At a meeting to discuss the Swaminarayan temple expansion planning commissioner raises issues that smack of stereotyping and racial abuse.
The Hindu community is the largest ethnic community in Detroit. The Swaminarayan temple in the suburb of Canton is run by the renowned BAPS group that operates temples all over the world. Their latest temple opened recently in Atlanta. The temple members were meeting with planning commissioner, Catherine Johnson, to discuss a $5 million expansion plan. It was during this meeting that Ms. Johnson asked whether Hindu women ritually urinate in public. She claimed that residents of the suburb had told her that many Hindu women had urinated in public during the groundbreaking ceremony of the temple in 2000. Mr. Shah representing the temple told the press that these remarks were offensive and false. Though Ms. Johnson was asked to resign she claims that her query was justified.
I cannot believe that a woman of seventy-one and one who is qualified enough to serve in the commissioner’s office should harbor such notions about a consecration ceremony. I do not know if Ms. Johnson believes in God and if so what religion she follows. I do not think, and I hope that I am correct, that any Hindu would ever believe that such rituals could be a part of any religion. Hinduism is an inclusive religion and we are brought up not only to respect other faiths but to believe in them. Despite differences we see no dichotomy. It is time for the leaders of other faiths to introduce inclusiveness in the faiths they preach.
The second issue is about stereotyping of minorities. No race, minority or majority, is a monolithic entity and stereotyping harms the heterogeneous societies that exist today. Educationists must ensure that from primary school levels stereotyping is avoided by removing it from school curricula wherever it exists.
