Wednesday, January 19 2005 22:09 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

London: Amidst calls for a Europe-wide ban on the swastika following Prince Harry's appearance at a fancy dress party wearing the sign on his armband, Hindus in Britain today (Jan 19, 2005) launched a campaign to "redeem" the symbol from its Nazi past and revive it as a mark of life and fortune.

Hindus use the right-facing version of swastika, meaning "sun", as jewellery or on doorways and buildings to bring good fortune. This version was adopted by the Nazi party in 1920 at Salzburg, but it is thought that allied wartime propaganda was responsible for the false belief that at Adolf Hitler's insistence swastika was later reversed to the left-facing version, meaning "death" in Hindu mythology.

Launching the campaign to "redeem" the symbol from its Nazi past, Ramesh Kallidai, General Secretary of the Hindu Forum of Britain, said a pro-swastika awareness workshops would be organised for every region in Britain with a large seminar in London.

"Every MP is to be lobbied by e-mail and an information booklet will be distributed to faith communities and others," he said.

The Hindus' campaign comes after members of the European Parliament called for a Europe-wide ban on the symbol after Prince Harry, younger son of Prince Charles and late Princess Diana, wore a swastika armband to a fancy dress party.

Franco Frattini, the European Commissioner for Justice, Freedom and Security, has said that he is willing to consider the possibility of a ban. Nazi symbols, including the swastika, are already banned in Germany.