It’s a giant wheel like decoration on a wall displaying a big Sanskrit “Aum”, encircled by two rings of smaller “Aum’s”. As someone proud of being a Hindu, I would be happy to see this in a temple, a prayer hall, a meditation hall, a library or at least an office. But what offended me, and I hope every right-thinking person feels the same; is that it is one of the main decorative center-piece of a nightclub called “The Sanctuary” located at “The Curve” complex in Mutiara Damansara that has been in existence at least from 2006.

Malaysia Hindu Dharma Mamandram has informed the management of The Sanctuary nightclub of its displeasure at these adornments that is denigrating towards Hinduism. MHDM Secretary-General Ramesh Singaravelu will be personally visiting the establishment in the coming days to have a discussion as to how best to address the issue.

The plight of evicted Kashmiri Pandits, and Hindus in Fiji and Malaysia was highlighted by impassioned presentations by Jeevan Zutshi, a Bay Area community activist and Kashmiri Pandit himself; southern California-based engineer and Malaysian Tamil human rights activist Bhuvan Govindasamy; and San Francisco Bay Area-based attorney of Fiji Indian descent Sadhana D. Narayan.

The statistics are staggering: An estimated 350,000 Kashmiri Pandits have been hounded out of their homeland in the Kashmir valley; and Malaysia’s egregious discriminatory policies have resulted in a drop of Indian-descent student enrollment in Malaysian universities from 20 percent in 1957 to just five percent in 2003. In Fiji, harassment and discrimination has led to an exodus of Fiji Indians: From around half the population in the 1970s, the Fiji Indian population has dropped to 38 percent in 2004.

To be sure, only in Kashmir can it be argued that Pandits have been targeted because of their religion. In Malaysia and Fiji, Hindus have been part of a broader, xenophobic attack against immigrants. Malaysia’s decades-long troubled race relations led to Singapore leaving the Malay federation and a Chinese guerilla insurgency, while in Fiji, the plight of Hindus has been driven by the schism between indigenous Fijians and Indians who immigrated in the 19th century, a point made by Narayan.
Read Full Article – Human Rights Forum Highlights Hindu Minority Plight
Source: Indiawest Online

In the first part of the exercise, about 150 Hindu temples and gurdwaras will be submitting applications. The Minister however reiterated the government’s goal to produce more local Hindu priests. The move follows calls for the easing of the entry requirements for Indian priests by the Malaysia Hindu Council (MHC), of which Malaysia Hindu Dharma Mamandram is a founding member.

from Bernama

Government To Consider New Applications To Engage Priests From India

PETALING JAYA, July 17, 2008 – The government will consider new applications from Hindu temples and Sikh gurdwaras to engage priests, musicians and artisans from India starting next month, MIC secretary-general Datuk Dr S.Subramaniam said Thursday.

Subramaniam, who is Human Resources Minister, said, however, that the visas and permits for these people would only be valid for a maximum period of three years, and based on a set of strict guidelines.

“The decision was made after I had a meeting with Home Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar on the issue concerning the approval and renewal of visas and permits for priests, musicians and artisans from India for Hindu temples and Sikh gurdwaras,” he told reporters after opening a forum on the development of industrial jurisprudence near here.

The forum was organized by the Malaysian Association of Human Resource Consultants.

Subramaniam said that about 150 Hindu temples and Sikh gurdwaras throughout the country would be involved in the exercise in the first stage, and the government would study the needs of other temples and gurdwaras from time to time.

Commenting on the need to increase the number of local priests, he said more and more Malaysians would be trained to reduce the dependency of Hindu temples and gurdwaras on foreign workers.

While Cambodia and Thailand have remained largely Buddhist with religious elements incorporated into governance as well as daily life, other countries like Indonesia and Malaysia are today majority Muslim nations. In fact, Indonesia is the biggest Muslim country in the world. But Hindu and Buddhist elements remain, in the form of culture, language and values.

The form of Islam practiced in the Muslim countries of southeast Asia is a moderate form of the religion, preaching tolerance to other religions and understanding between different peoples. This formula of peaceful coexistence has served the region well. While ethnic clashes have occurred in small scale  on occasion, such as in Malaysia in 1969 and in Indonesia as recently as 1999, large scale clashes like Rwanda or Yugoslavia have been successfully prevented in southeast Asia.

But this history of tolerance is at risk from extremist elements within the region. Radicals in the Muslim faith have taken root and are gaining strength. Taking cue from the ideology of terrorists in the Middle East, Afghanistan and elsewhere, religious fundamentalists have attempted to create new social orders in the region.

Largely rejected by the modern, mainstream Muslims, radicals nevertheless pose a great threat to the stability of the region and security of Hindus, Buddhists, Christians and other indigenous peoples. Groups like Jemaah Islamiyah and Abu Sayyaf have brought the problem to the fore. And while their targets so far has been largely western interests in the region, their growth will be a risk for nation building and religious tolerance within the region.

The continued prosperity and coexistence within southeast Asia depends on moderates rejecting extremism.

from Malaysia Nanban
Ease entry for foreign priests, Govt urged

MALAYSIA Hindu Council chief Datuk R. Nadarajah has called on the Government to ease entry of foreign priests into the country, reported Malaysia Nanban.

Nadarajah, who is Sri Maha Mariamman Devasthanam chairman, said they had invited priests and musicians from India to conduct training courses to train locals but the response has been poor.

He said the younger generation was not interested in becoming priests as it involved the learning of many scriptures and the need to follow a strict discipline.

Furthermore, the income was not encouraging.

He said many temples in the country were having problems conducting daily prayers and rituals, solemnization of marriages and other religious prayers as they do not have trained priests.

He urged the Home Ministry to look into the problems faced by the temples and make it easier for the recruitment of priests from India.