Pravasi Bharatiya
?Muslims should acknowledge the Hindu foundation of India? ?Dr. Subramanian Swamy
By Narain Kataria
To commemorate the memory of Shri Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, the mighty and visionary Hindu ruler, who demolished the Islamic domination in India and founded the Hindu Empire in 1674, the Eleventh Hindu Sangathan Divas (Hindu Unity Day) was celebrated with a great fanfare and enthusiasm in New York on July 24 by the representatives of fifty Hindu organisations (including temples). More than 700 Hindus from different countries of India, Nepal, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Fiji, and Caribbean Islands, mingled together with great joy in the spirit of brotherhood, keeping aside their differences of caste, colour and nationality.
The spectacle was seen to be believed. The enthusiastic gathering debunked the fallacious theories advanced by the prophets of doom that Hindus can never be brought together on one single platform. This year'sHindu Sangathan Divas was dedicated to the memory of Mausiji Smt. Laxmibai Kelker who laid the foundation of Rashtriya Sevika Samiti in Bharat.
In his scathing attack on those whose commitment to the motherland is ambivalent or ad hoc or who feel no kinship to Hindus, Chief Guest at the Eleventh Hindu Sangathan Divas, Dr. Subramanian Swamy, former Union Law Minister of India, said that they should acknowledge the Hindu foundation of India, that their forefathers were Hindus, that they did not come from Persia. ?India is only for those who swear that Bharat or Hindustan is their matru-bhoomi and karma-bhoom,? thundred Dr. Swamy.
?Hindus are under a state of siege in India and they do not even realise it. The forces that want to undermine the Hindu faith and Hindu spirit in India are clandestine and deceptive. It is a matter of great regret that Hindus themselves are being used as pawns in this sinister conspiracy directed by foreigners who have no love for India,? Dr Swamy said.
Listing the injustices perpetrated and sacrileges heaped on Hindus and their age-old institutions with impunity, and with the sophistication of constitutional instruments of law, Dr. Subramanian Swamy said that the arrest and imprisonment of 2500-year-old Kanchi Mutt Shankaracharya, patronising of Christian evangelist Benny Hill by Karnataka Chief Minister and Central Government ministers, attack on Ram Temple in Ayodhya by foreign terrorists, taking over the Hindu temple land by Congress government in Andhra Pradesh, smack of a deep-rooted conspiracy to hold Hindus under siege in Bharat.
?We Hindus are the descendants of brave and victorious kings like Chhatrapati Shivaji and the Vijayanagaram Kings. Hence, Hindus should develop a mindset to retaliate in the face of unprovoked attacks. Our retaliation must be massive enough to deter any future attacks,? he added.
Swamy Aksharanandji, the keynote speaker, who holds a Ph.D. degree in Hindu Studies from the University of Madison, Wisconsin (USA), deplored that it is unbecoming on the part of leaders of one billion strong Hindus to look at the United States and complain about the cross-border terrorism (from Pakistan) and cry like babies.
Three prominent Hindu journalists, Dr. Prakash Swamy, Prem N. Chopra and Brahm Kanchibothla and Dr. Uma Mysorekar, President of Hindu Temple Society of North America, were honoured and recognised for their meritorious contributions to the Hindu society in North America. Vijay Nahata, an Indian American businessman, presented certificates of achievements to them.
Dr. D. Bhattacharaya, Prof. at Columbia University, described the tragic condition of Hindus and other minorities in Bangladesh. Dr. Babu Suseelan, Professor in Clinical Psychology and Director of Addiction Research Institute, Pennsylvania, spoke about the ?Psychological Warfare Against Hindus.? Dr. Chirag Patel, a scholar at The Vedic Foundation at Austin, Texas spoke about ?Reclaiming the Greatness of Hindu Dharma.? Venkat Sarma, President of Kerala Hindus of North America, spoke on ?Hindu Unity in the Land of Sankara.? Rajyalaxmi, a disciple of Barfani Baba, spoke about the ?Muslim Problem in Nepal.?
Srichand Sidhwani, a senior Sangh karyakarta, vividly explained the differences between ?Religion and Dharma,? equating religions to adharma. Rene Lobo, Community News Director at ITV, urged the audience to get involved in local politics. Swami Jyotirmayananda read an inspiring passage ?I am Proud to Call Myself Hindu? from his book Vivekananda, His Gospel of Man-making. Dr. Ved Chaudhary gave the information about ?Dharma Summit 2005? to be held in month of August in NJ. The programme was closely coordinated by Arish Sahani. Ram Dular Singh emceed the programme and Kishore Advani proposed the vote of thanks.
Earlier, welcoming the Hindu public and community leaders, Narain Kataria, organiser of the event said that the word ?Hindu? had a very powerful and magical spell. The word Hindu had the power to touch the deep nerve in Hindu psyche. The word ?Hindu? had the incredible capability to transcend the barriers of caste, creed, colour, province or nationality, he said.
