Hindus urge early meet of Arkansas Capitol Commission to discuss Hanuman & other monuments

 

Hindus are urging for an early meeting of Arkansas State Capitol Arts and Grounds Commission, chaired by Arkansas Secretary of State Mark Martin, to discuss various submissions received for erecting monuments on the Arkansas State Capitol grounds in Little Rock and decide the future course of action.

Distinguished Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, who is President of Universal Society of Hinduism, in a statement in Nevada today, said that since it was Commission’s responsibility to determine the next steps in the process, it would be better if the Commission met at an early date and clarified the process further so that they and other submitters of requests for monuments on the Capitol grounds could start working towards fundraising, designing, construction, etc., of the monuments.

 

Meanwhile, Arkansas Secretary of State office has declined to list the various submissions. Kelly Boyd, Chief Deputy Secretary of State, responding to Zed's request to Martin on submissions received, wrote:…until we are confident all submissions regarding this issue are in hand, we decline to list the various submissions at this time. However, based upon conversations or correspondence with the various entities interested in making a submission, I feel we are approaching a time all submissions have been received by this office.

 

Regarding Rajan Zed's query about calling a meeting to review their submission for "permission to erect a privately funded statue of Lord Hanuman" and other submissions, Boyd wrote:…there is no meeting scheduled at this time.

 

Responding to Zed's question of “What are the next steps in the process?”, Boyd wrote:…It is the Commission's responsibility to determine what the next steps might be, if any, during the course of their discussion of a particular submission or group of submissions.

 

Hindus have sent a formal request to Martin for “permission to erect a privately funded statue of Lord Hanuman in Arkansas State Capitol grounds in Little Rock”, to be constructed, designed and paid for by private funds at no expense to the state. “If permitted, we plan to make it big and weather-proof. Lord Hanuman is greatly revered and worshipped in Hinduism”, Rajan Zed added in the request.

 

Meanwhile, in a remarkable interfaith gesture, religious leaders of diverse traditions—Christian, Buddhist, Jewish, Baha’i, etc.—have supported the request of Hindus to erect a statue of Hindu deity Hanuman in Arkansas Capitol grounds.

 

Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson reportedly signed into law a bill on April eight, 2015; allowing a privately funded Ten Commandments monument on Arkansas Capitol grounds.

 

The Arkansas State Capitol, constructed between 1899 and 1915 on the site of the old state penitentiary using prison labor, already has multiple monuments on its grounds. Lonely Planet describes Arkansas as "America's overlooked treasure" and "nature lover's Shangri La"; and Walmart is headquartered here.