Thanks to campaigning - City of Hollywood dissociates from Sadhvi Ritambhara Event

IMC-USA commends the City of Hollywood, Florida for officially dissociating from Sadhvi Ritambhara Event


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 23, 2007

Indian Muslim Council-USA, an advocacy group working towards protecting and promoting the pluralist and tolerant values of the Indian society along with a broad-based alliance representing Hindu, Christian and Muslim communities as well as organizations of secular persuasion commend the City of Hollywood, Florida for distancing itself from an event honoring Sadhvi Ritambhara.

This announcement comes in the wake of a concerted campaign by Indian Americans of various background protesting the City of Hollywood's 'sponsorship' of the event on Saturday June 23rd.

Ms. Ritambhara is a leading member of Vishwa Hindu Parishad, a militant organization that has been implicated in promoting hatred and violence against Muslims, Christians and other cultural and religious minorities in India. Ms. Ritambhara is currently under-trial for her role in the Babri Mosque demolition case. On December 6, 1992, she incited an armed Hindu mob to tear down the 16th century Babri Mosque in Ayodhya, India, in violation of the order of the Indian Supreme Court. She further incited Hindu mobs to attack Muslims leading to over 3000 deaths in December 1992 and January 1993.

Shrikumar Poddar, the Hindu spiritual leader of Vaishnava Center for Enlightenment, Lansing, MI said, "Sadhvi Ritambhara is the anti-thesis of Hinduism, always speaking ill of other faiths, I wonder how the State Department issues visa to such promoters of hatred".

The officials at the City of Hollywood were educated by the callers about the deplorable record of Ms. Ritambhara and were surprised to learn that the organizers had quoted City of Hollywood, Florida as one of the sponsors of the event. The City immediately demanded and received a written apology from the organizers of the event.

Shekhar Reddy, writing on behalf of South Florida Hindu Association, apologized for the embarrassment caused to the City of Hollywood.

The organizations that participated in this campaign include:

Alliance for a Secular and Democratic South Asia
Association of Indian Muslims of America (AIM)
Dharma Megha
Federation of Indian American Christian Organizations of North America (FIACONA)
Friends of South Asia (FOSA)
Hindu Vaishnava Center for Enlightenment
Indian Muslim Council-USA (IMC-USA)
Indian Muslim Relief and Charities (IMRC)
India Foundation
Indian American Coalition for Pluralism (IACP)
Indian Christian Forum (ICF)
International Service Society
Muslim Youth Awareness Alliance (MYAA)
NRI Coalition for Social Justice
NRI's For Secular and Harmonious India (NRI-SAHI)
Seva International
Supporters of Human Rights in India (SHRI)
Vedanata Society of East Lansing
Washington Watch.

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Indian American Community Protests Hollywood Hatemonger
Demand City of Hollywood-Florida to dissociate from Sadhvi Ritambhara


Hon. Mara Giulianti ,

Mayor
City of Hollywood
2600 Hollywood Blvd
Hollywood , FL 33020


Dear Hon. Mara Giulianti,

We the undersigned organizations understand that several groups along with
the City of Hollywood have scheduled a Bhajan (Hindu devotional songs),
event at Hollywood Beach Culture & Community Center on Saturday June 23, 2007.
We appreciate the Bhajans, but we deem it improper to invite Sadhvi Ritambhara
to lead the ceremony as chief guest, given her highly deplorable
record of creating discord and violence in India.

Sadhvi Ritambhara is a leading member of Vishwa Hindu Parishad, the Hindu racist organization whose ideology is akin to Hitler’s Nazism and Mussolini's fascism. The US Department of State in its annual human rights reports has written extensively about the violent activities of Sadhvi Ritambhara and her violent organization Vishwa Hindu Parishad. Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have also written extensively about the militant organizations collectively known as “Sangh Parivar” and the role of its leaders in pogroms against Muslim, Christian and non-Hindu cultural and religious minorities.

Currently, the Government of India’s Central Bureau of Investigation, is prosecuting
Sadhvi Ritambhara in Babri Mosque demolition case, pertaining to her role in demolishing a Muslim place of worship in India. On December 6, 1992, Ritambhara
incited an armed Hindu mob to tear down the 16 th century Babri Mosque in Ayodhya,
India, in violation of the order of the Indian Supreme Court. She further incited Hindu mobs to attack Muslims leading to over 3000 deaths in December 1992 and January 1993.

Sadhvi Ritambhara’s last visit to USA in 2002 caused a protest outside the Hindu
Temple Society in New York.(See http://www.rediff.com/us/2002/jul/27us.htm). Please note that the then President of the Society, Ms. Uma Mysorekar later regretted having allowed her to speak at the temple.

Below is a dossier in support of our profile of Sadhvi Ritambhara.

Given her deplorable record, we request you to withdraw your sponsorship of
the event and completely disassociate City of Hollywood from this hate monger.
We will be glad to meet with you and your staff to brief them on this matter and
urge a course of action that is in the best interest of the citizens of City of Hollywood.
Please let us know as soon as possible, latest by the end of the week.


Yours Sincerely,

* Alliance for a Secular and Democratic South Asia
* Association of Indian Muslims of America (AIM)
* Dharma Megha
* Federation of Indian American
Christian Organizations of North America (FIACONA)
* Friends of South Asia (FOSA)
* Hindu Vaishnava Center for Enlightenment
* Indian Muslim Council-USA (IMC-USA)
* Indian Muslim Relief and Charities (IMRC)
* India Foundation
* Indian American Coalition for Pluralism (IACP)
* Indian Christian Forum (ICF)
* International Service Society
* Muslim Youth Awareness Alliance (MYAA)
* NRI Coalition for Social Justice
* NRI's For Secular and Harmonious India (NRI-SAHI)
* Seva International
* Vedanata Society of East Lansing
* Washington Watch
* Supporters of Human Rights in India (SHRI)

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Faxed Response from the City of Holywood