USA, September 17, 2002: An HPI reader writes, “Dear Hindu Brother/Sister: Namaste. You may have come to know that the Public Broadcasting Service TV channel is airing a documentary on September 19 under its Wide Angle program titled “Soul of India.” The program extract on PBS website sounds ominously prejudicial to Hindus. Here is the extract: PBS documentary examines Hindu fundamentalism, program airs Thursday, September 19 at 9 P.M. Eastern Time. “The bloody conflict between Hindus and Muslims in North Western India is at the forefront of a struggle for India’s identity, led by an increasingly powerful Hindu fundamentalist movement whose goal is to turn India into a Hindu nation. Over the last three months, some 2,000 Muslims have been killed in the Province of Gujarat, and more than 100,000 Muslims have been forced to flee to refugee camps. Meanwhile extremist Hindu private schools are spreading rapidly across India. Will India, home to more than a billion people, continue to be the multi-ethnic, religiously diverse, secular, and tolerant society that Gujarat’s Mahatma Gandhi attempted to create? Or will the nation be split — by a Hindu fundamentalist movement hoping to rise to power by fanning the winds of religious extremism?” Go to “source” above for more information.
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