Press ReleaseKUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA, January 13, 2005: On the occasion of the celebration of Tai Pongal across South India, Sri Lanka and other lands where Tamil Hindus have settled today, Datuk A. Vaithilingam, president of the Malaysia Hindu Sangam, issued the following message: “It has been the tradition for the Hindus in South India especially Tamil Nadu to offer thanks…
SourcePORT BLAIR, ANDAMANS, INDIA, January 10, 2005: In an unusual sight across the tsunami-ravaged coast of Andaman and Nicobar islands, groups of women are offering prayers to pacify the sea God. It is a sad picture of women, many of whom have lost their near and dear ones, worshipping and wishing an end to the wrath of the waves. “The…
SourceNEW DELHI, INDIA, January 8, 2005: The loss of human life in the tsunami was huge and frightening. But has anyone bothered to put a number to the animals that have also been affected? Domestic animals have been the worst hit. “Many owners left their pets behind. In some areas, dead cows can be seen tied to poles and trees,”…
SourceVANCOUVER, CANADA, January 10, 2005: A small Canadian Buddhist congregation has sold one of its temples to raise money for Asian tsunami victims. The abbot of the temple in Mission, east of Vancouver, handed a cheque for 500,000 Canadian dollars (US $405,000) to the Canadian Red Cross. A Tibetan group will now take over the temple after purchasing it from…
SourceKAUAI, HAWAII, January 10, 2005: HPI Note: The Hindu American Foundation (website here) is protesting the article, “Countless Souls Cry Out to God” by Kenneth L. Woodward, religion editor for Newsweek (“source”). They are concerned that the “Hindu” view of the disaster, given by a non-Hindu Western academic, does not reflect the actual views of Hindus. First we excerpt the…
SourceU.S.A., December 31, 2004: After many years of supposition but no real scientific data to back up their hunches, doctors and the public at large can now refer to a study that has been published in the Lancet medical journal that links fast food and type 2 diabetes. The news release says, “The results were derived after 15 years of…
SourceCHENNAI, JANUARY 11: Exactly two months after he was arrested in connection with the Sankararaman murder case, Kanchi Shankaracharya Jayendra Saraswathi was today released on bail. A beaming Shankaracharya came out from the Vellore jail at 4.30 pm and was received by BJP leader Sushma Swaraj, VHP leader Ashok Singhal, former Union Minister S Thirunavukkarasar and many devotees. Maintaining a…
SourcePHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, January 9, 2005: As Western humanitarian organizations unleash an armada of relief supplies and workers into Asia’s crisis zone, some evangelical Christian groups aim to bring the Gospel to the victims, as well. Religious groups promise to be a major presence in the massive relief and reconstruction effort. InterAction, the largest alliance of U.S.-based nongovernment organizations, reports that…
SourceALEXANDRIA, VIRGINIA, January 10, 2005: HPI Note: This article appears on the conservative web site Cybercast News Service. The Council on American-Islamic Relations, in a recent email to supporters, said Christian missionaries are “exploiting the tsunami suffering.” In its January 7 “American Muslim News Briefs,” CAIR included a report from the Agape Press, which noted that a Virginia-based Christian ministry…
SourceINDIA, January 7, 2005: Dr. Frank Gaetano Morales’ article on what he calls “Radical Universalism,” the idea that all religions are the same, says, in part, “Of the many current peculiar concepts mistakenly ascribed to Hindu theology, one of the most widely misunderstood is the idea that Hinduism somehow teaches that all religions are equal. that all religions are the…