1st Norwegian National Hindu conference was organized by Vishva Hindu Parishad Norway at Rommen Scene on Saturday 17th September 2016.
This conference was a unique and historical event for Hindu Community in Norway. This was the first time a Hindu conference of this scale was organized in Norway. There was good participation from the Government organizations such as EMI and Police department.
The inaugural session commenced with Manoj Misra, President Vishva Hindu Parishad Norway welcoming the delegates and dignitaries. He highlighted Hindu community is a Peace Loving, coexisting and Contributing community in Norway. Also he highlighted, once the Hindu migrated to Norway they adopted Norway as their homeland and they try to contribute best of their ability in growth and prosperity of Norway. He emphasized that the goodness of Hindu community need to be highlighted and shared with the host Norwegian Society. He also stressed that even though we came to Norway from many different countries and we hold many geographical, linguistic, denominational and sectional identities, the current time demands that we have to present ourselves with one common identity – a Hindu Norwegian identity.
Kanwar Kumar in his presentation highlighted the Contribution of Hindu community in various fields with focus on economy, education on the basis on S.S.B. data.
In her inaugural speech Honourable Marianne Borgen, the Mayor of Oslo, congratulated Vishva Hindu Parishad for organizing such a conference and also praised the work Vishva Hindu Parishad is doing in the various areas for betterment of the whole community.
Roy Einarsen from Stovner Police given speech and emphasized the need of minor communities to join the police. On the other hand, Rowena B. Teodocio, department head, Department of integration and Diversity told about EMI and both of them also took questions from audience and responded. They were very happy and praised VHP Norway for organizing such a conference. The session chaired by Egil Lothe.
Collaboration on HOTA, Swami Vigyananandji, Joint General secretary of Vishva Hindu Parishad Bharat appealed to the Hindu community in Norway and the leader of Hindu organizations and Temple associations to work together. Prashant Hartalkar, Central Secretary of Vishva Hindu Parishad Bharat also joined this session.
The Session on Economy, Education, Yoga, Ayurveda and Meditation. In this session learned Ayurveda practitioner Dr.M Pratap Chauhan who just came to attend this conference, explained principal of Ayurveda, its benefit for the individual and society in a very simple, logical and impressive way. Rina Sundar highlighted the continuous growth of Indian companies here in Norway and their visible impact. Rita Kumar explained contribution in the field of Education. Jenny Vågane highlighted how yoga is contributing in Norwegian society while Odd Magne explained about how meditation – an ancient practice is helping people in the modern life.
There was a panel discussion on Bridging the Gap on Hindu community coming from Different countries to Norway, this was a lively session which generated a lot of interest, open discussion and came out with the practical suggestions.
Session on serving the society chaired by Surinder Joshi. He explained the Temples in Norway and their Necessity.
Dr. Bishal Sitaula Addressed ‘Global Crises by Resilience Thinking and Personal Transformation using wisdom tradition of Nepal and India’.
Prof Kathinka Frøystad, from UiO addressed the conference on “Past, present and future contributions – a personal account “.
Egil Lothe, President Buddhist federation shared the thoughts on “Ancient sources of a universal ethics: The inscriptions of the Indian emperor Ashoka as prescriptions for global coexistence”, while from Sri Lankan Community Pulendran highlighted the contribution of Sri Lankan Hindus contribution to Norway.
172 people from Indian, Norwegian, Buddhist, Sri Lankan and Nepali communities joined the conference. It was an overwhelming response from all the communities.
Conference ended with an inspiring speech on ‘Way Forward’ by Rajesh Khare from VHP Norway and the Vote of thanks by Raj Narula.
Next year conference has already been announced. The theme of the conference will be ‘Making Norway Healthier’.
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