If I see a band of Christians matching behind the cross, I will not even blink an eyelid. If I see a parade of Muslims matching behind a cross,I would wonder whats going on. In the same light,yes the swastika is an Hindu religious symbol but if a band of skin heads are matching behind it,it takes a totally different meaning. After all the burning Cross of the KKK is not a symbol of Christianity is it? But its a cross none the less. My fear is that every Neo Nazi will claim he or she is a Hindu now.Correct me if am wrong, but the Hindus do not parade arround the streets carrying swastika do they?

There is a difference between the Hindu swastika (and as shown on the old building at the start of the video) and that of the Nazis. The Nazis used the swastika with the arms rotating in the opposite direction, intended to symbolise darkness instead of light. It was the Nazi swastika that the students were displaying, not the Hindu one. It seems unlikely that they would have chosen this version by mistake and, in a country with history of Nazi collaboration, they must have also been aware of boost they were giving to current day fascists. Why don't the students bring their demo to Brussels, perhaps stopping off in Stavelot, on their way. I checked the direction of the Nazi swastika by having a look at some of the armbands and other insignia my late father cut from the bodies of slaughtered Nazis in 1944/1945.

You will find the Swastika emblem woven into old Oriental rugs and carpets. It is actually an Islamic symbol of "LOVE". Confirmation of this will be found in books on Oriental Carpets. I despise Islam but it is a fact.

It is time the balti country learnt its history,The swastika is a symbol which its armies used to kill 20million russians in defence of its homeland,and millions in europe who defended its country,and the other millions which Hitler murdered in the name of the supreme aryan race on the planet.The planet has enough idiots running countries in the middle east.Time they got educated ,unless they want the same fate that hitler and its deluded people who supported him ended up.

As a German, I am appaled by this recent developement. Everyone knows that the swastika is an ancient indo-european symbol of the sun-disk. Yet on the other hand everyone associates this symbol with the anti-human Nazi ideology. And most certainly it will by used nainly by neonazis. So it should be banned. The other thing which shocks me, is, that if the swastika is ok, because is is "not a symbol of Nazim", so why do the Baltic states then ban communist symbols? One could argue very succesfuly that they are ancient symbols as well, e.g. - 1. The red star - the star of Venus, the morning star, bringing hope. 5-sided stars can be argued to be a symbol representing a human, thus its a symbol of humanism. 2. The sickle - an ancient symbol of Diana (Artemis), i.e. the new moon. And so on... Its all pathetic...

Somehow the news anchor forgot to mention that the last person who was speaking (Algirdas Paletskis) is radical leftist or should I say communist and his grandfather was the leader of the communist party (Fact, wanna make sure google it) and the grandson apparently goes in his grandfather's footsteps. I am proud lithuanian and I perfectly know and agree that swastika is ancient (whether it is Balts' or Indoeropean's, who according to recent archeological discoveries are very close to each other) symbol and is part of our heritage. I am disappointed that the news anchor incompetently claimed that it was nazi march or something like that. Look at the people who were carrying the posters, do they look like the skinheads to you? Or that it 'shocked the world' when judges ruled in favor of students marching for their heritage. I wonder what would worlds' reaction be if Americans would be denied of their eagle and those who were carrying flags with this symbol would be a felons?

Kancaras My advice to you is, if you are a proud Lithuanian and the revival of swastika (infamous Nazi symbol) is your proud symbol of the past of your country, don’t be petrified when millions from your giant neighbour rise up on the streets and start parading the revival of the USSR with the Red Star & the Sickle in their hands claiming back what 20 years was taken away from them. Your judges will think twice before they acquit someone again for a such provocative action reminding the Russians of their Hitler’s occupation where more than 30 million Russians were killed and to prevent Nazi revival again, the masses will rise up and put together USSR for the benefit of all, because without foreign support those youths would not have thought about marching on the streets with the Nazi, anti Russian symbol. This time Russia will not wait to be occupied.

A symbol has power not because of its shape per se, but because of the emotion it evokes. Certainly the swastika pre-dated Nazism by a long, long way, and in that sense it is legitimate to say that it is an ancient historical symbol. But it is also true to say that because of the indescribable and still almost incomprehensible horrors which Nazis committed under the swastika, that symbol has forever been infused with the agony, death and revulsion of those who suffered under it. Regardless of technical court rulings, simple human regard and mutual respect should keep that symbol out of sight, especially in Europe. One can say exactly the same about the hammer and sickle: hammers and sickles are fine instruments, but their conjoined symbol was the banner in whose name such horrible injustice and suffering was imposed on millions of people throughout half of Europe that anyone with even a modicum of sensitivity and respect for the anguish of fellow humans would also keep it right out of sight. Unfortunately there are those in Russia who do not have this kind of regard for others in relation to the hammer and sickle, flaunt it, and thereby trample over the suffering of its victims. And sadly enough, apparently there are also those elsewhere who have as little regard for others in relation to the swastika, and likewise flout it. Shame on both those myopic, self-absorbed groups of people. Having said that, I nevertheless do not believe that Lithuanians are Nazis, nor that most Russians are Communists. I just believe that some Lithuanians and that many Russians need to wake up to themselves and realize that they don't live in an island of their own..

Swastika is ancient symbol in Hindu culture in India. I think there are refereences where Swastika was adopted by Hitlor from Hindu culture however it is sad that when the news was shown on the TV, there was no reference from Hindu culture in report. Swastika is being used by Hindu culture since thousands of years. In Hindu culture swastika is considered as symbol for good fortune. In fact swastika the name itself comes from the Sanskrit language and still not single reference from India in report.

Marzipan6, sober thoughts. I agree with you, in general. The only comment I have -- people, normally, do not have emotions related to symbols if they haven't experienced such emotions under the banner of those symbols. So, vast majority of Russians didn't experienced negative feelings related to the hummer and sickle, so why should they have problems with this symbol? This may be said about all other nations and symbols as well. If Balts, for example, don't have much problems with the swastika, this is, probably, because they do not relate much negative feelings with it.

if you search online information about Jainism, a sub sect of Buddhism, the symbol they use swastika Swastika in this religion represents non-violence, love and peace. http://www.google.com/images?um=1&hl=en&tbs=isch:1&sa=1&q=jainism+symbol&aq=2&aqi=g10&aql=&oq=jainism&gs_rfai=

I'm lithuanian and believe me, lithuanians hates Russians more than nazis. And It's all because antirussian politic in the last 30 yrs. They have been brainwashed. All the biggest factories were build by the Russians in this country that still pays in the biggest amount of money to budget. You are not supposed to take mental people seriously.

Bogdanov, people’s emotional reaction to Nazism and Soviet Communism, and to their symbols, isn’t quite as simple as “x” having happened and “y” therefore being the response. Three separate factors should be considered: (1) what happened, (2) in what context did it happen, and (3) what sort of spin has subsequently been added to such events. Both Nazism and Communism were horrible in terms of how they dealt with individuals and nations. But for the Baltics’, unless you were Jewish Communists were far more savage than Nazis in their persecution of individuals, and far more destructive of their nations. Moreover, Nazi oppression happened for only about 3 years, Communist oppression happened for about 50 years. Also, a certain amount of emotional healing has happened because Germany has apologised for Nazi crimes while Russia not only hasn’t but worse, continues to lie about Communist crimes. Additionally, the hierarchy of abuse which Baltic people suffered led many of them to judge that in the interests of survival they had no option but to fight within the ranks of a gross Nazi evil against an even more terrible Soviet evil. All of this can dull the perception of some Balts to the pain which Russians and others feel about Nazism. Russians, on the other hand, have been lied to so comprehensively since the days of Stalin until now about the nature of the Soviet regime and the atrocities and crimes of Soviet aggression against neighbouring countries, that many genuinely do not even know the suffering which Soviet rule meant for neighbouring countries, and do not grasp the injury and insult they offer anew through glorifying the Soviet past and its symbols. But attitudes of mutual respect and common human concern can override such lack of knowledge. Russians and others find the swastika odious for a reason; people, including Baltic people, should respect this. Balts and others find the hammer and sickle repulsive for a reason; Russians should respect this.

Tomas has just admitted what it was already widly known and this person by telling the truth is doing a great favour to his country because nothing is sustainable in the long turm by hate. Marzipan6 unfortunatelly is the greatest proponent of inflaming hate on this forums for which him and his country will suffer the most.

Organizer of all this is good known in Lithuania for trolling. He used to made an arguments with traffic policemen on the legal nuances and film all this. Than send it to TV or put in internet. It was fun to watch actually. But now seems that he is seeking more attention and goes international:) There are hundreds of symbols in Lithuanian heritage and one of them is swastika (I think same in all the world). So why make photos of some archeological things which now associate with nazism, go to Independence day celebration and film it? Just to feed your troll. And it all get better - police, media, court... And it's not over yet. Police appealed court decision and it's going on. So be sure, you will see this man in the future, because he exercises his democratic rights for wrong reasons.

I'm not sure if there is a popular 'cultural' enforcement of symbolisation in Lithuania. The primitive ancient religious emblem of swastika as a 'good luck' doesn't come even close to a symbol with a different intent. Symbols combined with hatred usually resulted in genocides. The problem is that hatred is real and exists in the democratic countries, or even openly displayed on this thread. The good news for those, who like myself, are absolutely intolerant to any type of hatred, is that hatred is curable, with some help. A well known psychotherapist Dr N Branden, whose phrase "evil gathers momentum by being uncontested" remains undisputed, has linked hatred with self-esteem. Positive self-esteem is essential for normal/happy development and provides a capacity to regeneration. Lack of it prevents human growth psychologically with a possibility of further serious disorders. The two main symptoms of low self-esteem are: a) refusal to behave like a victim, or waiting for someone to 'save' from life's problems ,and b) beliefs and values are assumed on the ideas that arise naturally only from personal feelings. Self-responsible people, in contrast, are very well aware, that their beliefs can be critically scrutinise, but then they will seek out other people who see things differently. Hatred is particularly deeply rooted into people with guilt, some argue that bad parenting can be attributed to it. Whatever the reason of hatred, it can be treated professionally by therapists.

The Swastika has been related to Buddhism and Hinduism for more than 1000 years, the british and americans and jews tried to outlaw the Swastika after WWII not seeming to realise it was a hi-jacked religious symbol, in the same vein some european governments have tried to outlaw the Celtic cross as it is now being used as the banner of some far right supremists, of course if any of these politicians had bothered to learn anything about these symbols they would be better off politically attacking the organisations rather than persecuting religious symbols.

Svetlana, Thank you for sharing with us recommendations for therapy treatment of hatred because some people on these threads need it badly. One of those people is Marzipan6 who does not choose words to exhibit his hatred and he has found Stalinist Russia convenient generator to spell his hatred onto every Russian in the World; in his own words: “you will recognise a Russian wherever you see one”.

June 09, 2010, 14:08, Marzipan6 wrote Additionally, the hierarchy of abuse which Baltic people suffered led many of them to judge that in the interests of survival they had no option but to fight within the ranks of a gross Nazi evil against an even more terrible Soviet evil. All of this can dull the perception of some Balts to the pain which Russians and others feel about Nazism. > Russians, on the other hand, have been lied to so comprehensively since the days of Stalin until now about the nature of the Soviet regime and the atrocities and crimes of Soviet aggression against neighbouring countries Oh well. M6, do not you think that this is a gross exaggeration to say that Russians lie? I would call it a smearing campaign. Obviously everyone has his own view on the historical events. You look from your cute Estonian sandbox and you see one thing. Russians look from another prospective and they can see rather different picture. But all the time you insist that your point of view is the only truth and you deny everyone else to have his own view. As far as I remember the Russians denounced Stalin regime, condemn Molotov Ribbentrop pact (to my understanding wrongly though). They open the archives; they openly speak about the crimes during WWII and after. And still you scream “Lie, Lie, Lie”. What the hell you want? Do you remember the old story about the boy all the time yelling “Wolfs”? Looks like you are in the same tale. Reading you comments, more and more I understand that in your world the good Russian is the dead Russian. Sorry buddy. Bad luck, Russia will stay around for while and you’d better used to that.