11-03-2005, 12:25 AM
came via email:
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Dear all
On behalf of national and regional Hindu organisations in the UK, we
ask you to kindly protest to Royal Mail about their refusal to withdraw a
stamp that is seen as insensitive and inappropriate to Hindu
sentiments. The stamp shows two Hindus worshiping Baby Christ in a manner that
many Hindus feel is inappropriate because of the issues surrounding
conversions and evangelisation in India.
Royal Mail have categorically said they cannot withdraw it because they
have already sent it to 17000 Post Offices. Royal Mail have IT software
that can enable them to send a message to every clerk in every Post
Office counter to ask them to stop selling the stamps, but yet they have
chosen not to do so. <b>Therefore we URGE YOU TO PASS THIS LETTER TO
EVERYONE ON YOUR EMAIL LIST AND PROTEST IN THE FOLLOWING WAY</b>:
1. Write a letter of protest and send it to Royal Mail Headquarters
148 Old Street LONDON EC1V 9HQ TÂ without affixing a postage stamp. The
Hindu Forum hopes that hundreds of letters will be sent in this way
clogging the local post office where the letters will be accumulated for
collection, thus causing a logistical nightmare worse than withdrawing
the stamp.
2. Send a letter of protest by email to press.office@royalmail.com
3. Send a letter of protest by email to Barry Gardiner MP, Minister for
Efficiency at the Department of Trade and Industry who is responsible
for Royal Mail to gardinerb@parliament.uk Barry Gardiner is a good
friend of the Hindu community and will certainly take note of Hindu
sentiments!
3. Stop buying the offensive stamp when sold by a Post Office counter
and insist on another stamp of similar denomination
4. Write to your local MP explaining why they should ask the Post
Office to withdraw the stamp
5. Ask all your friends and relatives to send letters of protest
without affixing postage stamps. Each individual can even send ten or more
letters to increase the volume of mail reaching the post office without
stamps.
6. Take part in the mass protest march that will be announced at a
suitable time if Royal Mail continue their refusal to withdraw the stamp.
<b>PLEASE FORWARD THIS LETTER TO AS MANY PEOPLE AS POSSIBLE AND TAKE PART
IN THE PROTEST BY WRITING LETTERS WITHOUT STAMPS AND BY SENDING EMAILS.
REGARDS FROM THE TEAM AT
THE HINDU FORUM OF BRITAIN</b>
___________________________________________________________________
Royal Mail refusal to withdraw stamp will lead to mass protests by
British Hindus
2 November 2005 - Hindus in Britain are organising new ways of
protesting after Royal Mail yesterday refused to consider a request by the
Hindu Forum of Britain to withdraw a Christmas stamp featuring Hindus
worshipping Jesus Christ. Hindu leaders from national and regional
organisations across UK were quick to join the Hindu Forum of Britain in
supporting its request for a withdrawal of the stamp.
The stamp features the picture of a man and a woman with Hindu markings
worshipping baby Christ. The man has a 'tilak' marking on his forehead
clearly identifying him as a Vaishnava Hindu and the woman has the
traditional 'kumkum' mark on her forehead identifying her as a married
Hindu lady.
"After Royal Mail refused to withdraw the stamp, Hindu leaders
representing some of the largest organisations across UK have informed us that
they will take this matter straight to the community to protest about
it," explained Ramesh Kallidai, secretary general of the Hindu Forum of
Britain. "It has now caused even greater resentment since Royal Mail
had not even originally consulted us before the stamp was issued. We
could easily have offered them advice on a suitable depiction of the Mother
and Child image that would not have offended anybody."
The stamp is priced at 68 p, which is the amount of postage for letters
to India. "They have shown utter disregard for the issue of evangelical
conversions in India," explained Jo Thanki President of the Hindu
Council of Birmingham. "Many newspapers in India have reported that
evangelical churches linked to terrorist organisations in the North West region
of India have intimidated tribals at gun points into conversion. It is
therefore a deeper issue that Royal Mail seem to have not addressed."
"We strongly object to the stamp depicting a Hindu couple worshiping
Baby Christ. We are followers of a culture which respects all religious
and beliefs but this type of depiction is denigrating and undermines our
religious sentiments," said Kishore Ruparelia, General Secretary of the
Vishwa Hindu Parishad UK and Europe. "We strongly advise Royal Mail to
withdraw this stamp otherwise we intend to bring out a mass
demonstration to protest abbout it. This is a deliberate attempt to dilute the
thinking of ordinary Hindus."
Hindu leaders now plan to start mass mailing of letters without stamps
to the Royal Mail headquarters to clog the post office at Old Street,
letters of protest by email to the Royal Mail and DTI and lobbying with
friendly Parliamentarians. If Royal Mail continue their refusal to
withdraw the stamp a mass protest outside their headquarters in London is
also being planned.
"We cannot accept the Royal Mail argument that the stamps have been
distributed and cannot be recalled," confirmed Ratilal Chohan, General
Secretary of the Hindu Council of the North. "If they had been a food
chain with a product containing cancer causing agents on the shelves of
their outlets, would they not withdraw them?"
A Royal Mail spokesperson confirmed on BBC today that they had
consulted the Museum in Mumbai where the painting hangs, but could have done
more to consult Hindus widely.
Hindu leaders identified that Royal Mail had the necessary information
technology and resources to withdraw the stamp but did not seem willing
to use it.
"Royal Mail have appropriate distributed systems software to send a
message to every Post Office counter asking them to stop sale of the
stamp," explained Venilal Vaghela, Chair of the Hindu Council of Brent. "Yet
they are showing unwillingness to withdraw it and this does not sound
good enough."
"We are appalled and shocked that they chose to do this without
consulting the community," commented Sheila Maharaja, spokesperson for the
Hindu Human Rights group. "Now they are saying that they cannot even
request Post Office counters to stop selling them by sending a simple
message that will take them ten minutes to create. This is the height of
irresponsible behaviour in public service."
"Royal Mail explained that it was a piece of art and could therefore
not be offensive," said Raman Barber, President of the Sanatan Hindu
Temple in Leicester. "But just because something is a piece of art does not
mean it is appropriate to be put on public display in a way that
offends people. I have seen portraits of Jesus Christ offering respects to
Lord Krishna as His Supreme Father. While they are perfectly appropriate
inside a Hindu temple, it would be unacceptable for it to be used as a
stamp."
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Dear all
On behalf of national and regional Hindu organisations in the UK, we
ask you to kindly protest to Royal Mail about their refusal to withdraw a
stamp that is seen as insensitive and inappropriate to Hindu
sentiments. The stamp shows two Hindus worshiping Baby Christ in a manner that
many Hindus feel is inappropriate because of the issues surrounding
conversions and evangelisation in India.
Royal Mail have categorically said they cannot withdraw it because they
have already sent it to 17000 Post Offices. Royal Mail have IT software
that can enable them to send a message to every clerk in every Post
Office counter to ask them to stop selling the stamps, but yet they have
chosen not to do so. <b>Therefore we URGE YOU TO PASS THIS LETTER TO
EVERYONE ON YOUR EMAIL LIST AND PROTEST IN THE FOLLOWING WAY</b>:
1. Write a letter of protest and send it to Royal Mail Headquarters
148 Old Street LONDON EC1V 9HQ TÂ without affixing a postage stamp. The
Hindu Forum hopes that hundreds of letters will be sent in this way
clogging the local post office where the letters will be accumulated for
collection, thus causing a logistical nightmare worse than withdrawing
the stamp.
2. Send a letter of protest by email to press.office@royalmail.com
3. Send a letter of protest by email to Barry Gardiner MP, Minister for
Efficiency at the Department of Trade and Industry who is responsible
for Royal Mail to gardinerb@parliament.uk Barry Gardiner is a good
friend of the Hindu community and will certainly take note of Hindu
sentiments!
3. Stop buying the offensive stamp when sold by a Post Office counter
and insist on another stamp of similar denomination
4. Write to your local MP explaining why they should ask the Post
Office to withdraw the stamp
5. Ask all your friends and relatives to send letters of protest
without affixing postage stamps. Each individual can even send ten or more
letters to increase the volume of mail reaching the post office without
stamps.
6. Take part in the mass protest march that will be announced at a
suitable time if Royal Mail continue their refusal to withdraw the stamp.
<b>PLEASE FORWARD THIS LETTER TO AS MANY PEOPLE AS POSSIBLE AND TAKE PART
IN THE PROTEST BY WRITING LETTERS WITHOUT STAMPS AND BY SENDING EMAILS.
REGARDS FROM THE TEAM AT
THE HINDU FORUM OF BRITAIN</b>
___________________________________________________________________
Royal Mail refusal to withdraw stamp will lead to mass protests by
British Hindus
2 November 2005 - Hindus in Britain are organising new ways of
protesting after Royal Mail yesterday refused to consider a request by the
Hindu Forum of Britain to withdraw a Christmas stamp featuring Hindus
worshipping Jesus Christ. Hindu leaders from national and regional
organisations across UK were quick to join the Hindu Forum of Britain in
supporting its request for a withdrawal of the stamp.
The stamp features the picture of a man and a woman with Hindu markings
worshipping baby Christ. The man has a 'tilak' marking on his forehead
clearly identifying him as a Vaishnava Hindu and the woman has the
traditional 'kumkum' mark on her forehead identifying her as a married
Hindu lady.
"After Royal Mail refused to withdraw the stamp, Hindu leaders
representing some of the largest organisations across UK have informed us that
they will take this matter straight to the community to protest about
it," explained Ramesh Kallidai, secretary general of the Hindu Forum of
Britain. "It has now caused even greater resentment since Royal Mail
had not even originally consulted us before the stamp was issued. We
could easily have offered them advice on a suitable depiction of the Mother
and Child image that would not have offended anybody."
The stamp is priced at 68 p, which is the amount of postage for letters
to India. "They have shown utter disregard for the issue of evangelical
conversions in India," explained Jo Thanki President of the Hindu
Council of Birmingham. "Many newspapers in India have reported that
evangelical churches linked to terrorist organisations in the North West region
of India have intimidated tribals at gun points into conversion. It is
therefore a deeper issue that Royal Mail seem to have not addressed."
"We strongly object to the stamp depicting a Hindu couple worshiping
Baby Christ. We are followers of a culture which respects all religious
and beliefs but this type of depiction is denigrating and undermines our
religious sentiments," said Kishore Ruparelia, General Secretary of the
Vishwa Hindu Parishad UK and Europe. "We strongly advise Royal Mail to
withdraw this stamp otherwise we intend to bring out a mass
demonstration to protest abbout it. This is a deliberate attempt to dilute the
thinking of ordinary Hindus."
Hindu leaders now plan to start mass mailing of letters without stamps
to the Royal Mail headquarters to clog the post office at Old Street,
letters of protest by email to the Royal Mail and DTI and lobbying with
friendly Parliamentarians. If Royal Mail continue their refusal to
withdraw the stamp a mass protest outside their headquarters in London is
also being planned.
"We cannot accept the Royal Mail argument that the stamps have been
distributed and cannot be recalled," confirmed Ratilal Chohan, General
Secretary of the Hindu Council of the North. "If they had been a food
chain with a product containing cancer causing agents on the shelves of
their outlets, would they not withdraw them?"
A Royal Mail spokesperson confirmed on BBC today that they had
consulted the Museum in Mumbai where the painting hangs, but could have done
more to consult Hindus widely.
Hindu leaders identified that Royal Mail had the necessary information
technology and resources to withdraw the stamp but did not seem willing
to use it.
"Royal Mail have appropriate distributed systems software to send a
message to every Post Office counter asking them to stop sale of the
stamp," explained Venilal Vaghela, Chair of the Hindu Council of Brent. "Yet
they are showing unwillingness to withdraw it and this does not sound
good enough."
"We are appalled and shocked that they chose to do this without
consulting the community," commented Sheila Maharaja, spokesperson for the
Hindu Human Rights group. "Now they are saying that they cannot even
request Post Office counters to stop selling them by sending a simple
message that will take them ten minutes to create. This is the height of
irresponsible behaviour in public service."
"Royal Mail explained that it was a piece of art and could therefore
not be offensive," said Raman Barber, President of the Sanatan Hindu
Temple in Leicester. "But just because something is a piece of art does not
mean it is appropriate to be put on public display in a way that
offends people. I have seen portraits of Jesus Christ offering respects to
Lord Krishna as His Supreme Father. While they are perfectly appropriate
inside a Hindu temple, it would be unacceptable for it to be used as a
stamp."
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->