Blair Concerns for Kazakh Iskcon Devotees

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London/New York, Nov 22 (IANS) British Prime Minister Tony Blair raised the subject of reported harassment of Kazakh Hindus, including demolition of Hindu homes, with the Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev during a meeting here.

 

According to Hindu groups based in Britain, 60 riot police and bull dozers assembled inside a Hindu temple in Kazakhstan and demolished five Hindu houses on Tuesday. The Kazakh government was also allegedly planning to bulldoze a Hindu temple on Wednesday in the Karasai district.

 

British parliamentarians led by Ashok Kumar MP have launched a campaign to prevent attacks on Kazakh Hindus and have tabled an Early Day Motion in the House of Commons.

 

The motion said: "This House, prior to the visit of the President of Kazakhstan, condemns the harassment of and discrimination against Hindu minorities in Kazakhstan; notes that Hindus in the Karasai district have had land, barns and cows confiscated, have been threatened with demolition of their houses, and denied the right to own land; further notes that Kazakh Hindus who applied for ownership of their houses were asked to declare that they were not Hindus, while non-Hindus who made similar applications were immediately granted ownership rights; acknowledges that the Supreme Court reviewed two cases regarding Hindu cottages and ruled against the Hindus without inviting the plaintiffs to the hearings."

 

"The human rights violation against Kazakh Hindus has caused worldwide condemnation," said Sudarshan Bhatia, president of the National Council of Hindu Temples UK, who is leading the Defend Kazakh Hindus Campaign.

 

Ishwer Tailor, president, Hindu Forum of Britain, said: "We call upon the president to intervene to stop action to demolish houses belonging to the followers of Hinduism, facilitate legal registration of properties owned by Hindus, allow Hindus to occupy their homes and worship freely."

 

In a surprise move, 11 homes owned by members of ISCKON, a religious minority group in Kazakhstan, were demolished by local police, leaving the families homeless in freezing temperatures and winter snow, the organisation alleged.

 

Incidentally, the bulldozing began even while a state special commission - appointed to investigate allegations of religious harassment against Hindus in Kazakhstan - had promised that no government action would be taken until the commission made its findings public.

 

The dispute began a few months ago when ISCKON members stared developing a cultural center on a piece of land owned by them on the outskirts of the capital Almaty.

 

The governor of the region however, wanted the court to evict the members from the site, according to reports appearing in the ISCKON website.

 

At a recent meeting held in Almaty and chaired by A.M. Muhkashov, the deputy director of the Kazakh government Religion Committee, the ISKCON delegation was clearly told that Hindus do not have a place in Kazakhstan.

 

The demolition Tuesday has been labelled as land grabbing by the local government by many human rights organizations. The incident has already evoked outrage from the Hindu community across the world, according to an ISCKON press release.

 

"National Hindu organizations from the UK, United States, Canada, Australia, and other countries condemn this injustice, and call upon the Kazakhstan government to immediately stop the persecution of Hindus," said Ramesh Kallidai, secretary general of the Hindu Forum of Britain.

 

"I have no words to describe what I have seen," said Ninel Fokina, head of the Almaty Helsinki Committee, an international human rights organization, monitoring the police action. They have no right to put people out of their homes in winter."

 

Kazakhstan, the largest republic in Central Asia with a population of over 15 million, comprises over 130 ethnic groups who practice 40 religions. Ethnic Russians, who typically are traditionally members of the Russian Orthodox Church, constitute around a third of the population while ethnic Kazakhs, who are Sunni Muslims, make up half.

 

ISKCON became a legally registered organization under the laws of the Republic of Kazakhstan in 1992, according to ISCKON's website.

 

According to the US State Department's 2005 International Religious Freedom report, the Kazakhstan government maintained a list of 73 minority religious groups, which are protected under the constitution.

 

According to the same report, several of these groups, including ISKCON, reported being vilified as a threat to society and national security by media agencies including government-controlled agencies in Kazakhstan.

 

"Today the homes of innocent people of faith have been destroyed, and women and children put out into the snow, at the hands of a government that claims to value religious freedom," said Anuttama Dasa, spokesperson for ISKCON, North America.

 

"Such aggression against innocent people, coupled with blatant governmental hypocrisy, should not be tolerated by the international community," he added.

 

--By Prasun Sonwalkar

 

 

 

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