Chicago: Reminiscent of when Jimmy "the Greek" Snyder fell from grace after making racist comments about African Americans, a growing chorus of critics are now condemning radio and TV talk show host Tony Brown for his Hindu bashing comments aired on WLS, (Chicago) 890 AM.

Brown is one of the leading black conservative voices in the US. His syndicated PBS show airs in several US cities.

On his Saturday, June 30th show, Brown chastised the US government for allowing Indians to immigrate to the US. He blamed the US government for not being able to provide proper educational facilities for Americans in the country, forcing the country to import thousands of computer experts from India.

The India tribune was first to report Brown’s criticism of Hindus.

"Americans do not understand Hinduism," said Brown, "... It is their belief that (lower caste people) should be persecuted and no one should help them. ...(the) caste system is ... based on color discrimination...."

His comments, which continued in this vein for two hours, may have been largely ignored except the India Tribune published many of Brown’s opinions. "India Tribune likes to share its disgust and anguish with its readers." managing editor J.V. Lakshmana Rao wrote in a front page story of the July 3, edition.

Among other things, Brown’s said:

**Nazism emanated from Hinduism; Hitler borrowed the "Swastika" symbol from the Hindu religion.

**Untouchability, "widely practiced" in India, permits 5 per cent of the three high castes to rule the rest of the one billion population.

**After the death of Mother Teresa, Christian nuns in India were systematically persecuted.

** Female children and women of lower castes are forced into prostitution.

Following the Tribune’s report, the Hindu Press International (a religious e- mail news service) carried a lead story on it. Next, it appeared in a number of leading Indian publications in the USA, including the News India-Times in NY and India West in California. More press is expected on the topic next week.

With each publication of Brown’s "Hindu Bashing," individuals and organizations called the newspapers to lodge protests. On the West coast, the Hindu-bashing story elicited calls from radio news. In almost every case, people who read the story were at first incredulous.

The Dallas Morning News called in disbelief that Brown who is "reasonably high profile" would utter such comments. One journalist wrote, "I wonder -- is there a Hindu community in the Chicago area? Did their leaders not call the local media?"

A tape of the entire Brown show is in the possession of the editorial board of the Tribune

To date no organized movement to redress the insult has been actuated.

Some action however in response to Brown is reportedly underfoot.

* A meeting was held last week by a group of Indian newspaper editors in Chicago to discuss Brown’s show and viewpoint.

**Petition drives are underway in several Indian communities seeking an apology from Brown. The possibility of a boycott of Brown and his sponsors has been mentioned.

** As word of his show filtered to India, hinduunity.org, advertised as the official site of the Bajrang Dal, the militant wing of the Sangh Parivar (Pro-Hindu Family) responded.

"America is not considered a Christian Nation," said editor Rohit Vyasmaan "It is! Otherwise, such non-sense wouldn't be aired! This matter will be taken up."
 

A perusal of Brown’s website: www.tonybrown.com reveals that Brown has more than Hinduism on his mind.

Brown's latest book, "A 7-Step Plan to Overthrow the Conspiracy That Is Stealing Your Money and Freedom." is described on his website: "Tony Brown exposes the Illuminati Ruling Class Conspiracy (IRCC), a political, religious and evil cabal of elitists and money lords. Brown believes there is a very real conspiracy that controls our (US) government, steals our income and usurps our freedom."

Another book Brown wrote, "Black Lies, White Lies... The Truth According to Tony Brown" warns of a (US) "racial conflagration."

Brown did not immediately respond to a request for an interview.

Brown’s broadcasted Hindu-bashing seems to virtually parrot a 19th century Christian missionary viewpoint of India.

Brown said a woman in India is never free. "First of all she is under the control of her parents; when she gets married, she is under the control of her husband; and when her husband dies, she is under the control of her children. She doesn't get free."

He said "The concept of Hinduism is purity. Are you pure? If you are around (a person of an) impure caste, you have to go home and cleanse yourself. I am impure because you are around me. Women are impure. That is the theory."

Brown also adds: "Black untouchables are impure. Foreigners are impure. The idea is to create system of segregation, apartheid, so that the pure people can be kept away from impure people."
Brown said, "There are 300 million gods in Hinduism. You do not have to believe in God to be a Hindu. Christians have a Bible, Jews have a Bible, Muslims have a Koran, and there is no Hindu bible. There is no central creed what a Hindu believes. There is no hierarchy like the Pope, the cardinals and so forth."

The India Tribune called upon Hindus to show the same aggressive spirit that Muslims, Christians or Jews would demonstrate if their religion was attacked.

"Tony Brown can do it with Indians and Hinduism only. One can imagine what outrageous reaction Tony Brown would generate if he does it to any other religion," wrote the Tribune in its July 3 issue.