interfaith america

IINNTTEERRFFAAIITTHH8 �� November, 2010

Most worship places in USA specially has look beyond its boundaries and cater for cultural andsocial needs which includes wedding and other social events and also both indoor and out-door sports. Ruus Street Mandir – Hayward Hindu Temple incorporates sports and cultural pro-

grams. Check their website for more information.

Chief Priest at Shree Laximi Narayan Mandir, Elder Creek, Sacramento waiting to serve devotees.

American Islamic Academy and InterfaithAmerica to host Inter-religious ConferenceinHayward FREMONT –At its last month Board

Meeting, Interfaith America director took a final deci-sion to host its first Interreligious Conference at theEast Bay Cal State University campus. Speakers ofall faith have been invited to address the Conference“Spiritual Healing in Your faith” at which guest speak-ers will enlighten you on their experimental spiritualjourneys in life “healing with their faith power.”

Washington. The HinduAmerican Foundation (HAF)articulated the extensive oppres-sion of Hindu minorities inMuslim-majority nations at ThePlight of Minorities andExpatriates in Arab and MuslimCountries: What the U.S. ShouldDo, a conference sponsored bythe Center for Democracy andHuman Rights in Saudi Arabia(CDHR). Drawing upon exten-sive data in HAF’s 2009 humanrights report, Hindus in SouthAsia and the Diaspora: A Surveyof Human Rights, ProfessorRamesh Rao, HAF’s HumanRights Coordinator (picturedbelow), highlighted the discrimi-nation faced by minorities, partic-ularly Hindus, in Saudi Arabia,Pakistan, Bangladesh, Malaysiaand Afghanistan.

Other presentations focusedon the persecution of Copts inEgypt, plight of Christians in theMiddle East, repression of minori-ties in the Arab Middle East andIran, experience of Baha’i com-munities in the Middle East, sta-tus of Jews in Arab countries,women’s rights under Sharia law,compatibility of Sharia law withthe U.S. judicial system, andoppression of minorities in Iraq.

Labeling the muted com-plaints and silence of the media,governments and scholars inrecording this history of oppres-sion of minorities in Muslim-majority countries as “taboo his-

tory,” Prof. Carole Basri of theUniversity of Pennsylvania LawSchool urged speakers and par-ticipants to engage lawmakersmore vigorously by shedding lighton the plight of minorities in manyMuslim-majority nations. Dr. AliAlyami, Executive Director ofCDHR, said, in his introductoryremarks, that representatives ofthese persecuted minoritiesshould collaborate and speakwith one voice to give voice to theoppressed in Muslim-majoritynations. “It was heartening tomeet with representatives of theCopts, Ahmaddiyas, Baha’i,Christians, and Jews at this con-ference, and join them in voicingour distress at the fate of minori-ties, including Hindus, in Muslim-majority nations across theworld,” said Prof. Rao. “It isimportant we build on the synergycreated in this first meeting anddemand action from our lawmak-ers and administration officialswho have succumbed to the pres-sures of the 57 member-nationsof the Organization of IslamicConference (OIC) by disregard-ing these atrocities.”The Hindu American

Foundation is a 501(c)(3), non-profit, non-partisan organizationpromoting the Hindu andAmerican ideals of understand-ing, tolerance and pluralism.Contact HAF at 301.770.7835

or on the web atwww.HAFsite.org.

Hindu Temples more than house of worship HAF Highlights Persecution of

Hindus in Muslim-majority Nations

EEIIDDUULL AADDHHAA ON WEDNESDAY

NOVEMBER 17, 2010 11.00 AM

3401 Claus Rd, Modesto CA 95355,Phone: (209) 551-9820 E-Mail:modestotemple@aol.com SHREE RAM MANDIR

At Modesto Temple 2009, editor with Modesto Temple’smaster of ceremonies and radio host Piyara Singh Gill.