It has become increasingly obvious that every government institution in Pakistan is paying only lip service to the plight of Hindus and other minorities in the country, as seen in the recent "resolution" of the Rinkle Kumari case. What is more disturbing is that the Indian government seems to have taken no notice of the fact that Hindu, Sikh, and other minority refugees are fleeing to India from ... Read More »
TweetToday is Earth Day. Today, the world honors our planet by promoting more Earth-friendly behaviors and merchandise. As a self-proclaimed environmentalist, I love Earth Day because everyone else adopts the mindset of sustainability that I have. The sad part, to me, is after the Earth Day festivities end and everyone stops thinking about how their daily actions and decisions impact the environment. I wish everyday could be Earth Day. Read More »
TweetThis recent article from the New York Times about divisions in the Muslim community in Queens about the practice of yoga was notable to me, though not for the obvious reasons. What I found interesting was that this was the first article I had seen in a long time that laid out in a straightforward manner the basic facts about Yoga's Hindu roots - the foundation of HAF's ... Read More »
TweetAs detailed in HAF's latest Human Rights Report, Hindus in Pakistan have faced "discrimination and widespread violence," and there has been an "abject failure of government authorities and law enforcement to protect them," leading to an estimated amount of 350,000 Hindus having migrated from Pakistan's Sindh province to India in recent years. Now, one case in Pakistan appears to have captured world media attention, as there have been ... Read More »
TweetWhen I ran across this article about Christian Yoga from last week, all I could do was pretty much sigh in exasperation. The first reason was because the lack of self-awareness amongst these "Christian Yoga" teachers was mind-boggling (though perhaps to be expected with their attempts to strip out the yogic practices that help generate that self-awareness). The second reason was that no Hindu was quoted in the ... Read More »
Tweet"I don't care what the liberals say, I don't care what the naysayers say, this nation was founded as a Christian nation . . . We don't worship Buddha, we don't worship Mohammad, we don't worship Allah, we worship God, we worship God's son Jesus Christ."In Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Rev. Dennis Terry introduced presidential candidate Rick Santorum in this speech asking - no blatantly demanding - non-Christians to "get out" ... Read More »
TweetThe disposition of the gold found in the vaults of the Padmanabhaswamy Temple in Kerala is still unclear, due to the lawsuit that forced open the vaults for an inventory in the first place. Although it appears the lawsuit is frivolous in nature, the consequences are real, and no one knows what the court will decide what to do with the offerings that have been placed in the ... Read More »
TweetUpdate: Site5 shuts down website after complaints. If you are considering hosting your website on Site5, or if you currently do, I strongly advise you to host your site elsewhere. Site5 Hosting (site5.com) currently hosts shariah4hind.com, an Islamic fundamentalist website, that calls for imposition of shariah law in India. What is Shariah and Shariah4Hind?Shariah is a moral code and religious law of Islam. There are many interpretations of Shariah, but ... Read More »
TweetFor those who haven't heard of this news, it has been a Mormon practice for some time now to do proxy baptisms for people of other faiths who have passed away, in order to offer them a chance at "salvation." I myself heard of this only last week via an NPR interview that talked about how Mormons were doing proxy baptisms of Jews, including those who died in ... Read More »
TweetOne of the more disturbing trends in American politics these days is the use of religion as a divisive tool in order to rally political supporters. That's why HAF joined 13 other American religious organizations this week in issuing an "interfaith statement of principles" regarding religion in political campaigns. We believe that divisive appeals to voters along religious lines are inappropriate in a diverse society like ... Read More »
TweetThe destruction of Hindu and Buddhist antiquities at the Maldives National Museum is highly distressing and provides a further indicator that the political turmoil in the island nation is unleashing extremist elements in the country. What's truly sad about the attack is that the wing of the museum that was vandalized was intended to showcase the ancient history of the Maldives ... Read More »
Tweet113 million viewers around the world saw a fuzzy screen when Mathangi "Maya" Arulpragasam, better known as M.I.A., flipped the bird during her part on Madonna’s Superbowl halftime show. Though M.I.A. does not often speak publicly about her religious beliefs, it’s on record that she is a proud Tamil of Sri Lankan Hindu origin. She is also an outspoken critic of the Sri ... Read More »
TweetLast week’s major firestorm over Koman’s defunding of breast cancer screenings at Planned Parenthood clinics (followed by a subsequent reversal) only highlighted a growing trend to politicize even noncontroversial ideas and projects in order to fulfill a political agenda. The vanishing of any safe ground for these noncontroversial projects only paralyzes the country from trying to make progress on any of ... Read More »
TweetMany Hindus (including myself) find a philosophical and religious basis in Hinduism that orients us to doing what we can in the name of environmental protection. So when I come across stores like this one from the New York Times, it's a bit mind-boggling to me to see people claiming that measures to encourage sustainable development will lead to a United Nations takeover of the United States. It's ... Read More »
TweetRep. Dan Burton of Indiana announced on Tuesday that he was retiring from Congress. While Rep. Burton is infamous in American politics for various things he said and did during the Clinton administration, he's also well known in the South Asian community for his unyielding defense of the Pakistani government and of virtually anything related to it. Even last year, when HAF met with aides in ... Read More »
TweetLiving in America, its hard to imagine what Hindu girls and their families must endure in Pakistan. A recent report by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) warns of a disturbing rise in the kidnappings and forced conversions of young Pakistani Hindu girls. According to several sources, approximately 20 to 25 Hindu girls are kidnapped and converted to Islam every month in the southern Sindh province alone. Often, after ... Read More »
TweetNews reports coming out of India suggest that Salman Rushdie's cancellation of his planned speech at the Jaipur Literature Festival was allegedly manipulated by the Rajastahan state government due to political considerations as opposed to any actual security threat. That's frankly disturbing, on many levels. It's one thing to request a speaker to not attend because of security issues (and while it can be disappointing in ... Read More »
TweetOne item that's always fascinated me in American history is how the phrase "under God" got added to the Pledge of Allegiance in 1954. I had always assumed it was part of the development of the Cold War, but I recently came across a blog post on the New York Times website that provides a much better explanation of its origins. I never knew that the phrase came ... Read More »
TweetYesterday, I attended a screening of a documentary entitled The Bhagavad Gita at the Rubin Museum in NYC. I generally tend to be weary of these types of efforts, but had a good feeling about this one as my friend Gadadhara Pandit Dasa, the Hindu Chaplain at NYU and Columbia, was a speaker in the documentary and was also present for the following Q&A. My gut was right - the ... Read More »
TweetAs I'm sure many of you have seen, the recent New York Times article about injuries caused by yoga provoked a wide spectrum of near unanimous criticism of the article. The HAF team was part of this response, with posts on Beliefnet and the Huffington Post. Also, a good response came from Eddie Stern of Ashtanga Yoga New York. And to give it a little credit, the New York Times ... Read More »
TweetAs I'm sure some of you have heard, the U.S. Senate on Friday passed by unanimous consent S. Res. 291, a "resolution recognizing the religious and historical significance of the festival of Diwali." The resolution was passed in near light speed (well, in legislative terms), having been introduced only 10 days prior to its passage. I have been asked by people in our community about whether this resolution is important ... Read More »
TweetWith Diwali just around the corner, I'd like to wish you happiness and good health this year! Good health starts with one bite at a time, one step at a time; so don't wait until after the holiday season to be healthy. Start today. Read More »
TweetSo when I originally read that Colorado state Rep. Janak Joshi keeps a Ganesha murti on his desk in the Colorado state House chamber, I thought, "That's great. He's not afraid to display his Hindu beliefs in public." Now I read that he's joined the Colorado Legislative Prayer Caucus, which is dedicated to, amongst other things, equipping "leaders to uphold Judeo-Christian principles in government," and I have to wonder: are ... Read More »
TweetBomb blasts have become a norm in India. From Delhi to Mumbai, we have all read of the countless victims struck by the unfortunate acts of terrorism that seem to encompass the nation. My heart goes out to those families, especially those recently affected by Wednesday's attack at the Delhi High Court. This sort of behavior by terrorists should not be tolerated and it is imperative that the government make ... Read More »
TweetWith the arrest of Nabi Fai and the documentation of his alleged activities on behalf of the Pakistani ISI, one has to ask the question as to whether the ISI limited itself to just influencing politicians and policymakers, or whether it did more than that. With reports of intimidation amongst the Pakistani diaspora, it would seem that the ISI would want to create an ecosystem beyond just politics that pushed ... Read More »
TweetIn the latest attempt to commercialize a sacred tradition, the founders of Bikram yoga, Mr. and Mrs. Bikram Choudhary, are now on a quest to make a competition out of yoga. Do they really think that through a contest, it is possible to judge an individual's spiritual progress? Inner peace? Mastery over the mind and inner self? It absolutely cannot, which is why any attempt to make yoga competitive fails ... Read More »
TweetThe barrel of my M4 assault rifle is slender, black, and cold. The rippled plastic grips fit ergonomically to a mission driven hand; one that aggresses to protect a nation and way of life. With each trigger squeeze, a 5.56 caliber bullet breaches the muzzle at 2,900 feet per second with the sole purpose of taking another's life. Despite its lethality, this weapon is only a piece of metal. Read More »
TweetA few weeks have passed and so has the much vaunted National Day of Prayer. President Barack Obama followed tradition set not during the Bush II years, but Truman years, and issued a proclamation on May 7, calling for Americans to observe the day and remember the "Golden Rule, and its call to love one another; to understand one another; and to treat with dignity and respect those with whom ... Read More »
TweetI began my Hatha Yoga practice later in life - at 27. I initially began yoga, as so many do, to tone my body. But as I progress through this journey - and yes, I have come to believe that yoga is a journey of the body and mind (I'm still working on the atman part) - yoga is no longer only about toning my body; it has become the ... Read More »
TweetOn April 10, 2009, the WSJ published "The Freedom to Choose a New Faith" in which the author describes the difficulties people face around the world when trying to convert to a religious faith of their choice. I admire Ms. Samelson's intention to bring light to the issue of religious persecution and oppressive governments that deny their citizens freedom of religion, but she missed the mark with respect to India, ... Read More »
TweetLast week, a federal judge blocked South Carolina plans to issue a Christian themed license plate that was to feature the words, "I Believe," floating above a gold cross and stained-glass church window...This latest interfaith endeavor in legal advocacy and the jubilation felt by us all, regardless of our religious affiliations, got me thinking about the Foundation's earliest efforts in the arena of religious liberty and the knee-jerk criticism of ... Read More »
TweetIn the wake of the Mumbai terror nightmare that unfolded last week, Indians were forced to come to terms with, once again, the growing menace of religious and national hatred, as well as that of the failure of its own intelligence service. With news reports accounting plans that involved months of staking out of the locations and building up of arms by terrorists who blended into the cityscape of Mumbai, ... Read More »
TweetKashmir, once known for its idyllic beauty, is now associated with violence, death and jihadi extremists. Starting in 1989, Islamist terrorism gripped the Kashmir Valley and a brutal campaign of violence and ethnic cleansing was directed against the state's minority Hindu population, known as Kashmiri Pandits. As a result, between 1989 and 1991, more than 350,000 Hindus, that is over 95% of the Hindu population, were driven out of the ... Read More »
TweetIt's about 11am on what I would consider a typical Monday morning but for the young 20-something year old who just knocked on our front door to survey whether Obama could count on my vote tomorrow. He was polite, spoke in grammatically-correct English, wore shoes, not flip-flops, and had no Ipod in sight. I closed the door after chatting with him briefly when my phone rang and a young woman, ... Read More »
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