GO TO SOURCE EDISON, NEW JERSEY, April 20, 2002: Children of Edison Balagokulam were challenged to come up with a Ramayama play to be held during the second anniversary celebration of a monthly Ramayana paat held in New Jersey. The event was seen as an opportunity for the children to become familiar with characters in the Ramayana and to use…
GO TO SOURCE JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA, May 8, 2002: India’s top fashion designer, Jagsharan Jit Singh Valaya, took center stage this week at an exclusive exhibition of bridal garments at the Sandton Convention Centre. Known in the industry as J J, the 35-year-old Rajasthan-born fashion guru opened the Weddings, Glamour and Beauty Expo on Friday night with a stunning collection…
GO TO SOURCE NEW DELHI, INDIA, April 8, 2002: The Voice of India has released “Ayodhya, The Case Against the Temple,” by Belgium scholar Koenraad Elst. The book deals with the debate over whether or note a Hindu temple actually existed at the place known as Ramjanmabhoomi, or the birthplace of Lord Rama, in Ayodhya. Elst, who specializes in Hindu…
GO TO SOURCE THIRUVANTHAPURAM, KERALA, INDIA, May 6, 2002: This southern state of India is about to get a Christian and a Muslim TV channel in a few months. It could be a difficult venture, the local Marxists have lost a great deal of money on their Kairali channel. “In Gujarat we are suffering from mixing politics with religion,” a…
GO TO SOURCE GUJARAT, INDIA, May 7, 2002: A force of 1,000 specially-trained riot police is to be deployed in the troubled western Indian state of Gujarat. These men have been specifically trained to tackle the kind of situation that persists in Gujarat. A spokesman for the Gujarat Government told the BBC that 1,000 commandos from the northern state of…
GO TO SOURCE NEW DELHI, INDIA, May 8, 2002: This front page report in the Times of India begins, “Expressing concern over the riots in Gujarat, a blue ribbon US panel that examines issues of religious freedom has urged the Bush administration to lean on the Indian government to resolve contentious domestic issues like the Ayodhya dispute. … The Commission…
GO TO SOURCE MADURAI, INDIA, May 6, 2002: The International Tamil Conference, which concluded here on Sunday, requested Tamil Nadu government to make Tamil compulsory at “all levels.” A resolution passed at the conference, held by the International Tamil Integration Society, wanted the government to formulate an act in this regard. It urged the government to make Tamil medium compulsory…
GO TO SOURCE MUMBAI, INDIA, May 6, 2002: Hindustani classical music’s living legend Pandit Jasraj (73 yrs old) told the magazine “God And I” that his first introduction to God was when he was just 14, in the year 1944. He told of being asked along with his brother to accompany their music guru Pandit Maniramji to Ahmedabad to sing.…
GO TO SOURCE DELHI, INDIA, May 6, 2002: Manushi, the leading women’s rights magazine of India, is holding a conference on the Tehelka expose and the Gujarat riots. According to their press release, “As evidence of an unprecedented state-sanctioned pogrom in Gujarat mounts, instead of curbing and punishing those involved in the violence, the government has transferred honest officers, physically…
GO TO SOURCE SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, April 18, 2002: When T-shirts depicting Asian people in a demeaning manner appeared on the shelves of Abercrombie and Fitch in the Bay area in April of this year, Asians have reacted accordingly. One of the shirts has a slogan that says, “Wong Brothers Laundry Service…Two Wongs Can Make It White.” Two smiling Chinese…