Rajan Zed
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Rajan Zed is a Hindu and Indo-American statesman who was invited to read historic first Hindu prayers to the Nevada Assembly[1] and the Nevada Senate,[2] as well as the United States Senate in Washington, D.C.[3] – his prayer is transcribed on page S9069 of the Congressional Record.[4] He also read the historic first Hindu prayers in the State Senates of California, Arizona, Utah, New Mexico, Colorado, and Washington.[5] besides Arizona House of Representatives.
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[edit] Public life
Zed is one of the panelists for "On Faith", a prestigious interactive conversation on religion produced jointly by Newsweek and washingtonpost.com. He is president of Universal Society of Hinduism, Spiritual Advisor to the National Association of Interchurch and Interfaith Families and Director of Interfaith Relations of Nevada Clergy Association. He is Public Relations Officer of the Hindu Temple of Northern Nevada, which is raising money to build a Hindu temple in the Reno area.[6]
Active in interfaith dialogue and as a chaplain in Nevada and California hospitals, Zed is a member of the Reno Police Chief Advisory Board and a member of Diversity Action Plan committee of Washoe County School District. He is on the Board of Directors of Northern Nevada International Center and Nevada World Trade Council. He has been elected to the office of General Improvement District Trustee of Verdi TV District and is a Member of Citizens Advisory Committee of Regional Transportation Commission. He is Public Relations Officer of India Association of Northern Nevada. He has been on the Board of Directors of Washoe Library Foundation; in the Academic Senate of San Jose State University, California; on Editorial Board of Reno Gazette-Journal, a Gannett newspaper; and on the Board of Directors of California State Employees Credit Union of San Jose. He was on the health curriculum committee of Fremont Unified School District in California; was a member of the planning and budget committee of University of Nevada-Reno and was listed in Who’s Who in America, 2006. He also teaches at Truckee Meadows Community College.[7]
[edit] Criticism
Some Hindus in Britain have criticised Zed as a person looking for publicity, and have been critical because he issues statements where he describes himself in his own press-releases as an 'acclaimed Hindu statesman'.[8]
Hindu leaders in America too have accused Rajan Zed of being on a 'self-promotion spree'..[9]
After Zed's prayers at the US Senate, leaders of three Seattle-area temples said they knew of Zed from news accounts or not at all..[10]
In the above article published in Seattle, the reporter says that "His appearance in Olympia did not result from an invitation from Washington's Hindu population, a community of at least 25,000 by some estimates." He also quotes Shyam Oberoi, secretary of the board of trustees of the Hindu Temple and Cultural Center in Bothell as saying, “I don’t know how he advertises himself or how he gets access to these things.”.
Swami Bhaskarananda of the Vedanta Society of Western Washington in Seattle said (in the same article) that Zed sounded like “someone ambitious” whose appearance might be “politically motivated — he wants to be known.”
[edit] Achievements
Zed has an MBA from University of Nevada-Reno; a Master of Science in Mass Communications from San Jose State University, California; and Bachelor of Journalism from Panjab University, India. He has been awarded by various organizations. Zed has taken up various civil rights issues in the recent past. He has been bestowed with “World Interfaith Leader Award” by NAIIF for “demonstrated extraordinary world leadership, courage and capacity for inspiring in others the urge of interfaith dialogue and cordial relations between faith communities”. Zed was invited by President of European Parliament Hans-Gert Pottering for a meeting to discuss Hindu issues and promote interfaith dialogue on December 10, 2008.
Mandali Mendrilla, an internationally distinguished Croatian fashion designer based in USA, has dedicated a line of her designer clothing to Zed because of “him constantly attempting to reach across lines of difference through prayer”.
[edit] Relations with the Roman Catholic Church
In 2009, he praised Pope Benedict XVI for the inclusion of Hindu verses in Good Friday prayers. [11] He had also supported his call to the banking industry to help families in financial difficulties. [12] However, he was critical of statements exalting the God of the Sinai above the status of “just any god”. [13] He later lauded Benedict for stepping up the fight against global warming by planning to build a large solar plant in Europe.[14]
Zed also criticized the makers of the film Angels & Demons for "spreading disinformation" about the Catholic Church's historical activities regarding the scientific community.[15]
[edit] References
- ^ "Assembly Daily Journal". Nevada Legislature. 2007-03-19. http://www.leg.state.nv.us/74th/Journal/Assembly/Final/aj043.pdf. Retrieved on 2007-07-13.
- ^ "Senate Daily Journal". Nevada Legislature. 2007-05-07. http://www.leg.state.nv.us/74th/Journal/Senate/Final/sj092.pdf. Retrieved on 2007-07-13.
- ^ "Senate Prayer Led by Hindu Elicits Protest". Washington Post. 2007-07-13. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/12/AR2007071202007.html. Retrieved on 2007-07-16.
- ^ Page S9069 (PDF)
- ^ "Senate opens with its first Hindu prayer". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. 2008-02-22. http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/352406_hindu23.html. Retrieved on 2008-02-23.
- ^ Kerlin, Kat (2007-03-22). "Prayer leader: Rajan Zed". Reno News & Review. News & Review. http://www.newsreview.com/reno/Content?oid=300724. Retrieved on 2007-07-13.
- ^ "WDCE Instructors: Real-world Experts". Truckee Meadows Community College. 2007. http://www.tmcc.edu/wdce/facstaff/experts/. Retrieved on 2007-07-24.
- ^ "Acclaimed Statesmanship Vs Modest Censorship". Hindology Blogspot. 2009. http://hindology.blogspot.com/2009/06/aclaimed-statesmanship-vs-modest.html. Retrieved on 2009-07-01.
- ^ "Rajan Zed on a Promotional Spree". Jo Calling. September 2009. http://www.jocalling.com/2008/09/rajan-zed-on-a-promotional-spree/. Retrieved on 2009-07-01.
- ^ John Iwaski (22 February 2008). "Senate opens with its first Hindu prayer". Seattle Pi. http://www.seattlepi.com/local/352406_hindu23.html. Retrieved on 2009-07-01.
- ^ Hindus praise Pope for inclusion of Hindu verses in Good Friday prayers
- ^ Lauding Pope, Hindus urge banks worldwide to be compassionate to financially distressed families
- ^ Hindus want public apology from Pope
- ^ Hindus applaud Vatican & Pope for bravely going ahead with biggest solar plant of Europe
- ^ "Hindus censure "Angels and Demons" movie". Thaindian News. 2009-05-02. http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/entertainment/hindus-censure-angels-and-demons-movie_100187427.html. Retrieved on 2009-05-13.
