Preserve the 5000 yr heritage of hindu svastika: Hindus in Britain lau

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<shibaji_kar@u...> wrote:

"He noted that Swastika is derived from the Sanskrit

word 'svastikah',

> meaning 'being fortunate'. "Swastika is made up of two Sanskrit

words,

> 'su' meaning good and 'asti' meaning to exist. The last part changes

> the infinitive to the imperative so that the literal meaning of the

> term swastika is 'let good prevail'."

>

 

No one calls for a ban on Cross - no one seem to confuse the flaming

cross of the Ku Klux Klan with the ubiquitious Christian cross.

 

Please browse South American paintings - you can see Pizzaro and his

army holding cross in their heart, burning Atahualpa, the supreme God

and king of the Incas, at the stake.

 

indicjournalists, Srinivasan Kalyanaraman

<kalyan97@g...> wrote:

>

> Preserving an heritage of 5000 yrs

>

> PTI[ WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 19, 2005 07:56:11 PM ]

>

> Sign into earnIndiatimes points

>

> LONDON: Amidst calls for a Europe-wide ban on the swastika following

> Prince Harry's appearance at a fancy dress party wearing the sign on

> his armband, Hindus in Britain on Wednesday launched a campaign to

> "redeem" the symbol from its Nazi past and revive it as a mark of

life

> and fortune.

>

> Hindus use the right-facing version of swastika, meaning "sun", as

> jewellery or on doorways and buildings to bring good fortune. This

> version was adopted by the Nazi party in 1920 at Salzburg, but it is

> thought that allied wartime propaganda was responsible for the false

> belief that at Adolf Hitler's insistence swastika was later reversed

> to the left-facing version, meaning "death" in Hindu mythology.

>

> Launching the campaign to "redeem" the symbol from its Nazi past,

> Ramesh Kallidai, General Secretary of the Hindu Forum of Britain,

said

> a pro-swastika awareness workshops would be organised for every

region

> in Britain with a large seminar in London.

>

> "Every MP is to be lobbied by e-mail and an information booklet will

> be distributed to faith communities and others," he said.

>

> The Hindus' campaign comes after members of the European Parliament

> called for a Europe-wide ban on the symbol after Prince Harry,

younger

> son of Prince Charles and late Princess Diana, wore a swastika

armband

> to a fancy dress party.

>

> Franco Frattini, the European Commissioner for Justice, Freedom and

> Security, has said that he is willing to consider the possibility

of a

> ban. Nazi symbols, including the swastika, are already banned in

> Germany.

>

> Kallidai said: "A symbol we have used for more than 5,000 years is

now

> on the verge of being banned because of association with the Nazis

> over which we had no control.

>

> "Hindus wish to continue to use this symbol as part of their

religion,

> but they risk being labelled a Nazi or, in the case of a ban, risk

> breaking the law. We need to educate people about the historical

> context of the symbol, its wrong use by the Nazis and its importance

> to Hindus."

>

> He noted that Swastika is derived from the Sanskrit

word 'svastikah',

> meaning 'being fortunate'. "Swastika is made up of two Sanskrit

words,

> 'su' meaning good and 'asti' meaning to exist. The last part changes

> the infinitive to the imperative so that the literal meaning of the

> term swastika is 'let good prevail'."

>

> According to legend, the Buddha left footprints in the shape of

> swastikas. Because of the Nazis, the symbol, which has been used for

> centuries by Hindus, Buddhists and many other traditions to denote

> good luck, has come to symbolise hate, anti-Semitism, violence,

death

> and murder.

>

> "Hindus were known as Aryans and the swastika was a symbol which

> identified them as peace-loving, cultured, tolerant people. It would

> be nice if this aspect of the swastika can be highlighted," Nitin

> Mehtma, founder of Young Indian Vegetarians, said.

>

> Ashok Chudasama of the Blackburn Hindu Centre, who runs courses to

> explain the use of the sign by Hindus, said: "When people in the

North

> raised concerns about us using the swastika, we educated them and

they

> have taken on board the true meaning."

>

> Jyotsna Thanki, President of the Hindu Council of Birmingham, said:

> "the important thing to understand is that when a Hindu uses the

> swastika symbol, it is not a representation of Nazi fascism but of

> Hindu devotion. It is not in any way a statement of support for the

> xenophobic and criminal activities of the Holocaust."

>

> Bhupendra Patel, a magistrate and secretary of the Shree Sattavis

Gam

> Patidar Samaj, a Hindu organisation, noted that like many Christians

> wear crosses, many Hindus also wear swastikas.

>

> http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/msid-995503,curpg-

3.cms

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