Saturday, January 22 2005 20:32 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

London: The Hindu Forum of Britain (HFB) has urged British Members of Parliament to support the "Swastika motion" in the House of Commons, which seeks to preserve freedom of worship and understand the importance of the sacred Swastika symbol in Hindu worship.

"We have now entered the second phase of our 'Reclaim the Swastika' campaign," said Ramesh Kallidai, Secretary General of the Forum, seeking support for the Early Day Motion, moved by Stephen Pound, MP, Chair of the Labour Friends of India.

"We will be writing to most of the Parliamentarians in UK to support the Motion. We hope to inform them that Hindus have been using the Swastika in religious ceremonies for the last 5000 years to represent good fortune, peace and life. It would be unfair for us to stop using a sacred symbol because it was unfortunately associated with death, destruction and fear due to its Nazi connection."

Spelling out the third phase of the campaign, Ishwer Tailor, President of the Hindu Forum of Britain said, "We are planning meetings across the country and a major conference in London to promote awareness about why Hindus use Swastika. After this, we will print information booklets on the Swastika that can be distributed to faith communities."

Hindus in Britain expressed alarm after Franco Frattini, the European Commissioner for Justice, Freedom and Security, indicated earlier this week that he was considering the possibility of a ban.

Nazi symbols including the swastika are already banned in Germany.