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IN DEPTH:
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TIMES NEWS NETWORK , Dec 31, 2005.
Gandhinagar: Volunteers of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) settled in
various countries have mixed experiences of carrying out their
activities abroad — ranging from bans in Gulf countries to the
friendly atmosphere in the UK, where even British MPs attend their
programmes.
Representatives from more than 32 countries, including the US, the UK,
Norway and Sri Lanka, attending the Vishva Sangh Shibir being held
here, told newsmen that the sangh has helped them maintain their Indian
identity.
“We are striving to preserve, protect and practise Hinduism. At
times, we have to face problems related to ethnic minorities
there,” they said.
Nilkesh Mehta, settled in UK, is happy that the sangh could hold its
shakhas and the local British people, at times, even love to
participate in cultural programmes. “We invite even British MPs
and government functionaries and they all praise our programmes,”
says Mehta.
Darshan Soni, an instrumentation engineer from the US who is here to
meet his counterparts from other branches of the RSS across the world,
said that “school textbooks in the US contained several errors
regarding facts on India and its religions, mainly Hinduism.”
“Through the Hindu Education Foundation run by the RSS in California, we have succeeded in correcting the misleading information in text books for primary and secondary classes,” said Soni.
An Indian settled in Durban, Parvesh Hardeen, said Hindus in South
Africa were free to carry out religious and spiritual activities as
there are no restrictions on Indians who are highly respected as both
India and South Africa had a long history of mutual business for
decades.
Bhavna Upadhyay, who has come from Norway to join the shibir, said
there are about 7,000 Indians there, a majority of them Hindus, many of
whom are educating the children about the rich cultural heritage of
India. Sri Lankan radio announcer V Kalyane was overjoyed to witness
the traditional garba raas and savour Gujarati food at the
shibir.
“I converted from Christianity as it did not give me satisfactory
replies to my questions on spirituality. I found the ancient Vedas full
of great preaching,” said Gefrey Armstrong, a Canadian, who is
attending the shibir along with his wife.
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