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NEW DELHI, INDIA: K. Suresh Kurup, a Marxist Member of the Indian Parliament, has urged Prime Minister A. B.. Vajpayee to instruct the Indian representative in the UN to object to the entry of Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) into the UN Economic and Social Council. He also appealed to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan that VHP should not be granted consultative status in the council. He said the VHP, which “does not at all represent the lofty and tolerant tradition of Hindu faith,” was trying to get a consultative status in the UN Economic and Social Council. There are currently more than 1,500 organizations with such status. The Council was “established by the UN Charter as the principal organ, under the authority of the General Assembly, to promote: (a) higher standards of living, full employment, and conditions of economic and social progress and development; (b) solutions of international economic, social, health and related problems; and international cultural and educational cooperation; and (c) universal respect for, and observance of, human rights and fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language or religion.” (see www.un.org/). A quick scan of the list of 1,500 organizations (www.un.org/esa/coordination/ngo/) revealed only one other Hindu organization, the Bochasanwasi Shri Akshar Purushottam Sanstha (the Swaminarayan Fellowship under Sri Pramukh Swami Maharaj). There were dozens of Christian, Muslim and Buddhist organizations along with hundreds of social welfare groups and even the International Federation of Beekeepers’ Associations. Hardly any other India-based groups were noted on the list.

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