Scotland Yard to form ‘Hindu Safety Forum’
A ‘Hindu Safety Forum’ is to be set up by Scotland Yard, as a result of the first Hindu Security Conference, organized by the Hindu Forum and attended by representatives of the Metropolitan Police. The conference took place on the 22nf February, at the London School of Economics, and was attended by around 160 delegates.
Top of the list of Hindu concerns was the lack of security for culture specific issues which most police officers would not be able to understand and therefore be reluctant to intervene in. There was also an under-reporting of hate crime and a concern over the impact of indiscriminate ’stop and search’ policies.
However, the most commonly cited was confrontation with radical Muslims, who have often harassed the Hindu community in various ways…
February 26th, 2007 at 7:53 am
I think this is a welcome step and I do hope that the police seriously do something to weed out aggressive muslim elements from campuses and also around temples. There should definately be a more visible presence around temples.
Good beginning, lets hope the police actually act on the the suggestions by the members of the hindu community.
February 26th, 2007 at 7:21 pm
Namaste
This is a wondefful piece, an awakening call for the some what docile Hindu community. This phenomena, this development is not new. It has been going on for years.
It is more apparent, more ostensible now as some religions are becoming more radicalized, more intense and aggresive. Perhaps it is the insecurity that drives them to these extremes.
It is time to bring a fundamental change in our way of thinking. It is time to regroup and to find allies and support in other ethnic minorities who face the same threat, the same dilema, same quandry.
Perhaps Sikhs, Jains, Jews and many more who share our concern, appreciate our culture, our virtues and our way of life will willingly lend their support to us.
It is also time for our younger generation to unite, to join various Student Unions, take an active part in student life, University politics. I thought our
NHSF is active and present on most University Campus.
They should encourage every student to join them and protect each other in their hour of need, form their own social, cultural and study groups.
We should also write to our MPs who are, on most part sympathetic to our cause, our concern.
I write to my MP so often. I am glad to confirm that he is always willing to help me, address my concern, tackles the subject, often writing to Ministers responsible seeking clarification on the subject matter raised and helps me to the best of his ability.
I am glad that Ramesh Khallidai, Secretary of the Hindu Forum of Britain has given the lead but it is not enough. Every Hindu organization, community associations, every temple authority, like NCGO, ISKCON, SHM, NVA, APS and many more should take up this matter seriously, hold meetings, seminars etc to wake up their members, our slumbering, sleeping community.
If we unite, we can successfully tackle this problem. If we remain aloof, we will be picked up one by one. Choice is simple, act today or become dinosaurs tomorrow.
Bhupendra
February 27th, 2007 at 5:31 am
Congratulations to the organizers of the forum. Hinduism and Buddhism are about the only religions that are open to all people. Hinduism is what a religion should be - peaceful, and to build a better inner self. There is no show of strength, no rowdyism and and no barbaric behaviour in the name of god or anyone else. People observed Hinduism because they respected and loved it. No one forced them. Hinduism has survived thousands of years and will live and grow out of love ever.
However, today, the environment is changing. The Hindus in some places, as you have stated clearly are being threatened by the radical muslims who probably feel strong because some their kind is engaged in terrorist activities. The decision to seek the help of the police is the right move, demonstrating respect for the law, a crucial element id Hindu teachings. However, never be complacent The Hindus must be prepared to face challenges individually and collectively against these uncivilized groups and we don’t have to respect forced conversions.
February 27th, 2007 at 8:21 am
well done hindus. it is time to protect ourselves.
hindus must wake up to their challanges. we are fighters.
February 27th, 2007 at 6:45 pm
the hindus and sikhs shouldn’t go to the police if muslims attack it makes us look weak and to soft to protect our own community that we have to run over to the police for help, and if we do run to the police for help muslims will only see us as weak individuals. I think everyone needs to grow balls and just smash them back. I went to www.bbc.co.uk to do some research on some of the stuff and ticks me off some of the stuff i found
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/west_midlands/3688201.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/west_midlands/4637461.stm
and on www.google.com i found artilces like this which shows how to teach muslims lessons and that muslims are out to start trouble with indians.
http://www.easterneyeonline.co.uk/iframe_story.asp?NID=2505
February 27th, 2007 at 10:34 pm
sikh agree with you bro, it’s not like this is a new thing, it has been going on for years now, so where were the police all these years, now they suddenly remember that there are other communities besides Muslims, it’s all empty rheotic and no action, I wouldn’t put my trust on these lot.
If Hindus had given a good beating to these morons in the initial stages itself then the problem wouldn’t reach such proportions today, as for sher-e-punjab, well nowadays they exist only in name and anyone on the street can claim to be part of them cuz the originals are all gone, some of them have turned into a bunch of dope sellers while others have moved on cuz they were getting old, it’s upto the younger lot to take up the responsibility now, it all depends on the local community, in Montreal if the Muslims or Non Gujjus try to enter garbas they do get beaten up by the drunks standing outside, but in Toronto there is no sense of community and I seen even Pakistanis get into the garbas if they paid their fee.
February 28th, 2007 at 12:20 pm
How do I get involved with the “Hindu safety Forum”?? Can’t talk, must act?
February 28th, 2007 at 1:06 pm
Namaste
I feel we should not close down any avenue open to us and that include police, politicians and the support of other communities who share our tradition and values.
We the Indians (Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Indian Christians etc) have acquired an enviable reputation, as law abiding, highly educated, hard working ethnic minority.
Lets play on it. But that does not mean we should not grow balls or keep hockey sticks in our homes. Be prepared for any eventuality.
Let us use every trick in the trade to further our aim, our agenda, that is if we have any?
Let our so called Hindu organizations prepare a list of universities which may not be safe for us, especially our girls and bycote them. After all there is no shortage of good universities where such problems do not exist.
If there is a will, then there is certainly a way. If we unite, we can succeed without any doubt.
Om Kranti!
Bhupendra
March 1st, 2007 at 2:06 pm
We shouldnt give up the right to be educated where we want. Universities in Birmingham suffer terrible problems …Hindus and Sikhs truely suffer and one of my friends has encountered this to the extent of having a gun pulled to his head by a Muslim…yes its THAT bad. But its a good establishment. Why should we forsake an opportunity to go to a universtity of our choice?…the alternative for him is to move awayfrom home to go to uni (something that he doesnt want to do). Boycott unis?…no way…thats doing a disservice to US!
Its pretty hard to fight against people who will stoop at any level for any stupid reason.
As shown by the article about the prison chaplain service, there are only 300 Hindus in UK jails - which is EXCELLENT!…shows how law abiding we are.
We should train ourselves up..learn martial arts…(muay thai please!!!…I have been doing it for years now and its very effective) We should arm ourselves with intellect and pride too. That way we are both mentally and physically strong. They need to know we can handle ourselves.
Lastly, we need to stick together…that where pride comes into play…if we dont have pride for our religion and our people, why would we STICK UP for our people?
We really need to shake this tag of being easy target that we have gained. If its not the muslims that exploit it, its the media..if not media its the Sikh “protection of guru granth sahib blah blah blah” I think its quiet funny that THESE Sikhs have started to concentrate on Hindus…why not deal with muslims who take your women and chop the hair of your children?…oh I forget, muslims will fight back and they are more difficult to deal with…yep, I get it.
Sher Punjab back in the day was decent..in its very formative years. My dad was involved as were many of his friends. Many members were Hindu and although its points towards being a punjabi Sikh thing…it was basically Sikhs AND Hindus that were a part of it and were protected by it. But its nothing now. You get the odd foolish idiot who claims to be part of it…and the ones that do claim to be a part of it arent decent people. Just go to parts of birmingham and see the graffiti written on the walls of shops “S.P rule…S.P. Zindabad” etc etc….none of those who started Sher Punjab would have advocated such shit.
Hindu women…lets stop being so apathetic and lets start calling a spade a spade.
March 1st, 2007 at 9:55 pm
Db8 - I applaud your stance and formally ask you join a new shaka (and for that matter anyone on this thread) called the Vedic 300 - taken party from the story of the 300 Spartans and fully from the ancient code of the Vedic - Warrior Saints.
Time to “man up” as Denzel says in Training Day.
But hey that is my opinion, I may be wrong.
Dharma through strength….
JB
March 2nd, 2007 at 6:49 pm
Well said Db8..
Rediscovering martial side to culture is a must for the guys, and India still has the martial knowledge too. Yes, Muay Thai is very good, but even here there is a link between Thai arts and Vedic arts. Indian martial arts, after being banned by the British during colonial times, years and years of neglect, no funding, no government interest, no institutions to protect this glorious martial heritage things are sliding inevitably. However, there is an asan in London for those with the will.
Better for men to spend their energies learning this noble path then heading to their local pub/club on Saturday and trying to outstare every other brother of theirs in the place for no reason !! u know what I’m talking about !
March 3rd, 2007 at 6:57 pm
Well Done To Hindu Voice ! That Natasha Story that Hindu Voice first wrote about was in The Times today .Great work HV team !
March 4th, 2007 at 8:00 am
One sikh organisation has set up a HOTLINE for girls that are being harassed/forced/blackmailed to convert, sounds like a good way of pinpointing whats happening where and giving the victim a degree of anonyminity/space should they require it. WHilst ensuring that the people who can act are aware and up to speed.
March 4th, 2007 at 12:20 pm
Well done to Hindu Voice for bringing the issue of conversion. these people are offered money to convert. their idea is to convert as many as possible.
March 8th, 2007 at 8:31 pm
Ok indians have a reputation of being law abiding hard working highly educated, we focus on this reputation of being law abiding hard working highly educated ppl will see us as weak and continue to attack. Well one thing i liked was that in almost all gurdwara you have posters for parants and girls to read to watch out for the dangers. The mandars in england need to start doing this as well many sikhs are always out raising awareness on radios in magazines and so on i know their is only little awareness in the hindu community and needs to be more.
Who cares what the english think of us if we show were strong they won’t dare to call us pakis.
You can teach indian pride but so many indians have pride i know punjabis who have insane amount of pride and gujarati’s who have insane amount of pride.
March 9th, 2007 at 3:02 pm
Mr Sikh,
Can you instead of posting several messages at one time on the same topic just post it once.
Thanks
HV Team
March 9th, 2007 at 3:03 pm
Dear Members
HV has a very strict policy against any incitement to violence against any religious community or race or gender. Please keep this forum civil, logical and the messages short.
Thanks Balraj HV Team.
March 14th, 2007 at 11:07 pm
I think its a sad state of affairs that us Hindus find ourselves in…why we even NEED help from police is beyond me. We should be able to stick up for ourselves…we should be looked at as a community that can and will react in a strong way to perceived threats. But thats not the case. We are too apathetic.
As Sikh said…our own awareness of what happens out there is lacking…not publications, no broadcasts, no poster campaigns…but would we listen anyway? Its high time we as a Hindu community woke up to the dangers out there and actully took notice. If we think TODAYS situation is dire, for all us young people, the situation WILL be grave for our future children. Lets start being proactive…
March 15th, 2007 at 5:45 pm
Db8 i take this statement by you pretty offensivily
“Sikh “protection of guru granth sahib blah blah blah” I think its quiet funny that THESE Sikhs have started to concentrate on Hindus…why not deal with muslims who take your women and chop the hair of your children?…oh I forget, muslims will fight back and they are more difficult to deal with…yep, I get it.”
Could you explain this statement in more detail, could you tell me the amount of hindus attacked by sikhs compared to muslims attacked by sikhs, well muslim TRY taking our women and usually end up picking up the once with low morals or low self esteem but could you tell the sikhs what the hindu community does to help us. Could you tell me when sikhs have bin scared of muslims will fight back like i posted couple of articles showing how sikhs dealt with muslims if you look at those articles could you tell me when sikhs have bin scared of muslims.
March 15th, 2007 at 8:17 pm
This has been happening for many years. I have yet to meet a Hindu or Sikh woman who hasn’t herself, or doesn’t have a friend who has encountered this. And their stories are so sad that it hurts right to the soul.
Unfortunately, our elders have not seen this problem as occuring to Hindu or Sikh girls, but to their neighbours who have “loose daughters”
I hate to say this, but many women in our society tend to have a very naive notion about love and tend to learn this from our film industry. There are countless Indian films about the girl breaking away from “family/community bondage” to fall in love with a handsome stranger and live “happily ever after” Just take a look at the movies made by our cummunity right here in the UK
March 21st, 2007 at 1:33 pm
Sikh…i refer to this vigilante “Sikh” group…(some of whom I am acquainted with)…I cant remember what they call themselves…something about protecting the Guru Granth Sahib - which entails them storming into places where the granth supposedly shouldnt be…and in their opinions, Hindu Mandirs are one such place.
To me, these people arent Sikhs. They are self righteous bigots who prey on those that they perceive to be the weakest. And to my lament, and as I stated in my message that you referred to, its us Hindus who they attack.
Im not saying that these very same people would not stick up for themselves against Muslims…but I am direct witness to the shift of focus from protecting themselves against muslim hostility, to them conveniently ignoring muslim aggression and being aggressive to HINDUS!
These “Sikhs” are the Khalistani types…the types that I am SURROUNDED by on a daily basis..the same type to absolutely vilify Hindus..and strangely are indifferent to Muslims. The “Khalistani” Sikhs that I know…they keep it sweet with Muslims, because, to be quiet frank, they are too much trouble. Offend THEM…then you have a whole neighbhourhood of militant Muslims you have to deal with. The Hindus..well….we are the easy option. The option that doesnt fight back. The option that is easy to offend without receiving a rebuke.
Trust me Sikh….if I was highlighting any deficienies…it wasnt within the Sikh community because I do not regard the vigilante protection of Guru granth sabib whatever to BE Sikhs. Neither do I regard “khalistani Sikhs” to be Sikhs.
The actual point of my message was to highlight Hindus apathy. I dont actually think we are weak..our priorities are just in tatters. We fail to see the bigger picture on too many occasions.
BTW, its actually Sikhs like you, that I respect.
Regards.
April 2nd, 2007 at 2:39 pm
300 is a great movie full of visual effects and graphics which made it different and much better.
Acting was great, director did a wonderful job and chose great actors, full of action, and it is based on a true story.
April 4th, 2007 at 9:38 pm
No use setting up this “Safety Forum” when the very NHSF buttheads when asked by Eastern Eye Magazine decided to say “oh we don’t have any problems of conversions” —
welcome to the world of the NHSF say one thing, do another - what a total waste of time… and as for the Hindu Forum…. well the worlds “Chicken S..t” come to mind….
enjoy Hindus and get emotional about stuff that is not going to change unless you get rid of these two organisations and create one that will do the work that you keep talking about…
have a good one.