IndiaPost.com - Hindu prayer disrupted in US Senate

WASHINGTON: The US Senate on July 12 opened with a Hindu prayer by Rajan Zed, a Hindu priest from Reno, Nevada, who made history with his 90 second prayer recited in English. Indian American community leaders commended the US Senate for promoting religious diversity, while denouncing the American Family Association Position and Protesters for disrupting the prayer.

United States India Political Action Committee (USINPAC) Chairman Sanjay Puri said, “The fact that Rajan Zed was allowed to give a prayer before the US Senate should make us all proud as Americans. Religious diversity and tolerance are the foundation on which the United States was built.” Unfortunately, protesters disrupted the proceedings by shouting from the Senate viewing gallery, while waving out copies of the Bible.

Officers from the Sergeant of Arms’ office were called in and the protesters were taken away from the Senate galleries. The president pro-tem of the Senate, who had to repeatedly beat the gavel, was forced to halt the prayer to call on the Sergeant of Arms to restore order in the Senate chamber. The sum of Zed’s prayer went as this:

“Let us pray. We meditate on the transcendental glory of the deity supreme, who is inside the heart of the earth, inside the life of the sky and inside the soul of heaven. May he stimulate and illuminate our minds. Lead us from the unreal to real, from darkness to light, and from death to immortality. May we be protected together.

May we be nourished together. May we work together with great vigor. May our study be enlightening. May no obstacle arise between us… May the Senators strive constantly to serve the welfare of the world, performing their duties with the welfare of others always in mind. Because by devotion to selfless work one attains the supreme goal of life.

May they work carefully and wisely, guided by compassion, and without though for themselves. United your resolve, united your hearts, may your spirits be at one, that you may long dwell in unity and concord. Peace, peace, peace be unto all.” Zed ended with a little prayer for the family of former First Lady Lady Bird Johnson, wife of former and late President Lyndon Johnson, who died July 11.

Later that day, USINPAC sent a letter to American Family Association Chairman Donald Wildmon denouncing his position of non-tolerance regarding religious diversity. “Religious diversity is an important aspect of our constitution and our rights as citizens. Organizations certainly have a right to protest, but the disruption of these proceedings was unnecessary and, frankly, un-American,” commented Sanjay Puri.

“Frankly, I am dismayed that people would protest this very basic ideal, and I welcome other faiths to be allowed to be given an opportunity to offer a morning prayer.” Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) said, “If people have any misunderstanding about Indians and Hindus all they have to do is think of Gandhi who gave his life for peace. I think it speaks well of our country that someone representing the faith of about a billion people comes here and can speak in communication with our heavenly Father regarding peace.”