Author: Ruth Gledhill, Religion
Correspondent
Publication: Time Online
Date: January 19, 2005
URL: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-1446311,00.html
Hindus in Britain have started a
campaign to "redeem" the swastika from its Nazi past and reclaim it as
the symbol of life and fortune it once was.
The swastika is a 5,000-year-old
symbol that has been used for centuries by Hindus, Buddhists and many other
traditions to denote good luck, but because of the Nazis it has come to
symbolise hate, anti-Semitism, violence, death and murder. The campaign,
announced today, comes after members of the European Parliament called
for a Europe-wide ban on the symbol after Prince Harry wore a swastika
armband to a fancy dress party.
Franco Frattini, the European Commissioner
for Justice, Freedom and Security, has said that he is willing to consider
the possibility of a ban. Nazi symbols including the swastika are banned
in Germany.
Hindus use the right-facing version
of the swastika, meaning "sun", as jewellery or on doorways and buildings
to bring good fortune. This was the version adopted by the Nazi Party in
1920 at Salzburg.
It is thought that Allied wartime
propaganda is responsible for the false belief that at Hitler's insistence
the swastika was later reversed to the left-facing version, meaning "death"
in Hindu mythology.
Ramesh Kallidai, of the Hindu Forum,
is planning pro-swastika awareness workshops for every region of Britain
with a large seminar in London. Every MP is to be lobbied by e-mail and
an information booklet will be distributed to faith communities and others.
Mr Kallidai said: "A symbol we have
used for more than 5,000 years is now on the verge of being banned because
of association with the Nazis over which we had no control.
"Hindus wish to continue to use
this symbol as part of their religion, but they risk being labelled a Nazi
or, in the case of a ban, risk breaking the law. We need to educate people
about the historical context of the symbol, its wrong use by the Nazis
and its importance to Hindus".
Hindus often have swastikas displayed
around their homes and business premises or in artwork. Mr Kallidai said
that it was ironic that a symbol depicting the wheel of life and good fortune
had become a symbol of racism, torture and war.
Nitin Mehtma, founder of Young Indian
Vegetarians, said: "Hindus were known as Aryans and the swastika was a
symbol which identified them as peace-loving, cultured, tolerant people.
It would be nice if this aspect of the swastika can be highlighted."
Ashok Chudasama, of the Blackburn
Hindu Centre, runs courses to explain the use of the sign by Hindus. He
said: "When people in the north raised concerns about us using the swastika,
we educated them and they have taken on board the true meaning."
Bhupendra Patel, a magistrate and
the secretary of the Shree Sattavis Gam Patidar Samaj, a Hindu organisation,
said: "Like many Christians wear crosses, many Hindus wear swastikas. Does
this mean they will be ostracised as Nazis?"
A spokesman for the Board of Deputies
of British Jews, which has a well-established dialogue in place with Britain's
Hindus, said: "We respect the Hindu Forum's desire to take back the swastika
but it should be remembered that neo-Nazis and racists when daubing the
swastika get it wrong more than they get it right. It is a sensitive issue
and would require further dialogue."
ANCIENT SIGN OF FORTUNE
* One of the oldest known swastikas
was painted on a paleolithic cave 10,000 years ago and swastikas have been
found on pottery and coins from ancient India, China and Greece
* Swastika is derived from the Sanskrit
word svastikah, "being fortunate". Swastika is made up of two Sanskrit
words, "su" meaning good and "asti" meaning to exist. The last part changes
the infinitive to the imperative so that the literal meaning of the term
swastika is "let good prevail"
* According to legend, the Buddha
left footprints in the shape of swastikas
* Native American blankets were
woven with swastikas until the 1930s, when they were abandoned because
of the symbol's use by the Nazis
* The symbol is formed from the
shape of a cross, with the arms bent to the right symbolising health and
life, or to the left, which came to symbolise ill fortune
* The original designer of the Nazi
emblem was Dr Freidrich Krohn, a dentist and a member of several German
nationalist groups
* The swastika was popularised in
Germany after the archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann found many objects
with swastikas on them when directing the excavation of Troy and Mycenae.
He linked the symbol to the Aryan people
