MUMBAI, India — The Jewish Chabad centre will not be allowed to continue at its original site at Nariman House, local Shiv Sena shakha pramukh Vijay Surve of the Colaba shakha has told The Hindu.
CHI Note: The Shiv Sena is a far-right political party in India. It literally means the Army of Shiv, a great hero in India. They have been accused of being involved in violence, attacking people with opposing ideologies. For this reason, it has been described as a militant right-wing group. The Shiv Sena has also been accused of orchestrating violence against Muslims.“Under no condition can they come back here,” he said. The centre was the site of a terror attack on November 26 when nine Jews were taken captive by two terrorists. The ensuing siege by the armed forces lasted almost 40 hours.
Militant Right-Wing Party: Chabad Not Welcome in Mumbai
MUMBAI, India — The Jewish Chabad centre will not be allowed to continue at its original site at Nariman House, local Shiv Sena shakha pramukh Vijay Surve of the Colaba shakha has told The Hindu.
“Under no condition can they come back here,” he said. The centre was the site of a terror attack on November 26 when nine Jews were taken captive by two terrorists. The ensuing siege by the armed forces lasted almost 40 hours.CHI Note: The Shiv Sena is a far-right political party in India. It literally means the Army of Shiv, a great hero in India. They have been accused of being involved in violence, attacking people with opposing ideologies. For this reason, it has been described as a militant right-wing group. The Shiv Sena has also been accused of orchestrating violence against Muslims.
“We have absolutely no dushmani [enmity] with Israel or with the Chabad people,” said Mr. Surve. “They had lived here quietly for long. But this attack was targeted at them and this battle between Israelis and Islamic terrorists is life long. Such an attack can easily happen again. No one can guarantee it will not.”
Would there be objections even if the new Chabad centre had high security? “They will secure their building and they might be safe inside, but who will look after us,” said Mr. Surve. “We are all poor people here. Even on the night of the attack it took the police hours to get here. So we have to look after our own security.”
Mr. Surve was sceptical of the possibility of setting up adequate security measures in the narrow gully in which Nariman House is located. The Chabad centre should be given a suitable place where it could have the security it required with open space around the building.
“It should not be in a residential area. If they come back here, there will only be tension.”
The shakha pramukh said this was not a unilateral decision of the Sena. It came from the residents.
Nariman House is currently the property of the Chabad. On December 26, a ceremony involving the lighting of the menorah on the fifth day of the religious festival of Chanukah signified a symbolic reoccupation of the house. Officials of the Chabad said that though the movement would continue to be based in Mumbai, no decision had been taken about where it would be located.
john
we cannot by any means leave behind the work that is life supporting finnished!
frigginknowitall
i was in chabad house 15 years ago and the attitude of the neighbors was one of tolerance (Tolerance=we don’t like you ,you aren’t like us, you have a different code of laws and customs, give us enough of what we want, act like diplomats, etc. ) My opinion is it doesn’t work very well mach eretz yisroel duh has to have a rov/rav
Chabad houses are great to visit like a well in a desert
it really isn’t possible to make all the people happy all the time
Lindsey
I am just very worried about the shluchim in such a hostile environment.They were sitting ducks.You can have all the lovely speeches and shed all the light you want but I cannot get over the horror I heard about>I thought they were shot but the grim details of their torture I will never get over.For many reasons,I am skeptical of putting more Jews in that hell hole. I’d prefer to see safe shluchim somewhere else than just going on Emunah alone.Without security and guns I am afraid to say I too don’t want anyone there.You may scoff at guns etc and think everything is meant to be- I understand but their safety comes first.Reality is they were easy targets and we cannot depend on miracles alone-Jews everywhere must be armed and secure.
Moshe
The Rebbe runs the world not THEM!!!!
Roses
How much clout that this group have? If the new shaliach has proper papers and Chabad owns the building, I don’t think there’s a legal way of barring the rebuilding. But then again, I’m in NY and that’s Mumbai.
Someone should let them know that the murderers were their enemy from way back – Pakistanis who would slaughter Indians almost as quickly as Jews, chas v’shalom
excuses!
Maybe we should close down the Hotel in India – wasn’t that a target too?
Playing rabbi
Lindsey,
It seems you are lacking an understaning in the basics of the mission of chabad. When they say that they are shedding light they are not reffering to “nice sayings”. They are reffering to the light that is borne from the many mitzvos which they enable Jews to perform. It’s true that mitzvos are loosly translated as “good deeds,” but the purpose here is to bring holiness into our planet, which is a cuase worthy of risking danger. that’s why underground networks were operating deep into the territory of the former soviet union. From their earliest activities Lubavitchers put the needs of others before their safety. as for the teffilin campaing, this is a mitzvah which actually provides a special shmirah for our soldeirs. “safety first” is for civilians, or other “nice” humantarian oganizations. “mesiras nefesh” is for those who are willing to give their lives for the cause. That’ just how they were brought up.
MJ
My wife said that we should take 10 telephone customer service reps hostage in response LOL.
To MOSHE
To Moshe:
Did you just say “The Rebbe runs the world”????????????? Isnt it Hashem that runs the world?
syphilis
Moshe wrote:
The Rebbe runs the world not THEM!!!!
are you kidding me!!?!?!?!?1
i think god runs the world how bout that?
Lindsey
First of all excuses, if you read what the terrorist said,Chabad was their priority to send a message to Jews everywhere even if the other ones failed!Read some of his statements and realize what their main goal was.And sorry to break this to you Moshe, but HASHEM runs the world!The point is that Israel doesn’t depend on miracles and it should not.You cannot live in la-la land.Do you realize what happened in Mumbai? I wish shluchim did know how to handle a gun and not be left vulnerable and helpless.Why do shluchim need to be at the mercy of these vile animals?They should be able to protect themselves and their children so that Gd forbid the savages don’t have their easy prey!Wake up!! Face the facts of what really happened to them in Mumbai-Gd help us.It was an atrocity the human mind cannot swallow.I can’t.
To Moshe
Correction: HASHEM RUNS THE WORLD
Mordechai
This article on Yahoo, tries to make Vijay Surve sound like a hero, when he is nothing more than a racist:
http://in.news.yahoo.com/48…
Shocked
That’s funny, I thought Hashem runs the world. Do you know something that the rest of the Jewish people don’t know?
Eli Z
Hashem runs the world. Statemets like ‘The Rebbe runs the world not THEM’ (Moshe) are stupid and dangerous’.
we should know
Hello, don’t we get it already people don’t like us and I don’t blame them. Of course they were targeting us. We are a dying religion…
The Rebbe does not run the world.
shocked
hey moshe,
the REBBE runs the world?
my mistake, i thought hashem did. oops.
how can you say that?
we are a nation of survivors! how can you say that we are a dying religion? We survived Egypt,survived the many Inquisitions, the Holocaust, how can you say that we are dying? We may be small but our voices are heard.
how can you say that?
we are a nation of survivors! how can you say that we are a dying religion? We survived Egypt,survived the many Inquisitions, the Holocaust, how can you say that we are dying? We may be small but our voices are heard.
ppl make mistakes
didnt u all notice ath moshe corrected himself…
disagree
That’s lovely “playing rabbi”-I get the concept.I understand what mesiras nefesh is but if shluchim get hurt or killed Gd forbid,they won’t be shedding light anywhere!They have a right to protect themselves and their children and this should not be discouraged.Human life is still a priority no matter how much you wish to sacrifice.Brutally tortured and defiled is not just an aftermath of shedding light and no one should ever put their lives in harms way like this-never ever.I think safety is a priority for the reasons I mentioned.You can do a lot more mitzvos if you are alive and well-so yes safety should come first.Gd forbid young beautiful people should be taught to think otherwise.I don’t care how they were brought up-maybe it is time to change that way of thinking.
john
g-ds will as represented by his servant moshe (the rebbe in our time) hence simply the rebbes will to us is the always time g-d of all time his will is the rebbes specific will in our time that our goal is to light up the world and our specific goal is to achieve moshiach
vayaminu bahahshem uvimoshe avdo
shame on this site poeple need to learn chassidus
are you nuts??
We are not a dying nation!!!!!!! whoever says that it shows on him that his faith is dying! we’ve existied since the begining and survived the strongest empires! tons of empires ruled the world (ie: rome, persia in the time of the megilla) we are the only nation that still exists! and why? because we are emes! emes can never die! u have to work on your emunah if u think we are dying!
Lindsey
Mr John- obviously you never saw any of the shocking photos from India and I hope nobody does- I do not believe that we just have to accept and take what comes our way bec it is The Will of anyone. Are you just living in unreality or simply do not know what happened to those poor individuals who were not only butchered but humiliated in the worst possible way?No I will never accept this was the way it was supposed to be.Maybe it is a wakeup call to alert us about the extreme savagery of muslim fanaticism so that we do not passively sit back and explain everything as the will….can u imagine if Israel took that approach?Gd forbid.Chos v’sholom that anything should be done that was done to the Mumbai victims.Gd forbid. I will never be able to see the light in the same way after seeing what was done and i hope to Gd it doesn’t get printed.No- you are the one who doesn’t understand.Not at this point.
to john
shame on you john- there is no explanation or any way to understand the horror these people went through. obviously you are the one who has simple answers to a terrible, terrible tragedy. so is studying chassidus the way to accept the Holocaust too? I heard the Rebbe himself had nothing to say so how is it that you do?
NEVER give in
ok, so they should learn to stand up for themselves. maybe hire security or purchase an AK 47. or simply not walk streight into spreying bullets selling menorahs thinking that Hashem will take care of it all.
but my grandparents and their parents DID put their lives on the line and sent their CHILDREN to underground Chedorim and they walked passed KGB in BROAD DAYLIGHT. then my grandfather was arrested and troututed for about a decade. then he went back to his underground Cheider and CONTINUED to teach yiddishkeit to more children.
that is why i think that if one can apreciate the URGANCY of the matter, they would never, ever back away in the face of brutual violence. instead, i think their work is too important to dismiss, and i would rather support their brave, and wise determination.
I could understand their determination. I am proud to support such bravery. if need be, they could be a bit more realistic and learn to face reality and get some practice at the shooting range, but they should never, ever, even think of backing off!! its like saying that isreal should just let hammas be and move to america… why live in agony?
YS-DP-UA
BS”D
The Shiv Sena is a violent and extreme organization that does not have much of a following or much clout.
They are the Hindu version of Hamas in that they use the political system to legitimize their extremism and attempt to advance their goals, but in generally tolerant India they don’t get very far. The decent Hindu majority views them the way the decent American majority views the Ku Klux Klan.
The Indian newspapers appear to be a bit sensationalist and like to report statements of extremists as if they carry a lot more weight than they really do. Alternately, they may be reporting this to expose the Shiv Sena as the fools that they are, just as the frum press reports the nonsense spouted by the wannabe Neturei Karta or the actions of the self appointed mishmeres hatznius in EY.
To YS-
I never said shluchim should simply back off- but if they are going to have an open door policy without any security,then yes, I believe they shouldn’t be there.They shouldn’t have to sacrifice human life.Yes,pikuach nefesh should come first. Death doesn’t help anything or anyone. And be realistic- no, I did not say an Ak-47 but a gun yes!and locked doors and a security system.At least that!At least change your philosophy.Chabad Houses all over open their doors to everyone.We as a people don’t need martyrs.We had enough.who cares about Shiv Sena- to hell with them.I care about my beloved people.To those who cannot seem to fathom the evil that is out there.Passivity kills more.