US Hindu group slams Chidambaram, Demands apology

USHA Demands Apology from India’s Home Minister P. Chidambaram for Linking Terrorism with Followers of Dharmic Traditions

August 28, 2010 – Atlanta:  “Terrorism does not have any color. It has only one color and it is black”. We fully concur with this statement made by Shri Janardhan Dwivedi, General Secretary and spokesperson for the Indian National Congress. However, we are shocked by the irresponsible statement made by the Home Minister of India, Shri Palaniappan Chidambaram, in reference to violent acts purportedly committed by certain Hindus in India.

The National Socialist Council of Nagaland, a Christian terror group operating out of Nagaland has its objective of creating a separate nation under the slogan “Nagaland for Christ”, as reported in the South Asia Terrorism Portal, one of the leading global think tanks with a focus on global security and peace and headed by K.P.S. Gill, India’s most well known counter terrorism expert. The terror group is responsible for the deaths of tens of thousands of people in the last six decades. Moreover, the National Liberation Front of Tripura, which is a banned terror group by the Government of India, states in its manifesto the desire to expand the Kingdom of God and Christ in Tripura. There is incontrovertible evidence to prove the close collaboration that this group has received from the Baptist Church of Tripura. The United Liberation Front of Assam, Assam’s biggest terror group, is known to receiving moral and material support from the Baptist Church as well.

The phrase Jihadi Terrorism is used widely, both by governments and non governmental institutions and organizations worldwide, and described as a form of terrorism inspired by the concept of Jihad as practiced in Islam. There is no need to count the number of Jihadi Terror Groups in India or elsewhere. Any Counter terrorism expert will confess that of all the terror groups in the world today, those professing violent Jihad are the deadliest and account for the vast majority of terror acts in the world.

On the contrary, the fact is that the Dharmic religions of the world, be it Hindu, Jain, Buddhist or Sikh, does not have a religious concept that promotes acts of terror. Even in war, adherents of Dharmic traditions are instructed to follow the millenniums old practice of not injuring or harming unarmed civilians, children, women and the elderly. There is no scriptural sanction or inspiration for acts of terror within any sacred book belonging to dharmic traditions. Terrorist groups, on the other hand, use violence to strike terror in the hearts and minds of the entire population with the intent of making a political statement.

There is not a single governement in the world, including India, that has used the words “Green Terrrorism” or “White Terrorism” to describe acts of terror carried out by members of the Islamic or Christian faiths respectively. We believe that is a wise and appropriate policy because assigning guilt to an entire faith is illogical. Hence, we are shocked and dismayed at the casual manner in which Mr. Chidambaram has used the phrase “Saffron Terrorism” in the context of alleged acts of violence by certain individual Hindus in India. This is an act that is tantamount to declaring the entire population of Hindus in the world as terrorists. The Saffron color is most widely associated with Dharmic Traditions (Hindu, Buddhist, Jain and Sikh). It is also a part of the Indian National Flag and we do not believe that neither the Indian Flag nor the Bhagwa Flag seen atop temples across the world are representations of terror. The saffron color represents renunciation of materialism and is a symbol of purity. By using the controversial phrase, Shri Chidambaram has insulted all Hindus, Buddhists, Jainsand Sikhs as well as the people of India. His words have the potency to tarnish the image of all Dharmic traditions.

It is indeed a shame that in a country with the largest number of Hindus in the world and a country that claims to be the birthplace of all the Dharmic Traditions of the world, an elected official of the government can dare to insult more than a billion people of the Dharmic Community worldwide with such impunity.

We urge the Home Minister to retract his statement, promise not to use this phrase in future, and tender an immediate and unconditional public apology to all Hindus, Buddhists, Jains and Sikhs.

Note:

The United States Hindu Alliance (USHA) is a national non-profit advocacy organization of Hindus to protect and promote the interests of Hindus worldwide. For more information, please visit www.ushaonline.org.

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