RS members protest harassment of Kazakh Hindus

By Staff
|
Google Oneindia News

New Delhi, Dec 1: Members from various political parties today condemned the reported harassment of Kazakh Hindus, including demolition of their houses, and demanded that the overseas Indian Affairs Ministry approach the Kazakh authorities in this regard.

Raising the issue during zero hour in the Rajya Sabha, Congress leader Santosh Bagrodia said the homes of innocent people have been destroyed, leaving women and children homeless.

BJP member Sushma Swaraj and Samajwadi Party leader Virendra Bhatia associated with him on the issue.

According to Hindu groups based in Britain, 60 riot police and bulldozers assembled inside a Hindu temple in Kazakhstan and demolished five Hindu houses on Tuesday. The Kazakh government also allegedly bulldozed a Hindu temple on Wednesday in the Karasai district.

In London, British Prime Minister Tony Blair raised the subject with Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev during a recent meeting.

British parliamentarians, led by Mr Ashok Kumar, have launched a campaign to prevent attacks on Kazakh Hindus and tabled an early day motion in the House of Commons.

At least 11 houses, owned by members of ISCKON, a religious minority group in Kazakhstan, were demolished by the local police, leaving the families homeless in freezing temperatures and winter snow, the British MPs said. Reports said the bulldozing process began even while a state special commission -- appointed to investigate allegations of harassment against Hindus in Kazakhstan -- had promised that no government action would be taken until the commission made its findings public.

The dispute began a few months ago when ISCKON members started developing a cultural center on a piece of land owned by them on the outskirts of the capital Almaty. The governor of the region, however, wanted the court to evict the members from the site, according to reports appearing on the ISCKON website.

The demolition on Tuesday has been labelled as ''land grabbing by the local government'' by many human rights organisations. The incident has already evoked outrage from the Hindu community across the world, according to an ISCKON press release.

Kazakhstan, the largest republic in central Asia with a population of over 15 million, comprises over 130 ethnic groups who practice 40 religions. Ethnic Russians, who are traditionally members of the Russian Orthodox Church, constitute around a third of the population while ethnic Kazakhs, who are Sunni Muslims, make up half.

ISKCON became a legally registered organisation under the laws of the Republic of Kazakhstan in 1992.

UNI

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