GO TO SOURCE AFGHANISTAN, May 9, 2002: They no longer have to wear yellow badges like the Jews under Nazi rule, but little else has changed for Afghanistan’s religious minorities, the Hindus and Sikhs. Four months ago, a new government took office, promising equal rights for all Afghans. Yet many Hindus and Sikhs say that life is no better —…
GO TO SOURCE HOLLAND, May 13, 2002: Twenty Hindu organizations here were greatly alarmed at the receipt of threatening letters containing a yellow powder (harmless, as it turned out). The obscenity-laced letter read in part, “Death to all Hindu dogs. We demand the following from you: 1. Stop your Hindu organizations and cancel all organization activity. 2. Deposit within three…
GO TO SOURCE INDIA, May 13, 2002: Francois Gautier’s latest essay, “Hinduism is India,” is available at “source” above. It begins, “Since the Gujarat riots, it looks as if a battle between two radically different Indias is happening right now, under our own eyes; and the outcome of this battle will decide what kind of India we will have in…
GO TO SOURCE TOKYO, JAPAN, May 13, 2002: Ramachandra Tantry of Japan kindly informs us that Toshio Yamanouchi’s book on Hindu Gods in Japan is available by contacting Mr. Yamanouchi at “source” above. The book is in Japanese. It has beautiful photographs, and is priced at Yen 4,800 plus tax, about US$50. There is presently a display of his work…
GO TO SOURCE NEW DELHI, INDIA, April 22, 2002: “Globally obesity has become a problem as more individuals consume vegetable oil and refined sugar in their diets,” so says the medical journal, Lancet. While Coca-Cola and McDonalds hamburgers have contributed to the problem in some countries, K. Srinath Reddy, a Professor of Cardiology at the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences,…
GO TO SOURCE ALLAHABAD, INDIA, May 9, 2002: An Indian court has urged state authorities to prevent the persecution of couples from different communities. The Allahabad High Court dismissed a private prosecution for kidnapping brought by a father against the young man his daughter had eloped with. The young couple — from different communities within India’s caste system — told…
GO TO SOURCE EUGENE, OREGON, May 9, 2002: Each year Skipping Stones, a multicultural children’s magazine, recognizes outstanding books, teaching resources and educational videos from both large and small publishers and producers. Titles selected in the four different categories for the 2002 awards encourage close relationships with nature and/or promote respect and understanding of cultural diversity in our world. The…
GO TO SOURCE KANYAKUMARI, INDIA, May 10, 2002: Vivekananda Kendra undertakes activities across India in the fields of education, rural development, socio-economic programs, personality development and management camps, yoga and publications. They have given high priority to Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland as these states in the northeast region are being culturally invaded by alien forces which destroy the very…
GO TO SOURCE NATAL, SOUTH AFRICA, May 8, 2002: Indian farmers in KwaDukuza on the North Coast say they have become sitting ducks for criminals preying on remote farmsteads. Recent attacks on farmers and their workers in Doesburg and Nonoti, two communities outside the town, have prompted the local farm watch to beef up security in the area. Some owners…
GO TO SOURCE JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA, May 8, 2002: Deshanya Thambi has founded the first Hindu Student Society at Rand Afrikaans University, dispelling the perception that you need to be a white Afrikaner to feel at home on campus. The 22-year-old BCom student says Hindus have always wanted a society of their own, but complacently accepted that they were not…