Hindu Unity Day – A Report from Newyork

A sort of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj’s coronation was enacted in New York on August 8, 2010.  A six feet tall statute of Shivaji Maharaj was garlanded while Narain Kataria, President of Indian American Intellectuals Forum (IAIF) exhorted the audience in the jam-packed Hindu Temple Auditorium to repeat after him “Jai Bhavani,” “Jai Shivaji,” and “Jai Hindu Rashtra.”

The divine excitement among the all-Hindu crowd gave the unique yearly event a flavor of the re-enactment of original historic event of year 1674, when the Great Shivaji Maharaj proudly declared himself the Hindu King after defeating his Islamic rivals and took the coveted title of “Chhatrapati.” 

The scene was a part of the 16th Annual Hindu Sangathan Divas (Hindu Unity Day) which was organized on a grand scale by the Hindu Temple Society of North America and the Indian American Intellectuals Forum (IAIF), in cooperation with several other temple organizations in New York.

Hindus from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Nepal, Guyana, Trinidad, Surinam, Fiji, and many other countries, disregarding their caste, creed, color and region enthusiastically assembled in the grand auditorium to affirm their Hindu identity and celebrate their Hindu heritage.  The jubilation of the assembled audience was seen to be believed.

The overall purpose of the event was to instill a feeling of pride and brotherhood in all sections of Hindus… and to create confidence in them that they are second to none.  The other purpose was to commemorate the unforgettable coronation of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.

The turnout was beyond the expectations.  The enthusiasm, dedication and commitment of the audience for Hindutva was seen to be believed.  Many of the attendees traveled more than 100 miles to participate in the event emphasizing the pride in their Hindu identity.  More than 1000 plus attended the function.  The auditorium was full to the capacity and several people had to be disappointed for the lack of space.

The Chief Guest of the occasion was Dr. Subramanian Swamy, former Law Minister Government of India and the President of the Janata Party.  Two other speakers were Tapan Kumar Ghosh, the President of Hindu Samhati, from Kolkata, and Anand Shankar Pandya, an author of several books and a leader of Vishwa Hindu Parishad, both from India .

Padma Shri Dr. Sudhir Parikh, a Publisher and Philanthropist; George Subraj, a Caribbean Hindu leader; and Satya Dosapati, the President of the Hindu Human Rights were honored for their services to the Hindu causes.  Ramesh Gathoria, a Director of IAIF, spoke about his efforts with the India Government Agencies and the President of country to restore the historic national emblem “Satya Mev Jayate,” which has recently been surreptitiously removed from the government documents and country’s courts.

Dr. Subramanian Swamy delivered a powerful, memorable, and awe-inspiring speech which could only be described as “superb.”   During his inspiring speech, there was pin-drop silence as the audience was glued to their seats.  They were listening to him with rapt attention.  Dr. Swamy enthralled the audience and won their laurels.  He was applauded several times by the jubilant crowd.  The audience’s utmost dedication, loyalty and commitment to the Hindu cause were clearly evident all around.

Dr. Swamy emphasized that India, as a country, was the most qualified candidate to be considered a world power.  Quoting references, Dr. Swamy proclaimed that, just till about 500 years ago, India had all along been a world power economically, militarily and in all other dimensions of the human and intellectual endeavor.

Dr. Swamy clearly held the India ’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru as one person most responsible for the economic ruin of India from 1947 to 1977 by following the incorrigible Russian model of government.  India has the potential to be a world power again, but to realize that potential we need a completely new mindset of thinking in terms of Virat Hindustan.

“While USA, Japan and European countries are aging and declining, India’s average age happens to be only 29 years, and 75% of its people are below 35 years of age”, informed Dr. Swamy.

Hindus need to know their true history.  On the subject of Indian History, Dr. Swamy said that if the British had not come when we were tied in fighting against Islam, and had not stolen our rocketry weapons technology from our Coromandel coast wars and then replicated them, Marathas (Hindus) would have established a Hindu Rashtra in Hastinapur (the original name of Delhi).

He bluntly rejected the notion that Hindus are timid and weak-willed people.  Proving his point, Dr. Swamy said that when Islam emerged from Saudi Arabia , it captured and Islamized the Iran , Iraq and other adjoining countries in a matter of just 50 years.  But today, even after the 800 plus 200 years of foreign subjugation, the India is still overwhelmingly Hindu.  That’s the testimony to the fortitude, willpower, unshakeable determination, stubbornness, confidence and pride of Hindus.  We lost to the Muslims and the British because of our civilized behavior. We just could not stoop to the cunningness and treachery they utilized against us.

Referring to the rise of Taliban in our neighborhood, Dr. Swamy said that there is a possibility of attack on our country.  In the past, our soldiers won several battles on battlefield but our politicians lost them on negotiation table, all due to our inept political leadership.  In a couple of years, one opportunity will present itself; we should be ready to grab it.

Tapan Ghosh said that Hindu society needs the total Hindu solidarity and Kshatriya spirit. He said atrocities are being committed against the Hindus everywhere in India and in its neighborhood. Everywhere the Hindu’s hearth, home and honor is under assault. But be it Assam, West Bengal, Kashmir or Kerala, the Hindu is fighting alone. The plight of the Hindus in Kerala doesn’t seem to affect the Hindus in Assam . The distress of the Kashmiri Hindus doesn’t disturb the slumber of the Tamil Hindus.

On the other hand, even at the slightest provocation, the shrill, hue, and cry of the Ummah across the globe rents the sky. The government scurries for cover and the media literally froths at the mouth. The need of the hour is the total freedom – from servitude, suppression, subjugation, repression, restraint, and oppression imposed mercilessly and ruthlessly by anti-Hindu forces.

We Hindus have to understand that a society or a community that cannot defend itself against the aggression cannot survive for long. It is the law of nature.  Every community needs a sword-arm to protect itself against the aggression, overt or covert. This is what makes the role of a kshatriya or the warrior important in a community and in periods of turmoil and conflict, it is paramount. Hindu society is under attack from every direction and in every manner. The need of the hour is to re-ignite our kshatriya spirit. An eminent scholar Dr. David Frawley has said correctly that Hindu society needs intellectual kshatriyas to do battle with the nefarious and malignant assault of the communist dominated media and academia against the Hindu faith.

Tapan Ghosh deplored media-State nexus in India , whereby the mass media unquestioningly regurgitates the state’s perspective.  For the survival of Hindu society, it is essential that intellectual kshatriyas from urban areas and our economically backward Hindus from rural areas should join hands to work in unison to defeat the malicious designs of our enemies.

Anand Shankar Pandya said that the aim of the Hindu unity is world unity and world peace and prosperity.  Hindu Unity also aims at projecting Hindu Dharma which believes in the adage of “Sarve Bhavantu Sukhi Nah”, let everybody be happy.

Two minutes silence was observed in the memory of Dr. Divyendu Sinha who was murdered by a group of teenagers in New Jersey and Swamy Bua, an oldest living yoga master who took maha Samadhi at the age of 120 years.

The exciting event was emceed by Rene Lobo of ITV in cooperation with Indira Narasimharajan and Arish Sahani, and under an overall supervision of Dr. Uma Mysorekar, the President of the Hindu Temple Society of North America .

Responses