CA Textbooks Distorts and Denigrates Hindu Dharma

February 25, 2006

Namaste, Please write letters and email t o thse peopleas mentioned below t o

change text books that distorts Hindu religion to disgrace and destroy .

Thanks

Deen B Chandora

Deen Chandora <deenbc > DEEN Chandora <deenbc (AT) hotmail (DOT) com>,

Deen Chandora <deenbc > california Fri, 24 Feb 2006

13:53:06 -0800 (PST)

Feb.24, 2006

Mr. Ruth Green,

President, State Board of Education, 1430 N Street, Room 5111

Sacramento, CA 95814, Fax (916) 319-0175

Cc: Mr. Tom Adams,

The Executive Director, The Curriculum Framework Commission

1430 N Street, Room 5111Sacramento, CA 95814, Fax: (916) 319-0172

Re: Teaching of Indian social evils and cultural traditions as Hindu Religion in

California Schools.

Dear Mr. Green and Members of Commission and School Board,

I am a Doctor of Medicine Physician with specialization in Internal Medicine,

Psychiatry, and Addition Medicine. I had faculty position in Dept. of Medicine,

at S.P. Medical College Bikaner, Raj. India; Dept. of Psychiatry at Medical

College of Georgia, Augusta, Ga., and at Emory Medical School, Atlanta, GA. I

have many scientific research papers to my credit. As a Vedic- Sanatan–Hindu

scholar and researcher I have published numerous research papers and four books

on Hindu religion. In 1986 in order to propagate teachings of Vedas the primary

scriptures of One Billion global Hindus I founded Greater Atlanta Vedic Temple

Society, Inc. in Atlanta Ga. In 1993 in order to educate American Psychiatric

Association about Vaishnav denomination of Hindu religion that ‘Hare Krishnas’

are not cult but Vaishnav denomination of Hindu religion. I conducted a

workshop at American Psychiatric Annual Conference in New Orleans. The workshop

was successful to achieve this aim.

I invite you to please attend following two workshops: 1) Indian social

traditions are not Hindu Religion. 2) Distortion of Hindu Religion as taught in

the Western world, at forthcoming Sixth Conference of World Association of Vedic

Studies (WAVES) at University of Houston, Texas, from July 8- 10, 2006.

The first conference of this academic multidisciplinary institution - World

Association of Vedic Studies (WAVES) was held in Atlanta in 1996. More than 200

scholars from over the world from all sciences and humanities attended this

conference. These famous scholars/Professors/researchers are eminent

personalities in their field. To name a few, the key note speaker Prof. Jim G.

Shaffer, Ph. D., Dept. of Anthropology, Case Western Reserve Uni. Cleveland,

Ohio; Prof. Klostermier, Dept. of Religion, Uni. Of Manitoba, Canada; Prof.

Shiva Bajpai, University of California, Northridge, CA; Prof. Joshi, Univ. of

Mexico, Mexico; B. B. Lal former Director General Archeological Survey of India

and list goes on. The Proceedings of the conference was published in book form

of 495 pages in 1998, ISBN 0-9666386-1-1. The following resolution was passed

unanimously ‘The ancient Indus Sarasvati civilization flourished throughout

India with no evidence of interruption or Aryan Invasion.”

My request is not to pollute the fertile minds of young free thinking American

boys and girls. Education is meant to explore, experience and to learn the

facts of life. Please keep the distortions out of education. Govt. schools

ought neither to engage nor to become center of indoctrination. Please focus on

basic teachings of Hindu Religion/Dharma. I will like to briefly present the

essence of Hindu religion as follows:

1. All religions are based on Scriptures. The basis of Vedic-Sanatan-Hindu

scriptures is four Vedas. All sciences originated from -Vedas including

Ayurveda –the science of Life. From Vedas six different philosophies

originated, those are represented by six scriptures- Mimansa, Vaiseshika,

Nayaya, Yoga, Sankhya and Vedanta. All these combined are called Shath Darshan.

Buddhists and Jain religions that originated from Hindu religion follow Yoga

philosophy. The basis of which is Ahimsa, when translated in practice it means

‘peaceful coexistence’. The tolerance and harmony of Hindu religion with nature

and all creatures are due to these philosophies. Mahatma Gandhi was ardent

follower of Ahimsa.

2. What is being taught and highlighted in California textbooks as Hindu

religion are traditions. These traditions do not always reflect Hindu religion.

Some of these are social evils and as such may be taught as social evils. Also,

many of the traditions are out dated and are not in vogue at present therefore

these are to be addressed as History of medieval India rather than religion.

Traditions change with political cum geographic and social vicissitudes of the

nation. These are not based on scriptures and hence do not come under religion.

Vedic –Sanatan- Hindu authentic scriptures do not sanction these. I may give a

burning example of some of the outlawed traditions and practices of the USA,

such as slavery, that was not sanctioned by Christian scriptures? Even though

Christians of the USA practiced slavery; it cannot be said it is a part of

Christian religion. Thus social traditions can not be religion.’

3. Sati Pratha in Medieval India was a product of Muslim rule. The very name

Pratha means tradition. Therefore it is not a religion. There were no human

rights and nor existence of any kind of religious freedom. In Muslim rule

either one is to be converted by force to Muslim or be killed or to be taxed

and humiliated as per Muslim religion’s holy book Koran. There is no fourth

option. The Tax is called as Jajiya tax on Infidel. When the Muslim

ruler-Sultan would forcibly take a widow in his bed then some demoralized

subjugated Hindus just to survive the treacherous times may have practiced

this social evil. However not all Hindus practiced, hardly ever, only that too

on rare occasions. In early 1800, during British rule Raja Ram Mohan Roy was

successful to bring this evil social tradition to halt. Since then no one

practices the evil social tradition. It is not a part of religion and there are

strict laws to punish the

offenders. Sati Pratha is social evil and not Hindu religion. In the USA

according to USA statistics every 23 minutes one female is brutalized in

domestic violence, it does not mean that Christian religion practices domestic

violence.

4. In the USA Christians follow the practice of male circumcision; it is a

tradition; however the same practice by African Muslims for female child is

seen as social evil. Muslims and Jews follow male circumcision as their

scriptures sanction it. If some Christians also follow, it does not mean it is

a part of Christian religion to offer a piece of penis foreskin smeared with

urine and having a pungent odor to God. Similarly there have been some

practices and traditions in India that were not of Hindu religion;

scriptures did not sanction these. Untouchability was also introduced to Hindu

society by Muslim invaders, as these invaders wanted to be accepted in larger

Hindu

society. Muslim rulers used their wit to divide Hindu society and were

successful to deflect this hate. This hate was originally directed towards them

as being foreign invaders, but Muslim rulers succeeded in directing this hate

towards other impoverished sections of Hindu society. This strategy paid off

very rich rewards for them and these Muslim invaders became successful rulers.

Please note untouchability is a social evil and declared by Govt. of India as

illegal and hence it should be taught as social evil and not as religion. Many

reformers since Muslim invasion have worked effortlessly to irradiate this and

many other social evils and their contributions also need to be addressed.

Just to name a few Guru Nanak, Saint Kabir, Rahidas, Baba Ramdev, in medieval

times of India, and pre-modern times Swami Dayananda Saraswati and in modern

times Mahatma Gandhi,

etc. are worth while to be included to give readers of the text book a balanced approached

5. The peaceful co-existence has brought fruits to a common Hindu; thereby one

can sustain life just by keeping one cow. The Cow dung acts as fuel in home and

the milk is sold or consumed as food in home or other commercials to buy

essential goods. One can safely make living in India by having one milking Cow.

This fact is to be taught as Agronomics and not as religion. As such both Hindus

and Muslims practice this way of life. In fact, in India 50% of those who have

milking cows are Muslims and not Hindus. It is tradition of survival – the

secret Agronomics of India. India is a predominant rural country whose 80%

population resides in rural areas and thus rural and many urban families have

lived through ages.

6. I can continue to give example after example. My request is to please

consider the latest research in Genetics that lead to the conclusion that the

genetic pools of India is local and has no imprint from Central Europe or Asia

thus debunking the myth of Aryan Invasion of India. Also the geopolitical and

Anthrop-socio- cultural studies of other countries such as Thailand, Indonesia,

Laos, Vietnam, and Cambodia to be taken into account while timing the period of

Ramayana and Mahabharata. One knows Ramayana period preceded that of

Mahabharata.

Practical implications:

Anthropologists, Sociologists, Psychologists, Psychiatrists and allied branches

of sciences clearly define culture, religion and traditions. Traditions are not

religion. India is a vast country with thousands years of civilization. Each

state has many cultures and each culture has many diverse sub cultures. Thus

staying in India for a year or two and then returning to a famous university

does not make a person expert on Hindu religion. This fact is to be taken into

account. I was born in India, have lived in India for thirty years and learned

Hindu religion from the studies of authentic Vedic –Sanatan-Hindu scriptures

under the guidance of my forefathers, Pundits, scholars and researchers of

Vedic- Sanatan- Hindu religion. Our children are also cognizant of our Hindu

religion; therefore refuse to answer incorrect and distorted teachings and to

learn distorted teachings of California books. Their teachers also mark them

negatively and we Hindus are at double jeopardy and at great loss. Distorted

teaching is real indoctrination.

It is real travesty that a most advanced country of the world focuses and

teaches the out dated traditions of medieval India as Hindu religion in their

school textbooks. It reflects on the whole educational system; it clearly

spells ignorance. It is high time to correct the textbooks to reflect the real

principles of Vedic –Sanatan –Hindu Dharma/ religion. I do not want my adopted

country where I have spend more than my half of my life, to stay in dark.

Therefore, as a citizen to fulfill my civic responsibility I am addressing

these issues for the benefit of whole humanity. It is a great tragedy and

disservice to the freethinking of budding minds. Please teach Hindu religion as

per basic authentic Vedic-Sanatan-Hindu scriptures and do not disguise teachings

of out dated traditions and social evils as Hindu religion.

I anticipate acknowledgement and feedback from your esteemed office.

Thanks

Sincerely Yours

Deen B Chandora, MD

Trustee,

Greater Atlanta Vedic Temple, Inc. ,

World Association of Vedic Studies (WAVES)

4117 Menlo Way,

Atlanta, GA. 30340 deenbc (AT) hotmail (DOT) com, Phone 770- 638- 9750

February 26, 2006

Krishna

On 2/25/06, Brindavan Parker <vaidika1008 (AT) hotmail (DOT) com> wrote:

FW: californiaTextbooks ditorts and Denigrades Hindu DharmaFri,

24 Feb 2006 20:08:52 -0500

Namaste, Please write letters and email t o thse peopleas mentioned below t o

change text books that distorts Hindu religion to disgrace and destroy .

Thanks

Deen B Chandora

Deen Chandora <deenbc > DEEN Chandora <

deenbc (AT) hotmail (DOT) com>, Deen Chandora <deenbc > california

Fri, 24 Feb 2006 13:53:06 -0800 (PST)

Feb.24, 2006

Mr. Ruth Green,

President, State Board of Education, 1430 N Street, Room 5111

Sacramento, CA 95814, Fax (916) 319-0175

Cc: Mr. Tom Adams,

The Executive Director, The Curriculum Framework Commission

1430 N Street, Room 5111Sacramento, CA 95814, Fax: (916) 319-0172

Re: Teaching of Indian social evils and cultural traditions as Hindu

Religion in California Schools.

Dear Mr. Green and Members of Commission and School Board,

I am a Doctor of Medicine Physician with specialization in Internal

Medicine, Psychiatry, and Addition Medicine. I had faculty position in Dept. of

Medicine, at S.P. Medical College Bikaner, Raj. India; Dept. of Psychiatry at

Medical College of Georgia, Augusta, Ga., and at Emory Medical School, Atlanta,

GA. I have many scientific research papers to my credit. As a Vedic-

Sanatan–Hindu scholar and researcher I have published numerous research papers

and four books on Hindu religion. In 1986 in order to propagate teachings of

Vedas the primary scriptures of One Billion global Hindus I founded Greater

Atlanta Vedic Temple Society, Inc. in Atlanta Ga. In 1993 in order to educate

American Psychiatric Association about Vaishnav denomination of Hindu religion

that 'Hare Krishnas' are not cult but Vaishnav denomination of Hindu religion.

I conducted a workshop at American Psychiatric Annual Conference in New

Orleans. The workshop was successful to achieve this aim.