KATMANDU, NEPAL, September 21, 2004: Thousands rallied for peace in the heart of Nepal’s capital on Tuesday, pleading for an end to the Maoist insurgency that has killed more than 10,000 people in this Himalayan kingdom. Buddhist monks and Hindu priests chanted religious songs while schoolchildren joined artists, teachers, lawyers, doctors, journalists, human rights activists and business executives at the Katmandu rally. At least 6,000 demonstrators, carrying banners saying “We want peace” and “Give up violence and work to build the country,” gathered to pray for peace. The demonstrators urged both the government and Maoist guerrillas - who’ve been fighting for eight years to set up a communist state - to resolve the conflict through dialogue. The government has repeatedly urged the rebels to come for peace talks in the past few weeks. The rebels, however, say talks are possible only if the United Nations is involved. However, the government has ruled out third-party involvement in the talks. “The people want peace and end to the violence. And this is the only way we the people can pressure the two sides to cease fighting and resume peace talks,” said lawyer Sunil Shrestha, who was at the rally with his 5-year-old son. Fighting has heated up since the Maoists dropped peace talks in August 2003, ending a seven-month cease-fire. The rebels, who say they’re inspired by Chinese revolutionary leader Mao Zedong, have been fighting since 1996 to abolish Nepal’s constitutional monarchy. The government has labeled them terrorists.

RESEDA, CALIFORNIA, September 21, 2004: Efforts by the San Fernando Valley’s largest Hindu congregation to expand its temple have hit a wall of opposition from neighbors, who say the site is woefully short on parking and will bring too much traffic to the residential area. Residents near the Valley Hindu Temple, on Roscoe Boulevard near Rhea Avenue, are fighting the temple’s plans to expand the sanctuary by 1,400 square feet and convert an adjacent house into a priest’s residence. The debate will go before the South Valley Area Planning Commission on Thursday. Nearby residents formed an association to oppose what they call a “nightmare” if the temple near the Northridge-Reseda border expands without sufficient parking to accommodate the cars of new worshippers. The neighbors say they’re not opposed to Hindus, just to having their neighborhood overrun by moving and parked cars during religious services and events. “We’ve spent thousands of hours trying to defend ourselves,” resident Diana Rollins said. “We’ve never said pack up and go away. We’re only saying comply with the same laws and regulations that everyone else in a residential area has to comply with.”



Valley Hindu Temple Vice President Bal K. Sarat said leaders of the 200-member congregation wanted to retrofit a 1960s building to modern requirements, with a new kitchen, improved bathrooms and a multipurpose hall for cultural programs. The expansion will accommodate as many as 100 new worshippers, Sarat said, dismissing concerns that the expansion would overwhelm surrounding residential areas. “Our purpose in expanding this was for the Hindu community in the Valley,” Sarat said. “It is not that 1,000 people are going to come … (Opponents are) taking this out of proportion.” City planners have concluded that the project is compatible with its surroundings, noting that the current proposal is smaller than earlier versions.



Sarat said his is the largest Hindu congregation in the Valley, but is dwarfed by a Hindu temple in Malibu. There were 37 Hindu congregations in Los Angeles County in 2000, according to the American Religion Data Archive. The Reseda temple has 32 parking spaces, according to city documents. In 2003, the Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety cited the temple for not having the 63 parking spaces required. The proposed expansion would double the number of parking spaces, but still leave the temple below the city-required 144 parking spaces. As a compromise, the temple leaders have agreed to lease 92 parking spaces on Reseda Boulevard near the sanctuary. Even with additional parking, some neighbors fear that traffic and noise will detract from the character of the area. “This is to take place on a postage stamp in the middle of a residential area in the San Fernando Valley,” said Jim Reithoffer. “We’re just aghast that something like this could happen.”

HOUSTON,TEXAS, September 22, 2004: A long awaited, off-beat, intense and much anticipated historical film about Indian, European and African indentureship and slavery in British Guiana during the early 1800s, Guiana 1838, is ready for its premiere in New York on September 24-26. The movie, inspired by true events, is written, directed and produced by Rohit Jagessar, a US-based Guyanese, owner of the popular 24-hour Asian Indian radio station, RBC Radio. “Guiana 1838″ captures the 19th century scene and tells the true story of the one million Indians who were shipped out of India to labour on the sugarcane plantations in the British West Indies, Fiji, Mauritus and Australia among other British colonies on the abolition of African slavery in these countries. With minimum effort it takes viewers proficiently through the passage of indentured labourers arriving on the ship, the Hesperus, and the tension that develops initially between the black slaves and the freshly arrived Indians. Bollywood star Kumar Gaurav, who will be here for the premiere of the movie, plays the role of Laxman, a coolie, an indentured laborer brought in from Calcutta to British Guiana on one of the first ships that entered this country in 1838 to labour on the sugarcane plantations.

JERUSALEM, ISRAEL, September 20, 2004: The growing enthusiasm for yoga in Egypt has received a setback with a mufti reportedly issuing an edict declaring it un-Islamic. The edict signed by mufti Ali Gomoa, considered the highest theological authority, says that “yoga is an ascetic Hindu practice that is forbidden for use in any manner — neither for exercise or for worship,” local media reported quoting an Al-Hayat report (a Saudi-owned, Londdon-based newspaper). “It is an aberration,” whose practice in any form is “forbidden under Islamic law,” the edict says. Yoga centres are said to have sprung up at all the tourist resorts in Egypt and are said to be very popular among Western tourists.

PISCATAWAY, NEW JERSEY, September 23, 2004: The Educators’ Society for the Heritage of India is holding a conference September 24 to 26 at Rutgers University Busch Campus. According to the press release, “This program is intended to bring together college professors, teachers (K-12), librarians, curriculum writers, special program developers and textbook publishers, as well as students, parents/community members interested about Indian heritage, from US and Canada.” The purpose is to improve the presentation of India in American schools. For more information, visit there website at “source.”