HYDERABAD, INDIA, September 27, 2004: Police here Monday heaved a sigh of relief as the Ganesh procession passed off peacefully amid tight security and rare scenes of communal harmony. City police chief R.P. Singh told a news conference that no untoward incident was reported. As the procession started late, icons were being carried to Hussain Sagar lake in the heart of city for immersion till late in the evening. Majority of vehicles carrying icons passed the communally sensitive old city and crossed the Musi River. Some 1,400 icons were immersed in the lake till 4 pm and another 8,000 would be immersed by late evening. About 10,000 icons were immersed during the last two days.



Life came to a standstill in Hyderabad and its twin city Secunderabad as thousands of vehicles carrying the icons of different shapes and sizes choked all major thoroughfares. About one million people participated in the procession. The annual procession, which marks 10 days of festivities, passed off amid fears of communal violence in view of last month’s arrest of eight alleged operatives of terrorist organization Lashkar-e-Taiba on charges of planning to blow up a Hindu temple during Ganesh festival. However, the 25th year of Ganesh procession witnessed rare scenes of communal harmony. For the first time, a Muslim minister and a Muslim police officer welcomed the Ganesh procession at the historic Charminar, which is also one of the sensitive points in the walled quarters, and at Moazzam Jahi Market. Minister for Information And Public Relations Mohammed Ali Shabbir and additional commissioner of police A.K. Khan welcomed the procession from the dais erected by Bhagyanagar Ganesh Utsav Samiti.



For the third consecutive year, Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM), which has a strong base in the old city, erected a special dais to welcome the icons. Its Hindu corporators S. Rajmohan and M. Durga Singh made arrangements for distributing drinking water and “prasadam” among people. Peace committee comprising both Hindus and Muslims also supplied drinking water to devotees. Confederation of Voluntary Organizations (COVA), working for communal harmony, also assisted police in the smooth conduct of the procession. “God is one, but we celebrate festivals in different ways. We should have no ill will towards each other,” said another volunteer Afsar Khan.



The entire police top brass and more than 22,000 policemen were deployed for maintaining law and order during the procession. Surveillance cameras were installed at vital points to keep an eye on the movement of miscreants. Bomb disposal squads and anti-sabotage teams were also pressed into services. A helicopter carrying senior police officials hovered in the sky to keep an eye on the procession.

DURBAN, INDIA, September 28, 2004: The immersion ceremony of a Ganesha icon, taking place for the first time here, went high-tech with a helicopter airlifting it over the Indian Ocean. A professional diver clutched the icon while hundreds of devotees and others watched the ceremony that marks the culmination of the Ganesh Chaturthi festival. Rough seas made it difficult for devotees to wade into the ocean for the immersion, so the helicopter carried the icon further out into the sea to avoid it being washed back to the shore. The immersion was organized by two community organizations here, the Gujarati Hindu Sanskruti Kendra and the Saptha Mandir, to conclude a two-week ritual in honor of Ganesha.



“I came here to seek Lord Ganesha’s blessings so that as He goes under the water, He can take my troubles with him,” Pratibha Mistry told IANS. Ganesha is regarded as the remover of obstacles and calamities. Many other Hindus offered prayers for blessings as fascinated onlookers of other religious groups enquired about the ritual. Percy Patel, religious convener for the Kendra, explained that Hindus believe that the Gods emerged from the ocean and should be placed back in the ocean. “It is considered a mark of respect to submerge the icon in the ocean,” Patel explained. Although Ganesh Chathurti prayers have been performed in homes and temples across South Africa since Hindus first arrived here in 1860, there has never been a large-scale public event of immersing an icon, such as those done in India. The organizations intend to make this an annual event.

TRIVANDERUM, KERALA, September 26, 2004: Three nuns belonging to Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity, were attacked by a group of Hindu activists in south Indian state of Kerala, an eyewitness and police said Sunday. According to the eyewitness, a group of 30-35 people surrounded the vehicles in which the sisters and a brother arrived Saturday in a low caste Hindu colony in Pantheerankavue, about 200 kilometers (124 miles) from Kerala’s Cochin city. They smashed the windscreens and assaulted the occupants, Prabha, a resident of the colony, said. The group also shouted pro-Hindu slogans and accused the sisters of converting the local people, she added. However, residents of the colony strongly denied the accusations.



The sisters and a brother — a Kenyan national identified as Brother Bernard — were later released from a local hospital after getting treatment for their injuries which were not serious. Police said five persons were arrested and several detained in connection with the attack but refused to identify them though sources said they belong to Hindu rightwing groups. The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS, national volunteer corps) and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP, world Hindu council) — India’s two frontline Hindu nationalist organizations — have denied any role in the attack. Kummanom Rajasekharan, who heads the Kerala chapter of the VHP demanded a government probe into the attack as did other Christian groups. At the headquarters of the Missionaries of Charity in eastern Calcutta city, a spokeswoman said the order was “seriously concerned” about the incident, adding that the attackers were reported to be drunk.



The Hindu newspaper said the nuns were on their way to distribute food when they were attacked by a group of young men wielding iron rods and shouting pro-BJP slogans. After hearing the news of the attack, another group of nuns arrived and some of the young men tried to pull them out of their vehicle, smashing the windshield, The Hindu said.

WAGAH, INDIA, September 26, 2004: After more than 1,500 miles, Ludkan Baba, the Hindu ascetic who is rolling across India for peace, was rebuffed at the Pakistani border and suspended his quest. The holy roller decided on Friday to return to his hometown of Ratlam with his 11-member hymn-singing entourage to wait for India’s government to issue passports. Indian border guards turned back the man whom admirers call Ludkan Baba, or the Rolling Saint, because he did not have valid travel documents. “I am sure we will be issued passports,” the man, born Mohan Bas, said Friday. “I am fully confident I would be able to roll into Pakistan and finish this ‘yatra,’” or holy journey. Border Security Force assistant commandant L.R.Yadav said authorities had no choice in barring entry. “He does not have the required travel papers. So, quite naturally, we do not have orders to allow him to cross.” The Hindu religious figure, or sadhu, said he began his career in 1973 when he entered a cave and stayed for 12 years, surviving on grass and water. There, a divine voice told him to start rolling for peace. His first trip was about 25 miles; his third trip in 1994 was 2,500 miles across India. The 55-year-old began the current crusade in January from his home to New Delhi and then on to the border.

ESPANOLA, NEW MEXICO, September 28, 2004: The Sikh Dharma community, founded in the early 1970’s provides a place where admirers of Yogi Bhajan, a Sikh spiritual leader and yoga master, can live in harmony and follow their beliefs in vegetarianism, meditation and community service. Except for Yogi Bhajan, who was born in India and came to the United States in 1969, most members of the Sikh Dharma are American-born converts who moved here to pursue their way of life. The compound is also home to Akal Security, wholly owned by the Sikh Dharma and one of the nation’s fastest-growing security companies, benefiting from a surge in post-9/11 business. With 12,000 employees and over US$1 billion in federal contracts, Akal specializes in protecting vital and sensitive government sites, from military installations to federal courts to airports and water supply systems, says this article. Alkal is the nation’s largest provider of security officers for federal courthouses, with contracts for 400 buildings in 44 states.



Akal is just one of several for-profit and nonprofit entities that are part of a larger Sikh Dharma financial empire. These include Golden Temple, a natural foods company that makes Yogi herbal teas, Soothing touch health and beauty products, Peace natural cereals, dietary supplements and private-label products for Trader Joe’s, a specialty food chain. Its annual revenues exceed $60 million. Among the nonprofit ventures owned by Sikh Dharma is the 3HO foundation, with the name standing for Healthy, Happy and Holy Organization. That group is dedicated to the spread of Kundalini yoga and Yogi Bhajan’s teachings. For the full lengthy article, click on “source” above.