Author: Narain Kataria and Shree
Sidhwani in New York
Publication:
Date:
The sidewalks of the prestigious
Fifth Avenue near Central Park, right in the heart of New York City, reverberated
with the slogans: "Santon Ka Apmaan -- Nahin Sahenge, Nahin Sahenge", "Hindu
Persecution -- No More, No More", "Enough is Enough", and "Release our
Shankaracharya -- Right Now, Right Now".
Braving the cold and chilly weather,
Hindus of North America, led by the tri-state Vishwa Hindu Parishad chapter
and supported by thirty-eight Hindu organizations participated in a highly
unusual protest demonstration in front of the Office of the Consulate General
of India on November 30 to express their outrage and anguish at the insulting
and humiliating manner of the arrest of a greatly respected and revered
Hindu religious leader Shankaracharya Swami Jayendra Saraswati.
The massive and boisterous demonstration
exhibited the underlying cultural and religious solidarity among various
sects of Hindu Samaj. The coming together of more than three dozen Hindu
organizations also demolished the myth and debunked the fallacious theory
propounded by prophets of doom that Hindus cannot be united.
The Protest was attended and addressed
by prominent physicians, college professors, and other heads of cultural
and religious organizations. The atmosphere was charged and electrifying.
The emotional outburst was seen to be believed. All the present community
as well as religious leaders unequivocally condemned the illegal and shocking
confinement of a Shankaracharya, one of the highest and the most revered
seats of the Hindu Dharma. The sum and substance of speeches delivered
on the occasion can be summarized as follows:
§ The manner in
which the Tamil Nadu State police and the Public Prosecutor have been portraying
the great and pious person of Shankaracharya's exalted status, as a professional
killer, smacks of a serious political partisanship between various anti-Hindu
elements within the country.
§ The entire shameful
exercise is an insidious attempt to denigrate and discredit the sterling
name of Hindu Dharma through the defamation of one of its most revered
heads.
§ Swami Jayendra
Saraswatiji who is held in high esteem by one billion Hindus globally and
occupies a position in the Hindu society that is somewhat similar to that
of the Pope at Vatican is an apotheosis of proper religious conduct as
enshrined in the Hindu scriptures. Hindus in America are deeply disturbed
and shocked at the disrespectful manner in which this great Hindu Seer
was summarily arrested and remanded to prison as if he was no more than
a common criminal.
§ Hindus of America
have this deep underlying concern that, with the setting of a precedent
with one Shankaracharya, soon the other renowned and revered Hindu spiritual
leaders such as the Heads of Shringeri, Puttapurthi and Swami Narayan Sanstha
could also be similarly mistreated and insulted on unsubstantiated fictitious
grounds. The State Government of Tamil Nadu and the Central Government
of India should heed carefully the growing discontent and anger of the
global Hindu community. Eight hundred million Hindus of India are slowly
beginning to wake up to the realization that they too are entitled to the
same rights and liberties within their own ancestral country, India. that
are routinely accorded to the followers of other minority religions.
From now on, Hindus will no longer
tolerate the mischievous and dangerous game of certain political groups
designed to defame and demonize the Hindu Dharma. However painful and unfortunate
the current chain of events may be, it has the potential of mobilizing
and transforming the mighty Hindutva movement worldwide in an effort to
stem any further attempts at harming and undermining the Hindu faith and
interests. The following well-known Hindu community leaders addressed the
gathering:
Gaurang Vaishnav, General Secretary
of VHP of America; Raksh Pal Sood, Advisor to Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh;
Rajesh Shukla and Arish Sahani of Overseas Friends of BJP; Devendra Singh
Sawhney of Sikh Sangat of America; Dr. Uma Mysorekar, President of Hindu
Temple Society of North America; Dr. Narinder Kukkar, former Chairman of
the Board of Directors of the Association of Indians in America; Dr. A.V.
Raghunath of Kanchi Kamkoti Seva Foundation; Br. Krishnamoorthy, Acharya
Chinmaya Mission; Prof. Ved Chowdhary of Hindu International Council Against
Defamation (HICAD); Ram Suchdev of Overseas Sindhu Sabha; Nagendra S. Rao,
Founder President of Sanatana Dharma Pratishthapana Foundation; N. Lalchandani
of Satya Narayan Temple, New York; Venkat Sarma of Malyali Hindu Mandalam;
Bidyut Sarkar of International Federation of Bangladeshi Hindus and Friends;
Dr. Sudhakar Reddy of OFBJP/American Telegu Association; Subhash Arora
of Arya Samaj; Major Sher Bahadur Singh of International Hindi Association,
New York and Rajendra P. Singh of U.P. Association of Mid-Atlantic (UPAMA).
Names of various supporting organizations
Alliance of Sindhi Associations
American Institute of Yoga and
Arts, New Jersey
American Telegu Association (ATA)
Arya Samaj of New York
Bharat Sevashram Sangh of N.A.,
New Jersey
Chinmaya Mission
DISHA, N.J.
Divya Dham, Queens, New York
Indian American Friendship Council
Indian American Intellectuals Forum
International Center for Cultural
Studies (ICCS)
International Federation of Bangladeshi
Hindus & Friends
International Hindi Association,
New York
Foundation for the Advancement
of Arts and Sciences from India, Inc.
(ARSI)
Gayatri Samiti, New Jersey
Gujarat Foundation, New Jersey
Hindu Center of New York
Hindu Garjan
Hindu Sevika Samiti
Hindu Students Council
Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh
Hindu Temple Society of North America
HinduUnity.Org
Kanchi Kamakoti Seva Foundation
Kerala Hindus of North America
Hindu Interfaith Council Against
Defamation (HICAD)
Mahagauri Balagokulam, Queens
Malyali Hindu Mandalam
Natraj Cultural Group
Overseas Friends of BJP
Om Kriya Yog, N.J.
Overseas Sindhu Sabha
Satya Narayan Mandir
Sikh Sangat of America
Sindhi Circle
U.P. Association of Mid-Atlantic
(UPAMA)
Vishwa Hindi Samiti
Vishwa Hindu Parishad of America
Yogakshema America, Inc.
