Survey: The Archbishop’s comments on Shariah law in the UK
Thursday, March 6th, 2008Recently the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, ignited controversy for statements he made in favour of introducing elements of Islamic law into Britain, for Muslims here to self-govern certain aspects of their collective lives. A parallel legal system of this kind already exists in some countries, notably India.
What are your opinions of having separate laws for Muslims and perhaps other faith communities to govern their “internal affairs”? Which of the following options best sums up your views on the subject?
P Waytha Moorthy is a Malaysian Hindu lawyer, and founder of the Hindu Rights Action Force (HINDRAF), an organization of lawyers which defends the civil rights of the Hindu minority in Malaysia, which is an Islamic country. HINDRAF has been in the news extensively over the past month, due to a huge rally which they organized in late November, which was banned by the Malaysian authorities. Subsequently Moorthy was arrested twice, and left Malaysia with the aim of raising international awareness to the problems facing Malaysian Hindus.
Rajan Zed is a Hindu religious leader in USA who read the first Hindu prayer in United States Senate in Washington DC in its 218 years history on July 12, 2007. During that event he was heckled by a some Christian fundamentalist who objected to a Hindu delivering a prayer in the US Senate. Hindu Voice UK spoke to Rajan Zed after the incident.
I literally grew up in a world full of music, art and Sanskrit poetry. My family background is such where my parents taught me Hindu values along with our ancient history during my childhood. As a matter of fact, North Indian classical music runs in my family. My great-grandfather, my grandfather, my father as well as uncles all were musicians and Shastriya sangeetkars. My father was an artist and had great admiration for classical Indian dance forms, especially Bharata Natyam and Kuchipuddi. It was he who encouraged me to take up Bharata Natyam at the age of seven here in London…
Covering a very emotive subject, namely the strained relationship that Mahatma Gandhi had with his eldest son Harilal, and recounting the story more from the latter’s perspective, ‘Gandhi My Father’ aroused a lot of interest, not just in India but around the world. Gandhi of course is the one Hindu in the 20th century who has achieved super-fame for his life’s work, his fame extending far beyond India into almost every nook and cranny of our planet.
Earlier this month the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs issued a notification of slaughter of a bull residing in the Skanda Vale Temple complex called Shambo, due to having been tested positive for bovine tuberculosis. However, the bull had not shown symptoms of TB and as yet, was in a healthy condition. Temple authorities are defiant, and claim that they will defend the bull “with their life if necessary”.