Important Hindu protest in London against French intolerance

[Guest guest]

8 July 2005

 

 

 

Dear Friend,

 

 

 

We are requesting you to please attend a peaceful rally organised by

the Hindu Human Rights group outside the French embassy on 12 June to

protest against religious intolerance in France and the refusal of

French fashion group Minelli to respond to requests for withdrawal of

shoes with images of Lord Rama.

 

 

 

It is outrageous that a commercial organisation has for the first

time refused to apologise and take back a product that has offended

and hurt one billion Hindus all over the world. There is also the

wider issue of religious intolerance in France where Hindu

organisations cannot claim tax benefits since our religion is

not `recognised' despite pre-dating Christianity by about 5000 years!

This is a regretful change from the wonderful model of religious

tolerance and community cohesion that we enjoy in Britain with the

full support of our Government here.

 

 

 

We urge you to please feel the outrage that millions of Hindus are

feeling at this atrocious behaviour by a leading French organisation

and the greater intolerance against religious minorities being

promoted in France.

 

 

 

We feel that it is the duty of every Hindu organisation to join

together in voicing your disgust at the insult heaped on Lord Rama.

Hindus across the UK are urged to look at why our symbols, images and

icons are being continuously desecrated and disrespectfully used by

commercial manufacturers in many places: on toilet seats, bikinis,

beer bottles, shoes, and tissues. It is time for us to stand together

and ensure that commercial manufacturers understand how to use our

symbols in a creative, rather than disrespectful manner through a

culture of education and sharing of information.

 

 

 

Whether you are an individual or an organisation, you can do the

following to lend your support to this important protest:

 

 

 

Galvanise at least 50 people to attend the protest

Bring banners, musical instruments and conch-shells to sing, chant

and protest in a peaceful manner

Circulate this email to as many people as possible, urging all of

them to attend the protest

Write a letter of protest to Minelli, the International Olympic

Association and the Indian Government. Addresses and contact details

are attached after our press-release that is enclosed.

 

 

Please bring as many people as you can to ensure our voice is heard

loudly in France. It is important to have numbers there. Please ring

our office on 020 8965 0671 or 07915 383 103 for further information.

The protest starts at 12 noon and continues until 4 PM on Sunday 12

June at the French Embassy. Protesters are requested to assemble

outside the Sheraton Park Tower Hotel, 101, Knightsbridge, London

SW1X 7RN.

 

 

 

 

 

Yours Sincerely,

 

 

 

 

 

Ramesh Kallidai

 

Secretary General

 

Hindu Forum of Britain

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Outraged British Hindus organise protest rally and boycott French

goods

 

 

London 8 June 2005

Outraged leaders of the Hindu community from some of the largest

Hindu organisations in the UK, led by the Hindu Forum of Britain,

have asked Hindus worldwide to boycott all French goods and

participate en-masse at a protest rally organised by the Hindu Human

Rights group outside the French embassy on 12 June 2005. The move

came after the French manufacturer Minelli refused to respond to

requests for withdrawal of the sale of designer shoes with images of

the Hindu God, Lord Rama.

 

 

"This is the last straw," commented Ramesh Kallidai, Secretary

General of the Hindu Forum of Britain. "Hinduism is a very tolerant

religion and we have no problems if our images are used in a

respectful manner. But to use the image of Lord Rama on a shoe, when

we don't even wear shoes inside our temples, is disrespectful and

disgraceful. It has hurt the sentiments of over one billion Hindus in

the world, and yet Minelli have not agreed to withdraw the sale."

 

 

 

But Kallidai claims that his is not the only issue. "France has a

history of religious intolerance. Even though Hinduism predates

Christianity by 5000 years, France has refused to accord the status

of a bonafide religion to Hindu temples in the country, thus denying

them legitimate tax benefits enjoyed by other religions. Hindu women

and men cannot put bindis, tilaks and other forehead markings in

school and other places for fear of religious persecution," he

added. "We urge all Hindus in the UK to participate at the protest

rally to mark religious intolerance in France. We are fortunate that

Britain has such an excellent model of religious tolerance and

community cohesion. Many countries in Europe should learn from our

model of co-existence actively promoted by the British Government."

 

 

 

Over a 1000 Hindus are expected to converge at the protest which will

include slogans, banners, speeches, and the singing of devotional

songs to the accompaniment of religious instruments like Mridunga

drums and Kartala cymbals. Protestors will also be blowing on scores

of conch-shell bugles, the sound of which has traditionally been used

in India as a war cry.

 

 

 

Organisers of the protest, the Hindu Human Rights Group, point out

that Minelli's refusal to apologise or withdraw the sale of the shoe

portrays contempt for the spiritual belief and practice of Hindus.

 

 

 

"We are incensed by their indifference," said Sheila Maharaj,

speaking on behalf of Hindu Human Rights. "However, we have had

massive responses from various temples and community organisations.

People are furious and affronted by this cavalier approach by the

French manufacturers"

 

 

 

The Sikh community in Britain also lent its support to the campaign.

Principlal Advisor to the Sikhs in England group, Harmander Singh

said, "This situation is typical of France's approach to secularism

where religious sentiments play second fiddle to profit, greed and a

general attitude of colonial arrogance. The French people need to

realise that this is the 21st century and that the world is multi-

cultural and multi-faith. For many people religious identity is as

important as national identity. We urge people of all faiths to

boycott all French goods and services."

 

 

 

The Hindu Forum of Britain has asked Hindus all over the world to:

 

Boycott purchase of all French goods and services

Stop flying Air France

Write to the International Olympic Committee quoting reports of this

and other incidents to say that selecting Paris as a venue for the

2012 Olympics will not be in keeping with the ethos of human rights

and religious freedom

Write to the Indian Government to stop buying Mirage planes from the

French Government

 

 

Chair of the Hindu Council of Brent, Venilal Vaghela commented, "Use

of Hindu symbols in a manner that is deeply offensive to the Hindu

community has become a fashionable trend. Commercial manufacturers

need to understand the sense of hurt that Hindus feel by this

disrespectful attitude."

 

 

 

Other organisations that have extended their full support to the

protest rally against Minelli and the French Government include the

Vishwa Hindu Parishad UK, the National Hindu Students Forum, the

Hindu Youth UK, Hindu Council of Harrow, Hindu Council or Birmingham,

Leicester Festival Hindu Council, the Hindu Council of the North, the

Federation of Brahmin Associations of Europe, the Shri Kutch Leva

Patel Community, Shri Prajapati Association UK, Lohana Community UK

and the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON).

 

 

 

Dr Girdhari Bhan, President of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad UK

concluded, "We hope that good sense will prevail and that Minelli

will apologise and stop the sale of these shoes. This will at least

demonstrate that Minelli may have made a mistake and are willing to

make amends. If they do not, then it casts doubts on their

intentions. One can then legitimately wonder if their action was

deliberate."

 

 

 

"It is incumbent upon the Government and the people of France that

they do not allow companies that operate so disgracefully and display

so much disrespect to other faiths to continue their hurtful

activities," commented Kapil Dudakia, Vice President of the Milton

Keynes Hindu Association. "If the Government does not do anything, we

urge all Hindus to start implement this worldwide ban."

 

According to data published by the Interior Ministry, only 149 out of

a total of 1,053 Protestant associations and only 2 out of thousands

of Muslim associations in France are currently entitled to tax exempt

status. Many other groups, including most Hindu temples, which are

not recognised are at risk of losing their freedom of religion and of

assembly.

 

A number of religious denominations and civil rights associations

expressed concern about the new anti-sect law passed by France in

2000. The law create a new type crime covering the abuse of a

person "in a state of psychological or physical dependence caused by

the exertion of heavy or repeated pressure or techniques liable to

alter his judgment." The law also empowers courts to dissolve

religious groups if two leading members are convicted of crimes such

as fraud and child abuse.

 

 

 

Pope John Paul II had alluded to the law when meeting with the French

ambassador to the Vatican. He had said that, "Religious liberty, in

the full sense of the term, is the first human right ... To

discriminate religious beliefs, or to discredit one or another form

of religious practice, is a form of exclusion contrary to the respect

of fundamental human values and will eventually destabilize society,

where a certain pluralism of thought and action should exist."

 

 

 

For more information contact Sanjay Mistry on 07810 368 772 or Ramesh

Kallidai on 07915 383 103 or 07867 837 241.

 

Contact Details for your letters of protest

 

 

 

Write directly to Minelli: info

 

 

 

 

Write to the International Olympic Association saying that you oppose

the choice of Paris for the 2012 Olympics because of its history of

religious intolerance. Send an email to: pressoffice

 

 

 

 

Write to the Indian High Commission in the UK urging them to re-

consider buying French arms (including Mirage planes) as many of the

Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims who are victims of religious intolerance in

France come from India: Minister of Coordination, High Commission of

India, London

India House, Aldwych, London - WC2B 4 NA

 

 

Editor's Notes:

 

1. The Hindu Forum of Britain is the largest umbrella body for

British Hindus with a broad-based membership of over 240 Hindu

organisations from different regions and cultural backgrounds in

Britain. At the core of the Forum's activities is a strong belief in

the richness and diversity of the Hindu culture, its value system

that encompasses respect for all beings and faiths, and a cultural

heritage that facilitates community cohesion and coexistence.

 

2. Further information can be secured from HFB Website:

www.hinduforum.org

 

Quotes about Religious Intolerance in France

 

1. Human Rights Without Frontiers, (HRWF) a European group

dedicated to civil rights, believes that persecution of religious

minorities is increasing in France. They believe that minority

religions have been marginalized. They find difficult, or more

expensive, to rent halls for public meetings. School children from

small religious groups have been stigmatized.

 

2. Spokesperson Lyman A. Swingle, a member of the Governing Body

of Jehovah's Witnesses wrote an open letter to Jacques Chirac, the

President of France. He said, in part: "The ability to practice

religion freely is a basic human right, supported by the United

Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the European

Convention on Human Rights, and the Constitution of the French

Republic. Yet the tax authority believes it has the right to use its

power of taxation arbitrarily to restrict some religions but not

others." He asked for the President's "support in removing this

unjust and discriminatory tax...avoiding a dangerous threat to

religious freedom and human rights in France".

 

3.Bruce Casino, president of the International Coalition for

Religious Freedom, notes that the anti-cult legislation might be

applied to religious groups of any size, whether new or

established. "It would, by its terms, give enormous discretion to

French prosecutors and civil litigants to go after religious

organizations, political parties, trade unions and other groups that

call for contributions or volunteer efforts from members."

 

4.John Graz, the Secretary General of the International Religious

Liberty Association and a Seventh Day Adventist, said "The real

target of this law is religion in general. It's naive to think that

only the listed groups are in danger."

 

 

 

5.Before the Ant-cult Law had been passed, American newspapers, the

Globe and the Mail had written: "France is moving forward with

Europe's severest legislation against minority religious groups,

igniting fears among civil-liberties organizations that it could

invite similar measures by other governments. Ignoring criticism from

mainstream church leaders and foreign governments, especially

Washington, France's National Assembly has passed a law 'to reinforce

the prevention and repression of groups of a sect-like character.' "

 

 

 

6.Joseph Grieboski, president of the Washington-based Institute on

Religion and Public Policy, said: "This law makes the practice of

one's religion into a criminal offence."

 

 

 

7.The daily French newspaper, Le Figaro, mentioned that the lifestyle

of a Carmelite nun could fall afoul of the legislation.