Although traditionally having been a very quiet minority, living in the shadows and trying to avoid trouble, recently Pakistani Hindus have become more vocal in expressing their security concerns. Foremost amongst these is the issue of kidnapping and extortion. At least one Hindu is abducted every month in. Sometimes the victims are the kidnapped and held for ransom, belonging to wealthy Hindu families. Others are kidnapped never to be seen or heard from again. Recent examples have been 5-year-old girl named Tanosha, who is still missing and about whom nothing is known, and 28-year-old Garish Kumar.

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Every society has it’s share of problems. Hindus have always openly recognized the flaws of their society and have taken steps to correct them. Although sati, dowry and caste discrimination do exist, they are officially banned in India by law. There are also many Hindu organizations actively involved in eradicating these ills.

Let us now contemplate the beautiful and unique aspects of Hinduism. We Hindus need to appreciate the importance of our heritage and instill some pride in ourselves. As Swami Vivekananda once said,

“When a man starts feeling ashamed of his ancestors, the end has come.”

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After years of campaigning Nepalese Gurkha soldiers in the British army are finally set to receive equal pensions as the rest of their counterparts in the British army.The Gurkhas, the vast majority of whom are Hindus, are renowned all over the world for their bravery and valor. They have been serving in the British armed forces since 1815, but many have alleged that they are still discriminated against in terms of pension. But this is all set to change with the new regulations that have been approved.

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Things are going from bad to worse for Indian professionals living and working in the UK, with the recent announcement of a large increase in the cost of a permanent stay visa, from £335 to £750. There were also increases in other visas, such as the student visa, which went up from £14 to £99.The announcement will be taken as another slap in the face for the thousands of highly educated Indians who have come to Britain in recent years under the Highly Skilled Migrants Program (HSMP), which promised a relatively straight forward passage for highly qualified individuals to live and work in the UK, to help fill the workforce shortages. The immigration laws were radically overhauled in November, with the result that many highly skilled migrants would no longer be eligible to stay in Britain, having to abandon their plans midway, with huge resulting costs.

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A campaign to end centuries of discrimination against ‘low-caste’ Hindus (Dalits) was launched by well-known Hindu spiritual teacher Sri Sri Ravi Shankar (right) at a conference held earlier this month in Delhi, India. Approximately 4,000 people ranging from leaders of social groups, Hindu holy men, Dalit Hindus and many others, gathered at an open air theatre in Pragati Maidan where they joined hands to launch this campaign.

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August 1856 when a child was born in a humble cottage in the pretty hamlet of Chempazhanthi near Trivandrum, no one knew it marked the dawn of the most remarkable epoch in the social evolution of Kerala. This child was to blossom forth as the great sage Shree Narayana, the most revolutionary social reformer Kerala has produced. To have proper appreciation of the magnitude of Shree Narayana’s achievements, it is necessary to understand the background of the social conditions in which he was born and brought up. Kerala, reputed for its natural beauty and richness of life, was alas, the accursed land of caste tyranny at that time; to such an extent that it was really a “lunatic asylum” as Swami Vivekananda branded it.

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Seeing the advertisement of a Ramayana play on a well-known newspaper I was pretty excited at the prospect of being able to actually watch the great epic being performed at a London theatre. It’s not everyday where you can enjoy the theatrical experience of such a magnificent epic.But when I actually got there, it was another story…

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It is strange that despite being recognised as the third largest religion (in terms of number of followers) and also the oldest existing religion, it is notoriously difficult to find a book to satisfactory explain the basics. While I would not like to claim that David Frawley’s Hinduism will satisfy everyone wanting to learn about Hinduism, this is certainly the best introductory book I have come across in 6 years of study. I shall attempt to highlight why this is the case in the following analysis.

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‘The Sun never sets on the British Empire’ That was the saying that sustained the British rule over one third of humanity as Pax Britannica spread its wings.

But the sun did set. Led by India in 1947 the erstwhile colonies of the empire freed themselves from the grasp of their erstwhile masters.

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Remember in ‘The Last Samurai’ where Captain Algren played by Tom Cruise tells the tale of the battle of Thermopylae where 300 Greek soldiers fought against a million strong Persian army and died on the battlefield? Those who know Greek history may know it too. Well the 300 movie, released on Friday 23 March is loosely based around that battle.But don’t expect an epic historical period piece. That’s not what this film is, nor what it claims to be. Be it based on history (my Iranian friend says it isn’t), this film is purely a stylistic, gory and almost drug-induced trancelike cinematic rendition of an equally stylistic graphic novel by Frank Miller and it comes with an assortment of pumped up heroes, grotesque adversaries, giants, hunchbacks, crab-clawed humanoid monsters. Nothing too serious or historical, just cool comic book stuff, perfect video game material.

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