Stop the abuse against the Swastika and the distortion of the term Aryan

To Franco Frattini (European Commissioner for Justice, Freedom and Security), and European Parliament.

Hindu Human Rights is concerned about the recent media coverage surrounding the Swastika symbol. We support all worldwide Hindu efforts to reclaim this ancient and sacred symbol. However, we understand and respect the sentiment of the Jewish community for whom the swastika is associated with the worst crime in European history, namely the Holocaust. It should be remembered that it is also associated with the forgotten Nazi genocide of the Roma or Gypsies, a European people of Hindu descent. For this reason we do not reclaim the Nazi swastika and, if democratically elected governments wish to ban the grotesque parody of this our most Hindu symbol, whilst leaving the Hindu Swastika intact and available for public use by Hindus,we see no reason to oppose such a ban. However, if this course is followed, then it seems logical to us that the term Aryan as a racial connotation should also be universally disowned. It should be recognised that Hindus have always known Sanskrit Arya to mean a person of noble quality. The idea of an Aryan race, a European Imperialist invention, is yet another example of how racist and Nazi ideology has stolen symbolism and meaning from the most ancient surviving culture in the world, warped it, and manufactured it for nefarious purposes. More worrying, Neo-Nazis groups continue to use these ideas to this day and the academic community, media and politicians have universally failed to disown them and to re-educate the public about truth behind these symbols and theories. It is for these reasons that we are launching this petition to call for the rejection of the Nazi swastika and the rejection of the Aryan Race term. Also, we call on the European Parliament to fund the re-education of the public about the true Hindu meanings of the symbols along with the understanding of Hinduism as a whole. This will help in the battle to prevent future abuse and give the chance to redress historical wrongs against Hinduism and Hindus.

Hindu Human Rights
Serving Hindus Worldwide