Life
Who is a Hindu?
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A genuine Hindu prays daily, volunteers at the temple, and abstains from meat and alcohol, according to guidelines established by U.K.’s first state-funded Hindu school.
The Krishna-Avanti Primary School in the London borough of Harrow, which has the highest concentration of Hindus in the country, established the criteria as part of its admissions policy for its first class set to start in September 2008. Applicants are required to submit a report from their temple priest attesting that they engage in daily prayer and deity worship; accept the authority of the Vedas, “in particular the Bhagvad Gita,” attend temple at least fortnightly and abstain from meat, fish, alcohol and tobacco. A school spokesman said it would accept people’s representations on trust, but “The criteria – for example, the one about abstention from meat and intoxication – reflect the mainstream Hindus in this country.” |
