US varsity set to ban Hindu religious symbol from campus

Washington, April 24: The George Washington University is preparing to ban from its campus an important Hindu religious symbol - the swastika - because it resembles the zi symbol and may hurt the sensibilities of some students, a media report said on Friday. The director of the Office of Student Rights and Responsibilities and dean of student affairs will soon hold a hearing in the matter, according to a guest post in www.valuewalk.com.

However, many, including the university’s public interest law professor John Banzhaf, are not amused. “It is like banning the 6-pointed Jewish Star of David because some people might mistake it for the pentagram symbol and human sacrifice, or expelling a student for using the word ‘niggardly’ because other students may mistake it for a racist word and get upset,” Banzhaf was quoted as saying. Banzhaf, in a legal memo to key campus officials, has suggested that the university and its president may already be liable for defamation and other civil torts.

When a Jewish student studying Eastern religions recently returned from India with a religious symbol sacred to many Indians and others called a Sanskrit svastika (with a “V”), but another Jewish student initially mistook it for a zi swastika (with a “Wa), there was initial concern that it was meant as a threat to Jewish students. (IANS)

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