Lara Zijl 
The World Hindu Economic Forum (WHEF) strongly dismissed its upcoming conference WHEF 2024 being labelled ‘divisive’ by some Opposition parties in Bharat, and the unfounded controversy over UP CM Yogi Adityanath being invited as a keynote speaker.
“WHEF had invited 24 CMs of the country on 28 June, except for Delhi and Jharkhand CMs who are embroiled in corruption charges, and the TN CM M.K. Stalin who was not invited because of his party DMK’s endorsement of ant-Hindu hate speech by his son Udhaynidhi Stalin who compared Hindu Dharma to diseases like dengue, malaria at a “Eradicate Sanatan Dharma” conference.
We invited Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah, Himachal Pradesh CM Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, WB CM Mamata Banerjee, Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann, Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan, Telangana CM Revanth Reddy as well, and requested them to be keynote speakers, but did not receive any response from them” said Swami Vigyananand, Founder of WHEF.
“When a global Halal economy can exist, why are some people upset that Hindus across the world are collaborating for the common good? There are innumerable faith-based exclusivist economic forums, business networks and other professional organizations formed by Muslims and Christians in Bharat and the rest of the world like Christian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Christian Business Mentors Council of India, The Muslim Chamber of Commerce India, Indian Muslim Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Association of Muslim Doctors, All India Catholic University Federation, World Islamic Economic Forum (wief.org). So why not a World Hindu Economic Forum, which is based on the universal idea of Dharma which upholds society and embraces pluralism?” said Ravikant Mishra, Secretary, Organizing Committee, WHEF 2024.
“There was one comment by a Congress spokesperson that the country will move ahead only with Gandhian thought, and implying our conference is ‘divisive’. No doubt Gandhi ji played a key role in our independence movement, but we have to embrace responsible industrialization and scientific innovations,” said Shailesh Trivedi, Jt. Secretary, Organizing Committee, WHEF 2024, who is spearheading the WHEF Launchpad program that offers a platform for start-ups to pitch their ideas during WHEF 2024.
The aim of the World Hindu Economic Forum is to bring together financially successful individuals to share knowledge & resources, and mentor budding entrepreneurs. Just because CMs from some states are coming doesn’t mean that our focus is only on those states – we want Hindu businesses to collaborate & grow across the word, creating and sharing surplus wealth in the process, said WHEF 2024 organizers.
WHEF is not limited to the geographical boundary of Bharat, but connects Hindus spread across 60 countries of the world. This includes the Hindu diaspora of Bharatiya origin, as well as many Hindus in continents like South America, Africa, and countries like Nepal, Indonesia, Sri Lanka who are not Bharatiya, but they are proud Hindus. One of the prominent examples is Tulsi Gabbard, American politician and Donald Trump’s nominee for US Intelligence Chief, who has spoken at WHEF 2016 in Los Angeles.
Hindus have a glorious civilizational heritage and contributed over 35% of the global economy at one time. But due to centuries of colonial plunder, we not only lost that wealth but even our self confidence. One of the goals of WHEF is to revive Hindu consciousness about this legacy of economic excellence, wealth creation and innovation. Hence, we need a forum dedicated to the economic upliftment of Hindus.
Vedic wisdom of ‘Sat Hasta Samahara, Sahastra Hasta Sankira’ teaches Hindus not to hoard wealth, rather earn with 100 hands and share with 1000 hands. So if Hindu society prospers, the world will prosper. WHEF is ready to work in the spirit of harmony & mutual respect with everyone. Although the forum is only for Hindus, those who align with our objectives are welcome to work alongside us. For eg. Israeli speakers will be addressing a dedicated session at WHEF 2024 for Bharat-Israel collaboration opportunities. In the past, we held a bilateral conference with representatives of the indigenous Maori community of New Zealand. Likewise, government bodies in the Netherlands, Kenya, South Africa, UK, and Australia have collaborated with us to host economic conferences.
APPENDIX A
Sample list of religion-based business & other professional organizations in Bharat & elsewhere
Within Bharat
https://ccciindia.in/ – Christian Chamber of Commerce and Industry
https://www.cbmcindia.org/ – CBMC India – Christian Business Mentors Council of India
https://christianbusinessforum.in/ – Christian Business Forum
https://tmcci.org – The Muslim Chamber of Commerce India
https://www.imcci.org – Indian Muslim Chamber of Commerce and Industry
https://aimbsn.com/ – All India Muslim Business Startup Network
https://www.iiccb.org/ – Indian Islamic Chamber of Commerce and Bureau
https://amdoctors.org/ – Association of Muslim Doctors
https://www.cmai.org/ – Christian Medical Association of India
https://aicuf.in/ – All India Catholic University Federation
Outside Bharat
https://wief.org/ – World Islamic Economic Forum (Malaysia PM is patron; DCB Bank in Bharat, earlier know as Development Credit Bank, funded by Aga Khan Fund is a corporate partner)
https://www.cednetwork.org/ – Christian Economic Development (CED) Network is a community of 200+ organizations in 75 countries committed to Christ-centered economic development
https://christianeconomicforum.com/ – Christian Economic Forum
https://www.christianbusinessforum.co.uk/ – CHRISTIAN BUSINESS FORUM
https://thefcbl.com/ The Forum of Christian Business Leaders
https://christianbusinessnetwork.com -The Christian Business Network
https://jbnetwork.org/ – Jewish Business Network
https://jeforum.org/ – The Jewish Economic Forum (JEF)
https://www.jbncenter.com/ – Jewish Business Network
https://muslimdoctors.org- Muslim Doctors Association
APPENDIX B
List of Chief Ministers Invited to WHEF 2024 on 28th June 2024
S. No.
State
Name
1.
Uttar
Pradesh
Mahant Yogi Adityanath
Hon’ble Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh
2.
Uttarakhand
Shri Pushkar Singh Dhami
Hon’ble Chief Minister of Uttarakhand
3.
Tripura
Dr. Manik Saha
Hon’ble Chief Minister of Tripura
4.
Assam
Shri Himanta Biswa Sarma
Hon’ble Chief Minister of Assam
5.
Arunachal
Pradesh
Shri Pema Khandu
Hon’ble Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh
6.
Manipur
Shri N. Biren Singh
Hon’ble Chief Minister of Manipur
7.
Haryana
Shri Nayab Saini
Hon’ble Chief Minister of Haryana
8.
Rajasthan
Shri Bhajan Lal Sharma
Hon’ble Chief Minister of Rajasthan
9.
Madhya
Pradesh
Dr. Mohan Yadav
Hon’ble Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh
10.
Chhattisgarh
Shri Vishnu Deo Sai
Hon’ble Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh
11.
Odisha
Shri Mohan Charan Majhi
Hon’ble Chief Minister of Odisha
12.
Goa
Dr. Pramod Sawant
Hon’ble Chief Minister of Goa
13.
Gujarat
Shri Bhupendrabhai Rajnikant Patel
Hon’ble Chief Minister of Gujarat
14.
Sikkim
Shri Prem Singh Tamang
Hon’ble Chief Minister of Sikkim
15.
Andhra
Pradesh
Shri N.Chandrababu Naidu
Hon’ble Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh
16.
Bihar
Shri Nitish Kumar
Hon’ble Chief Minister of Bihar
17.
Himachal
Pradesh
Shri Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu
Hon’ble Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh
18.
West Bengal
Sushri Mamata Banerjee
Hon’ble Chief Minister of West Bengal
19.
Maharashtra
Shri Eknath Gangubai Sambhaji Shinde
Hon’ble Chief Minister of Maharashtra
20.
Punjab
Shri Bhagwant Mann
Hon’ble Chief Minister of Punjab
21.
Kerala
Shri Pinarayi Vijayan
Hon’ble Chief Minister of Kerala
22.
Karnataka
Shri Siddaramaiah
Hon’ble Chief Minister of Karnataka
23.
Telangana
Shri Revanth Reddy
Hon’ble Chief Minister of Telangana
24.
Puducherry
Shri N. Rangasamy
Hon’ble Chief Minister of Puducherry
For further queries, contact Vikram Sharma (+91 – 7507927799) & info@wheforum.org
