news.bbc.co.uk

KASHMIR, INDIA, June 29, 2008: The government of Indian-administered Kashmir has said it will revoke its decision to transfer land to a body that manages an important Hindu shrine. News that the Amarnath Shrine Board was to get the forest land sparked days of protests by the area’s Muslim majority.

Three people were killed and hundreds injured, including police officers. The protests were the among the biggest in the disputed Himalayan region for years, and widened to focus on pro-independence demands.

The state government now says it will provide all the necessary facilities for pilgrims who want to visit the shrine. The government had said the land was needed for the construction of pre-fabricated huts and toilets for the pilgrims.

Separatist groups said the transfer of land was part of a “conspiracy to settle non-local Hindus in the valley with a view to reducing the Muslims to a minority”. The unrest has brought back memories of widespread protests that swept the region after a separatist insurgency began in 1989.

www.hindu.com

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, KERALA, INDIA, June 25, 2008: A group of sannyasins met the Governor of Kerala, urging him to direct the government to take action against the attack on ashrams in different parts of the State. Young militants, presumably from communist groups, have violently assaulted several religious institutions.

Swami Gangesananda (Vidyadhiraja Ashram, Panmana, Kollam), Swami Bodhi Theertha (Sivagiri Madhom), Swami Brahmapadananda Saraswati (Sree Ramadasa Ashram, Chengottukonam), Garudadwajananda (Theerthapada Ashram, Vazhoor) and Swami Abhayananda Theerthapadar (Kodakarachira, Kottayam) submitted a memorandum to the Governor. They believe the latest local political speeches are adding to the unrest.

Ashrams and their heads have been under intense criticism by the ministers of the Kerala government itself.

www.nytimes.com

NEW YORK, USA, June 27, 2008: False beliefs are everywhere. Eighteen percent of Americans think the sun revolves around the earth, one poll has found. The effort to correct misbeliefs may be more difficult than it seems, thanks to the quirky way in which our brains store memories — and mislead us along the way.

The brain does not simply gather and stockpile information as a computer’s hard drive does. Facts are stored first in the hippocampus, a structure deep in the brain about the size and shape of a fat man’s curled pinkie finger. But the information does not rest there. Every time we recall it, our brain writes it down again, and during this re-storage, it is also reprocessed. In time, the fact is gradually transferred to the cerebral cortex and is separated from the context in which it was originally learned. For example, you may know the capital of the USA is Washington, DC, but you probably don’t remember how you learned it.

In one study, a group of Stanford students was exposed repeatedly to an unsubstantiated claim that Coca-Cola is an effective paint thinner. Students who read the statement repeatedly were nearly one-third more likely to attribute it to a credible source. Apparently, the study confirm the theory from Hitler’s Minister of Propaganda, J. Goebbels, who said a lie repeated enough times becomes the truth.

Adding to this innate tendency to mold information is the way our brains fit facts into established mental frameworks. We tend to remember news that accords with our worldview, and discount statements that contradict it.

The secret to use your brain well, it seems, is open-mindedness. In the same study, when subjects were asked to imagine their reaction if evidence pointed to the opposite conclusion, they were later more open-minded to information that contradicted their beliefs. Apparently, it pays for consumers of controversial news to take a moment and consider that the opposite interpretation may be true.

www.HAFsite.org

MILPITAS, CA, USA, Jun 29, 2008: The e-mail of the Hindu American Foundation seent out in yesterday’s HPI was incorrect. For those interested in its “Hindus in South Asia and the Diaspora: A Survey of Human Rights 2007″ forum, please e-mail Samir Kalra at samir@hafsite.org

www.hinduismtoday.com

Only when man realizes the Self does he attain his full maturity and find completeness.
   Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami (1927-2001)