12-09-2007, 10:36 PM
<b>National conference of Hindu religious organizations in USA</b>
December 8, 2007
By freelance reporter
New Jeersey (USA): The Hindu Collective Initiative (HCI) of North America is organizing a national conference involving all Hindu religious organizations on December 14, 15, 16 at the University of Central Florida (UCF) in Orlando. According to the latest census data, there are more than 2.5 million Hindus living in America and they have built more than 700 Hindu temples and organizations. The purpose of this conference is to bring together all Hindu organizations in USA to identify issues of common interest and work towards solving or resolving them. The Theme of the conference is: The Future of Hindu Dharma in North America.
This conference was inspired by Swami Dayananda Saraswati. Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Paramhansa Nityananda, Paramacharya Palaniswami of hinduism Today magazine, Swami Aksharananda of Guyana, Dr. Pranav Pandya of All World Gayatri Pariwar and several other Hindu leaders have committed their full support to the objec tives of this conference which is: to bring together on one platform leaders of all Hindu sampradayas and organizations, as well as top Hindu professors, intellectuals and community leaders, including Western Hindus and Caribbean Hindus, to network and discuss common issues to assure a bright future for Hindu Dharma in North America.
Invited Speakers who are expected to attend include: Sushri Janeshwari Devi (Barsana Dham), Sri Jeffrey Armstrong, Sri Bawa Jain, Dr. David Frawley, Dr. Frank Morales, Dr. Piyush Agrawal, Prof. Rukmani, Prof. Bal Ram Singh, Prof. Siva Bajpai, Prof. Antonio de Nicolas, Prof. Subhash Kak, Prof Jeffrey Long, Prof. TRN Rao, Prof. Ramesh N. Rao, Sri Deosaran Bisnath (President of the Hindu Council of the Caribbean), Sri Chandresh Sharma (Legislator in Trinidad-Tobago) and others.
Conference organizer Ved Chaudhary writes, "On Friday, we'll open the conference taking cognizance of global Hindu human rights issues with a report from the Hindu American Foundation, and with two important exhibits of Hindu Human Rights abuses in Kashmir and Bangladesh. Following this we'll have a session on the Government of India's control of mandirs; how can the government control so completely the practice of India's most dominant religion -Hinduism - and still boast of being secular? Global Hindu Heritage Foundation will present a comprehensive situation paper.
"Within the US, the proposed changes to the R-1 Religious Worker Visa statutes have been identified as a major issue that will result in a significantly adverse impact on the operations of all Hindu temples and organizations all across USA because they depend very heavily on skilled religious workers brought from India, Nepal, or Sri Lanka who have specific skills in Hindu temple construction, or to serve as Hindu priests. Therefore, the HCI as the collective body of all Hindu organizations has invited Mr. Prakash Khatri, Ombudsman, Office of the Citizenship & Immigration services (CIS) to listen to our issues and he has confirmed that he will attend. Stephen Edson, Director of Visa Services in the Department of State, has also been invited to hear our concerns, speak about the proposed changes to the R-1 Religious Worker Visa statutes, and shed light on the proposed course of action in this matter.
"Another major issue we have identified is that many textbooks used in American middle schools and high schools portray India and hinduism in a negative manner as from the British colonial times. HCI is supporting the Educators' Society for the Heritage of India, in trying to collect and provide more current, correct and authentic information about India than is currently available in US school textbooks and libraries. India being the largest democracy in the world, rapidly developing as an economically and technologically advanced nation in Asia, and as Indo-US strategic interests and relationships continue to advance, it is imperative that US school and college students and teachers gain a better understanding of this important part of the world. Many eminent professors are expected to attend the conference to go over the educational materials and work on proactive measures to improve this situation.
Hindu Student Council is organizing a youth session. High school, college and post-graduate students and new generation/ young men and women are encouraged to attend this conference as it relates to the issues of their generation.
<i>For more information, contact: Ved P. Chaudhary, Ph.D., General Secretary, Hindu Collective Initiative (HCI) - North America. He is a former trustee of Rutgers University, and is currently serving as Assistant Commissioner of New Jersey's Department of Environmental Protection. </i>
Email: ved@hcina.org
December 8, 2007
By freelance reporter
New Jeersey (USA): The Hindu Collective Initiative (HCI) of North America is organizing a national conference involving all Hindu religious organizations on December 14, 15, 16 at the University of Central Florida (UCF) in Orlando. According to the latest census data, there are more than 2.5 million Hindus living in America and they have built more than 700 Hindu temples and organizations. The purpose of this conference is to bring together all Hindu organizations in USA to identify issues of common interest and work towards solving or resolving them. The Theme of the conference is: The Future of Hindu Dharma in North America.
This conference was inspired by Swami Dayananda Saraswati. Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Paramhansa Nityananda, Paramacharya Palaniswami of hinduism Today magazine, Swami Aksharananda of Guyana, Dr. Pranav Pandya of All World Gayatri Pariwar and several other Hindu leaders have committed their full support to the objec tives of this conference which is: to bring together on one platform leaders of all Hindu sampradayas and organizations, as well as top Hindu professors, intellectuals and community leaders, including Western Hindus and Caribbean Hindus, to network and discuss common issues to assure a bright future for Hindu Dharma in North America.
Invited Speakers who are expected to attend include: Sushri Janeshwari Devi (Barsana Dham), Sri Jeffrey Armstrong, Sri Bawa Jain, Dr. David Frawley, Dr. Frank Morales, Dr. Piyush Agrawal, Prof. Rukmani, Prof. Bal Ram Singh, Prof. Siva Bajpai, Prof. Antonio de Nicolas, Prof. Subhash Kak, Prof Jeffrey Long, Prof. TRN Rao, Prof. Ramesh N. Rao, Sri Deosaran Bisnath (President of the Hindu Council of the Caribbean), Sri Chandresh Sharma (Legislator in Trinidad-Tobago) and others.
Conference organizer Ved Chaudhary writes, "On Friday, we'll open the conference taking cognizance of global Hindu human rights issues with a report from the Hindu American Foundation, and with two important exhibits of Hindu Human Rights abuses in Kashmir and Bangladesh. Following this we'll have a session on the Government of India's control of mandirs; how can the government control so completely the practice of India's most dominant religion -Hinduism - and still boast of being secular? Global Hindu Heritage Foundation will present a comprehensive situation paper.
"Within the US, the proposed changes to the R-1 Religious Worker Visa statutes have been identified as a major issue that will result in a significantly adverse impact on the operations of all Hindu temples and organizations all across USA because they depend very heavily on skilled religious workers brought from India, Nepal, or Sri Lanka who have specific skills in Hindu temple construction, or to serve as Hindu priests. Therefore, the HCI as the collective body of all Hindu organizations has invited Mr. Prakash Khatri, Ombudsman, Office of the Citizenship & Immigration services (CIS) to listen to our issues and he has confirmed that he will attend. Stephen Edson, Director of Visa Services in the Department of State, has also been invited to hear our concerns, speak about the proposed changes to the R-1 Religious Worker Visa statutes, and shed light on the proposed course of action in this matter.
"Another major issue we have identified is that many textbooks used in American middle schools and high schools portray India and hinduism in a negative manner as from the British colonial times. HCI is supporting the Educators' Society for the Heritage of India, in trying to collect and provide more current, correct and authentic information about India than is currently available in US school textbooks and libraries. India being the largest democracy in the world, rapidly developing as an economically and technologically advanced nation in Asia, and as Indo-US strategic interests and relationships continue to advance, it is imperative that US school and college students and teachers gain a better understanding of this important part of the world. Many eminent professors are expected to attend the conference to go over the educational materials and work on proactive measures to improve this situation.
Hindu Student Council is organizing a youth session. High school, college and post-graduate students and new generation/ young men and women are encouraged to attend this conference as it relates to the issues of their generation.
<i>For more information, contact: Ved P. Chaudhary, Ph.D., General Secretary, Hindu Collective Initiative (HCI) - North America. He is a former trustee of Rutgers University, and is currently serving as Assistant Commissioner of New Jersey's Department of Environmental Protection. </i>
Email: ved@hcina.org