Major Meeting of Hindu Saints in Mumbai
BY: RAJIV MALIK, HINDU PRESS INT'L
Oct 23, MUMBAI, INDIA (HPI) — "Though Hindus are in a majority, they are being given a step-motherly treatment in India due to the politics of votebanks and minority appeasement being pursued by the politicians and the successive governments that have ruled the country since its independence. The situation is quite serious, as on the one hand, the government is trying to control Hindu temples and maths (monasteries0 and, on the other hand, a top Hindu saint like the Shankaracharya of Kanchi Mutt has been treated like an ordinary criminal, and treated as convicted even before he has been tried. It is high time that Hindus of all sampradayas set aside their petty differences and joined the Hindu Dharma Acharya Sabha, the apex body of Hindu Dharma, so that the Sabha could become a single voice that could claim to speak for the entire Hindu society and fight against the shabby and discriminatory treatment being meted out to Hindus and Hinduism in India."
This was the general consensus built up among the 74 top saints, many of them heads of various Hindu sampradayas. They included the representatives of all the four Hindu Shankaracharays. They had gathered in Mumbai to attend the second convention of Hindu Dharma Acharya Sabha which took place from October 16 to 18, 2005, at Sanyas Asharam, Vile Parle West at the initiative and under the convenership of Swami Dayananda Saraswati. He is a leading Hindu saint and head of Arsha Vidya Gurukulam which has its branches spread not only in India but in many parts of the world.
The total number of participants in the three-day event was around three hundred. Besides seventy-four acharyas of mathas (monasteries), mahamandaleshwars (heads) of several akharas (monastic orders) from different parts of the country representing seventeen sampradayas, over one hundred sadhus and sadhvis belonging to Arsha Vidya Gurukulam and around one hundred family people also participated in the conference.
The 74 main delegates represented the following sampradayas (teaching lineages) and heads of akharas: Shankara Sampradaya, Akhara-Mahamandaleshwars, Ramanuja Sampradaya, Madhava Sampradaya, Ramananda Charya, Sen Sampradaya, Kabir Sampradaya, Satradhikar of Assam [Narad Goadiyas], Saiva Sampradaya, Aadheenams of Tamil Nadu, Varkari Sampradaya and Swaminarayan Sampradaya.
In an exclusive interview granted to Hindu Press International [HPI] and Hinduism Today, Swami Dayananda Saraswati said, "The Acharya Sabha has a large membership comprising virtually all sampradayas. The Sabha is committed to speak for Hindu Dharma and represent the interests and views of the Hindu population of the country. For the same reason Acharya Sabha shall have the mandate to engage in discussion with anyone or any government or any other entity including those representing different religions, on matters of importance to Hindus."
Swami Dayananda Saraswati pointed out that the acharyas strongly condemned the taking over of Hindu temples and maths by the government, and then running them virtually as government departments. He said, "Temples and maths are created by the offerings of the devotees. Whenever there are complaints of misappropriation of funds or misuse of money, the government tries to take them over. It is like cutting the head of a person if there is a headache. We feel that it would be better if a judicial committee is formed to look into such cases and solve the problem. Moreover, the temple wealth and income should not be allowed to be treated as a source of patronage by political leaders and used for purposes other than the welfare of the temples and Hindu society to which the wealth rightfully belongs. The most unfortunate and discriminatory part of the whole situation is that under the present laws only the Hindu temples and maths can be taken over by the government, whereas no such takeover of the places of worship and institutions of other religions is possible."
Swami Ji said that the Acharya Sabha had resolved to undertake the requisite legal research by a competent and committed team to contest the constitutionality of the discrimination inherent in the control of only temples which are places of worship and cultural importance and value to the Hindus.
Dealing with the subject of conversion, Swami Ji said, "An alarming number of conversions are being carried out in the name of religious freedom. Now this argument of religious freedom is absurd, as in India no one is unsafe in pursuing his or her religious beliefs. Jews have openly declared that India is the only country in the world where they never faced any persecution."
He said that to tackle the problem of conversion, in the root of which were the financial incentives offered by those who convert, the Hindu acharyas will try to travel to distant villages and tribal communities where people need any kind of help. We will reassure the people that their indigenous religious faiths shall be preserved, and that their educational, health, economic and social needs will be attended to. Our mutts are already doing some kind of service wherever they are situated. We have even created All India Movement [AIM] for Seva, a public charitable trust which w ill serve the needy without bothering about their backgrounds in terms of their caste, creed and religion." In their kathas and pravachans (both forms of preaching) acharya members shall specifically discourage outdated discriminatory practices still prevalent in the Hindu society and strengthen the spirit of caring among their devotee population. For this purpose, Hindu Dharma Rakshana Samitis shall be set up at district and village levels."
According to Swami Ji the acharyas deliberated on the flawed interpretation of secularism in India. He said that all religions other than Hindus were political and served as vote banks for the different political parties. He said, "No secular country other than India pays money for pilgrims undertaking Haj pilgrimage to Mecca. Even Islamic countries do not give such incentives to their nationals. Why do they do it here? Why do not they do it for the Hindu pilgrims undertaking the Kailash Mansarover Yatra? Is it a sin to be a part of the majority community in this country?"
Finally, Swami Ji mentioned the approval of the Hindu Acharyas for establishment of a Hindu Centre Of Learning, considering the need for instilling Hindu cultural values in young students and for preparing them adequately to face the rapidly changing world, still retaining those values. Elaborating on this, Swami Ji, said in a lighter vein, "Our youth needs to know what is right and what is wrong. For instance the tradition of Dandiya (a traditional dance form) is religious but disco is not. And the unfortunate thing is that the youth today are mixing both Dandiya and disco."
The three-day event was held under tight security as besides Hindu Acharyas and saints, some of the well known leaders/representatives of Hindu organizations like RSS [Rashtriya Sevak Sangha] and VHP [Vishwa Hindu Parishad] also participated in the convention as special invitees. As representative of HPI and Hinduism Today, I was the sole media person who was accommodated as a special invitee in the event while other media persons were invited only to the press conference held after the event was over.
For the information of the readership, this mega Hindu event was held in a 80 feet X 58 feet air-conditioned auditorium especially set up at a cost of around US$23,000 to hold this convention. Many who were present named the event as a Mini Kumbha Mela due to the presence of so many high profile saints attending it. The place outside the auditorium was always overflowing with the devotees of the various saints attending the event. It was heart moving to see the devotees rushing to have the darshan and blessings of the saints moving in and out of the conference hall. Due to strict security arrangements and the limitation of space inside the auditorium, a large number of devotees were not allowed to enter the venue of the event. The air-conditioned hall was equipped with a high technology audio system. Not only could one clearly listen to what the saints were saying but there were big colored plasma screens on which you could see the larger than life sized, live photos of the saints addressing the convention.
