Hindu Human Rights

09-20-2006, 01:09 AM

International Religious Freedom Report 2006

The office within Foggy Bottom that is responsible for releasing this report is headed by John Hanford - whose notable qualification for this post is a - wait for it- Masters of Divinity (yes - there is such a thing!) from the Gordon-Cornwell Theological Seminary , which is an "Interdenominational Evagelical Seminary"

Since the Evangelicals across "denominations" are agreed on one thing i.e. soul-harvesting - therefore the only measure of religious freedom for them will be the fact that there should be no law that restricts conversions aka soul-harvesting.
original comments

09-20-2006, 01:31 AM

Why China publish this and not US State dept?

Full text of Human Rights Record of the US in 2005

10-05-2006, 05:32 AM

Krishnaites persecuted as public enemies -- Syd Yanyshev

11-22-2006, 12:31 PM

Blair takes up harassment of Hindus with Kazakh PresidentQUOTEBritish Prime Minister Tony Blair has raised the issue of alleged harassment of Kazakh Hindus with the President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev at a meeting in London.

The meeting took place even as 60 riot police and bulldozers assembled inside a Hindu temple in Kazakhstan and allegedly demolished five Hindu houses, the Hindu Forum of Britain said on Wednesday.

According to the Forum, the Kazakh government is allegedly planning to bulldoze a Hindu temple in the Karasai District in Kazakhstan.

In their efforts to highlight the plight of Hindus in Kazakhstan, Ashok Kumar, MP, has tabled an Early Day Motion in the House of Commons.

The Motion said, "This House, prior to the visit of the President of Kazakhstan, condemns the harassment and discrimination against Hindu minorities in Kazakhstan; notes that Hindus in the Karasai district have had land, barns and cows confiscated, have been threatened with demolition of their houses, and denied the right to own land.

It further notes that Kazakh Hindus who applied for ownership of their houses were asked to declare that they were not Hindus, while non-Hindus who made similar applications were immediately granted ownership rights.

It acknowledges that the Supreme Court reviewed two cases regarding Hindu cottages and ruled against Hindus without inviting the plaintiffs to the hearings."


Shame to Moron Singh and his gang ruling India.

01-08-2007, 08:28 AM

QUOTEhttp://www.theconservativevoice.com/article/21634.html
Kidnap Hindu, Force Marriage to Muslim
by Grant Swank
January 04, 2007

Sanao Menghwar has had three of his daughters
kidnapped, then forced to marry Muslim men. That means
that the young women were coerced into becoming
Islamics.

This happens daily, particularly in the Pakistani
Sindh province, according to Hasan Mansoor, reporter,
Midday.com.

Other Hindus in the province worry when their
daughters will disappear. Therefore, there are entire
Hindu families leaving Pakistan for Canada, India or
other nations.Menghewar and his wife left their house
on errands. When they returned to their residence,
their daughters were missing. They reported the
missing young women to the police department, filing
the necessary papers. Neighbors helped them on a
search party to locate the daughters, but to no avail.

Menghwar's daughters have yet to be found. However,
authorities have arrested three Islamic young men
assumed to be connected with the girls' kidnapping.
The men have been released on bail by a court due to
the men being minors.

"'Kidnapping Hindu girls like this has become a normal
practice. The girls are then forced to sign stamp
papers stating that they've become Muslims,' says
Laljee Menghwar, a member of the Hindu Panchayat in
Karachi."

Because of extremist Muslim threats, Hindus have had
to turn to what those in the Netherlands are resorting
to. Both areas have been under extreme pressure from
maiming and killing Islamics so that the local
citizens have put into action what one person refers
to as "self-censorship."

There is no talk. There is no public utterance. There
is nothing said negatively about the Muslims in the
area for fear of being slain.

So it is that extremist Islamic killers international
could overtake country after country, area after area.
Instill such fear in the people that no one speaks the
facts concerning local extremist Islamics kidnapping
and killing; therefore, they have open skies to do
just that â more so.

"'Hindus here are too frightened to vent their anger â
they fear victimization,' said one local."

Nevertheless, Pakistani Christian community members
have come to their aid. The Christians have organized
support for the Hindus persecuted by extremist
Muslims. The Christians have "carried out a
demonstration with them in Karachi, protesting against
this crime.

"Similarly startling incidents have occurred in
several districts of Sindh and evoked identical
responses. At least six Hindu girls met this fate a
few months ago in Jacobabad (a tribal area heavily
inhabited by Hindus) and Larkana districts.

"Sapna, the daughter of one Seth Giyanchand, was
recently taken to a shrine (Amrote in Shikarpur
district) by Shamsuddin Dasti. Dasti, a Muslim friend
of Sapna's brother, is a married man and father of
two.

"Nevertheless, the custodian of the shrine, Maulvi
Abdul Aziz lost no time in converting Sapna to Islam
(her name was changed to `Mehek') and marrying her to
Dasti. The case came to light only when Sapna's
parents stated that their daughter hadn't eloped but
had been abducted."

Islamic fanaticism is increasing alarmingly, according
to Nuzzhat Shirin of the Aurat Foundation. The
extremist fanatics erect shrines that are used in
coercing "conversions." When a Hindu is forced to
become a Muslim, zealot extremist Islamics gather at
the shrines, chanting and singing and marching in the
streets.

Such a ruckus is made that if the young kidnapped girl
appears in court, the fanatic Muslims yell, scream,
throw rose petals into the air and follow the youth
into the building so that she is so intimidated that
she can hardly speak.

It is extremist Muslim winning by intimidation. It is
extremist Muslim overcoming a culture by threatening.
It is by extremist Islamics abducting young girls that
an entire community is snuffed out by moving away or
succumbing to the extremist Muslim murderers global.

"The threat of victimization by Muslims is palpable;
Shirin says when forced conversion cases make it to
court, lawyers themselves avoid taking them up,
fearing a backlash from maulvis."

It is the same with so-called "honor killing." When
extremist Muslim males slay a Hindu female whom they
have accused of dishonoring the clan in some way,
usually police and media say nothing, looking the
other way. Therefore, the slaughtering of innocent
females continues daily.

"And forced conversions are not the only problem that
the Hindu minority (there are 2.7 million Hindus in
Pakistan; Pakistan's total population is 140 million)
is facing in the country.

"A powerful syndicate of bandits and patrons in the
northern districts of Sindh regularly kidnap rich
Hindus for ransom. They not only kill hostages if the
ransom doesn't arrive on time, they even kill some
despite their ransom being paid.

"Sadham Chand Chawla, the former president of the
Hindu Panchayat, Jacobabad, was abducted and murdered.
His killers remain at large despite enormous protests.
Following his murder, his family had received several
threats until they secretly migrated to India."

Bharatvarsh · 01-19-2007, 09:26 PM

QUOTEPerpetrators set fire on 10 Hindu Minority houses at Baniachang Upazilla of Habiganj District.

Perpetrators set fire on 10 Hindu Minority houses on last Monday (08.01.2007) at Baniachang Upazilla of Habiganj District. Ten houses including one cow burnt to ashes. Women and Children became destitute and shelterless.(The daily Samakal dated 16.01.2007)

HABIGANJ: Staff Reporter:Â A group of perpetrators set fire on ten minority houses on last Monday at Baniachang Upazilla of Habiganj District. Before setting fire on the houses, perpetrators looted belongings of the minority family. Bholanath Das (60) was seriously injured due to being set on fire. One hundred fifty person including children and women have become homeless and shelter less.

It is learnt that the perpetrators were trying to evict those ten families of Gunpur village under Baniachang Upazilla since long. The local people said that the perpetrators might have committed this offence.

On last Monday morning early time of the day the perpetrators initially set fire on the house of Bholanath Das. Within twinkling of an eye the fire broke out and engulfed adjacent more 9 minority houses. The local people came and tried to extinguish the fire continuously for several hours and subsequently came under control.Â The houses of ten minority families including the houses of Ranga Lal Das, Bholanath Das, Banabashi Das, Fulchand Das including a cow were burnt to ashes.

Before setting fire perpetrators looted fishing nets valued at Taka 50,000/- and paddies valued at Taka 50,000/- belonging to minority destitute victims. Total cost of damages caused due to fire stands Taka more than 15 million as initial estimation. More than 150 children and women belonging to minority community are passing their days under the sky in this severe cold weather prevailing there.

Through:
Rabindra Ghosh
Published Wednesday, January 17, 2007 8:37 PM by Administrator

http://hrcbmdfw.org/blogs/bangladesh/archi.../01/17/594.aspx

Bharatvarsh · 01-27-2007, 09:33 PM

QUOTE166 Pakistani Hindus to get citizenship
(PTI)

27 January 2007

JAIPUR â Altogether 166 Hindus migrated from Pakistan and living in Sriganganagar district would be given Indian citizenship by February end, a top official said on Thursday.

These migrants were living in the district for more than last seven years and hence as per the central government's rules, the citizenship would be granted, District Collector K.L. Meena told PTI over phone. Last year, about 2000 such migrants were given citizenship in the very district, he said, adding it was a continuous process.

http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle...bcontinent&col=

02-02-2007, 08:30 AM

QUOTEhttp://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/US_body_flays_Centre_for_ignoring_JK/articleshow/1551365.cms
Hindu body in US flays Centre for ignoring Kashmir 

NEW YORK: A US-based Hindu rights group has accused successive Indian governments of paying scant attention to the Hindu minority in Jammu and Kashmir where they are suffering âgrievous violationâ of human rights.

The discrimination suffered by Hindus go unnoticed as they, unlike Christians and Muslims, lack organizations to focus on the difficulties and humiliations faced by them, the president of the Hindu American Foundation, Mihir Meghani, said at a fundraiser organised by the group here.

âThe media in India and abroad have taken the cue from this fateful silence over violations of human rights of Kashmiri Hindus by largely ignoring them. The world human rights organisations have also been muted in their response to the tragedy that has overtaken Kashmiri Hindus,â the foundation said.

The organisation also announced plans to organise a series of fundraisers to collect one million dollars to agitate for the causes of Hindus worldwide. 

A report which said that Hindus suffered high level of discrimination in Bangladesh, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Fiji and several other Islamic nations was also circulated. The report gave country-wise instances of discrimination and hate-crimes and damage suffered by their religions places.

Bharatvarsh · 02-10-2007, 11:17 PM

QUOTEMalaysia: Indian origin siblings want change in religion

February 09, 2007 15:04 IST

Two siblings of ethnic Indian origin claiming to be Hindus have demanded that Malaysian authorities change their religion on their birth certificates that show them as Muslims.

S Jeevanathan, 22, and his sister S Maneemegalay, 21, are practising Hindus and are worried about their future as they have been certified as Muslims after their father K Seshadri converted from Hinduism to Islam before they were born.

Children of Muslim parents in Malaysia are automatically certified as Muslims, and conversions are rarely permitted.

Jeevanathan said his father converted to Islam as an 18-year-old after his grandparents decided to embrace the religion.

Their father reverted to Hinduism in 1991, but was buried by Islamic authorities as a Muslim last month despite the protests of his children, the New Straits Times said on Friday.

Jeevanathan also claimed that the religious department officers had intimidated and threatened him and his sister before taking away their father's body on that ill fated day.

The siblings, registered as Hindus on their identity cards, are trying to change their Muslim status on their birth certificates but have been turned down so far by Malaysia's National Registration Department.

Malacca religious department enforcement head Rahimin Bani said the department claimed Seshadri's body based on the police report lodged by his children from his first marriage.

"According to the law, when one embraces Islam, there is no provision that allows him to take another religion or go back to his former religion," Bani said.

In 2005, religious and racial tensions were raised when an ethnic Indian mountaineering hero born a Hindu was buried as a Muslim despite his family's protests.

http://us.rediff.com/news/2007/feb/09malay.htm

03-10-2007, 09:25 PM

Hindu burnt alive in Kotri
As reported in Daily Pakistan, a Hindu was burnt alive in the Sindh district, Kotri. Police have allegedly arrested two people belonging to a banned outfit. According to the police the burnt corpse of the Hindu engineer Gharish Kumar was recovered from a religious madrassa. The madrassaâs director and his son kidnapped Kumar in August 2006 and then burnt him alive. Police sources claimed that both the culprits belong to Harkat-ul-Mujahideen.

Bharatvarsh · 03-22-2007, 01:11 AM

QUOTESindhi Hindus form new political party to fight rising trend of kidnappings

Karachi, Mar 5 : As a mark of protest and in a bid to address the rising trend of kidnapping, extortion and other torture cases against religious minorities, especially the Hindus in the Sindh province, several Hindu leaders here have unanimously formed a joint platform, the Sindh Minority Alliance.

The organization was formed on Saturday at a meeting attended by several hundred Hindus who selected Mahadev Dheerani as the new president of the alliance, reported the Daily Times.

According to the paper, former MPA Bheru Lal Balani and DM Maharaj were selected as vice president and secretary general of the alliance.

--- ANI

http://www.newkerala.com/news4.php?actio...&id=113294
QUOTEHindus feel the heat in PakistanÂ
Riaz Sohail
BBC News, KarachiÂ

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6367773.stm

04-15-2007, 01:22 AM

QUOTEGajipur Puja Premises Ransacked, Destroyed, 10 People Wounded
Dhaka, Bangladesh

People from Gajipur Jama Masjid last Friday, after the Juma namaz (prayer),
attacked Hindu Kali Temple's main yearly Puja premises. Attackers destroyed the Puja pandal gate, loud speaker, ornaments and idols. They also desecrated the
clothes and puja prasad (offerings). The attackers came armed with axes, knives,
swords and sticks. They also looted nearby shops owned by local Hindus.

The Muslim fundamentalists who carried out the attack claimed that the puja loud speaker disturbed their namaz (prayer). However, questions were raised about the collection of weapons in a short notice. Hindu leaders claimed that the attack was premeditated.

Eyewitnesses recollected that around 1:45 pm at the city's main Jama masjid,
soon after the Juma prayer some Muslims shouted 'Narare Takbeer, Alha-hu-Akber'
and attacked the Hindu Kali Temple 150 yards away. The Muslims claimed that
during the namaz (prayer) there was sound from the Puja pandal. The attackers
tore down the decorated entrance to the Puja and stormed the main compound of
the Kali Temple with loud noise. Eyewitnesses claim that the attackers had
knives, swords, sticks and axes.

The attackers entered the main Puja premises of the temple and desecrated the
ornaments and Puja clothes. Some broke the Lakshmi, RamKrishna and Durga idols and completely disrobed them. The attackers also desecrated the prasad
(offerings) brought by the Hindu devotees. Stones were pelted on all devotees.

In this attack Khirbala Saha, Tulu, Subhash and 7 other priests were injured. In
panic, women and children started crying and running. Some neighboring shops
owned by Hindus were also looted and cash was stolen.

Just behind the Kali Temple is the Joydebpur police station. In spite of
tremendous noise, police did not come to the rescue and delayed their presence
by hours. After 45 minutes, around 2:30 pm, the attackers calmed down.

Some leaders of the Hindu organizations have claimed that the incident was
pre-planned. The attack by Muslims with knives and axes proves that the attack
was premeditated. They also informed that during the construction of the main
Puja gate, some local businessmen obstructed them. This incident has created
disharmony in the community. Hindu leaders have provided names of 20 attackers
including Hatem, Lalu, Badshah, Mujibur, Najrul and Mohammed Ali.

In protest of this act of violence against minority Hindus, Gajipur Puja
Committee requested for the cancellation all Durga Pujas in the district.

Gajipur Puja Committee head Mr. Ajit Kumar Chowdhury stated 'if the idol is
desecrated then the Puja can not continue.'

After the attack, Police Superintendent Farukh Ahmad Chowdhury and Gajipur
Municipal Chairman A.K.M. Mozammel Haque visited the ransacked site. In a
statement, Gajipur District Commissioner Mr. Samsul Haque informed that he would initiate a commission with two persons to investigate the incident.

http://www.bangladesh.com/forums/human-rig...hts-viola\
ted-bengladesh-persecution-chritians-hindus-buddus-3.html

05-03-2007, 12:13 AM

Pune: The exhibition held at Bal Gandharva hall in Pune concluded with almost 20,000 citizens visiting the exhibition in 3 days. Every citizen who visited the exhibition was moved to learn about the situation in Kashmir. Many showed interest in participating in the activities of Hindu Janajagruti Samiti and felt that such exhibition should be held all over the country and we must fight terrorism.

âOur Hindu brethren in Kashmir are going through such difficult and heart-rending situation; fighting terrorism; but still they have managed to live as Hindus. The Government and even media have tried to conceal this situation and the facts from public as also protected terroristsâ, Citizens of Pune gave their reactions in the above manner after visiting the photo exhibition on âTerrorism in Kashmir and genocide of Hindusâ. The alert citizens of Pune felt that it was necessary that every Hindu knows about the atrocities against Hindus living in Kashmir.

Full Text & more Pics http://www.hindujagruti.org/news/article/m...u-genocide.html

05-05-2007, 05:21 PM

http://www.metimes.com/storyview.php?Story...03-060203-5633r
The title is not indicative (this is an article in the Middle East Times) - the important bits are hidden away in the text:
QUOTEHindu gets custody of children from Muslim wife
May 3, 2007

KUALA LUMPUR --Â A Malaysian Hindu man forcibly separated from his Muslim wife by Islamic authorities because they are of different religions was Thursday granted custody of their children in a milestone case.

The children will be raised as Hindus in central Selangor state despite having one Muslim parent - which lawyers said was unprecedented in mainly Muslim Malaysia.

Selangor Islamic authorities last month forcibly separated ethnic Indian P. Marimuthu from his ethnic Indian Muslim wife of 21 years, Raimah Bibi Noordin and six of their seven children.

During a high court hearing west of Kuala Lumpur, Raimah, 39, clad in traditional Malay floor-length attire with a Muslim headscarf, told the judge that she was voluntarily giving up custody of her children.

"I agree to hand over the custody of my children to my husband to be raised as Hindus," Raimah said, before she broke down in tears.

Under Malaysian law, a non-Muslim must convert to Islam in order to marry a Muslim, and children born to Muslims must be raised as followers of that religion.

Government legal advisor Zauyah Be Loth Khan said that Selangor's Islamic Affairs Department did not object to the children being raised as Hindus.

"She is still entitled to visiting rights at any time," Zauyah told reporters.

"It sets a new precedent," said Marimuthu's lawyer Karpal Singh, also a lawmaker with the opposition Democratic Action Party (DAP).

Marimuthu, 43, applied for custody of the children after they were placed with Raimah in an ethnic Malay Muslim village.
(So she's been separated from him and then moved to an islamic village where her children were placed with her initially)

Islamic authorities said that they separated the couple after they recently found out that she was a Muslim.

"I have had discussions with my husband ... with regard to the predicament facing the both of us, and I hereby state that I was born a Muslim and I wish to continue professing the Islamic faith," Raimah said in an affidavit to the court.

Marimuthu has said that Raimah, an ethnic Indian, was adopted by an Indian Muslim family but was a practicing Hindu.

They were married 21 years ago according to Hindu rites and raised their seven children, aged four to 14, as Hindus, he said.

Raimah's case comes amid growing sensitivities over the rights of non-Muslims in Malaysia.

Rights groups have condemned the actions of the Islamic authorities, saying that freedom of religious practice is guaranteed in Malaysia's constitution.

"Relationships should not be broken up by religion, which is supposed to foster family love and unity," said DAP parliamentary opposition leader Lim Kit Siang.Her husband probably doesn't know enough about islam, he shouldn't have said she was a practising Hindu - that could have got her into trouble. She can't say she is an apostate, she'll be killed. So, since her future is now out of her control, she says she's a muslim. Since she has been separated from her husband, she wants the children to be raised by him since he can still be Hindu. She's a very brave woman.

What is Malaysia doing, tracking down every person born muslim and making sure they are still muslim and so too their children? Why have they just now pounced on this couple of 21 years?

06-21-2007, 12:07 AM

07-11-2007, 09:17 PM

Human Rights Groups Censures Eleven Countries for Abuses Against Hindus

Hindu American Foundation Releases Third Annual Hindu Human Rights Report

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

For Media Inquiries contact:
HAF Executive Director
Ishani Chowdhury
Office: 301.770.7835
Fax: 301.770.7837
Email: ishani@hafsite.org

WASHINGTON, D.C. (July 11, 2007) - The Hindu American Foundation (HAF), the leading U.S. based Hindu human rights group, released its third annual report today on the discrimination against Hindus in countries across the world. The report was released today at the foundationâs Washington , D.C. area offices. The expansive, two hundred page report documenting abuses against Hindus in eleven countries and regions is already receiving widespread support by members of the U.S. Congress, community leaders, scholars, and several international human rights groups.

As in years past, the chairs of the Congressional India caucus and other members of Congress reviewed a pre-release version of the report. Congressman Joe Wilson (R- South Carolina) stated that "Human rights abuses must be taken seriously, and this survey provides valuable information to keep my colleagues and me informed about unfortunate threats against Hindus around the world."

This yearâs report includes documentation of significant human rights abuses directed against Hindu communities in Afghanistan , Bangladesh , Bhutan , Fiji , the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir , Kazakhstan , Malaysia , Pakistan , Saudi Arabia , Sri Lanka , and Trinidad and Tobago . The report is prefaced by a detailed executive summary that provides specific recommendations that the foundation is proposing to improve the human rights situation in each listed country.

Endorsements for the third annual report were received from several academics and from organizations, including the Bânai Brith International to the Human Rights First Society of Saudi Arabia.

"Several years ago in testimony to Congress regarding Religious Freedom in Saudi Arabia, I called for adding Hindus, Sikhs and Buddhists to oppressed religious groups who are banned from practicing their religious and cultural rights in Saudi Arabia," said Ali Al-Ahmed, Director of the Washington, DC based Institute for Gulf Affairs. "This report is a great effort in bringing to attention the religious rights and freedoms of 1 billion people with magnificent culture and a great civilization."

As in past years, Bangladesh warranted added censure for the most egregious violations with 461 documented acts of murder, rape, arson, temple desecrations and other atrocities. While the departure of the previous Khaleda Zia government with its Islamist alliance has brought new hope to Bangladesh, and an interim government in Fiji may also benefit Hindus in the Republic of Fiji, the need for sustained vigilance is emphasized in the report in all countries where Hindus have faced discrimination and have had their rights curtailed.

"From three countries that we covered two years ago, to eleven this year, HAFâs annual exercise in documenting human rights abuse is continually expanding. The countries covered in this report are not rank-ordered in terms of level of discrimination and human rights abuse, nor does it mean that each of the eleven are abusers of human rights to the same extent," said Ramesh Rao, Executive Council Member of HAF, and the primary author of the report. "What is important in the report is the careful documentation of attacks against Hindus, Hindu institutions, and Hindu places of worship â providing a unique record of human rights abuse that other human rights agencies either gloss over or report only in general terms."

The report is available at http://www.hafsite.org/pdf/HHR2006.pdf.

Additional information is available at http://www.hafsite.org/media_press_release...ndorsements.htm
The Hindu American Foundation is a 501Â©(3), non-profit, non-partisan organization promoting the Hindu and American ideals of understanding, tolerance and pluralism. Contact HAF at 1-301-770-7835 or on the web at www.HAFsite.org.

Bharatvarsh · 07-18-2007, 08:30 PM

QUOTEHindus facing persecution
Report charts human rights abuses that Hindus in and outside of India dealt with in '06.

By Russell Working
Tribune staff reporter
Published July 13, 2007

Bolingbrook resident Raj Koul was a student in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir when Islamic extremists launched an ethnic cleansing campaign against Hindus.

As mobs in the Muslim-majority state ransacked homes and killed residents, someone pasted a poster on the Kouls' door ordering them to leave within 24 hours, the United Airlines project manager says. After the family fled in 1990, they learned that a relative had been murdered.

Koul hears echoes of his experiences in a report from the Maryland-based Hindu American Foundation, "Hindus in South Asia and the Diaspora: A Survey of Human Rights 2006," that censures 10 countries and the Jammu and Kashmir region for human rights abuses against Hindus.

The report, released this week, also cites abuses in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Fiji, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, and Trinidad and Tobago.

A number of the nations are Muslim -- where the Hindu ritual use of carved deities is often perceived as idolatry -- but the foundation reports persecution by the Buddhist monarchy in the Himalayan nation of Bhutan, and by Christians in the Pacific archipelago of Fiji and the Caribbean nation of Trinidad and Tobago.

Hinduism, one of the world's oldest surviving religions, has 1 billion adherents worldwide, but they are a minority outside India, making them vulnerable, said Ishani Chowdhury, the foundation's executive director. Many of the countries cited have religiously oriented governments.

"If you're considered an outsider because you don't show the majority community's faith, it culminates to the point where there is such extreme violence," Chowdhury said.

Human-rights group Amnesty International has confirmed abuses in a number of the countries mentioned, including the kidnapping, torture and killing of Hindu civilians in Jammu and Kashmir by Islamist rebels. But the agency has not studied the treatment of Hindus alone, said spokesman T. Kumar.

"We have documented abuses against all religious minorities in Pakistan and in Bangladesh," he said.

In Bangladesh, actions against Hindus by Islamic fundamentalists included 461 incidents of murder, rape, kidnappings and temple destruction during the nine months of 2006 for which data is available, according to the report.

Officials at the Bengali Embassy in Washington did not respond to phone messages and a fax. But a statement on the embassy's Web site downplayed sectarian discord there.

"In a country which is deeply committed to democratic practices and tolerance, communal disharmony is farthest from people's mind," the embassy stated. "On the contrary, Bangladesh has been universally described as moderate, functioning Muslim democracy."

The foundation compiled its report with the help of international and grass-roots organizations, ranging from Human Rights Watch to the Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council. Media accounts of violence and abuse are frequently cited.

In Pakistan, a country where Hindus constitute 1.6 percent of the population, Hindu girls were kidnapped, raped, held in Islamic seminaries and forcibly converted, the report stated. Temples were destroyed, and 5,000 Hindus fled violence in the Balochistan region, the report said.

A Hindu temple in Karachi was seized and converted into a slaughterhouse, Hindu pilgrims have been attacked and murdered and minorities are disproportionately targeted by Islamic blasphemy laws, the report said.

Abuses continued this year, according to news reports. In February, at least six Pakistani Hindu women were gang-raped. In one instance, eight gunmen invaded the home of a Hindu family, raped three women and robbed them, the Balochistan Times reported.

Nadeem Haider Kiani, press attache at the Pakistani Embassy in Washington, said the report's section on his country is erroneous and exaggerated. Minorities are an important part of Pakistani society and have seats in federal and local legislatures, he said. Muslims also fled unrest in Balochistan and most refugees have returned, Kaini said.

"With the mushroom growth of electronic media and print media in Pakistan, if a crime is committed in any corner of Pakistan, it is blown out of proportion in the media," he said.

In Koul's case, the anguish of his people was personal. An elderly uncle who refused to flee was kidnapped and found hanging from a tree, his eyes gouged out and genitals cut off, Koul said.

Koul worries that the West does not understand the danger of extremism in the region and elsewhere.

"We were kicked out because of our religion, just because we were Hindus," said Koul, who is director of the Midwest region of the Indo-American Kashmir Forum, which seeks to call attention to the human rights abuses in the region (this sentence as published has been corrected in this text). "Losing your birthplace and you can't go back -- it is a very, very tragic experience."

About 70 families from Jammu and Kashmir live in the Chicago area, he said.

Ashish Ganju of Naperville was unable to return to the region after rioting broke out in 1989 while he was traveling. His cousin's husband, a police officer, faced a fate similar to that of Koul's uncle.

The man was lured from his home by people who said they just wanted to talk, Ganju said. Instead, his captors gouged out his eyes, tore off his nails and peeled off pieces of his skin.

"He was found by the road in a gunnysack, cut up in pieces," Ganju said.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/n...ack=3&cset=true

08-04-2007, 03:47 AM

QUOTEAugust 1, 2007, Washington D.C., USA

Need to protect the rights of Hindus in Bangladesh:
Key Congressmen observe

Washington D.C., August 1, 2007: An exhibition of photos and panels vividly describing the atrocities on Hindus in Bangladesh caught the attention of influential Congressmen and key policymakers from the Bush administration this week.

The two day-exhibition titled "Asru" was held at the Rayburn House Office Building at the US Capitol on July 30 and July 31. The exhibit of 28 panels, which graphically chronicled the deteriorating condition of the Hindus and other religious minorities in Bangladesh over the past several decades, was put together by the Human Rights Congress for Bangladesh Minorities (HRCBM) and Foundation Against Continuing Terrorism (FACT).

"It is time that the world knew what is happening with the Hindu minorities in Bangladesh," said Amalendu Chatterjee, HRCBM Director. The population of the Hindus in this Muslim-majority country, he pointed out, has dropped from as high as 37 percent in 1940s to a mere 11 percent now. "It is all because of the atrocities perpetrated on the Hindus by the ruling class all these years," he said.

In organizing an exhibition on the plight of Hindus and other minorities in Bangladesh for the first time in the history of the Capitol, the efforts of HRCBM and FACT did cut ice among the Congressmen and key policymakers who took time out of their busy schedule to take a look at what was on display. "All the representatives and their staffers reiterated the need to protect the rights of minorities and to deal with Islamic groups in a resolute manner," said Utsav Chakrabarti, the designer of the exhibit and member of FACT.

The exhibition received bipartisan support from Congressional leaders and was attended by concerned citizens, political analysts and human rights representatives.

Moved by the graphic description of the condition of the Hindus and other religious minorities in Bangladesh, powerful Congressman Ed Royce (R-CA) said in the visitor's book kept at the exhibition: "The international community must take action against these genocidal acts now before this culture is extinguished and the minorities forcibly killed, converted, or exiled in the face of an underground jihad."Â

Royce who spent more than an hour at the exhibition hall visiting each and every panel expressed optimism that due to this effort by HRCBM and FACT, members of Congress will be educated "as to the extreme challenge and persecution faced by Hindus, Buddhists and Christians due to the threat posed by Islamic fundamentalism in Bangladesh."Â

Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ), who sponsored the event at the Capitol said after visiting the exhibition: "I was proud to be the Congressional sponsor of this important exhibit on human rights in Bangladesh.Â I believe it helped to bring much-needed attention to the plight of minorities in Bangladesh who have suffered from increasing attacks over the past few years."

Influential Joseph Crowley (D-NY), founder and co-chair of the Congressional Caucus for Bangladesh, and member of the Congressional Human Rights Caucus, said the exhibition "serves as an important reminder to the international community that we must remain vigilant in preventing violence, suffering and loss around the world." He expressed his willingness to "continue working with my colleagues in Congress to help all of the people of Bangladesh to ensure their religious and ethnic backgrounds are respected".Â

The event also had presentations by Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), Ranking Member on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Rep. Mark Kirk (R-IL), co-chair of the Congressional Caucus for Bangladesh, Rep. Steve Chabot (R-OH), and Rep. Bob Etheridge (D-NC),

Other speakers at a panel discussion organized during the exhibition period included Richard Benkin, author, human rights activist, and defender of Bangladeshi journalist Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury; Shahriar Kabir, reputed journalist and human rights activist; Samaresh Baidya, senior reporter of Daily Bhorer Kagoj, a news daily in Bangladesh; and Toni Van Pelt, Government Affairs Director, Center for Inquiry Office of Public Policy. Also present at the event were Steve Snow, Senior Policy Analyst at United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), and T. Kumar, Advocacy Director, Asia & Pacific, Amnesty International USA.

All the representatives and their staffers reiterated the need to protect the rights of minorities and to deal with Islamic groups in a resolute manner.Â

Toni Van Pelt expressed dismay at the apathy of the human rights groups towards Hindu rape and molestation victims, while urging the media to take the cause of Hindus in Bangladesh by reporting such incidents.

Shahriar Kabir urged for global pressure on governments in Bangladesh to take stringent action against Jamaat-e-Islam for its role in continuing atrocities against minorities. He also reiterated the need to repeal the vested interest property act which allows the government of Bangladesh to confiscate properties of non-resident Hindus and others it deems as an enemy of the state.

Samaresh Baidya narrated his first-hand experience facing the wrath of fundamentalist Islamists. He underlined the need for the journalist community to expose the reality of religious intolerance and persecution.

Dwijen Bhattachariya, from the Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council, and Professor at Columbia University, felt that Bangladesh was quickly turning into a Taliban-like state with potential for becoming a breeding ground for the next generation of jihadi terrorists.

Rosalind Costa, a social worker from Bangladesh narrated her experience rescuing women in rural areas. She described the case of two minor rape victims Rita Rani Das and Purnima Shil who were gang-raped by Jihadis and forcibly converted to Islam.

"Our goal was to create awareness and activism in order to alleviate the plight of Hindus and other religious minorities in that region. And we have achieved it," said Chatterjee, adding that encouraged by the response, the organizers have now decided to take this exhibition to other parts of the country as well, with Houston being its next destination later this month.

Human Rights Congress for Bangladesh Minorities: HRCBM is a non-profit organization holding consultative status with the United Nations. It is dedicated to protecting the human rights of religious minorities in Bangladesh.

Foundation Against Continuing Terrorism: FACT is non-profit organization dedicated to raising awareness of the effects of terrorism in South Asia through exhibitions and conferences.

Contact details:

Dr. Amalendu Chatterjee, Executive Director
Human Rights Congress for Bangladesh Minorities
Ph: 919-674-2029
Email: amalendu.chatterjee @eximsoft. com

Kanchan Banerjee, Event Coordinator
IPremm, Inc.
Ph: 617-306-6609
Email: kanchan@ipremm. com

Foundation Against Continuing Terrorism (FACT)
contact@factusa. org
www.factusa. org/bdesh/ teaser/

Photo title (in separate attachment)
Rep. Ed Royce (R-CA), in discussion with Dr Amalendu Chatterjee (right) and Mr. Kanchan Banerjee (back)

08-29-2007, 03:55 PM

QUOTEhttp://www.usinpac. com/articles1. asp

Was the US Senate Attack on Hinduism an isolated Instance?

Article by: Rajiv Malhotra, USINPAC Leadership Committee Member

The US Senate has a long tradition of opening with Bible prayers, occasionally extending a symbolic courtesy to prayers of other faiths. For the first time in its history a Hindu priest was invited to conduct the opening prayer. Indian-Americans, having contributed immensely to America, naturally felt proud to be afforded equal respect alongside other American religions. But the Hindu prayer was attacked as an âabominationâ by hate-filled heckling that resulted from an organized mobilization by civic groups such as the American Family Association attempting, to demonize Hinduism as heathen, immoral and dangerously un-American. The President of the Family Research Council mobilized Americans to block the Hindu priest, saying, âThere is no historic connection between America and the polytheistic creed of Hinduism.â David Barton, one of the scholars informing the attackers, declared that Hinduism was ânot a religion that has produced great things in the world," citing social conditions in India as proof of its primitiveness.

The denigration of Hinduism influences the way Americans relate to Indians. Andrew Rotter, an American historian, in his book on the US foreign policyâs tilt a
gainst India and towards Pakistan during the Nehru era, cites declassified documents revealing US presidentsâ and diplomatsâ suspicions of Hinduism. They regarded âHindu Indiaâ as lacking morality and integrity, and its âgrotesque imagesâ reminded them of previous pagan faiths conquered by Christians, such as Native Americans. American ideas about India are intertwined with stereotypes about Hinduism.

There are domestic implications concerning the diaspora as well. The great American meritocracy has enabled us to succeed as individuals, and many Indians see American Jews as a role model. But it took the Jews over half a century of organized lobbying and litigation by organizations such as the Anti-Defamation League, to establish their religious identity in public life. The lesson Jews had learnt in the European Holocaust was that their individual success could easily be used against them if their civilizational identity was defamed. Indians also faced hate crimes in New Jersey when the Dotbusters targeted Hindus. Recent rants by Pat Buchanan and Lou Dobbs generate xenophobia against Indians for âstealingâ jobs from ârealâ (i.e. white Judeo-Christian) Americans. As Indian-Americans stand out for their individual success, while US economic standards deteriorate, we may one day regret having neglected the projection of a positive civilizational image. Unlike many other ethnic and religious groups, we have not adequately engaged US universities, schools, media and think-tanks deeper than the pop culture layer of cuisine, Bollywood and fashions. On the contrary, many Indian writers have fed the âcaste, cows, curryâ images of India.

Hindu-Americans need to be educated on the history of American public religion and the âAmerican wayâ of claiming oneâs religious identity across the spectrum of liberals and conservatives. In fact, even liberal
Americans have always been a very Christian people. Hilary Clintonâs devout Christianity has shaped her liberalism. She told New York Times that her Methodist faith has been âa huge part of who I am, and how I have seen the world and what I believe in, and what I have tried to do in my life.â She carries a Bible on her campaign travels and confidently quotes from St. Augustine, Thomas Aquinas and John Wesley, the father of Methodism. Another liberal, Barak Obama, proudly projects his Christianity and delivers many of his key campaign speeches before church congregations. It comes as a surprise to many secular Indians that the very liberal President Jimmy Carter describes himself as a Bible evangelist, and asserts that his Christian faith provided the moral compass to guide his presidency.

Liberalism in America is about egalitarian economic and race policies, and is not a rejection or even a departure from the nationâs majority religion, i.e. Christianity. The equivalent scenario would be for Indiaâs CPM leaders (the liberal/left equivalent of Obama, Clinton and Carter) to quote Hindu sacred texts and deliver campaign speeches in major Hindu temples. While American labor unions have always been very deeply rooted in Christianity, Indiaâs labor unions are encouraged to discard the Hindu identity. Unlike in Europe, American public life has never abandoned its deep rooted Christian foundations. Americaâs separation of state and church affects only formal institutions, and does not imply de-Christianizing the leadership or the national ethos.

Indian intellectuals have misunderstood Americaâs Christian psyche because the Indian notion of secularism in India is very different to that of the American. Indian secularism requires distancing from the majority religion, i.e. Hinduism, by one or more of the following ways: by espousing a âgeneric spiritualityâ without any specific religious identity, by condemning any Hindu identity as a mark of communalism with BJP links, or by explicitly blaming Hinduism for all sorts of human rights problems. The equivalent situation would be to blame the Bible for all the US abuses in Guantanamo and in its domestic society, and to de-Christianize America into a sort of generic spirituality. While Hinduism, like all other world religions, does have social problems, it also has internally generated reformations, as well as immense resources to deal with the human condition.

Unraveling this requires understanding Hinduphobiaâs nexus in the American academy and seminaries. This is the subject of a well-researched eye-opening new book, titled, Invading the Sacred: An analysis of Hinduism Studies in America. (See: www.invadingthesacr ed.com for details.) The book exposes influential scholars who have disparaged the Bhagavad Gita as âa dishonest bookâ; declared Ganeshaâs trunk a âlimp phallusâ; classified the Hindu Devi as the âmother with a penisâ and Shiva as âa notorious womanizerâ who incites violence in India; pronounced Sri Ramakrishna a pedophile who sexually molested the young Swami Vivekananda; condemned Indian mothers as being less loving of their children than white women; and interpreted the bindi as a drop of menstrual fluid and the âhaâ in sacred mantras as a womanâs sound during orgasm. To understand the hatred spewed at us by the Senate hecklers one needs to understand the systemic creation and distribution of such one-sided âdataâ by an army of âscholarsâ whose mission is to bolster the image of Hinduism as a danger to the American way of life.

08-31-2007, 01:25 AM

QUOTEDevi temple attacked by NDF terrorists, number of devotees injured
8/30/2007 4:07:57 AMÂ HK Correspondent
KAYAMKULAM : Pullikanakku Mannathu Devi Temple has attacked by a group of 10 NDF terrorists yesterday. The sudden attack carried out at 7.30 pm yesterday during Deeparadhana time. A group of 10 terrorists entered the temple with swords & other weapons and attacked the devotees while they were awaiting in front of Sreekovil for Deeparadhana. The terrorists then dismantled the roof of the Sreekovil & its foundation.

The injured devotees are Anandavalli, Sarojini, Podiyan, Raji, Binu, Smithin and Nandu. They were admitted the govt. hospital, Kayamkulam.

Police arrested two NDF terrorists in connection with the attack and identified another three. The arrested terrorists are Shuqoor and Shaabu.Â 

Human rights or minority commision will never ask for report.

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