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LONDON, ENGLAND, June 10, 2003: A serious controversy has erupted following the release of a report by the House of Lords Select Committee on Religious Offenses. The committee was asked to decide whether the present law on religious offenses, that, according to yesterday’s HPI, guarantees protection to only the Church of England, should be extended to protect all religious faiths against blasphemy or should be scrapped.



Many prominent leaders of the UK Hindu community are now shocked over a statement made by a member of the Committee, the Earl of Mar and Kellie, that was published in the minutes of the oral evidence given by the Hindu community to the Select Committee in November 2002. During an oral evidence before the members of the Select Committee, Ramesh Kallidai, speaking on behalf of the Hindu Community, pointed out an article by the Christian Medical Fellowship’s Pastor Juge Ram that claimed that Hindus were lost and spiritually blind and that Hinduism was a false religion. Responding to this statement, the Earl of Mar and Kellie said, “They (the Christian Medical Fellowship) were not actually telling any lies about the Hindu religion in the sense that they were not actually putting out any false remarks which were possibly going to distort people or mis-educate them.” (i.e. the Earl agreed Hindus were “lost and spiritually blind” and that Hinduism was a “false religion.”)



Hindu community leaders contend that a person who sits on a panel to discuss laws relating to Religious Offenses must not be seen to support a sweeping statement amounting to the of vilification of Hindus all over the world. “To say that all Hindus are spiritually lost and blind and that Hinduism is a false religion is not something that most Hindus would agree to be a truthful statement,” said Kallidai. “The crucial issue here is that the Earl purports to say that the statement, ‘Hindus are lost and spiritually blind,’ is not a distortion,” pointed out the Chair of HINCOM, Swami Nirliptananda. “It is clear that a person holding or supporting such views may not be in an appropriate position to inquire about the legalities of religious offense.” A few leaders pointed out that historically, the Houses of Parliament have witnessed earlier attempts to vilify Hindus. Lord Macaulay had made a statement in the 19th Century at the House of Commons to say that all the ancient books of wisdom from India could not compare with the one shelf of books from England.” Dr. J.C. Sharma, Director of the UK Council of Hindus said, “I’m surprised that thinking like Lord Macaulay’s still exist in modern Britain.”

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