Hindu Press International

Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com

KATHMANDU, NEPAL, December 30, 2008: The government’s decision to sack South Indian priests from the Pashupatinath Temple in the capital has sparked a row in Nepal, with the main Opposition party accusing the Maoists of hurting “the religious sentiments” of the Hindus in the country.

The Nepali Congess, the second largest party in the country, has raised serious objections on the Maoist-led government’s move to remove South Indian Brahmins from capital’s famous Pashupatinath Temple, one of the eight holiest Hindu shrines, and appointing local priests in their place.

Nepali Congress (NC) alleged that it was done in a hurry without going through proper process and formalities.

“The way Maoist government replaced the priests serving at the Pashupatinath Temple without fulfilling any formality has hurt the religious sentiments of the Hindu people of Nepal,” said NC chief Laxman Ghimire in the Parliament yesterday.

[HPI note: These priests are Saiva Brahmins from Koteswaram in Kundapura Taluk, Karnataka’s western coast about 100 km from Mangalore.]

Source: blogs.reuters.com

(Reuters Editorial Blog) December 29, 2008: Political scientist Samuel Huntington, whose controversial book “The Clash of Civilizations” predicted conflict between the West and the Islamic world, has died at age 81, Harvard University said on Saturday.

In his 1996 “The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order,” which expanded on his 1993 article in Foreign Affairs magazine, Huntington divided the world into rival civilizations based mainly on religious traditions such as Christianity, Islam and Hinduism and said competition and conflict among them was inevitable. His thesis was one of the most influential, controversial and widely debated in foreign affairs circles in the past decade or so.

His focus on religion rather than ideology as a source of conflict in the post-Cold War world triggered broad debate about relations between the Western and Islamic worlds.

“In Eurasia the great historic fault lines between civilizations are once more aflame,” he wrote. This is particularly true along the boundaries of the crescent-shaped Islamic bloc of nations from the bulge of Africa to central Asia. Violence also affects Orthodox Serbs in the Balkans, Jews in Israel, Hindus in India, Buddhists in Burma and Catholics in the Philippines.

But next month America will swear in its first black president, a Christian whose Kenyan father had an Islamic background. And these last years saw unprecedented inter-faith dialogue and initiatives.

Source: www.hinduismtoday.com

O Lord of power, if I were the Lord of herds of cattle, then I would have given to those intelligent worshippers plenty, as much as I could.
   Rig Veda 8.14.2