Florida’s intolerance

The United States of America over the years has  consciously developed the concept that its citizens have the right of the ‘‘pursuit of happiness’’ and enjoyment of their personal property and rights under a democratic sky.

This American dream along with the economic ideal of a land of opportunity has drawn many immigrants from across the world including the Caribbean. In the aftermath of the Islamic terrorist attack on the United States the Samuel Huntington model of a Clash of Cultures — Islam vs West — become embodied in the values of the US vs the values of the Middle East. The aftermath of the September 11 attacks on US soil have however produced some perhaps unwanted effects that include an increasing level of intolerance for what is defined as un-American. This definition is being made by the uninformed American mob, and uninterested arrogant American political directorate. This intolerance is being played out most recently in the West Lantana community of Florida.

Indo-Guyanese Leila Persaud, a retired teacher living in the gated Rivermill community West of Lantana, said she faces fines and a trip to court if she continues to fly a jhandi in front of her house. In an effort to force Persaud to move her flag out of sight, the Rivermill homeowners association board voted last year to ban religious symbols from all 377 of the community’s front yards, except during a few weeks around official holidays such as Christmas. Mike Magnanti, president of the board, said the rule was an attempt to address residents’ complaints fairly that Persaud’s jhandi looks like “a torn, tattered towel in a tree.” “If she wants to put it in front during a holiday period, that’s OK,” he said. “If she wants to display it during the full year, she needs to put it in her back yard.” Persaud and her priest, Rivermill resident Pundit Vishnu Sharma, say the rule discriminates against Hindus. Florida American Civil Liberties Union attorney Jim Green agrees.

“Unfortunately the [homeowners association] might have the power to pass such a discriminatory regulation,” Green said. “Whether such a discriminatory regulation would be enforceable in the state or federal courts is another question.” While the ban on religious symbols in front yards applies to every religion equally, the exceptions favour Christians, Sharma said. Allowing residents to display religious symbols around officially recognised holidays such as Christmas and Easter might work for Christians, but it doesn’t work for Hindus, he said. Persaud has refused to move hers from its spot by her front door. Her only concession has been to lower it so it’s hidden among some bushes. Rivermill resident Chris Latchman, who said he also received a warning from the homeowners association, settled on the same solution. “I said, ‘I’m not moving it. It’s my religion.’ So I hid it instead. I don’t like to hide it, but I just do it to prevent any aggravation,” Latchman said. Bill Singh, who also lives in Rivermill, said the homeowners association hasn’t bothered him about the red jhandi that flies near his front door. But if it does, he says, he’s ready for a court battle to keep the prayer flag where it is. “It’s my belief. It’s my religion,” he said. “I’m taking this very seriously.”

Residents might not like it, but the homeowners association has the right to force them to move religious symbols out of sight, said lawyer David St John, whose firm represents about 650 homeowners associations in Palm Beach and Martin counties. “There’s no restrictions on the [homeowners association], as it stands right now, on their authority to prohibit religious symbols,” St John said. “They can restrict flags and religious symbols. They just have to be consistent, and they can’t selectively enforce it against different owners.” Seth Finkel, a member of the Rivermill homeowners association board who says he voted against the rule, said it’s not being uniformly enforced. Though Hindus are supposed to move their jhandis to their back yards, Jewish residents are allowed to keep mezuzahs near their front doors all year, Finkel said. The ornate finger-sized cases, which traditionally hold scrolls of Hebrew text, are allowed because they aren’t big enough to be seen from the street, he said. “They’re all throughout the community,” Finkel said. In many other Palm Beach County communities, Hindus have not had problems flying their jhandis, said Vidya Heman, president of the Florida Hindu Cultural and Religious Association. But the county’s Caribbean Hindu population is growing fast, she said.

Members of the community already have bought land to build two mandirs — Hindu temples. One of the lots is near Lantana Road and Florida’s Turnpike, not far from Rivermill. As more Caribbean Hindus arrive, and more jhandis wave on bamboo poles at front doors, other communities could face decisions about how to balance the appearance of their neighbourhoods with the religious freedom of their new neighbours. Ironically while US residents spurn their Hindu neighbours a US-Kuwaiti firm hires Indian ex-servicemen as mercenaries for Iraq. Around 500 ex-servicemen, who had served in various fighting units of the Indian Army, have been recruited from the central districts of Kerala for deployment in Iraq to guard US interests in the Saddam land. Termed as the first ever ‘‘Indian regiment’’ to work as a mercenary force for the US, the recruitment was done by a Kuwaiti company working for the US Army without the knowledge of the Central Government and other bodies responsible for the welfare of ex-servicemen.

The recruitment drive began last November. The preference was for non-Muslim men [aka Hindus] aged below 45 who had served in Artillery, Infantry and Armoured Corps. Though the candidates were initially told only about the Kuwaiti connection, they were later apprised of the risks involved. Their willingness to serve anywhere, including Iraq, was also sought, sources said. “Normally, ex-personnel from MES, Signals and other units connected with construction activities are selected for jobs in the Gulf. But here the specifications were so clear that anyone would understand that it was a camouflaged recruitment drive to create a mercenary force.’’ The US doesn’t prefer men from other developing Muslims countries as ‘‘Indians have some acceptance in Iraq.’’