CANADA, March 22, 2006: HPI note: The following opinion piece by Ron Benerjee, director of the Hindu Conference of Canada, appeared in the Canada Free Press:
To preserve freedom, it is vital for democratic societies to audit themselves to ensure that our actions encourage behavior in accordance with our core beliefs, and penalize unacceptable conduct. The West is doing the precise opposite in its treatment of Muslim fanatics, especially in comparison to well-behaved minorities like Hindus.
Islamist reactions to Danish cartoons, films about the treatment of Muslim women, or books, which contradict Islamic myths, are well known. The meek surrender of Western media and educational institutions to barbaric Islamist mobs threatens to destroy democracy. Schools and educational institutions are especially complicit: numerous institutions have denied their student newspapers the right to publish the cartoons to avoid “upsetting” Islamic students.
Curiously, as educational institutions bend over backwards and violate the principles of free speech to curry favor with Muslims (or perhaps to avoid jihadist violence), the educational system in California is taking a bigoted stance with respect to the peaceful Hindu minority. California school textbooks, while treating other religions including Islam with respect, have for years been describing Hinduism in inaccurate and demeaning terms which border on hate literature. The well-known inequality between the genders within Islam are described as “different roles for men and women,” while Hinduism is projected as a faith where “women were less important than men.” The “caste system,” which has effectively disappeared from modern India, is dwelled on in excessive length; with the implication that it is a common feature even today. Hindu beliefs are described as “myths” while stories from other religions are presented as facts.
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