1. Hindu Americans Condemn Religious Violence in India
2. Mahanavami, The Ninth day of Navaratri, Draws Thousands to Temples
3. Elephant Attacks Homes of Vandals of Damaged Ganesha Temple
4. Daily Inspiration

1. Hindu Americans Condemn Religious Violence in India

www.HAFsite.org

WASHINGTON, D.C., USA, October 8, 2008: Suhag Shukla, Esq., managing director of the Hindu American Foundation, condemned the recent inter-religious riots in India, saying, "Religious violence is contrary to the India's long history of pluralism and co-existence that threatens the fabric of the country. We unequivocally condemn the violence and demand justice for the aggrieved as we mourn for all of the innocent victims." The Foundation's hope is that a balanced dialog and investigation into the root causes of the conflict will promote interfaith understanding and tolerance.

The riots began after a Hindu monk was killed in the eastern Indian state of Orissa and a pamphlet blaspheming Hindu beliefs was distributed by an evangelical group in Mangalore. Nearly two dozen people have lost their lives; and many more remain displaced and homeless.

Swami Lakshmananda Saraswati, a Hindu monk who worked for the upliftment of isolated tribal populations in Orissa, was assassinated August 24 after receiving several death threats. He had been severely injured in an attack by a Christian mob of the Pana tribe on Christmas Eve, 2007, having incurred the ire of several US-funded evangelical Christian groups which, while providing services, aggressively seek converts. Maoist terrorist groups allegedly took responsibility for the assassination, but the killers have not been apprehended. The Pana tribe of Orissa state, some of whom belong to these Maoist groups, has been clashing with the mostly Hindu Kandha tribe over access to affirmative action type benefits to which only certain tribes are entitled.

The Mangalore disturbances apparently began when the New Life Fellowship Trust, a pentecostal group allegedly supported by U.S. based churches, distributed anti-Hindu leaflets blaspheming Hindu Deities and scripture. Mangalore-area prayer halls thought to be used to convert Hindus away from their faith were attacked in response. A copy of the leaflet, received at the HAF office in Washington, was condemned by the local rector of the Catholic Church. The HAF report "Hyperlink to Hinduphobia," released last year, documents the hate speech that many evangelical groups use in condemning Hindu beliefs.

"Christianity has a long, peaceful history in India which we celebrate as a part of the pluralistic ethos of India," said Sheetal Shah, HAF"s Director of Development. "But when proselytizing outfits resort to hate speech, they share responsibility for provoking the highly condemnable events that followed. Communal harmony can truly be fostered only in an environment where practitioners of all religions respect other faiths as equally valid pathways to the Divine."

Both Shukla and Shah expressed concern that the mushrooming of evangelical groups funded by U.S. based churches, many of whom have the sole purpose of proselytizing and "harvesting" converts--often through hate speech, is endangering peaceful, religious coexistence in India. Pluralism cannot be sustained in the face of unrestrained and aggressive proselytization and coerced or fraudulent conversions, they argued. Hate speech is also a form of violence, they said.

The Foundation supports the initiatives of pluralistic Christian and Hindu groups in India and around the world for an ethical code of conversion, which the Foundation believes can prevent inter-religious strife between proselytizing and non-proselytizing faiths, Shukla added.

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2. Mahanavami, The Ninth day of Navaratri, Draws Thousands to Temples

www.kantipuronline.com

KATHMANDU, NEPAL, October 8, 2008: Mahanavami, the ninth day of Dashain, is being celebrated by followers of Hinduism around the globe. Devotees throng the temples of Durga on this day which marks the last day of Navaratri festival that started with Ghatasthapana.

Thousands of people have queued up to worship the Goddess Taleju at the historic temple of Taleju located at Hanumandhoka from early this morning. The temple is opened for the devotees only on this day in Dashain every year.

The last day of Dashain, Dashami, is marked in Nepal by people receiving blessings in form of tika and jamara from their elders. Traditionally, many would receive it from the King itself, but this custom is now part of the past. People visit their relatives and celebrate on this day.

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3. Elephant Attacks Homes of Vandals of Damaged Ganesha Temple

sify.com

RANCHI, JHARKHAND, INDIA, October 6, 2008: An elephant attacked houses of people allegedly involved in damaging a temple of Lord Ganesha in Jharkhand and ensured their arrest. According to media reports on Saturday, a wild elephant attacked houses of around 10 people who on August 16 had damaged the temple situated in Mahudi hills of Hazaribagh district, around 120 km from here.

Later the police arrested those allegedly involved in the incident. The villagers point that the elephant did not hurt anyone else. Reports suggest that the angry elephant appeared near the temple on August 17 and did not allow any devotee to enter. Later the elephant attacked houses of those involved in the damage.

"The elephant was staying around the temple. We succeeded in pacifying it, to install another statue of Ganesha," said Awadh Kishore Yadav, a villager.

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4. Daily Inspiration

www.hinduismtoday.com

Prayer is not asking, it is yearning of the soul for communion with God.
   Swami Sivananda (1887-1963)

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