HOUSTON, TEXAS, September 25, 2005: The Third Annual Human Empowerment Conference (HEC), held from Friday September 16 to Sunday September 18, 2005, in Houston, Texas, was a great success where over 110 Hindu leaders, from all over the world and participating by invitation only, resolved to address numerous challenges facing the worldwide Hindu community, reports Chandrakant Panse, (“source”). Among the major resolves were to accelerate the movement to assimilate the so-called untouchables in the Hindu society and to honor everyone’s human rights equally, as well as to stop the governmental looting of Hindu temples in India by organizing a drive to transfer the control of Hindu temples from state governments to elected bodies modeled on the Sikh Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC). In view of the fact that historically more Hindus have been subjected to atrocities and terrorism, and massacred, than most other peoples combined, both a proposed Hindu Holocaust Museum and a proposed August 14 as the Annual Hindu Memorial Day, to commemorate all Hindu victims, gained significant momentum at this HEC.
Discussed among major threats to Hinduism were the huge campaigns of conversion to Christianity, funded by massive influx of foreign funds, the equally dangerous influx of illegal Bangladeshi Muslims in India, and the ever-increasing threat of terrorism in India, while Hindus in other countries, Bangladesh in particular, continue to be persecuted. Possible solutions to long-simmering problems, such as generally distorted media coverage of Hindus and Hinduism, were explored, and implementation of solutions, such as highlighting hard scientific evidence to debunk the so-called Aryan invasion and to overcome the propaganda to divide Hindus, were examined. Establishment of Dharmalaya, an extensive internet resource of Hinduism’s texts, analysis and teachings for all ages, received tremendous support. The attendees were treated to insightful talks, ranging from The Hindu Case Against Christianity by Belgian scholar Dr. Koenraad Elst to Islam’s Weakness by Dr. Moorthy Muthuswamy to remarks by legal scholars Bhishma Agnihotri, Esq., and Ved Nanda, Esq.