KAZAKHSTAN HARASSES HINDUS -- Need your help

September 13, 2006

abhinav dwivedi <abhinavd45 (AT) hotmail (DOT) com> wrote: "abhinav dwivedi" <abhinavd45 (AT) hotmail (DOT) com>

"'Dinesh Agrawal'" <dxa4 (AT) psu (DOT) edu>,

"'Vrndavan Parker'" <vrnparker >

CC: <hss_southeast>,

FW: KAZAKHSTAN HARASSES HINDUS -- Need your help

Tue, 12 Sep 2006 14:41:19 -0400

I am writing to you as a friend, a fellow-Hindu, and a voice of a community that needs your help and support urgently.

A small community of Vaishnava Hindus in Kazakhstan are being harassed to the point of persecution. Its a long story as to how this happened (I can share it with anyone who'd like full details), but the end result is that the corrupt local government obtained a court ruling (without even informing the Hindus of the court date!) and has used it to try to seize their land and bulldoze their homes and houses of worship. Kazakhstan has a history of harassing other religious minorities, as well.

All of this would be bad enough; what makes it even more tragic is that Kazakhstan is going out of its way to advertise itself as a religiously pluralistic country, so that it can attract investors. Kazakhstan, you see, has oil.

Ironically, Kazakhstan is hosting a two-day conference on religious liberty today and tomorrow! The madness has to end. ISKCON has organized demonstrations, in New York City and Washington D.C. for tomorrow.

How can you help?

1. As an organization, the Hindu University can sign on to a dossier, that the Hindu Forum of Britain is preparing, as a supporting party, or at least as a concerned party. Kazakhstan's president, Pres. Nazarbayev, will be visiting the U.S. next month, and we will present him with our concerns.

2. Individually, I'm asking you (as upstanding members of the Hindu community) to sign on as citizens who are concerned about attacks on religious minorities. Also, it would be great if we could get other activists within the community to sign on to this cause. An attack on any one of us, is an attack on all of us.

3. Pray. Its the most powerful force we have.

4. Finally, if you can, please attend the demonstrations tomorrow and lend your support in person. I'll be at the one in NY.

Wednesday, September 13, 2006, 12 pm to 2 pm

In New York City – Union Square Park, 14th St. and Broadway entrance

In Washington, D.C. – Kazakh Embassy, 1401 16th St. NW (16th and O streets)

I've attached a short letter appealing for help and the latest press release, so please take a few moments to read them over.

Thank you so much, and I look forward to hearing from you soon.

With love and gratitude,

yours in service,

Vineet Chander, Esq. of Communications, ISKCON (North America)

Hindu Chaplain, Rutgers University

Communications co-chair, Religions for Peace North American Youth Network

PS: Please forward this to anyone who you think can help.

***

Dear Friends,

Religious liberty is under attack in Kazakhstan.

In April of this year, in the central Asian country of Kazakhstan, a government-ordered bulldozer rolled onto a community of Hare Krishna devotees – Vaishnava Hindus – and threatened to demolish their homes and houses of worship. The bulldozer was stopped from doing that only because the horrified residents formed a human chain around their properties.

Since then, the local government has mounted a backroom campaign of harassment, intimidation, and political maneuvering to oust these men, women, and children and to demolish their temples. The Krishna devotees continue to live under the constant threat of losing their homes, their land, and their right to practice their faith peacefully. These people are law-abiding citizens of Kazakhstan, but they are being condemned as out-castes because of their religion.

Local government officials claim that the decision to confiscate the Hindus’ land (without any compensation) was based on a court ruling that they didn’t follow the proper procedures in privatizing it. But Forum 18, a religious rights watchdog group, has documented a long history of intolerance towards this community (along with intolerance of other minorities in Kazakhstan, such as Baptists, non-state-sponsored Muslims). An official from the OSCE confided that “It is obvious” that the Hindus are being harassed because of their faith. And local government officials’ behavior makes it clear that what is being considered here is religion, not the procedural law:

The home-owners were told that they could only privatize the land if they signed a document swearing that they were not Krishna devotees.

Ms. Ryskul Zhunispayeva, who is a chief expert on religious matters in the Karasai district, told an interviewer on Channel 31 Kazakh language broadcast that “As far as religions are concerned, they can exist freely in our country. There are [only] four world religions: it is our Islam, Christianity, Catholicism, Buddhism." (emphasis added)

According to Forum 18, Anatoly Portnyagin of the local land commission testified in a regional court that the Krishna community is a terrorist organization and that allowing it to function will lead to a second Chechnya in Kazakhstan.

The Kazakh Supreme Court heard the appeal to the case and rendered a verdict – without the Krishna devotees or their attorneys ever being allowed to come and present their case. The Court’s supposed reasoning: they didn’t want the Krishna devotees to have to waste money to attend the trial.

Even a cursory study of the facts makes it clear that this is an ugly case of land-grabbing and religious discrimination on the local level. Perhaps most astounding is the fact that while this is going on, the national government has continued to promote itself as an exemplar of religious tolerance and pluralism! Kazakhstan is said to be aggressively pursuing the chairmanship of the OSCE. The nation has taken out a series of half-page self-congratulatory “advertorials” in the Washington Post, and on September 12th and 13th, Kazakhstan will host the Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions.

Devotees of Krishna, Hindus of all denominations, and defenders of religious liberty from across the religious spectrum have expressed concern that the actions of the local government, as evidenced by this case of religiously motivated harassment, simply do not measure up to the ideal picture painted by the national government.

Now, Kazakhstan finds itself at a crossroad. An oil rich nation and up-and-coming world player, Kazakhstan has already caught the eye of the United States.

And yet, there seems to be – at least on the local level – a gap between the human rights ideals professed and the actions taken by those in positions of power. By making good on its own promises of tolerance and protection, the Kazakhstan government can bridge that gap and prove itself a model of progress for the world to follow. Or by standing by and allowing this injustice to continue, the government can let that gap grow wider and more noticeable, until it makes a complete farce of what Kazakhstan purports to stand for. The world is waiting to see which path Kazakhstan will choose. But for the hundreds of Hindu men, women, and children who wake up uncertain of their future in Kazakhstan, waiting is a luxury that they cannot afford.

This is not a “Hare Krishna” issue, or even a “Hindu” issue; it is a matter of religious liberty for one and all. We are trying our best to articulate our concerns and increase awareness, but we cannot do it alone. We reach out to our brothers and sisters of all faiths and nations, to help give the innocent members of this community a voice that may yet be heard. Together, we can appeal to Kazakhstan’s national government to do the right thing and protect all of its people, whatever faith they may be.

It is not too late. We are hopeful that with your help, all of Kazakhstan’s citizens can enjoy a bright future.

On behalf of the Save Kazakh Hindus Campaign,

Vineet Chander, Esq. of Communications, ISKCON (North America)

Hindu Chaplain, Rutgers University

Communications co-chair, Religions for Peace North American Youth Network

For more information, please visit www.Forum18.org.

Dear Friends,

Religious liberty is under attack in Kazakhstan.

In April of this year, in the central Asian country of Kazakhstan, a government-ordered bulldozer rolled onto a community of Hare Krishna devotees – Vaishnava Hindus – and threatened to demolish their homes and houses of worship. The bulldozer was stopped from doing that only because the horrified residents formed a human chain around their properties.

Since then, the local government has mounted a backroom campaign of harassment, intimidation, and political maneuvering to oust these men, women, and children and to demolish their temples. The Krishna devotees continue to live under the constant threat of losing their homes, their land, and their right to practice their faith peacefully. These people are law-abiding citizens of Kazakhstan, but they are being condemned as out-castes because of their religion.

Local government officials claim that the decision to confiscate the Hindus’ land (without any compensation) was based on a court ruling that they didn’t follow the proper procedures in privatizing it. But Forum 18, a religious rights watchdog group, has documented a long history of intolerance towards this community (along with intolerance of other minorities in Kazakhstan, such as Baptists, non-state-sponsored Muslims). An official from the OSCE confided that “It is obvious” that the Hindus are being harassed because of their faith. And local government officials’ behavior makes it clear that what is being considered here is religion, not the procedural law:

The home-owners were told that they could only privatize the land if they signed a document swearing that they were not Krishna devotees.

Ms. Ryskul Zhunispayeva, who is a chief expert on religious matters in the Karasai district, told an interviewer on Channel 31 Kazakh language broadcast that “As far as religions are concerned, they can exist freely in our country. There are [only] four world religions: it is our Islam, Christianity, Catholicism, Buddhism.” (emphasis added)