Tattva

Vasudaiva Kutumbakam, “The world is one single family.” – Hitopadesha 1.3.71

Ekam Sat Vipraha Bahuda Vadanti, “Truth is one, sages say it differently.” –Rig Veda

Divine and Respected Governor Bentley of Alabama on the day of celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King had this to say, “…anybody here today who has not accepted Jesus Christ as their savior, I’m telling you, you’re not my brother and you’re not my sister.” When I first heard this, I was immediately reminded of the small speech I gave at the Interfaith Youth Core Leadership Institute conference in Washington, D.C. At this conference, I spoke of the two universal concepts practiced in Hinduism and insisted not on religious tolerance but religious celebration. Being one of the most secular and pluralistic societies in the world, it still surprises me to see people of great moral responsibility and power insist on viewing things only from their side. This ideology of “my faith is better than yours and since you’re not following what I follow, you are bound to go to hell” is still prevalent in the minds of many. In addition, fundamentalism in every religion continues to eclipse the idea that reason and experience make the belief in the divine power plausible. The issue here lies not in religion but in the lack of a sense of belonging. As soon as we start demarcating in the name of religion, we deprive ourselves of the sense of belonging that is held within idea of “Vasudaiva Kutumbakam”.

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After years of struggle and debate, on September 30th, the Allahabad High Court (a High Court in India is somewhat similar to a federal circuit court in the US) gave a verdict on Ayodhya, ruling that Ayodhya is deemed to be the birthplace of Shri Ram and that a mosque was built over an earlier Ram temple. However, the land was apportioned such that two-thirds of the land would be given to two Hindu groups (Ram Lala Virajman representing the deity of Ram, and Nirmohi Akhara), and one-third would be given to a Muslim group the Sunni Waqf board.

To a common observer or even an average Hindu living in the US, a question would come up as to why is the case of Ayodhya even relevant. A segment of Hindus and Muslims are fighting over some piece of land as to whether there really was a temple or a mosque and who should the land belong to. There are so many temples and a good number of mosques as well, so presumably there are better things to worry about in a country as large as India where problems of poverty, lack of healthcare, education and other issues require attention. This seems to sound logical but is this really the case?

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Editor’s Note: This article was written two weeks prior to the High Court’s judgment on the Ayodhya issue.

Ayodhya is an ancient city in northern India. In the Hindu scriptures it has been described as the most beautiful and holiest of the cities in India. It was the capital of the Kingdom of Kosala which was ruled by the illustrious Suryavanshi dynasty. King Ram, who is also considered an incarnation of Lord Vishnu, was born in the same dynasty in Ayodhya. Unfortunately the sacred town of Ayodhya today is scene to a controversy. The birth place of Shri Ram, Shri Ram Janmabhoomi, is under a title suit currently pending at the Allahabad High Court since 1949, with a judgement due on September 24th 2010. A mosque was built at this site by the Moghul emperor Babar in 1528 who allegedly demolished an earlier temple. The Babri structure was later demolished by a Hindu crowd in 1992, and the Hindus want to build a grand temple at that site.

Until 1989 there had been no question about the site’s history. All of the written sources, whether Hindu, Muslim or European, were in agreement about the pre-existence of a Ram temple at the site. The only testimonies in history about the site have been of Hindus bewailing and Muslims boasting of the replacement of the temple with a mosque. The destruction of several sacred Hindu temples as a means to establish the supremacy of the rule of the Islamic invaders is well documented. Most prominently, the three most sacred temples at Ayodhya, Mathura and Kashi, were demolished, with the latter two still posing a mosque. Read the rest of this entry »

Sunil, one of the many victims of the Bhopal tragedy, sits back and reminesces.

Dec. 2, 1984 is coming to a close, routine checks are being done at the Union Carbide India Limited (UCIL) pesticide plant in the city of Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh.  The personnel are hardly qualified to carry out the checks, products of cost-cutting moves by the Union Carbide Corporation (UCC) based in the United States.  The plant uses the gas methyl-isocyanate (MIC) as part of the production process, this gas is highly toxic and reacts strongly to liquid water.  The MIC is supposed to be stored in drums, but it is instead stored in large tanks.  The tanks have alarms that warn of any leaking or other failures, these alarms had not worked since 1980.

There are several pipe leaks on the facility, something which is ignored by the higher up when it’s reported.  Several key safeguards are offline.  At about 10:00 PM, water enters one of these tanks.  The reaction is immediate, the poisonous chemicals begin to escape from the tanks and into the surrounding air.  The scrubbers, that were supposed to remove some of these harmful chemicals, have not been functioning for several months. Read the rest of this entry »

WASHINGTON, D.C., March 18, 2010: The spring festival of Holi was marked late Tuesday by U.S. Representative Steve Israel of New York, in a speech inserted into the Congressional Record. The Hindu American Foundation (HAF) lauded Rep. Israel for the speech as colorful Holi celebrations and traditional bonfires continued in community halls and temples throughout the nation. Read the rest of this entry »

Part 2/2 of a first person account of the Epic 62-day struggle to get a land grant for the Lord Amar Nath (Shiva) Shrine located near Jammu city, India. Read Part 1 in the December 2009 edition.

As we reached a large square, and we began to think that we would arrive at the rally grounds shortly, we heard gunshots, and in seconds after that, our eyes began to burn and tears flowed profusely. We realized that we were being tear-gassed by the authorities in the hope of dissipating the peoples’ movement. Read the rest of this entry »

Vishwa Mangal Gou Gram Yatra was conceived by many sadhus, sants, and Hindu-minded organizations, including Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). Some of the aims of the yatra include banning cow slaughter, declaring the cow as a national animal, and educating people about the usefulness of the cow. Read the rest of this entry »

Electricity does not touch the small/marginal and medium-sized landholder, as the cultivation is deprived of an assured irrigation source. Thus, those who are cultivating cash crops that require irrigated water have to perforce rely on the rainfall that is fickle at the best of times. A technology named ‘Anaerobic Digestion’ has immense potential for improving the quality of life in rural India. Read the rest of this entry »

Part 1/2 of a first person account of the Epic 62-day struggle to get a land grant for the Lord Amar Nath (Shiva) Shrine located near Jammu city, India.

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The Hindu community outside India numbers around 60 million, making the Hindu diaspora one of the largest in the world. Hindus have taken their separation from their motherland as an opportunity to share Hindu culture with the mainstream community. Hindus outside India are fulfilling their role as cultural ambassadors, spreading the invaluable knowledge that the Hindu traditions and beliefs have to contribute to the world. Again and again we have seen the tremendous positive influence the Hindu community has when it comes together, and this year’s Diwali was no exception. Hundreds of Hindu organizations and groups around the world organized Diwali celebrations, getting the festival recognized on university campuses and even by national leaders. Following are a few examples of the ways Diwali was recognized by leaders around the world: Read the rest of this entry »