Intellectuals Forum for Pro-Hindu Government in India

April 21, 2005

Intellectuals Forum for Pro-Hindu Government in India

Author: Narain Kataria
April 21, 2005

The Indian American Intellectual Forum, a New York based group, organized a seminar titled “India Under Siege” on March 5, 2005 in which more than 100 intellectuals from tri-state area participated and discussed various problems with which Indian society has been confronted.

Dr. Narinder Kukar, who has served Association of Indians in America as its National Chairman and the Chairman of the Board of Trustees, in a hard-hitting speech said that the educated intelligentsia and affluent Hindus have failed India. He suggested that theocratic countries should be debarred from the membership of United Nations because they freely, and sometime even openly, indulge in minority persecution.

Dr. Kukkar vehemently opposed the forced conversions of Hindus in India to other religions. He further recommended that Hindus should devise some ways and means to encourage “homecoming” of our brothers who, during the alien rule in India, were converted to the non-Indian religions.

Dr. Rajesh Shukla, a senior member of Overseas Friends of BJP, said that after the First World War Syria and Lebanon were carved out of the erstwhile Ottoman Empire. Lebanon was especially created by European powers to have a Christian-majority state in the Mid-East. At the time of its creation, Christians were 60% and Moslems were 40% of the total population of Lebanon. By 1970, however, Moslems became the majority due to their high population growth rate and infiltration from neighboring countries. If the Muslim population rise continues unabated in India too, in a very short period of only another twenty-five years from now, Lebanon-like situation could most likely erupt in our country also, unless some drastic preventive measures are taken right away, Shukla warned.

Mr. Niranjan Shah, a retired engineer, educationist, and a columnist for India Tribune said that in the olden days Veer Savarkar and Subhash Chandra Bose carried on freedom struggle from foreign countries. Now, it becomes the duty of 22 million non-resident Indians, who are resourceful and holding high positions in the countries of their residence, to come to the rescue of our Motherland and protect her from the onslaught of our enemies. In 1947, the British India was divided on the basis of two-nation theory. What is left of our country is already under siege because 85% of its Muslim population that voted for the creation of Pakistan, did not leave for Pakistan but stayed put in India. Had the ‘transfer of population’ suggestion between India and Pakistan, as advocated by the architect of our Constitution Dr. Ambedkar, been implemented Indian would have been in a better shape from the security point of view.

Dr. Babu Suseelan, a professor in Clinical Psychology and the Director of Addiction Research Institute, Pennsylvania, said that during the 800 years of foreign rule in India, Hindus were physically attacked, economically exploited, and psychologically deprived. This has inflicted great damage on our spiritual traditions, temples, social fabric, and Hindu psyche. Not only that. Even after 58 years of country’s independence, Hindus are still under siege in their own country. If Hindus want to live with dignity and peace, they need to establish a political power structure at district, state, regional and national level. In order to achieve that, it is absolutely essential that Hindus establish the ‘Hindu vote-bank’ in order to be able to influence the decision-making process of political parties.

India is being attacked from within and without. China’s stockpiling of nuclear arsenals in Tibet, Pakistan’s ambitious acquisition of nuclear weapons and missiles and support of Islamic terrorism in India, is a great threat to India’s integrity. Peoples’ War Group, including the violent Naxalite movement has endangered India’s security.

Earlier, welcoming the audience, Mr. Narain Kataria, Founder/Secretary of the Forum struck the keynote of the seminar when he observed that the Hindus had been pushed to the wall in India. It was a matter of great regret that Hindus were being persecuted even in India. “Minorities are taking undue advantage of the system.” “Time has come that we should devise strategy to capture political power in India,” Kataria urged.

Others who spoke on the occasion were: Dr. Uma Mysorekar, President of Hindu Society of North America, Anand Ahuja, Esq., Pabitra Chowdhury, Vice-President of the Forum, Prof. Indrajit Singh Saluja, Managing Editor of English Weekly South Asian Insider, Mr. A.V. Raghunath of Kanchi Kamkoti Peetham, Mr. Udayabhanu Panickar, Ashok Vyas, Director Hindi News, ITV, Dr. Sudhakar Reddy, Prof. M.G. Prasad and Ravi Karmarkar.

Mr. Venkat Sarma proposed a vote of thanks and Mr. Arish Sahani coordinated the proceedings.

Narain Kataria
Founder/Secretary
Indian American Intellectuals Forum