news. In truth, the Indian media showed an equal amount of bias and lack of cultural pride.

 

In short the media still portrays India in a deeply condescending manner.

 

Why is India not credited?

 

It seems that in the West we have a condescending, Euro- or Greco-centric view that civilizations older than Greece were uncivilized barbarians. This notion was further melded into our collective psyche through Hollywood's portrayal of ancient cultures. Negative and prejudicial !

 

From Editor:-
Kumbh Mela – World’s largest act of faith

Indian viewers in UK were generally unhappy with the media coverage of the Kumbh Mela. The British Broadcasting Corporation and the independent television station Channel 4 were criticised of being insensitive to Hindus by focusing on women bathers and naked holy men at the once-in-12-years bathing festival of Kumbh Mela.

 

Indian authorities alleged that the two networks have misused their access to the festival by ignoring the religious significance. Most women worshippers are scantily dressed during their holy dip. Uttar Pradesh state government has received complaints from some Indians living in Britain, protesting the television coverage of the Kumbh Mela being held in Allahabad.

 

There was a demand by the authorities to impose a ban on photography at such festival.

Sadakant, in an affidavit filed before Chief Justice S.K. Sen and Justice Rafat Alam, said the festival authorities planned to restrict photographers and the television crews to spots 200 meters (yards) from the bathing area to avoid close shots of the Hindu devotees.

British Parliamentarians seek meeting with Foreign Secretary over harassment of Russian Hindus


Jai Shree Krishna

From: Hindu Forum of Britain

British Parliamentarians led by Lord Dholakia, Ashok Kumar MP and James Clappison MP will seek a meeting with the Foreign Secretary Jack Straw to discuss the harassment of Russian Hindus and lead a delegation to meet the Russian Ambassador in the UK, it was announced at the launch of the Defend Russian Hindus Campaign at the House of Commons on 18th January. The Campaign which is led by the Hindu Forum of Britain and a number of national and regional Hindu organisations in UK, USA, Australia, Africa and Canada, succeeded in passing a resolution urging the Moscow Government to stop harassment of Russian Hindus and allow them to build a place of worship after it was demolished nearly two years ago. Parliamentarians from all three parties will also file an Early Day Motion in the House of Commons seeking the support of MPS from across the party lines.

The launch at the House of Commons was attended by members of the Hindu, Jewish, Muslim and Christian organisations in the UK, who unanimously called for more respect and tolerance to allow Russian Hindus the same right to a place of worship as other communities.

¡§ The crux of the issue is that Russian Hindus were given a temple which was demolished to make way for a commercial complex and were then promised a piece of land to build another temple. This has now been taken back and Hindus in Russia have no place to worship,¡¨ said Lord Dholakia. ¡§We will therefore be seeking a meeting with the Russian Ambassador in the UK with a view to arranging a visit to Russia to discuss this issue with the Orthodox Church and Moscow authorities.¡¨

¡§ The Hindu community in the UK has come of age with organisations like the Hindu Forum of Britain taking up issues like these,¡¨ explained Ashok Kumar, the main host for the reception. We will now speak to the Foreign Secretary to seek a meeting and address some of the issues raised by the global Hindu community regarding the issues in Russia.¡¨

His Holiness Bhakti Vijnana Swami, who leads the campaign in Russia and had arrived from Moscow to attend the launch, made a presentation on the history of Russian Hinduism and appealed to British communities and Parliamentarians to help safeguard the rights of Russian Hindus.

Michael Whine from the Board of Deputies of British Jews thanked the Hindu community for including references to the Jewish community in the resolution passed at the meeting and said, When we have meetings at the Presidential level, we get assurances that the interests of the minority faith communities in Russia will be protected, but the difficulty we face is that such assurances rarely get filtered down to the lower levels of the hierarchy.¡¨

Ann Noonan who represented the Catholic Bishops Conference explained that the Christian tradition accepted that every human was created in the image of God and asked for everyone to be treated equally without discrimination.  She added, ¡§We hope that the issues in Russia are resolved soon.¡¨

¡§ What is happening in Russia is a direct violation of the Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Article 9 of the European Convention on Human Rights which Russia signed in 1996 and ratified in 1998,¨ said Shabbir Lakha from the Muslim Council of Britain. Perhaps those who are mistreating Hindus in Russia have not read the instructions in the Bible which urge readers to treat strangers in their land with utmost respect. The irony is that in Russia, the Hindu community are not even strangers as they are fellow Russians who have just chosen to follow another faith.¡¨

Other speakers at the launch included Dr Phyllis Starkey MP, Rob Morris MP, Gauri Dasa, President of Bhaktivedanta Manor ISKCON temple and Nitin Palan from the BAPS Swaminarayan Hindu Mission. Earlier, Ken Livingstone, the Mayor of London, had handed letters of concern from the Hindu Forum of Britain and other organisations to the Mayor of Moscow, Yuri Luzhkov, who had been visiting London last week.

Some members of the Russian Orthodox Church headed by Archbishop Nikon, orchestrated mass protests and started a misinformation campaign against Hindus in the Russian media. Many Hindus were victimised, threatened, bullied and even beaten and subjected to violence.

Yesterday the Russian Orthodox Church had issued a statement to the BBC saying that Hindus in Russia were free to practice and worship as they want, but that No Church would stand by while their congregation were converted.¨

Just last month, 250 demonstrators led by the Russian Orthodox Church had tried to stop a Hindu festival in South Russia asking all Hindus to drown in the sea¡¦ or stop following the Hindu tradition,¡¨ explained Ramesh Kallidai, secretary general of the Hindu Forum of Britain. Archbishop Nikon of the Russian Orthodox Church had written to the Mayor of Moscow to stop the building of a Hindu temple because he considered Lord Krishna an evil demon¡¦. After continuing to harass Hindus and trying to stop them building a place of worship, how can the Orthodox Church claim that Hindus are ¡¥free¡¦ to worship as they please? Something is seriously wrong with their understanding of the notion of freedom.¨

We urge people of all faith traditions to intervene and stop this kind of outrageous behaviour against the peace-loving Hindus of Russia,¡¨ concluded Vinay Tanna, Chair of the Public Relations Committee of ISKCON Bhaktivedanta Manor. The international communities continue to monitor the situation closely.¨

 

Resolution Adopted at the House of Commons ¡V 18th January 2006

We the undersigned resolve to support the Defend Russian Hindus campaign and call upon the Moscow Government to ensure that the Russian Hindus are neither discriminated against nor harassed, by denying them a place of worship to practise their peaceful religion, and specifically request the following:

1.     Uphold and protect the equal religious rights of the followers of all religions regardless of their status in terms of the number of their followers or the period of their existence in Russia, as stated in the Constitution of Russia. 


2.     Remember that Hinduism is officially recognised and registered both by the Russian authorities, and the United Nations, as a bona fide religion, and therefore should be treated as such. 


3.     Take impartial and swift, corrective action based on the fact that the destruction of the only Hindu temple in Moscow in June 2004 has left thousands of Hindu followers in the city with no proper place for practicing their faith, and many of them without electricity, gas or basic sanitation facilities. 


4.     Recognise that the recent retraction of the plot of land offered for the construction of a new temple by the Moscow Government to the Hindu community of Moscow in exchange for the destroyed temple is not only a stark violation of the original promise, but also blatantly disrespectful to the numerous Hindu followers in Russia and all over the world, and potentially damaging to the historically strong relationship that has existed between India and Russia. 


5.     Recognise that the recent offensive and disparaging public statements made by the Archbishop of Ufa and Sterlitamak Nikon against Lord Krishna and the sacred tenets of Hinduism are very likely to incite prejudice, hatred and even aggression against the peaceful followers of Hinduism throughout Russia, especially in view of the current worrying trend towards religious and racial intolerance in Russia. 


6.    Request that Russia, being a truly modern and democratic state capable of taking over the Presidency of the G8 group of countries, reaffirm its commitment to human rights obligations by ensuring that the most fundamental right of religious freedom amongst minority faith communities without fear or persecution, is safeguarded.


The Hindu faith is one of the oldest religious traditions in the world, and is intrinsically peaceful, tolerant, and accommodating. In line with the United Nations Charter for The Practise of Religion, we call upon the both the Moscow Government and Russian Orthodox Church to accept the right of Russian Hindus to practice their faith in a suitable public place in the spirit of respect, love and dignity that all faith traditions stand for.


In closing, we should point out that our request gains all the more urgency and relevance in view of the recent outrageous and violent attack on a Moscow synagogue by a Russian anti-Semite, which was vehemently condemned, amongst others, by the Russian Orthodox Church. In this regard, a similar public condemnation of the recent extreme anti-Hindu statements by the Archbishop of Ufa and Sterlitamak Nikon would be a consistent step we would naturally expect the Russian Orthodox Church to take. 


This resolution is adopted and supported by the following organisations and individuals, but more will be added:

 

 

Lord Dholakia

Liberal Democrat

 

Ashok Kumar MP

Labour

 

James Clappison MP

Conservative

 

Baroness Flather

Conservative

 

Dr Phyllis Starkey MP

Labour

 

Rob Morris MP

Labour

 

Ann Noonan

Catholic Bishops Conference

 

Arjan Vekaria

Hindu Aid

 

Bhakti Vijnana Swami

ISKCON Russia

 

Chunilal Chavda

Lib Dem Councillor, London Borough of Brent

 

Cllr Ramesh Patel

London Borough of Brent

 

Dilip Joshi

Hindu Concil UK

 

Gauri Das

Bhaktivedanta Manor

 

Harsha Trivedi

Brahmin Society North London

 

Jehangir Sarosh

Religions for Peace - Europe

 

Kapil Dudakia

Milton Keynes Hindu Association

 

Micheal Whine

Board of Deputies of British Jews

 

Nitin Palan

Swaminarayan Mission (BAPS)

 

O P Sharma

President National Council of Hindu Temples

 

Panna Vekaria

Hindu Youth UK

 

Paurush Jila

Zoroastrian Trust Funds of Europe

 

Prabal.S.J.B

Royal Nepalese Embassy

 

Rajinder Chopra

Hindu Cultural Society

 

Ramesh Kallidai

Hindu Forum of Britain

 

Shabbir Lakha

Muslim Council of Britain

 

Shane Jones

Russia Section, Foreign & Commonwealth Office

 

Dr Narayan Rao

Venkateshwara Balaji Temple

 

Swami Nirliptananda

London Sevashram Sangha

 

V H Patel

BAPS Swaminarayan Hindu Mission

 

Vinoo Wadher

Vishwa Hindu Parishad UK

 

Vladimir Felzmann

Dir All saints Pastoral Centre


Date: Mon, 16 Jan 2006
Fwd: Mahendra Pattni, London

Dear all
Subject: Fw: Hindu story in Moscow Times


Please find enclosed a story that appeared in the Moscow Times today. The paper says that the City Hall is considering allocating land on an alternate site, but does not know how big it will be or what size.

The original story can be found at:   http://www.moscowtimes.ru/stories/2006/01/17/002.html    

Ramesh Kallidai

Hindus Fear Loss of Only Temple
By Conor Humphries
Staff Writer

The fate of a patch of land behind a supermarket in northern Moscow is raising the wrath of Hindus around the globe, following City Hall's withdrawal of permission for the city's Krishna community to build a temple on the site.

On Wednesday, the Defend Russian Hindus campaign is to be launched by 10member of Britain's House of Commons in reaction to the Moscow city government's decision to tear up an agreement to allow the Krishna community to build on the land, leaving the capital's estimated 10,000 Hare Krishnas and at least 5,000 Indians of other Hindu denominations without a permanent place of worship.

The campaign is to include an attempt to pass a nonbinding resolution in Britain's Parliament condemning the move and possibly a delegation of parliamentarians to visit Moscow to protest religious discrimination in general, said Ramesh Kallidai, secretary general of the Hindu Forum of Britain, which is running the campaign.

The temple saga began in 2004 with the demolition of city's only Krishna temple, which was located on Begovaya Ulitsa. As compensation, City Hall offered a piece of land the size of a football field at the edge of Khodynskoye Pole, an airfield off Leningradsky Prospekt near the Aeroport metro station.

The developer building on the old temple site quickly built a prefabricated structure on the new site to hasten the move of the congregation -- and one small hall in the corrugated iron structure has acted as the city's only Hindu temple ever since. The congregation will be evicted from this structure if the decision of the Moscow government is enforced.

The dispute, which has attracted the attention of national newspapers in Britain and India, has led the Indian government to appeal directly to the Moscow authorities, the Hindustan Times reported. But there are few signs a resolution will be found any time soon.

"The temple is the only place of worship for Hindus in Moscow. When this is taken away, they can't practice their religion as they should," said Kallidai, whose organization unites hundreds of Hindu organizations in Britain. The temporary temple is used by members of the Indian community for religious ceremonies, including weddings.

He described as "complete humbug" the suggestion from some quarters of the Russian Orthodox community that the Krishna movement did not represent traditional Hinduism.

"All of the Hindu temples in the United Kingdom accept the Hare Krishna movement as one of the leading bona fide Hindu traditions in the country," he said.

Compounding Hindu anger, an incendiary letter from Archbishop Nikon of Ufa and Sterlitamak to Mayor Yury Luzhkov in late November protesting the plan to build a temple caused outrage among Hindus around the world.

Describing the Hindu god Krishna as an "evil demon, the personified power of hell opposing God," the letter asked the mayor to ban the construction of the temple, describing it as a "Satanic obscenity" and a "citadel of idolatry."

While Nikon's is not the official position of the Russian Orthodox Church, the church hierarchy has failed to offer a unified alternative position.

"There is large disagreement within the church about plans by other religions to build churches, such as that on Leningradsky Prospekt," said Father Mikhail Dudko, the head of the press service of the Moscow Patriarchate.

"One opinion is that of Nikon, that everything has to be done to prevent the building of such churches. The other is that other religions have the right to build their churches under certain conditions," including respect for the historical, cultural and architectural context, he said.

In early 2004, the release of plans to build a large temple on the site using traditional Indian architecture sparked off a storm of protest, with demonstrations by Orthodox groups that threatened to lie in front of the bulldozers to prevent its construction.

"Many in the church are not against the church itself, but against the building of a temple on the scale of Christ the Savior Cathedral, as was announced initially by the Krishna community," said Dudko, who suggested any building should be relative to the size of the Krishna community.

According to Maxim Osipov, a spokesman for the International Society of Krishna Consciousness in Moscow, the initial plan was for a temple just under half the height of Christ the Savior Cathedral, with a relatively modest floor size considering the 7,000 followers the group attracts on some holidays.

But the large scale of the initial proposal has been cited as proof of the Krishna community's plans to recruit large numbers of new worshipers.

The Krishna movement "has a missionary aim to work with Russian youngsters," said Father Andrei Kurayev, a professor at Moscow's Spiritual Academy. "This aspect, of course, upsets the Russian church."

"We have the feeling that it is a kind of McDonald's, a type of Karma-Cola. It is not an authentic Hindu spirituality," said Kurayev.

He said he would support a different, smaller design in another part of the city -- citing the deaths of thousands of Russians on the field during celebrations marking the coronation of Tsar Nicholas II in 1896 as a reason for choosing a different location.

Although not one of the country's four traditional religions, the International Society of Krishna Consciousness was granted official status as a religion in Russia in 1988.

In response to a request from the Moscow authorities, the Krishna community downgraded its plans, said Osipov. Pictures on the fence of the site show the evolution of the project from an exotic temple with Hindu turrets, to something resembling a multistory car park.

"We just wanted something more beautiful than [our current] shed," he said.

Their latest design is somewhere in between, a blue and white building, half the size of the original, with elements of both Moscow and Hindu architecture. It has been approved by Moscow's architectural council, Osipov said.

But as the Krishna community prepared to begin work, on Oct. 7, the City Prosecutor's Office suddenly announced that inconsistencies between the City Hall resolution to provide the land and the then-valid version of the Land Code had rendered it void. The city administration agreed, and it overturned the resolution that had given the land to the Krishna movement.

Osipov suggested that the City Duma elections in December might have played a part in the reversal from City Hall, while a major development on Khodynskoye Pole is set to give the area a much higher profile, likely raising the value of the land.

City Hall is currently looking for a new site to house the temple, but it is not clear when it will be found, how big it will be or where it will be located, said Konstantin Blazenov, vice chairman of the city government's committee for relations with religious organizations. He said that he hoped it would be found before the Krishna society was forced to leave its current premises, but he offered no guarantees.

In the meantime, the Krishna community has filed a case with the Arbitration Court -- a move that it hopes will revive the original resolution, or at the very least let it keep its temporary temple for a few more months.

Osipov said the site should officially be vacated within three months of the cancellation of City Hall's resolution, which would have given the congregation until the end of January to leave.

"It was our last resort -- we wanted to solve this problem peacefully," said Osipov.

What the Hindu community will do if the temporary temple is closed down is not yet clear.

"If we lose this place, we'll be out on the street," Osipov said.

"We will have to meet in people's apartments," he said. "Like in Soviet times."

World Hindus furious as Russian Archbishop calls Lord Krishna an evil demon

 

Hindus all over the world have expressed outrage and anger after a leader of the Russian Orthodox Church, Archbishop Nikon called the Hindu God, Lord Krishna an evil demon around the time of Indian Prime Minister’s state visit to Moscow to meet Russian President Putin.

In a letter to the Mayor of Moscow Yuri Luzhkov, wired by Interfax news agency on November 30, Archbishop of the Russian Orthodox Church Nikon called Lord Krishna an evil demon, the personified power of hell opposing God¨, and a livid lascivious youth¨.

The Archbishop further requested the Mayor to ban construction of a proposed Hindu temple in Moscow saying it would otherwise become an idolatrous disgrace erected for the glory of wicked and malicious God Krishna¨.

Construction of the temple to Krishna offends our religious feelings and insults the thousand-year religious culture of Russia,¨ Interfax quoted Archbishop Nikon as saying.

We cannot believe that in this age of respect and multi-cultural co-existence, a leader of the Russian Church chooses to make statements that are intolerant and disrespectful to one billion Hindus in the world¨ said Kishore Ruparelia, speaking on behalf of the Defend Russian Hindus Campaign launched in London last week.

The motives for spreading such hatred are clear it is an attempt to discriminate and harass the Hindu community in Russia and stop them from building a temple,¨ explained Ramesh Kallidai, secretary general of the Hindu Forum of Britain. ¡§It is unbelievable that a leader of such a powerful Church can make such disgraceful and dogmatic attempts to instigate tension between different religions.  This is completely against all principles of multi-faith co-existence and cooperation that ancient and inclusive religious traditions like Hinduism stand for.¨

The statement by Archbishop Nikon of the Russian Orthodox Church has hurt the sentiments of millions of Hindus worldwide,¡¨ commented O P Sharma, President of the National Council of Hindu Temples UK. ¡§It is an insult to the tradition of tolerance, peace and inclusivity that Hinduism stands for, and highlights the resentment that dogmatic and exclusive views on religion can generate.¨

President of the Association of Indians in Russia Sanjeet K. Jha said, For centuries faith in Lord Krishna has been the very foundation of the Indian tradition of tolerance and respect for all religions and for all life. Therefore the shower of offences that Archbishop Nikon decided to publicly pour on Lord Krishna caused us intolerable pain and evoked bitterness and indignation in our hearts.¨

According to several Moscow-based Indians, the discriminatory move by the Moscow government, the harassment of Indians by Russian ultra-nationalistic groups, inspired by open hostility of some Church leaders towards Hinduism, is making Russia a less than appealing place for Indians to live.

Hindus are one of the world¡¦s most peaceful communities,¡¨ commented Dr Girdhari Bhan, President of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad UK. In most countries of the world, the Hindu diaspora is law-abiding, integrated and productive. Archbishop Nikon should have considered the peaceful history of Hinduism before making such atrocious statements that will surely be rejected by people of common sense and dignity.¨

It is difficult to understand why a Hindu temple poses a threat to the Russian Orthodox Church in this day of respect and tolerance,¨ added Ramesh Kallidai. ¡§The only Hindu temple in Moscow had been demolished last year, leaving some 15,000 Indians and 10,000 Russian followers of Hinduism without a place of worship. Now the Mayor of Moscow and the Russian Orthodox Church are together trying to stop Hindus from having a place of their own.¨

According to Mr. Jha, In January 2004, the Mayor of Moscow Mr.Luzhkov signed a decree allocating land in northwest Moscow for construction of a new temple in place of the demolished one. This was followed by mass protests orchestrated by the Russian Orthodox Church against the building of the temple. In October 2005 the Mayor repealed the decree and gave the order to remove a temporary Hindu shrine that devotees had erected from the allocated land.

Now, the Russian Hindu community in Moscow have no place to house the consecrated Deities they had worshipped for the last decade,¡¨ claimed Dr Mihir Meghani, President of the Hindu American Foundation. ¡§This is a pity because this was the only Hindu temple in Moscow serving the spiritual and cultural needs of thousands of Hindus in Russia, and now they are left without any place to worship.¨

According to Mr. Jha, the statement by Archbishop Nikon just adds to the exasperation felt by Indian community in Moscow in regard to the razed temple. With the old temple demolished and the new temple project thwarted at the very root, thousands of Indians living in Moscow feel utterly disappointed¨ he added.

The Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had discussed this matter with President Putin during his recent visit to Moscow. Putin has agreed to meet the Mayor of Moscow next week to find out more about the issue.

On behalf of all the Hindu community in Australia, the Chair of the Hindu Council of Australia, Dr Balasubramaniam said, I strongly condemn the outrageous and shameful behaviour of the Archbishop of the Russian Orthodox Church in denigrating the oldest religion in the world and depriving the peace-loving Hindus of Russia their right to practice their religion. Hindus have always respected all religions. India, which has a majority Hindu population, has always been a friendly country to Russia. It is only proper that the sentiments of a trusted friend and ally are respected. We appeal to the Russian President Putin to intervene and stop this kind of outrageous behaviour against the peace-loving Hindus of Russia. The international communities are monitoring the situation closely.¨


The Defend Russian Hindus Campaign launched last week in London has the support of leading organizations including

The Hindu Forum of Britain,

The Vishwa Hindu Parishad UK,

National Council of Hindu Temples UK,

Hindu American Foundation,

Hindu Council of Australia and

Hindu Council of Africa.

The Defend Russian Hindus Campaign has asked that letters of protest about the statement made by Archbishop Nikon and the cancelling of the land decree by the Mayor of Moscow resulting in loss of the only Hindu temple in Moscow be sent to:


a.      Mayor of Moscow: major@mos.ru


b.      Russian Orthodox Church: commserv@mospat.dol.ru


c.      President Putin - Website submissions using:
http://www.kremlin.ru/eng/articles/send_letter_Eng1a.shtml or by post to: Mr.Vladimir V. PUTIN, President of Russia, 4, Staraya Square, Moscow, 103132, RUSSIA


d.      All Party Parliamentary Group on Russia (UK): contact@tonylloydmp.co.uk