Many Indians build bridges, selflessly
THE UNFORTUNATE (yet possibly predictable) racist attacks against South African Indians in the post-apartheid era, and the now all too familiar chants of “Hamba khaya! Hamba uye eBombay” (Go home! Go home to Mumbai!), are unacceptable in a constitutional democracy in which the rights of all citizens are entrenched.
As the ruling party tears itself apart and fails to deliver, the search for scapegoats will begin, and minorities may well be expendable.
However, the SA Indian community is resilient, participated actively in the freedom struggle, and survived the colonial and apartheid atrocities because of community survival strategies, and their rich cultural and religious heritage, which contributes to the multicultural diversity of the rainbow nation.
This was acknowledged by Nelson Mandela: “Our lands are graced by temples, altars and shrines built by the indentured labourers who first brought Hinduism to these shores and those who followed them. They testify to the indomitable spirit with which they sustained community and religion under adverse circumstances”.
Philanthropy, welfare, charity and voluntarism are important facets of the heritage of South African Indians of all faiths. All religions promote morality, fairness, equality and justice, and liberation from poverty, inequality, vulnerability and deprivation, but the focus here will be on the SA Hindu community because of this columnist’s insight.
Speaking at the first postapartheid national convention on Hindu unity convened by the SA Hindu Maha Sabha on September 6, 2003, President Thabo Mbeki said: “One of the most important lessons of the Hindu religion is the principle of hospitality and charity…
“Through our actions together, all the people of South Africa will be able to live up to the wise words from the Rig Veda (10:191:2): Come together, talk together, let our minds be in harmony, common be our prayer, common be our end, common be our purpose, common be our deliberations, common be our desires, united be our hearts, united be our intentions, perfect be the union among us.”
Many Hindu organisations have moved from focusing exclusively on spiritual missions to being driven by social concern, welfare intervention and poverty alleviation and empowerment.
Examples include the work of the Divine Life Society, Food for Life, the Ramakrishna Centre, Sarva Dharma Ashram, ABH and the Maha Sabha.
When she was MEC of Education in KwaZulu-Natal, Ina Cronje paid tribute to the sterling work of the Divine Life Society of SA which “since January 2004… completed over 50 schools, with 300 classrooms in total. The Society is also engaged in sanitation projects in schools around the province.”
Schools
“Currently, the Divine Life Society of South Africa is building schools in the Okahlamba, eThekwini, Zululand and South Coast regions. We commend the society for its support in trying to relieve the backlog of classrooms in rural areas.
“Many of these projects were initiated in the 1980s, when “Swami Sahajananda took the courageous step of crossing the colour line at a time when inter-race collaborations were frowned upon by the government of the day”.
According to Nelson Mandela: “There are institutions like the Divine Life Society, which has established education and health projects for Africans. If people will complain less and decide to act in order to help resolve the problem, we would be very far off now”.
Food for Life SA, which is associated with ISKON, currently distributes approximately 10 000 free plates of food a day to the poverty stricken people of South Africa through its 28 nationwide branches.
It has developed cordial relationships with the eThekwini municipality and works collaboratively to reduce hunger in the region. Food for Life has engaged in feeding during emergencies and was also involved in the distribution of food to refugees in the Chatsworth camp who were displaced by the xenophobic violence in 2015.
The medical clinic established in 1959 by the Ramakrishna Centre of SA works in partnership with the public and private health sectors, and the South African Red Cross Air Mercy Services, in order to improve the quality of health care for the indigent.
In 2014, 5 757 patients were treated. Furthermore, “103 surgical operations and 555 formal laboratory tests were performed, and 140 pairs of prescription spectacles were dispensed”.
In 2006 the Ramakrishna Centre established eThembeni Home for terminally ill patients in KwaMashu. KwaZulu-Natal provincial Health Minister Zweli Mkhize “pointed out that this facility was not only a health-care home but also a symbol of integrated effort between people of Indian origin and Africans, that promoted interracial, inter-religious and interlinguistic understanding”.
The Sarva Dharma Ashram was founded by Swami Ramkripananda in Welbedacht in 1998, and provides a primary health-care clinic, computer literacy classes, women empowerment opportunities, maths tuition, and spiritual upliftment opportunities in a very socio-economically deprived community.
Responsible
Also, 4 000 pupils are fed daily. According to Swamiji: “Our aim is to groom children into responsible adults, ensuring a brighter future for our country.
“We do not know if there is a God sitting and waiting for us up in heaven, or if God is black, white or any other colour, but we see God in the poor and serve them to the best of our ability. We live by the Hindu philosophy: Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam which means that the whole world is one big family – therefore we take care of our family”.
No discussion of Hindu philanthropy would be complete without reference to the Aryan Benevolent Home (ABH) in Chatsworth, which has been serving the community for 95 years, and “provides residential and institutional services for the benefit of the aged, disabled and children in need of social care”, regardless of race, religion, language or creed.
With reductions in state subsidies, the ABH desperately seeks funds to meet its commitments – the observance of Pitr Paksh, Purtassi and Navratri is also an auspicious period to make donations to a worthy cause.
As part of its centenary initiative, the SA Hindu Maha Sabha (SAHMS) launched the Hindus United 108 program.
Economically active Hindus are encouraged to donate R108 a month by debit order to a central trust fund which is subject to an independent audit.
The SAHMS recognises the yeoman service rendered by many of its affiliates and wishes to encourage, strengthen, improve and expand these initiatives.
The 108 program would provide support for health screening, clinics, hospitals, sanitation, counselling and life skills services, educational advancement, care of the physically and mentally challenged, orphans, the elderly, and the abused – in partnership with affiliates.
The intention is to build bridges between people of different races, cultures and religions, to promote goodwill, tolerance and mutual respect, and a harmonious coexistence, in keeping with the basic principles and tenets of Hinduism.
The yeoman philanthropic activities of the Hindu community has moved away from community-centric to one that is nation-centric, thus embracing all racial, cultural and linguistic groups, offering unconditional, selfless service, according to the Hindu principle of Nishkam Karma: “Charity given out of duty, without expectation of return, at the proper time and place, and to a worthy person is considered to be in the mode of goodness” (Bhagwad Gita: 17.20).