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Ashwin Krushna Ashtami, Kaliyug Varsha 5111

By our correspondent

Pro-Hindu(?) writer Sheena Patel slanders Hindus who protest in a lawful manner against the harm being wrought on Dharma. She has the support of a publication that paradoxically calls itself ‘Hindu Voice (U.K.)’ but publishes articles that are counterproductive to the mission of awakening Hindus and protecting Hinduism !

In its issue dated 29th August 2009, ‘Hindu Voice (U.K.)’ has published an article by Sheena Patel titled ‘Hindus who complain a bit too much’. This article can be found at http://www.hinduvoice.co.uk/Issues/30/rant.htm on their website.

Sheena Patel claims to be pro-Hindu. However, due to a misdirected thought process coupled with a lack of study of Hinduism, she has made put forth baseless criticism of Hindu organisations and individuals devoted to preserving Hindu Dharma in the world today.

Ms. Patel is backed by a publication that also claims to be pro-Hindu. This brings to light what we have time and again encountered when trying to awaken Hindus, that, ‘Hindus themselves are the biggest enemies of Hindus’ ! Considering the gravity of the attacks against Hinduism and Hindus worldwide, one would imagine that every Hindu would intuitively gravitate towards helping fellow Hindus who are actively involved in protecting Dharma. A united front against every assault unleashed on Hindu Dharma would weaken the very resolve of the opponent.

Clearly there is a need for minds to meet before we can actively join forces with well meaning Hindus across continents.

We hereby respond to the irresponsible remarks made by Sheena Patel against
1. Hindu Janajagruti Samiti (HJS) 
2. Spiritual Science Research Foundation (SSRF) and
3. Mr. Rajan Zed

1. The outburst of protests by Hindus who have genuinely felt the pain of the attacks on Hinduism through various media have been rubbished by Sheena Patel who has belittled their heartfelt outrage and labelled it as mere ‘whining’ !

Sheena Patel: Something I’ve noticed is how easy it is to get caught up in all the negativity. However this is a serious problem after searching through and reading quite a few blogs and their comment sections, how the posts with a Hindu tinge were, for lack of better word, whiney. Is that the best reaction to anything Hindu related we can come up with, is just to complain about it ?

Answer: Hindus worldwide are in a state of slumber when it comes to defending their Dharma. That some of them care enough to take the time to voice a protest is commendable. What begins with a trickle soon grows to be a flood. This is because a protest that supports Righteousness is ultimately supported by Divine power. The Bhagwat Geeta (Holy Text of Hindus, told by Lord Krushna to Arjun) gives one the assurance that ‘Dharma protects those who protect Dharma’.

It is universally accepted that religious sentiments should be respected. Should anyone offend religious sentiments knowingly or unknowingly, it becomes each person’s Righteous duty to proactively oppose such denigration.

The fact that the likes of Sheena Patel cannot see the need for protesting even denigration; itself underlines the dire need for educating Hindus in their Dharma and Dharmik (Religious) duty.

2. Sheena Patel clearly lacks expansive vision in her scornful attack against Mr. Zed who is active in stopping the assaults on Hindu Dharma through various media in Western Countries !

Sheena Patel : Every other day you can expect a press release from Rajan Zed complaining/criticising/urging something whether it be telling celebrities to check their Sanskrit tattoos are accurate, about some below par film, some crappy video game containing denigration of Hindu Deity, Somebody going to a Halloween party as Kali-Ma and just about anything and everything else.

Answer: Hindu Dharma is being attacked at every level and the approach is many pronged. Does Sheena Patel have a whisper of understanding as to how damaging this insidious form of attack is, wherein the collective consciousness of Hindus and people worldwide is being dulled into acceptance of any sort of treatment meted out to Deities ?

Bit by bit, all over the world, it is becoming the norm to commercialise Hindu Deities to the point that there is no difference between a salesperson peddling goods and Deities who have been put to work in some advertisements. People are commonly using Deities in various forms of entertainment, as these Divine forms are being treated as figments of one’s imagination. With this level of denigration becoming popular, why would a younger generation Hindu choose to worship a Deity ?

It is commendable that Mr. Rajan Zed is alert about the various attacks on Hindu Dharma and as part of his Dharmik duty brings it to the notice of readers and further protests about it. In fact Hindus who lack this level of astuteness would do better if they assisted him instead of opposing him. We request Sheena Patel to seriously study all the topics / incidents wherein Mr. Zed has taken cognisance of the harm done to Dharma through various media and has either lodged a protest or given suggestions for change.  Note that the likes of Sheena Patel reserve their advice for the tolerant and disunited Hindu community, knowing full well what would have happened had such denigration taken place in the case of the Muslims.

3. Sheena Patel exhibits her myopic vision in her criticism of SSRF which has a store house of unique knowledge to inspire and guide the spiritually curious the world over and so too of HJS which acts as a light-house for Hindus !

Sheena Patel: One group is Hindu Jangruti Samiti who takes complaining to a whole new level. There isn’t really much else to say about this website.

Answer: In fact Hindu Janajagruti Samiti (HJS) will also not say much about their website, as the figures speak for themselves! Over a short period of 3 years, since its inception, the Hindu Janajagruti Samiti website has earned an ‘Alexa ranking’ of 74,676, a Google page rank of 4 and over 100,000 visitors a month, feats that most Hindu websites can only dream of!

The fact that the writer did not even spell the name of HJS correctly only shows her superficial approach, devoid of any depth of study. If Sheena Patel had only taken the trouble of doing basic research before writing, such as just searching for the word ‘Hindu’ or topics related to Hindu Dharma on Google, she would see  where the HJS website features ! In fact it is HJS that is setting the example for Hindus worldwide to fight in a legal, peaceful manner for the protection of Dharma. It is for this reason that millions of Hindus the world over consider the HJS website as their main pillar of support in such matters.

Sheena Patel calls for action as opposed to just complaining. If she were to only practice what she preaches, she would have found within a few moments on the HJS website the sheer extent of proactive, successful action that HJS has taken to preserve Hinduism in the face of assaults and denigration !

Sheena Patel: When the Love Guru came out they decided to protest against the movie. A table was published on the website of an organisation ‘Spiritual Science Research Foundation (SSRF)’ in connection with the movie. Instead of taking the film to task on its actual content the SSRF decided to make a table explaining which hell exactly the film makers will be going to and the same table was published by HJS on their site.

Answer : It is an assumption on the part of Sheena Patel that SSRF published its spiritual research findings on the denigration done by the movie and did nothing more. In reality, a protest letter was written to the producers by the Editor of SSRF, Radio show interviews were given and awareness drives were launched at various centres of SSRF all over the word and the protests published in the SSRF newsletter. 

In the movie ‘The Love Guru’ there is denigration of the Guru-Disciple tradition so sacred to Hindus. As per Hindu Dharma, criticizing the Guru or Saints (Sadhu ninda) is one of the ten sins (Dashaaparadh) which one should refrain from. The fact that this film has yet to be released in India is testimony to the protests of Hindus worldwide.  The Love Guru’s ill achievement is aptly summarized by Razzie awards founder John Wilson: "It was one of the big disasters of the year. He (‘The Love Guru’s producer) managed to offend the entire Indian population and his investors." 

Since people today are used to the Hindu Dharma being mocked at, their sense of what is Righteous as opposed to unrighteous has been diminished. Hence, people are not outraged to see the most revered manifestation of God, namely the Guru - who guides people to be liberated from the cycle of birth and death - being trivialized.

Spelling out the gravity of the sin of denigration, as done by SSRF’s research findings, will help people realise that instead of partaking in the sin by being silent spectators of the film, they need to actively oppose it.

By ridiculing SSRF‘s endeavour to educate people on Righteousness, Sheena Patel has performed an anti-Righteous act. This reflects her limited understanding of Hindu Dharma, which has no precedent of any sort of mockery of divine symbols or concepts in its entire history. If such a person is one of the most esteemed writers on the panel of the ‘Hindu Voice of Britain’, then one can imagine in what direction they are taking British Hindus !

4. Sheena Patel piggybacks on some other writer’s words and insults all Hindus who take enough pride in their Dharma to voice their opinion !

Sheena Patel (through  Koenraad Elst’s  words) : What does bother me, though, is the style, which is calculated to confirm lazy-minded Hindu readers in the sterile attitude of wailing, and to confirm outsiders in their impression that Hindu grievances are but a mental condition of paranoia and self-centeredness.

Answer: The protests by Hindus have always been peaceful and within the framework of law. If this is perceived as whining by Sheena Patel then we wonder what would the violent protests by the Muslims during Prophet’s cartoons and Christians against the movie ‘The Da Vinci Code ‘ be called? Christians and Muslims are always vigilant towards their religious feelings and that is the reason why they immediately react when their religious sentiments are hurt. It is a sin to harm the Dharma while it is even a greater sin if one does nothing despite being aware of the harm being done to Dharma.  Hence by calling the process of complaining or protesting against the hurting of religious sentiments as ‘whining’ and ‘wailing’, Sheena Patel has insulted every Hindu Dharmabhimani !

5. Anglicised Sheena Patel evaluates Hindus through a Western perspective !

Sheena Patel: Moreover the poor language confirms them in the impression that [Religious and practicing] Hindus are non-intelligent Hindus, unwilling or unable to learn proper English.

Answer: Sheena Patel has fallen prey to the common fallacy that equates good English skills with intelligence. The English language is fraught with ‘exceptions to the rule’ and nuances that defy all reasoning !

Proponents of English like Sheena Patel, instead of appreciating the effort of the non-native English speaking Hindu volunteers who have put up articles in English on the Hindu Janajagruti Samiti site, rebuke the Hindu volunteers’ intelligence ! Thankfully, the general public worldwide has more discretion than the likes of Sheena Patel , as can be seen from the tremendous popularity of the Hindu Janajagruti Samiti website ! Anyways, how many native English speakers are willing or able to argue their point expertly in a foreign language ? !

Has Sheena Patel ever stopped to wonder about the wealth of divine values like humility, tolerance, patience, resilience and atmashakti (Power of Soul) found in abundance in the likes of the Hindu Janajagruti Samiti website writers (Dharmik/practicing) Hindus? These qualities in Dharmik Hindus are testimony to the enormous spiritual strength that lies within the Righteous individuals, who undertake the mission of spreading Dharma and protecting Righteousness.

(Saints and spiritual researchers who have studied English from a spiritual perspective have found that the very vibrations generated by the English language are harmful (taamasik). In contrast, spiritual healing along with purification of one’s entire being occurs with speaking Sanskrut. )

6. Sheena Patel is ignorant of the fact that those who do harm to Dharma beginning with minor attacks, if left unchecked, go on to instigate major attacks in the future !

Sheena Patel: However beyond these points, the main and single biggest problem I see with complaining and getting worked up over minor issues is that it devalues any serious attempts by Hindus to get recognition of serious human rights abuses. It seems a gross injustice to equate an obscure model dressing as Kali as a Halloween costume with serious human rights violations that Hindus have to go through in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

Answer:

1. Some of the root causes of the human rights violations that Hindus are facing the world over are that Hindus have neglected minor issues and that they are not united. The saying ‘A stitch in time saves nine’ very well holds true for Hindus. If Hindus had not neglected these minor issues then the major issues like human rights violations would not have arisen and gone to this level.  

2. While we support the efforts made towards Hindus’ human rights violations, the attacks on Hindu Dharma through various media are an equally serious problem. Through the denigration of Hindu Deities the seats of faith in peoples’ mind are destroyed. When Dharma is under assault, the human spirit is under assault. Thus, attacking the principle is very harmful – as everything flows from there.

Denigration is yet another step in distancing Hindus from their Dharma. Anti-Hindu forces know that once Hindus lose pride in their seats of faith, it will become easier to turn them towards other religions. Therefore, Sheena Patel would serve Hinduism well if she were to only try to understand the importance of fighting denigration.

3. Through such actions as complaints and protests, the radiance of Dharma will be awakened in Hindus which will in turn deter anti-Hindu forces! Therefore Sheena Patel should understand that this action by proactive Hindus to prevent harm to Dharma is not ill-conceived or ‘without direction’ !

7. The title ‘Hindus who complain a bit too much’ in reality is a misnomer !

Sheena Patel : In my opinion it’s not so much the complaints but when we don’t do anything meaningful to fix what’s causing our grievances in the first place, beyond merely complaining some more.

Answer: Protesting or lodging complaints for preventing harm to Dharma is but the first step towards educating / creating awareness in the Hindus. The second step is to protest unitedly. Even then if the anti-Hindus do not back down, then to pressurise them so as to prevent the harm to Dharma is the last resort. As the Hindus become progressively united, the power of Hindus will go on increasing which will keep a check on anti-Hindus. All the problems faced by the Hindus will be solved in the same way. If Sheena Patel does not agree with Hindus complaining or protesting so as to prevent harm to Dharma then instead of criticising them she should suggest what remedial action should be adopted in this regard.

The title ‘Hindus who complain a bit too much’ in reality is a misnomer and in reality it should have been ‘Hindus who complain very little’ as it because of this attitude of Hindus that the present condition of Hindus has arisen. Hindus, who over a period of time have not opposed the various types of assaults on their Dharma find themselves in a situation wherein they are surrounded from all directions and face a life and death situation. In such a situation how can efforts be called complaining a bit too much? It is now or never - a do or die situation.

‘Hindu Voice(U.K.)’ should check its Hindutva  for publishing an article insulting to Dhamabhimani Hindus and which is detrimental to Hindu Unity !

The article written by Sheena Patel has been published on the website of ‘Hindu Voice (Britain)’. The editor of the website has supported her views. He says-

Editor of Hindu Voice (U.K.): ‘It wasn't without some hesitation that we published this article by one of our most esteemed writers. We do not wish to discourage or hurt to the individuals and organisations mentioned in this article, who after all are at least trying to serve their society or religion in the way they best understand. However, ultimately Hindu Voice UK wishes to promote introspection and debate, and an open presentation of people's views. For these reasons we felt it to be appropriate to publish this piece. It is hoped that the points raised here serve to stimulate discussion and reflection rather than arguments and condemnation.’

Answer:

1. As you say ‘Hindu Voice UK wishes to promote introspection and debate and an open presentation of people's views.’ We request that in all fairness you publish our response to your article so that people are allowed to choose which side of the story makes most sense to them. 

2. We request that you try to first understand in depth what Hindus and Hindu organisations are proactively doing in India and other countries of the world to protect Hindu Dharma from being wiped out.

Hinduism is up against something far bigger than we can begin to imagine. Our survival, both of Dharma and our lives, lies in our unity.  We wholeheartedly pray that strong bonds are forged between Hindu organisations worldwide.

Dharmabhimani Hindus are protesting on following address: Mr. Rajesh Patel, Editor, Hindu Voice (Britain) E-mail : editor@hinduvoice.co.uk

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