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(fwd) Students Protest Temple Closure
From: susarla@owlnet.rice.edu (Hari Krishna Susarla)
Subject: Students Protest Temple Closure
Date: Sat, 15 Apr 95 09:08:18 GMT
from _India Abroad_, April 14, 1995
LONDON - Hundreds of Hindu students marched through London yesterday to
protest the closure of the Hare Krishna temple in Watford, north of London.
The march, organized by the Pandava Sena and the National Hindu Students
Forum, was called also to protest criminal action initiated against the
temple by the Council in Hertsmere on the ground that too many devotees
turned up at the temple on the Janmastami day last year.
The march was led by three students dressed up as Krishna, Ram and
Hanuman. They were followed by a student wearing the mask of the Prime
Minister John Major with his hands around a cutout of iron doors to suggest
the closed doors of the temple. The "gates" were carried under an archway of
balloons.
The procession ended at Whitehall after a two hour march through the
city. They chanted "Hare Krishna" and other Hindu hymns. The students carried
placards with a range of slogans written on it. Some of these were:"British
Hindus feel raped","we are not the criminials, you are","British born British
rights","You'd better sort this out John" and "no temple no vote."
Traffic was held up at several places along the route of the march.
The procession drew weekend tourists away from the usual London attractions.
"This is the first time we've marched for our rights," Manoj Ladwa, chairman
of the NHSF, said after the march ended, adding that "we are proud of this."
He said "It's time Her Majesty's government comes to know that a
handful of councillors cannot bulldoze the sentiments of 1.2 million Hindus."
This, he said, "is the beginning of the Hindu march into the next millinium."
The temple, he said, is "not brick and mortar but a symbol of our identity as
British Hindus."
