nov 2nd
a diwali gift from the brits to hindus.
latest news: the royal mail has apologized but refused to withdraw the stamps.
you know, a couple of bombs in strategic places and a riot or two (like the mohammedans are doing in paris) would fix the brits' attitude towards hindus in a jiffy. hindus need to cultivate a few suicide bombers. that is the way to get respect, alas, these days; not tolerance and being civilized.
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Info@transputec.com < Info@transputec.com>
Date: Nov 2, 2005 3:17 AM
Subject: Please forward: URGENT HINDU PROTEST AGAINST ROYAL MAIL REFUSAL TO WITHDRAW INSENSITIVE STAMP
To: rajeev.srinivasan@gmail.com
Dear all
On behalf of national and regional Hindu organisations in the UK, we ask you to kindly protest to Royal Mail about their refusal to withdraw a stamp that is seen as insensitive and inappropriate to Hindu sentiments. The stamp shows two Hindus worshiping Baby Christ in a manner that many Hindus feel is inappropriate because of the issues surrounding conversions and evangelisation in India.
Royal Mail have categorically said they cannot withdraw it because they have already sent it to 17000 Post Offices. Royal Mail have IT software that can enable them to send a message to every clerk in every Post Office counter to ask them to stop selling the stamps, but yet they have chosen not to do so. Therefore we URGE YOU TO PASS THIS LETTER TO EVERYONE ON YOUR EMAIL LIST AND PROTEST IN THE FOLLOWING WAY:
1. Write a letter of protest and send it to Royal Mail Headquarters 148 Old Street LONDON EC1V 9HQ T without affixing a postage stamp. The Hindu Forum hopes that hundreds of letters will be sent in this way clogging the local post office where the letters will be accumulated for collection, thus causing a logistical nightmare worse than withdrawing the stamp.
2. Send a letter of protest by email to press.office@royalmail.com
3. Send a letter of protest by email to Barry Gardiner MP, Minister for Efficiency at the Department of Trade and Industry who is responsible for Royal Mail to gardinerb@parliament.uk Barry Gardiner is a good friend of the Hindu community and will certainly take note of Hindu sentiments!
3. Stop buying the offensive stamp when sold by a Post Office counter and insist on another stamp of similar denomination
4. Write to your local MP explaining why they should ask the Post Office to withdraw the stamp
5. Ask all your friends and relatives to send letters of protest without affixing postage stamps. Each individual can even send ten or more letters to increase the volume of mail reaching the post office without stamps.
6. Take part in the mass protest march that will be announced at a suitable time if Royal Mail continue their refusal to withdraw the stamp.
PLEASE FORWARD THIS LETTER TO AS MANY PEOPLE AS POSSIBLE AND TAKE PART IN THE PROTEST BY WRITING LETTERS WITHOUT STAMPS AND BY SENDING EMAILS.
REGARDS FROM THE TEAM AT
THE HINDU FORUM OF BRITAIN
___________________________________________________________________
Royal Mail refusal to withdraw stamp will lead to mass protests by British Hindus
2 November 2005 - Hindus in Britain are organising new ways of protesting after Royal Mail yesterday refused to consider a request by the Hindu Forum of Britain to withdraw a Christmas stamp featuring Hindus worshipping Jesus Christ. Hindu leaders from national and regional organisations across UK were quick to join the Hindu Forum of Britain in supporting its request for a withdrawal of the stamp.
The stamp features the picture of a man and a woman with Hindu markings worshipping baby Christ. The man has a 'tilak' marking on his forehead clearly identifying him as a Vaishnava Hindu and the woman has the traditional 'kumkum' mark on her forehead identifying her as a married Hindu lady.
"After Royal Mail refused to withdraw the stamp, Hindu leaders representing some of the largest organisations across UK have informed us that they will take this matter straight to the community to protest about it," explained Ramesh Kallidai, secretary general of the Hindu Forum of Britain. "It has now caused even greater resentment since Royal Mail had not even originally consulted us before the stamp was issued. We could easily have offered them advice on a suitable depiction of the Mother and Child image that would not have offended anybody."
The stamp is priced at 68 p, which is the amount of postage for letters to India. "They have shown utter disregard for the issue of evangelical conversions in India," explained Jo Thanki President of the Hindu Council of Birmingham. "Many newspapers in India have reported that evangelical churches linked to terrorist organisations in the North West region of India have intimidated tribals at gun points into conversion. It is therefore a deeper issue that Royal Mail seem to have not addressed."
"We strongly object to the stamp depicting a Hindu couple worshiping Baby Christ. We are followers of a culture which respects all religious and beliefs but this type of depiction is denigrating and undermines our religious sentiments," said Kishore Ruparelia, General Secretary of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad UK and Europe. "We strongly advise Royal Mail to withdraw this stamp otherwise we intend to bring out a mass demonstration to protest abbout it. This is a deliberate attempt to dilute the thinking of ordinary Hindus."
Hindu leaders now plan to start mass mailing of letters without stamps to the Royal Mail headquarters to clog the post office at Old Street, letters of protest by email to the Royal Mail and DTI and lobbying with friendly Parliamentarians. If Royal Mail continue their refusal to withdraw the stamp a mass protest outside their headquarters in London is also being planned.
"We cannot accept the Royal Mail argument that the stamps have been distributed and cannot be recalled," confirmed Ratilal Chohan, General Secretary of the Hindu Council of the North. "If they had been a food chain with a product containing cancer causing agents on the shelves of their outlets, would they not withdraw them?"
A Royal Mail spokesperson confirmed on BBC today that they had consulted the Museum in Mumbai where the painting hangs, but could have done more to consult Hindus widely.
Hindu leaders identified that Royal Mail had the necessary information technology and resources to withdraw the stamp but did not seem willing to use it.
"Royal Mail have appropriate distributed systems software to send a message to every Post Office counter asking them to stop sale of the stamp," explained Venilal Vaghela, Chair of the Hindu Council of Brent. "Yet they are showing unwillingness to withdraw it and this does not sound good enough."
"We are appalled and shocked that they chose to do this without consulting the community," commented Sheila Maharaja, spokesperson for the Hindu Human Rights group. "Now they are saying that they cannot even request Post Office counters to stop selling them by sending a simple message that will take them ten minutes to create. This is the height of irresponsible behaviour in public service."
"Royal Mail explained that it was a piece of art and could therefore not be offensive," said Raman Barber, President of the Sanatan Hindu Temple in Leicester. "But just because something is a piece of art does not mean it is appropriate to be put on public display in a way that offends people. I have seen portraits of Jesus Christ offering respects to Lord Krishna as His Supreme Father. While they are perfectly appropriate inside a Hindu temple, it would be unacceptable for it to be used as a stamp."
12 comments:
Sent email.
************
Dear Sir/Madam,
I appreciate the endeavor by Royal Mail to commemorate the Hindu
festival, Deepavali. However, in the present time and age, the nature
of the Art used on the stamp can cause a lot tensions and trouble. The
stamp reportedly shows a Hindu couple bowing to Lord Jesus. Hindus have
no problem bowing to Lord Jesus, but this stamp will become further
ammunition to the rampaging evangelists in India and other poor
countries in winning Rice converts.
I request you to withdraw this stamp and issue a clarification
Royal Mail page displaying Xmas 2005 stamps.
http://www.royalmail.com/portal/rm/content1?catId=6300001&mediaId=6300003
Dear Rajeev
To put the fear of God in you, please be aware:
1. Retaliation by force by Hindu Dharma has always been restricted to the battlefield, *NEVER* amongst innocents citizens. Aren't you denigrating the very Dharma you so claim to protect and propagate?
2. Be careful of instigating terror attacks on a public forum. While you might claim to be innocent of any such thing, that's precisely the style of the Mullahs of Jama Masjid. And in the US, it might be a dangerous thing to be.
That said, hmm, there seems to be very little difference between the Mullahs of the Taliban and you, save the technological sophistication.
"A Mughal painting from India, dating from around 1620-1630 AD, making it the oldest in this Christmas collection. Although the artist is unknown, this piece hangs in a collection at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya in Mumbai – formerly the Prince of Wales Museum."
Is there a campaign to get this removed from the museum too? :) And how is this different from the hue and cry raised over the destruction of the Bamiyan Buddhas? A Hindu protesting a Muslim style painting, the Dickens you say.
This is typical. No surprises here. Anglo-Saxons are THE smartest race around and they are the most united. That's why they have all the power.
Here are the facts:
The anglos have all to gain by going after Hindus. If they EVER denigrated Muslims, do you think they'd ever live securely again? If this stamp had shown a Muslim prophet praying to jesus, no englishman could ever take a train ever again, they would all be hunted down like animals by Muslim men. This makes me feel that Muslims maybe aren't too stupid!
By going after Hindus, the Anglo-Saxon can employ "divide and rule" - he can weaken and pit one group against another.
Here's how it works---by going after Hindus, the Anglo-Saxon weakens and denigrates a group of people who threaten his supremacy.
Sometimes they go after Muslims, sometimes Chinese when it suits them. Sometimes they balance the other two by going after Hindus. It's very elaborate, but effective.
Right now, the Anglo-Saxon is measuring our reaction. He wants to observe our weaknesses and see how things work. By not getting too excited we prevent him from seeing our cards. Anger will allow us to play right into his plan. The strategy that remains unseen is the best one--just like his strategy.
Facts about Anglo-Saxons:
1. The most united race in the world - If an Anglo's daughter is raped by another Anglo, he will always side with the rapist over an Indian surgeon who saved his daughter's life--any day. I've seen similar examples countless times.
Examples: Even though Al Gore lost to George Bush, Al Gore would still rather see George Bush as President than he would if a nigger, wetback, wog, or chink from his own party won. Why? Because they are the most united race in the world, and I congratulate them for it. This is why they rule the world.
Right now, they are monitoring all the traffic--internet, phone, fax, through their Echelon system to observe the weak points of Hindus.
They have wanted to destroy us for centuries. They will not rest until they do. This is a fact.
I really felt bad for english people after they got hit on 7/7. My heart really went out to them. After this absolute shocking insult to our faith, sadly, I don't feel the same sympathy for them.
I mean, we may all think muslims are violent and intolerant, but english people would NEVER denigrate Islam, because they know the consequences. Deep down, they are afraid of Muslim retaliation. If they did this to muslims, they'd never be able to live securely again.
I'm not saying that Muslims have it right, but at least they are respected. That's something to consider.
To the Christist who talked about Bamiyan: logical fallacy of poor analogy. This Royal Mail thing is nothing like Bamiyan. If Hindus were to blow up St. Paul's cathedral in London or St. Peter's in Rome, that would be similar to the Bamiyan atrocity. It won't be long before the Muslims blow up both these, given their constant riots and bombings in Europe, which as an inferior person you think is your Holy Land. Then you will be singing a different tune.
To give you an idea of how idiotic your analogy is, let me tell you that you are a genocidal, racist Nazi for making your comment.
To the anonymous who is giving advice about Hindu Dharma, you are obviously a wily Christist misrepresenting Hinduism. Hinduism is very clear that in the pursuit of Dharma, anything is acceptable. If the enemy is monstrous, then it is acceptable to use monstrous tactics, and in fact it is inevitable. This nonsense you are spouting is the Gandhi-Nehru idiocy about pacifism, which is a Christist-Marxist misinterpretation of Hinduism.
You Christists are fine ones to talk about Taliban and other fanatics. Who dropped the atomic bombs? Who created the Nazi gas chambers? Who invented apartheid? Smiling, smug Christists. What is the difference between Christists and the worst Islamists? Nothing.
Hilarious Darkstrom :)
Darkstorm, that was funny. :)) LMAO.. :)
Darkstorm,you are Sunshine!
To give you an idea of how idiotic your analogy is, let me tell you that you are a genocidal, racist Nazi for making your comment
Thank you for your compliment. The feeling is mutual. Read Rajeev's post - he did talk about Hindu suicide bombers and hence the analogy is apt.
What "controversy" ? The painting was done in 1620 and is an Indianized version of The Holy Family with St. Anne and the two angels. The Indian Man and Woman are supposed to be Joseph and Mary holding the baby Jesus. I would think that Indian Christians would be more upset considering that the depiction pictures Joseph and Mary as a Hindu couple.
May I suggest that the idiots and Rajeev who started the "controversy" take some art classes or perhaps "read". The Royal Mail should not have apologized.
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