1. London Gathering Hears Hindu Mantra For Protection
2. Hindu American Foundation Releases Annual Survey of Hindu Human Rights

1. London Gathering Hears Hindu Mantra For Protection

www.hinducounciluk.org

LONDON, ENGLAND, July 15, 2005: Yesterday's vigil at Trafalgar Square in London, marked by a two-minute silence at noon in honour of those who died in the terrorist bomb attacks last week, continued in the evening with a vigil of poems, messages and prayers from celebrity, political and faith leaders. His Grace, Richard Chartres, the Bishop of London, congratulated the Londoners on the maturity and the resilience they have shown and said a Christian prayer. The Chief Rabbi, Jonathan Sacks, spoke of our basic human rights and Dr Indarjit Singh from the Network of Sikh Organizations said that there is no difference in Hindu, Muslim, Christian as we are all one family for God. Anil Bhanot, General Secretary of the Hindu Council UK, then spoke on behalf of the Hindu community and his speech is reproduced here as follows:

"Namaste, London. I would like to recite a Vedic mantra, addressed to Lord Siva, who is the giver of knowledge that destroys ignorance, the ignorance that raises its ugly head in extreme cases in the world, from time to time and last week in London, where children of the same one God go out to hurt their fellow beings and that too in the name of God. Knowledge dictates that to hurt any of your fellow beings is to hurt God.

I am going to recite a mantra from the Hindu Vedas. The mantra is called the Maha Martunjya Mantra. It is a very powerful healing mantra, it is a rejuvenating mantra, and when chanted with sincerity and devotion, it creates divine vibrations which ward off the negative forces and create a positive protective shield. It has known to cure diseases, declared incurable by doctors, and has cured people from fatal illnesses. In everyday life it protects us from accidents and misfortunes of every kind.

Today I will recite it 8 times for the speedy recovery of those injured and the salvation of those who tragically lost their lives last week and if you can also remember them in the all-pervasive consciousness seated in our hearts. "Om Trayambkam Yajamahe, Sughundhim Pushti Verdhanam Urva Rukmev Bandhyanath, mrityor mokshiyah maamrataat, Om."

Half way through the chanting Mr. Bhanot paused and said to the 15,000 Londoners, "at this time you are supposed to join me!", and there was a roar of laughter, but later he got an email from a member organization, Pulkit Agarwal, General Secretary of the National Hindu Students Forum, wrote "I was at the vigil at Trafalgar Square today and just wanted to express my congratulations for a very calming and appropriate speech for the assembled public. There was definitely a sense of calm and tranquillity after your recitations, and although you may not have heard, many people made the effort to chant along."

HCUK is the main representative body uniting over half-a-million Hindus in the UK. It was established in 1994 by the 30 year old National Council of Hindu Temples to represent all facets of Hinduism, and the same mandate was obtained from the UK's Hindu community over a period of 2 years prior to the HCUK's launch in November 1994.

2. Hindu American Foundation Releases Annual Survey of Hindu Human Rights

www.hinduamericanfoundation.org

TAMPA, FLORIDA, July 13, 2005: The Hindu American Foundation (HAF) released today its first annual report on the status of Hindu human rights in Bangladesh, Pakistan and the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir. Entitled "Hindus in Bangladesh, Pakistan and Kashmir: A survey of Human Rights 2004," the report was prepared by HAF and compiles media coverage and first-hand accounts of human rights violations perpetrated against Hindus because of their religious identity. The 71-page report was delivered prior to its release to the co-chairs of the U.S. Congressional Caucus on India and Indian-Americans, Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) and Rep. Gary Ackerman (D-NY), who endorsed the report.

"The human rights violations that are occurring against Hindus must no longer be ignored without reprobation," said Rep. Ros-Lehtinen after reviewing the HAF report. "Hindus have a history of being peaceful, pluralistic and understanding of other faiths and peoples, yet minority Hindus have endured decades of pain and suffering without the attention of the world."

Rep. Ackerman stressed the fundamental nature of religious freedom and supported the concept of the annual report produced by HAF. "The Hindu American Foundation has done some important work in this regard by compiling their 2004 Survey of Human Rights by helping to defend the rights of Hindus around the world to practice their religion without intimidation and by shining a light on those who would take away their religious freedoms," said Rep. Ackerman in a statement distributed on July 12, 2005.

The Hindu human rights report -- the first in what is to be an annual publication -- was prepared, according to the HAF Board of Directors, to document a humanitarian tragedy largely omitted in reports by the United States State Department and larger human rights organizations such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch. While these groups often mention the attacks on Hindus, according to HAF, the group maintains that the massive scope of this human rights disaster requires the extensive coverage that this report provides.

"With over 600 documented attacks of murder, rape and physical intimidation of Hindus in Bangladesh, Pakistan and India's state of Jammu and Kashmir last year alone, the ongoing atrocities against Hindus can no longer be ignored," said Ramesh Rao, Ph.D., member of the HAF Executive Council who contributed to the report. "We are gratified that leaders in the U.S. Congress understand the magnitude of this tragedy and are determined to raise their voices in outrage."

The report specifically denounces Bangladesh for a long-history of anti-Hindu atrocities that have recently spiked following the ascent of the Bangladeshi National Party-Jamat-e-Islami coalition. The decline of Hindus in Bangladesh from 30% of the population in 1947, to less than 10% today is analyzed in the report. The report alleges that the estimated loss of 20 million Bangladeshi Hindus is a consequence of an ongoing genocide and forced exodus.

"Persecution, discrimination and outright violence is the horrid reality for Hindus in Bangladesh today," said Aseem Shukla, M.D., member of the HAF Board of Directors. "The international community must demand that the Bangladesh government immediately investigate the ongoing religious cleansing within its borders and empower minority and human rights commissions there."

The HAF report also discusses the consequence of Pakistan and Al-Qaeda sponsored Islamist violence in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir that has left tens of thousands of Hindus and Muslims dead, and 350,000 Hindu victims of religious cleansing. Similarly, the Pakistan government is condemned for systematic state-sponsored religious discrimination against Hindus through elaborate "anti-blasphemy" laws, and for failing to investigate numerous reports of millions of Hindus being held as "bonded laborers" in slavery-like conditions.

"While HAF supports all efforts to bring lasting peace between India and Pakistan," cautioned Sheetal D. Shah, member of the HAF Executive Council and a contributor to the HAF report, "Pakistan must continue to be held responsible for a recent upsurge in violence in the Kashmir valley, and even possibly on one of Hinduism's most sacred shrines this month alone."

HAF leaders were gratified by Congressional support for the report and discussed plans to follow-up the report in personal interactions with many other legislators planned later this year. A congressional resolution emphasizing aspects of the report is being actively discussed. Rep. Ros Lehtinen and Rep. Ackerman pledged to continue working with HAF on these human rights issues.

"I applaud the Hindu American Foundation for bringing awareness to this issue," said Rep. Ros-Lehtinen. "I look forward to working with it to help address this scar on the international human rights community."

Rep. Ackerman discussed the obligation of Congress to speak out against international human rights abuses. "By working alongside organizations such as the Hindu American Foundation, we can help to ensure that violations to religious freedom are documented, and challenged across the world," Rep. Ackerman added.

For the full text of the first annual HAF Hindu human rights report click here.