Hindu students address debasing of Hindu Culture
21 November 2009

The National Hindu Students Forum (UK) held it's annual conference entitled ‘The Hindu Times: Be The News You Wish To See’ on Saturday 21st November at the City University, London. The conference tackled the misconceptions of the Hindu faith that are common in the wider world and addressed the debasing of Hindu Culture. The conference was split up into three sectors: Spirituality, the Hindu Community (samaj) and Politics. The workshops on spirituality were designed to educate students on whether or not the Ramayana and Mahabharata are still relevant or just myths based on fiction.

The Hindu community workshops explored caste discrimination, the inequality of men and women and whether or not the Hindu dharma is becoming too "bollywoodised". The political workshops addressed directly the most current political issues such as the underrepresentation of Hindus in British politics, the rise of the BNP and its affect on the Hindu Community and the human rights and civil rights that should be invested to Hindus around the world.

The conference was addressed by Baroness Verma, Virendra Sharma MP and Seema Malhotra (Former Chair of the Young Fabians) who took part in a Question Time panel. Keith Vaz MP, Barry Gardiner MP, Angela Watkinson MP and other senior politicians and figures are also attending on the day. Tony Blair, former Prime Minister, provided his views on the conference through a video link.

Some of the conclusions presented were:

• The relevance of deity worship is in its individuality and as a practical stepping stone to understanding the self through the spirit of God residing dynamically in the deity
• Bollywood is a form of entertainment and its concepts should not influence our daily lives; but it can be used to give a positive message of social reformation to the masses
• Hindu rituals must be always be questioned and their logical, scientific significance passed on to the next generation

Kajal Valani, president of NHSF, highlighted to the students in her concluding speech, ‘You are today, you are tomorrow and you are the future.’ The Hindu youth community were empowered to realise they CAN ‘be the news they wish to see in the world.’

Visit www.nhsf.org.uk for further information