VIJAYAWADA, INDIA, August 28, 2004: Four people were killed and 11 injured in a stampede on the first day of the Krishna Pushkar mela at Vijaywada. Thousands of pilgrims had come to take the holy dip today at the beginning of 12-day mela. According to reports, an iron railing along the footbridge leading to the bathing area collapsed and this led to a stampede. The government has ordered an enquiry into the incident and the district collector and the police commissioner have been transferred. “There were very few policemen. And the ones who were present were giving very confusing instructions, asking us to go here and there,” said a pilgrim. Today was the first day of the 12-day festival during which over twenty million people were expected to come to Vijaywada. “We will now deploy more security personnel and tighten the barricades. If we had deployed people earlier, we could have controlled the crowds,” said Prabhakar Reddy, former Collector of Krishna district. The mishap took on a political color with comparisons being drawn with the Godavari Pushkar that took place in July-August last year when the Telugu Desam was in power. “There were no proper steps. Just sand bags were kept. The old people are falling down. There is no water in the taps. The arrangements are bad. The Godavari Pushkar was organized much better,” said a pigrim. The Congress government reacted by ordering a probe and transferring the district collector and city police commissioner. With 11 more days to go, a presumably more vigilant district administration will be praying the rest of the Krishna Pushkar passes off incident-free.

KOCHI, INDIA, August 28, 2004: Kochi Markets are witnessing a boom in Kerala with Onam celebrations picking up across the state. With people on a shopping spree ahead of the harvest festival, the whole of Kerala has turned into a customer-friendly market worth US$681 million. The salaried section is richer by $454 million by way of two months’ salary, bonus, festival allowance and advances. There is demand for all items in the market — from textiles to gold, from appliances to vehicles. Textile dealers say the sale in the fortnight has been double their usual target. With the megabuck extravaganza reaching every nook and corner of the state, big and small shops, along with street vendors, had joined the bandwagon. According to tradition, King Mahabali, whose rule is said to be the golden period, makes a visit on the Onam day to see his people happy and satisfied, just like in his days of rule. It is said a Keralite is ready to sell even his land for a sumptuous meal and good times on Onam day.

AUSTRIA, August 28, 2004: His Holiness, Mahamandaleshwar Paramhas Swami Maheswarananda issued the following message on the occassion of Raksha Bandhan:



Blessed Selves. On the 30th of August we are celebrating the holy festival of Raksha Bandhan, the day of brothers and sisters. On this day sisters tie sacred threads around their brothers’ wrists expressing their sisterly love and affection. In return, the brothers offers their sisters little presents and promise to protect them and to always be ready to help them. Raksha means protection or security and bandhan means bond or relation. Thus, Raksha Bandhan symbolizes the bond of security and protection between brothers and sisters. The tradition of this day goes back to the time of Sati Savitri.



Savitri was very beautiful. One day a King saw her and fell in love with her at first sight. As he commanded her to come to him she sought to save her marriage by calling up an old tradition. She took a piece of string and tied it around the King’s right wrist saying: “My honorable King, this particular day shall be the day of brothers and sisters, and through this string we are now connected as brother and sister. It is the brother’s duty to protect the sister and present her a gift through which she will have much joy.” The King ashamedly renounced his desires and promised Savitri his protection.



Since then, women and girls have chosen a “brother” on Raksha Bandhan Day to be protected and supported by them. On this day, everybody can choose a brother or a sister to whom she or he feels close bonds and a sense of true brother- and sisterhood. The brothers take over the duty to protect and take care about their sisters lifelong, and the sisters promise their brothers lifelong love, support and understanding. This day reminds us that the whole world is one family. All who are around us, all who live on this planet shall be our brothers and sisters. We should tie the threads of mutual respect, understanding, protection, care and love around each other’s wrists with brotherly feelings, and embrace humanity and all living beings as our brothers and sisters.



May this holy occasion of Raksha Bandhan lead the way toward universal brotherhood. Let us realize that the only way the world and humankind will survive is through unity. Moral and ethical discipline, true love and brotherhood throughout the entire globe only can save the earth from destruction and create a sustainable and peaceful world for us and our children.



I pray to the Almighty Lord for his blessings and divine protection for all of us.

DELHI, INDIA, August 26, 2004: “We cannot see the Indian history through the eyes of the West. India today is stretching for its honor. A great struggle is going on. Another Veer Savarkar is coming. In the 21st century India is recognizing its own soul. India will again be the Jagadguru [the guiding light for the whole world],” so stated Dr. Murli Manohar Joshi, former Human Resources Development Minister in the Government of India. The senior BJP leader delivered the keynote address at a function held in New Delhi by Shiksha Bachao Andolan Samiti to felicitate and honour Shri J. S. Rajput, Former Director, NCERT [National Council Of Educational Training And Resarch] who was recently conferred with the Jan Amos Comenius Award for the year 2004 by UNESCO. On this occasion Dr. Joshi also launched the website of the Shiksha Bachao Andolan Samiti, www.shikshabachaoandolan.org.



Dr. Joshi strongly defended him against recent criticisms by saying, “What Shri Rajput has done is not something without basis. No body can find fault with whatever he has done. Thousands of people including journalists, members of parliament, educationists and intellectuals were sent the information about the amendments in the text books. The material was even put on the internet. No one raised any objection on the basis of it being against the constitution or against the principles of secularism. Even in the parliament, we said that if you have any objection, please let us know but no one came forward. Suddenly this talk of saffronisation of education was started. We have only promoted education which is value based.”



He went on to say, “The thing is that we have to learn viewing the things from Indian perspective. What is seen as middle east from Britain is seen as west Asia from India. Similarly what is seen as far east from London is seen as near east from India. So the location is the same but what matters is from where do you view it from. Whether you would like to see something from Moghul, British or Indian perspective. For instance, for some people in this world the earth is just a material being, whereas we treat the earth as mother earth. That is because earth provides us food, water and nature. So earth from our perspective is not just a piece of property. A piece of property can be divided but motherland or mother earth can never be divided. Rivers were treated as something sacred in our culture. And today when they are no more treated as sacred, the result is there for everyone to see.”



Dr. Joshi said, “Today people like Savarkar who sacrificed everything for their country are being labeled as terrorists. Veer Savarkar was someone who inspired everybody. It was he who said that what happened in 1857 was not a mutiny but a fight for the freedom of India. It was a fight for self honor and Savarkar said it for the first time. Today there are forces that call the bhakti movement of India as feudalistic. For them people like Tulsi, Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, Dadu are all feudalistic.”



He went on to say, “Today we are insulting our ancestors and tomorrow the young generation will insult us. Today in USA a student kills his father or teacher as there is no respect for them. A 10-year-old student kills the teacher who is giving more attention to some other student. So if proper sanskars are not given all this can also happen here. In the name of secularism, no morals are there. Today’s generation does not know Kalidasa the poet, but they know Adidas the shoe manufacturer.”



He finally said, “Today there are many who are unhappy that there is a lot of ancient history in our text books as compared to medieval or modern history. What can we do about it when we have such a rich and varied ancient heritage? These people smell Hindutva in ancient history. They are upset that they can remove Hindutva from the medieval or modern history, but they cannot do so from the ancient history.”

NEW YORK, NEW YORK, August 27, 2004: After three years of lawsuits between two groups of Hindu devotees, a federal judge will decide whether or not the state is entitled to tell a religious organization in Queens how to organize and manage itself. The trustees of the Hindu Temple Society of North America, of Flushing, filed a lawsuit to protest a 2003 resolution and several other actions taken by the State Supreme Court. In the resolution, Judge Joseph Golia appointed a referee to determine who should be a voting member in the temple and ordered the trustees to open all financial and legal documents.



The plaintiffs, represented by The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, a not-for-profit group based in Washington, D.C., claim that bringing “democratic practices” into their religious organization violates their First Amendment rights. “It’s not about the control of a property,” said Roman Storzer, a lawyer with The Becket Fund, during yesterday’s hearing in federal court in Brooklyn. “[This is about] a group of people that have no right to control over anything. They’re acting unconstitutionally.”



Judge Raymond Dearie said yesterday that his immediate reaction was that there were some First Amendment implications in the case, yet he will take a few more days to make a determination on whether or not it is a First Amendment case. If the case is not dismissed, the judge could order a preliminary injunction.



Since 2001, the temple, founded in 1970, has been divided into two groups, each with different thoughts on how the organization should be managed. The trustees believe the temple should not have a voting membership, as other Hindu temples in India. A second group, which filed the first lawsuit in 2001, wants devotees to have a voice in the decision-making, select board members and decide who should monitor the temple’s finances. The first bylaws of the temple contemplated a membership with voting rights, they said. The counterpart claims that those rules were never followed by the temple and should not be followed now.



Last January, the appointed referee issued a report ordering some democratic measures such as creating a membership list and making books and records of the temple available. “There’s nothing anti-religious about holding elections,” Krishnan Chittur, the defendants’ attorney, said after the hearing. Uma Mysorekar, president of the board of trustees, said that a referee can’t decide who the members of a Hindu temple are and that such a change would be disastrous for the temple and the Hindu faith. During the hearing, the judge described the case as “a fine mess.” “Is there a way of resolving these differences?” Dearie questioned both lawyers. “You don’t have to respond to that.”



HPI adds: The legal question here revolves around the articles of incorporation and by-laws of the temple. The temple, incorporated as a “free church” under New York law, is not required to have an elected board of trustees. The Becket Fund has involved itself because the case involves a remarkable court intervention in the affairs of a religious organization, one which could set a precedent for legal action involving other religious organizations.