Hindu Council UK objects to talk on "Hinduism: A Wretched, Immoral Compass"

The Society hosted a talk on the caste system on 3rd December 2023.

Before the talk on 19th November the Secretary of the Society received the following email -

We write to express our deep concern and offense regarding the title of an event scheduled to take place at your venue, titled "Hinduism: Wretched Immoral Compass." It has come to our attention that such a choice of words is not only derogatory but also appears to be anti-Hinduism.

 

Hinduism, a faith with a rich history spanning thousands of years and followed by over one billion people worldwide, deserves respect and understanding. Using such inflammatory language seems designed to appeal and incite hatred towards Hindus, who are one of the largest and most peaceful communities globally. As a secular society, we believe it is your responsibility to avoid language that may be offensive or disrespectful towards any faith.

 

We urge you to consider the implications of this event title and whether it aligns with the principles of secularism that your organization claims to uphold. In the spirit of fairness and equality, we propose that you conduct a series of lectures with similar titles across different faiths. If you find it inappropriate to use such language for any other faith, it raises serious questions about the motivation behind choosing such a title for the Hinduism-related event.

 

We intend to bring this matter to the attention of the local Hindu community and local authorities, including the police. The use of offensive language targeting a religious community can have significant repercussions, and we hope you take our concerns seriously.

 

Additionally, we encourage you to review your organization's statements on your website, particularly those made in response to the violence in your city last year. Do the lectures planned for this event align with the principles of unity, understanding, and tolerance that your organization claims to promote?

 

We believe in open dialogue and respectful exchange of ideas. We hope that you will address our concerns promptly and take appropriate action to rectify the situation. Failure to do so may lead to further escalation of this matter.

 

Thank you for your attention to this important issue.

 

with all good wishes,

Rajnish Kashyap

General Secretary/Director

Hindu Council UK (HCUK)

In response the Chair of Leicester Secular Society wrote - 

Rajnish Kashyap
General Secretary/Director
Hindu Council UK (HCUK)

20th November 2024

Dear Rajnish Kashyap

Thank you for your email sent to our company secretary Kate Housden and we note your concerns. The Leicester Secular Society, has since its inception in 1851, been committed to the free discussion of religion. This has frequently offended the sensibilities of those with religious beliefs. However Leicester Secular Society is deeply opposed to discrimination. It is for this reason we are keen to explore the relationship between religion and discrimination. This applies to where the Abrahamic religions have advocated discrimination against women and gays. In our coming lecture, it is our intention to explore the relationship between Hinduism and the discrimination inherent in the caste system.

The Leicester Secular Society believes in reasoned argument based on a study of the available evidence. Whilst I have not seen the text of the talk, knowing the lecturer, I have every reason to believe that his contribution will be well researched and will stand up to scrutiny.

We believe that a secular democracy should be underpinned by the right to free speech. Without this, democracy cannot exist. Therefore, religion must not be returned to a place of special protection, where it cannot be satirised, ridiculed or criticised. This would amount to a return of blasphemy laws.

We do not accept that free expression should be curtailed to protect 'community cohesion.' Free expression is a fundamental principle of a free, democratic, secular society, and we must not go back, through the backdoor, to the type of society where religion is exempt from criticism, ridicule and satire.

I think your letter confuses respect for individuals and respect for beliefs. While respect for the rights of the individual is enshrined in law, beliefs and organisations do not and should not automatically command respect in a democracy.

We do not think that “taking offence,” which is a subjective response, can be used to justify curtailing freedom of expression. This is because it is hard to challenge such a subjective response. People or groups who claim the right not to be offended often demand the right to offend others in the expression of their beliefs, moral values and so on.

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe points out: "What is likely to cause substantial offence to persons of a particular religious persuasion will vary significantly from time to time and from place to place".

It also states that: "The Assembly is of the opinion that freedom of expression ... should not be further restricted to meet increasing sensitivities of certain religious groups". Importantly, claiming offence and demanding respect cannot be acceptable when claims are made by cultures that violate basic human rights.

The European Court of Human Rights' guide to the implementation of Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights states: "Those who choose to exercise the freedom to manifest their religion, irrespective of whether they do so as members of a religious majority or a minority, cannot reasonably expect to be exempt from all criticism. They must tolerate and accept the denial by others of their religious beliefs and even the propagation by others of doctrines hostile to their faith."

Ned Newitt - Chair of Leicester Secular Society

In introducing the talk on 3rd December 2023 Ned Newitt stated -

The title of tonight’s talk has caused a little bit of controversy. After a week or so our advert for this meeting disappeared from the Visit Leicester website and we received a letter from the Hindu Council of the UK. You can find the text of that email and my reply on your chairs.

Let me say that the LSS does not set out to offend anyone and am sorry that the title of tonight’s lecture has caused some offense. However offense is a subjective thing – some people get offended by the misuse of apostrophes, many Christians are offended by the idea Gay marriage and some Muslims find music offensive. It has always been the case that speaking out against discrimination will always be offend some people – just think of the people that Charles Bradlaugh, Martin Luther King and Nelson Mandela offended many people in their day. So I do not and think we should not apologise for opposing discrimination.

Free expression is a fundamental principle of a free, democratic, secular society, and I do not think we should go back, through the backdoor, to the type of society where religion is exempt from criticism and satire.

I do not know the detail of what our speaker is going to say tonight, knowing him, I have every reason to believe that his contribution will be well researched and will stand up to scrutiny.

The matter has been publicised by the National Secular Society and resulted in Jesus and Mo cartoons.

 

1. Jesus & Mo cartoon.
2. Jesus & Mo cartoon2.