New Delhi, India - Hindus in Europe are in search of a recognized social and political identity and soon they will come knocking at the door of the Indian government for diplomatic assistance as they look for official recognition from different European countries.
Earlier this year, Hindus across Europe banded together for the first time to oppose a German proposal to ban the use of the swastika, saying that though Hitler may have misused it, it has been a Hindu symbol for 5,000 years. For the first time, Hindu groups from Italy, Belgium and UK found a common cause.
They took this new-found concord forward in June, when different Hindu organizations from European countries set up a pan-European body at the European parliament in Brussels to become a first point of contact for EU institutions in enabling European Hindus to participate in public policy and EU legislation alike — to give them a political voice, so to say.
The next step, says Mahaprabhu Das, secretary-general of the Hindu Forum of Belgium, is to ask for recognition for Hinduism as a religion from different state governments.
Talking to TOI here, Das, who is here to canvas support for the movement from Indian political leaders as well as the government, said: "There are over 7,000 practising Hindus in Belgium, but we're not recognized as a religion. This means Hindu prisoners cannot get vegetarian meals in prison, no access to counselling and spiritual support, cannot use TV or radio to present their faith, religious views etc."
In Belgium, recognized religions get about 600 euros a year in salaries and housing for priests, religious buildings get maintenance grants and Scriptural teachers get salaries from the government. We are denied all of these, and this is really what we want," he said.
Buddhists, who have got some high-profile support from the Dalai Lama, have already started the process of getting recognition.
Das expects Indian political and religious leaders to give the Hindu movement similar support, leveraging India's growing ties with major European countries to help Hindus in Europe. "Support by India will be taken very seriously in Europe," he said.
Certainly, Hindus in Belgium are an economically important group, controlling the diamond markets in Antwerp. Das said the French part of Belgium was more tolerant of Buddhism, while the Flemish part gave Hinduism more space. In France, he said, Hindus have just built an enormous temple but French laws refuse to let them practise there.
The United Kingdom is probably the best in this respect, Das said. The Hindu Forum in Brussels was actually launched by British MEP Robert Evans and supported by the British home office minister of state for security, Tony McNulty, who has one of the largest Hindu population in his constituency in the UK.