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UK
www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 7th March 2015
Changes to visa system
Hindu Manifesto for May
“Dekhaya te hotu nathi”
Sikh regiment in the Army
I am referring to the recent changes that have taken place for applying for visas, Oci and Indian passports at the Indian High Commission from 2nd March 2014. Now the Indian High Commissioner has outsourced all services to VFS and want us to apply in person for the above services with our children and families. High Commissioner do you have young children at school in the UK? The rules are that if we take them away from school we have to pay a fine. Would you pay the fines for our children so that they can attend the VFS centre for their visas? High Commissioner do you know or have you thought of how much revenue will be lost for tourism to India by making it difficult to get visas for India? People are already fed up of getting visas for India and you are making it tougher by making us visit your appointed VFs centres personally. We supported the new BJP government and were joyful that things would become simpler and easier now to visit India. Vinod Dattani Wellingborough
I fully support Kapilbhai’s 10 Points' Hindu Manifesto for the May General Election this year. I am proud and happy that people like him are raising the awareness of the feelings of Hindus and invaluable teaching and preaching of Hinduism! Like Birmingham Hindu Council and many other Hindu organisations will also join him in his undaunted spirit. Last July I was very encouraged to read Kapilbhai’s article on Swami's Galore apprising about the British Board of Hindu Scholars started under the auspices of the National Council of Hindu Temples UK and many Swamis, Gurus, Conservative MPs and other Celebrities joined hands to work for Hinduism and Sanatan Dharma.
Please allow me to submit a translation of Ilaben Trivedi’s letter in last week’s Gujarat Samachar. In modern times when newspapers are full of salacious, futile, traumatic sound and fury, this letter is a breath of fresh air. It boldly sublimates views about St. Valentine day celebrations. Here is a translation for Asian Voice’s readers: On St Valentine’s day, an aged couple in a temple, strolled down hand in hand towards icon of deity. The old lady was holding an object in her hands which amused youthful worshippers. The old lady was oblivious to this scoffing, offered the object to the priest with some instructions. The curtain closed and when it reopened, a teddy bear was revealed near the icon of Sri Krishna. This teddy bear was holding a heart inscribed with the words “I Love you”. Current views about lascivious, permissive, promiscuous love was given a body blow by frank minded old lady. The lady deserves fullest admiration and Ilaben deserves kudos for such remarkable observation, bringing it to notice of readers. But such maturity comes after good, bad and ugly experiences of life. It also stresses the fact that God becomes personalised irrespective of icon which may be displayed in a temple.
I am delighted with the announcement that the MOD is considering forming a Sikh Regiment in the British Army. It will draw upon their reputation of fearless military prowess in much the same way as it has done for the Ghurkhas. The Sikh Regiment was the most decorated in the British Empire. They were awarded more Victoria Crosses per head than any other community. Until today, it remains the most decorated regiment in the Indian Army and it is only right that we re-enact this regiment which has such a proud history and heritage. Sikhs are settled in Britain in considerable numbers and are now nearing 800,000 strong. As a result, it would not be difficult to recruit them locally. This will also help improve social cohesion in Britain where Sikhs live in significant numbers make a huge contribution in every field. Why not extend this to other faiths and cultures residing now in Britain. We already have separate regiments for the Scots, the Irish, Welsh and the Ghurkhas so we can extend this to other communities living in the UK.
New visa system not well thought out
I have read the recent announcements that a person applying for Indian Visas have to appear in person for finger prints and photos. This is completely unfair and the Indian High Commission are putting old peoples lives at risk. I have never seen this with other countries. You can apply online for an Australian, Turkish, USA and other countries online without any problem. Has the Prime Minister of India, Mr. Modi, given the High Commissioner permission to do this or was this idea the Minister’s who has no knowledge of how to treat Overseas Indians? Instead of making life easier for Indians and tourists, you are making their lives more difficult to obtain visas to India. On one hand Mr. Modi tries to liberalise the Indian visa system and on the other hand the High Commissioner’s office is trying to make life very difficult. Laxmichand Shah Edgware
IS vandalism
The recent destruction in Iraq by IS of historical artefacts, ancients statues and burning of thousands of manuscripts and books some of which might have been copies of the Holy Quran is not only most insensitive, but is nothing short of wanton vandalism. They represent Iraq’s history and heritage for many thousands of years. To destroy them is to deny the very existence of Iraq itself. This is not the only act of vandalism that Islamists have perpetrated in their history. They did the same thing to Bamyan Buddha statues in Afghanistan. In India Kutubuddin Ibak destroyed 27 Hindu temples to build the mosque Kutub Masjid adjacent to Kutub Minar near Delhi. From the year 997 to 1030
Upendra Kapadia By email
Almonds for Dementia?
The Prime Minister has allocated £300 million into research on dementia. He wants Britain to be the best place for researching, diagnosing, finding a cure for and treating dementia. The money is to be spent over the next five years on research, medical trials and training to tackle dementia. Dementia is a term used to describe progressive loss of cognitive function which include loss of memory, mood changes and problems with communication and reasoning. These symptoms occur when the brain is damaged by certain diseases, Alzheimer’s disease, and damage caused by a series of small strokes. There are over 830,000 people in the UK with dementia, and mainly affects people over the age of 60. Most form of dementia cannot be cured although resesarch is continuing into developing drugs, vaccines and other treatments. Our sages and our ancient methods of treatments like Ayurveda placed great importance on the consumption of almonds which they thought was brain food. If their claims can be authenticated, then we may consider adding almonds to our breakfast cereals or eat more “badampak”. Dinesh Sheth Newbury Park, Ilford Sultan Mahmud, king of what is now Afghanistan, invaded India 17 times killing thousands of Hindus and each time damaged, desecrated and looted the Somnath Temple in Gujarat. In Pakistan they have damaged and desecrated Hindu Temples, mosques of Sufi, Ismailia and Ahmedia Muslims and Sikh Gurduaras. In historical terms this is an endless story. Today the Islamists complain of destruction of the so-called Muslim lands by the West. The way forward is to study Islamic history impartially and objectively. If they abandon destructive and inhuman actions things will naturally settle down for the good of everyone in the world. Dr Jatindra Saha
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Ramesh Jhalla By email
University tuition fees
Ed Miliband vowed to reduce university tuition fees from £9,000 to £6,000 per year. There are more than 500,000 students studying in higher education institutions in this country. The reduction in tuition fees is going to cost £3 billion a year. The party intend to raise £2 billion a year by curtailing pension tax reliefs. The Labour party thinks raiding pension funds is a way to do it and this plan would target nurses, teachers and firefighters. SAGA said Labour was playing ‘Russian roulette’ with people’s future and robbing pensioners was the wrong decision. This policy will leave universities out of pocket in the long term. Labour created several new universities and several private colleges/universities. At least 25 percent of students studying in private/polytechnic universities are from overseas and European countries. In one private institution the number of students has gone up to 40,000. Most of them are from Europe since they need not pay tuition fees and are entailed to council grants and loans. Universities are starved of money for research in science and engineering subjects and there are too many colleges running business studies. It seems politicians have come to see the retirement savings as a convenient piggy bank which can be raided. The pensioners should oppose strongly on this proposal. Arun Vaidyanathan By email
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Racial prejudice
In his letter last week, Devang Bhatt blamed Sureshbhai Patel's son and daughter-in-law for not teaching him basic English skills which resulted in the brutal attack by Alabama police officers. I have to disagree with Mr Bhatt. Even those who are very fluent in English are most likely to be arrested and killed by American police officers. As per USA Today nearly twice a week in U.S a white police officers kills a black/coloured person. According to most recent accounts of justifiable homicide reports to the FBI during a 7 year period ending in 2012 18% of those killed were under 21. The attack on Sureshbhai Patel was a crystal clear case of racial and prejudice minded attitude of police officers who reacted upon a call from a man about a black person walking suspiciously. In spite of the massive training given to become police officers it is pity that police officers cannot differentiate between an ordinary simple man going for a morning walk and a person about to commit a crime. On all police cars in Toronto a nice slogan is written - To serve and protect and also on York Region (where I live) police cars - Deed speaks. May be all American police officers should learn from this and try to put in to practice leaving aside racial attitude. Suresh and Bhavna Patel Markham, Canada
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