last updated 5thFebruary 2009

Kazakhstani online petition

Kazakhstani online petition

By Radha Mohan Dasa

Please visit http://www.krishnatemple.com NOW and click the link to the new petition, or go straight to the petition webpage:

http://harekrishna.epetitions.net

Please sign it soon as you can, and please tell as many people as you can about it.

Background: Workers and police arrived on 15th June at the village near Almaty, Kazakhstan, where the embattled Hare Krishna commune is based to demolish twelve more Hare Krishna-owned homes. “The houses were literally crushed into dust. By ten o’clock it was all over,” said ISKCON spokesperson Maksim Varfolomeyev.

The temple, which the devotees have been ordered to destroy, has not been touched but the devotees fear it could be the next target. Human rights activist Yevgeny Zhovtis is outraged at the continuing destruction. “The authorities are showing that they will do what they want, despite the international outrage at the earlier demolitions of Hare Krishna-owned homes.” He believes the local administration chief “doesn’t care about the political damage to Kazakhstan’s reputation – or to its desire to chair the OSCE.”

ys Radha Mohan das

By Mushfig Bayram, Forum 18 News Service <http://www.forum18.org>

Kazakhstan continues to actively violate its international human rights commitments, Forum 18 News Service has found. In the most recent of many known state actions against everyone's right to freedom of thought, conscience and belief, a Baptist is facing threats by the authorities to confiscate his means to support himself and his family because he led worship without state permission, the country's only Hare Krishna commune is still being pressured to accept a rubbish dump in exchange for their land, and Jehovah's Witnesses are still being denied the rights to use a private home and a Kingdom Hall they built for worship meetings. These human rights violations take place as President Nursultan Nazarbaev considers new legislation to even further restrict fundamental freedoms in the country. Among many other breaches of international human rights standards, the legal amendments would explicitly ban all unregistered religious activity. President Nazarbaev is formally due to sign or reject the amendments by around 2 January 2009.

A Baptist in northern Kazakhstan is facing the prospect of the authorities confiscating his means to support himself and his family, because he led worship without state permission, Forum 18 News Service has found. The authorities have threatened to confiscate his cows, refrigerator and gas stove. Bailiff V. Kapareyko told Forum 18 that "we will wait until after the New Year, and then seize his property." Meanwhile, the country's only Hare Krishna commune outside Almaty is still being pressured to accept a rubbish dump in exchange for their land, and Jehovah's Witnesses elsewhere in Kazakhstan are still being denied the rights to use a private home and a Kingdom Hall they built for worship meetings.

Kazakhstan's continuing state actions violating its international human rights commitments take place as President Nursultan Nazarbaev considers new legislation that would even further restrict freedom of thought, conscience and belief. The amendments to existing laws would ­ among many other breaches of international human rights standards - explicitly ban all unregistered religious activity (see F18News 26 November 2008 http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=1222). President Nazarbaev is formally due to sign or reject the legal amendments by around 2 January 2009.

On 14 November, in Tayinsha in North Kazakhstan Region, Bailiff Kapareyko formally notified Baptist leader Aleksandr Kerker of the authorities' intention to confiscate his two cows, refrigerator and gas stove. Kerker and his wife have ten children, six of whom are minors. Kerker's wife says that confiscating this property would deprive the family of the means to feed themselves. The cows are "the main sources of livelihood," she told Forum 18 on 3 December. She insisted that as refrigerators and gas stoves are legally "of prime necessity", they cannot legally be confiscated.

Bailiff Kapareyko, who would not give his first name to Forum 18, denies that refrigerators and gas stoves cannot be confiscated. At least one of the cows will be confiscated, as "we think one would be enough to feed his family," Kapareyko told Forum 18 on 15 December. "We understand he [Kerker] has very limited income, but at the same time we are obliged to execute the court decision." Kapareyko said that "we will wait until after the New Year, and then seize his property".

Kerker, who belongs to the Baptist Council of Churches which rejects state registration on principle, has been convicted twice for leading unregistered worship. The investigation into this "offence" was led by the local police Department for the Struggle against Extremism, Separatism, and Terrorism (see F18News 6 October 2008 http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=1199).

In violation of international human rights standards, unregistered religious activity is routinely prosecuted in Kazakhstan ­ even though current Kazakh law does not formally ban this (see F18News 4 August 2005 http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=625).

The Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) ­ which Kazakhstan is due to chair in 2010 - has found that court proceedings in the country do not offer the guaranteed right to a fair trial. In a February 2007 report on trial monitoring, the OSCE found that Kazakh court proceedings needed to offer "the right of the public to attend court, equality between the parties and the presumption of innocence" (see http://www.osce.org/item/23396.html).

Meanwhile, the long-running attempts by Almaty Region's Karasai Akimat (local authority) to evict the country's only Hare Krishna commune are continuing. Because the Hare Krishna community's legally registered address is their temple at the commune, moving from this land would result in loss of the community's legal registration. Although the community has gained some court victories, the authorities remain determined to evict the commune (see F18News 21 November 2008 http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=1220).

Judge Taken Shakirov of Karasai district court informed the Hare Krishna community on 1 December that the Karasai Akimat (Executive Authority) had withdrawn its claim against the community's buildings ­ the only Hare Krishna temple in Central Asia and the barn, Forum 18 has found. The latest twice-postponed court case began on 28 October (see F18News 28 October 2008 http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=1210).

Maksim Varfolomeev of the Hare Krishna community told Forum 18 on 15 December that Serik Mukanov, the Deputy Akim (administration head) of Almaty Region, recently told the commune that "the only solution of the dispute is for us to vacate the buildings on the farm land." Varfolomeev also reported Mukanov as saying that developers already have plans for the site the Hare Krishna community occupies.

The authorities have offered a rubbish dump in Almaty Region's Ili district in exchange, and have most recently claimed, Varfolomeev stated, that "the dump could be used for other purposes including commercial purposes, so that some others might be interested in exchanging their land with us."

Deputy Akim Mukanov argues that the land case with the Hare Krishna community is now settled. "We withdrew our claim and agreed with the chairman of the community that they would take the land we offer them," he told Forum 18 on 18 December. Asked whether the Akimat is still insisting that the Hare Krishna community move out of their current buildings he responded: "Of course we want them to move out. The case has been settled, and the community agreed to accept our offer." He rejected Hare Krishna claims that the land in the Ili district is not suitable for cultivation.

Meanwhile the Jehovah's Witnesses have had some success in overturning earlier court decisions to suspend their activity in South Kazakhstan and Kyzylorda regions. Vladimir Voevodin of the Jehovah's Witness Centre told Forum 18 from Almaty on 16 December that the community welcomes these legal moves, but points out that obstacles to the communities' functioning still remain.

Kazakhstan's General Prosecutor's Office initiated the process of overturning the court decisions, Jehovah's Witnesses told Forum 18. In a 28 October letter to the Jehovah's Witness Centre in Almaty, the General Prosecutor informed them he had ordered regional prosecutors in South Kazakhstan and Kyzylorda regions to challenge the court decisions against Jehovah's Witnesses.

Jehovah's Witnesses told Forum 18 that the Supervisory Collegium of South Kazakhstan Regional Court decided in two separate hearings on 20 November to annul two decisions of the courts in the towns of Shymkent and Saryagash. Earlier on 13 November with a similar decision the Supervisory Collegium of Kyzylorda Regional Court restored the activity of Jehovah's Witnesses, which was also suspended back in August.

South Kazakhstan Regional Court refused to comment to Forum 18 on 18 December on the recent decisions. Asked whether the position of the courts in the region have now changed towards the Jehovah's Witnesses, the official who answered the phone responded. "None of the judges want to make any comments."

Judge Abdukarim Bekturganov of Shymkent Specialised Administrative Court also declined to make comments on why they had suspended the activity of the local Jehovah's Witnesses. "We are not spokespersons for the Regional Court," he told Forum 18. "Ask them - they were the ones to take the latest decisions."

The Jehovah's Witness communities' activities had been banned in the wake of massive raids by various state agencies on local Jehovah's Witness communities from July and leaders of the Shymkent and Saryagash communities were given heavy fines (see F18News 9 September http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=1184).

Jehovah's Witnesses in the southern town of Kentau are also facing ongoing property problems. Voevodin told Forum 18 a Kentau resident is still facing court action to try to seize and demolish his house. The authorities argue that the house was built as a place of worship when it should have been a residential house (see F18News 9 September 2008 http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=1184). "The local administration still wants the house to be destroyed and the land handed to State ownership," Voevodin complained.

The South Kazakhstan Court told Forum 18 on 18 December that the Kentau city Court's decision was annulled and the case was returned to the city court for a new hearing. The official who answered the phone said the judges declined to make comments on this case as well.

Similarly in the nearby town of Shymkent, despite having restored their rights to religious activity in the city, the Jehovah's Witnesses still cannot use their Kingdom Hall for worship. "We have to build a lightning conductor attached to the hall as the City Fire Brigade demands," Voevodin explained. "Work on the lightning conductor is underway and we will have to get the Fire Brigade's permission after that."

Many religious communities are facing similar attacks on their property by the authorities. New Life Church north-western city of Aktobe [Aqtobe], for example, has been evicted from its church building (see F18News 20 August 2008 http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=1174). In Semey, in eastern Kazakhstan, the Fire Brigade was also used to provide an excuse for preventing a church using its own building (see F18News 3 July 2008 http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=1154). (END)

For a personal commentary on how attacking religious freedom damages national security in Kazakhstan, see F18News http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=564.

For more background, see Forum 18's Kazakhstan religious freedom survey at http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=701.

More reports on freedom of thought, conscience and belief in Kazakhstan can be found at http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?query=&religion=all&country=29.

A survey of the religious freedom decline in the eastern part of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) area is at http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=806 and a survey of religious intolerance in Central Asia is at http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=815.

A printer-friendly map of Kazakhstan is available at http://www.nationalgeographic.com/xpeditions/atlas/index.html?Parent=asia&Rootmap=kazakh.

President Nursultan Nazarbaev of Kazakhstan has sent a repressive new law severely limiting freedom of religion or belief for review by the country's Constitutional Council, Forum 18 News Service has learnt. Meanwhile, the government continues to repress the exercise of freedom of thought, conscience and belief. A Baptist has this month had his main source of income confiscated and been fired from his job, because he led worship without state permission. Speaking of his former employer, who fired him after being visited by court officials, Pastor Aleksandr Kerker said that "he is not to blame though ­ he was afraid." Hare Krishna devotees have been detained by police in Almaty for handing out religious literature. Officer candidates and other students at the Kazakh Air Force's main training establishment have been warned against "religious extremism" and "religious groups non-traditional for Kazakhstan". They were also shown a film claiming that the Hare Krishna faith incites devotees to commit murder.

Human rights defenders and religious communities have given a cautious welcome to President Nursultan Nazarbaev's decision to send the restrictive new Religion Law for a review by the Constitutional Council. "We'll be delighted if the President doesn't sign the law," Baptist pastor Yaroslav Senyushkevich told Forum 18 News Service from the capital Astana on 8 January. "The Law would introduce harsh persecution." However, he pointed out that his communities ­ which refuse to seek state registration on principle ­ already face repression. "We're fined and banned from meeting for worship ­ they want to close our churches."

The Constitutional Council consists of people directly nominated by President Nazarbaev and by the upper and lower houses of parliament ­ both of which are dominated by the President's own party. The new Law was passed by both houses of parliament.

The government continues to repress people exercising freedom of thought, conscience and belief in the country. In the latest problem for Baptist pastor Aleksandr Kerker in Tayinsha in North Kazakhstan Region, court bailiffs seeking to recover the fine he has refused to pay for leading unregistered worship went to his private employer in early January 2009, demanding that he hand over the money from Kerker's wages. "He refused, telling them they should deal with this directly with me," Kerker told Forum 18 from Tayinsha on 8 January. "But he sacked me anyway, saying he can do without such problems. He is not to blame though ­ he was afraid."

Kerker said he now has no source of income to support himself, his wife and his ten children, six of whom are minors. Bailiffs have already told him they will return after New Year to confiscate a cow, his refrigerator and gas stove.

Kerker defended his right to worship without seeking state permission and insisted that such items should not be confiscated as they are necessities. He said it is not clear when the bailiffs might return to take away the items.

Court bailiff Vladimir Kapareyko denied any responsibility for Kerker's sacking. "It has nothing to do with us," he told Forum 18 on 9 January. "If he had paid his fine this would never have happened." Asked why Kerker is being punished for meeting for worship Kapareyko responded: "They were meeting without state registration ­ he even opened a prayer house in a private home." Asked what was wrong with that, Kapareyko responded: "We're acting in accordance with the law. We're getting on with our job."

He declined to say when the cows, refrigerator and stove are due to be confiscated and declined to discuss whether bailiffs are allowed to confiscate necessities.

Other members of the Council of Churches Baptists point to continuing problems. The church in the village of Konaevo near the town of Shu in the southern Zhambyl Region remains sealed. "The authorities said it would remain sealed until we register," church members told Forum 18 from Konaevo on 8 January. "But we will never do this." The authorities sealed the church in May 2008 after it was "banned" by a local court.

Pastor Senyushkevich remains sceptical about the authorities' intentions. He pointed out that President Nazarbaev refused to sign a harsh new Religion Law in 2002 after the Constitutional Council ruled it unconstitutional. "Despite this, in 2005 new amendments were adopted increasing state control," he told Forum 18. "Maybe even if the President doesn't sign the Law now, he will in future."

State officials also continue to incite hostility against religious minorities. This continues, the Justice Ministry stating that on 6 December 2008, the local Religious Affairs Department in Aktobe [Aqtobe] lectured all students at the Kazakh Air Force's main training establishment about what it described as "religious extremism" and "religious groups non-traditional for Kazakhstan." Officer candidates and other students at the "Military Institute of Air Defense Forces named after twice Hero of Soviet Union T.Y. Begeldinov" were also shown a 2004 Russian film "Religious Sect ­ Freedom from Conscience", made with the support of the Orthodox Church. At one point the film - which has been seen by Forum 18 - claims that the Hare Krishna faith incites devotees to commit murder.

The website of the Constitutional Council noted in a brief statement on 8 January that President Nazarbaev had sent on the Religion Law "for verification of [its] conformity to the Constitution". It added that the date when the Constitutional Council will meet to review the Law will be given later. Curiously, the presidential website has made no mention of the decision to send the Law for a review.

The Law on the Constitutional Council gives it one month to rule on whether a draft law complies with the Constitution. "The President has the right to reduce this period to ten days when he considers it urgent, but there was no information on that," Yevgeny Zhovtis, head of the Almaty-based Kazakhstan International Bureau for Human Rights and Rule of Law, told Forum 18 on 8 January. He said this means that the Constitutional Council has until 8 February to rule on the Religion Law, though he believes a decision could be made by the end of January.

Murat Telibekov, who heads the Union of Muslims of Kazakhstan, an independent grouping, says the President's decision to send the Law to the Constitutional Council was "predictable". "It is a highly reactionary Law and has many critics in society," he told Forum 18 from Almaty on 8 January. "Adopting it would put the country and the President in a bad light." He speculated that the decision to send the Law for review could be a "political game to raise the image of the President in the eyes of the international community" ahead of Kazakhstan's role as Chairman-in-Office of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) in 2010.

Telibekov told Forum 18 he believes the current Religion Law is adequate and sees no reason to adopt a new Law. However, he pointed to "negative factors" that already exist, including state pressure on "non-traditional" forms of Islam and state pressure on imams to "orient listeners to their sermons to one form of Sunni Islam". He said religious affairs officials in local akimats (administrations) and the National Security Committee (KNB) secret police already watch imams closely.

Bishop Yuri Novgorodov of the Lutheran Church welcomed the President's decision, pointing to the Law's "contradictions" with the Constitution. Like Telibekov, he believes the current Law is broadly adequate, though he would like to see a few improvements to it. "But any changes should be responsible," he told Forum 18 from Astana on 8 January. "The whole process of creating this new Law was too fast and too emotional."

Viktor Golous, head of the Hare Krishna community in Almaty Region, shares many of Novgorodov's views. "If this Law had been signed it would have done great harm to believers," he told Forum 18 from Almaty on 8 January. "The Law was directed at restricting religious rights. We believe this Law must be reconsidered."

Golous pointed out that even under the current Law, their commune near Almaty has faced sustained official attempts to close it down. "Of course, there was no need for them to have moved against the commune at all," he insisted. "Twenty-six homes were destroyed and they are trying to close the rest down. We're barely existing there."

Golous said the state has prevented the Hare Krishna community developing elsewhere in the country too. "Difficulties arise when we become visible in any particular place." He said that in Almaty, two devotees were held by police for nearly three hours in December 2008 for giving out literature. He said they were freed without charge.

The Law on Amendments and Additions to Several Legislative Acts on Questions of Freedom of Conscience and Religious Associations amends numerous articles of the current Religion Law, the Code of Administrative Offences and several other laws.

Among the new restrictions, the Law would for the first time explicitly ban unregistered religious activity. It would also ban anyone from sharing their beliefs without both the written backing of a registered religious association and also personal state registration as a missionary. It would require permission from both parents for children to attend any religious event.

Small "religious groups" ­ the lowest level of registered community - would only be authorised to carry out religious activity with existing members and would not be allowed to maintain places of worship "open to a wide access". Nor would they be allowed to conduct missionary activity. Apart from a few personal items, all religious literature imported into the country would require approval through a "religious expert assessment".

Penalties for holding religious services, conducting charitable work, importing, publishing or distributing religious literature or building or opening places of worship in violation of "demands established in law" would be increased. Repeat "offences" would lead to a religious community being banned.

The controversial Law was approved by parliament and sent to President Nazarbaev on 2 December 2008, despite widespread criticism by human rights defenders and many of Kazakhstan's religious communities. It was also criticised by many institutions, governments and organisations around the world, including the European Union, the Moscow Patriarchate, the Lutheran World Federation, and Pope Benedict XVI.

The Kazakh authorities have repeatedly refused to allow the publication of a legal review of the draft conducted by the OSCE, claiming ­ falsely ­ that this refusal is due to the OSCE. Ambassador Janez Lenarcic, Director of the ODIHR, has expressed disappointment at the "hasty" passage of the Law, and has called for it to be changed to make it "fully reflecting OSCE commitments and other international standards".

Pope Benedict XVI made a further apparent reference to this Law and proposed harsh new Religion Laws in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan in his traditional annual address to the diplomatic corps accredited to the Holy See on 8 January. "The Church, as has often been said, does not demand privileges, but the full application of the principle of religious freedom," he was quoted by the official Vatican Information Service as declaring. "In this perspective, it is important that, in central Asia, legislation concerning religious communities guarantee the full exercise of this fundamental right, in respect for international norms."

PRESS RELEASE CONTACT: Priya Abraham
202-835-8760/Abraham@religionandpolicy.org

Institute condemns deportation of Hare Krishna leader from Kazakhstan

Washington, DC, Jan. 29, 2009-The Institute on Religion and Public Policy condemns the Jan. 27 deportation of the religious leader of the International Society of Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), B. B. Govinda Swami, from Kazakhstan.

According to ISKON, Govinda Swami was held without explanation at the airport in Almaty for 12 hours and denied entry into Kazakhstan, despite carrying a valid passport and visa. He was reportedly on a government list of people who are not allowed into Kazakhstan.

The move against Govinda Swami appears to be the latest in a Kazakh campaign to limit severely the activities of non-traditional religions in the country. Hare Krishnas continually face harassment and undue monitoring, and in a prominent case that began in 2006, lost a commune outside Almaty when the government first raided then seized their property.

“The Kazakh government seems to continually and erroneously view peaceful minority religions as a threat to security, and the country’s abysmal record on religious freedom shows it,” said Institute President Joseph K. Grieboski. “We call on the government of Kazakhstan to allow Govinda Swami to enter the country and meet with his fellow Hare Krishnas, and allow the community as a whole to worship freely.”

The Institute has consistently engaged the government of Kazakhstan on its religious freedom abuses, and has called on the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe to rescind the country’s scheduled 2010 chairmanship of the group.

Click here
http://religionandpolicy.org/cms/index.phpoption=com_content&task=view&id=1488&Itemid=342

to read the Institute’s latest report on religious freedom in Kazakhstan,

and here
http://religionandpolicy.org/cms/index.phpoption=com_content&task=view&id=1663&Itemid=242

for a letter to President Nursultan Nazarbaev.

PRESS RELEASE CONTACT: Priya Abraham
202-835-8760/Abraham@religionandpolicy.org

Institute condemns deportation of Hare Krishna leader from Kazakhstan

Washington, DC, Jan. 29, 2009-The Institute on Religion and Public Policy condemns the Jan. 27 deportation of the religious leader of the International Society of Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), B. B. Govinda Swami, from Kazakhstan.

According to ISKCON, Govinda Swami was held without explanation at the airport in Almaty for 12 hours and denied entry into Kazakhstan, despite carrying a valid passport and visa. He was reportedly on a government list of people who are not allowed into Kazakhstan.

The move against Govinda Swami appears to be the latest in a Kazakh campaign to limit severely the activities of non-traditional religions in the country. Hare Krishnas continually face harassment and undue monitoring, and in a prominent case that began in 2006, lost a commune outside Almaty when the government first raided then seized their property.

“The Kazakh government seems to continually and erroneously view peaceful minority religions as a threat to security, and the country’s abysmal record on religious freedom shows it,” said Institute President Joseph K. Grieboski. “We call on the government of Kazakhstan to allow Govinda Swami to enter the country and meet with his fellow Hare Krishnas, and allow the community as a whole to worship freely.”

The Institute has consistently engaged the government of Kazakhstan on its religious freedom abuses, and has called on the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe to rescind the country’s scheduled 2010 chairmanship of the group.

Click here
http://religionandpolicy.org/cms/index.phpoption=com_content&task=view&id=1488&Itemid=342

to read the Institute’s latest report on religious freedom in Kazakhstan,

and here
http://religionandpolicy.org/cms/index.phpoption=com_content&task=view&id=1663&Itemid=242

for a letter to President Nursultan Nazarbaev.
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Press release

Society for Krishna Consciousness, Kazakhstan

January 28, 2009

On January 27, 2009, the religious leader of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, US citizen B. B. Govinda Swami, was deported from the airport of Almaty while attempting to enter Kazakhstan. The officials have given no explanation.

Govinda Swami was invited to Almaty by the Society for Krishna Consciousness in Kazakhstan. With the valid passport and the valid visa to Kazakhstan on hand, he arrived to the Almaty airport from Moscow on January 27, 5:45 a. m. Govinda Swami was unexpectedly stopped at the passport control desk: the border guards confiscated his passport and told him that he would be deported back to Moscow. They did not disclose the cause for deportation. The chief officer of the Airport Border Service did not allow the lawyer of Govinda Swami, who came to the airport, to meet with him.

Govinda Swami was kept in the airport for 12 hours. He was obliged to pay for his ticket for the evening (6:55 p. m.) flight to Moscow. Govinda Swami got his passport back only in Sheremetievo, Moscow.

The Society for Krishna Consciousness was informed of the so called “black list” of personae non grata who cannot enter Kazakhstan. Govinda Swami’s name was put in that list. According to information from the Committee of Religious Affairs, the decision about prohibiting Govinda Swami from entering the country was taken by the migration police of Actobe city that acted on the order of the Actobe Prosecutor’s office.

The RK law stipulates that the decision about declaring a foreigner persona non grata can only be taken by the court. Upon what rules of law did the Actobe migration police base their decision against the US citizen Govinda Swami? The Society for Krishna Consciousness, as the inviting party, intends to go into court to appeal against the decision of the Actobe authorities.

Society for Krishna Consciousness, Kazakhstan

+7 727 296 9719 +7 701 7407943 +7 72771 34287

By Mushfig Bayram, Forum 18 News Service <http://www.forum18.org>

Kazakhstan has barred the Hare Krishna community's leader in Central Asia from visiting the country, Forum 18 News Service has found. Kazakh officials have claimed that US citizen Seane Hobgood (religious name Govinda Swami) was found guilty of "illegal missionary activity" by Aktobe Regional court in 2008. The alleged "illegal missionary activity" was a private talk to devotees. However, Aktobe Regional Court, Aktobe City Administrative Court and City Civil Court all confirmed to Forum 18 that they did not hear any case relating to Govinda Swami (Seane Hobgood) in 2008. Also, Govinda Swami had previously visited Kazakhstan since the alleged conviction, without being banned. Human rights defender Yevgeni Zhovtis pointed out to Forum 18 that describing Govinda Swami's talk to a registered religious community as "illegal missionary activity" is "absolute rubbish". Aktobe City Prosecutor's Office confirmed to Forum 18 that police filmed the gathering. In 2006, an American university lecturer was fined and given a deportation order, after the authorities filmed him taking part in a Bible discussion at a Baptist church he attended.

The leader of the Hare Krishna community in Central Asia, Seane Hobgood (religious name Govinda Swami), was denied entry to Kazakhstan at Almaty airport on 27 January, his colleague Maksim Varfolomeev who had arrived on the same flight from Moscow told Forum 18 News Service. Officials told Govinda Swami, who holds a US passport and has a valid multi-entry Kazakh visa which runs out in April 2009, that he has been barred from the country in the wake of a conviction by Aktobe [Aqtobe] Regional Court in 2008. Ruslan Zhasanov, who covers religious cases at Aktobe City Prosecutor's Office, told Forum 18 on 28 January from Aktobe that Govinda Swami has been barred from the country because of his "illegal missionary activity" in Aktobe in May 2008. He said the Prosecutor's Office asked the Migration Police to impose the ban. However, Forum 18 has been unable to find that any legal case ever took place.

Yevgeni Zhovtis, head of the Almaty-based Kazakhstan International Bureau for Human Rights and Rule of Law, said it is "nonsense" to say that the Migration Police has the authority whether or not to allow a foreign citizen into Kazakhstan. "It can only be done on the basis of a court decision by the State Border Service, which is under the auspices of the National Security Committee (KNB) secret police," he told Forum 18 on 29 January.

He added that under Kazakhstan's current Religion Law it is "absolute rubbish" to talk about Govinda Swami's "illegal missionary activity". Zhovtis said, according to the Law, propagation of a religion by an individual is only considered missionary activity if that religion does not already exist or is not registered in Kazakhstan. "As I understand, Govinda Swami was preaching in a registered Hare Krishna community."

Kenzhebulat Beknazarov, the KNB secret police spokesperson, insisted that the KNB has nothing to do with the case but defended the ban. "The authorities acted lawfully while barring Seane Hobgood from entry," he told Forum 18 on 27 January from the capital Astana. He too claimed that Govinda Swami had engaged in illegal missionary activity in May 2008. "The decision to bar Hobgood's entry into Kazakhstan was made by the Migration Police on the claim brought by the Aktobe City Prosecutor's office."

An official of Aktobe City's Migration Police, who did not give his name, refused to talk to Forum 18 on 27 January about the case. Forum 18 was also unable to discuss the case with the Justice Ministry's Religious Affairs Committee on 27 and 28 January.

Aktobe Regional Court, Aktobe City Administrative Court and City Civil Court confirmed to Forum 18 on 27 January that they did not hear any case relating to Govinda Swami (Seane Hobgood) in 2008.

Varfolomeev complained to Forum 18 that the community has not seen any court verdict. "This is the first any of us knew about this case against him," Varfolomeev told Forum 18. He said the border guards at Almaty Airport had initially told Govinda Swami merely that he was on the entry blacklist and refused to explain the denial of entry, claiming it was a "state secret". They then suggested Govinda Swami should ask the KNB secret police. It was only when the Hare Krishna devotees called Kayrat Tulesov of the Religious Affairs Committee in Astana that they were told of the conviction. Tulesov told them that the General Prosecutor's Office had denied that they had ordered Govinda Swami barred, but did not say who had ordered the bar.

Govinda Swami then asked the community's lawyer to come to the holding area at Almaty Airport, but security staff refused to allow him access to the area where Govinda Swami was being held, Varfolomeev added. Govinda Swami told Forum 18 on 29 January from Dubai that he was detained at the airport for twelve hours and forced to buy a return ticket to Moscow on the evening flight. He was accompanied on the flight by Kazakh border officials who returned his passport to him only at Sheremetyevo Airport in Moscow.

Govinda Swami said their lawyers are now in the process of trying to get a written official declaration giving the cause of deportation. "As I understand it, the deportation can be ordered only by a court decision," he told Forum 18.

Govinda Swami visited the registered Hare Krishna community in Aktobe on 28 May 2008. "As soon as we arrived in Aktobe's Airport, we took him directly to the Regional Akimat (administration) to get permission for his planned activity," Varfolomeev said. He reported that Yermek Tauanov, the Regional Akimat's Chief Expert on religious affairs, did not give permission for public meetings but said that Govinda Swami "could meet with his fellow-believers in Aktobe in private."

Zhasanov of Aktobe City Prosecutor's Office confirmed to Forum 18 that Hare Krishna devotees had asked the Akimat for permission but that this was refused. However, Tauanov denied ever speaking about permission for Govinda Swami. "I have worked in this office for almost 10 years but I have never seen or talked to Seane Hobgood," he told Forum 18 on 28 January.

In the wake of the refusal, Govinda Swami addressed devotees in a private house, Varfolomeev reported. However, two people not recognised by the community were also present. "They filmed the meeting on their mobile phones, to which we made no objection," Varfolomeev told Forum 18. "Soon they left and officers from Aktobe city Police arrived, telling Govinda Swami that he was engaged in illegal activity." He said officers forced Govinda Swami to sign a document which he did not understand and appear at the Prosecutor's Office the following morning.

Zhasanov of the Prosecutor's Office also confirmed that the police checked up on and filmed the gathering. "Based on the video materials, and the refusal of the Akimat, we evaluated his actions as illegal missionary," he told Forum 18. Asked why Govinda Swami's activity was illegal if he was talking to a private gathering, Zhasanov was vague. "Of course he could have avoided the problem if he just came to the prosecutor's office back in May and explained what happened." Zhasanov said in the worst case he might have been fined. But he said Govinda Swami did not come and instead left the city the next day for Almaty.

Varfolomeev said Govinda Swami was advised by his lawyer to go to Almaty and sort out the incident by a help of a professional interpreter and inform the US consulate about the issue, which he did. Govinda Swami spoke to the US Consul and gave his contacts in case the authorities in Aktobe had any questions. Varfolomeev said Govinda Swami stayed in Almaty until 5 June and then left Kazakhstan, but that the Aktobe authorities never tried to reach him.

Varfolomeev pointed out that Govinda Swami had been in Kazakhstan in mid-January without problem and had even had to show his passport and visa to three Migration Police officers who questioned him one night after he left his birthday party in Almaty. "Everything was in order then, so we don't understand why this has happened."

Later, Varfolomeev added, local Hare Krishna members heard rumours that Aktobe city Prosecutor's Office was seeking to ban Govinda Swami's entry into the country. "We did not want to believe this then," he said.

Varfolomeev said they understood the rumours of the-sought-for ban could be true when they saw an article by Alina Pak in Megapolis, an Almaty-based national newspaper, on 7 July 2008. The article, entitled "Like an Englishman, Without Saying Goodbye", claims that an unnamed American Buddhist preacher, instead of appearing before the Prosecutor, "ran away" from Aktobe. The author reported that prosecutors were insisting on a ban of his entry into Kazakhstan.

Zhaslan Zhugunisov, head of a division of the State Agency of Oversight of Prosecution Bodies, told the newspaper that the foreigner was invited to the city Prosecutor's Office to testify about his activity in Aktobe, but instead "he packed up, and left the city." Zhugunisov claimed that had the visiting American asked for a registration from the local Akimat, without which he said it is illegal to engage in missionary activity, he would not have had any troubles.

Varfolomeev told Forum 18 that before this article they did not even worry about the incident in Aktobe, because they "received no phone calls, or inquiries from the authorities on Govinda Swami's visit to Aktobe."

Zhasanov of Aktobe City Prosecutor's Office defended the refusal to give Govinda Swami reasons for the deportation. "Imagine that I go to the United States," he said, "if I am stopped at the border and deported, the officials will not explain to me the reasons." He added that just like America, Kazakhstan is a sovereign state with its own rules and regulations. "Even though we are a secular state, the issue of religion is a very sensitive one in Kazakhstan where the majority of population is Muslim," he said.

A source from Kazakhstan, who preferred to remain unnamed, told Forum 18 on 28 January that in June 2008, Aktobe City Prosecutor's Office officials had contacted them to "broker a deal" between the Hare Krishna devotees and the authorities. If the Hare Krishna community was "prepared to pay five thousand US Dollars each to the Aktobe's City's Prosecutor, KNB secret police and Migration Police" then the case would be closed. Zhasanov vigorously denied to Forum 18 that Aktobe City Prosecutor's Office had demanded any bribe since he was appointed to the post in October 2008.

Asked how long the ban would remain in force, Zhasanov told Forum 18 that although the ban on his entry into Kazakhstan was permanent, Govinda Swami might get his ban lifted. "Let him write letters to the Migration Police, General Prosecutor's office, KNB, and the Border Service explaining why he did not appear before the Prosecutor back then," he said, "and promise in the letter that he would not in the future violate Kazakhstan's law, then it might be possible to lift his ban."

Varfolomeev said they remained pessimistic over the success of the community's efforts to bring a legal appeal against the denial of entry. "Govinda Swami is our spiritual master and the community wants to hear from him," he told Forum 18. "He is also our administrative leader. The community had invited him and paid for his ticket."

The Kazakh authorities have previously spied on and expelled foreigners involved in religious activity. In 2006 Dan Ballast, an American working as a university lecturer in Oskemen, was deported after officials secretly filmed him participating in a Bible discussion at a Baptist church he attended (see F18News 12 December 2006 http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=886).

Still barred from entry into Kazakhstan is Aleksei Ledyayev, chief pastor of the New Generation Pentecostal church which has congregations in the country. Ledyayev ­ who was born in Kazakhstan, and is a permanent resident of Latvia ­ told Forum 18 from the Latvian capital Riga on 28 January that he remains barred from Kazakhstan, Russia, Belarus and Armenia, and often encounters problems when he applies to visit Ukraine. "There are no changes ­ I am persona non grata," he told Forum 18. He said he believes he was placed on the Kazakh blacklist after being blacklisted by Russia in 2002. "The Russians dictate to Belarus, Armenia and Kazakhstan."

Kazakhstan denied Ledyayev a visa in 2005, which led the New Generation Church to cancel a conference due to have been held in Almaty. The Kazakh consulate in Riga told him he was on a blacklist and that his presence in Kazakhstan was "not desirable" (see F18News 8 June 2005 http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=578).

Varfolomeev of the Hare Krishna community also told Forum 18 that the authorities are now pressuring the Hare Krishna commune near Almaty to vacate their land by 1 May. The authorities have long been seeking to close down the commune and seize the land (see F18News 9 January 2009 http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=1238).

"Officials from the Religious Affairs Committee in Astana told us by phone we have a deadline of 1 May to leave. They sounded very angry that we have not written to say that we are happy to accept the rubbish dump that has been offered to us." He speculates that officials are desperate to have in writing a letter from the community renouncing any claims against officials and accepting the loss of their land. He said officials' promises in late December that they would help the community try to exchange the rubbish dump for a more suitable alternative site have now been abandoned. "They are now telling us they cannot help us exchange the site. This completely contradicts their earlier statements." (END)

For a personal commentary on how attacking religious freedom damages national security in Kazakhstan, see F18News http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=564

For more background, see Forum 18's Kazakhstan religious freedom survey at http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=701

More reports on freedom of thought, conscience and belief in Kazakhstan can be found at http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?query=&religion=all&country=29.

A survey of the religious freedom decline in the eastern part of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) area is at http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=806 and a survey of religious intolerance in Central Asia is at http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=815.

A printer-friendly map of Kazakhstan is available at http://www.nationalgeographic.com/xpeditions/atlas/index.html?Parent=asia&Rootmap=kazakh.

 BBC NEWS
Priests to face 'sex drive tests'

The Roman Catholic Church has issued guidance for future priests to have psychological tests to weed out those unable to control their sexual urges.

A senior churchman said a series of sex scandals had contributed to the rewriting of the guidelines.

The authors said screening would help avoid "tragic situations" caused by what they termed psychological defects.

The guidance says the voluntary tests should also aim to vet for those with "deep-seated homosexual tendencies".

Among other traits that might make a candidate unsuitable for the priesthood, the advice lists "uncertain sexual identity," "excessive rigidity of character" and "strong affective dependencies".

The document also makes reference to heterosexual urges.

Seminarians should be barred if testing makes it "evident the candidate has difficulty living in celibacy: That is, if celibacy for him is lived as a burden so heavy that it compromises his affective and relational equilibrium", it says.

The advice stipulates priests must have a "positive and stable sense of one's masculine identity".

The document, approved by Pope Benedict XVI and made public on Thursday, stresses that the screening must always have the candidate's consent.

The Catholic Church has been rocked by a series of sex scandals in recent years involving paedophile priests, notably in the US, Latin America and Europe, triggering lawsuits that have cost hundreds of millions of dollars in settlements.

And a seminary in Austria was shut down in August 2004 after revelations that students openly indulged in homosexual conduct.

Gay rights groups have accused the Church of using homosexuals as scapegoats for abuse scandals.

The Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests (SNAP), a US-based group of victims of sexual abuse, said the revised guidelines did not go far enough.

"Catholic officials continue to fixate on the offenders and ignore the larger problem: The Church's virtually unchanged culture of secrecy and unchecked power in the hierarchy," it said in a statement.

"These broader factors are deeply rooted in the Church and contribute heavily to extensive and ongoing clergy sex abuse and cover up."

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/europe/7700710.stm

Published: 2008/10/30 21:11:22 GMT

© BBC MMVIII

KATHMANDU, NEPAL, January 2, 2009: For the first time in the history of Nepal’s revered Pashupatinath temple, devotees were unable to offer worship to the centuries-old deity after a row erupted between the trust that looks after the shrine and the priests, a bad omen according to the locals.

The dispute that began last month with the Pashupatinath Area Development Trust appointing two Nepali priests to take over. Traditionally, the priests in this temple had been Indian, because the Nepalese are not supposed to work on certain special days, as during the mourning of a king’s death.

Two days ago, the Supreme Court stepped in. It ordered the hold of the new appointments after a petition claimed that the trust had overridden all procedures to make political appointments. The Rajbhandaris, who are helpers to the main priests, locked the gate of the main shrine to stop the two new Nepali priests from taking over on Thursday, when the government tried to break in, creating a tumult.

But on January 2, the Maoist government has deployed riot police at Nepal’s holiest temple Pashupatinath to stop protesters, defying the Supreme Court order. More than a hundred Maoists broke the lock of Pashupatinath’s main shrine and took the newly appointed priest Bishnu Prasad Dahal inside to capture the head-priest’s seat. Popular protests erupted in the vicinity of the temple.

The move to replace the Indian priests has been sharply rejected not only by the Supreme Court, but by the opposition group Nepali Congress.

courtesy of Hinduism Today  http://www.hinduismtoday.com

KATHMANDU, NEPAL, December 30, 2008: The government’s decision to sack South Indian priests from the Pashupatinath Temple in the capital has sparked a row in Nepal, with the main Opposition party accusing the Maoists of hurting “the religious sentiments” of the Hindus in the country.

The Nepali Congess, the second largest party in the country, has raised serious objections on the Maoist-led government’s move to remove South Indian Brahmins from capital’s famous Pashupatinath Temple, one of the eight holiest Hindu shrines, and appointing local priests in their place.

Nepali Congress (NC) alleged that it was done in a hurry without going through proper process and formalities.

“The way Maoist government replaced the priests serving at the Pashupatinath Temple without fulfilling any formality has hurt the religious sentiments of the Hindu people of Nepal,” said NC chief Laxman Ghimire in the Parliament yesterday.

[HPI note: These priests are Saiva Brahmins from Koteswaram in Kundapura Taluk, Karnataka’s western coast about 100 km from Mangalore.]

courtesy of Hinduism Today  http://www.hinduismtoday.com

KATHMANDU, NEPAL, January 6, 2009: University students angry at the government’s intention of appointing the head priests at Nepal’s most revered Hindu temple blocked traffic and threw bricks at cars in Katmandu today.

The nearly 200 students were demanding the government, led by the country’s former communist rebels, withdraw the two priests named last week to lead Pashupatinath temple in Katmandu. No one was hurt in the protest.

The appointments were immediately condemned by other Nepalese priests, who said the government was interfering in religion and meddling with centuries of tradition. The resident Nepalese priests have since refused to take part in religious ceremonies at the temple.

“We are protesting the government appointing their people to these respected positions and going against traditions,” said Pratima Gautam, a student at Monday’s protest.

KATHMANDU, NEPAL, December 29, 2008: Beginning in January, breaking a 300 year tradition, Nepalese priests will conduct the worship ceremonies at Nepal’s famous Pashupatinath Temple. One of the most famous sites in Hinduism, the temple has experienced a significant break with tradition. Its prayers always used to be led by priests recruited from south India. But now they have been replaced by local priests - ending centuries of tradition and long-held rituals. The development can be seen as a reflection of wider changes that have swept Nepal over the past year.

Since 1747 the kings of Nepal had engaged priests from southern India to serve in the temple. This was due to the belief that following the death of the king, all Nepalese had to observe a period of mourning which made them unfit to worship the Gods, and Indians would keep the temple going. After the dethronement of the King, the fiercely secular communists have few qualms about dispensing with these services.

courtesy of Hinduism Today  http://www.hinduismtoday.com

DELHI, INDIA, January 8, 2008: A lively discussion on Maoist assault on Hindus’ holy place in Nepal Lord Pashupatinath temple took place today afternoon in the conference hall of India International Centre, New Delhi. The theme was- “Atheists Assault Faith.” It was organized by Dr. Syama Prasad Mookerjee research Foundation, a nationalist think tank.

Former Governor and ambassador N.N.Jha, former secretary ministry of External Affairs Rajiv Sikri, director of South Asia Analysis Group and former Adll. Secy. Cabinet Secretariat Dr. S. Chandrasekhar, renowned Nepal-Observer Maj. Gen. Ashok Mehta were the distinguished panelists and former union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad presided. N.N.Jha initiated the discussion. He said Maoists had been targeting the Hindu faith even before they had come to power and their attempt to desecrate Pashupatinath temple through Young Communist League hoodlums was a continuation of their policy to humiliate Hindus. For the full report, download PDF file at source above.

courtesy of Hinduism Today  http://www.hinduismtoday.com

NEPAL, January 30, 2009: More and more Nepalese emigrants who have gone to Muslim majority countries to work - for example, on the Arabian Peninsula - are abandoning their Hindu religion and embracing Islam in order to improve their economic and social situation.

According to figures from the Nepalese workers’ union, in Qatar alone there have been about 2,000 cases of conversion, plus 4,000 in Saudi Arabia, the Arab emirates, and Malaysia.

Rita Tamang, who emigrated to Saudi Arabia two years ago from the Nepalese district of Dhulikhel, explains that “Muslims get privileges with better work and good pay. The workers from other religions are hardly trusted by private employers. So, I myself also adopted Islam, giving up Hinduism.”

On the basis of numbers provided by the Nepalese workers’ union, and under pressure from the complaints of immigrants and their relatives in Nepal, the foreign minister in Kathmandu has decided to take measures to stop the wave of conversions. Upendra Mahato says he has “instructed our diplomatic missions to probe the cases and stop such conversions if they come through pressure or by force.”

By sending part of their earnings back home, emigrants represent one of the main sources of income for Nepal.

courtesy of Hinduism Today  http://www.hinduismtoday.com

Source: THE WHITE HOUSE

WASHINGTON, DC, USA, January 25, 2009: The people of India and people of Indian origin in America and around the world celebrate Republic Day on January 26, I send the warmest greetings of the American people to the people of India. Together, we celebrate our shared belief in democracy, liberty, pluralism, and religious tolerance.

Our nations have built broad and vibrant partnerships in every field of human endeavor. Our rapidly growing and deepening friendship with India offers benefits to all the world’s citizens as our scientists solve environmental challenges together, our doctors discover new medicines, our engineers advance our societies, our entrepreneurs generate prosperity, our educators lay the foundation for our future generations, and our governments work together to advance peace, prosperity, and stability around the globe.

It is our shared values that form the bedrock of a robust relationship across peoples and governments. Those values and ideals provide the strength that enables us to meet any challenge, particularly from those who use violence to try to undermine our free and open societies. As the Indian people celebrate Republic Day all across India, they should know that they have no better friend and partner than the people of the United States. It is in that spirit, that I also wish Prime Minister Singh a quick recovery.

courtesy of Hinduism Today  http://www.hinduismtoday.com

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, January 21, 2009: (HPI Note: Following are excerpts from Juluri’s essay available at source.) “The One” is now President and has already done one nice thing no President apparently did before. The newest of messiahs has acknowledged the oldest of religions. He mentioned Christians, Muslims, Jews, and non-believers. And he mentioned Hindus (see HPI, January 20).

It is easy to see the naming of a religion in so spectacular a forum as political recognition for its members. TheTelegraph, from Kolkata, notes that this Presidential “first” represents an acknowledgment of the accomplishments and contributions of Hindu-Americans to the country. I believe though that this is only one part of it. There is more than the demographic reality of those of Hindu faith in America that is being acknowledged. What is more important perhaps is the recognition of some of the noble ideals that religions (or the equivalent worldviews of “non-believers”) can stand for.

I think that Obama’s mentioning of some of the world’s great religions can be seen as recognition not just of the people who follow them, but more universally the fact that religion is an immense cultural resource that human beings have used to co-exist, serve one another, and give meaning to the world for hundreds, if not thousands of years.

In some ways, India was the America of the past; it was the country to which many faiths came and made their home. Today, both India and America face many common issues, whether it is security from terrorism, or spreading prosperity within their country, or renewing the idea of a common humanity from a diverse population. We should take our strengths for these goals where we get them and not leave matters of faith to ignorance, whether it comes from the Right or Left. Obama has shown us his way; remaining devout in his own form of faith, and being respectful to those of others. He has taken a bold stance by acknowledging that the promise of America will stand to gain from the best of all religions. It is not just good PR for America in a time when it seeks renewed friends and allies around the world, but also a salute to those who still have faith in faith, in whatever form.

courtesy of Hinduism Today  http://www.hinduismtoday.com

ALUVA, KERALA, INDIA, December 30, 2008: Catholics represent a tiny proportion of the population in India. But among them, young men willing to join the Catholic priesthood are plentiful, unlike in the United States and Europe. As a result, bishops trek here from the United States, Europe, Latin America and Australia looking for spare priests to fill their empty pulpits.

At least 800 Indian priests are working in the United States alone. India, Vietnam and the Philippines are among the leading exporters of priests, according to data compiled by researchers at Catholic University of America in Washington.

In Birmingham, Alabama, where four Indian priests serve, the former local bishop arranged about seven years ago to pay their original Indian Diocese of Irinjalakuda $5,000 a year for each borrowed priest, an official in the Indian diocese said. Many Indian bishops have such arrangements, giving them a motive other than generosity to loan out their priests.

The rectors of both large seminaries in Aluva, with over 400 students each, each said in separate interviews that the Catholic church in the United States and Europe would eventually need to stop relying on India to supply priests.

courtesy of Hinduism Today  http://www.hinduismtoday.com

CONCORD, NEW HAMPSHIRE, U.S.A., December 26, 2008: The U.S. economic recession is wreaking havoc on the lives and hopes of refugees here. In the past, a refugee in America would receive a few months of assistance, find a job with modest wages and work hard to achieve a more secure economic footing. Historically, according to government figures, about 70% succeed. But now, jobs are increasingly scarce, federal resettlement funding has been scant, and local charities are stretched thin. Many refugees, still jobless and soon to lose the assistance they had been receiving, are faced with the prospect of being homeless in a strange land.

David Siegel directs the federal office of refugee resettlement. Siegel says right now, he has no more money. He says his hands are tied by a continuing budget resolution that limits spending at last year’s level. He hopes things will be better in 2009.

Most refugees seem to agree that as difficult as things might be here, they are infinitely better than life in a refugee camp. But Bhima Acharya, who arrived in Concord five months ago with her husband and three children, thinks her friends back in the refugee camps ought to stay there until the economy improves. Although she and her husband have applied at dozens of companies, he has only found three days’ work in all that time. Their financial assistance is coming to an end, and they don’t know how they will pay the rent in January or even provide food for their children.

courtesy of Hinduism Today  http://www.hinduismtoday.com

FIJI, January 20, 2009: Fiji’s largest Hindu organization wants the local police to stop a group of people who are using its name to swindle money from members of the public.

Shree Sanatan Dharm Pratinidhi Sabha of Fiji secretary Vijendra Pratap told Fijlive, “somebody has tried to use the name of a Hindu temple to get money out of people.” Pratap said they were called yesterday by a concerned person asking them about a temple which according to the Sabha listing does not exist.

“What had happened is that a group of people are using letterheads and fictitious temple names to make money saying they are organizing fund drives. What we are going to do is give a list of registered temples to the Provincial Council Offices, which then can be used as a reference by the Councils to issue permits.

Police are advising the general public to check permits of those collecting funds.

courtesy of Hinduism Today  http://www.hinduismtoday.com

VIRGINIA, USA, January 19, 2009: HPI has just become aware of the successful outcome of Hindus in Virginia to change the State’s curriculum for teaching of Hinduism as part of world history. Rakesh Bahadur, with others, spearheaded the effort. The entire curriculum revision for the State may be downloaded at the URL above. One can then search “Hinduism” to find the changed sections.

In the original “Standard,” as these descriptions of what a course should cover are called, there were listed two “essential questions” and six items of “essential knowledge for Hinduism.”

Previously, the essential questions for Hinduism were:

What are the characteristics of the Hindu religion?
How did Hinduism influence Indian society and culture?

The first of these was changed to be:
What are the beliefs of the Hindu religion?

This brings Hinduism in line with Christianity, Judaism and Islam where the term “beliefs” is used and not the undignified and non-religious term, “characteristics.”

The points of “essential knowledge” for “Hinduism” previously read:

* Caste system in religious law based on occupations
* Belief in many forms of one major deity
* Reincarnation: Cycles of rebirth based upon karma
* Karma: Future reincarnation based on present behavior.
* Vedas and Upanishads: Sacred writings
* Spread along international trade routes

This was revised to:

* (Caste system item deleted entirely)
* Belief in many forms of one God
* Reincarnation: Rebirth based upon karma
* Karma: Knowledge that all thoughts and actions result in future consequences.
* Vedas and Upanishads: Sacred writings
* Spread along major trade routes

These changes served to separate religion from social practices (the caste system) and to correctly state the Hindu view of God, reincarnation and karma.

Congratulations to all involved. This is the first time any state’s curriculum has been adjusted to reflect the Hindu point of view on our own faith.

courtesy of Hinduism Today  http://www.hinduismtoday.com

TIRUPATI, INDIA, January 20, 2009: The hill shrine of Lord Venkateswara at Tirumala Tirupati will be closed on January 26 due to Suryagrahanam, a partial solar eclipse on that day. The temple will be closed from 6 am to 6 pm. All Sevas in the Srivari Temple including Suprabhatam, Thomala, Archana, Archana Anantara Darshan will not be performed. January 26, the Republic Day of India, is a public holiday and the plans of many devotees will be affected.

The temple will open only after the purification rituals are performed inside the sanctum sanctorum to rid the evil effects of eclipse.

courtesy of Hinduism Today  http://www.hinduismtoday.com

see more about Eclipses on our page

In The Twilight of Life, A Newborn Love for India
http://www.thestatesman.net

DEHRA DUN, UTTARAKHAND, INDIA, January 22, 2009: Robert Brayon, 61, an American citizen, today was cremated on the banks of the Saryu river in Bageshwar according to Hindu rituals, as he wished. He left money for his last rites and for a shanti moksha paath, a Hindu ritual for the deceased.

Brayon, who was suffering from blood cancer, had come to Haldwani for treatment in Susheela Tiwari Memorial Hospital here. He had come as a tourist from New York a few years back. But when he came to Kosani at Bageshwar he was so mesmerised by the beauty of the place that he decided to stay back. The American extended his visa again and again as he did not want to return home at the twilight of his life. He developed a liking for Indian culture, particularly Hinduism. Convinced that he would not live long he made his will some time ago to ensure that he was cremated as a Hindu.

courtesy of Hinduism Today  http://www.hinduismtoday.com

WASHINGTON, DC, USA, December 18, 2008: A majority of American Christians believe that at least some non-Christian faiths can lead to eternal life, according to a new survey released today by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life.

This inclusive belief is common even among evangelicals, a branch of Protestant Christianity whose doctrine specifically contradicts this more inclusive view. Even in this group, a full 47 percent said many religions can lead to “eternal life.”

An earlier, similar poll with similar results had been criticized by many Christians. It asked about “other religions” bringing salvation, and critics felt it implied other Christian religions. This time, the survey was more specific, naming Hinduism, Judaism, and Islam as well as “no religious faith.” Still, a majority of the respondents found them to be valid paths.

About one third of Americans say one’s beliefs determine who achieves eternal life, while an equal number say it depends on one’s actions. A tenth of the population say it is a combination of belief and action. The rest say something else determines salvation, they don’t believe in eternal life or they don’t know.

courtesy of Hinduism Today  http://www.hinduismtoday.com

 BBC NEWS

America's CIA has found a novel way to gain information from fickle Afghan warlords - supplying sex-enhancing drug Viagra, a US media report says.

The Washington Post said it was one of a number of enticements being used.

In one case, a 60-year-old warlord with four wives was given four pills and four days later detailed Taleban movements in return for more.

"Whatever it takes to make friends and influence people," the Post quoted one agent as saying.

"Whether it's building a school or handing out Viagra."

'Silver bullet'

The newspaper said the use of Viagra had to be handled sensitively as the drug was not always known about in rural areas.

It quoted one retired agent as saying: "You didn't hand it out to younger guys, but it could be a silver bullet to make connections to the older ones."

In the case of the 60-year-old warlord - the head of a clan in southern Afghanistan who had not co-operated - operatives saw he had four younger wives.

The pills were explained and offered. Four days later the agents returned.

"He came up to us beaming," the Post quoted an agent as saying. "He said, 'You are a great man.'

"And after that we could do whatever we wanted in his area."

The pills could put chieftains "back in an authoritative position", another official said.

The paper said the CIA had a long line of inducements for the notoriously fickle warlords, including dental work, visas, toys and medicine.

It quoted one private security official as saying that simply handing over large sums of money would raise suspicions about newfound wealth.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/americas/7800549.stm

Published: 2008/12/26 18:13:46 GMT

C BBC MMVIII

BBC NEWS

A Christian bus driver has refused to drive a bus with an atheist slogan proclaiming "There's probably no God".

Ron Heather, from Southampton, Hampshire, responded with "shock" and "horror" at the message and walked out of his shift on Saturday in protest.

First Bus said it would do everything in its power to ensure Mr Heather does not have to drive the buses.

Buses across Britain started displaying atheist messages in an advertising campaign launched earlier this month.

Mr Heather told BBC Radio Solent: "I was just about to board and there it was staring me in the face, my first reaction was shock horror.

"I felt that I could not drive that bus, I told my managers and they said they haven't got another one and I thought I better go home, so I did.

"I think it was the starkness of this advert which implied there was no God."

When he returned to work on Monday he was called into a meeting with managers and agreed to go back to work with the promise he would only have to drive the buses if there were no others available.

First Bus said in a statement: "As a company we understand Mr Heather's views regarding the atheist bus advert and we are doing what we can to accommodate his request not to drive the buses concerned."

It added: "As an organisation we don't endorse any of the products or sentiments advertised on our buses.

"The content of this advert has been approved by the Advertising Standards Agency and therefore it is capable of being posted on static sites or anywhere else."

The advertising campaign is backed by the British Humanist Association and prominent atheist, Professor Richard Dawkins.

Hanne Stinson, chief executive of the British Humanist Association, said: "I have difficulty understanding why people with particular religious beliefs find the expression of a different sort of beliefs to be offensive.

"I can't understand why some people seem to have a different attitude when it comes to atheists."

Pressure group Christian Voice has questioned the campaign's effectiveness but the Methodist Church said it would be a "good thing if it gets people to engage with the deepest questions of life" and suggested it showed there was
a "continued interest in God".

The advertisements run on 200 bendy buses in London and 600 vehicles in England, Scotland and Wales.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/uk_news/england/hampshire/7832647.stm

Published: 2009/01/16 10:29:39 GMT

© BBC MMIX

December 27, 2008
Op-Ed Columnist

In June, the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life published a controversial survey in which 70 percent of Americans said that they believed religions other than theirs could lead to eternal life.

This threw evangelicals into a tizzy. After all, the Bible makes it clear that heaven is a velvet-roped V.I.P. area reserved for Christians. Jesus said so: “I am the way, the truth and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” But the survey suggested that Americans just weren’t buying that.

The evangelicals complained that people must not have understood the question. The respondents couldn’t actually believe what they were saying, could they?

So in August, Pew asked the question again. (They released the results last week.) Sixty-five percent of respondents said — again — that other religions could lead to eternal life. But this time, to clear up any confusion, Pew asked them to specify which religions. The respondents essentially said all of them.

And they didn’t stop there. Nearly half also thought that atheists could go to heaven — dragged there kicking and screaming, no doubt — and most thought that people with no religious faith also could go.

What on earth does this mean?

One very plausible explanation is that Americans just want good things to come to good people, regardless of their faith. As Alan Segal, a professor of religion at Barnard College told me: “We are a multicultural society, and people expect this American life to continue the same way in heaven.” He explained that in our society, we meet so many good people of different faiths that it’s hard for us to imagine God letting them go to hell. In fact, in the most recent survey, Pew asked people what they thought determined whether a person would achieve eternal life. Nearly as many Christians said you could achieve eternal life by just being a good person as said that you had to believe in Jesus.

Also, many Christians apparently view their didactic text as flexible. According to Pew’s August survey, only 39 percent of Christians believe that the Bible is the literal word of God, and 18 percent think that it’s just a book written by men and not the word of God at all. In fact, on the question in the Pew survey about what it would take to achieve eternal life, only 1 percent of Christians said living life in accordance with the Bible.

Now, there remains the possibility that some of those polled may not have understood the implications of their answers. As John Green, a senior fellow at the Pew Forum, said, “The capacity of ignorance to influence survey outcomes should never be underestimated.” But I don’t think that they are ignorant about this most basic tenet of their faith. I think that they are choosing to ignore it ... for goodness sake.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/27/opinion/27blow.html?em

Written by Marcelo Cajueiro
Monday, 19 January 2009
Story Categories: India, TV,

RIO DE JANEIRO -- Brazil's TV Globo has gone to exotic lengths to defend its long-held numero uno status. Starting Jan. 19, Gloria Perez's telenovela "Caminho das Indias" (Path to India), a colorful India complete with mystic figures, magnificent palaces and temples and chaotic traffic, will parade before the eyes of its 30 million viewers. With 180 to 200 episodes airing Monday through Saturday until September, the telenovela is the net's first production set in India, where a 40-person cast and crew spent 20 days lensing last year. The skein costs 250,000 reals ($108,000) per episode, which includes the construction of two Indian towns in the net's Rio production center.

"India" is one of the highlights of TV Globo's 2009 programming and is aimed at keeping the net as market leader.

TV Globo has led the country's free-to-air TV ratings since the early 1970s. But its audience fell 5% in 2008 to an average of 15.3 points, according to researching firm Ibope, while its only significant competitor, TV Record, increased 18% to 5.7 points.

"TV Globo often makes large investments" in production, says the net's communications director Luis Erlanger. "We have always had competition, and we beat them, thanks to our programming quality."

The faceoff started Jan. 5 when both nets launched ambitious miniseries. TV Globo bowed Manoel Carlos' nine-episode "Maysa," the biography of a well-known Brazilian singer, which cost $650,000 per episode. To lense the mini, the net hired Brazilian d.p. Affonso Beato ("The Queen" and "All About My Mother").

TV Record fired back with Marcilio Moraes' "A Lei e o crime" (Law and Crime), a 16-episode skein about Rio's underworld, said to be inspired by Jose Padilha's feature hit "Elite Squad." The mini stars some of the pic's cast.

The pair are also battling it out in reality shows. On Jan. 13 TV Globo preemed the ninth season of its version of Endemol's format "Big Brother," which airs until the end of March.

Traditionally the country's second most-watched show, "Big Brother" changed things up by including two participants over age 60 among the usual well-built young men and women.

On the same day, TV Record opened the third season of "Troca de Familia," its version of Fox's format "Trading Spouses." The novelty of this season, which ends early April, is that husbands, not the wives, will trade homes.

For the rest of the year, TV Globo will rely on its successful programming formula: four telenovelas aired Monday through Saturday, exclusive soccer matches from Brazil's top leagues, newscasts, series and miniseries. The net produces the bulk of its programming, but also airs U.S. features from its volume deals with Sony, Fox, Disney and DreamWorks.

In the second half of this year TV Record will add a third telenovela slot, as part of a deal with Mexican giant Televisa, including a local version of "Ugly Betty."

Reality shows are the other highlight for this year. TV Record will air seven unscripted shows in 2009, including its versions for "The Apprentice" (sixth season), "American Idol" (second season) and "The Farm" (first season).

TV Record trails TV Globo when it comes to sports programming. This situation is gradually changing, as TV Record has exclusive rights in Brazil to the Guadalajara Pan-American Games 2011 and the London Summer Olympics 2012.

"Our goal is to grow this year more than in the previous year," says TV Record's communications director Ricardo Frota. "TV Record has already consolidated its second position on the audience ranking. We are preparing ourselves to lead the market, which will eventually happen."

© Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

SHIMLA, HIMACHAL PRADESH, INDIA, January 11, 2009: The State Agriculture University in Himachal Pradesh is experimenting with a concept based on Vedic rituals to boost yield. “The 15 hectares of land within the University campus where the technique of ‘Homa Agnihotra Farming’ is under experiment for over two years is yielding good results,” said Director of Research Chaudhary Sarwan.

In this organic technique of environment-friendly farming, use of fertilisers, insecticides and pesticides is avoided. Plantation of crops is done keeping in mind the religious calendar, or panchangam. About a dozen scientists gather at the farm before sunrise and sunset everyday and chant mantras and perform puja for healthy growth of plants. According to Atul, the initial results have been encouraging as it kills harmful insects and plants are disease-free.

In 2006, the state government asked the Indian Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR) to study the effect of Vedic mantras and rituals on agriculture and granted US$200,000.

The technique is gaining ground outside the University as well as many farmers in Baldul panchayat area are experimenting with the technique under the supervision of University scientists.

Read more on Chanting Hare Krishna HERE:

H. H. Sugunendra Tirtha Swamiji, Udupi Paryaya Swamiji, honors H. H. Bhakti Vikas Swami at his Vyas Puja, at Udupi, Karnataka
http://picasaweb.google.co.in/basughoshdas1/HHBhaktiVikasSwamiVyasPujaUdupiKarnatakaJanuary342009#

By Basu Ghosh Das

On January 3, 2009, the fifty second Vyas puja of H. H. Bhakti Vikas Swami was observed by almost eight hundred disciples, Sriman Haripada Prabhu and his wife, Phalini Mataji, both disciples of Srila Prabhupada, congregational devotees and others.

The program was organized at Udupi, the place of Madhvacharya, now a district headquarters in Karnataka State.

H. H. Sugunendra Tirtha Swamiji, the “paryaya Swamiji” (who’s “turn” [paryaya] to worship Lord Krishna at Udupi’s famous “Krishna math” is currently running until January 2010) of the “Puthige math” (one of the eight “maths” [pronounced “mutt”] of Udupi established eight hundred years ago by Sripad Madhvacharya) welcomed Maharaj at a function in the “Rajangana” hall, located behind the Krishna math. This is Swamiji’s third paryaya. His first paryaya began when he was only ten years old, and had just been initiated into sannyas ashram and made the “junior Swamiji” of Puthige math. The Swamijis of the eight maths appointed by Sripad Madhvacharya, take two year paryayas, so each math has a paryaya every fourteen years.

In his welcoming speech, Sugundendra Tirtha Swamiji said that Krishna means “attractive” and that he attracts devotees and that devotees attract him. Bhakti Vikas Swami has attracted so many devotees and brought them to this holy place. Sripad Madhvacharya taught that one can attain the Lord only by constant devotion, “ananya bhakti”.

H. H. Bhakti Vikas Swami, in response, said that despite the fact that we Western devotees are fallen and not greatly learned in vedic culture, customs and literature, and do not know Samskrita language, and therefore, are unfit even to come into the Krishna math, but by Prabhupada’s mercy we are engaged in Krishna bhakti and Swamiji is like Parikshit who saw the essence and accepts us as Krishna bhaktas.

Maharaj said that ISKCON is continuing the mission of Sripad Madhvacharya by fighting the false mayavada conceptions that have taken many unconventional forms and are promoted by “bogus babas and so-called avatars” at the present time. Sugunendra Swamiji smiled in approval hearing these remarks, and in this way showed his appreciation for them.

Later on, in his farewell speech in the Gita Mandir, which he organized the construction of during his previous paryaya, Swamiji told the assembled devotees the story of how Sripad Madhavcharya obtained the deities of Krishna and Balaram at Malpe, and how he established the Krishna Math eight hundred years ago and arranged for the worship of Lord Krishna by the sannyasi heads of the maths.

He also described Udupi as the place of “anna brahma”, the transcendental place of massive prasad distribution. He also mentioned, somewhat jokingly, that Tirupati is the place of “kanchana brahma”, due to the immense wealth of the temple, and more seriously mentioned Pandharpur as the place of “naada brahma”, due to the kirtans that are famous there.

Sugunendra Swamiji presented Bhakti Vikas Swami with a silver Deity of Lord Udupi Sri Krishna, and distributed prasad packets and Puthige math calendars to all the assembled devotees at Gita Mandir. The devotees were pleasantly surprised when Swamiji invited Bhakti Vikas Maharaj to hold the next Vyas Puja function again at Udupi, which would be just before his paryaya ends on makara sankranti, 2010.

Swamiji also hosted the assembled devotees by arranging for prasad (meals) at the Puthige math, for three days. After the Vyas Puja and initiation ceremonies were completed, Swamiji organized special prasad in the Krishna math itself, for the entire party of visiting devotees.

More than five hundred devotees performed “harinam sankirtan” in the area near the Krishna math and joined in the “Rathayatra” (“car festival”) in the evening, that is almost a daily feature of the Udupi Sri Krishna math.

Most of the devotees also visited the birthplace of Sripad Madhvacharya at Pajakaksehtra, several kilometers South of Udupi, and also the “Vadabanda Balarama” temple, on the sea coast at Malpe, five kilometers West of Udupi town.

There were devotees from a number of places throughout India, such as Baroda, Vallabh Vidyanagar (Anand), Surat, Pune, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Vellore, Salem and Chennai who attended the function. Devotees came from Russia, Poland, Czech Republic, Croatia, Slovenia, Estonia, Latvia, Tanzania, and Dubai. Five devotees from Sri Lanka also attended.

More than three hundred pictures of the entire function can be seen on the internet at the following URL (you can copy this into your web browser, or click on the link):

http://picasaweb.google.co.in/basughoshdas1/HHBhaktiVikasSwamiVyasPujaUdupiKarnatakaJanuary342009#

Or just go to:

http://picasaweb.google.co.in/basughoshdas1

and click on the Bhakti Vikas Swami Vyas Puja album to view the pictures.

MEXICO CITY, January 20, 2009: (HPI note: Our founder, Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami, often expressed concerned about the effect of violent toys on young people. You can read his thoughts at http://www.hinduismtoday.com/archives/1992/03/1992-03-06.shtml).

Over the Christmas holidays, Othon Cuevas Cordova, a Mexican congressman, had his life threatened, albeit in jest. His young nephew pointed a toy pistol that he had received as a gift at the lawmaker and said, “Tio, I’m going to kill you.” Mr. Cuevas was not amused. He talked to the boy’s parents about the inappropriateness of giving a child a weapon, even a plastic one, in a country so overrun with violence. And he sped up the introduction in Mexico’s National Assembly of a legislative ban on the fabrication, importation and sale of toy guns and other warlike toys.

“The boy was so young he could barely say the words,” said Mr. Cueva, who is from Mexico’s southern Oaxaca State and represents the center-left Party of the Democratic Revolution. “But from infancy, children are learning the culture of violence and we need to do something about it.”

A new upsurge of cooking with marshgas, one of the cheapest renewable energy sources, is spreading toa larger area in rural China with a marked improvement in the technology.

The Ministry of Agriculture predicted that households equipped with new type methane-generating pits in rural China will be increased to 20 million by 2005. The figure is expected to climb to 50 million by 2010. About 200 million people will benefit from the project.

The move, described as an "energy revolution" in rural China by some Chinese environmentalists, will alter the century-old cookinghabit of millions of Chinese farmers, improve the rural sanitary environment and farmers' living quality and alleviate the work load of housewives.

The new type methane projects were developed on the basis of methane pits built in the 1980s.

Hong'ya County in southwest China's Sichuan Province was a pilot for pushing ahead with the new bio-energy system. Local farmers poured crop stocks, garbage and night soil into the methane-generating pits equipped with new technology and cooked meals with marsh gas.

The central government will issue 1 billion yuan (about 120 million US dollars) of bonds this year to help build methane-generating pits at 6,000 villages in 24 provinces.

When the project completes, southwest China's Yunnan Province, where more than 1 million farm households have built methane pits,will save 2.4 million tons of firewood annually. Each farm household will cut its expense on fuel by 500 yuan (60 dollars) a year.

Popularization of marsh gas in rural China has also improved environmental conditions. Statistics of Hong'ya County, alone, showed the annual poultry excrement in the county totaled 1.32 million tons. The county will build 40,000 new type methane pits to solve pollution arising from poultry excrement.

Source: Xinhua

READ MORE on Environmental Issues HERE

MONMOUTH, SOUTH WALES, January 20, 2009: A vibrant Hindu blessing ceremony heralded the opening of a new #10million state-of-the-art care village in Monmouth. The ceremony, performed by Hindu priest Rajubhai Mehta, began with prayers to Lord Ganesha to remove all obstacles. An idol was bathed and anointed with colored powder and fresh flowers, mantras were chanted asking for peace and harmony, and a fire or havan was lit to cleanse and purify the air. The service ended with the symbolic breaking of a coconut to bless the vitality of the home and all those that live and work there.

Monmouth mayor Terry Christopher said, “This was a unique and spiritual experience and one that my wife and I are honored to be part of. The village has already attracted significant interest from the local community, both for retirement accommodation and for the number of job opportunities it brings to the area.”

The care village includes 35 independent cottages and a 90-bed nursing home, with a hydrotherapy pool, spa, cinema, library and therapy rooms. Ceremonies were held at each stage of the development to ask for blessings from the Gods.

courtesy of Hinduism Today  http://www.hinduismtoday.com

by Dr. Dilip Amin

Introduction by Stephen Knapp: I want to thank Dr. Dilip Amin for putting this thoughtful information together. Interfaith marriages are becoming an increasingly important topic among Dharmic parents. Personally, when it comes to interfaith marriages, I have seen only a few of them really work out. When a Hindu marries someone of another religion, often the spouse who is Muslim or Christian expects the Hindu to immediately or eventually convert. This may be due to a number of factors that are not always obvious at the beginning of the marriage, such a family pressure, or the birth of children, etc. This is especially the case when a Hindu girl marries an Abrahamic spouse. Even if the spouse does not expect conversion, then at least the children are expected to be raised to become Christians or Muslims. Rarely is this otherwise. Even if the children are exposed to both religions and left to make their own decisions about which religion to follow, it is generally found that within one, two, or at most three generations, that family is no longer connected to the Vedic tradition.

However, I have seen marriages work out nicely when, for example, a converted western Hindu male or Dharmist marries an Indian Hindu female, or vice versa, and plan to raise their children in the Vedic tradition. Or even when two converted Hindus marry each other. But when a Dharmic follower marries a person of the Abrahamic faith, the future can be turbulent with unexpected consequences and problems, especially when children are born. Therefore, I do not advise anyone who wants to make sure their family continues in the Dharmic tradition to enter into an interfaith marriage. You simply cannot be sure of what is going to happen and much heartbreak and turmoil can result. The following two articles below by Dr. Dilip Amin will make this clearer.

Part I
Now more and more young people are engaging in interfaith relationships leading to marriage, many times without realizing the complexities associated with their decision. This message will help Dharmic (Hindu, Jain, Sikh, and Buddhist) young adults make more informed decisions before committing to marry a person of the Abrahamic faiths (Christian, Jew, and Muslim).

As the former president of a Balvihar, I only regret one point of our collective inaction: though we had taught our kids about our religion, we failed to teach them the practical aspects of interacting with young people from other faiths. In the Western world, it is quite common that young adults date those from other faiths during their college years, therefore it should come as no surprise that about a third of our young generation of Hindus, Jains, Sikhs, and Buddhists marry a person from outside of these Dharmic faith traditions (http://www.prlog.org/10139529).

In almost all cases where a non-Dharmic life partner is selected, the decision is made by our young adults without pre-emptive advice, guidance, or consultation with their parents. As cited in this article, religious differences could bring complexities in their married life, starting with an unintended religious conversion of Dharmic and their progeny to the faith of their intended spouse. Further, divorce rates in interfaith marriages are double compared to within the same faith marriages (http://www.religioustolerance.org/ifm_divo.htm). For these reasons, it is increasingly important for our young adults to understand potential complications before entering into a serious relationship, ideally during the years in which they still reside under their parents’ roofs.

While interfaith relationships should develop based on a mutual respect for religious diversity, sometimes major differences in fundamental beliefs(http://www.religioustolerance.org/ifm_bibl.htm); (http://www.zawaj.com/articles/interfaith_marriage_iv.html) pose difficulties in finding a common ground.

Dharmics carry this tolerant attitude that all faiths help you attain God, and everyone should respect not only their own religion, but other religions as well. But this tolerant attitude is not universal. Many families belonging to Christianity, Islam, and Judaism (Abrahamic) believe in the supremacy of their monotheistic dogma. Their holy books reject what they consider polytheistic beliefs of Dharma. For example, Hindus believe that although the Ultimate Reality can be worshiped in many forms (Saguna Brahman), but this recognition and practice is forbidden in Christianity, Judaism, and Islam, and poses a serious issue when it comes to puja or worship (which is considered very bad idol worship by Abrahamics). According to the Ten Commandments: I am the Lord your God. You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God.

Another example, Islam forbids marriage with a non-believer (in Allah). Non-believers are expected to convert to Islam by taking the Sahadah oath, the declaration that there is no God but Allah and Muhammad as his apostle. A similar practice also exists in some Christian sects where there is often intense pressure from family members and the clergy to perform a religious conversion of a Dharmist by Baptism before the church wedding. An uninformed Dharmist will only discover the often times unmentioned expectation of religious conversion after years of being in a romantic relationship. At this point, reluctantly accepting the religious conversion may be the only way of averting a marital grid-lock.

Religious conversion may be a matter of just a brief ceremony, but do not underestimate this ritual as a trivial matter. Taking this oath will set a tone for your life and your children’s lives. You will soon find out that the conversion was not just a matter of satisfying the sentimental obsession of the parents-in-law, but a binding commitment guarded by every member of the new community. As per the Sahadah oath, you will be forbidden to display an image of Lord Krishna, Lord Rama, or Lord Ganesh, or any other deity in your own home since associating partners with Allah is the greatest of all sins. Offering prayers or supplications to anyone, living or dead, is an unpardonable sin. Furthermore, attempting to later reclaim you as a Dharmist, even after talaak (divorce), could be seriously punishable by death or life imprisonment by some Middle Eastern countries’ laws. Therefore, one should be prepared to accept conversion to a new religion as a serious and irreversible process.

Most conflicts in inter-religious marriages will surface after you have children. For Abrahamics, it is vital that children from their marriage follow only the rules of their individual holy book. A Muslim spouse and the community may demand your kids have sunat (religious circumcision) and bear only an Arabic name. A Jewish person may not ask for a religious conversion for the spouse but may want Bris circumcision to declare the Jewish faith for the child. A Christian spouse may require Baptism of children and require them (and you too) to attend Church every Sunday, while you may wish to take your child to the Mandir or Balvihar. Another major consideration is about the expectation for family planning. I know of a case where an Ahmedabadi young woman already has five kids because her Catholic husband did not believe in birth control. Did she know and realize the consequences of her interfaith relationship while dating in college?

In the truest sense, marriage is a secular act and not a religious one. Unfortunately, some religious leaders and communities would like to use the wedding as a tool for their ambition of religious expansion. I learned of a case in Boston where without the Sahadah and Islamic wedding (nikaah), the wedding was denounced by a local Imam and most Muslim relatives did not attend the wedding reception party. In almost all cases of a Hindu-Muslim marriage in which both Muslim and Hindu ceremonies are performed, the religious conversion to Islam (Sahadah) is performed first. Then it is followed by the Muslim wedding ceremony (nikaah) and after that by the Hindu ceremony (Vivah).

Similarly, in many church weddings declaration of faith to Christianity is a mandatory requirement. Therefore, technically speaking, after conversion to Islam or Christian faith has been performed, the Hindu ceremony is a totally superfluous oxymoron because it is a Muslim to Muslim or Christian to Christian wedding performed by a Hindu priest! In such a wedding, do celebrating Hindus really know what why they are celebrating?

While investigating the possibility of a relationship with those from other religions, be sure to find out if there is going to be any pressure to convert for you and your future kids from not just your future life partner, but also from his or her family members and religious community. Not all Abrahamics impose their religious beliefs and practices on their spouse, but it is very important to find out the facts sooner than later. It is also important to note that despite all the potential marital pitfalls, a successful and fulfilling inter-religious marriage is possible, ideally, by not imposing ones respective religious beliefs on the other partner. A similar message has been given in Jodhaa Akbar, Gadar, and Namastey London movies. Bollywood star Hrithik Roshan and Suzanne Khan kept the religions out and got married by a civil wedding, and it is an admirable act. If someone you are dating cannot show you this same respect and expects you to forsake your own religion for marriage, even just in name sake, you must ask yourself if you are prepared to tolerate the intolerance being practiced against you.

Before entering into a relationship, one should have an open dialogue about religious expectations (especially the conversion business) and recognize the far-reaching consequences. Though dealing with this issue early on will obviously be important for the wellbeing of the couple, it is also a significant issue for their children, not to mention the couples extended families who take pride in preserving their religious and cultural traditions that have been passed down for generations and generations. Well-informed and well-thought out decisions for selecting a life mate will certainly bring long lasting happiness in a married life, even if it is an interfaith marriage. But most importantly is that we want to make sure we will have the freedom to follow our traditions and raise our children to do the same without threats to this liberty created by our spouse and his or her relatives.

PART II: Questions about Interfaith Marriages
As the world is getting smaller, people with diverse backgrounds are coming closer. Consequently, more and more young people are making friends and engaging in interfaith relationships leading to marriage, many times without realizing the complexities associated with their decision. These questions and answers are prepared with the objective of educating young people of ALL faiths to help them make more informed decisions before committing to marriage.

What is the main message here?
Interfaith relationships should be based on mutual respect for both faiths, and marriage should be solemnized without imposing religious conversion on a spouse. After marriage, both spouses faiths should get equal respect and consideration in home life and raising children.

Is religious conversion for marriage wrong?
Not if it is discussed early on in the relationship and agreed to by both parties, without coercion. Some conservative Islamic and Christian families still believe in the superiority of their faiths, thus forcing the spouse of any other faith to convert to their faith before an Islamic Nikaah or a church wedding can take place. Such expectations should be discussed upfront before getting deep into a relationship. To ask an intended spouse to give up his or her religion just before the wedding IS UNETHICAL. In such cases, the coerced spouse feels cheated at a time when they expected to experience some of the sweetest memories of their life. It harbors a doubt in their heart if a spouse deceptively practiced proselytism under the guise of love.

What is wrong if one converts to a new faith just for marriage, as far as allowed to practice his/her own faith after the marriage?
Be careful. Religious conversion is not a hollow ritual devoid of any meaning or consequences. Lets take a Christian-Muslim marriage as an example. As per the Sahadah oath to convert to Islam for Nikaah, you accept and declare that there is no God but Allah and Muhammad is his apostle. Further, you acknowledge that associating others (like Jesus) with Allah is the greatest of all sins. Similarly, baptism before a church wedding means conversion to Christianity and a commitment to repudiate former practices (of Islam) and to live with Christ forever. You must ask yourself what is your intention?

Do my children have to convert too?
This should be the MOST CRITICAL question in interfaith relationships, even if there was no conversion required for the marriage ceremony. Ask if your intended spouse expects your sons and daughters to have baptism, bris (for Jews) or sunat to declare their faith for life.

How is a decision to select a faith usually made?
In most cases, the decision for selection of the faith for the spouse and children is made to please the more rigid and intolerant spouse, or the more stubborn parents / community.

Are the above questions relevant to Hindus?
The Dharmic religions (Hindus, Jains, Sikhs, and Buddhists) are not normally accepted or tolerated by the Abrahamic People of the Book in a marriage. Hindus believe in one Supreme God, but they are free to worship the same God in many forms. However, this practice is forbidden in Christianity, Judaism, and Islam and poses a serious issue when it comes to â Puja or the worship of various Dharmic/Hindu forms of God. According to the Ten Commandments: I am the Lord your God. You shall have no other gods (e.g. Ganesh) before me. You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God punishing children for the inequity of parents, to the third and fourth generations of those who reject me. Can we teach our children both religions? It is difficult. Young kids get confused with mixed and often conflicting messages. For example, when you take them to a Hindu or Jain temple, you ask them to believe in, respect, and bow to several forms of God. But when you take them to a mosque or church, they hear just the opposite, exclusive, and intolerant messages. When confronted with such duplicity, children lose faith in any God or religion.

My spouse is open-minded and we could get around these religious expectations.
Remember, a marriage is not just the union of two individuals but, believe it not, a union of two families and two communities. It is ethical to be upfront and honest about your intentions with your new family rather than building life-long relationships on deception and lies.

I am not so religious; I don’t mind religious conversion for marriage to please my spouse.
Life is full of changes. In general, people tend to return to their roots as they age, especially when they have children. How will you feel if you find yourself irreversibly locked into unintended practices?

Conversion is only a formality, why not do it just to please my spouse and his/her family?
The religious conversion is not a one time deal; you are setting a new tone for your life. If you feed a shark, it will come back again for more food. Similarly, religious conversion for marriage will be followed by the expectation of a declaration of faith for your children via baptism, bris or sunat. Later, you may be forbidden to practice your own religion so children would not learn and follow it. Also, your spouse or his/her family may not like to be part of a religious activity while at your parent’s home. When your fantasy love period ends and it transforms into a routine married life, then these issues may become sore points in your life. My spouse did not know before but is asking now for conversion to please his/her parents. Do not be convinced by the old trick of playing innocent. Every one uses that. If after living with the same parents and community for most of their life, he or she should have known of their parents and communities expectations. If he/she had not, then you have the right to question his or her intelligence.

What is the true test that my intended spouse is not a religious fanatic?
Simple! Just ask for two promises, the second one being the more important: 1) No religious conversion for marriage; and 2) No baptism, bris or sunat for your children. But what if he or she does not agree? If someone you are dating lacks tolerance for what you believe in and expects you to forsake your own religion for marriage, even just in name sake, you must ask yourself if you are prepared to tolerate the intolerance that is being practiced against you.

Why do so many marriages end in divorce?
Some of the major reasons are miscalculated expectations and the resulting complaints that my spouse changed after the marriage. Before entering into an interfaith relationship, find out sooner than later, if he or she has true tolerance for what you are. Is a fulfilling relationship possible in an interfaith marriage? Yes, if the interfaith relationship is based on true mutual tolerance for religious diversity. But to find that is more difficult and challenging than most people think.

Additional References:
What Hindu youths go through while dating
(http://community.beliefnet.com/forums/showthread.php?t=21316)
What Bible says about inter-faith marriages
(http://www.religioustolerance.org/ifm_bibl.htm)
Islamic views on Marriage to Hindus, Buddhists, Jews and Christians
(http://www.zawaj.com/articles/interfaith_marriage_iv.html)
Interfaith divorce rates (http://www.religioustolerance.org/ifm_divo.htm)
Rutgers University research on marriage
(http://marriage.rutgers.edu/Publications/pubtenthingsyoungadults.htm)

Dr. Dilip Amin is a past president of Plymouth Balvihar and a medical research scientist.

ARCHAEOLOGISTS CONVINCED NEW FINDS DEPICT KRISHNA

Bhama Devi Ravi/TNN

Chennai: The Conch and the Sudarsana Chakra are unmistakable. Although the figures doesn't match popular images of Krishna, archaegologists are convinced that the coins depict Krishna, revered as an avatar of Vishnu.

"These square coins, dating back to 180-BC, with Krishna on one side and Balram on the other, were unearthed recently in Al Khanoun in Afghanistan and are the earliest proof that Krishna was venerated as a god, and that the worship had spread beyond the Mathura region," says T K V Rajan, archaeologist and founder-director, Indian Science Monitor, who is holding a five day exhibition, 'In search of Lord Krishna,' in the city from Saturday.

Having done extensive research in Brindavan, Rajan is convinced that a lot of the spiritual history of ancient India lies buried. "Close to 10,000 Greeks, who came in the wake of Alexander the Great, were Krishna's devotees. There is an inscription by Helidorus, the Greek ambassador at Takshila, which reads 'Deva, deva, Vasudeva. Krishna is my god and I have installed this Garuda Pillar at Bes Nagar (now in Bihar),' says Rajan.

According to him, the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has unearthed many sites that throw fresh light on the era of Krishna. "ASI is expected to release the full findings next year: The findings may show that Krishna's life was the dividing line between India's spiritual history and the society's gradual shift towards a materialistic one," says Rajan.

Interestingly, a lot of what has been uncovered closely resemble the narration in the texts of Mahabharatha and the Bhagavatham, " he adds.

The advent of thermoluminous study (TL) has helped dating of artifacts. Tholavira near Dwaraka, from were many artifact were unearthed, is mentioned as the capital city in the opening chapters of Bhagavatham. Rajan points to an image of a plough, made of wood, which is mentioned in the Bhagavatham.

The findings could lay a trail to understanding Krishna's life (said to be 5,000 years ago) and times, a a historical fact, says Rajan. The exhibition will be open till Dec 31 at Sri Parvathy Gallery, Eldams Road.

-Times of India (Chennai Edition), on Saturday the 27th December 2008

India Times
27 Dec 2008, 0330 hrs IST, Bhama Devi Ravi, TNN

CHENNAI: The conch and the Sudarshana Chakra are unmistakable. Although the figures do not match popular images of Kirshna sporting a peacock feather, archaeologists are convinced that the coins are of Krishna, revered as an avatar of Vishnu.
“These square coins, dating back to 180- BC, with Krishna on one side and Balram on the other, were unearthed recently in Al Khanoun in Afghanistan and are the earliest proof that Krishna was venerated as a god, and that the worship had spread beyond the Mathura region,” says T K V Rajan, archaeologist and founder-director, Indian Science Monitor, who is holding a five-day exhibition, In search of Lord Krishna,’ in the city from Saturday.
Having done extensive research in Brindavan, Rajan is convinced that a lot of the spiritual history of ancient India lies buried. “Close to 10,000 Greeks, who came in the wake of Alexander the Great, were Krishna’s devotees. There is an inscription by Heliodorus, the Greek ambassador at Takshila , which reads Deva, deva, Vasudeva. Krishna is my god and I have installed this Garuda Pillar at Bes Nagar (now in Bihar),’” says Rajan.
According to him the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has unearthed many sites that throw fresh light on the era of Krishna. “ASI is expected to release the full findings next year. Many of the unearthed artifact have a close resemblance to materials of what is believed to be the Harappan civilization. The findings may show that Krishna’s life was the dividing line between India’s spiritual history and the society’s gradual shift towards a materialistic one,” says Rajan.
Interestingly, a lot of what has been uncovered closely resemble the narration in the texts of Mahabharatha and the Bhagavatham,” he adds. Both the spiritual works are revered by the Hindus as their holy books.
It has been over five years since the discoveries were made at Tholavira near Dwaraka, close to Kutch. Much progress has been made due to the application of thermoluminous study (TL) in ascertaining the age of artifact. “It is possible to get the diffusion of atomic particles in the clay pottery unearthed and arrive at an accurate date,” points out Rajan. Tholavira itself is believed to be the capital city as detailed in the opening chapters of Bhagavatham. Rajan points to an image of a plough, made of wood, which is mentioned in the Bhagavatham.
The findings could lay a trail to understanding Krishna’s life (said to be 5,000 years ago) and times, as a historical fact, says Rajan. The exhibition will be open till December 31 at Sri Parvathy Gallery, Eldams Road.

Vedic World Heritage links:

See our pages supporting these views HERE:
http://www.hknet.org.nz/VWH.html (Vedik World Heritage)
Western Indologists been exposed page:
http://www.hknet.org.nz/WesternIndologists-page.htm
How British Misguided the World on Vedic History
http://www.hknet.org.nz/MotiveBritishRajMissionaries.html

Sam Silverman, 16, of Westborough, Mass., works out at the YMCA gym, in Westborough, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2009. Silverman, co-captain of his high school football team, and a vegetarian, says he's pleased with his health and has no problems sticking to his diet.

Sam Silverman is co-captain of his high school football team ­ a safety accustomed to bruising collisions. But that's nothing compared with the abuse he gets for being a vegetarian.

"I get a lot of flak for it in the locker room," said the 16-year-old junior at Westborough High School in Massachusetts.

"All the time, my friends try to get me to eat meat and tell me how good it tastes and how much bigger I would be," said Silverman, who is 5-foot-10 and 170 pounds. "But for me, there's no real temptation."

Silverman may feel like a vegetable vendor at a butchers' convention, but about 367,000 other kids are in the same boat, according to a recent study that provides the government's first estimate of how many children avoid meat. That's about 1 in 200.

Other surveys suggest the rate could be four to six times that among older teens who have more control over what they eat than young children do.

Vegetarian diets exclude meat, but the name is sometimes loosely worn. Some self-described vegetarians eat fish or poultry on occasion, while others ­ called vegans ­ cut out animal products of any kind, including eggs and dairy products.

Anecdotally, adolescent vegetarianism seems to be rising, thanks in part to YouTube animal slaughter videos that shock the developing sensibilities of many U.S. children. But there isn't enough long-term data to prove that, according to government researchers.

The new estimate of young vegetarians comes from a recent federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study of alternative medicine based on a survey of thousands of Americans in 2007. Information on children's diet habits was gleaned from about 9,000 parents and other adults speaking on the behalf of those under 18.

"I don't think we've done a good job of counting the number of vegetarian youth, but I think this is reasonable," Amy Lanou, a nutrition scientist at the University of North Carolina-Asheville, said of the government estimate. She works with the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, a vegan advocacy group.

Vegetarians say it's animal welfare, not health, that most often causes kids to stop eating meat.

"Compassion for animals is the major, major reason," said Richard Schwartz, president of Jewish Vegetarians of North America, an organization with a newsletter mailing list of about 800. "When kids find out the things they are eating are living animals ­ and if they have a pet...."

Case in point is Nicole Nightingale, 14, of Safety Harbor, Fla. In 2007, Nightingale was on the Internet to read about chicken when she came across a video on YouTube that showed the birds being slaughtered. At the end, viewers were invited to go to the Web site peta.org ­ People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.

Nicole told her parents she was going vegan, prompting her mother to send an angry letter to PETA. But the vegan diet is working out, and now her mother is taking steps to become a vegetarian, too, said Nightingale, an eighth-grader.

She believes her experience was typical for a pre-adolescent vegetarian. "A lot more kids are using the Internet. They're curious about stuff and trying to become independent and they're trying to find out who they are," she said.

Vegetarians are most often female, from higher-income families and living on the East or West coasts, according to previous studies. One good place to find teen vegetarians is Agnes Scott College, a mostly white, all-women's private school in suburban Atlanta with about 850 students. Roughly 5 to 10 percent of Agnes Scott students eat vegetarian, said Pete Miller, the college's director of food service.

Frequently, the most popular entree at the college dining hall is a fresh mozzarella sandwich with organic greens. And the comment board (called "the Beef Board," as in "what's your beef?") often contains plaudits for vegetarian dishes or requests for more. "They're very vocal," Miller said of his vegetarian diners.

Eating vegetarian can be very healthy ­ nutritionists often push kids to eat more fruits and vegetables, of course. For growing children, however, it's important to get sufficient amounts of protein, vitamins B12 and D, iron, calcium and other important nutrients that most people get from meat, eggs and dairy.

Also, vegetarian diets are not necessarily slimming. Some vegetarian kids cut out meat but fill up on doughnuts, french fries, soda or potato chips, experts said.

"Vegetarian doesn't mean low-calorie," said Dr. Christopher Bolling, who directs weight management research at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center. He said roughly 10 to 15 percent of the overweight kids who come to his medical center's weight loss program have tried a vegetarian diet at some point before starting the program.

Rayna Middlebrooks, 15, last year started a weight-loss program offered by Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, a nonprofit hospital organization. She said she's been on a vegetarian diet for four years and now carries about 250 pounds on her 5-foot-3 inch frame.

Her mother confirmed that, and said that although Rayna does a great job of cooking vegetable-rich stir-fried meals for herself, the girl also loves pasta, soda and sweets. "I have to watch her with the candy," said Barbara Middlebrooks, of Decatur.

On the flip side is Silverman, the Boston-area football player. He's pleased with his health and has no problem sticking to his diet. Rather than try to negotiate the school cafeteria line, he brings his lunch to school. It's the same lunch every day ­ rye bread, some chicken-like tofu, cheese, a clementine and an assortment of Nutrigrain, Cliff, granola and Power Bars.

He was raised vegetarian and said it's now so deeply ingrained that the idea of eating meat is nauseating. Recently, he ate something he belatedly realized might contain chicken. "I felt sick the rest of the day, until I threw up," he said.

London (PTI): Bizarre it may seem, but a new study has suggested that cows with names can produce more milk than those who are not named.

Researchers at Newcastle University have carried out the study and found that naming cows as well as treating them as individuals can help in increasing their milk production, the Anthrozoos journal reported.

Lead researcher Dr. Catherine Douglas said: "Placing more importance on knowing the individual animals and calling them by name can significantly increase milk production. Just as people respond better to the personal touch, cows also feel happier and more relaxed if given one-to-one attention.

"Many farmers dote on their cows and have long thought that such interaction helps, but it has never really been tested. The statistics were significantly different for those cows with name, there's nothing else, which could explain it."

In their study involving 516 dairy farmers in Britain, the researchers looked at interaction between people and cows, and found that those animals with names had an average higher milk yield of 258 litres, The Daily Telegraph reported.

The study also found milk yield to be lower on farms where cattle were herded as a group. Nearly two thirds -- 60 per cent -- of UK farmers said they "knew all the cows in the herd" and 48 per cent agreed that positive human contact was more likely to produce cows with a good milking temperament.

Almost 10 per cent said that a fear of humans resulted in a poor milking temperament, the study revealed. Dr Douglas said: "Our data suggests that on the whole United Kingdom dairy farmers regard their cows as intelligent beings capable of experiencing a range of emotions. May be people can be less self-conscious and not worry about chatting to their cows."

USA, January 21, 2009: [HPI note: Most publications covering global warming avoid any articles about the irrefutable link between meat consumption and CO2 emissions. It is significant that Scientific American, a respected magazine, finally ran an article about it.]

Producing beef for the table releases prodigious amounts of heat-trapping greenhouse gases. Pound for pound, the greenhouse gases from beef production contribute more than 13 times as much to global warming as do those emitted from producing chicken. For potatoes, the multiplier is 57. Beef consumption is rising rapidly, both as population increases and as people eat more meat. Producing the annual beef diet of the average American emits as much greenhouse gas as a car driven more than 1,800 miles.

According to a 2006 report by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), our diets–specifically, the meat in them–put more greenhouse gases into the atmosphere than either transportation or industry.

The FAO report found that current production levels of meat contribute between 14 and 22 percent of the world’s annual “CO2-equivalent” greenhouse gas production–with beef the worst culprit by far. Producing one pound of feedlot beef generates the equivalent of 14.8 pounds of CO2–vs. 3.8 pounds for pork and 1.1 pound for chicken. And the FAO data imply that the world average emissions from producing a pound of beef are several times those of feedlot-produced beef.

The lesson is clear: we ought to give careful thought to diet and its consequences for the planet if we are serious about limiting the emissions of greenhouse gases. (Click on the link above to read more of this informative article.)

courtesy of Hinduism Today  http://www.hinduismtoday.com

By Paula Goodyer for The Age (Australia) on Wed, 2009-01-21

No one knows how many Australian teenagers turn to their parents one day and announce that- like Lisa from The Simpsons they're now vegetarian. But the guess is that it's no rare event - especially among girls. But in the US they've crunched some numbers and, based on interviews with 9000 parents, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate that around one in 200 American teenagers has taken a pledge to veg. Anecdotally, teenage vegetarianism seems to be an increasing trend, often driven by animal welfare concerns and often sparked by animal slaughter videos on YouTube, The Washington Post reported last week, though researchers say there's not enough evidence to back this up.

In terms of hard figures, there's less to go on in Australia -although a 1998 South Australian study suggested that around eight to 10 per cent of 16 to 18 year-olds avoided red meat and poultry. But most dietitians will tell you it's not uncommon - one of them is Accredited Practising Dietitian Tara Diversi who says there are some questions parents should ask their teenager before they simply remove the meat from the plate.

"One of the most important things is to understand why a teenager wants to eat a vegetarian diet - because often it can mask an eating disorder. You need to ask them why they don't want to eat meat," she says."If their reason is that red meat is 'fattening', it's worth pointing out that a healthy diet, including weight loss diets, is a balance of a variety of foods and no one food can make you fat," she says. But if they still insist on avoiding meat, it's important to help them fill the nutritional gap with other sources of protein, iron and zinc such as nuts and legumes, she adds. "But if they say they're also avoiding carbohydrates, sweets and takeaway food - and they're starting to lose weight - that's when the red flag should go up because it may mean they're developing an eating disorder," Diversi points out.

While it's true that vegetarians have a lower incidence of heart disease and bowel cancer, a vegetarian diet isn't a healthy diet if it doesn't contain the right nutrients, she says - and this is especially important for teenagers whose bodies are still developing and have a high demand for nutrients.

"Vegetarians who depend on eating a lot of cheese for protein, for instance, will miss out on iron and zinc. Some people think they can get enough protein from protein powder - but it's based on whey (a dairy product) so that doesn't provide iron and zinc either. It's very important for parents to get themselves - and their teenager - educated about eating a healthy vegetarian diet," says Diversi, especially if their teenager wants to follow a vegan diet.

"A teenager might seem to be quite healthy just eating the normal family meals, but without the meat, but the deficiencies in their diet can take time to show up - a teenager who's been existing on pasta and cheese since year 9, for instance, might start complaining that she can't concentrate in year 11."

Diversi's advice is for the family to consult an Accredited Practising Dietitian or invest in a good vegetarian cook book that also explains how to get the right nutrients. She recommends The Essential Vegetarian CookBook edited by Rachel Carter (Whitecap Books).

"In some cases teenagers can see that their family's diet isn't healthy so they decide to eat a vegetarian diet because they think it's the best way to eat healthily," she points out. "But they don't realise that it doesn't have to be all or nothing - you can have a healthy diet that includes meat."

The decision to avoid meat doesn't always last but while it does, different parents take different tacks - one parent I know simply took the view that kids should eat what was put in front of them and offered no vegetarian options.

Others are prepared to support their teenager and adapt family meals. This doesn't always have to mean cooking separate meals - with many flexible dishes like curries and pasta sauces, it's possible to produce two versions of the same dish by sauteeing onions and other vegetables all in the same saucepan, then dividing the mix into two separate saucepans, adding meat to one and legumes, nuts or tofu to the other. And it goes without saying that involving teenagers in the choosing and making of healthy vegetarian food is essential.

By Deena Dasa on 24 Jan 2009

Despite tight economic times, guests and dignitaries at the prestigious 8th Annual Asian Achievers awards reached into their hearts and wallets to pledge help Food for Life Vrindavan (FFLV) build its third school for desperately poor children and their families in Vrindavan, India. Held on December 3 2008 in London, Chief Guest at the ceremony was the Rt Hon Ed Balls MP, Secretary of State for Children, Schools & Families, where FFLV Director Rupa Ragunatha was awarded the coveted 8th Annual Asian Achievers Award in the category of the Charity of the Year.

The Asian Achievers Awards are a unique event in that members of the public nominate candidates and an independent panel of judges select the winner after much deliberation. This year a record number of high calibre candidate nominations were received from across Asia, with FFLV selected as the most outstanding among them.

At the ceremony Rupa Ragunatha presented the work of FFLV to a packed house of members of parliament, business owners, senior professionals and other dignitaries. Famous UK actor Nitin Ganatra (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Bride and Prejudice, EastEnders) and C.B. Patel, editor of the two largest Asian focused newspapers in the UK, spoke to the audience of the dedication of FFLV in serving the poorest of the poor amongst Indian society through building schools, providing medical services, and social and environmental development projects which pull families out of the cycle of poverty and desperation. They appealed to everyone to donate generously towards the construction of a new school, and exceeding everyone's expectations, the business community donated a total of 130,00 pounds to FFLV.

Rupa Raghunath commented, "Before the event, we were apprehensive about how much we could raise in these difficult economic times. The Asian Achiever's Awards exceeded my hopes and expectations." He said, "I will be returning to India with a joyful heart, because now I can answer the six-hundred odd children who tug at my sleeve every day, asking when I will build them a school. Thanks to Gujarat Samachar, CB Patel and London's Asian community, construction of a new school can start in early 2009!"

With the funds from collected from the event, FFLV has recently completed the purchase of 4 acres of land and is set to commence construction of the new school. The school will immediately be filled with the 650 children currently on the admissions waiting list, bringing the total of children now attending FFLV schools in Vrindavan to over 1200.

If you would like to sponsor a child at the new school, please contact Nikunjavasini Devi Dasi, International Sponsorship Coordinator: nik AT http://www.fflvrindavan.org

January 9, 2009
BY JEYANTHY PILLAI

I came across this information from the Vegetarian Society website recently, and I thought it will be best for devotees to be aware of this as well.
Did you know that Gardenia bread produced in Malaysia contains Vitamin D3 and it is obtained from fish oil or the wool of  the sheep called lanolin?
Watch out for the E numbers in the ingredients of some biscuits and ice-creams. Not all are vegetarian. E120 is made from crushed insects.
Most of the pills and some chewy sweets are made of gelatin. Some low-fat yoghurt and jellies contains gelatin as well. Gelatin is obtained from the hooves of the cow!
Chewing gum often contains glycerin, a product that is obtained from animal fat. Wrigleys use vegetable glycerin. Glycerin is also fround in many toothpastes, body creams as well as soaps. You can find alternatives from ‘Body Shop’ which don’t use products from animals.
Whey and whey powder are usually by-products of the cheese making process which mainly uses animal rennet. Rennet is an enzim from the calf’s stomach. Whey is used in many biscuits. However, whey that is produced from the cottage cheese (panir) which we make at home is fine.

Source: http://www.vegsoc.org
Additives
Albumen Derived from eggs, probably battery.
Alcohol Many alcoholic drinks are fined (ie clarified) using animal ingredients, see beer and wine. Spirits are suitable for vegetarians except for some Russian and Eastern European Vodkas which may have used bone charcoal in their production. Watch out for cochineal in Campari.
Alpaca Animal derived clothing material.
Anchovies Small fish, found on pizzas and in some brands of worcester sauce.
Angora Animal derived clothing material.
Animal Fat Carcass fat not milk fat.
Aspic Savoury jelly derived from meat or fish.
Beer All cask conditioned “real” ales will have been fined with isinglass, and some keg, bottled and canned bitters, milds and stouts also. Lagers are generally chill filtered, but some brands may use isinglass on occasion (see also Beer from the Alcohol Info Sheet).
Biscuits May contain animal fats.
Bone Used in bone china and cutlery handles.
Bread Most large producers use vegetable based emulsifiers (E471, E472 etc), but local bakers may not. Some bakers may grease the tins with animal fat.
Breakfast cereals Often fortified with vitamin D3.
Brushes Animal hair is commonly used for paint and shaving brushes.
Butter Unadulterated butter is suitable for vegetarians.
Capsules Usually made from gelatine, vegetarian alternatives are becoming widely available.
Cashmere Animal derived clothing material.
Catering/Cookery Training may require the handling of meat. See: The Cordon Vert Cookery School
Caviar Fish eggs. The fish must be killed to obtain the eggs.
Cheese May have been produced using animal rennet.
Chewing gum Often contain glycerine. Wrigleys use a vegetable glycerine.
Chips May have been fried in animal fat.
Chitin Produced from crab & shrimp shells.
Chocolate Watch out for whey and emulsifiers.
Cochineal E120, made from crushed insects.
Crisps Often use whey as a flavour carrier, ready salted are nearly always vegetarian, however, meat-flavoured crisps rarely contain real meat..
Down Usually from slaughtered ducks or geese, though some live plucking does occur, used in bedding.
E Numbers European food additives numbering system, not all are vegetarian.
Edible Fats Can mean animal fats.
Eggs Some vegetarians may wish to avoid battery eggs and/or barn eggs. The Vegetarian Society does not award its seedling symbol to any products containing eggs other than free range.
Emulsifiers May not be vegetarian.
Fast Food Watch out for Bean/Vegetable burgers being cooked with fish/chicken/meat products.
Fatty Acids May be of animal or vegetable origin.
Feathers
Felt Made from wool or fur.
Fur
Gelatin/Gelatine A gelling agent derived from animal ligaments, skins, tendons, bones etc.
Glycerine/Glycerol May be produced from animal fats, synthesised from propylene or from fermentation of sugars.
Gravy Vegetarian gravy mixes are available. Be careful in restaurants.
Honey Avoided by vegans.
Ice Cream Look out for non dairy fats, E numbers, eggs.
Isinglass A fining agent derived from the swim bladders of certain tropical fish, especially the Chinese sturgeon. See Alcohol.
Jelly Usually contains gelatine though Alternatives are available.
Lactose Produced from milk, sometimes as a by product of the cheese making process.
Lanolin Produced from sheep’s wool. Used to make vitamin D3.
Leather Around 10% of the value of an animal at slaughter is in its skin.
Lecithin Nearly always produced from soya beans, though can be produced from eggs.
Margarines May contain animal fats, fish oils, vitamin D3, E numbers, whey, gelatine.
Mohair Animal derived clothing material.
Pasta May contain egg.
Pastry May contain animal fat.
Pepsin Enzyme from a pig’s stomach, used like rennet.
Pet Foods Dogs are omnivorous and can be fed on an exclusively vegetarian diet. Canned and dried dog foods are available.
Photography All Photographic film uses gelatine and some high quality photo papers.
Postage Stamps In the UK, the backing glue is free from animal products.
Rennet An enzyme taken from the stomach of a newly killed calf used in the cheese making process. Vegetarian cheese is produced using microbial or fungal enzymes.
Restaurants Watch out for non-vegetarian cheese, battery eggs, stock. See the Classified Advertising Directory and the Food & Drink Guild for local restaurants.
Roe Fish eggs, see caviar.
Shellac An insect secretion. To be treated in a similar way to Honey.
Shoes Quality synthetic shoes are becoming more widely available.
Silk Harvesting silk used in clothing invariably causes the death of the silk worm.
Soap Many soaps are not vegetarian since they use animal fats and/or glycerine. Vegetable oil based soaps are quite widely available.
Soft Drinks Some canned Orange drinks use gelatine as a carrier for added Beta Caratine. (This would not appear on the ingredients panel).
Soup Watch out for the stock.
Spirits (alcoholic that is!) possible problems with fining and filtering.
Stearic Acid May be vegetarian or not.
Stock May contain animal fat.
Suet Usually made from animal fat, vegetable versions are available.
Sweets Look out for gelatine in boiled sweets and mints, and cochineal in boiled sweets and Smarties. (some vegetarian sweets are listed by chocolate manufacturers.)
Toothpaste Many brands contain glycerine.
Vegan The Vegan Society produces The Animal Free Shopper which lists branded products suitable for vegans.
Vitamins Vitamin D2 is produced by sunlight acting on bacteria, however D3 is derived from lanolin from sheeps’ wool therefore only D3 which is guaranteed sourced from wool sheared from live sheep is considered acceptable.
Seedling Symbol You can be sure that any products carrying the Vegetarian Society’s V symbol have been thoroughly checked to ensure they are suitable for vegetarians.
Whey Whey and whey powder are usually by-products of the cheese making process which mainly uses animal rennet.
Wine May sometimes have been fined using isinglass, dried blood, egg albumen, gelatine, chitin. Vegetarian alternatives include bentonite, kieselguhr, kaolin and silica gel. Non vintage port is fined with gelatine. (see also Alcohol)
Wool may not be so sheep friendly.
Worcester Sauce Most brands contain anchovies though vegetarian versions are commonly used in ready meals.
Yoghurts Some low fat yoghurts contain gelatine.

NEW DELHI, INDIA, January 7, 2009: Hindu organizations will soon launch a unique rath yatra to pressure the Indian government to impose a complete ban on cow slaughter. Announcing this at a press conference here on Tuesday, Jagadguru Swami Raghaveshwar Bharati, the Shankaracharya of Gokarna Pitha, Karnataka, said efforts should be made to declare cow a national animal and protect it. “The Congress-led UPA government at the Centre should move in this direction,” he said.

Giving details about the rath yatra, the Shankaracharya said, “We will soon launch a 108-day yatra to push for this ban. The yatra, which will spread the message “Save the cow, save the village,” will be flagged off at Kurukshetra in Haryana on September 28, Vijaya Dashami. It will culminate at Nagpur, Maharashtra, on Makar Sankranti in 2010 after a 20,000 km journey.”

He continued, “Meetings will be held at 400 places across the country. A signature campaign will also be run. We expect to collect around 500 million signatures and submit the document to president Pratibha Patil.”

The Shankaracharya also asked that Hindu organizations be protected from Christian and Muslim groups, but did not name any specific measures, saying only that “Hindus are in danger.”

courtesy of Hinduism Today  http://www.hinduismtoday.com
 

The Stepping Stones to Real Cow Protection (Part 1)
http://nvclub108.blogspot.com/2009/01/stepping-stones-to-real-cow-protection.html

The Stepping Stones to Real Cow Protection (Part 2)
http://nvclub108.blogspot.com/2009/01/stepping-stones-to-real-cow-protection_30.html
 

See our World Vegetarian Day Newsletters 2004 - 2005 - World Vege Day

See similar articles at Vegetarianism & beyond:
http://turn.to/Vegetarianism

WEIGHING THE ELEPHANT

Some labourers were criticizing the minister of the king, claiming that he only sat around and did no work.  The king reminded them that it took intelligence to become a minister.  He said he would give a test for everyone, including the minister.  Whoever could pass the test could become the next minister.  The king said, "Take this big elephant, weigh him and let me know the exact weight."  The ordinary men were baffled.  Where was there a scale for weighing an elephant?  They could not do anything.  They came back to the king with no information.  Then the king turned to his minister and asked, "Will you kindly weigh this elephant?"  So in six minutes he came back and reported, "It is twenty mounds [1,920]."  The other men were standing open-mouthed in surprise.  "How is that?" they asked.  "Within six minutes he came back and he gave the exact weight!"  The king asked, "How did you weigh him?  Did you get some very big scale?"  "No sir," replied the minister.  "It is not possible too weigh the elephant on a scale.  It is very difficult."  "Then how did you weigh it?"  "I took it on a boat.  When I got him on the boat then I saw the watermark and I marked it.  Then, after getting the elephant off the boat, I added weight onto the boat, and when it came to the same watermark, then I understood."  SO the king addressed the labourers and cautioned them, "Now you see the difference?"  They agreed, "Yes."

MORAL:  Buddhir yasya balang tasya nirbuddhes tu kuto balang / pashya singha madonmatah shashah kena nipatata.  A shasha, a rabbit killed a singha, a big lion by intelligence.  One who has got intelligence, he has strength, and one who has no intelligence has no strength.  Foolish people often criticize devotees as do-nothings and weaklings, but such people do not understand the intelligence of a devotee.  Therefore, a devotee does not have to heed such people.

See similar inspirational snippets HERE:
http://www.hknet.org.nz/parables.htm

The phaomnneil pweor of the hmuan mnid: Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a total mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Amzanig!
Mybae the I can sotp slpel ckchenig?

http://www.gaura-gambhira.com/

Written by HH Bhakti Purusottama Swami

Dear Maharaj/ Prabujis/ Matajis,

It is my great pleasure to inform all the devotees of Lord Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu that a great service opportunity has been offered by the temple authorities of Gambhira, in Puri dham, where Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu spent the final years of His manifested pastimes on this earthly planet. Kasi Mishra's house, also known as Gambhira, and the Radha Kanta math, were both under the care of the Orissa government due to 20 years of litigation. Finally, this litigation problem has been resolved and the management of the institution has been returned to the temple mahanta.

The temple has sustained much damage over the years due to lack of proper maintenance. The whole place is very dirty and the roofs and walls are falling down. The temple roof is also cracking. Additionally, the temple has a lack of proper income for the maintenance of the devotees and for deity puja—and, of course, the more the Gambhira is allowed to deteriorate, the fewer visitors it will have.

At this crucial point, the mahanta of Gambhira has requested ISKCON to extend kind assistence to him in order to protect and maintain this most holy place. Devotees from all over the world come to offer their prayers and obeisances at Gambhira. This is one of the most important places for the followers of Lord Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, and must be maintained nicely.

Thus, this is a golden opportunity for devotees to render service to this most sacred cause. I request all devotees to kindly donate towards this purpose. There are many things to be fixed at the place. For the time being we have prepared a rough budget, for whatever the most urgent needs are, just to bring the situation up to  survival position. Later on, we will let you know about further opportunities for service in the development of the Gambhira.

For further information contact

Bhakti Purusottama Swami

Phone: ++ 91 9434506434

E mail: bps@pamho.net

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