USA – Prominent Hindu organisations have exhorted the Indian government to prevent destruction of the Ram Setu, a bridge sacred to Hindus that is threatened by a proposed navigable waterway in the narrow sea between India and Sri Lanka.

They also called for the scrapping of the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowment Act, which empowers the government to take over Hindu temples.A resolution to the effect was passed over the weekend at the Hindu Unity Day organised at Hindu (Ganesh) Temple, Flushing, by the Hindu Temple Society of North America and Indian American Intellectuals Forum, and supported by over 40 other organisations of the Tri-State area, including the Vishwa Hindu Parishad of America.

The resolution was read out by Dr Subramanian Swamy, former union minister, who was the main speaker at the event attended by over 500 people.

Swamy said unity was necessary because ‘Hinduism was under siege’. ‘It is a target of terrorism, of conversions, attempts to vandalise temples and distortion of history,’ he said.

He also suggested that Sanskrit, not Hindi, to be made the link language of India as it connects Indians to their past.

Five people were honoured on the occasion of Hindu Sangathan Divas for their distinguished services to the religion. Among them was Rajan Zed of Reno, Nevada, who had offered Vedic prayers for the first time in the US Senate in Washington DC last month.