Washington: After a US state legislature sought to ban swastika as a symbol of hate, a prominent Hindu organisation has launched a campaign to educate Americans that swastika is an an auspicious sign of goodness. A move by the Maryland House of Delegates to pass House Bill irked the Hindu American Foundation (HAF), which argues that the poorly written bill could negatively affect Hindus, “or worse, our homes and religious sites could become targets.”
The group said the bill falsely defines the swastika as a symbol of hate and bans its display on school grounds, including on clothing, folders, and similar items, while cautioning that “our kids could be subjected to even more bullying in school”. Neo-Nazi groups and white supremacist extremists have been spotted sporting the swastika at gatherings.
Though the Nazi symbol was originally called the hakenkreuz (‘hooked cross)’, early translations of Adolf Hilter’s “Mein Kampf” into English substituted swastika for hakenkreuz, thereby popularising the notion of a “Nazi swastika,” HAF said. The organisation also revealed that Hindu leaders had discussed the issue with Jewish leaders at a 2008, Hindu-Jewish leadership summit in Jerusalem resulting in a declaration recognising the importance and positive intent of Hindus using the swastika. “Swastika is an ancient and greatly auspicious symbol of the Hindu tradition. It is inscribed on Hindu temples, ritual altars, entrances, and even account books. A distorted version of this sacred symbol was misappropriated by the Third Reich in Germany, and abused as an emblem under which heinous crimes were perpetrated against humanity, particularly against Jewish people. The participants recognise that this symbol is, and has been sacred to Hindus for millennia, long before its misappropriation,” HAF quoted the declaration as saying.
