Source MASSACHUSETTS, USA, May 5, 2016 (by Michael O’loughlin,The Atlantic): HPI Note: Trustees of temples in the US should pay attention to this unusual court case which could ultimately impact their organization. The Massachusetts Supreme Court will decide whether a local shrine should be tax-exempt–a decision that could have broad implications for faith organizations in America. A case now in…
Source DURBAN, SOUTH AFRICA, May 5, 2016 (by Sherlissa Peters, IOL): Devotees of the Northdale Siva Nyana Sabha in Pietermaritzburg have been left devastated by a burglary which desecrated the temple. According to the chairman of the temple in Chetty Road, Sagren Phillips, the burglars smashed down the boundary wall between the temple and Ramatha Primary School at the weekend…
Source BHOPAL, INDIA, April 22, 2016 (Times of India): Politicians, judges, bureaucrats, industrialists, movie stars and celebrities of all shades planning to take a holy bath this Simhastha Kumbh Mela at Ujjain have been told by an “overburdened” Madhya Pradesh police that they will not be provided with additional security, sparing personnel at the expense of routine cover for the…
Source Devotion must not be like the flood of the rainy season in which all get washed away. Devotion should be like the river that retains water even in the hottest season.— Saint Kabir (1440-1518)
Source INDIA, May 2, 2016 (My Digitalfc by Michel Danino): All too predictable — we seem to have gone through this countless times in recent years. No sooner had the ministry of human resource development (MHRD) issued a circular to Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) encouraging them to initiate teaching activities centred on Sanskrit and in particular on texts of…
Source SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, May 2, 2016 (HAF): The Hindu American Foundation (HAF), the advocacy organization for the Hindu American community, has today announced the release of its 2016 “Bullying in American Schools” report. The report includes testimonies and data demonstrating how Hindu American students are being singled out, bullied, and ostracized by their peers, largely due to academic curricula…
Source ILLINOIS, U.S., May 2, 2016 (North by Northwesternby Gauri Rangrass): I remember the first time I wished I were white. I was four years old. My brownness was harder to hide. It was something I spent fifteen years of my life trying to like, and eventually, love. My internal battle with Hinduism was even more difficult. It was not…
Source JACKSON TOWNSHIP, PENNSYLVANIA, USA, May 2, 2016 (Morning Call): A Tannersville couple allegedly dumped a severed cow head at a Hindu man’s property in Jackson Township hoping it would scare the victim into moving away, according to court records. Ricky Strausser, 25, and Kimberly Ann McKee, 19, both of Tannersville, allegedly committed the hate crime in March after attending…
Source INDIA, May 1, 2016 (Swarajya Magazine by Madhu Purnima Kishwar): Madhu Kishwar, the senior most professor at the Delhi based Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS), has sent a legal notice to the Director CSDS making serious allegations of gross and systematic discrimination against her. She alleges that the proverbial last straw has been the arbitrary and…
Source Parents must teach children to appreciate those who are different, those who believe differently; teach them the openness that they need to live in a pluralistic world where others have their unique ways, their life and culture; teach them the value of human diversity and the narrow-mindedness of a provincial outlook; give them the tools to live in a…