No other state in India bears the scar of Partition as tragically as West Bengal. Thanks to the politics of mixing religion with politics of the then British rulers and the the Congress and the Muslim League dancing to the tune of the song “You divide and we rule” , what had been the most prosperous state in the undivided nation was overnight beset with problems which are yet to be solved. In this backdrop, chief minister, Miss Mamata Banerjee’s convening a conference of the Imams and announcing financial largesse for them from Waqf resurrects nightmares for the thinking man.
Septuagenarians and octogenarians still tearfully recall the horrors of The Great Calcutta Killing on 16 August, 1946 which transformed parts of the “second city of the British empire” into a war zone. Neighbours who had lived as brothers side by side became sworn enemies overnight as their religion snapped all ties of the soul creating a breach which even the birth of two sovereign nations a year later could not bridge.
Present scenario
If this seems to have little or no bearing on the significance of the Imams’ convention and reminds one of baseless fear, here is some food for thought. To call a spade by no other name, Mamata’s benevolence towards the Muslim cleric on the eve of the panchayat elections is a dangerous short cut.
Knowingly the chief minister is stoking a communal fire which has ravaged the nation often in the past. She has little to reply if asked what good will this financial aid do to those Muslim populace.
Populist and dangerous
One does not need to be a rocket scientist to realise that this is mere ploy to curry favours with a section of the clerics to ensure that they ask Muslim masses to vote for her “who must be obeyed”. Congress, the party Mamata wrecked in the state less than a decade ago have often resorted to this game plan, the most striking instance of its backfiring being the Babri mosque deadlock.
If the secular fabric of the nation is anything to go by, the priests of the other minority sects should also have a share of the pie. Raising this question before one of the most charismatic chief minister of this state would amount to crying in the wilderness.
Injustice to Muslims
Even if the chief minister is seeking to better the Imams lot, there is no justification for to use the Waqf funds. These sums are meant for the Muslim masses and not their clerics.
Let Miss Banerjee put her hand on her heart and seek the voice of conscience. It would ask her to ensure jobs and employment for Muslim youth to whom much lip service is being paid and so little done.
In sharp contrast
The decision of the state government declaring Urdu to be the second official language in the districts having a 10 per cent Muslim population is in sharp contrast to the language policy in neighbouring Bangladesh. The youth of the then East Pakistan courted arrest, imprisonment and even death in protest against Urdu being foisted on them as the official language.Moreover, not many of the Muslim populace converse in Urdu in these districts. Nor are they likely to vote for the party which their clerics direct them; for unlike the Imams nothing but empty promises have come their way in Miss Banerjee’s nine-month tenure.
Task ahead
The chief minister has a hard day’s work ahead. And it will have to go beyond a sticking plaster solution.
POLITICS SANS HUMOUR
New depths are plumbed even as the controversy around the arrest of a senior teacher of Jadavpur University Ambikesh Mahapatra for passing on a cartoon spoof of chief minister Mamata Banerjee shows no sign of dying down. The image of the 11-month Trinamul Congress-dominated government received an ugly dent after the links between the academic’s assaulters and realtors eyeing a prime property of the housing co-operative society came to light.
Matters worsened for Mamata and her party as Mahapatra happens to be an elected member of the board running the housing society. Dragged out his house, kicked and punched and thereafter intimidated into writing a confession that the chemistry professor is a CPI-M man have earned Mamata the kind of stringent criticism she had so far poured out on her arch political rivals – Communist Part of India (Marxist)
Half hearted defence
Quick to jump to the defence of their leader, the Trinamul activists and leaders found themselves to be short on ammunition. The cartoon spoof in question is a take on a few dialogues of Satyajit Ray’s evergreen film Sonar Kella – The Golden Fortress.
While the director’s son Sandeep was not available for comment, neither Soumitra Chattopadhya nor Kushal Chattopadhya who essayed the role of Mukul in the film as a child who remembers his previous life did not see anything derogatory in it. Little wonder, Banerjee’s partymen were conspicuous by their absence in the television talk shows following the incident having belatedly realised that it would be better to lie low for sometime.
Poorly briefed
Canny politician that she is, the chief minister too has realised that she has been poorly briefed. But not accustomed to owning up her gaffes, she can neither offer an apology nor take stringent action against her errant partymen . For after having openly supported the academic’s arrest, she realises of having been caught on the wrong foot.
Mamata seems to be putting her foot in her mouth ever since she assumed the chief minister’s office. In a way, her recent statements seems to have a coincidental resemblance with some of the utterances of her predecessor Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee.
Lacking humour
The inability to laugh at a joke at one’s expense or to ignore it seems to be the rising trend of state politics. The sting of this cartoon whose characters include beside the chief minister, railway minister Mukul Roy and his predecessor Dinesh Trivedi, pales into insignificance if the lampooning of the state’s legendary chief minister Bidhan Chandra Roy and his successor Praulla Chandra Sen are anything to go by.
Despite her admiration of former prime minister, Atal Behai Vajpayee, the chief minister does not seem take a leaf out of his book. Way back in the late ‘90s, Delhi police egged on by powers that be had hauled Pijush Pandey to the prime minister’s residence after he had penned a satire about Vajpayee in the wake of a nuclear test.
The satirist returned a happy man with a huge admiration of the prime minister. For the evening was spent in poetry and laughter which the prime minister looked forward after a hard day’s work and did not often come across a companion as witty as Pandey.
Uneasy existence
Mamata who never claimed to posses Vajpayee’s sense of humour appears to be out of sync .Time was when she would not dream of casting aspersions on the moral character of a rape victim. When she did so after a woman was allegedly gang raped within a cab in Park Street, in the heart of the city’s entertainment district left even her committed supporters dumb struck.
The reported rap on the knuckles on the two police officers by summoning them to the state secretariat after they had cracked the case left a bad taste in the mouth for the bureaucracy. Having chaffed under the Communist rule for more than three decades, they had expected something better.
In no way were the upright officers prepared to accept the much used adage that more things change, the more they remain the same. It seems they had hoped for the moon.
Political fallout
Strangely enough, so dispirited is the CPI-M they have not been able to seize this ideal opportunity. It had been the members of the civil society who have taken to the streets to defy her brand of governance whose credo remains she must be obeyed.
Mamata who had assumed the highest office in West Bengal riding the crest of popularity as anti-establishment wave will continue to be the darling of the crowds for months to come. But if she does not change her ways, the people may turn their backs on her as they literally did to Indira Gandhi during the Emergency , though for obvious reasons the names of Gandhi and Banerjee cannot be taken on the same breath.
MARRIAGE AND MORALS
Marriages are made in heaven. But if the dictat of West Bengal food minister Jyotipriya Mallik to his party men is anything to go by, they would have to get the nod of the party leadership if they decide to tie the knot.
Ever since the heady victory over Left Front last year which marked the end of a 34-year old regime, the Trinamul workers have overnight become men of influence in their locality. If it is an urban area, they will be seen arbitrating in a landlord-tenant dispute; in the villages will be heading conciliatory meetings where the cause of the man will prevail if he has the ear of the local Trinamul leader.
Tying the knot
Little wonder, they will be good catches in the marriage market giving the doctors, engineers and government employees a run for their money. The political workers worth as grooms have shot up in the Left Front regime where often the husband , CPI-M wholetimer earning a wage from the party while the wife was a teacher in a government school or college.
Former state information technology minister Manab Mukherjeee was the party’s full time worker, while his wife was an academic in Calcutta University. Incidentally, the dictat of Mallik which has become public has been a legacy of the Left parties long before its combine dislodged the Congress government from power in 1977.
Invisible curtain
Perhaps it was a legacy of the Stalinist period which restricted any relation if it was not with a fellow traveller. Thus legendary theatre personality Sambhu Mitra could not marry Kalyani Mukhopadhya, the niece of Biswanath Mukhopadhya, a well known CPI leader. If Gurdudas Dasgupta, CPI MP had married the daughter of a Congress leader, it appears to be an exception in Left politics.
When Samir Putatunda, a senior sCPI-M leader of South-24-Parganas broke away from the party and floated PDS his brother Sanjay Putatunda was asked by the party higher ups to sever all personal relations. But then Mallik ‘s party who called upon his partymen not to marry in family with allegiance towards the CPI-M and to stay away from social functions attended by members of this party lest their resolve to avenge themselves weaken does not subscribe to a narrowminded ideology.
He seems to have forgotten that his party supremo Mamata Banerjee had attended the funeral of veteran Congress leader, Somen Mitra’s father before he had joined her party. And she did not once reprimand her supporters when when many of them walked in CPI-M leader Subhas Chakraborty’s last journey.
Not a person to mince her words, Mamata would not have dreamt of criticizing her political mentor Siddhartha Shankar Ray for openly weeping near former chief minister Jyoti Basu’s corpse, though Basu had harsly criticised Mamata.
Hatred replacing governance
By inciting the partymen to stay away socially from their political rivals, Mallik overlooks his ministerial responsibility and unknowingly flouts the call of Mamata. Her catchy slogan “Badla noy, badal chai meaning we want change not revenge caught the imagination of the voters who overwhelmingly supported Trinamul candidates. Whatever be the shortcomings of the 11-month old government, so far it had not used its administrative and party muscle to avenge the past assaults on its party workers.
In keeping with her slogan, Mamata on becoming chief minister had forbidden any victory rallies. She was quite aware that triumphal processions had been the source of trouble from which the irate party men throwing discipline to the winds attack rivals’ houses.
Little wonder, days after the election results of the state were announced lanes and by-lanes resounded with Rabindra Sangeet which unlike marching songs are never stated to have incited anyone to violence.The Trinamaul-dominated state government have not covered itself with glory in the past few weeks if the incidents, of Jadavpur, Baruipur and Nonadanga are anything to go by. If the party workers follow Mallik’s call they would be disregarding the line followed by Mamata who paid a courtesy visit to former Lok Sabha Speaker, Somnath Chatterjee whom she defeated in 1984 Lok Sabha election at Jadavpur when she was a political novice.
Unattended tasks
More important things than raising slogans to socially boycott the CPI-M supporters are on Mallik’s platter. For reports of starvation deaths are pouring in.
He has the democratic right to nurse hatred against a politically rival outfit. But he happens to be holding a public office which makes him accountable to those who voted for his party along with others who support another ideology.
It would be the state’s misfortune if the much touted “change” is about to be distorted to the point of damnation.. Any further provocation would setting a bonfire to the high aims the government started with.
The ambience is volatile. There is need for restraint.
Newspapers and magazines have rolled up their sleeves in an effort to do write-ups on the completion of the a year of office of Mamata’s government. It is time she got her act together paying attention to an old adage that a year is a long time in politics.
BLOWING HER OWN TRUMPET
Fond of quoting the American poet, Robert Frost the nation’s first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru often recited “I have promises to keep, I have miles to go before I sleep”.In a state where Nehru’s party, the Indian National Congress shares an uneasy existence with Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamul Congress, the chief minister Miss Mamata Banerjee after dislodging a 34-year old Left Front government is facing a barrage of criticism. Almost a year in office and not much to write home about, the state information and cultural affairs department has brought out a 168-page paperback titled Promises Delivered.
Tom-Tom Tome
Reported to be the chief minister’s brain wave, this tom-tom tome is Mamata’s knee jerk reaction to the Gorkhaland agitation resurfacing in the Darjeeling hills, economic woes bedeviling the government and sections of civil society taking to the streets against what it considers to be arbitray actions .Printed in glazed paper, the answer to these expressions of dissent Promises Delivered is priced a hundred rupees.
All over its 168 pages, it waxes eloquent about the achievements of the 11-month old government which the chief minister feels is not being highlighted at all by the media who she feels “don’t see anything positive”.
In this, she shares a commonality with her predecessors namely Jyoti Basu and Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee. Basu used to name the newspapers which criticized his government in public meetings. Little wonder, CPI-M workers roughing up journalists on duty even within Writers’ Buildings, the state secretariat during Bhattacharya’s regime were reported. As for Mamata, she has her group of crony scribes who bask in reflected glory while sharing puffed rice and snacks with the chief minister almost every week end.
Hints are dropped at these informal meetings of change of policy and the persons getting into Mamata’s good books and being left out of it. While the chief minister feels she is putting her hand on the people’s pulse from such meetings, the selected scribes feel themselves privileged.
Contents and contention
While many officials were surprised when the book reached their desk, others felt that it was a case of much ado without nothing. No one can expect a 11-month old government to sweep away the sloth and corruption of its predecessor so soon., senior officials said.
But long accustomed to being lauded in the print and electronic media, Mamata cannot take any criticism, no matter how well meaning or constructive it is.Hence, Promises Delivered is rolling off the press to “keep the record straight and make those who have strayed return to the path straight and narrow.”
Nearly 10,000 books in English, Urdu and Santhali have been printed from the government –owned Saraswaty press..The choice of language is a remarkable indication of the working of Mamata’s mind.
English is the choice to reach out to the urban educated classes, while the Urdu and Santhali books are meant for Muslim and tribal minorities, clearly a game plan with an eye on the rural votes of the panchayat elections.
Promises Delivered is actually a translation of Kichu Katha, Kichu Kaaj (Some words, some work) which had come out in January as the chief minister had promised in her manifesto to let the people evaluate her performance.
Besides details of the financial problems the state is grappling with, the168-page book has photographs of the high points of the chief minister’s life. It includes a picture with Sharmila Tagore and Shahrukh Khan as well as with Sachin Tendulkar at Eden Gardens.
How these pictures of Mamata in company with the lifetime legends does in any way help fulfil a promise to the people is hard to fathom. Perhaps it fulfils her desire to pat herself on the back for the long and hard climb to the top though it is done at the expense of the public exchequer.
Though priced one hundred rupees, its production cost is in the region of Rs 150 to 200. Thus in the event it turns out to be a best seller, the cash-strapped state government stands to lose a tidy sum which could have been better utilized to improve the quality of ground water or primary education.
But that should not take anything away from the government’s “achievements” A four-page foreword explains such targets which had been achieved in this less than year long tenure of the Mamata-led government.
The chief minister’s office had asked the concerned departments to burn the candle at both ends to bring out the book. The haste was owing to Mamata’s desire to confront “the slander and conspiracy” unleashed on her government by a section of the media.
Mamata despite being one of the most popular and charismatic chief minister of recent times is yet to spare a thought as to why it is so. Nor does she appreciate that as long as she does not lose the common touch, such criticism will not affect the stability of her government.
Has it occurred to her that her photographs with film stars and cricket icon will dent the image of the girl next door which she had so carefully cultivated over all these years. All these and some more raises doubts whether the book will give the government a spanking clean image.
Act in haste, repent in leisure
Such was the haste to carry out the chief minister’s bidding that pages 41 to 44 have been printed upside down. Has the printer’s devil indicated the shape of things to come?
Why I Gave Up On 'Social Activism'
By Yoginder Sikand
Just the other day, Raja, a dear friend of mine from Kashmir, forwarded me a wonderful anecdote. It isn't often, I have to confess, that he does such things. Most often, his postings are drab and mournful and monotonously predictable: reports about hordes of Kashmiris taking to the streets in yet another demonstration demanding 'freedom from Indian oppression'; an interview with a Muslim cleric pontificating on some esoteric or controversial subject or the other; news about rival sets of Muslims squabbling among themselves, as they always have, and will always do, over the 'true' meaning of their faith; a story about the latest demented outpourings of a noted Hindutva ideologue--subjects that no longer interest me in the least, I have to say, although they once did.
But the anecdote that he sent me this time was truly a precious gem. It neatly summarised, in a manner I never could have done myself, much of what I've been thinking about these last couple of months, ever since I won for myself the luxury of no longer having to slog for a living against my will. It was the story of a wise man who, in his youth, spent hours every day tearfully entreating God to radically transform the whole world and turn it upside down into a veritable paradise so that all the problems that people face would finally and firmly end. But the man's youthful enthusiasm for this global 'Revolution' doesn't last long, and once he gets married and sires children his prayers become less ambitious in their scope. He now prays simply for the transformation of his wife and children so that they begin to think and act as he thinks they should. He spends years beseeching God for this to happen--in vain, of course--till he arrives at old age and knows that he is about to die. Thereupon, he turns to God in repentance and says, 'I've spent my whole life asking You to change others for the better, but I've never thought of asking You to help me change--into a good and loving person. Please, Lord, now let at least that happen!'
This delightful anecdote neatly sums up the story of my life till now, and that is why I found it so endearing. Ever since I left home, at the age of eighteen, I've been desperately trying to change the world, as a self-appointed missionary of the 'Revolution'. I began identifying with communities in India that saw themselves as 'oppressed', and took it upon myself to champion their 'cause'. How desperately I craved to be recognised as one among them! That is how I became what is called a 'social activist', and began writing mainly about Muslims, but also about Adivasis and Dalits and other such 'marginalised groups', attending their conferences and participating in their protest demonstrations, and even churning out ponderous tomes about them, all of which further reinforced my belief that I was indeed a seriously committed do-gooder.
For two whole decades, writing on such 'marginalised groups' and their 'problems'--many of them real, others imaginary and yet many others self-created--and participating in the 'struggle' against 'caste/class oppression', 'gender injustice' and 'imperialism' was almost my sole occupation. In these many years, I must have written well over a thousand articles that, in my eyes, championed the cause of the 'oppressed' and of the 'Revolution'. Hardly a week passed without my churning out a piece or two on the subject. 'It's my way of contributing to the Revolution,' I would tell myself, seriously believing that my writings were making a major difference to 'The Cause'. Only I know what smug satisfaction this gave me! I know you'll find it absurd but I even began to imagine that if I ceased writing on the issues that I so sincerely obsessed about, it would make a major dent in prospects for the 'Revolution' to ever arrive!
All that energy and enthusiasm that went into my contribution as a 'social activist' and in the cause of the 'Revolution' paid me well in material terms, however, though I have to say that this wasn't the only or even major reason why I was in the business of championing the 'Revolution' in the first place. I won generous scholarships to go abroad to do a Ph.D. and then two post-doctoral projects to study various aspects of 'marginalised groups' in India. I was invited to attend conferences in over two dozen countries to pontificate on the same subjects. I was appointed as a full professor in an Indian university and was paid handsomely for the articles and books that I continued to churn out, machine-like, all about the 'oppressed'. In addition, I was assigned projects by several NGOs to study the 'oppressed', for which I was well rewarded financially. Although I have to say that I did not quite intend this to begin with, writing and conferencing about the 'oppressed' soon turned into a lucrative source of livelihood for me. I was actually, and quite literally, living off the misery of the 'oppressed', although I did not fully realise it then.
But all that came with a heavy personal price. The more I identified with the 'Revolution' of the 'oppressed', the more unbearably negative I became as a person. For one thing, the sense of being indispensable to the 'Revolution' and to the 'struggle' for 'justice' for 'oppressed communities', of playing a crucial part in championing 'The Cause' through my writings and public speaking, gave a tremendous boost to my battered ego. Being a 'social activist' made me feel nice, for once, about myself. It made me think of myself as selfless and all so very goody-goody and pious, while leading me to look down on others as allegedly miserably self-centred and uncaring. I was, after all, a 'social activist, 'devoting' and 'sacrificing' my life for the sake of the 'oppressed', or so I fondly imagined, while just about everyone else , I told myself, was mean and selfish, concerned only about their own material advancement.
Being a 'social activist' and a supposed 'expert' on the problems of 'oppressed communities' also helped me to stand out among the crowd, in this way satisfying my inner urge to be somehow different from others so that, finally, I would gain their attention, even if in a negative way. As a child, there was nothing more than I craved for, and was denied, than recognition and acceptance and the feeling of being wanted, and the notice I began to receive as a supposed 'expert' on various 'marginalised communities' served to fulfil that desperate urge and fill that deep psychological vacuum.
Being a 'social activist', I imagined that the sources of all oppression and negativity were external--'out there', in the 'world beyond'--in classes, castes, structures and ideologies that I identified as 'oppressive'--Brahmins and Banias, Jews and Americans and their Saudi-Wahhabi stooges, Feudalism, Communalism, Capitalism, Casteism, Zionism, Brahminism, Religious Fundamentalism, Imperialism and so on. If these were successfully combatted, I was led to believe, all the problems of the world would be set straight. Directing my energies and anger onto these external forces, I saw no need at all to introspect and recognise, leave alone solve, my own inner negativities, which I left completely ignored and unaddressed all these many years. It was truly a very convenient way of running away from my own inner dilemmas, insecurities and incompleteness. In hankering after the 'Revolution' and for the sake of 'The Cause', I saw no need whatsoever to make myself a better human being. That would have been an 'unnecessary diversion' from the 'real' task of 'reforming' others and 'combatting social injustice'.
Imagining myself as crusading on behalf of the 'oppressed' and as being a key player in the 'struggle' for 'social justice' for a host of 'marginalised communities' turned me completely blind to every good thing in those whom I began to see as their 'oppressors' (in the Indian context, mainly 'upper' caste/class Hindus) and in what was termed, in the jargon of the 'progressives' whose ranks I so desperately wanted to join, the 'present oppressive system'. There was nothing at all good in Hindu traditions or in America or in Capitalist Modernity, for instance, I convinced myself, for I was hooked onto the 'progressive' and 'radical' rhetoric that 'upper' caste Hindus in general (including most of my own family!) and almost every single American was complicit in perpetuating 'oppression'. If you had to be counted as a 'social activist', you simply couldn't see or find anything worthy at all in 'upper' caste Hindus or in Americans, and, if you did, your sincerity and commitment were gravely suspect. So deep-rooted was this negative mentality among 'social activists' supposedly committed to the 'oppressed' that for a 'progressive' to discern anything positive about 'the present system' or Indic spirituality, for instance, was about the most serious anathema conceivable.
The hatred that often passed for 'progressivism' in 'activist' circles was truly astounding, and I fell lock-stock-and-barrel for it. One was trained only to look for the negative in every nook and corner, and, if it didn't exist where one looked, to imagine and fervently believe that it did. One's whole life became one great protest. Protesting against real or imaginary injustice was almost the only respectable thing to do. It was as if there was nothing at all good in the world to celebrate, and even as if celebration and joy were themselves an 'unnecessary diversion' or a 'unaffordable luxury' that truly committed 'activists' had to carefully shun. That explained why many 'progressives' and 'radicals' were horrifically negative as human beings, many of them being irritatingly obnoxious, judgemental, cantankerous, dour and sullen. Their penchant for protest made them only more so. Believing themselves to be somehow morally superior to others because they had, so they thought, devoted themselves to the 'oppressed' made many of them painfully sanctimonious and proud. Of course, I need not clarify that this was not always the case, and I did have the good fortune of meeting a number of other activists, truly sincere in their commitment, who were among the most loving and compassionate souls I've ever come across. But these were rare exceptions, I have to admit.
For many of us (including myself, too), the negativity that was blessed as 'progressivism' in 'activist' circles was a convenient and respectable ruse to give vent to our own personal turmoils, inner insecurities and complexes, which were often rooted in troubled childhoods or broken marriages. I took to this negativity like a duck takes to water--in part to compensate for my own psychological traumas. It provided me just the excuse that I needed to express all the hidden hatred for my family that I harboured deep inside me since a child, for what more potent way was there for me to rebel against my decidedly 'upper' class and largely Hindu family than to denounce them as part of the 'oppressive ruling class/caste system'? What better way to get back at them for all that I had suffered at their hands than by taking up the 'cause' of Muslims and Dalits and ultra-leftists, folks who saw rich Hindus like my family as their real 'oppressors'? I had had an extremely troubled childhood, and so all I ever wanted was to get as far away as possible from my folks as I possibly could. They were rich and, for the most part, Hindu, and it was thus that I desperately craved to identify myself with all that they were not and would dread to be. I have to admit that it was this, more than any genuine concern for the 'oppressed', that drove me on for over twenty years for the sake of 'The Cause' that I so obsessively championed.
Negativism, then, was a defining feature of being 'progressive', and that's what I began to revel in. But such negativism was almost entirely one-sided in 'activist' circles, for to be counted as a 'real' 'social activist' it was simply unthinkable that the 'oppressed' could be faulted for almost anything at all. For a 'social activist' to even mention, leave alone condemn, the foibles of the 'oppressed communities'--gender injustice or caste rivalries among Dalits or the obscurantism and misogyny preached in many Muslim madrasas or the terror attacks and killings of innocents by Naxalites and radical Islamists--was tantamount to nothing less than treason. Reports about such matters were generally dismissed as 'malicious ruling-class propaganda' or 'malicious Brahminical brainwashing' or even as an 'understandable reaction of vulnerable minority communities to ruling caste/class/imperialist oppression'. Sometimes, if these were grudgingly admitted to be true, they were sought to be passed over in silence in order to 'respect the sensibilities of the oppressed' or as 'minor contradictions' that ought not to be addressed on the grounds that it would allegedly 'divide' the oppressed, 'sabotage' the struggle against 'oppression' and thereby 'play into the hands of the real opressors'. If you only just pointed out that there were serious faults in the madrasas that needed to be urgently addressed (even for the sake of the Muslim children who studied therein) or that Muslim Personal Law was seriously biased against Muslim women or that many Dalits who had taken advantage of the system of protective discrimination behaved with fellow Dalits almost as shabbily as did their 'upper' caste Hindu 'oppressors', you were sure to be shouted down as a 'government agent' or a 'paid stooge of Hindutva forces', not only by fellow 'progressives' but also by a whole host of voices among the communities whom you had spent years trying to defend and promote. If you even so much as mildly hinted that the conditions of Muslims in India weren't half as bad as sections of the Urdu media wanted people to believe or that the Muslims in this country had much more freedom than in any Muslim-majority state or that untouchability was no longer as rampant as it once was in some parts, you were bound to be accused of betrayal and your motives were rumoured to be entirely suspect. If you acknowledged that probably less Muslims were killed by Hindus in riots in India every year than the number of fellow Muslims slaughtered by their co-religionists in the 'Islamic' Republic of Pakistan or in God-forsaken Afghanistan or that the plight of religious minorities in many Muslim countries, particularly those ruled by theocratic regimes, was much worse than in India or that some Dalit officials were neck-deep in corruption, you were bound to be hollered at for allegedly being a 'traitor' to 'The Cause' of the 'oppressed'. The very same folks who egged you on to write about their problems and to take the Hindutva beast by its horns (for they were either too scared to do it themselves or didn't have the same writing skills or the same access to the English media) would shrilly denounce you as an 'agent' of this or the other 'power' if, in your quest to be honest and balanced, you pointed out even some of the mildest of their faults. It was as if by definition the 'oppressed' were spotless angels who could do no wrong and their 'oppressors' wholly and incorrigibly demonic.
It was amazing how, barring some really genuine folks, whose sincerity and commitment simply cannot be doubted, many of us 'activists' actually thrived on this one-sided negativity that we lived on and churned out day-in and day-out. It was as if without it we would have no reason at all to justify our own existence, for it served as a very convenient peg to hang our own inner traumas on. For some folks, spewing negativity in the name of 'social activism' and 'protesting against social injustice' was all that they were capable of doing and, in fact, the only reason for them to carry on living. Decrying 'social injustice' was the only thing they could talk of, and attending one protest demonstration after another their only form of entertainment. Never for a moment did many such folks ever feel the need to introspect, for every ill that they could think of was traced to and laid at the door of the 'oppressors'. I could imagine at least some of them seriously believing they were God's little innocent lambs, all very pious and unblemished.
Protesting against 'social oppression' had truly become a profession for many, who turned into what are called 'professional social activists'. Negative news and developments were quickly seized upon by them to write about and demonstrate against, to pontificate about in seminars and to appear on TV to debate over and thereby worm their way into the public limelight, and even to wangle well-funded research projects, academic assignments and jaunts abroad in exotic locations, where they would share their 'expertise' about the 'oppressed communities' and exhibit their 'radical commitment' to them, often being handsomely paid for this service. I was guilty of the same misdemeanour, too, in some very fundamental ways, I have to admit here.
Some folks I know made pretty neat fortunes this way, setting up NGOs and 'think-tanks' ostensibly to study and 'work with' 'oppressed communities', and raked in vast amounts of money from gullible foreign donors. In fact, barring a few really committed souls, a whole host of 'progressives' in the NGO, academic and media world, made their living out of the misery of the 'oppressed', earning in this way not just their daily bread but also the really serious money that they needed to buy their cars and houses and to send their children to the 'best' English-medium schools and then for higher studies to the USA (which they never tired of reviling in public, of course), where they, too, would often sojourn when their 'social activism' became just a bit too tiring, boring or bothersome. Not many of them, who never ceased showing-off their 'commitment' to the 'oppressed' communities and their visceral hatred for 'oppressor' castes, would, I suspect, want to be treated in an Adivasi-run nursing home or to send their children to a Muslim-run school.
But, to set the record straight, it wasn't just us 'professional social activists' from rich or middle-class Hindu families who had taken upon themselves the onerous task of crusading on behalf of the 'oppressed communities' who behaved in this way. A great many folk from these very same 'oppressed' communities-- Muslims, Dalits and such others--were also heavily into the business of 'social activism', supposedly on behalf of their own people. They, too, set up their NGOs, often with hefty financial aid from generous foreign patrons. They, too, enjoyed their all-paid-for trips and conferencing stints abroad, and many of them made sure that their own children had built comfortable nests for themselves in Europe or West Asia or even in America, which, like us, they never ceased to revile as the fundamental cause of global oppression.
So, that, in brief, was the world I had chosen to inhabit, for over twenty years, till, finally and thankfully, sometime last year the idiocy of it all suddenly dawned on me. I lost complete faith and interest in the 'social activism' that had kept me going and had supplied my life with purpose and meaning all along. Although I recognised that social injustice was indeed a universal reality, and a harsh one at that, especially for certain minority groups, I had to admit that 'minorities' were often as guilty of it, in their own ways (such as victimising women and other minorities within their own communities) as were 'majorities', and that no community had a monopoly over virtue or vice. A tyrannical Muslim or Dalit husband or father was as oppressive as a Brahmin one, as far as I was concerned. And I realised, too (and it is really a wonder why it never struck me before) that there were good and bad things about every person on the face of this earth. No one, it dawned on me, is perfect, not even the most 'oppressed' man or woman alive, and, likewise, no person is wholly evil, not even the most tyrannical 'oppressor' around. The world and the people who inhabit it, I now knew, were infinitely far more complex that the 'progressives' I hung around with made it out to be. And to assume, as they did, that merely changing a 'system' or pitting communities against each other would end all oppression seemed downright stupid to me, and even entirely counter-productive from the point of view of the quest for social justice. As long as human beings didn't change as individuals, it made, I now knew, no difference whatsoever what sort of 'system' they lived under or what religion they followed or what ideology they championed or what radical rhetoric they spewed. It was how each of us were as individuals that really mattered, and no matter how loudly one protested and demonstrated against 'oppression', as long as people, including the 'oppressed', remained just as they were as people, with all the negativities that we all are burdened with, oppression would still remain intact, even though its forms might change and today's 'oppressed' might become tomorrow's 'oppressors'. The only Revolution worth striving for, I now realised, was the 'inner' one.
My only task, I found, was now to focus on my own 'inner' revolution, and not any other. In the mindless quest for 'reforming' others, championing the 'cause' of the 'oppresed' and 'struggling' to usher in the 'Revolution', never for a moment had I turned my attention to this in all these twenty years. I now knew that all I had to do was to deal with reforming myself, and no one else at all. After all, I hadn't come into this world laden with a heavier cross than that or burdened by a bigger mandate--to change society or to save the world, for instance, as I once pompously imagined. You may say I was being selfish, and maybe I was. But, then, maybe I really was not, for it was only if I truly reformed and psychologically healed myself and made myself whole and kind and loving, I now came to realise, that I could truly and sincerely help others. But as long as I didn't do that, and kept postponing it, the 'help' that I rendered others in the name of 'social activism' would remain, as it had over the last two decades, a miserable exercise in self-serving hypocrisy.
And this meant that I no longer needed or wanted to use the extreme negativity, blessed in the name of 'protesting against oppression' or 'struggling for social justice', that I had once so fervently championed as a means to vent my own inner insecurities. That's why I decided that I just had to refuse to allow myself to continue to wallow in the negativity and hatred that my supposed 'concern' for the 'oppressed' had driven me into. And so it happened that I stopped writing on the subjects I had for so long obsessed about and was paid handsomely for. I resigned from my job at a research centre, where I was supposed to spew out wisdom on 'oppressed communities'. I realised that I would no longer be invited to spout my 'wisdom' and 'expertise' on the 'oppressed' at conferences, in India and abroad, and that the well-funded projects to study and highlight the problems of the 'oppressed' that I had once so desperately hankered after were now a thing of the past. Knowing all this, I felt a heavy burden lift itself from off my tired shoulders. I decided that there was nothing more that I wanted or needed now than to lead the rest of my life watching the clouds gently pass by and smiling at the birds chirping high up in the trees. That was how my 'inner' revolution was going to happen. I no longer nursed ambitions more grand than this.
I knew now that I didn't want to change the world any longer, painfully aware that no matter how much I tried, the world's problems would always remain and might even get worse.Why waste whatever remained of my life chasing the mirage of a problem-free world? If one problem were solved through human efforts, a hundred new ones would take its place, sooner or later, I thought to myself as I reflected on the dismal fate of all the many Revolutions the world has witnessed till date, most of them enormously bloody, all being hungrily devoured by their own progeny. I no longer had any illusions about myself as a 'social activist' and crusader for a 'Revolution' that would put an end to the need for all revolutions. If there was indeed a God, I told myself, it was She/It/He who should take care of the world and its ills, and for me to arrogate to myself this responsibility was downright ridiculous. It was too much of an effort, and, at 45, I no longer had the energy for it all. In any case, I knew, if my motives in becoming a 'social activist' twenty-odd years ago were far from altruistic, it was improbable that I could ever sincerely be one. Let those better equipped and more genuinely motivated than me shoulder that task, I said to myself.
I now saw clearly through the hollowness of the revolutionary rhetoric that I was hooked on to for years. Leave alone the whole world or the 'system', I couldn't even change my family and close friends, to bring them to think and behave as I wanted them to. It was quite enough, I realised, like the wise man whose story my friend Raja sent me the other day, if I dreamt of changing just myself in order to become a better, happier, more gentle, compassionate and loving person and to cleanse myself of all the enormous negativity that I've bottled up deep inside. That was really the only, and the best, that I could do. And if everyone else thought that way too, I knew, there would be no need at all to dream of 'Revolution' or of changing others in order to bring about a better world.
When one is active on the ground and interacting with Hindus you get asked all types of questions from why the gods have so many arms to what are christian missionaries upto what's wrong with all religions are the same, why dont we have one holy book ,is yoga hindu or not and many of the issues we are discussing on this group.We know most hindus are not always going to read many books or long articles but to bring those ideas to more people can be done if simplified for them to get a taster and to be directed to the right direction and go a get the right books .
For sometime now we have heard about the Alpha course for christians and non christians ( to convert) uk-england.alpha.org
Some of us even attended it to see how the christians operate and to get ideas so we can work on creating our own version being the Dharma Course based around Hinduism and Hindu issues revolving around a few modules based on sita ram goels work and other authors including Rajivs latest work so at least we can bring some sort of cohesion among hindus on a equal platform to get a general overview of the problems we face to kick start them in the right direction.
It has to be something can be done easily online and probably at some venues in a few hours that even a Hindu housewife could do at home or just attend between school hours. Most hindus are looking for direction and end up more confused than before when they go to wrong sources and people.I come across it all the time.It doesnt matter if the person is in their 70s or just 17 but the problem is the same Its very hard for hindus who want to do something or just have a general interest to find something that gives a simple and easy overview on Hinduism. Further advance course can be created but thats after the basic one can put together first to see the reaction
Anyone who is interested in putting something together to develop something like this then do contact me thanks
03th March 2012 Issue
Why Media is Silent When Hindus are Harassed?
It was a bright afternoon of 14 February in Calcutta. At least 15,000 strong Hindus had assembled defying threats by the police and the Trinamul Congress government at Raja Subodh Mullick Square in central Calcutta to celebrate the 4th anniversary of the Hindu Samhati, the most active organization to protect the Hindus from Muslim atrocities, in West Bengal. The gathering took a firm resolution to carry on the Saffron Flag in the cause of Hindutva in Bengal , the soil of Sri Chaitnya, Swami Vivekananda, Sri Aurovinda, Netaji Subhas Bose and Shyamaprasad Mukherjee.
Since inception, the organization and its President, Tapan Kumar Ghosh, has suffered bitterly during the CPI(M) regime as well as in the hands of the present Trinamul Congress chief minister Mamata Banerjee. Ghosh and his Hindu Samhati were punished because they are opposing Muslim appeasement policy of the Left as well as Mamata’ new government in West Bengal. They were punished because they protected Hindus from the attacks of Muslims in Deganga near Calcutta. They were punished because they speak fearlessly in favor of majority Hindus in West Bengal. Yes, any organization speaking in favor of Hindus and demanding equal rights in West Bengal will be treated as a ‘fanatic Hindu communal organization’ and punished.
So, it was not easy to convene a big Hindu rally at Subodh Mullick Square in central part of Calcutta. However, the Hindu Samhati leaders have obtained permission to hold the rally on February 14 afternoon from Calcutta Municipal Corporation, owner of the park, and the city police. But on the eve of holding the rally, the Calcutta police had suddenly revoked its earlier permission and declared the congregation of Hindus at the park ground illegal. No valid reasons were given by the police while withdrawing earlier permission. Having no other doors open, the Hindu Samhati President Tapan Kumar Ghosh had moved a constitutional writ application before Calcutta High Court seeking direction to the police to allow the assembly of Hindus at the park. Justice Indira Banerjee, who heard the petition of Ghosh, ordered the city police to allow the congregation at the Subodh Mullick Square without hustles.
When about 10,000 strong Hindu supporters of the Hindu Samhati had assembled from all over West Bengal as well as delegates from foreign countries at the square on February 14 and demonstrated Hindu strength and unity, Muslim lover chief minister, Mamata, became furious and asked the police to arrest Hindu Samhati President Tapan Kumar Ghosh immediately. Next day on February 15, the police produced Ghosh, at Alipore Court. The advocates of Hindu Samhati moved the bail petition in favour of Sri Ghosh. The advocates of Hindu Samhati said the rights of Hindus for their congregation and expression are blatantly refuted by the State and its agencies. The alleged charges for inciting communal hatred by Sri Ghosh is also disagreed by the Samhati counsels very prudently.
Like the former CPI(M) chief minister, Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, the present Trinamul Congress chief minister, Mamata Banerjee is equally against the Hindus. Both the two chief ministers of West Bengal believe that the Hindus are ‘tormentors’ and the Muslims are ‘sufferers’. This is evident from the fact that the same Mamata Banerjee’s police and administration have willingly given permission to fanatic Muslim organization ulema-e-hind to hold meeting at the city’s most busy area Esplanade blocking roads and throwing vehicular traffic out of gear the very next day on February 15. The Islamist organization is demanding for a long to ban Hindu Samhati as it is a prime force against Muslim design to capture West Bengal under a broadened corridor of Bangladesh. Arresting Tapan Ghosh, Mamta Banerjee gave a clear message that she is in favor of pro-Islamic Stand.
Sharp Reactions: However, the arrest of Tapan Kumar Ghosh evoked a shock wave all over India and abroad and hundred thousands of websites, blogs and face books were flooded with angry remarks. Swami Tejsananda (VHP) asked, ‘Is practicing Hindu Dharam and assembling to protect Dhrama from the clutches of anti Hindu spirit a sin for the Hindus in West Bengal? Nobody can stop us from regaining our position of Hindus in Bengal. Hindus should be united again without seeing any political colour. I condemn the arrest of Tapan Ghosh vehemently.
Ramesh Bhai Shinde (Hindu Janjagruti Samity) said, ‘We vehemently protest the illegitimate arrest of Sri Tapan Ghosh. We, the Hindus have the fundamental rights to assemble to place our demands and share our agony and anxieties coming to us by some parts to harm the Hindu society.
Acharya Yogesh Shastri (Arya Samaj) remarked, ‘It is very much unfortunate that Hindu functions are under gradual cease in Paschim Banga. Hindu Rights are being infringed in the name of Parivartan (CHANGE). Last year, Mamata Banerjee grossly violated Calcutta High Court Order in connection with total ban on cow slaughter in West Bengal. Ignoring that Court Order, Mamta Banerjee hurts the Hindu sentiment.
Swami Pradiptanandaji Maharaj (Bharat Sevashram Sangha) said, ‘I condemn the conspiracy of arresting Tapan Kumar Ghosh, the President of Hindu Samhati with a strong feeling of persecution of Hindus in West Bengal. It is very much unfortunate that the Hindus of Bengal are denied to perform their religious and social programmes. In this connection, the role of the media is very disappointing. If some eight or ten Muslim Ulemas are demanding anything, the entire media flash it in TV, Radio, News Papers. But, when some 10 to 15 thousand supporters of Hindu Samhati gather every year in Kolkata, the media does not give any importance to it. This malpractice of Media is to be cowed down by forming a strong and alternative Hindu media.
Dr. Radhashyam Brahmachari (Eminent Hindu scholar) said, ‘Only to appease the Muslim minorities who are endangering the future of Bengali Hindus, the present ruling party (Trinamul Congress) is blatantly harassing the Hindus in West Bengal much more than its predecessor Left Front Govt. No political party in West Bengal is doing anything in favour of Hindus.’
Swami Punyalokanandaji Maharaj (Ramakrishna Ashram) said, ‘I am very much shocked to hear the unnecessary arrest of Tapanda. We see that in every places the rights of Hindus for holding religious functions are being challenged in West Bengal by the present political powers. Bharatvarsha is a land of Sanatana Dharma. If the practice of Sanatana Dharma and public meeting of Hindus are prohibited here, it is very shameful and unfortunate than anything.
CAAMB, Kolkata in a statement said, ‘We are worried to hear that Shri Tapan Ghosh, leader of Hindu Sanhati has been arrested after the annual day meeting at Subodh Mullik Square in Kolkata on 14 February 2012. We have seen that a few weeks ago some Muslim organisations including a MLA from ruling party threatened to cause violence if Talsima Nasrin’s book is released in Kolkta Book Fair. On 15th February, another Muslim organisation organised a rally at the heart of Kolkata and the Chief Minister spoke to the leader at the rally on phone. As a human rights organisation we are worried that this is not a good sign for democracy and if this continues, the existence of West Bengal as a democratic pluralistic society is under threat.’
Other attempts of Mamata to please Muslims: It may be mentioned that Mamata joined the BJP led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) ministry in 1999 as the Indian Railway Minister. In Indian politics, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is known as a political party of the Hindus. As soon as Mamata could that she is earning displeasure of the Muslims through her joining the NDA ministry, she immediately decided to relinquish her post as the railway minister, to please the Muslims.
In this regard a report was published in The Times of India on September 7, 2007, “With an eye firmly on a mid-term election , Trinamul chief Mamata Banerjee has for all purposes stepped out of the BJP led National Democratic Alliance (NDA). In an all out effort to woo minority support, she explained that her party was forced to go along with NDA because it was not possible for Trinamul Congress to sit with CPM”.
It is now well known that Muslim women are most oppressed by Islam and, for past 2 decades, the courageous Bangladeshi authoress Taslima Nasrin is fighting to free the Muslim women from the most vicious patriarchal torture machine called Islam. Naturally, she became the victim of extremely right and fanatic Imams, Moulavis and Mullahs of Bangladesh, who considered her writings blasphemous and, as the ultimate result, she had to leave Bangladesh and live in exile in foreign countries.
In 2007, she came to India and expressed her desire to stay in Calcutta permanently and in response to her appeal, the Indian government offered her extended visa. This enraged the fanatic mullahs of India. Imam Barkati of the Tipu Sultan Mosque in Kolkata declared an award of Rs 500,000 for the assassinator of Taslima. As a woman, Mamata should have stood by Taslima and fight for her staying in Kolkata. But blinded by the politics of Muslim appeasement and the lust for becoming the chief minister of West Bengal, she supported the demand of the Muslim fanatics for deporting Taslima from India. According to a report appeared in the Bengali daily Ananda Bazar Patrika on September 7, 2007, the Trinamul Party chief supported the demand of the Muslims to deport the Bangladeshi writer, Taslima Nasrin for her so called anti-Islamic writings.
Conclusion: On 20th May, 2011, the swearing in ceremony of Mamata as the 11th chief minister of WB was held at the Raj Bhavan (the official residence of the Governor of West Bengal). After the ceremony was over, Mamata decided to go to the Writers’ Building on foot. Hundreds thousands of jubilant Hindu supporters, who accompanied her, were unaware about the looting, beating, killing, torching of Hindu shops, houses and temples, sexual assault of Hindu women in Deganga near Calcutta for four consecutive days, from 6 to 9 September, 2010. But their beloved Trinamul leader could not find time to visit the place and console the oppressed Hindus. Most importantly, all these attacks were planned and perpetrated under the guidance of the local Trinamul Congress MP Haji Nurul Islam. In reality, the poll victory of Trinamul Congress is the victory of the fanatic Mullahs in West Bengal. The victory will only embolden the Muslims to grab Hindu property and rape Hindu women in future. In fact, Mamata’s Muslim appeasement would lead to an advancement of Islamization of West Bengal.
In this context, Rabindranath Tagore once observed, “The Muslims cannot confine their patriotism to any one country. I had frankly asked the Muslims whether in the event of any Mohammedan power invading India, would they (Muslims) stand side by side with their Hindu neighbors to defend their common land or join the invaders. I was not satisfied with the reply I have obtained from them….. Even such a man as Mr. Mohammed Ali (one of the famous Ali brothers, the leaders of the Khilafat Movement) has declared that under no circumstances is it permissible for any Mohammedan, whatever be his country (of origin), to stand against any Mohammedan”.
YOU CANNOT TERM IT BARBARIC ACT .
STILL MEDIA AND COWARD POLITICIANS KEEP SILENCE.
THAT IS THE FATE OF ALL RELIGIONS AND CIVILIZATIONS OTHER THAN ISLAM
Are they now completely out of mind? To prove the superiority of their religion they destroy pre-islamic cultural items in museums...Must have been some followers of the religion of peace:
>Maldives Museum Reopens MinusSmashed Hindu Images
>By KRISHAN FRANCIS Associated Press
>COLOMBO, Sri Lanka February 14, 2012
>The Maldives' national museum
>reopened Tuesday without some of its most valuable exhibits a week after a mob of suspected religious extremists smashed images from the pre-Islamic era of this Indian Ocean archipelago.
>About 35 exhibits — mostly images of Buddha and Hindu gods were destroyed. Some of the artifacts dated to thesixth century, museum director Ali Waheed said.
>Waheed says 99 percent of the Maldives' pre-Islamic artifacts from before the 12th century, when mostinhabitants were Buddhists or Hindus, were destroyed.
>"Some of the pieces can be put together but mostly they are made of sandstone, coral and limestone, and theyare reduced to powder," he said.
>The mob of suspected Muslim extremists attacked the museum during the Maldives' unfolding political crisis. The country has seen weeks of protests and last week President Mohamed Nasheedstepped down. He later said he was forced to resign at gunpoint.
>AP- Ismail Ashraf, assistant curatorpoints at a... View Full Caption
>Ismail Ashraf, assistant curator points at a 12th century pre-Islamic artifact at the Maldives national museum in Male, Maldives, Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2012. The museum is reopening without some of its most valuable exhibits a week after a mob of suspected religious extremists smashed images from the pre-Islamic era of this Indian Ocean archipelago. The mob of apparent Muslim extremists attacked the museum during the Maldives' unfolding political crisis. The country has seen weeks of protests and last week the president stepped down. He later said he was forcedto resign at gunpoint. .(AP Photo/ Gemunu Amarasinghe) Close
>The attack was the latest blow tothe island nation that is best known as a high-end tourist destination.
>"We are very sad. This is the physical and archaeological evidence of the country, we have nothing to show(of the pre-Islamic history)," Waheed said.The items had been preserved since the museum opened in 1952. Waheed said the the attackers did not understand that the museum exhibits were not promoting other religions in this Muslimcountry.
>Practicing or preaching any religion other than Islam is prohibited by the Maldives constitution, and there havebeen increasing demands for conservative Muslim policies to be implemented.
>Last year, a mob destroyed a monument given by Pakistan marking a South Asian summit with an engraved image of the Buddha in it. Pakistan is an Islamic republic that also has a Buddhisthistory.There have been strong objections to former president Nasheed's ties with Israel and selling alcohol outside touristresorts.
>But Maldives' new President MohammedWaheed Hassan rejected claims of rising Muslim extremism in the country."I don't tolerate it and it is not acceptable at all," he told reporters last week after the museum attack. "I can assure you there is no extremist violent action in thiscountry."
>Police spokesman Ahmed Shyam said investigations are ongoing into the museum attack, but no one has beenarrested.
We have our duty towards our motherland. What are we doing? What can we do? NRIs can make a huge difference in this fight of Dharma.
Bhaiyon and Bahano, CHALO Haridwar from March 28 to April 3, 2012 for a 7-Day camp with Pujya Swamiji and be his Hanumans. Free boarding, lodging and food.
ATTENTION ! LOOK WHAT HAPPENS WHEN PSEUDO-SECULARISTS AND COMMUNISTS KEEP SILENT .
LOOK WHEN COWARDS IN GOVERNMENTS OF INDIA AND ITS MEDIA LOOK THE OTHER WAY ON
PERSECUTION OF HINDUS.
Ms. Beauty Rani Sarkar (20) a destitute Hindu Minority College Girl in Bangladesh could not be traced till writing of this report.
Mr. Sontosh Kumar Sarkar - father of Ms. Beauty Rani Sarkar approached Bangladesh Minority Watch (BDMW) for rescue of their daughter who was kidnapped on 31.01.2012 at about 09.00 hours in the morning. Mr. Nitish submitted an allegation of such incident of kidnapping at Ashulia Police station on 31.02.l2012 by a general diary number 02 dated 31.01.2012 but the Officer in Charge of Ashulia Police station did not take any initiative for rescue of the victim girl. As per version of legal guardian Ms. Beauty Sarkar was kidnapped while she was waiting for bus at Nabigonj Bus stand on 31.01.2012 by some Muslim perpetrators by a Micro Bus.
Thereafter finding no other alternative Mr. Nitish Kumar Sarkar -brother of victim lodged First information report (FIR) at Ashulia Police station on 03.02.2012 ( Case No. 08 dated 03.02.12 under section 7/30 of Nari-O-Shishu Nirjaton Ain,2003) against five perpetrators namely 1) Mohammad Ferdous (25) son of Md. Faridur Rahman, 2) Mohammad Shippon (35), 3) Mohammad Riponn (28) sons all Momtazuddin, 4) Mohammad Mokbul Hossain (27) and 5) Mohammad Sayeem (22) son of Hafizur Rahman, all of Goai Bari, P.S. Ashulia, District-Dhaka.
I, on behalf of Bangladesh Minority Watch (BDMW) along with our volunteer Mr. Kazal Chowdhury visited the place of occurrence at Ashulia on 13th of January,2012, we also met with Officer in charge of Ashulia police station, Local Chairman of the Union Parishad and also local people to know how Ms.Beauty Rani was kidnapped. During our fact finding investigation one Sub Inspectors of police from Ashulia Police station accompanied us and tried to communicate with the relatives of the perpetrators. But at that time no perpetrators nor their relatives were present.
Name of the Victim : Ms. Beauty Sarkar (20) Second year Student of Savar University College in Social Science Department Name of the father : Mr. Sontosh Kumar Sarkar ( Telephone Number +01914549482) Age of the victim : 20 years Permanent Home of victim : Village - Goail Bari, P.S., Ashulia, District- Dhaka, Bangladesh. Date of kidnapping : 31.01.2012 Religion of the victim : Hinduism Case Number and date : Ashulia P.S. case No. 08 dated 03.02.2012 under section 7/30 of Nari-O-Shishu Nirjaton Ain,2003
Name of the perpetrators :
1) Mohammad Ferdous (25) son of Md. Faridur Rahman,
2) Mohammad Shippon (35),
3) Mohammad Riponn (28) sons all Momtazuddin,
4) Mohammad Mokbul Hossain (27) and
5) Mohammad Sayeem (22) son of Hafizur Rahman, all of Goai Bari, P.S. Ashulia, District-Dhaka.
Remarks : Bangladesh Minority Watch (BDMW) is concerned about the recent kidnapping of minority college girl Ms.Beauty Sarkar for her safety and security. The perpetrators should be arrested and brought to book as per law of the land.
Necessary picture of the victim and the copies of FIR are annexed herewith for your kind necessary urgent action:
Through : Adv.Rabindra Ghosh
Founder President-Bangladesh Minority Watch (BDMW)
12, K.M. Das Lane, Tikatully, Bholagiri Trust, Sutrapur P.S.,Dhaka, Bangladesh.
ABDUCTION OF HELPLESS HINDUS BY MUSLIMS -
DOES IT GIVE PRIDE TO HINDUS ?
OTHERWISE WHY THE FIREBRAND HINDU LEADERS FIGHTING EVEN FOR
APPEASEMENT OF MUSLIMS WITH UNCONSTITUTIONAL FAVORS KEEP SILENCE ?
Ms.Moina Kumari (14) Minority Hindu school girl abducted and recovered after
four months BDMW traced the victim girl from the house of Muslim abductor
at Mirzapur Upazila of Tangail District of Bangladesh with the help of
Police, perpetrators assaulted mother of the victim and Adv. Rabindra Ghosh
who went to recover victim from the possession of perpetrators:
Name of the victim girl: Ms. Moina Kumari (14) Student of Class VII
Taktarchala Secondary High School at Shakipur, Tangail –Bangladesh.
Name of the father : Moloy Barman
Name of the mother : Ms. Sabitri Barman
Permanent House of victim : Village - Bhallia Chandi, P.S Jhenaigati, District: Sherpur.
Religion of the victim : Hindu (Adibashi)
Date of birth of victim : 28.02.1999
Date of kidnapping : 06.09.2011 at 12 p.m.
Date of filing of complain : 07.09.2011 ( G.D. Number -235 dated 07.09.2011)
Names of perpetrators : 1) Minhazuddin (26),
2) Mohammad Afazuddin
3)
Anowara Begum and
4) Wajuddin – All of Tarafpur, P.S. Mirzapur, District, Tangail.
Date of investigation : 07.01.2012
Ms. Sabitri Barman (36) mother of victim girl requested Bangladesh Minority
Watch to accord legal assistance to trace out her minor daughter who was
kidnapped on 06.09.2011 by some Muslim perpetrators on way to her school
who was studying in Class VII. Initially on the date of occurrence on
06.09.2011 while the victim girl did not return to her mother at the
residence of Mr. Ballav Chandra Sarkar at village –Taktarchala of Shakipur
Upazila of Tangail District. Mr. Ballav Chandra Sarkar made a general diary
entry Number 235 dated 07.09.2011 at police station. But the police
neglected to recover the victim girl despite repeated requests.
BDMW proceeded at the spot along with mother of the victim on receipt of
information on 7th January, 12 that some Muslim perpetrators with bad
intention kept the victim girl concealed at their house at village Tarafpur
, P.S. Mirzapur, District : Tangail with two police constables. BDMW
traced the victim girl from the house of accused –Minhazuddin and we tried
to accompany the victim girl but the local Muslims numbering about 100
surrounded our vehicle and obstructed. We have been attacked by the
perpetrator assaulting mother of the victim. Some Muslim mob also tried to
snatch away our video camera. Finding no other alternative I requested the
Superintendent of Police, Tangail over phone to save us from obstructions
and accordingly more armed police was deployed at the spot and recovered
the victim and took her with the principal accused –Minhazuddin at Shakipur
police station. I found the police not active to help recovery of the
victim girl.
We again appeared at Shakipur police station with the victim and the
principal accused –Minhazuddin. Ms. Sabitri Barman lodged First information
report (F.I.R) at Shakipur police station on 07.01.2012 under section 7/30
of Nari-O-Shishu Nirjatan Ain, 2003 against four perpetrators responsible
for kidnapping and forceful conversion to Islam.
Police sent the victim girl along with the principal perpetrator at the
court of Chief Judicial Magistrate, Tangail. Chief Judicial Magistrate sent
the perpetrator to jail custody and the victim was sent to Medical
examination at Mymensingh Medical College.
Remarks : Due to negligence of police the victim girl could not be
recovered till 07.01.2012 although G.D. Entry was made at Shakipur Police
station soon after kidnapping of victim. Even police also neglected to
accord BDMW necessary help in this regard. BDMW is very much concerned at
the incident of such abduction and forceful conversion of minority
adolescent girl. More perpetrators should be arrested and the kidnappers
responsible for abduction should be punished as per law of the land.
Necessary pictures, copy of FIR and the news clippings are attached
herewith for your kind information and necessary action.
The news of recovery has been published in the national daily "Samakal"
dated 9th January,2012
SHE IS A HINDU CLLEGE GIRL - SHE IS KIDNAPPED
BY MUSLIMS
THE CRIMINALS KNOW THEIR COMMUNITY SUPPORTS IT AND
HINDUS IN INDIA AND WORLDWIDE ARE TO MEEK AND FEARFUL TO CONFRONT IT
MY SISTER IFYOU ARE A HINDU BENGALI THEN CAN YOU EXPECT A SUPER
EMINENT HUMANITARIAN LIKE AMARTYA SEN OR SUNIL GANGULY
OR MAMATA BANERJEE OR BUDHDDEV BHATTACHARJEE OR APARNA SEN OR SOUMITRA
CAHTTERJEE TO COME TO TALK FOR YOU IN YOUR DISTRESS?
WILL ANY HINDU ZILLIONAIRE OR INTELLECTUAL TAKE A STAND LIKE THE
MUSLIM,CHRISTIAN AND JEWS .? WISH LUCK.
WILL ANY KOLKATA OR INDIA MEDIA PRINT ANYTHING ABOUT THE MUSLIM
CRIMINALS ? . RATHER THEY WILL SEND THE GORY NEWS
OF RAPE AND ABDUCTION OF HINDU WOMEN TO COLD DARK CHAMBER.
Bangladesh Minority Watch (BDMW) received information that Ms. Binapanni
Sinha (20) an student of Agricultural University of Sylhet on 3rd
February,2012.
Mr. Surendra Kumar Sinha-father of the victim informed us that her college
going daughter was going to stay at her Suhasini Das Hostel at Sylhet in
Room No.310. She informed her father that she had already reached Sylhet on
3srd of February,2010, but after that she was untraceable since then.
Father of the victim made general diary at Komolgonj police station being
general diary No.151 dated 04.02.2012 for tracing out the victim girl. But
till wring this report the victim could not be traced by police.
Bangladesh Minority Watch (BDMW) and GHRD is much concerned about the
whereabouts of the victim and we demand immediate arrest of the
perpetrators and to recover the girl immediately.
Bangladesh Minority Watch (BDMW) received information that some
perpetrators with religiously motivated wearing musk and equipped with
deadly weaons attacked on Sarwasati Devi on 27th of January,2012 in the
evening, destroyed the Hindu deity and desecrated. As a result of such
abrupt attack some goods procured for puja purpose has also been destroyed.
This incident took place at Moshang Secondary School premises within
Uzirpur Upazila of Barisal district.
Due to such unfortunate activities on the part of perpetrators the Minority
Hindu communities were in great anxiety.
In this connection Mr. Sudhir Ranjan Halder - Head Master of Moshang
Secondary High School lodged general diary instead of filing first
information report (FIR) at Uzirpur police station. But police could not
arrest anybody till writing of this report.
The news has been published in the national daily "Jugantor" dated 29th
January,12.
Australia says NO - Second time she has done this!
Australian Prime Minister does it again!
This woman should be appointed Queen of the World. Truer
words have never been spoken.
Prime Minister Julia Gillard- Australia
Muslims who want to live under Islamic Sharia law were told on
Wednesday to get out of Australia , as the government targeted
radicals in a bid to head off potential terror attacks.
Separately, Gillard angered some Australian Muslims on Wednesday
by saying she supported spy agencies monitoring the nation's mosques.
Quote:
'IMMIGRANTS, NOT AUSTRALIANS, MUST ADAPT. Take It Or Leave It.
I am tired of this nation worrying about whether we are
offending some individual or their culture. Since the terrorist
attacks on Bali , we have experienced a surge in patriotism by the
majority of Australians.'
'This culture has been developed over two centuries of
struggles, trials and victories by millions of men and women who have
sought freedom'
'We speak mainly ENGLISH, not Spanish, Lebanese, Arabic,
Chinese, Japanese, Russian, or any other language. Therefore, if you
wish to become part of our society ... Learn the language!'
'Most Australians believe in God. This is not some Christian,
right wing, political push, but a fact, because Christian men and
women, on Christian principles, founded this nation, and this is
clearly documented. It is certainly appropriate to display it on the
walls of our schools. If God offends you, then I suggest you consider
another part of the world as your new home, because God is part of our
culture.'
'We will accept your beliefs, and will not question why. All we
ask is that you accept ours, and live in harmony and peaceful
enjoyment with us.'
'This is OUR COUNTRY, OUR LAND, and OUR LIFESTYLE, and we will
allow you every opportunity to enjoy all this. But once you are done
complaining, whining, and griping about Our Flag, Our Pledge, Our
Christian beliefs, or Our Way of Life, I highly encourage you take
advantage of one other great Australian freedom, 'THE RIGHT TO
LEAVE'.'
'If you aren't happy here then LEAVE. We didn't force you to
come here. You asked to be here. So accept the country YOU accepted.'
Maybe if we circulate this amongst ourselves in Canada & USA ,
WE will find the courage to start speaking and voicing the same
truths.
If you agree please SEND THIS ON and ON, to as many people as you know.
HOW CAN HINDUS OVERCOME THESE FRAILTIES
" Despite written requests and instructions from me, in almost every place
in India this aspect has been consistently disappointing. They lack
aesthetic appreciation of rigor in this regard and do it very carelessly.) "
"Same disappointment on likely video quality. This time audio feed from
mike was there, but they did not bring a light, and what i saw later was a
dim image quality. Again lots of silly excuses later and passing the buck
to one another."
Perhaps, therein lies the clue as to why somewhere along the line, the
Abrahmic faiths began to exert political and psychological dominance?
This common thread - the sloppiness, the lack of appreciation for rigor -
running throughout Rajiv-ji's several meetings in India should form the
subject of his next book. How did we get to this state from the logical
rigor and precision of early practitioners, rishis, scientists, etc.? What
brought this about?
Union Law Minister Offending Bharat - Dr Pravin Togadia
*VHP Press Release*
*Gwalior*, February 10, 2012*
In an election public meeting in Azamgad- Uttar Pradesh, the Union Minister
of Law Salman Khursheed has crossed all limits in his constant endeavour to
offend the majority of Bharat. Criticizing Salman Khursheed’s remarks about
Batla House encounter, Dr Pravin Togadia, International Working President
of VHP said, “Salman Khursheed claims that the encounter was fake, the govt
was going to take action against it but kept quiet due to election & Sonia
Gandhi’s eyes were full of tears seeing the photographs of the encounter
etc. To win Azamgad seat & dreaming of winning Uttar Pradesh election to
save Rahul Gandhi’s image, people like Salman Khursheed are going to the
extent of offending Bharat, our brave Army & Police. The PM cries seeing
pregnant wife of Dr Haneef who was caught by Australia, PM also cries &
begs to Kuwait when a Muslim man is punished with removal of his eyes per
their own law, now Khursheed claims that Sonia Gandhi cried seeing dead
Jehadis in Batla House encounter! Tears of the Govt representatives flow
freely only for Muslims & never for Sanaatani Hindus, Sikhs, Jains,
Buddhists, Tribals, OBCs, SCs & others! Neither PM, nor Soniaji nor Salman
Khursheed or anyone ever cried for the thousands of army men & police
killed at the hands of Jehadis in Kashmir, Assam, Mumbai, Delhi or at the
hands of Naxals!
Now the time has come for all patriotic & truly nationalist citizens of
Bharat to democratically stand up against such anti-national remarks &
actions – be it elections or by democratic agitations. The same Salman
Khursheed – Bharat’s sitting Law minister promised in his wife’s election
campaign 9% snatching from OBC quota for Muslims & now like a serial
offender he again insults Bharat & the late police officer who was rewarded
for his bravery in Batla house for the same encounter. If Salman Khursheed,
as a Law Minister is against his own Govt’s decision that the Batla House
encounter was a brave deed by the police, then he has no right to be in the
govt neither as a Law Minister nor even as an M.P. of Bharat. Those who
have any sympathy towards Jehadis have no place in the democracy. Thousands
of innocent Indians were brutally killed & maimed by Jehadi attacks
from Delhi to Mumbai & Bengaluru to many places. But neither Salman
Khursheed nor his superiors shown any sympathy for the victims, instead,
they are siding with the Jehadis! After a conspiracy to snatch all castes’
Hindus’ Roti, Education, Employment, Bank Loans to be given to Muslims, now
the govt is systematically moving towards persecuting majority of Bharat to
appease Muslims. Muslim League did the same at the independence time &
Bharat was forced into partition. Now this entire ‘I am with Jehadis; NOT
with Bharat’ gang is breaking Bharat again. VHP condemns all these efforts
& appeals all to protest against this behaviour democratically
KOLKATS BOOK FAIR - ISLAMIC OR FREE MIND?
PUBLICATION OF FEARLESS WRITER TASLIMA NASREEN WAS BANNED .
MADRASSA REVIVAL ENVIRON WAS ENCOUARAGED .
KOLKATA INTELLECTUALS KNEEL DOWN AND OBEY THE DIKTAT OF ISLAMIC
HOOLIGANS.
Kolkata Book Fair authority, a great mascot of Bengali
culture, stopped release of Taslima Nasrin's latest book on 1 February
2012. A Islamic organisation warned them not to allow the book's
release and the great Kolkata's intellectuals - left, right all bowed
down to stop the release. CAAMB is shocked and expresses its worst
indignation for it.
BUT IT IS ONLY BEGINNING. SEE THE PHOTOS ATTACHED.
The Kolkata Book Fair looked like a medieval Madrasa in Middle East
as an open Stall (No 101) in front of the entrance was full of kids
wearing Islamic uniforms and tiny girls clad in total burkha. The
future of Kolkta Book Fair was revealed.
SILENCE IS NOT MODERATION
*By Sam Harris*
Editor: *In a** **recent Wall Street Journal
article
terrorism analyst Evan Kohlmann said that anti-Muslim rhetoric in America
is bad news for anti-terrorism efforts: “We are handing al Qaeda a
propaganda coup, an absolute propaganda coup.”*
*By many accounts, the man who could blunt the power of that coup is Imam
Feisal Abdul Rauf, the religious leader behind the planned Islamic Center
near Ground Zero. The imam has been surprisingly mum on the issue while he
travels in the Middle East. What message of faith could he offer to Muslims
and non-Muslims alike that could turn this moment of division into a time
of healing?*
As many have pointed out, the controversy over the “ground zero mosque” is
a false one. The project is legal to build, and it should remain legal.
That does not mean, however, that any concern about building a mosque so
close to ground zero is synonymous with bigotry. The true scandal here is
that Muslim moderates have been so abysmally lacking in candor about the
nature of their faith and so slow to disavow its genuine (and growing)
pathologies—leading perfectly sane and tolerant people to worry whether
Muslim moderation even exists.
Despite his past equivocations on this issue, Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf could
dispel these fears in a single paragraph:
“Like all decent people, I am horrified by much that goes on in the name of
‘Islam,’ and I consider it a duty of all moderate Muslims to recognize that
many of the doctrines espoused in the Qur’an and hadith present some unique
liabilities at this moment in history. Our traditional ideas about
martyrdom, jihad, blasphemy, apostasy, and the status of women must be
abandoned, as they are proving disastrous in the 21st century. Many of
Islam’s critics have fully justified concerns about the state of discourse
in parts of the Muslim world—where it is a tissue of conspiracy theories,
genocidal ravings regarding the Jews, and the most abject, triumphalist
fantasies about conquering the world for the glory of Allah. While the
scriptures of Judaism and Christianity also contain terrible passages, it
has been many centuries since they truly informed the mainstream faith.
Hence, we do not tend to see vast numbers of Jews and Christians calling
for the murder of apostates today. This is not true of Islam, and there is
simply no honest way of denying this shocking disparity. We are members of
a faith community that appears more concerned about harmless cartoons than
about the daily atrocities committed in its name—and no one suffers from
this stupidity and barbarism more than our fellow Muslims. Islam must grow
up. And Muslim moderates like ourselves must be the first to defend the
rights of novelists, cartoonists, and public intellectuals to criticize all
religious faiths, including our own.”
These are the sorts of sentiments that should be the litmus test for Muslim
moderation. Find an imam who will speak this way, and gather followers who
think this way, and I’ll volunteer to cut the ribbon on his mosque in lower
Manhattan.
Regards
SB
28th January 2012 Issue
Was the US Senate Attack on Hinduism an isolated Instance?
Article by: Rajiv Malhotra, USINPAC Leadership Committee Member
The US Senate has a long tradition of opening with Bible prayers, occasionally extending a symbolic courtesy to prayers of other faiths. For the first time in its history a Hindu priest was invited to conduct the opening prayer. Indian-Americans, having contributed immensely to America, naturally felt proud to be afforded equal respect alongside other American religions. But the Hindu prayer was attacked as an “abomination” by hate-filled heckling that resulted from an organized mobilization by civic groups such as the American Family Association attempting, to demonize Hinduism as heathen, immoral and dangerously un-American. The President of the Family Research Council mobilized Americans to block the Hindu priest, saying, “There is no historic connection between America and the polytheistic creed of Hinduism.” David Barton, one of the scholars informing the attackers, declared that Hinduism was “not a religion that has produced great things in the world," citing social conditions in India as proof of its primitiveness.
The denigration of Hinduism influences the way Americans relate to Indians. Andrew Rotter, an American historian, in his book on the US foreign policy’s tilt against India and towards Pakistan during the Nehru era, cites declassified documents revealing US presidents’ and diplomats’ suspicions of Hinduism. They regarded “Hindu India” as lacking morality and integrity, and its “grotesque images” reminded them of previous pagan faiths conquered by Christians, such as Native Americans. American ideas about India are intertwined with stereotypes about Hinduism.
There are domestic implications concerning the diaspora as well. The great American meritocracy has enabled us to succeed as individuals, and many Indians see American Jews as a role model. But it took the Jews over half a century of organized lobbying and litigation by organizations such as the Anti-Defamation League, to establish their religious identity in public life. The lesson Jews had learnt in the European Holocaust was that their individual success could easily be used against them if their civilizational identity was defamed. Indians also faced hate crimes in New Jersey when the Dotbusters targeted Hindus. Recent rants by Pat Buchanan and Lou Dobbs generate xenophobia against Indians for “stealing” jobs from “real” (i.e. white Judeo-Christian) Americans. As Indian-Americans stand out for their individual success, while US economic standards deteriorate, we may one day regret having neglected the projection of a positive civilizational image. Unlike many other ethnic and religious groups, we have not adequately engaged US universities, schools, media and think-tanks deeper than the pop culture layer of cuisine, Bollywood and fashions. On the contrary, many Indian writers have fed the “caste, cows, curry” images of India.
Hindu-Americans need to be educated on the history of American public religion and the “American way” of claiming one’s religious identity across the spectrum of liberals and conservatives. In fact, even liberal Americans have always been a very Christian people. Hilary Clinton’s devout Christianity has shaped her liberalism. She told New York Times that her Methodist faith has been “a huge part of who I am, and how I have seen the world and what I believe in, and what I have tried to do in my life.” She carries a Bible on her campaign travels and confidently quotes from St. Augustine, Thomas Aquinas and John Wesley, the father of Methodism. Another liberal, Barak Obama, proudly projects his Christianity and delivers many of his key campaign speeches before church congregations. It comes as a surprise to many secular Indians that the very liberal President Jimmy Carter describes himself as a Bible evangelist, and asserts that his Christian faith provided the moral compass to guide his presidency.
Liberalism in America is about egalitarian economic and race policies, and is not a rejection or even a departure from the nation’s majority religion, i.e. Christianity. The equivalent scenario would be for India’s CPM leaders (the liberal/left equivalent of Obama, Clinton and Carter) to quote Hindu sacred texts and deliver campaign speeches in major Hindu temples. While American labor unions have always been very deeply rooted in Christianity, India’s labor unions are encouraged to discard the Hindu identity. Unlike in Europe, American public life has never abandoned its deep rooted Christian foundations. America’s separation of state and church affects only formal institutions, and does not imply de-Christianizing the leadership or the national ethos.
Indian intellectuals have misunderstood America’s Christian psyche because the Indian notion of secularism in India is very different to that of the Amerrican. Indian secularism requires distancing from the majority religion, i.e. Hinduism, by one or more of the following ways: by espousing a “generic spirituality” without any specific religious identity, by condemning any Hindu identity as a mark of communalism with BJP links, or by explicitly blaming Hinduism for all sorts of human rights problems. The equivalent situation would be to blame the Bible for all the US abuses in Guantanamo and in its domestic society, and to de-Christianize America into a sort of generic spirituality. While Hinduism, like all other world religions, does have social problems, it also has internally generated reformations, as well as immense resources to deal with the human condition.
Unraveling this requires understanding Hinduphobia’s nexus in the American academy and seminaries. This is the subject of a well-researched eye-opening new book, titled, Invading the Sacred: An analysis of Hinduism Studies in America. (See: www.invadingthesacred.com for details.) The book exposes influential scholars who have disparaged the Bhagavad Gita as “a dishonest book”; declared Ganesha’s trunk a “limp phallus”; classified the Hindu Devi as the “mother with a penis” and Shiva as “a notorious womanizer” who incites violence in India; pronounced Sri Ramakrishna a pedophile who sexually molested the young Swami Vivekananda; condemned Indian mothers as being less loving of their children than white women; and interpreted the bindi as a drop of menstrual fluid and the “ha” in sacred mantras as a woman’s sound during orgasm. To understand the hatred spewed at us by the Senate hecklers one needs to understand the systemic creation and distribution of such one-sided “data” by an army of “scholars” whose mission is to bolster the image of Hinduism as a danger to the American way of life.
Hindu Americans Appalled By Rick Santorum's Bigotry
Washington, D.C. (January 23, 2012) - Hindu Americans are appalled by the recent comments made by Republican presidential candidate and former Senator of Pennsylvania, Rick Santorum, on the eve of last Saturday’s South Carolina primary, according to the Hindu American Foundation (HAF). While speaking to a town hall audience, Santorum said that the concept of equality did not come from Islam or “Eastern religions,” but rather from the “God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.”
Leaders of HAF that had previously worked with Santorum when he served as Senator and even recognized his past work on human rights, were outraged by Santorum’s remarks.
"Sen. Santorum’s presidential campaign is now playing to the lowest common denominator of religious bigotry and prejudice by attacking Eastern religions and Islam,” said Aseem Shukla, M.D., Co-Founder and Board Member of HAF. “His comments not only demonstrate a disregard for America’s great history of pluralism and religious diversity, but also show a profound ignorance of the teachings of Dharma spiritual traditions, such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism.”
Santorum who addressed a crowd of over 200 people at the Clock Restaurant in the small town of Boiling Springs, further declared that Americans should live “responsibly in conforming with God’s laws,” since their rights and equality come from God.
"For Mr. Santorum to present himself as a ‘true conservative’ is to defame the conservative movement that should never allow itself to be conflated with his intolerant message," added Shukla.
Despite his last-minute appeals to South Carolina voters, the former Pennsylvania Senator finished in third place with 17% of the vote, behind both Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich, who received 27.8% and 40.4% respectively.
"Hinduism, the world’s oldest spiritual tradition, has long advanced the concept of equality that transcends humanity and is inclusive of the entire creation that is a manifestation of an immanent and omnipotent God,” said Jay Kansara, HAF’s DC-based Associate Director. “Mr. Santorum would do well in joining the millions of Americans who have actually read and drawn inspiration from the Bhagavad Gita and other Dharmic, or Eastern, scripture before making such divisive and ill-informed statements.”
HAF And SABA-NC Express Outrage Over Hate Crime In San Jose, CA
San Jose, CA (January 11, 2012) - The South Asian Bar Association of Northern California (SABA-NC) has joined the Hindu American Foundation (HAF) to condemn the brutal attack of a 32-year old Hindu man in San Jose, California. According to statements from the victim, identified as Atul Lall, he was assaulted while leaving a Lucky shopping center parking lot on the night of November 21, after picking up groceries for the family’s Thanksgiving dinner. Lall, who has a pre-existing disability, was attacked by a group of three men, who repeatedly punched him, broke his jaw with a tequila bottle, poured alcohol and spit on him, and called him a “terrorist.”
"It is shocking and deplorable that this young man was targeted and singled out based on his ethnic/religious background or perceived background in what appears to be a violent hate crime,” said Samir Kalra, Esq., HAF’s California based Director and Senior Fellow for Human Rights. “This type of bigotry is not only an affront to the Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, South Asian, and Middle Eastern communities, but an egregious attack on the values of American society.”
Following the attack, Lall called 911 and drove himself to the hospital, where he had surgery to repair his jaw. San Jose police, however, did not arrive at the hospital until approximately four hours after the incident. According to an official from the San Jose Police Department, the incident is now being investigated as a hate crime, but no arrests have yet been made in connection with the case. Lall has expressed frustration with the slow pace and lack of progress in the investigation.
"We urge the police to conduct a thorough and expeditious investigation and apprehend those responsible for this deplorable act,” Kalra added.
Lall has still not recovered fully from the attack and continues to require medical treatment for his injuries. He is an industrial designer and a recent graduate of San Jose State University, who’s family immigrated to Silicon Valley from the eastern Indian city of Kolkota over 30 years ago.
"It is extremely disturbing to know that certain individuals actually believe that by threatening and physically harming innocent people they are protecting our country from terrorists,” said Shaamini Babu, Co-President of SABA-NC. “With hate crimes continuing to occur throughout the country, organizations such as SABA-NC and HAF must monitor such incidents and attempt to ensure that law enforcement holds those individuals accountable for their egregious actions. Anyone aware of a hate crime may report it to SABA-NC by calling 1-888-99NO-HAT(E).”
HAF and SABA-NC expressed their sympathy and support directly to the victim and his family and reiterated their hope for a quick resolution to the case. Anyone with information about the incident should call the San Jose Police Department’s assault unit at 408-277-4161.
Those interested in assisting the victim with his ongoing medical expenses can make charitable donations to the “Atul Lall Fund” at any Wells Fargo Bank, or contact Shaamini Babu at president@southasianbar.org for more information.
The below comment says it all. Vinod Moorkoth (Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu)
See how friendly each other are the ppl of Dharmic religions , i mean
Buddhists , Hindus, Jains and Sikhs ... because we always have kept
dharma , karma over faith.Thats the differnce between Abrahamic
religions(Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.) and Dharmik religions.
You can not see this friendlies between Abrahamic religions.
Agree (44)Disagree (3)Recommend (25)
Vietnamese celebrate New Year at Hindu temple
Saibal Dasgupta, TNN | Jan 24, 2012, 02.49PM IST
BEIJING: A flood of Vietnamese are flooding a Hindu temple in Ho Chi
Minh City during the 7-day Tet festival that began last Friday,
according to Indian residents of the city and local Vietnamese.
More than 50,000 people, almost all Buddhists, prayed at the Mariammam
Temple through the day and the entire night during the Vietnamese New
Year on Sunday. The flow continued through Tuesday with several
thousand local people visiting each day.
"The local Vietnamese believe that worshiping at this temple during
the New Year festival will bring good luck," Atul Kumar, a businessmen
who has been in HCMC since the 1980s told TNN.
A visitor from India reported that people were observing both Hindu
and Buddhist rituals to please the gods at the temple.
"There was a scramble of people offering 'prasad' as the main door of
the sanctum sanctorum opened last midnight. There were several
thousand Vietnamese Buddhists. They were all praying with deep
belief," B.S.Subramanyam, a chemical engineer from Chennai told TNN
over phone.
Local Vietnamese are making oaths and offering 'prasad' in the belief
that Hindu gods are generous about granting the wishes of worshippers.
Food offerings are being made to idols of several gods and goddesses
including Lakshmi, Muruga and Ganesha besides the main idol of goddess
Mariammam.
This is among the three Hindu temples in Vietnam's biggest city, which
has less than 1,000 resident Indians. The Mariammam temple draws the
maximum number of local worshippers besides serving as an officially
approved tourist's destination.
All the temples were built nearly 150 years back, when the city had a
thriving community of Indian businessmen dealing in silk and spices.
Vietnamese worshippers applied red vermilion on their foreheads after
making offerings of flowers, coconuts, betel leaf, dried rice and
candles to the different gods at the Mariammam temple.
Many visitors burning three to five feet long incense sticks filling
the temple premises with thick smoke, which is how worshiping takes
place in Vietnamese Buddhist temples.
All the temples were built nearly 150 years back, when the city had a
thriving community of Indian businessmen dealing in silk and spices.
Jews and Hindus: Building A Passage to India
On January 8, 2012, I delivered a rather passionate speech in Pune, India via skype. I was invited to do so by "Youth 4 Panun Kashmir." The organizers were especially interested in my drawing parallels between Israel and India, Jews and Hindus both of whom have, historically, been genocidally exterminated and driven out of their holy places.
I was approached to speak partly because I have written about Islamic terrorism in India before and partly because I recently took up the case of Dr. Subramanian Swamy, an Indian political leader and economist, who was wrongfully dismissed by Harvard after twenty years for daring to take a "controversial" stand against Islamic terrorism in India.
Here is part of what I said. I think it will be of interest to the readers of Israel National News and perhaps to Israeli diplomats who are in touch with their counterparts in India, because Dr. Swamy was the highest ranking Indian leader to first visit Israel in the early 1980s. His visits led to the establishment of an Indian Embassy and an Israeli Embassy in Israel and India.
My speech:
It is my great pleasure to be with you today. Namaste. There should be an international outcry on behalf of the near-extinction of the Hindus of Kashmir, an outcry at the United Nations about the Hindu refugees who were forced to flee Kashmir to escape horrific Islamic violence.
The Indian government is also afraid to confront the growing threat of Islamic terrorism. Now, only two-three thousand Hindu Kashmiris dare to remain; they are in a very dangerous situation.
Why is the world utterly indifferent to this—your—tragedy?
Because today, there is only one refugee group in the world that matters. It is the utterly imaginary group known as the "Palestinians." This group is composed of four to five generations of Egyptians, Syrians, Jordanians, Iraqis, Bedu, and tribes who once lived in the Holy Land under the Romans, the Christians, the Turks, and the British but who themselves claimed no nationality until well after World War Two, when their so-called nationality became the justification for a terrorist campaign against the only Jewish state in the world.
This privileged group of refugees has been living on enormous world sympathy and on UN, European, and American funding; rather, their leaders have been living well on UNRWA funding and using the excess monies to wage a ruthless war against Israel.
The UN does not care about your people, the Hindu Kashmiris, who are facing extinction and who wish to return to peacefully practice their religion where their ancestors once lived and flourished. You are not demanding the exile of Muslim Kashmiris. But, like Jews and other infidel groups, you have been terrorized and persecuted by the intolerant practices of Islamic religious apartheid.
The UN is a morally bankrupt organization of tyrannies. Neither India, nor Israel, nor the United States should be supporting it.
As you may know, Western thought has grown exceedingly "politically correct," but in a way that only George Orwell or Lewis Carroll could fully comprehend. The world is, quite simply, completely upside down and not all "pigs" are equal. The democratic West, Israel, and India all value freedom, a free press, separation of religion and state, and individual rights. This is one of the reasons that free countries are demonized as quintessentially evil. America and Israel are repeatedly accused of imperialism, colonialism, racism, "occupation," and apartheid.
University professors at the most distinguished institutions have absolutely no idea about Islam's long and terrible history of colonialism, imperialism, forced conversion, racism, slavery, and both gender and religious apartheid. Islamic culture practices gender and religious apartheid for which they are never held accountable; Israel is falsely scapegoated as an "apartheid" state when it tries to defend itself from terrorism.
This is something that you in India, especially those of you who are longing to live safely and proudly as Hindus in Kashmir know a good deal about.
We now know that Muslims mass-slaughtered Hindus and buried them in mass graves in the 1990s in Kashmir. As of 1989, Pakistan funded the terrorists to do this. Sixty thousand people died. Kashmiri Hindus fled in droves to India. But they yearn for Kashmir and for Kashmir's holy temples, many of which have been turned into mosques and masjids.
When one tries to talk about Islamic religious and gender apartheid or about Islamic terrorism, one is immediately demonized as an "Islamophobe" and a "racist." One loses one's reputation as a "good" person. One also loses one's friends and employment possibilities.
This has just happened to one of India's true heroes, Dr. Subramanian Swamy at Harvard University. I have recently written about this and will say a few words about this travesty shortly.
Today, a person may find herself on trial for committing the crime of "hate speech" by telling the truth about certain Islamic practices. This is happening all over Europe. One is censored. One begins to censor oneself. Cartoons that offend, criticism, however accurate, that offends…Muslim fundamentalists and their western supporters, are simply not published.
The speech, the illustration, is seen as the "provocation." The violent response is overlooked. Let me be clear. Not all Muslims are terrorists. But today, most terrorists are Muslims. Many Muslims wish to live in peace, yearn for peace. And yet, they do not risk standing up to their Islamist leaders. Those who do are in prison or have already been tortured or murdered.
But let the facts be known. Eighty million Hindus were slaughtered by Muslims in only five centuries. Hindu Temples became mosques and masjids. Even today, Muslims are entering India illegally and carrying along with them both criminals and terrorists.
The Indian government, including the police, is afraid to stop them. The Indian government certainly does not want to fight Muslims and Islamists and terrorists for the sake of Kashmir. They are allowing these illegal immigrants to kidnap, rape, forcibly convert and marry Hindu girls to Muslims. They are also allowing illegal takeovers of land.
Jews—my people—were also persecuted and genocidally exterminated. We lived in exile, mainly suffering, sometimes flourishing, never giving up our longing for the Holy Land. Through religious practices, prayer, and culture, we found the strength to return again and again to our homeland, our roots. We now have the only Jewish state in the world: Israel.
The Muslim Middle East cannot abide an independent Jewish presence, however small, in its midst. Israel has been at war, militarily since its birth in 1948. It is still under existential siege. It is scapegoated for the sins and crimes of the Arab and Muslim aggressors—who are seen as "victims," noble, pure, innocent.
Kashmiri Hindus are not welcome in Kashmir, their legendary birthplace. The numbers of Kashmiri Hindus who are willing to live there under dangerous conditions, has dangerously dwindled. Barbarian Islamists have committed atrocities. The United Nations has not weighed in against this. It is a useless organization of tyrannies. Kashmir is the symbol of Muslim genocide and Muslim imperialism.
That is why Dr. Swamy has called for the Indian government to revoke Article #370. It represents a policy of appeasement towards Muslim Pakistan at the time of partition Memories linger, fester. There is no one who is willing to stand up to Islamic aggression on behalf of Hindus who have the same right to live in Kashmir as Muslims may have.
Dr. Swamy has pointed out the numerous and egregious crimes committed by Muslim fundamentalists in India: terrorism, kidnapping, religious and gender apartheid, colonialism, imperialism, barbarism. Identifying and stating the problem is the first necessary and courageous step in this battle for human justice. "We need to retain and develop a collective mindset to stand against the terrible and increasing threat of Islamic terrorism."
As you may know, the dismissed professor—the shame is entirely Harvard's to bear—I am talking about Dr. Swamy, is also something of a swashbuckling hero. In 1976, Dr. Swamy exposed and challenged corruption in Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's "emergency authoritarian" rule in India and had to flee the country twice as a result. However, due to his campaign Gandhi allowed long overdue elections. In 1972, Swamy lost his professorship at the Indian Institute of Technology, New Delhi, due to his crusade for both academic freedom and for the union rights of non-teaching Institute employees. After twenty years of litigation, the courts reinstated Swamy with full honors.
I am especially glad that Dr. Swamy initiated a normalization of relations between India and Israel. This is an important alliance for many reasons.
I have been told that Dr. Swamy himself is a "Saraswat Brahman". There are estimated 500,000 (50 lakh) Saraswat Brahmans in various parts of India. All of the Saraswat Brahmans originated in Kashmir but were expelled from there by Islamist terrorists during the previous six exoduses.
Dr. Swamy has already publicly declared that as soon as Panun Kashmir is established and the Indian Constitution becomes the law of the land there he is going to return to his roots and reside in Kashmir. Similarly there are many more such Saraswat individuals occupying places of prominence in India who want to return to their roots. However, the impotent policy of the Indian authorities towards the Islamists prevents them from doing so.
In 1987, Dr. Swamy undertook a fast unto death to demand an inquiry into the illegal killing of Muslim youth by the police in Hashimpura, Meerut. The government finally yielded to his demand for which Swamy was hailed by India's minorities.
I am reminded of a quote by Mahatma Gandhi: "One needs to be slow to form convictions, but once formed they must be defended against the heaviest odds."
Similarly, Ben-Gurion said: "Courage is a special kind of knowledge: the knowledge of how to fear what ought to be feared and how not to fear what ought not to be feared."
Rajaneethi: Dr. Subramanian Swamy’s speech and interaction at Vadodara’s MS University (Videos)
Vadodara, 27 January 2012
In Yugaantar youth meet, held at MS University in Vadodara, Gujarat, Dr. Subramanian Swamy delivered a 58-minute long speech and also replied questions asked by the students on various subjects like his DNA article, decentralization and cluster development, reservation system among others. Dr. Swamy’s entire speech and conversation with students has been presented in the videos.
EEF SERVED IN SCHOOL LUNCH TO HINDUS IN BANGLADESH
IN MUSLIM MAJORITY COUNTRIES CONTINUOUS THREATENING , HARASSING OF HINDUS
THEY ARE DENIED EDUCATION AT EVERY STEP , SO THAT THE HINDUS ARE EVEN UNABLE
TO COMMUNICATE WITH THE WIDE WORLD
Beef Served to Hindus: High Court ordered to take action
Daily Ittefaq, 5th January, 2012: High Court (HC) ordered the local administration to take action against those responsible to serve ‘Beef’ in a ceremony to Hindus who does not eat beef according to their religious belief. HC also ordered the responsible to be present in the court on 16th Jan 2012 and explain the facts. According to another daily published from Dhaka, Daily Manab Jamin on 28th Dec 2011 wrote that: Agragami Girls School & College celebrated its 108th inaugural day on 25th Dec 2011 where beef was served to Hindus in disguise of goat and chicken.
This incident caused tension and one advocate Amit DasGupta filed a case in the HC. In another development, Hindus protested the matter and organized a Human Chain.
Tuesday, 10 January 2012author / source : staff reporter Dhaka, Jan 9: Speakers at a seminar said ethnic minorities are deprived of fundamental rights because the Awami’s League’s campaign promise to implement the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) Peace Accord has not taken place. “The frequency of human rights violations hasn’t changed during the government’s tenure,” said eminent academician former and vice chancellor of Jahangirnagar University, Prof. Zillur Rahman Siddiki. As the chief guest, he was addressing the launch of the “Human Rights Report 2011 on Indigenous Peoples in Bangladesh” by Kapaeeng Foundation (KF), a national human rights organization for indigenous peoples in Bangladesh. It was supported by Oxfam-GB and held at the National Planning Academy Auditorium in the capital on Monday. The human rights report said seven people from ethnic minorities were killed and five tribal women were raped in 2011. Thirteen people were arrested without being charged of any offence,
while 30 indigenous people were tortured in 2011. The report also said that three people were killed in communal attacks and 137 houses were gutted. The reports states that indigenous people are one of the most deprived groups in terms being denied economic, social, cultural and political rights. Land-grabbing by the influential mainstream population is a major problem for ethnic minorities. No adequate policies exist to protect their lands and the report stated that traditional land rights laws are ignored. According to the report, at least 111 houses belonging to indigenous people were burnt to the ground in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT), while 12 houses were looted following land-related communal clashes. In addition, at least 146 Jumma families in CHT were attacked by Bengali settlers, while 19 indigenous families in the plains were attacked
in 2011. Another 21 indigenous persons were assaulted, while three others were brutally
murdered. At least 7,118 acres of land belonging to indigenous people were illegally taken over by Bengali settlers in CHT in 2011.
The report said that the failure to investigate human rights violations by Bengali settlers, who are supported by law enforcement agencies in CHT and influential land grabbers with the support of local administration —including police, remains a matter of serious concern. The report states that perpetrators act with impunity. Six large communal attacks against indigenous people have taken place across the country. Of them, four attacks occurred in CHT. Every communal attack in CHT was committed by Bengali settlers and security forces played either a passive or collaborative role. Presided over by chairperson of KF, Robindranath Saren, the program was addressed among others by, Nawab Ali Abbas Khan, MP, Prof. Dalem Chandra Barman, information and publicity secretary of Parbattya Chattagram Jana Samhaty Samity, Mangal Kumar Chakma, supreme court lawyer Barrister Sarah Hossain, program manager of Oxfam MB Acuter, vice chairperson of KF Dipayan Khisa and assistant secretary of Lina Jesmin Lusai. Column: Metro
Courtsey: BHBCUC, USA.
European Parliament conference on Protecting Minorities of South Asia: Taslima Nasreen talks for minorities
Rabindra Ghosh Reports from Brussels: Global Human Rights Defense (GHRD) has arranged a conference with European Parliament on 8th December 2011 at Brussels protecting Rights of Minorities in South Asia. Many Human Rights organization including Bangladesh Minority Watch (BDMW) attended. Hosted by Swedish MEP Cecilia Wikstrom it provides a forum for interaction and dialogue between local grassroots human rights defenders in South Asia, and the European Institutions and networks involved with policy and agenda setting. Ms. Taslima Nasreen, Bangladeshi Writer in exile was present on the occasion and gave excellent presentation on human rights of Minorities in Bangladesh which was applauded by thousands of participants in the hall (Editor: Note that BHBCUC, USA had a meeting with her in NY two years before. She also had attended CAAMB’s first conference in Kolkata). BDMW presented human rights situation of Bangladesh Minorities especially present situation.
Courtsey: BHBCUC, USA.
An innocent adivasi Munda beaten to death in Pabna
On 8 November 2011 an innocent indigenous (adivasi) villager belongs to Munda community was brutally beaten to death by non-adivasi people in Bhangura under Pabna district. The victim was identified as Bablu Marari (25) s/o Malati Rani of Sultanpur under Bhangura in Pabna district. It is learnt that Bablu Murari was a day laborer. He took some money in advance from land lord, a Muslim Bengali. But, he was not able to go for work for some days. On the day of incident, land lord along with his 2 brothers and 2 sons went to the house of Bablu Murari and caught him. By fastening him with a rope, they beat him mercilessly. Bablu Murari got serious injured and died on 12 November. A murder case was filed by wife of deceased Ms. Tara Rani Murari with Bhangura police station on 20 November 2011 against five alleged culprits, namely,
Jafar Ali s/o Jinat Ali, Anar Hossain s/o Jafar Ali, Sanowar Hossain s/o Jafar Ali, Del Mahmud s/o Jinat Ali and Jan Mahmud s/o Jinat Ali. No one was arrested.
Courtesy: Kapaeeng Foundation
Communal attack on Jummas
On 14 December 2011 following the death of a Bengali settler named Md. Sattar, the Bengali settlers made communal attack on Jumma people in Baghaichari bazaar under Baghaichari upazila in Rangamati district and Kabakhali bazaar under Dighinala upazila in Khagrachari district. A Jumma woman was killed in Dighinala and at least 10 Jummas were injured in this attack. Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) from Marishya zone opened blank fire and local administration imposed section 144.
Courtsey: Kapaeeng Foundation.
SYSTEMATIC MASS CONVERSION OF HINDUS
TO ISLAM IN PAKISTAN
Narain Kataria
In India the present anti-Hindu UPA Government led by its Chairperson
Sonia Gandhi, is working on Communal Violence Bill in Parliament to demean,
demonize and stifle the voice of Hindus in their own country, and indulging
in shameful reservations in jobs and education for Muslims on the basis of
religion.
In Pakistan, Deobandi and Barelvi preachers are feverishly engaged in
mass conversion of poor Hindu laborers to Islam.
Hindus are suffocating in India at the hands of pro-Muslim UPA
Government, and in Pakistan they are suffering unprecedented brutalities and
savageries at the hands of Jihadists.
For our survival, it is essential that we should wake up from the deep
slumber, take back our country and establish pro-Hindu government in India.
Elections in five states are around the corner. It is incumbent on every
Hindu to use his/her sacred voting power to get rid of this anti-Hindu
government.
You have every right to ignore my warning at your own peril.
14th January 2012 Issue
HINDU TEMPLES IN BANGLADESH UNDER SEIZE & GRAB BY MUSLIMS
CONTINUING SINCE LAST 60 YEARS
INDIAS CONGRESS GOVT,, POLITICAL LEADERS PSEUDO-SECULAR INTELLECTUALS ARE SILENT
RICH & FAMOUS HINDUS ARE TOO TIMID TO RAISE A VOICE AGAINST THE PERSECUTION
PLEASE READ THE APPEAL FROM BANGLADESH HINDUS TO HUMAN BEINGS WORLDWIDE ,
SPECIALLY TO HINDUS, TO GIVE A VOICE TO THE MISERY OF HINDUS
Dear Well-wishers,
Hope you are fine. We need your help to protest and raise your hands to save our "200 years old SREE SREE RADHA KANTO JEO TEMPLE and its 22 katha Debbottor land" Temple Address: 222 Lal Mohan Saha Street, Sutrapur, Dhaka, Bangladesh. The influential criminals already initiated to stop the existing Sheba Puja; and grab all the landed properties which is Debottor Property. This syndicate also involve to land grabbing business in different Hindu land and Debottor land in old town area in Dhaka City, Please See the details of the bellow attached Press Note.
'Moth Mandir and Debbottor Sampatti Raksha Committee', 'ISKCON Dhaka' and 'Sree Sree Radha kanto Jeo Temple' committee jointly organize a Manabbondhan and Procession in front of Press Club Dhaka, Bangladesh dated-15.01,12 for save the Temple and landed properties also demand the proper punishment to the land grabbers and responsible criminals.
Please help us to protect our temples all over Bangladesh.
BE UNITED AND RAISE YOUR HANDS TO PROTECT OUR TEMPLE, RELIGIOUS VALUES AND OUR FUTURE GENERATION.
November 24th was the martyrdom day of Guru Tegh Bahadur:
This is to introduce Guru Tegh Bahadur (1621-75 C.E.), the ninth Guru of the Sikhs, who gave his life for the concept of religious freedom for all. This happened long before the United Nations’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) guaranteed everyone’s right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion. It was also much before the establishment of Western democracies.
The Guru carried the conviction – more than four hundred years ago, when religious intolerance and persecution were common all over the world – that every individual must have the freedom to worship the faith of his or her choice.
Guru Tegh Bahadur’s Life and His Message - Dr. Rajwant Singh
Guru Tegh Bahadur was the ninth of the ten gurus who founded and established the Sikh religion. He was born in 1621 C.E. in Amritsar, India. As a leader of the Sikhs, he set out on a number of journeys to spread the message of hope and peace among the masses who were suffering across the land. Wherever he stopped he would get wells dug for the people and community kitchens set up. He preached about honest work and charity and gave away all the offerings that he received from devotees. He's also remembered for his poetry, much of which is included in the Guru Granth Sahib, the Sikh Scriptures.
He taught liberation from worldly attachment, fear and dependence. He preached that strength should be gained through truth, contemplation upon God, sacrifice and spiritual wisdom. Guru Tegh Bahadur was firm in his conviction that spiritual progress is a combination of individual effort and collective harmony among people from all strata of society. He envisioned the creation of a just social and economic order, and peaceful co-existence among all human beings.
His vision was all-pervasive as he guided seekers on the right path. In one of his hymns he exhorts devotees, "Listen man, grasp firmly this truth: the whole universe is a dream shattering in an instant; man labours to build a wall of sand, crumbling soon after; as is this wall, so are the pleasures of the world in which thou art entangled. Wake up before it is too late, turn to devotion to the Creator." In short he practiced what he preached "His soul ever stays in health who trusts in God and makes an honest living to share with others and injures no one, nor harbors ill-will against another".
His Sacrifice:
Guru Tegh Bahadur lived at a time when even personal laws were oppressive and the right to worship as per one's choice was denied, culminating in an atmosphere of fear and severe backlash.
Guru Tegh Bahadur became the spiritual head of the Sikhs just at the time when the Mughal Emperor of India, Aurangzeb, was imposing Islam on the people. He had no tolerance for other religions and proceeded on a brutal campaign of repression. Aurangzeb closed down Hindu schools, demolished temples or turned them into mosques, charged non-Muslims heavy taxes and Emperor persecuted those who would not conform to Islamic law. He forbade Hindus from celebrating their festivals, ordered that only Muslims could be landlords of crown lands, dismissed all Hindu clerks and ordered governors to put a stop to the teachings and practicing of idolatrous forms of worship.
Denied the freedom to follow their faith, the Hindus of Kashmir approached Guru Tegh Bahadur for help and guidance. The Hindu Brahmin Pandits of Kashmir were among the most highly learned and orthodox of the Hindu leadership. Aurangzeb felt if they could be converted, the rest of the country would easily follow. Given this ultimatum, a large delegation of 500 Kashmiri Pandits met the Guru and explained their dire predicament and requested him to intercede on their behalf.
When an anguished Guru Tegh Bahadur sought a way to help the suffering multitude, his son Guru Gobind Singh, as a nine-year-old, spoke words of encouragement, which energised him to pursue the path of wisdom. He told the Pandits to inform Aurangzeb that the Brahmins would gladly accept and embrace Islam if Guru Tegh Bahadur can be convinced to do so and made preparations to go to Delhi and sacrifice his life.
As soon as Aurangzeb heard the news he ordered the immediate arrest of the Guru. He ordered Guru Tegh Bahadur to be forced to convert to Islam through torture or be killed.
Guru Tegh Bahadur refused to embrace Islam, saying "For me, there is only one religion - of God - and whosoever belongs to it, be he a Hindu or a Muslim, him I own and he owns me. I neither convert others by force, nor submit to force, to change my faith."
Guru Tegh Bahadur was subjected to many cruelties; he was kept in an iron cage and starved for many days. The Guru faced a further test to his righteousness when three of his followers were tortured in his presence. Yet he remained steadfast and bore these cruelties without flinching or showing any anger or distress. He preferred the torture of the flesh to sacrificing the ideals of virtue. Finally on November 11, 1675 Guru Tegh Bahadur was publicly beheaded as he prayed.
The bodies of those so executed were usually quartered and exposed to public view, but Tegh Bahadur's followers managed to steal the body under cover of darkness, cremate the limbs in Delhi, and bring the severed head to Tegh Bahadur's son Gobind Rai, 250 miles away in Anandpur. He performed the last rites for his father.
His Legacy:
The site of Guru Tegh Bahadur’s execution was later turned into an important Gurdwara (Sikh House of Worship) Sisganj in Delhi, India. Millions of people of all social and religious backgrounds pay homage to the Guru at this shrine. He is honoured as a man who died for religious freedom for all peoples, not just Sikhs. The shrine holds the symbolism of war against injustice, a determination to stand up to atrocity, though it may mean sacrifice of the self.
He taught the ethos of self-sacrifice for the common good of mankind and this is enshrined in his spiritual legacy. Never in history has the religious leader of one religion sacrificed his life to save the freedom of another religion.
"One untouched by avarice, attachment, egotism and pursuit of evil passions, And one risen above joy and sorrow — know such a one to be God's own image." Thus sang Guru Tegh Bahadur. Guru sacrificed his life for upholding the principle of freedom of conscience. In today’s world, scarred by religious fanaticism and intolerance Guru Teg Bahadur is truly a hero to be revered and emulated.
Mystic Saint Kabir in one of his verses says, "The true hero is one who in defence of the helpless may be hacked limb to limb, but flees not the field," and there can be no greater testimonial to the Guru’s unflinching courage which earned him the praise as "one who covered dharma (religion) and protected it."
ANNA HAZARE AND CHARACTER BUILDING
After you have built your character what do you do?
You apply it to your situation.
You live your character.
That is what Anna is doing.
"It doesn't matter whether you are a dictator, a democratic leader, head of a charity or a sports organisation; the same things go on. Firstly, you don't rule by yourself—you need supporters to keep you there, and what determines how you best survive is how many supporters you have and how big a pool you can draw these supporters from.....ALASTAIR SMITH, Professor of politics at New York University.
How many people can enforce their will on a parliament that considers itself supreme...the ruler.
Anna rules in that sense. He applies his will on a recalcitrant despot. He demonstrates a wide support base.
And he does that by force of character.
Do you need to be an elected leader to serve?
Selfless service is a practice that reinforces a set of human values that transcend culture, religion, and nationality. It builds leaders who will find a way to serve their community whether we invest in them or not. Educational background, technical skills or knowledge, though necessary, are not enough to create successful local leadership.
Character bestows power. Oxford dictionary defines the concept of power as the "ability to influence people or events." A major challenge facing modern democracy is how to build enlightened leadership within the democratic framework. We may classify power into four categories: political, economic, social and psychological. The
social power comes from possessing a knowledge, skill, expertise or qualities valued or respected by the community, especially a particular community, nation or culture of which the individual is a part. The ancient Indian ideal of power is not control but bringing a dharmic order to society by creating an environment where each individual and community can live and grow freely according to their unique swadharma, interacting harmoniously with each other and contributing to the common good of all. In this Indian perspective the main function of the organ of power is not control but coordination, harmonizing and unifying the communal life into an organic whole. The other important values prescribed for the wielder of power is to ensure justice, and prevent or correct all violation of dharma. The third ideal of power is to promote well-being, and in the Indian thought, it is primarily social and moral being of people. And this Anna is doing perfectly.
We have to add to this Indian ideal of power, the modern ideal of "empowerment" which means literally giving more power to people. The process of wielding power has to move from holding or concentrating power in a few people towards distribution or giving power to a large mass of people. But power for what? To think, create, decide, plan, organise and ultimately to govern themselves. Thus the highest ideal of power is not to control or regulate people but to release and empower people so that they can govern themselves. The highest ideal of the organ of power or government is to foster the self-governing individual in a self-governing community.
And there are bigots who will oppose him, like the author of this article - a religious fanatic who sees all virtue enshrined in one small community by virtue of birth or belonging. He detests Gandhi and Nehru for having denying him Khalistan. He detests his mother country that gave him his culture. He denies the philosophical underpinnings of his own religion because he believes it is different (without having studied that it is supposedly different from). He identifies the man he derides with Gandhi whom he detests, considering the moral fibre of his community higher. His fundamentalist mind fails to comprehend that the land he identifies with his sacred Khalistan is also populated by prisons chock full petty and serious criminals that have no business to be there by virtue of his kind being better than mere lallu-panjus.
People tend to limit their thinking about the West to Christianity. But the West has multiple stomachs for digestion - I go into details in my forthcoming book. One such digestive mechanism of the west is known as Anglosphere. Though I am seriously backed up with deadlines before leaving for India, I decided to respond this quickly because BVK Sastry raised it in a private email to me. Since it pertains to BD I will post it here.
The wiki page for anglosphere (Click Here) defines the term as follows:
Anglosphere is a neologism which refers to those nations with English as the most common language. The term can be used more specifically to refer to those nations whichshare certain characteristics within their cultures based on a linguistic heritage, through being former British colonies. In particular this includes the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada (except Quebec), Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Ireland.
[i.e. the white English speakers come at the top of the hierarchy...]
The U.S. businessman James C. Bennett, a proponent of the idea that there is something special about the cultural and legal traditions of English-speaking nations, writes in his 2004 book The Anglosphere Challenge:
"The Anglosphere, as a network civilization without a corresponding political form, has necessarily imprecise boundaries. Geographically, the densest nodes of the Anglosphere are found in the United States and the United Kingdom. English-speaking Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, and English-speaking South Africa (who constitute a very small minority in that country) are also significant populations. The English-speaking Caribbean, English-speaking Oceania, and the English-speaking educated populations in Africa and India constitute other important nodes."
Andrew Roberts (Click Here) contends that anglophone unity is necessary for the defeat of Islamism.
The arrival of this syndrome into India is the topic of a book titled, "Masks of Conquest" by the Marxist/ feminist /subalternist Gauri Vishwanathan. I had some interaction with her at Columbia U in the 1990s. As I said numerous times, the Indian postcolonialists did a very fine job of exposing colonialism, except that they used eurocentric theories and methodologies and are ignorant of Indian siddhantas or even despise Indian civilization. (Some even hate the very term calling it illegitimate and the product of radical nationalism!)
The irony is that these very postcolonialists are proud citizens of the Anglosphere, unable to accept my thesis that it is just another stomach of the very same eurocentrism they criticize. This stomach includes many secular transformations such as literary works, fashions, aesthetics, international awards as legitimizers, white skin creams, white body language, etc.
Why This Is Important
This is an urgent petition, requesting the Hon. Prime Minister to take immediate cognisance of the Frequent Trans-Border Violations of India's Sovereignty (which has been Repeatedly Compromised) and take stringent action to Stop the Talibanisation of West Bengal's lawless border with Bangladesh.
We request an immediate enquiry into the drastically worsening Law & Order situation in the international border towns of Bangaon and Taki-Hasnabad, as well as the border villages of Sutia and Bagan Gaon (P.S.Bangaon) - all of which are in North 24 Parganas district.
We request the Hon. Prime Minister to take immediate action to stop the repeated transgressions of India’s national sovereignty, since the Government of India is duty bound by the Indian Constitution to preserve our country’s sovereignty, failing to accomplish which would prove to be quite disgraceful for the Government.
We implore the Hon. Prime Minister to direct the errant Border Security Force (BSF) officials to stop pandering to extremist elements by willfully turning a blind eye towards cross-border terror and take immediate steps to prevent the atrocities being committed by the extremist culprits on those tens of thousands of Indian citizens who refuse to kowtow to the Talibanisation of Paschim Banga (West Bengal).
We urge an end to official abetment and collusion with cross-border fanatic infiltrators who endanger India's National Security, worsen the Law and Order situation, commit wanton Atrocities on Women, indulge in Human Trafficking and openly violate the fundamental Human Rights and Animal Rights laws enshrined in the Indian Constitution, thereby creating an adverse impact on Poverty and Environmental Sustainability in this vulnerable border region.
Thousands returned to Hindu Home through Mega Shuddhi Event by Agniveer.
Posted by hinduexistence on January 3, 2012
Mega Shuddhi (re-conversion) event organized by Agniveer. Thousands Muslims and Christians returned to Hindu Home.
Hindu Existence News Bureau || Shahjahanpur, UP || 2nd January 2012 :: Through a late news feed, it has been confirmed now that thousands of Muslims and Christian brothers have returned to their roots in Hindu faith through Suddhi Yajna in the fag end of the Christian calender 2011. The entire programmes of Suddhi were held by the initiation of AGNIVEER & Associates with full cooperation of Arya Samaj.
The first Shuddhi event was held at Shahjahanpur, Uttar Pradesh on 23rd December, 2011 where 1200 embraced Vedic Dharma/ Hinduism. Most of them claimed to be Mohammedans earlier. A few used to call themselves Christians. Now they have resolved to propagate Vedic Dharma. The pictures of the event can be viewed on our Facebook and Flickr pages.
Update on 24 Dec 2011:
In yet another Agniveer sponsored program, 102 truth-seekers formally embraced the Vedic Dharma/Hinduism of their ancestors. We welcome the reunion with our long-lost family members who till recently used to call themselves as allied to Mohammedans or Christians alone. Agniveer thanks all organizations and individuals who made this homecoming possible. More details very soon.
Update on 25 Dec 2011:
In yet another formal ceremony, 857 Christian brothers & sisters resolved to return back to their Vedic/ Hindu roots on the opportune day of Christmas. Agniveer heartily welcomes them back to the family where they would admire the real Krishna instead of Christ fiction. Another 50 erstwhile Mohammedans also embraced the Vedic/Hindu religion of their ancestors in the same ceremony. All these people have now resolved to become humans instead of a Christian or a Mohammedan. Agniveer thanks all individuals and organizations that joined hands to make this ceremony a success in a region infested with fanatics amidst grave dangers and violent oppositions from antisocial elements.
Mega Shuddhi (re-conversion) event organized by Agniveer. Thousands Muslims and Christians returned to Hindu Home. Unique programmes for Shuddhi Yajna are fixed through out this year of 2012. Interested Muslims and Christian brothers may
A major religion portal in the US has selected BEING DIFFERENTfor its Book Club, and BD will be their featured book for a period of two weeks in February. One of many items they will put up on a special home page constructed for BEING DIFFERENT will be an interview with me. I am copying below the answers I sent to their questions, just as fyi. The Q&A below is illustrative of how non-Indians (esp. white Americans) approach BD and the way I address their questions. I will keep you informed once BD's page is set up on their Book Club. This will generate a lot of further interest.
1. The subtitle of your new book, Being Different, is: "An Indian Challenge to Western Universalism." Why do you feel it's important to refute Western claims of universalism?
Rajiv: As Asia's power rises rapidly, it is natural that India and China will reassert their worldviews and compete with the West on that level as well. It behooves liberal Westerners to understand where Asians are coming from philosophically, and not assume that the political power to project Western ideas as universals will continue. Secondly, many "Western" things are not of Western origin to begin with, but were appropriated from other civilizations including India; I deal with this in a future volume.
2. Your title implies that "being different" is a positive thing in inter-religious study and dialogue. Why is this important, from a Hindu perspective?
Rajiv: The cosmos is built on the principle of difference - in plants, animals, geographies, and even each moment in time is unique. So difference in culture, human cognition and worldviews - these are natural. It is interesting that westerners are so protective of the diversity of plants and animals, but the same emphasis is not placed on protecting spiritual diversity. Western religions have traditionally pushed for mono-cultures. Monotheism is more appropriately defined as "my-theism", meaning that my idea of theism is the only valid one.
In Hinduism, sva-dharma is the path for a given individual, the "sva" prefix literally meaning "my". It's like "My Documents" or "My Favorites" on your computer. God made us unique individuals, each with a purpose based on past conditioning, including in past births, and each equipped to discover one's sva-dharma. Besides, the Abrahamic religions' history of imposing standardized canons, uniform beliefs and the like, is filled with some of the worst organized, large scale atrocities in world history. It is time we respected difference as a starting point in mutual understanding. In the book, I coin the term "difference anxiety" to refer to one's anxiety that the other is different in some way - be it gender, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, or religion.
3. What conversations do you want this book to inspire?
Rajiv: My conversation with the famous BBC correspondent, Mark Tully (http://beingdifferentbook.com/mark-tully/) and the one with Harvard Prof. and Jesuit Theologian, Francis Clooney, (http://beingdifferentbook.com/umass-part-1/) are good examples of the two-way street this can open up. I feel that the dharmic approaches to difference offer a new and fresh approach to interfaith relations, which till now have been pursued with little success, and mainly through the paradigms of Abrahamic religions.
4. Do you expect this book to change anyone's mind? About what?
Rajiv: The book has already starting causing many Hindus as well as Christians to rethink their ideas about themselves and others. This is evident from the reviews, and from the professors who have shown interest in using it in class. It has encouraged not only Hindus but also many corporate leaders and academics to organize special events with the purpose of exploring dharmic approaches to a variety of human challenges - such as new approaches to education, environmentalism, governance, leadership.
5. What book, or which author, was your model for this book?
Rajiv: I have read extensively both Indian and western works, and the long list of influences is reflected in the large bibliographies of my series of books. The most profound original ideas are not from writers, but from my sadhana (spiritual practice), which is based on the principle that there is a huge reservoir of creative knowledge deep within each of us to be tapped and uncovered. These explosions of inspiration have to be supplemented with rigor in studying the thoughts across a vast canvass.
6. Name one person you hope reads this book. Why?
Rajiv: Tom Friedman. Because I critique his model of the world becoming "flat". Yes, its flattening in certain areas where competition is only merit based. But there shall remain many important ways that non-western civilizations will contest various axiomatic assumptions of the west. China's thinkers are developing and propagating what they call the "Confucian Ethic" and "Confucian Modernity" which they claim is superior to the Western equivalents, and there has been the claim of Islamic Universalism as well. The new rising powers will make the inter-civilization competition more intense, especially with exploding populations and demand for goods, combined with shrinking resources. Hence, my message of "difference with mutual respect" becomes important - rather than Friedman's assumption that the flat world is being built on Western axioms of development.
7. You write that one of your greatest inspirations was Gandhi. What was it about his life that inspired you and this book?
Rajiv: One of the terms I coin is the "digestion" of one civilization into another civilization. Gandhi epitomizes the courage to be different, and to resist becoming digested. Non westerners are either being digested or are being different. He was the latter kind.
8. What was the hardest thing about writing this book?
Rajiv: Deciding what to leave out was very hard. My complete thesis on this specific topic alone would take over a thousand pages, and in fact at every stage I cut things out and filed them for future volumes. The second challenge was to decide the target reader segment. After a few dozen events in India and USA, I find three very different kinds of audiences: (a) spiritual individuals and groups that want to understand what is distinct about dharma compared to western traditions; (b) academics who want to prepare their students for a multicultural and pluralistic world; and (c) out-of-the-box thinkers looking for new paradigms in education, environmentalism, leadership, etc. This book has triggered interest in these three communities, but I did not anticipate this so clearly, and all along I continued to wonder who my reader would be.
9. What books are you currently reading that are inspiring you?
Rajiv: I am right now buried in writing my next books, hence have little time to read except in support of my writings.
10. If you could create a center for inter-religious understanding and dialogue, what would it look like, and who would be invited?
Rajiv: My dream center would be based on the principle that we accept the reality of difference as the starting point rather than hiding it or wishing it away. It would be like a United Nations with faiths as members rather than nation-states. They would debate issues very explicitly and challenge many of the cherished notions that pervade as a result of a few centuries of Western Universalism. Every faith group would be invited as long as they accept the principle of mutual respect - hence the Bin Laden, Hitler and KKK type personalities would be excluded because they would not be willing to respect others (and mere "tolerance" would not be good enough).
11. Often, the best book ideas come while you're writing a book. Have you started the next one?
Rajiv: Actually, it was the other way around for a strange reason. This book came out the material that was removed from my U-Turn Theory book which is not in the final stages. I was planning to publish that, having researched and written on it for twenty years. But the philosophical reasons for westerners doing what I describe as uturns became complex. Reviewers advised that I remove those sections to make the book flow easier. So the portions I removed are what became the starting point for this book. But there is another competing demand on me. Many persons want me to write two kinds of things based on Being Different: (a) Simpler and smaller mini-books and videos each with one key concept explained; and (b) a book on how the principles of dharma are useful in tackling world problems today. I will let the cosmos lead me wherever it wants to take me.
Check out this picture. This is Kejriwal being "capped" when he went to meet Islamist leaders in Mumbai and get their "support" yesterday. As expected, the Islamic leaders turned down their request. Here is what these leaders (and also Xtian leaders) had to say:
The "Jamiat Ulama-e-Maharashtra said that while they too opposed corruption, the activist’s ways were “like Hitler”.
Catholic Secular Forum slammed Anna Hazare’s decision to protest outside houses of Sonia and Rahul Gandhi.
Gulzar Azmi, general secretary of the Jamiat, said Hazare was undermining the authority of Parliament. “We do not support the movement and feel that the Bill should be debated in Parliament and then passed... No one should dictate terms,” said Azmi.
“These are tactics Adolf Hitler used... Team Anna is forgetting they got Parliament to debate a Bill which was in the pipeline for four decades. It is now time to step back and let Parliament function,” said the Jamiat Ulama-e-Maharashtra leader.
A few members of the community who met Kejriwal too said they had not committed to support the movement. “All we did was speak to him about certain issues,” said Farid Shaikh, president of the Bombay Aman Committee.
Catholic Secular Forum general secretary Joseph Dias said Hazare must clarify allegations that he backed Hindutva and questioned his decision to protest outside Sonia and Rahul’s houses. “The Congress alone cannot be blamed for corruption. Why doesn’t Anna speak out against Narendra Modi, B S Yeddyurappa, the BJP...? He has not demonstrated against attacks on minorities,” said Dias.
As per Maulanas, Muslims are more concerned about "communalism" than corruption. (Dainik Jagran)
The last stmt. should be an eye-opener for all the donkeys like Kejriwal and Bhushans. The stmt. in red is a very clear articulation of truth and their sense of priorities. Congress, to Islamists and folks like "Catholic Seculars" (how can you be both at the same time), is an enabling tool to further the agenda of Islamists and Western imperialism, respectively. These guys will **NEVER** support the "fight against corruption" if that fight means opposing Congress. Donkeys like Kejriwal just do not get this.
The other thing is that this is not the 1st time, these forces have opposed the national mood. The story was similar even during pre-independence days. Kejriwals of the world need to take a few lessons in history in this regard.
29.12.11
The story of Subramanian Swamy: A political mystery - First Post staff
The story of Subramanian Swamy: A political mystery
FP Staff Dec 29, 2011
If there was no It’s Subramanian Swamy, someone would have to invent him.
Inveterate rabble-rouser and unabashed publicity hound, his long storied
political career is the stuff of Jeffrey Archer novels. Conspiracies
abound, as do betrayals, reversals, and comebacks.
Tehelka‘s Ashok Malik pulls together the many colourful details in an
exhaustive cover story that doesn’t break new ground, but paints an
engaging portrait of a political riddle [Do check out the full story
here
]:
At the end of the day, Swamy is trusted by few but ignored by even fewer.
He can plug into extremely diverse social groups — serious economists, the
loony right, the Janata parivar, the TamBrahm fraternity. He can hold both
Ram Setu and N Ram close to his heart (or profess to). For all his
right-wing politics, the Hindu has been a loyal platform and publisher. His
dogs have come from N Ram’s litter, as indeed have Sonia Gandhi’s
dogs
…
Canine pedigrees aside, Malik also charts Swamy’s long history of conflict
with powers-that-be in his academic career, from Delhi School of Economics
to IIT-Delhi to Harvard – often with just cause. He still has a case
pending against IIT – which sacked him and his wife on the basis of a stray
remark by Mrs Gandhi – “for a claim of salary arrears for the 1972-91
period, which he wants with 18 percent interest.”
Subramaniam Swamy. PTI
There’s also the other Swamy with slippery allegiances and a taste for low
intrigue. For all his loathing for the present-day Gandhis, his most bitter
feud was with Atal Behari Vajpayee who refused to let him into the BJP. “He
reacted by abusing Vajpayee, questioning his personal life and accusing him
of collaborating with Indira Gandhi,” and later in 1999, worked with Sonia
Gandhi to bring the Vajpayee government down. An ill-advised bit of
political intrigue for which he paid a high price in the years he’s spent
in political wilderness.
According to Tehelka, Swamy is in the midst of yet another comeback,
reinventing himself as an anti-corruption crusader with impeccable Hindutva
and anti-Gandhi family cred. And even as he courts the hard Hindu right,
Swamy may be holding out for that still-elusive invitation from the BJP:
So is the exile about to end? BJP President Nitin Gadkari has told party
colleagues he is “highly impressed” with Swamy and wants to send him to the
Rajya Sabha. Not everybody in the upper echelons of the BJP agrees. Others
in the NDA have not been consulted.
Swamy has won over LK Advani and persuaded the RSS and the VHP. Former RSS
chief KS Sudarshan, VHP doyen Ashok Singhal and Advani confidant S
Gurumurthy have been his advocates. The BJP’s so-called second generation
has been resisting. When Advani mooted the idea at a meeting in 2005, the
late Pramod Mahajan is believed to have remarked, “Advaniji, aren’t there
enough Subramanian Swamys in the party for you to want to bring in the
original?”
Then again, can there be more than one Subramanian Swamy? We think not.
You can read Malik’s delightful essay, “Don Chaotic: The Beastly Beatitudes
of Subramanian S“
,
in its entirety on the Tehelka website.
ONE MORE POWERFUL REBUTTAL FROM BANGALORE, INDIA, BY MS. VASUMATHI KRISHNASAMI TO HARVARD UNIVERSITY IN SUPPORT OF DR. SUBRAMANIAN SWAMY
To: president@Harvard.edu
Cc: mike_smith@harvard.edu ; geiersb@fas.harvard.edu
Sent: Thursday, December 22, 2011 3:50 AM
Subject: A rebuttal
Respected Dr. Drew G. Faust, President of Harvard University:
Ms Diana L. Eck and Ms Sugata Bose may need to re-think some of their comments on the stand taken by Dr. Subramanian Swamy on how to contain the Islamic terror threat to India.
1) Was it Ms Bose who likened one of Dr. Swamy's remarks to the projected disenfranchisement of Jewish Americans and African Americans who failed to acknowledge the superiority of White Anglo-Saxon Protestants? But then, Jewish Americans and African Americans are not descended from WASPS. As an Indian Muslim savant, Maulana Wahiduddin Khan, himself admitted recently, about 95% of Indian Muslims are descended from Hindus. Even Jains and Buddhists in India are of Hindu ancestry. Not to admit this simple and historically documented fact is tantamount to saying: "I do not belong to India, I owe allegiance to the sands of the Middle East, I do not acknowledge the laws of India," and the like. It actually means that Muslims who do not acknowledge their Hindu ancestry form a nation within a nation, a separate community with its own laws and governance. Would the U.S. or any other nation today countenance such a potential fifth column that acts like a canker within the body politic? Incidentally, Ms Bose's home state of Bengal is rife with violent and aggressive extremist elements hell-bent upon fragmenting India. She should talk. And she used a false analogy, at that.
2) Dr. Swamy did not advocate the destruction of all mosques but suggested that many mosques that had been built on the sites of temples which had been vandalised, looted and razed to the ground might themselves be demolished so that the sites could be returned to the original custodians. Suppose the Greek Orthodox Church asked Istanbul to return the Hagia Sophia mosque to its original character of a church, how many would take exception? It had, indeed, been a beautiful church, a-glitter with priceless mosaics: which were mostly melted down, the church vandalised, the images and icons destroyed, and the building converted to a mosque. Indeed, most temples in India were destroyed and looted before being converted to mosques; just as tens of thousands of Hindus, in bygone centuries as well as during the 20th century in infamous Bangladesh, were converted to Islam at the point of a sword. If you would like more information upon the 20th century genocide perpetrated by Muslim Bangladesh on its Hindu residents, do let me know and I shall forward you details documented by a journalist. For instance, millions of Hindus in Bangladesh simply 'disappeared' just a few decades ago....
3) How long did World War II last? How many were killed? The brutal Mughal rule in India lasted for centuries, with countless Buddhist, Jain and Hindu places of worship being destroyed and countless non-Muslims being forcibly converted to Islam. Hindus, in particular, have been at the receiving end of Islamic terror for centuries on end. This is the context in which Dr. Swamy speaks so that Hindus might at least survive the latest threat to their very existence in their own land.
4) After 9/11, when the George W. Bush administration got a whiff of some 'intelligence' pertaining to weapons of mass destruction being piled up in Iraq, what was its reaction? For how many years did the U.S. wage war against terror in Iraq? How many civilians were killed? In comparison, what did Dr. Swamy do? He merely wrote an opinion piece, that was all. It was, in comparison, the statement of a meek and mild lamb--a sacrificial lamb, at that. As Hamlet put it, it was merely 'words, words, words': and yet, these words were not 'destructive' as Ms Eck would have it, but spell a strong and forceful strategy for the survival of Hindus on their subcontinent. Sadly, this strategy is not likely to be adopted at all. The present authorities in India hesitate to execute even convicted terrorists, and some politicians actually granted clemency to some convicted terrorists. This is the attitude of politicians towards known and convicted felons.
5) You have already learnt about the forcible eviction of about 75,000 Kashmiri Hindus from the Kashmir valley by extremist Muslims. Jammu and Kashmir behaves like a separate entity, for which it has zero legal sanction. In fact, most Muslims behave like a law unto themselves on the entire subcontinent. In particular, the recent genocide of homeless community dogs in J & K, against the provisions of Indian legislation, is a case in point. Certain wealthy and influential Muslim families in Hyderabad started killing camels for a religious festival about 7 years ago, although it is not an Indian custom. They are thus bringing the Indian camel to the brink of extinction; and this, unchecked (because all the politicians and the police quake in their shoes at the very mention of these Muslim dons), will wreak havoc upon certain rural economies in some northern Indian states which depend heavily on the camel....Animal protection laws are flouted by thousands of Indian Muslims right, left and centre. The massive illegal trade in cattle all across northern India, from Uttar Pradesh to Bengal (and Bangladesh, need one add), directly funds terror activity against the Indian state: as documented in a feature carried by 'The Times of India' on 3 Oct 2008.
6) Last but not least, the intellectual luminaries of Harvard's ivory tower do not understand what is meant by vote banks. For instance, thousands of illegal immigrants from Bangladesh have been flooding Indian towns and cities with the express aim of working for the disintegration of India. Under assumed names, they function as 'vote banks' for politicians at election time. This is an open secret. The police, instructed by the politicians, look the other way. Meanwhile, these undocumented aliens cause murder and mayhem, communal problems and the like--in a country which has actually given them refuge! Ms Eck ought to come live here, preferably in a Muslim-majority neighbourhood as I do, to look at all these persons up close and personal. Only then would she, and even Ms Bose, acquire a working knowledge of vote banks, blackmail, the enormous threat posed by certain communities in their collective avatar and the like.
7) Individualism, and the individual, are not the be-all and the end-all. Historical movements, after all, are caused and effected by large groups of persons--by the collective. As late as 1938, for example, appeasement of Adolf Hitler was still considered not merely viable but advisable. How mistaken were governments then!
By the way, have you given a thought to replacing Ms Eck with Ms Wendy Doniger?
Yours truly,
Ms Vasumathi Krishnasami
Bangalore, India
BROTHERHOOD
I should love my neighbour not because he is neighbourhood, for what is there in neighbourhood and distance? nor because the religions tell me he is my brother, for where is the root of that brotherhood? but because he is myself. Neighbourhood and distance affect the body, the heart goes beyond them. Brotherhood is of blood or country or religion or humanity, but when self-interest clamours what becomes of this brotherhood? It is only by living in God & turning mind and heart & body into the image of his universal unity that that deep, disinterested and unassailable love becomes possible.
Sri Aurobindo
(490âˆ'Thoughts and Aphorisms)
In Egypt, calls for jizya—the tribute doctrinally demanded and historically collected from conquered infidels—are increasing day by day, by those who wish to be true to the words of Koran 9:29:
Fight those who believe not in Allah nor the Last Day, nor forbid that which Allah and his Messenger have forbidden, nor follow the religion of truth [Islam], from the People of the Book [Christians and Jews], until they pay the jizya with willing submission, and feel themselves utterly subdued.
Accordingly, days ago, Ahmed Imran—a candidate of Egypt's Salafi party, the "Party of Light," which won some 20% of votes in recent elections—called for the return of jizya (which was abolished under colonial pressure in the mid 19th century). Sounding like a Western apologist of Islamic supremacism, he distorted history and spoke of jizya in glowing terms: "I say to those who fear that we might govern, that it was the Muslims who liberated the Copts from Roman slaughter and that Copts are obligated to pay the jizya, and it will only be half a dinar, taken from the rich and given to their poor."
Earlier, Abu Shadi, another Salafi leader—though not one running for office, and so extra candid—announced that Egypt's Christians must either convert to Islam, pay jizya and assume inferior status, or die.
Nor is the return of jizya limited to Salafi discourse. Running for Egypt's presidency, Hazem Abu Ismael, a former Muslim Brotherhood member still affiliated with the group, said he would impose jizya on the Copts.
And Dr. Mohamed Saad Katatni—the secretary general of the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party which won 40% of the votes—reportedly said that Copts would not pay jizya now, implying that the idea of collecting tribute from subdued "dhimmi" Copts is very much alive among the Brotherhood, only dormant till a more opportune moment (naturally, the Brotherhood later denied he said such a thing).
Here, then, is another truism: Wherever and whenever there are calls to return to "true Islam"—whether by 9th century Ibn Hanbal, 14thcentury Ibn Taymiyya, 18th century Abdul Wahhab, or 21st century Salafis, and the countless no-names in between—it is the surrounding non-Muslims who will always be first to suffer; first, in the words of Koran 9:29, to "pay the jizya [tribute] with willing submission, and feel themselves utterly subdued."
In sbicitizen@yahoogroups.com, "devindersingh" wrote: In the context of another post on this forum, The principal question discussed was;
Is Islam a God given religion or is it man-made.
You have said Javeed:
> The Quran says that Islam was the religion of all the prophets.
> If you remove the layers of meaning and ritual that were added over the ages. and go to the original religion, there would be little difference between the major religions.
> This religion has been restated by Muhammad for the last time through a revelation from
> Allah as the Final truth for all humanity.
> Denial of the truth of Prophet Muhammad as the last prophet and the Quran as a book of revelations, amounts to denial of all scriptures including "ones own" (used inverted comas since there is nothing like ones own. The scriptures belong to all humanity).
> I have absolutely no doubt in the continuity of the reveleations and that all religions, shorn of the Satanic verses that have crept into their scriptures, are the same.
> Yes, I do believe that the Quran is a book of revelation and I believe
> in every verse of it as true and from God.
> This leads you to the conclusion, Javeed, that the only way to the truth
> is through a belief in the Quran and in Muhammad as the last prophet and in Islam as the true deen of Allah.
> That there can be no further revelations and no new religion.
> Any other belief leads you astray and in fact to hell because the Quran says so. And the unbelievers are to be despised and persecuted because they are enemies of Allah and therefore your enemies. This is at least the interpretation of Muslim ideologues:
An anti-Hindu clique has made a mockery of academic freedom using an unwieldy administrative mechanism to cancel Subramanian Swamy’s courses. The result has
been a fierce backlash.
Second of two parts
Dr. Navaratna Rajaram
Background: Insular Indologists and generous donors
Georges Clemenceau (1841 – 1929), prime minister of France during World War I once said: “War is too important a matter to be left to the generals.” This wisdom can now be applied to those calling themselves by names like Indologist, India Studies Expert, South Asia Expert (the latest fashion) and so forth. Thanks to their ham-handed expulsion of the economist and visiting professor Dr Subramanian Swamy, Harvard now has a major public relations problem on its hands.
To understand the nature of Harvard’s public relations problem, it helps to recognize that Harvard has a dual personality: it is a university that is also a business. Harvard University is part of the Harvard Corporation which answers to its board. (Actually it has two boards, of fellows and of overseers—don’t ask me why.) It is the richest university in the world with assets (called endowment) valued at $32 billion (over one lakh sixty thousand crore rupees in today’s values). Its assets are managed by the Harvard Management Company, a wholly owned subsidiary of Harvard.
In 2007, its assets stood at $36 billion. During the global economic downturn Harvard endowment lost 22 percent of its value or eight billion dollars. It has recovered somewhat in the past two years and is now valued at $32 billion, better but still well short of what it was five years ago. To grow, Harvard needs money from two sources— income from its assets and contributions from its ‘customers’. The latter may now take a hit thanks to the controversy and the backlash following the cancellation of Subramanian Swamy’s courses.
Like any successful business Harvard treats customer loyalty as its most valuable asset; it takes extraordinary care to cultivate and nurture good relations. Its customers are its alumni. They donate generously and also send their children to Harvard. Increasingly, Harvard is drawing its students—and donations—from the wealthy Indian-American community and in recent years from businesses and professionals in India. In the past year alone, individuals from major Indian business houses like Infosys and Mahindras (to name just a couple) have given tens of millions of dollars to Harvard.
Hubris results in backlash
The last thing that Harvard needs at this juncture, as it is just recovering from the fallout of the financial crisis is a public relations disaster of this nature. A question that needs to be answered is— how could Harvard, whose public relations skills are second to none, allow itself to be blindsided by an avalanche of this magnitude? The only answer I can think of is hubris—it took the goodwill and loyalty of an important segment its ‘customers’— the Indian alumni and students—for granted and failed to respond adequately to their complaints over the shrill anti-Hindu and anti-Indian rhetoric and propaganda of some of its faculty. The worst offenders were Indologist Michael Witzel and a few of his associates.
The dismissal of Subramanian Swamy was the last straw. He is regarded as a hero by a large number of Indians because of his uncompromising stand against terrorism and his crusade against corruption. Judged by Witzel’s record over the past several years, going back to his unseemly involvement in the California school curriculum controversy— and the anti-Hindu rants of his hate group IER (Indo-Eurasian Research), it was a disaster waiting to happen. I had brought his unsavory activities to the attention of Harvard administration more than once, but they had always advised me that however disagreeable it may be, Witzel’s (and other’s) views were protected by academic freedom. (This was before Dr Faust took over as president.)
All this was public knowledge, and I was not the only one to object. Now for Harvard to dismiss Subramanian Swamy at the instigation of people like Witzel and his departmental colleague Diana Eck looks like hypocrisy of the first order. It is not only Indians that are outraged by this decision: academics and free thinkers who have nothing to with India or Hinduism have expressed their outrage. This is made worse by the fact that other institutions like Yale have also buckled under Islamist pressure. Last summer (2011), Yale expelled Dr Charles Small (of the Yale Initiative for the Inter-disciplinary Study of Anti-Semitism), because he held a conference in which Islamic anti-Semitism and Islamic terrorism were discussed. The following excerpt from a blog by a non-Indian (Pamela Geller) gives an idea.
“In response to the triple bombing in Mumbai on July 13, 2011 that left 26 people dead, Former Indian Law Minister Dr. Subramanian Swamy published an op-ed in a mainstream Indian daily called 'How To Wipe Out Islamic Terror'. Dr. Swamy is not much loved by the current Indian government as it was through his anti-corruption campaigning efforts that the previous Telecoms Minister ended up in jail on corruption charges, and he is actively pursuing other high ranking members of the government on similar charges.
“The article was unquestionably provocative, but what it provoked was debate -- a good thing for any democracy, especially on a difficult topic. However, it seems, it was too much free speech for Harvard University. For years Dr. Swamy, a Harvard Ph.D. and former Commerce and Industry Minister of India, has taught summer courses in economics at Harvard. This year, in an unprecedented move, his courses were taken away based on the article.”
The author of the article went on to point out that the Harvard Crimson justified the move by saying, in part, "there is the further concern that his publications may incite religious violence." Religious violence where? On the Harvard campus? There were no incidents of ‘religious violence’ in India following the publication of Dr. Swamy’s article. The Harvard Crimson seems to have a low opinion of the intelligence and maturity of its readers, of Harvard students and faculty in particular.
Unwieldy administration, disgruntled faculty.
It is understandable that Harvard President Drew Faust should have caught of much of the flak in this avoidable backlash. Actually, she seems to have been a victim of circumstances beyond her control: a combination of circumstances allowed a disgruntled faculty in its shrinking Sanskrit and India Studies program to take advantage of an unwieldy administrative mechanism. I will look at the former in some detail later, but a brief observation on the latter as seen by a U.S. academic (and administrator) with several decades of experience may be in order. (A phone call to the President’s office at Harvard elicited the response that she, the President had nothing to do with the cancellation.) Here is how the cancellation of Swamy’s courses seems to have come about.
The procedure at Harvard requires that the whole faculty of the college in question vote on the courses and instructors for each term, in this case the college of arts and sciences on the summer courses to be offered in 2012. Swamy’s economics courses were voted down at the instigation of Diana Eck, a religious studies professor who heads something called the ‘pluralism project’. As we shall see later Eck invoked reasons which made faculty competence irrelevant and steamrolled over the wishes of the economics department chair.
This strikes one as an unwieldy and inefficient procedure. Things were quite different in colleges where I taught. Once the department in question gets its budget approved by the college, the department chair, assisted by a departmental committee decides on the courses and assigns instructors. After all they have the competence. One cannot have the absurd situation—as happened at Harvard—of a theologian exercising veto power over science and mathematics courses! (One of the courses cancelled was ‘Quantitative Methods in Economics’.) The last time anything like it happened was in Italy 500 years ago when Galileo was forbidden to teach astronomy by the Church.
Actually there is more to this bizarre episode than meets the eye. Diana Eck was sending a political message to President Drew Faust no less! Eck gave the game away when she haughtily told the faculty why Swamy’s courses should be cancelled. Here is a revealing report (The Harvard Crimson):
"In her remarks, Eck emphasized the ‘destructive’ nature of the positions Swamy advocated in India, and characterized the proposals as going well beyond free speech to the advocacy of abrogating human rights, curtailing civil rights, and intruding on freedom of religion. She wondered why the courses had not been ‘quietly dropped’, rather than submitted for approval in 2012. Swamy’s positions crossed the line to ‘incitement’ and to ‘demonizing’ Indian minorities, and were therefore sharply at odds with Harvard’s pluralism,” Eck said.
But here was the real message: “Given President Faust’s planned trip to Mumbai and New Delhi in January, it would be important for people in that country to know where the faculty stood on the views Swamy advocated."
(Dr Swamy’s response: “… the vote at Harvard was nothing serious. …non-economists at Harvard don’t like my views on how to protect India.” Citing Eck and a colleague who also wanted his courses dropped, Swamy tweeted: “I have been held accountable at Harvard for what I write in India. This means India studies’ [Michael] Witzel and Eck are accountable in India. Healthy?”)
To get back to Eck’s reasoning, she wants President Faust to tell ALL Indians—1.2 billion of them— most of whom have never heard of Harvard let alone Professor Eck, that they should toe the line drawn for them by this religious scholar— a Christian who claims to speak for all of Harvard in the name of ‘pluralism’. Hinduism is a pluralistic religion, which Christianity and Islam with their exclusive beliefs are not, but this theologian would stand this on its head as only a theologian can.
L’affaire Swamy: policing academic freedom
So this committed Christian masquerading as a ‘pluralist’ wants to turn the Harvard President’s goodwill visit to India into a crusade against Hinduism! It is not hard to imagine what President Faust can expect if she were to carry Diana Eck’s message to India! As it is, she can expect a torrid time defending the sacking of Dr Swamy against Harvard’s own professed policy of safeguarding academic freedom.
This brings us back to Eck’s (and her colleagues’) contempt for academic freedom when it rubs against their Orwellian brand of pluralism. It may not be out of place here to mention that a large number of Christian theologians led by Diana Eck signed a long letter of apology addressed to Muslim divines for past Christian violence against Muslims including the Crusades. No such apology has been forthcoming for violence against Hindus and other pagans during the Goa Inquisition in India (instigated by ‘Saint’ Xavier).
It is hardly necessary to point out that academic freedom cannot come with strings attached. In the memorable words of Abraham Lincoln, 150 years ago, "A house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this government cannot endure, permanently half slave and half free." This applies to academic freedom no less than to personal freedom. But Diana Eck was able to persuade her faculty colleagues that her higher principle of pluralism cancelled out Swamy’s academic freedom along with the freedom of the economics department to choose who it may to teach its courses.
When it comes to curtailing academic freedom, the problem is where to draw the line? Can a theologian like Diana Eck be allowed to act as thought police cum moral police to rule on the freedom of others? What if one were to apply a similar standard to Eck and her ilk? It is no secret (see Wikipedia) that she (and her likeminded colleague Wendy Doniger of the University of Chicago Divinity School) follows a lifestyle that many in India and the U.S. consider perverse. Can this be brought up in approving Eck's fitness to teach her courses? It can be argued, and has been argued that such people should be kept away from impressionable young minds who might be corrupted by their teaching and example. There would be howls of protests if Eck were treated in the same manner as Swamy for her personal conduct.
Actually what Subramanian Swamy wrote and said had been said before by others before him including Jawaharlal Nehru and B.R. Ambedkar. (In addition, Swamy himself has close relatives who are non-Hindus including a Parsi-Zoroastrian wife and a Muslim son-in-law. He doesn’t need any lessons in pluralism.) All that is beside the point, what is stake is academic freedom being derailed by moral policing. Even at Harvard, other faculty members have engaged in hateful activity (which Swamy has not) that has been defended in the name of academic freedom. Diana Eck’s colleague Michael Witzel is a prime example.
It is unnecessary to go into the details of the now discredited campaign by Michael Witzel and his associates trying to stop the removal of references to the Aryans and their invasion from California school books. What is remarkable is that a senior tenured professor at Harvard of German origin should have concern himself with how Hinduism is taught to children in California. Witzel is a linguist, but he presumed to tell California schools how Hinduism should be taught to children. It turned out that Hinduism was a convenient cover; his real concern was saving his pet Aryan myth from being erased from books. (This is not to deny his dislike of Hindus, especially those who question him, more of which below.) In the same way, Eck and her colleagues too are concerned about academic survival— of themselves as well as their discipline.
Preserving a defunct belief system
The reaction of the likes of Eck and Witzel can be understood only when we recognize that though Nazism and European colonialism, the twin pillars that supported Indology up to World War II are now defunct, some of their beliefs are part and parcel of what these academics represent. In particular they hold on to the notion of Indians, especially Hindus, as an inferior subject race who should submit to their stereotyping and behave accordingly. The fact that they don’t makes them react viscerally when challenged as seen in what Eck did to Swamy and Witzel’s reaction to Hindus rejecting his Aryan theories. Having seen Eck’s reaction, it is worth taking a brief look at Witzel.
In addition to his support for the Aryan theories and the California campaign, Witzel is known for his association with the notorious Indo-Eurasian Research (IER), which has been accused of a hate campaign against the Hindus. An article that appeared on December 25, 2005 in the New Delhi daily The Pioneer (for which Rudyard Kipling used to write) began: “Boorish comments denigrating India, Hindus and Hinduism by a self-proclaimed ‘Indologist’ who is on the faculty of Harvard University has unleashed a fierce debate over the increasing political activism of ’scholars’ who teach at this prestigious American university.
“Prof Michael Witzel, Wales professor of Sanskrit at Harvard, is in the centre of the storm because he tried to prevent the removal of references to India, Hinduism and Sikhism in the curriculum followed by schools in California which parents of Indian origin found to be inadequate, inaccurate or just outright insensitive.” The author of The Pioneer article (Kanchan Gupta) went on to observe: “Witzel declared Hindu-Americans to be "lost" or "abandoned", parroting anti-Semite slurs against Jewish people. Coincidence or symptom? Witzel's fantasies are ominously reminiscent of WWII German genocide. He says that 'Since they won't be returning to India, [Hindu immigrants to the USA] have begun building crematoria as well.”
This extraordinary behavior on the part of Witzel, Eck and their colleagues can be understood only when we recognize their venial fear that the academic discipline which they represent may be on the verge of extinction. This is what we may look at next.
SWAMY AND HIS HARVARD ENEMIES II: SAVING FROM EXTINCTION
Indology is an anachronism with colonial and racist roots that has outlived its purpose. India Studies should outgrow Indology if it hopes to be relevant and not join Indology in the dustbin of history.
Navaratna Rajaram
A dying discipline
To understand the visceral reaction of Diana Eck and her colleagues within and outside Harvard, it helps to recognize that the discipline they are part of is on its way into the dustbin of history. This is thanks to science and progress. The fact that Eck, a religious scholar who knows little or no Sanskrit should be the chair of the Sanskrit Department (or was until recently until the department became part of South Asia Studies) is testimony to the state of Sanskrit at Harvard. There are village schools and undergraduate colleges in India with better Sanskrit scholars—and students—than Harvard today.
Diana Eck wears several hats: in addition to religious studies she is listed as Professor of Law and Psychiatry in Society and also heads her pet pluralism project. In other words, she is many things except a Sanskrit scholar. The fact that someone like her should be the Sanskrit chair speaks eloquently on the state of her discipline and the department she headed. This cannot go on forever and they know it. So these people have to find some gimmick just for academic survival. For Eck it is her ‘pluralism’ project; for her colleague Michael Witzel, it is the Aryan myth and fighting ‘Hindutva forces’.
These academics are surviving on the decaying remains of the subject called Indology that came into existence during the British colonial era. It was created by ‘scholars’ sponsored by the British East India Company and Christian missionaries. Its goal was to help the British administer its expanding possessions by making British rule acceptable to Indians. At the core of this was the Aryan myth, a racial-cum-cultural myth that sought to attribute all Indian achievements to a mythical race of invaders known as Aryans.
This is the famous or infamous Aryan Invasion Theory (or AIT). It had two incarnations—British colonial-missionary and the German nationalist that led to Nazism. The German version and the horrors of Nazism are well known but for some reason the way the British put the myth to political use has remained largely unnoticed. As a recent BBC report admitted (October 6, 2005):
“It [Aryan invasion theory] gave a historical precedent to justify the role and status of the British Raj, who could argue that they were transforming India for the better in the same way that the Aryans had done thousands of years earlier.”
Although both versions have been fully discredited, its proponents have found a refuge in U.S. academia behind some fig leaf like Eck’s ‘pluralism’. This too is now under threat. This is what is behind her unusually blunt message to President Faust quoted earlier: “Given President Faust’s planned trip to Mumbai and New Delhi in January, it would be important for people in that country to know where the faculty stood on the views Swamy advocated." Eck’s real concern is not survival of pluralism in India which owes nothing to Eck or her message to President Faust but Hinduism’s innate tolerance; her concern is the survival of her own pluralism project which may also come under the axe.
It is a similar story with Indology as a whole. Ever since he moved to Harvard from Germany, Witzel has seen the fortunes of his department and his field, gradually sink into irrelevance. Problems at Harvard are part of a wider problem in Western academia in his field. Indology departments and programs are shutting down across Europe. One of the oldest and most prestigious, at Cambridge University in England, has recently shut down. This was followed by the closure of the equally prestigious Berlin Institute of Indology founded way back in 1821.
Positions like the one Witzel holds (Wales Professor of Sanskrit, previously known as the Prince of Wales Professor) were created during the colonial era to serve as interpreters of India and Indian tradition to the ruling powers. They have lost their relevance and are disappearing from academia. No one today goes to these ‘experts’ to learn anything about India and Indians when they can get it from a next door neighbor, an office colleague or a relative by marriage. So these people need to show something to justify their existence. This was the real story behind Witzel’s California school campaign— not teaching Hinduism to California children.
Institutionalized anti-Hinduism
Indology as practiced by colonial scholars and their successors like Eck and Witzel should really be called Hindu Studies. Their targets are the Hindus, their religion, traditions and history. While they treat Islam and Muslims with utmost deference, partly out of fear of violent reaction, they don’t hesitate to heap criticism and abuse on Hindus and their beliefs. It is safe because Hindus usually don’t get violent.
A central though usually unstated premise of these Indologists is that the Hindus are an inferior race and they should accept without question anything said about them by these scholars who constitute a superior race in every way. They have even constructed a ‘history’ of Hindus as a people who owe everything to a race of invaders called Aryans (or Indo-Europeans). Some religious scholars, notably Wendy Doniger of Chicago can see nothing but sex in Hindu texts. (It seems she can see nothing but sex in anything. She denounced the famous Bhagavadgita, probably because it gives no scope for her sexual fantasies. What is it about ‘religious scholars’ that makes them sex obsessed?)
If any Hindu scholars object to this stereotyping pointing to recent discoveries in natural history, genetics and archaeology that have discredited all this, they are immediately denounced as chauvinists and fanatics incapable of logic or reason. Western scholars like Koenraad Elst and David Frawley are also not spared for criticizing their theories as unsound.
This bizarre conduct of Indologists (calling themselves also Indo-Europeanists) intrigued the Swedish scholar Stefan Arvidsson who went on to ask: “Today it is disputed whether or not the downfall of the Third Reich brought about a sobering among scholars working with 'Aryan' religions.” One may rephrase the question: “Did the end of the Nazi regime put an end to race based theories in academia?” We may answer it by saying it is surviving in mutated forms on the fringes of Western academia in the hands of people like Eck and Witzel though they vehemently reject they are racists. (Who admits it?)
In this academic and political conundrum it is important not to lose sight of the fact that the Aryan myth is a modern European creation that has little to do with ancient India. The word Arya appears for the first time in the Rig Veda, India’s oldest text. Its meaning is obscure but seems to refer to members of a settled agricultural community. Also, it was nowhere as important in India as it came to be in Europe. In the whole the Rig Veda, in all of its ten books, the word Arya appears only about forty times. In contrast, Hitler’s Mein Kampf uses the term Arya and Aryan many times more. Hitler did not invent it. The idea of Aryans as a superior race was already in the air— in Europe, not India.
Before World War II reduced Hitler’s Thousand Year Reich to ashes, anti-Semitism was very much part of the discourse about Aryans and Indo-Europeans. But following the war this was no longer academically respectable. The American Civil Rights Movement that followed placed Afro-Americans (or Negros as they were then called) also beyond the pale of these theories. Race is now a dirty word so some subterfuges have to found to advance the same ideas, especially of one’s own superiority over a lesser race like the heathen Hindus, if no longer the Hebrews. This is the dirty little secret of Indology that India Studies seems to have inherited.
The final word on their discipline was pronounced by Stefan Arvidsson quoted earlier. He observed: “There is something in the nature of research about Indo-Europeans [or Aryans] that makes it especially prone to ideological abuse— perhaps something related to the fact that for the past two centuries, the majority of scholars who have done research on the Indo-Europeans have considered themselves descendants of this mythical race.” Implicit yet unstated— a superior race.
This is what is driving the likes of Eck and Witzel. To make matters worse, after a long period of colonization, Indians today, Hindus in particular, are on the ascendant, excelling in many fields and prospering economically while Indologists and their discipline are heading into oblivion. Worse, Indians are no longer looking up to these scholars much less supporting them. They are donating generously but to programs in science, technology and other professions where Indians and persons of Indian origin are visibly successful. Even at Harvard, there are few students of Indian origin in their Sanskrit department, whatever it may now call itself.
Given the situation, the growing importance of India and Indians in the U.S. and the world and their own precipitous decline, it is natural that Witzel, Eck and their colleagues should have made common cause with other anti-Hindu groups and individuals. So it should not be surprising that these and pro-Pakistani groups and Jihad apologists, as ‘birds of a feather’ should be drawn to each other by the common platform of anti-Hinduism and also as a matter of expediency.
It is worth noting here that while the Jews and the Hindus have been willing to stand up to intimidation by Islamists (or Islamofascists to use President George Bush’s memorable if infelicitous phrase) the Christian leadership has all but surrendered to it. This is evident from the letter of apology for Christian violence against Muslims through history signed by Diana Eck and a host of her Christian theologian colleagues. But others have gone further and sought to use anti-Hinduism as a potential source of funding from Islamic sources.
One of the first acts of Michael Witzel following his California campaign was to advertise his services in Pakistan’s leading newspaper Dawn as a ‘South Asia Expert’ on education. His pitch was he could serve as a consultant to publishers and others to maintain academic integrity on works on South Asia. He didn’t mention he was a Professor of Sanskrit, which might have turned off potential Pakistani clients, but a South Asia Expert. (He knew that Pakistanis have no great love for Sanskrit.) At first the Indian Marxist historian Romila Thapar was also part of his enterprise, but prudently withdrew.
A combination of anti-Hinduism and financial compulsions has brought together this motley group of academics, writers and propagandists on platforms spewing anti-India (and anti-Hindu) propaganda. Some like the novelist Arundhati Roy are publicity seekers while others like the India baiter Angana Chatterji are academic lightweights trying to make hay while the sun shines by pandering to anti-India outfits like Pakistan’s Interservices Intelligence Agency (ISI).
It has now come to light that Chatterji, who taught anthropology at something called the California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS) was being funded by the ISI agent Gulam Nabi Fai. Fai has pleaded guilty to being an unauthorized lobbyist for the ISI and Pakistan. He had funded several anti-India propagandists including Chatterji. The FBI brought this to the attention of the CIIS authorities who dismissed her. The curious thing is that the Harvard history professor has participated in programs organized by Chatterji even at Harvard.
Sugata Bose is the odd man out. Unlike Angana who is at best a fringe figure in academia, Bose is a respected scholar of modern history; he has no need to have any truck with a character like Chatterji. He takes pride in the fact that he is the grand-nephew of the Indian freedom fighter Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, but he is anything but pro-India. One possibility is that he was acting under the influence of his Pakistani wife Ayesha Jalal, also a distinguished scholar. As a prominent member of the South Asia group at Harvard he is seen as part of the anti-Hindu clique. His was one of the influential voices to lend support to Diana Eck’s demand for the expulsion of Subramanian Swamy.
India Studies: real pluralism, not clash of civilizations
As India and persons of Indian origin gain in importance in the world, the study of India should necessarily keep pace with it. But this cannot be based on anachronistic notions based on defunct ideologies of the colonial era or scientifically discredited race theories in whatever disguise. The distinguishing feature of the Indian civilization throughout history has been and remains pluralism in the real sense. This should be at the center of any study of India today. This brings us close to one of the popular academic theories of our time.
One of the more influential political theories of our time is Samuel Huntington’s clash of civilizations thesis. It holds that future conflicts will be along civilizational fault lines of which he identifies several, most notably what he calls Islam and its ‘bloody frontiers’. It would be an interesting study to see if this thesis can be extended to academia also— like what we are currently witnessing at places like Yale and Harvard. There is no denying that the influence of Islam, largely because of its accumulated wealth (from oil) is quite pervasive in academia. The tension created by its presence in academia and academic freedom may be seen as a manifestation of the clash of civilizations extending its reach into academia.
At the same time, academia (and society in general) has to live today in a secular world whose distinguishing feature is pluralism— pluralism in the real sense and not the Orwellian travesty held up by the likes of Diana Eck. Pluralism has to serve as an effective counter to civilizational clash, but that will require both imagination and openness to new ways of looking at history and civilization.
Here is where India Studies can make a contribution if constructively studied. While pluralism is relatively recent in the West, beginning with French Revolution and the adoption of the U.S. Constitution, it is of untold antiquity in India. Unlike the exclusivist Christianity and Islam with their one God (and the only true One) Hinduism left the choice of which god to worship—or none at all—to the individual. The separation of priestly power from secular power is also an ancient tradition. (The Buddha who was born a prince gave up his right to rule before being recognized as a religious leader. And there are other such examples beginning with Vishwamitra.)
Hindu India allowed Judaism to survive unmolested for thousands of years. Even when Islam came with its exclusivist binary vision of believer and kaffir, the Indian genius somehow found a way to preserve its pluralism. If India today is a thriving pluralistic society it is because pluralism is an integral part of the Hindu tradition and experience, and not because of the advocacy of phony pluralists like Diana Eck or their gimmicks. (It is curious that Eck and other theologians in their letter of apology to Muslims should not have mentioned pluralism. Her pluralism message is only for the consumption of pluralist Hindus, not those who really need it. Those who want to destroy pluralism get apologies.)
Here is an important lesson. The problem faced by the West (U.S. and Europe) today is that Islam is seen to be threatening long standing traditions founded on pluralism and individual freedom. The same problems were faced by India a thousand years ago. The West like India values pluralism. Islam abhors it. At the same time, Islam with its billion people and enormous economic power cannot be wished away. So some balance must be achieved. This is the challenge of our time.
This suggests that academic study of India, or India Studies should make pluralism of the Hindu civilization and its capacity to survive for centuries in the face of repeated attacks one of its central concerns. In contrast, China under Mao lost its pluralistic character in a single generation, and went on to erase it from Tibet also. This is of more than academic importance. In today’s world businessmen, diplomats and others have to deal with India and Indians in the real world. These cannot be left to the mercy of ‘India experts’ trapped in the past, of whom Shakespeare wrote: “What private griefs these men have, alas I know not.” We need new thinking.
Conclusion: Free India Studies from India Experts
The 200 year-old discipline called Indology as it now exists represents the soft underbelly of academia. Its creation was an accident of history, perpetuated by a combination of scientific ignorance and the self-interest of an academic priesthood. As far back as 1939, Sir Julian Huxley, one of the great natural scientists of the twentieth century wrote:
“In England and America the phrase ‘Aryan race’ has quite ceased to be used by writers with scientific knowledge, though it appears occasionally in political and propagandist literature…. In Germany, the idea of the ‘Aryan race’ received no more scientific support than in England. Nevertheless, it found able and very persistent literary advocates who made it appear very flattering to local vanity. It therefore steadily spread, fostered by special conditions.” (Emphasis added.) Needless to say, these ‘special conditions’ were the rise of Nazism in Germany and British imperial interests in India.
But this product of ‘special conditions’ continues to survive on the fringes of academia— thanks to a priesthood striving to maintain a precarious existence. It has no value beyond being a nuisance to better understanding between India and the West. What we need today are not ‘experts’ trapped in the past but a new generation of thinkers aware of present needs and sensitive to the beliefs and practices of others in a pluralistic world. This will not come from the likes of Diana Eck and her colleagues. As Max Planck once observed:
“An important scientific innovation rarely makes its way by gradually winning over and converting its opponents: it rarely happens that Saul becomes Paul. What does happen is that its opponents gradually die out and that the growing generation is familiarized with the idea from the beginning.”
Planck was one of the founders of modern physics and his observation was about the reaction to the quantum revolution that he (and Einstein) had launched. But his observation applies equally to other fields like what we have discussed in this essay. It means that a new generation has to make a fresh start and let history take care of these anachronisms.
Dr Navaratna Rajaram is a scientist and historian who has written extensively on the subjects of this article.
24th December 2011 Issue
This Southern Baptist leader in Washington, DC., saw my entire video of the talk at Indian Institute of Science (Bangalore): "Rajiv Malhotra explains his systems model of History Centrism"
Then he wrote a rejoinder to me, which a friend in the DC area was kind enough to forward to me. I have been having such exchanges frequently for many years as part of my purva paksha. Since many persons here do not have such experience, I am passing on this particular criticism, along with my responses which are yellow highlighted in square brackets after each of his points. There is nothing new he says that I havent heard many times before. Many of his statements are outright false, some are a play on semantics. SB stands for Southern Baptist.
SB: Others attained salvation (saving grace) before Jesus appeared in human form on the earth. At that time Jews lived under the system of laws, not grace. Their faith in attempting to keep the law was accepted as righteousness. [He is referring to Jews only, not ALL others. So my point remains that humanity at large was eligible for salvation only after Jesus.]
Jesus was born from God and Mary. SB Response: Not quite – Christ existed from the very beginning with God. Mary was used as a mechanism to bring Christ into the world as a descendent of Abraham (prophet) and David (prophet) to fulfill prophecy. Christians believe Jesus is God. [While Christ existed before, Jesus the human has a defined beginning in time. Thats why Christmas is celebrated and the start of the Christian calendar. Christians believe that Jesus = Christ's incarnation. So Jesus WAS born from God and Mary, hence the only human ever to be absolved from Original Sin. That's my point.]
SB: Hindus believe we started out divine. – The divine was lost? God became corrupt in human form? How did man lose his divinity and start to sin, or does sin exist in Hinduism? [He needs to understand the concept of avidya. Because he does not, his only recourse is to substitute it with Original Sin which is entirely different.]
SB: 20:00 Christianity was started by Emperor Constantine. Christ never used the term Christian. Churches started under Constantine. SB response: Constantine originally killed Christians. Christian means Christ like. The Apostles and Jesus' earthly brothers started churches. [Wrong. It is true that Constantine did "originally" kill Christians, but that was before he became Christian himself. This is a slick manipulation on SB's part. The relevant point is that the NEW TESTAMENT WAS WRITTEN BY AN EDITORIAL TEAM UNDER CONSTANTINE. Whatever the early apostles and "earthly brothers" taught was superseded by the Church as a theocratic institution that went on a global rampage to conquer, plunder... which continues today by institutions such as Southern Baptist Church in places like Nagaland. Also, the early "brothers" included some like Thomas who got thrown out of the bible because their ideas were counter to centralized thought control. I am referring to Christianity as it exists now as a formal institution, the Southern Baptist Church being a prominent example.]
25:16 Mentions Vatican as root of Christianity. SB response: Catholicism is not Christianity. [Protestantism came out of Catholicism through the process known as Reformation by Martin Luther. So Vatican, the root of Catholicism, is also the root of Christianity's various branches that splintered off later.]
They say according to Christianity, Gandhi would not have gone to heaven. SB response: Christians are prohibited from making this judgment. [SB is being evasive. Christians are NOT prohibited from saying that anyone who does not accept Jesus goes to Hell. SB must watch his own church's sermons, including such luminaries like Billy Graham - always using fear of hell to tell them that Jesus is the ONLY way. If they accepted that heaven is possible without accepting Jesus, the whole game would change - church would not have exclusivity, other religions would have to be respected, the power structure and clash with heathens would end - SB should champion this internally in his church.]
SB: 26:41 Man cannot bridge the gap to God. We are to speak directly to God through prayer. God speaks to man through dreams, prophets, situations, and sometimes directly. [By rejecting our position he confirms my statement that we differ in irreconcilable ways.]
SB: 28:06 Mention of Mormons. Joseph Smith and Brigham Young were con-artists and not Christians. [This posture illustrates my systems model : They have a linear and exclusive chronology of prophets that ended long ago, and all claims by those outside that chronology are to be demonized in the way he does here.]
29:43 Jews cannot accept Jesus. SB response: Jews are waiting on Jesus to come, but they are expecting him to come as a conquering king. Many Jews have accepted Christ or become secular. [My point is still valid. Jews do NOT accept the same Jesus as Christianity. They might accept some future Jesus but not the history-centric Jesus of Nazareth as per Christianity. These two religions have separate and irreconcilable history-centric beliefs.]
30:20 Provides a few stipulations for being Jesus. SB response: In actuality there are many. [So what? My point stands that the Jesus state of consciousness is not available to any other human as per Christianity, which is in contrast to the Hindu view of aham Brahmamsi.]
31:29 Islam says Jesus is just an ordinary human profit. SB response: True. Mohammed was a con-man that borrowed a little from the Bible. First converts to Islam were Jews. Mohammed murdered many and was interested in raiding caravans, rapes, robbery, and murder – not exactly a righteous man. [He is agreeing with my point that that the history-centrism of Islam and the history-centrism of Christianity are mutually contradictory.]
Comments by T.V. Mohandas Pai, former board member of Infosys
SB response: The West was able to dominate the East because of the divisions among the people of the East. The West did not cause the East to assimilate, the East (Indus Vally) has always assimilated with every conquering culture. The East, especially in recent times, is more anxious than ever to embrace every concept of the West. This has led to its economic success and freedom. [This is the standard Eurocentric account of history. While the east was divided, so also was the west. The west's aggression based on Christian atrocities cannot be blamed on the victims. Secondly, the east had pre-colonial science, technologies, materials success - the subject of our 20 volumes series and Needham's 30 volumes on China. The west appropriated much of eastern rational thought, science, steel and textile technologies and other areas of knowledge, which is the subject of my forthcoming U-Turn Series of books.]
Q & A
SB: Rajiv quotes a Jesuit Catholic and a Vatican Catholic Harvard professor – they aren't Christians. Catholicism rejects much of what the Bible says. Catholics worship Mary and the "Saints". [This attitude that "my Southern Baptism is the only legit Christianity" is precisely what I wish to bring out as the curse of history centrism. Thanks to SB for helping me make my point.]
SB: Rajiv says Pagan means country Bumpkin. Not true. The common meaning of Pagan: follower of polytheism. [People who were polytheistic got branded "pagan" which had the meaning of country bumpkins.]
"If it weren't for the Church, Jesus would have just been considered a Rishi" – SB response: this isn't true. The Bible says everything was created w/ Christ and nothing was created without him. [In the Hindu system, too, everything is created from Brahman, in fact everything IS Brahman. My point is different and he either does not understand or want to understand. Rishi state is available to every human and is unity consciousness with Brahman. Jesus state is not available to any other person. Thats the difference, not how the world was created.]
"…Christian yoga…" – SB response: I know of no Christian Church that offers yoga. [This shows how ignorant he is or is in denial in front of Hindus to dupe them. He should google "christian yoga", go to a christian bookstore, do some research into this form of yoga that is spreading like wild fire.]
Should she wear a burqa — or should she wear very short skirts and a low-cut blouse?
Should she wear a headscarf and a shapeless, floor-length garment — or should she pose naked for Playboy magazine?
Do either of these extremes exemplify free as opposed to forced choices? Is either clothing extreme an expression of independence, resistance, or individuality?
In the last year, three Muslim women have posed nude or nearly nude in the media.
Sila Sahin
In April, Sila Sahin, a Muslim Turkish-German actress living in Berlin, posed nude on the cover of Playboy magazine. She claimed, "I did it because (I) wanted to be free at last. These photographs are a liberation from the restrictions of my childhood." As a result, her family has cut all ties with her. Sahin further intended her photos to draw attention to the normalized gender inequality in immigrant Turkish communities. One might ask whether she hoped to achieve this by objectifying herself in a Western media outlet that is inherently sexist?
I am not challenging her right to do so. I am wondering whether she has escaped one noose only to find herself about to be hung in another way.
More recently, in December Pakistani actress Veena Malik posed nude (or nearly nude and was photoshopped) for FHM magazine in India. Again, she hoped to use her photos as a feminist platform to criticize gender bias in Islam. Why not pose in a t-shirt that says "Equal Rights for Women"? "Sexy" is nearly always sexist.
But in November, Egyptian blogger Aliaa Elmahdy posed topless on her Facebook page and blog. This photo was not sexualized and managed to remain tasteful. In an interview, Elmahdy said, "I am not shy of being a woman in a society where women are nothing but sex objects harassed on a daily basis by men who think nothing…about the importance of women."
Facing grave danger since she currently lives in Egypt (Sahin lives in Germany, Malik in India as well as Pakistan), this young blogger has managed to draw attention to the increasing injustices women face in Egypt without demeaning herself along Western lines. But, again, there may be other ways to go about rebelling.
Veena Malik
We live at a moment in history in which worldwide a woman's "looks" are more essential to her survival than ever before. Today, incredibly, women are being judged, paid, employed, and married as a function of how good they look in a bikini and a mini skirt or whether they wear a burqa or a head scarf. Women are even killed when they violate dress codes in the Muslim world.
If feminist ideas have indeed progressed and seized the imagination of the world, then having to conform to either highly eroticized clothing or to the shroud-like burqa represents a new kind of backlash against women's freedom. At the very least, it is certainly a giant step backward.
Neither the bikini nor the burqa liberates or protects women. Rapists, harassers, and stalkers continue to attack women whether they are half-naked, "naked-faced," or fully veiled. In the 21st century, Egyptian male mobs numbering up to 1000 went on"wilding" sprees. Recently, "wild" Egyptian men tore the clothing off working female journalists — both infidels and Muslims — and groped. One journalist, Mona Eltahawy, was sexually assaulted in police captivity; the men with guns also broke her arm.
Naked women abound. This does not mean they are powerful or free. Female prostitution and pornography as well as sex trafficking and female sexual slavery flourish in fundamentalist Muslim and non-Muslim countries and in heathen Western enclaves on both coasts of America and all across Europe. The number of women who are being repeatedly and publicly gang-raped in Africa has been steadily increasing. As of May 2011, two million women in the Congo have been raped.
Both clothing extremes denote a rather heartbreaking conformity and comprise a variety of health hazards. Both often affect a woman's self-esteem in negative ways.
For example, I have mournful reservations about trendy-sexual clothing styles. I am concerned about the anxiety, eating disorders, drug addiction, and low self-esteem that often accompany girls and women who become obsessed with having an idealized, young, sexy, thin, and large-breasted appearance. Stylish but very high heels may be beautiful but women are falling in such shoes and breaking bones. They are also setting themselves up for later misery. In terms of surgery: girls and women at younger and younger ages are subjecting themselves to the knife so that they have more perfect facial features and bodies. At least $10 billion was spent on plastic surgery in America in 2011.
Alright. So is the "solution" to cover up completely? Is this also a fitting spiritual or religious statement about the importance of spurning outward appearance, material or pagan values, and dedicating oneself to God? If so, then why aren't their male counterparts doing the same thing? Where are all the face-veiled mullahs? Ironically, when such men cover their faces and heads, they most resemble ninja warriors — or shrouded women. But this is male battle gear. What battle is it that women are fighting as they "cover up"?
A burqa is a sensory deprivation and isolation chamber which effectively deprives the wearer of communicating freely and easily with others. This is the precise function of the burqa. It is a moveable prison. One's ability to speak, hear, and be heard is compromised as is one's peripheral vision, sense of smell, and ability to eat or shop in public.
Some women have described wearing a burqa as the equivalent of being buried alive or as a very claustrophobic experience. In addition, wearing a burqa may lead to certain Vitamin D deficiency diseases and to eye diseases. I believe such clothing is uniquely hazardous to a woman's mental and physical health.
Thus, on the one hand, we have women who are being forced to cloak and veil against their will and women who are willing to risk their lives by demanding the right to dress as they choose.
Aliaa El Mahdy
Ironically, on the other hand, many girls and women in the West are literally dressing like prostitutes. They claim that their ability to do so is a "liberating" choice, one that expresses their power over men (or over other women), their individuality, and their freedom from parental or social control.
I do not question their legal right to dress as they wish; nor do I reject their claim that they really "feel" attractive and, therefore, powerful by dressing in fashionable and highly sexual ways. I, too, was once young, and I, too, prized being "attractive" as a way to defy family repression and vigilance.
In a sense, male fantasy, lust, and the desire to control women lurk behind both these forms of dress and undress. Ultimately, a burqa is a highly sexualized garment; the viewer knows that a naked woman is under it. A bikini leaves little to the imagination but has the same effect on male viewers. In both cases, a woman is viewed in terms of her sexual and reproductive availability.
What am I saying? The adoption of one extreme clothing option or another does not mean that a woman is free or powerful or that she has "freely" chosen to look or dress this way.
Dear President Faust, Dr. Mike Smith,
I thought I pass information on Diana Eck and her support to Tariq Ramadan, calling him 'deepest and most articulate Muslim thinkers' as well as her support to Roxbury Mosque in Boston area. Read below with video links of their actual sayings.
Given below is latest news item of Tariq Ramadan calling a woman police officer in Paris, a 'bitch', simply because she stopped him to enter a prohibited area. He is himself acknowledging that he also called others who came to support the officer as 'bastards'. In yet other video (see below) which was translated, Tariq Ramadan is calling for divine vengeance of Allah in Kashmir, Palestine and other areas.
I am sending this to point out how our 'liberal' academia are lost or deliberately acting with some goals. Lot of this information is present in the media and the net. Equally bizarre is Diana Eck support to Roxbury Mosque which was secretly videotaped asking followers to go out and commit violence, 'pick up the gun and the sword' (see video below). This Mosque is funded by Saudi and sponsored by Islamic relief, a group with longstanding terrorist connections. Yusuf Qaradawi, the former trustee of this mosque preaches (see video below) that Jews should be exterminated even if a Jew is on wheelchair, homosexuals to be executed, Muslims beat their wives.
Sadly, these so called liberals like Diana Eck instead of associating with truly moderate Muslims who want reform, support the radicals (some of them who are slick like Tariq Ramadan who talks with different tongues based on their audience and country), instead of facing the hate teachings from Islamic scriptures (did they ever read them) that are being used to turn ordinary Muslims into terrorists, they engage in useless interfaith dialogues.
It is time Harvard to study the motives of the liberals like Diana, Sugata Bose, who on one hand give uninhibited support to people like Tariq and perceived wrongs done to them (e.g, US denied Tariq a visa) or to radical Mosques, in being totally silent on the victims of Islamic terrorism which Dr. Swamy is trying to address. More worse is their obfuscating the truth to get support to their goals whatever they maybe. When Dr. Swamy clearly asks Muslims to join the war against Islamic fanatics, it was described that he is targeting the whole community (how can be ask for Muslim support if he is targeting whole community) , when he clearly said that Masjids build right on temple grounds or adjacent to it to be demolished, it was again and again reported by her and Harvard Crimson that Dr. Swamy said Mosques to be demolished. Mosque is place of worship where as Masjid is place of prayer which even Saudi Arabia says can be demolished where necessary.
By discrediting Dr. Swamy, Harvard discredited itself. When the faculty violates the FAS guidelines setup by the university, then administration need to step in. Worse still, Harvard Crimson openly brags that Dr. Swamy stood for Hindu right and he would derive influence because of being Harvard faculty and therefore deprive him by using this as an excuse. For one thing, at least the cat is out of the bag. Is this new way of ethics and operatives at Harvard?
Contrary to the puerile article in Harvard Crimson, Dr. Swamy who got his Ph D from Harvard at 24 is an embellishment to Harvard too. If Harvard should fight against, it should fight against other Harvard alumni in India, Dr. Swamy is exposing at risk to his life, one is Kapil Sibal who is perennial liar and is now putting controls for free media and free speech because young people are speaking against corruption, or Chidambaram who is the prime mover of the 40 billion dollar scandal in India, the scandal which Time magazine says among the top ten worse cases of political corruption in the human history!! Harvard, you got your foot wrong.
Or is this way to pave for Dr. Faust visit to India and get their support for Harvard center in India as an exchange from current corrupt Indian administration (whose corruption Dr. Swamy is exposing at risk to his life)? Does Harvard realize the corruption in India which Dr. Swamy is fighting causes loss of jobs in US (e.g, the billions worth of military aircraft deal that resulted in resignation of US ambassador to India, caused loss of 22,000 high tech jobs in US. It was given to France which does not even have technology versus US which has the aircraft build!! US laws does not permit bribing whereas Europe does not, especially France industry is known to bribe).
This is a case that will never be out of Harvard history. It will be a shame forever. Wait for more.
IT IS TIME HARVARD GIVE A CLOSE LOOK AT THE SO CALLED LIBERALS AND GET THEM OUSTED BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE.
Diana Eck, Professor of Comparative Religion and Indian Studies, Harvard:
The Continued Blockade of Tariq Ramadan
It is deeply disappointing that this week a U.S. District Attorney, David Jones, arguing now on behalf of the Obama administration, repeated the frightening logic of the Bush administration in continuing to deny a visa to Tariq Ramadan, one of Europe's deepest and most articulate Muslim thinkers. The case, which was taken up in 2006 by the ACLU on behalf of the American Academy of Religion and other scholarly organizations, is now called Academy of Religion v. Napolitano and is being heard by a panel of three judges in New York.
Four years ago, the Department of Homeland Security declared Ramadan had "endorsed" or "espoused" terrorism. Thus, he could not be permitted to take up a professorship of Peace Studies at Notre Dame and his visa was revoked. This astonished those of us in the academy that have actually read Ramadan's work and see his voice as consistently engaged with the project of western Islam and democracy, reformulating a contextual interpretation of Islam for our time and our western societies.
At that time, the basis on which he was denied was the "ideological exclusion" provision of the Patriot Act, a provision that could be interpreted so broadly as to be a danger to the very enterprise of debate and exchange in a free society. The supposed danger was largely the concoction of the usual Islamophobic sources, implying that because Ramadan's grandfather was the Egyptian reformer and founder of the Islamic Brotherhood, Hassan al Banna, Ramadan must be a radical and dangerous thinker. But when challenged by the New York District Court in 2006 to come up with evidence for this charge, the "endorsing terrorism" language was dropped.
At issue now were not his ideas, but his generosity. Now, they said, he had donated $1336 in 2000 and 2002 to a French charity providing humanitarian aid to Palestinian refugees. It was deemed "material support" to terrorists. Was it a legal Swiss and French charity? Yes. Was it on the American list of banned charities? No, not until two years after he made the donations.
By now, however, we had new statute, passed in 2005, that applied retroactively to donations made in the past, unless one could provide "clear and convincing evidence" that one did not know the organization provided aid to terrorists. Should he have known that a Palestinian relief fund would be blacklisted in the future? Yes, deemed a consular officer in Bern in 2005.
The ACLU persisted and appealed the case to a Federal District court in New York. In December 2007, the U.S. District Judge upheld the decision to deny him a visa, leading us deeper into this absurd Kafkaesque drama. The crux of the new ruling was another twist: consular non-reviewability. As the court put it, mysteriously, "The decision of a consular officer to deny a visa is final and is not reviewable. It is not entirely clear why this is so -but it is." This is a political, not a judicial matter, so they say. So much for the leverage of justice.
Now, arguing on behalf of the Obama administration, the Assistant U.S. Attorney stood upon the principle of consular non-reviewability and argued that reversing the decision on Ramadan's visa denial would lead to a "quagmire" of requests for such reversals.
Those of us who know Ramadan's work in the American academic community are aghast at the convolutions and implications of this shell-game of justice. Ramadan is one of the leading exponents of a serious dialogue between Islam and the West, encouraging young European Muslims not to shun civic life, but to become involved as citizens, to participate in democratic processes, and to engage with Christians, Jews, and secularists to be a "rich, positive, and participatory presence" in society. He is one of the most powerful exponents of a reformist, self-critical, spiritual, and dialogical Islam. He speaks to the dilemmas of young Muslims in the West and to those of all faiths who recognize the importance of bridge-building across the chasms that divide us.
While he has been called a Muslim Martin Luther, he is much more a Muslim Reinhold Niebuhr, a theologian and ethicist articulating a moral compass and social ethic for Muslims in a complex world. His 2006 article, "Manifesto for a New 'We'" gives encouragement to all of us who hope for a fair, multi-religious democratic society.
It is astonishing to see the Obama administration pursuing this same course of exclusion. Speaking personally, it is disturbing for me, as former President of the American Academy of Religion, to see our adversary in this case is now Janet Napolitano. Far from protecting us from whatever potential threat is imagined in our quest for "homeland security," this publicly visible injustice continues to damage the image of the United States and imperils the very spirit of debate and inquiry in a free society.
2) Tariq Ramadan, calls a woman police office at Paris airport a 'bitch' for stopping from entering prohibited area and calls other police officers as 'bastards'. Tariq acknowledges it.
Charles Johnson
Wed Jun 6, 2007 at 10:36 am PDT
Slick European Islamist spokesman Tariq Ramadan, currently the object of a large media legitimization campaign aimed at getting him into the US, has pleaded guilty of “insulting a public agent” in an altercation with a female police officer at a French airport, and has been fined 2500 euros.
(Hat tip: Flying Dutchman.)
More information on the incident at The Terror Finance Blog: “Moderate” Muslim Tariq Ramadan was detained, charged and ordered to trial in France after insulting a police officer.
Tariq Ramadan, the so-called “moderate” Islamic “intellectual”, was briefly detained and charged for “insulting a public agent” on Sunday at Paris Roissy Charles de Gaulle International Airport, while in transit to London.
From informed police sources, we have learned that when Ramadan tried to enter a prohibited area, a young policewoman stopped him. He began shouting at her and was then taken into police custody; the officer filed a complaint against him.
While in custody, he admitted the offense and was ordered to appear before a criminal court of Bobigny on April 6. Tariq Ramadan faces up to 6 months of imprisonment and 7,500 Euros of penalty.
UPDATE:
Tariq Ramadan in his own words: According to the own Tariq Ramadan’s account of his detention in Paris last week, published by a Swiss newspaper today, he acknowledged he insulted a policewoman, calling her a “bitch” after she stopped him from going through a security gate without a boarding pass. When a second police officer arrived to assist the first, Ramadan admitted he shouted “you are real bastards”. Ramadan claims he had to spend the whole night in a dirty cell because of the police “overzealousness”.
3) Video of Tariq Ramadan asking for 'Vengeance of Allah in Palestine, Kashmir'. Tariq is a slick operator who is careful to speak with different tongues to different audience.
NOTE: In 1989, 350,000 Kashmiri Hindus were driven out overnight at threat of death and rape with Mosque blaring all around face death and rape or leave. They are still living in squalid camps as refugees in their own country after 20+ years!!!
4) Video of Qaradawi, former trustee of Roxbury Mosque preaches to kill Jews even on wheel chair, execute homosexuals and Muslim men to beat their wives.
5) Video of Roxbury Mosque urging followers to 'pick up the gun and the sword' in context of arrests of local Islamic extremists Aafia Siddiqui and terror suspect Tarek Mehanna.
Boston is part of the Islamic world. Looking to the future, the vision of an Islamic Center dedicated to interfaith outreach and education at the crossroads of Boston is worth the commitment of Christians, Jews, and Muslims.
Good neighbors
Interfaith dialogue is not happy hand-holding premised on agreement. It is the kind of encounter we need to build a society that bridges our deepest differences.
By Diana L. Eck | December 24, 2006
IN "THE MIGHTY AND THE ALMIGHTY," Madeleine Albright writes how she often scribbled on her briefing papers, "Learn more about Islam."
I agree, and that's not just Islam in the abstract, but Islam as practiced by countless and diverse Muslims all over the world, including here in Boston. In a world and a city of many faiths, learning and working together with people of all religions is no longer the odd specialty of those who practice "interfaith dialogue." Ready or not, as Albright sensed, it is one of the critical skills we need for today's world.
For most of us, the first step in learning about Islam should be meeting our Muslim neighbors. There are nearly 30 Islamic centers in the Boston area and a dozen university Islamic societies. The opportunities to encounter our neighbors are many and local. In Cambridge, it might be the Daughters of Abraham book group; in Wayland, the regular interfaith visits to Friday prayers at the Islamic Center of Boston.
In Sharon, high school students of the Interfaith Youth Leadership Program are at the forefront of dialogue. This largely Jewish suburb is also home to one of the Boston area's large Islamic centers and is a living laboratory of small-town interfaith relations. In the Sharon program, students steer straight into the big issues: stereotyping, religious conflict, faith, and prayer. The point is not to agree, not even to find common ground, but rather to learn to listen through their differences. Most important, they build lasting friendships.
In Revere this past October, the Muslim founders of the Boston Dialogue Foundation hosted the first-ever Iftar banquet for dozens of city officials. It was a historic opportunity for Revere citizens to learn more about Islam from their Muslim neighbors as they broke the Ramadan fast with them. As Mayor Thomas Ambrosino put it, "They might be different than we're used to, but they're doing good things, right here in Revere."
Still, much work remains. At the heart of Boston in Roxbury Crossing stands the magnificent shell of what will eventually be the Islamic Society of Boston's landmark mosque, as yet incomplete. Progress is swamped by the well-publicized accusations of the David Project, a Jewish advocacy group, about the mosque's funding and leadership and the ensuing litigation against the David Project by the Islamic Society of Boston. Meanwhile, Jewish-Muslim relations in Boston have become tense, undermining honest and difficult dialogue at the very time we need it most.
Last month, as I stood under the great dome of the mosque at Roxbury Crossing, I prayed, as a Christian, for its speedy completion. In 2006, it should not surprise us to learn that the so-called "Islamic world" is not somewhere else. Boston is part of the Islamic world. Looking to the future, the vision of an Islamic Center dedicated to interfaith outreach and education at the crossroads of Boston is worth the commitment of Christians, Jews, and Muslims.
Interfaith dialogue is not happy hand-holding premised on agreement. It is the kind of encounter we need to understand our deepest differences and build a society that bridges them. Our local efforts to overcome ignorance and fear may not be able to solve the searing conflicts of the wider world, but we can make a big difference in the climate of Boston.
Diana L. Eck is professor of comparative religion at Harvard University, director of the Pluralism Project (pluralism.org), and author of "A New Religious America: How a 'Christian Country' Has Become the World's Most Religiously Diverse Nation" (2001).
Good neighbors
Interfaith dialogue is not happy hand-holding premised on agreement. It is the kind of encounter we need to build a society that bridges our deepest differences.
By Diana L. Eck | December 24, 2006
EMPTY CLAIMS
At election times, RSS and BJP make claims about their increasing clout !!
Subject: [SDF] Must read - Kerala: The future of India and Hindus
To:
Date: Tuesday, December 20, 2011, 8:38 AM
Note: Many Keralas are popping up all over India.
From: shiv ram
Kerala is truly a lost country for India. A visit is an eye opener.
Travel up from Trivandrum upto Kannur and all you see are churches and
mosques. Hindus are a non-existent entity. It is Hindus who have made
themselves such. The travel through Mallapuram is startling. This is
Taliban country. For miles upon miles there are green flags. This does
not appear to be in a India that we know. There are Muslims going in
jeeps with green flags and shouting slogans. Christians are the most
powerful group in Kerala, followed by the Muslims. Hindus don't even
consider themselves as Hindus and are proud to boast of how many
Christian and Muslim friends they have.
19.12.11
Harvard Punishes Free Speech In India - Cleo Paskal. Harvard Corp. restore
Dr. Swamy's economics courses.
December 19, 2011
Harvard Punishes Free Speech In India
Cleo Paskal | 2 Hours Ago
It's going from bad to worse to farce for free speech in India. In fact, by
the time you reach the end of this blog, its contents might be illegal on
the subcontinent.
First, a few months ago, India's Communication and IT Minister Kapil Sibal
decided that Indians were texting too much -- the fact that texting played
a role in coalescing and coordination of the unprecedented anti-corruption
movement was, of course, simply coincidence. So he declared he was going to
cap texts to 100 messages per day per SIM card (phone number).
Businesses that rely on texts for bookings and confirmations, like cab
companies, were thrown into disarray. The uproar was so great, Sibal
relented. Sort of. The cap is now 200 messages per day per SIM, forcing
some businesses to buy multiple phone numbers to meet their texting
demands, and leaving many Indian teenagers practically incommunicado.
Then Sibal (or, more likely, his political bosses) took offence at the way
some in government were being portrayed in social media. Now, smart
political operators would have used the sites and tweets to gauge public
sentiment and put together a counter-strategy. Or, if the impact was
relatively minor, just ignored them as a small price to pay for the good
fortune of living in a democracy.
Instead, Sibal summoned Facebook, Microsoft, Yahoo, Google and others into
the principal's office for a little chat. He reportedly demanded that they
use real humans to prescreen and censor social media for objectionable
content.
While not being explicit about what would be considered objectionable, it
doesn't take a genius to make an educated guess -- a quick look at the
government's track record will do. According to Google, between January and
June 2011, Indian officials asked for 358 items to be removed from sites
like YouTube and Blogger. Eight were for hate speech, three were for
pornography, one was on national security grounds, and 255 were for
"government criticism."
As any 12-year-old could have told him, Sibal's move resulted in a
predictable pushback from a now decidedly unsocial media. #idiotkapilsibal
started trending and Facebook users began to put 'Kapil Sibal is an idiot'
as their status (at this point, this blog is now probably illegal in India).
Ironically, even when Indians manage to publish something politically
controversial in India, they might still be censored, or at least censured,
by those outside the country who don't like their message.
In response to the triple bombing in Mumbai on July 13, 2011 that left 26
people dead, Former Indian Law Minister Dr. Subramanian Swamy published an
op-ed in a mainstream Indian daily called 'How To Wipe Out Islamic Terror'.
Dr. Swamy is not much loved by the current Indian government as it was
through his anti-corruption campaigning efforts that the previous Telecoms
Minister ended up in jail on corruption charges, and he is actively
pursuing other high ranking members of the government on similar charges.
Dr. Swamy's article was complex and controversial, involving layers of
presupposed knowledge. For example, he wrote, to counter the terrorists
"goal" to "blast temples, kill Hindu devotees," Dr Swamy proposed a
strategy to "remove" masjids that were built over the sites of Hindu
temples (this itself being against the background of the widespread
destruction of Hindu temples by Muslim conquerors in India and, more
recently, in Kashmir).
The article was unquestionably provocative, but what it provoked was debate
-- a good thing for any democracy, especially on a difficult topic.
However, it seems, it was too much free speech for Harvard University. For
years Dr. Swamy, a Harvard Ph.D. and former Commerce and Industry Minister
of India, has taught summer courses in economics at Harvard. This year, in
an unprecedented move, his courses were taken away based on the article.
The Harvard Crimson justified the move by saying, in part, "there is the
further concern that his publications may incite religious violence."
The fact that the article appeared five months ago and so far it has only
spurred healthy debate is one issue (indeed, judged by their own standards,
one could argue that by whipping up this fever around the piece the Crimson
is itself stirring things up ).
However, even more problematic is the idea that one should censor
publications out of fear. Will the Harvard Crimson also write editorials
against inviting Danish cartoonists onto campus?
Who knows? In April 2010, in an editorial about the South Park episode that
was censored by Comedy Central for showing a drawing of the Prophet
Muhammad, the Crimson wrote: "The repression of free speech due to threats
of violence is regrettable and unjustified."
But the same piece also said: "Although we agree that Comedy Central made
the right choice in censoring itself, we hope that the media continues to
fight for free speech." I hope so too. And the media includes you, Harvard
Crimson.
India is a remarkable place, one that has produced remarkable, and
controversial thought. From Buddha, to Gandhi, to Kautilya, to Akbar the
Great, to Tagore, to C.V Raman, Indian thinkers have engaged, enraged, and
ultimately enlightened the world.
It's hard to know what will spark the next great thought -- an article to
disagree with, a blog post, a tweet. Whatever it is, India is strong
enough, and mature enough, to handle it. Even if its politicians and
Harvard are not.
This is my view & theory also - the evangelist/Maoist link. The
evangelist depend on the Maoist for the violence to soften their
targets & the Maoist depend on the evangelists for the public outcry
on grounds of "human rights". It is the proverbial link between the
"man-eating tiger who is taken to the victim by the howling jackal &
the jackal quickly eating the leftovers of the man-eater's meal". JC
Pant.
Rajiv response: Yes, this nexus is the center of the story in Breaking India. I call this the Good Cop/Bad Cop strategy - one plays the game of helping while the other uses the opportunity to attack.
HARVARD UNIVERSITY FLOODED WITH
LETTERS IN SUPPORT OF DR. SUBRAMANIAN SWAMY
HARVARD FACULTY FIRES ECONOMICS PROFESSOR OVER POLITICAL ARTICLE PUBLISHED IN INDIA
HARVARD COSMOPOLITANS GONE WILD
SHARIYAT AND COUNTRY LIQUOR IN WEST BENGAL
TEXAS ACTION ALERT *** TARRANT COUNTY COLLEGE NEEDS TO HEAR FROM YOU! SUPPORT A BRAVE COLLEGE PROFESSOR, PAUL DERENGOWSKI
ARAB SPRING and SECULAR WORLD
THE CROOKED WAYS OF PSEUDO-SECULARISTS
HARVARD UNIVERSITY FLOODED WITH
LETTERS IN SUPPORT OF DR. SUBRAMANIAN SWAMY
Here is one more hard hitting letter from Melbourne, Australia written by an eminent Indian-Australian, Pushker N. Bhat.
In this letter to the President of Harvard University, Mr. Bhat says that the decision to drop the courses which Dr. Swamy was teaching at Harvard as "blatantly wrong", "a feather in the cap of Jihadists and Islamists"; and prompted by the "shallow understanding of the dangers of Pan-Islamic movement", on the part of Harvard.
Narain Kataria
Dr. Drew Faust, President Harvard University
Office of the President, MA Hall,
Cambridge, MA 02138 .
Dear Sir,
We are aghast at the decision of debarring Dr Subramanian Swamy from conducting his courses at the University of Harvard because, as a true patriot, he has been raising alarm over the dangers of Islamic terrorism & its consequences for India. But this action is a feather for the cap that Jihadists & Islamists wanted from a reputed world class institution. That you have obliged them so easily & conveniently indicates that the University has, pardon me to say, a shallow understanding of the dangers of Pan –Islamism. It is ironic as well, as you have now forgotten the beautiful Twin-Towers of world Trade Centre that were brought down along with the precious human resource of 3000 Americans by the kind of people who, I suspect, have influenced University to take such a blatantly wrong decision. Dr Swamy is an accomplished academician & a political activist who holds secular traditions of India & its democratic values in high regard & veneration. Dr Swamy is also a fearless crusader against corruption & other malpractices in the society & he uses judicial system & other constitutional methods to set the systems right.
Dr Swamy has been advocating case of hapless Pandits, the ab-original inhabitants of Kashmir who have been murdered in large numbers, their properties vandalised & destroyed & their women ravished & dishonoured as part of worldwide Islamic Jihad. Pandits, ran away for their lives from Kashmir two decades back & have become refugees in their own country. They were asked to accept Islam & sharia, or else warned to run away from Kashmir or failing which, get killed. In 1990, mass migration of Pandits took place & for the last two decades, Pandits are living in the most inhuman tragic conditions in tents & shoddy shelters. Their temples have been desecrated, vandalised & lands encroached upon by intolerant Islamists of Kashmir. Dr Swamy being a humanist sympathises with their condition & laments that this should have happened in a secular & democratic country that India is. He discusses their miserable plight, the curse of Jihad, at public platforms, in Parliament & by his writings. But mischievously, he is made to look like a communalist by these cunning and sly actors & operators. Please understand that the movement of separation from India in Kashmir is part of pan-Islamic agenda of which the epicentre in this part of the world is Pakistan. Ideology (Wahabism), methods of indoctrination & funds come chiefly from Saudi Arabia.
While one can understand the urgency of USA taking on Iraq for possessing (non-existent) weapons of mass destruction, why are they in Afghanistan for the last ten years? They are there for the same reason & fears that Dr Swamy is talking about & thus is worried about. He evaluates various options before India to tackle the onslaught of Jihad & cautions Indians (called Hindus) to be watchful of their sympathisers within the country. He is not suggesting using terror machines or suicide bombers to crush sympathisers of Pakistan sponsored terrorism in Kashmir or elsewhere. He has never suggested that Hindus must arm themselves like Islamic terrorists if Govt of India fails to deliver goods. Pakistan has its terror factories working round the clock as a state policy & the target is India & USA....... & then the western world at large. They protected & sheltered Osama for the last ten years telling all the while that he was perhaps somewhere in the badlands of Waziristan & that they had no firm knowledge about him. What is happening in Pakistan these days you must be fully aware of?
Pakistan has its well calibrated Islamic agenda for India, to destabilize it. They know the route is through Kashmir where they have encouraged & are clandestinely funding a separatist movement in the name of Islam. Through Kashmir, they want India to suffer eternally & they talk of “thousand cuts” to be inflicted everyday on the body of India. If Dr Swamy is talking about Hindus, he refers to the most pacifist community living in the world, who assimilated Zoroastrians after Islamists tortured them in Persia & Muslims as well who came to India during Muslim rule: they never killed them. The Hindu word does not mean Hindu Religion but represents a way of life that is peaceful, progressive, leisurely, agile intellectually & highly philosophical accommodating all shades of beliefs like, Islam, Buddhism, and Christianity to live in harmony. As Hindus, we are dualists, monoists, even agnostics but all live together without any animosity, ill-will or anger despite differentiations. If Dr Swamy has been barred, because he is a talking about Hindus, that is Indians in general; please understand he is not a terrorist, a communalist, a separatist in the name of religion, a fundamentalist, a chauvinist & a hate-monger in the name of God nor a demonic preacher of hatred. He wants full integration of Kashmir with India by abolishing, such mechanisms(Article 370) that proliferate communalism, Jihad & hatred in the name of religion.....because India believes in secularism & non-discrimination in the name of religion.
We are worried, Dr Faust , that the decision of Harvard University on Dr Subramanian may have been influenced through devious methods like offer of grants to individuals & the institution and large scale funding from Saudi Arabia, or even from Pakistan. You may be aware of the American-Kashmiri gentleman, Dr Ghulam Nabi Fai who lived in your back yard, who was playing the game for Jihadists on behalf of Pakistan clandestinely for several years till he was found out. Harvard University should not get involved in subtle & mean-ish political games & controversies at the behest of those elements that gave to the USA the infamous date “9/11” & to India “26/11”.
Dr Swamy's article on terrorism was published after Nov 2008 terrorist attack in Mumbai that paralyzed the financial Capital of India for almost three days besides killing a few hundred people, some of them foreigners. The terrorist attack was executed so well that it was made possible only after a meticulous planning by and coordination and help from Govt of Pakistan. The latter one was after many terrorist attacks in Mumbai and scores of acts of terrorism in India during the last two decades. It is surprising that this article was not condemned in India, but has surprisingly surfaced here at Harvard in USA.
It would appear that pro-islamist groups have infiltrated Harvard with the aim of neutralizing any one opposing their method of using Islamic terror and other violent activities to Islamize the democratic societies (concern expressed by Dr. Swamy). If Ghulam Nabi Fai who was arrested in Virginia for channelling millions of dollars from Pakistan to cultivate Congress support for separation of Kashmir from India, infiltrating Harvard is much easier to which the renowned Institution should be aware and guard against.
Indo-Austrlians are thoroughly disappointed by this illogical and irrational decision and we urge the Harvard Management to reverse it in the true spirit of American liberalism. Do not have the name of Harvard University tarnished in the eyes & minds of a billion Indians who cherish democracy as much as you do in USA.
pushker n bhat
Harvard Faculty Fires Economics Professor
over Political Article Published in India
by Adam Kissel
Harvard's Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) has effectively fired a controversial economics professor by canceling all of his courses due to an op-ed he published in India in the wake of the July 13 Mumbai terrorist bombing. Although Harvard's administration had defended Professor Subramanian Swamy's rights after intervention by FIRE, FAS blatantly and shamefully violated them in its meeting on Tuesday. Anyone reading the op-ed will have no trouble detecting why it was controversial, but this action by the Harvard faculty places speech and academic freedom in danger at Harvard.
On July 16, 2011, Swamy published an opinion piece in the Indian newspaper Daily News & Analysis in response to series of terrorist bombing in Mumbai on July 13 that killed 26 and injured 130 people. The column makes several suggestions about how to "negate the political goals of Islamic terrorism in India," advocating that India "[e]nact a national law prohibiting conversion from Hinduism to any other religion," "[r]emove the masjid [mosque] in Kashi Vishwanath temple and the 300 masjids at other temple sites," and "declare India a Hindu Rashtra [nation] in which non-Hindus can vote only if they proudly acknowledge that their ancestors were Hindus."
In response, a group of Harvard students began a petition against Swamy, demanding that Harvard "repudiate Swamy's remarks and terminate his association with the University" on the ground that he is "a bigoted promoter of communalism in India" whose column "breaches the most basic standards of respect and tolerance." The petition concludes that "Subramanian Swamy can have no place in the Harvard community." Harvard Summer School Dean Donald H. Pfister reacted to the controversy by stating, "We will give this matter our serious attention."
FIRE wrote President Drew Gilpin Faust on July 27, stating that "students certainly have the right to request that Harvard violate its own promises of free expression, but Harvard must not accede to such demands." Indeed, we wrote, Harvard is obligated to uphold the promises of free speech contained in the "Free Speech Guidelines" adopted by FAS in 1990:
Curtailment of free speech undercuts the intellectual freedom that defines our purpose. It also deprives some individuals of the right to express unpopular views and others of the right to listen to unpopular views.
Because no other community defines itself so much in terms of knowledge, few others place such a high priority on freedom of speech. As a community, we take certain risks by assigning such a high priority to free speech. We assume that the long-term benefits to our community will outweigh the short-term unpleasant effects of sometimes-noxious views. Because we are a community united by a commitment to rational processes, we do not permit censorship of noxious ideas. We are committed to maintaining a climate in which reason and speech provide the correct response to a disagreeable idea.
Members of the University do not share similar political or philosophical views, nor would such agreement be desirable. They do share, however, a concern for the community defined in terms of free inquiry and dissemination of ideas. Thus, they share a commitment to policies that allow diverse opinions to flourish and to be heard.
Although President Faust did not respond directly to FIRE's letter, Harvard released a statement around August 1 defending free speech in line with the promises made by FAS:
It is central to the mission of a university to protect free speech, including that of Dr. Swamy and of those who disagree with him. We are ultimately stronger as a university when we maintain our commitment to the most basic freedoms that enable the robust exchange of ideas.
It seemed that Harvard and FIRE were in agreement on this issue. After all, how would the situation presented here be any different in principle from the firing, say, of a communist professor for his beliefs, which might include the violent overthrow of the U.S. government? Both the U.S. and Harvard have had experience with what we now call McCarthyism, and few are eager to return to that.
Harvard's admirable promises now stand in sharp and unflattering contrast to the action by FAS on Tuesday, led by Professor Diana C. Eck, as reported on Wednesday by The Harvard Crimson. (Disclosure: I once worked for Professor Eck as a nonresident tutor at Harvard's Lowell House.) According to Crimson journalists Radhika Jain and Kevin J. Wu:
"Swamy's op-ed clearly crosses the line by demonizing an entire religious community and calling for violence against their sacred places," Eck said, adding that Harvard has a moral responsibility not to affiliate itself with anyone who expresses hatred towards a minority group. "There is a distinction between unpopular and unwelcome political views."
Did Professor Eck really say, "There is a distinction between unpopular and unwelcome political views"? How exactly would one objectively define that difference?
This hypocritical action by FAS was made worse by Eck's faulty rationale for punishing a professor who had expressed his views. The Crimson article adds that "[m]any faculty determined Swamy's article was not a product of free speech-but of hate speech." This assertion has no meaning from a rights perspective. There is no exception for "hate speech" either at Harvard (a private university bound by its own promises) or in the First Amendment, and there can be no agreement on what constitutes "hate speech" since it cannot be determined objectively.
Equally indefensible is the contention that Swamy's article was an incitement to violence. Yet, this is exactly what the chair of the Philosophy Department, Sean D. Kelly, said, according to the Crimson:
"I was persuaded ... that the views expressed in Dr. Swamy's op-ed piece amounted to incitement of violence instead of protected political speech," he wrote in an email to The Crimson.
Yet the op-ed comes nowhere near the careful definition of unprotected "incitement" announced by the Supreme Court in 1969. According to the Supreme Court, for speech to be considered "incitement," it must be "directed to inciting or producing imminent lawless action and [be] likely to incite or produce such action." Brandenburg v. Ohio, 395 U.S. 444 (1969). See also Hess v. Indiana, 414 U.S. 105 (1973) (holding that a protestor who shouted, "We'll take the fucking street later" was not guilty of incitement because his "threat" "amounted to nothing more than advocacy of illegal action at some indefinite future time.").
There are permissible reasons to cancel a professor's courses, but the Crimson article suggests that FAS did not act on any of them. Instead, FAS broke its own promises. Harvard must reverse FAS's violation of its moral obligation to uphold freedom of speech. It would be most preferable for FAS to remedy its own mistake. Failing that, higher-ups at Harvard must act to protect Harvard's integrity. Harvard has already embarrassed itself far too much over free speech issues in recent years.
Harvard economics Professor Subramanian Swamy has become the center of controversy at the university. Professor Swamy left teaching at Harvard during the regular academic year to enter politics in his home country, but continued to return to Cambridge to teach summer courses. Earlier this year, Professor Swamy published in the Indian newspaper Daily News & Analysis. In reaction to the Mumbai bombing by Muslim terrorists, Professor Swamy advocated declaring India an officially Hindu country and taking steps to enforce its Hindu identity.
Although Swamy did not identify himself as a Harvard Professor or link his ideas in any way to that institution, the ever-vigilant and concerned Harvard community soon learned of his publication of objectionable views. Students and parents petitioned the university to end its connection with the wayward academic, professing their adherence to the free expression of ideas, but asserting that Swamy had gone beyond the limits of acceptability. I have often noted that advocates of censorship in this country generally proclaim loudly their belief in the principle of free expression and then exclude whatever they don’t like from this principle because it “goes too far.” The petitioners also raised questions about Swamy’s ability to treat all students equally (another common strategy by enforcers of conformity), even though there is no evidence at all of his ever discriminating against non-Hindu students at Harvard.
This past week, Harvard’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences responded to the controversy by cancelling Professor Swamy’s two summer courses. Diana L. Eck, the Harvard professor who made the proposal to cancel the classes reiterated the view that the university had to cut its ties to Swamy because his ideas involved limiting human rights and denying freedom of religion. The admirable Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) has asserted Professor Swamy’s right to advocate radical social change, a right that he shares with Communists or adherents of other ideas that many might see as “going too far.”
Summer courses are assigned at the pleasure of the university and the university does have the right to cancel courses it does not want to offer. Nevertheless, Harvard’s faculty body clearly made a very bad decision here. At the most basic level, an employer is making a decision about the continuation of an employee on the basis of political activities completely unrelated to the job, there being no support whatsoever for the claim that Swamy “might” be unfair to some students. Beyond that, FIRE is correct that the university is a special kind of employer, one that has a moral obligation to protect and promote intellectual pluralism. In a university, ideas that someone finds objectionable should be rebutted, not silenced or excluded. But this case actually goes beyond the open expression of views on campus. Harvard’s Arts & Sciences faculty, in the U.S. state of Massachusetts, is taking action to officially repudiate an article published in a newspaper in India about politics in India by an Indian citizen.
Anyone aware of my own paper trail should expect me to uphold the right of individuals in Massachusetts or anywhere else to hold informed, semi-informed, and utterly uninformed opinions and judgments about everything under and beyond the stars. While we cannot extend the protections of the U.S. Constitution to people outside the U.S., as human beings we can certainly be certainly be concerned about how our fellow human beings treat other humans everywhere and at all times. But I cannot see why the organization of the faculty at Harvard, as an institutional entity, should have any business taking positions on what are acceptable or unacceptable opinions for Indians on political and social questions in India.
Shariyat and Country Liquor in West Bengal
Among 171 Hooch Deaths In Mograhat, The Most Are Muslims.
Nurul Islam, alias Khoka (Khokon) Badshah Is the Main Culprit.
Since Long In Mograhat, Selim And Nurul Are Government.
Among 171 Hooch Deaths In Mograhat, The Most Are Muslims.
Nurul Islam, alias Khoka (Khokon) Badshah Is the Main Culprit.
Since Long In Mograhat, Selim And Nurul Are Government.
Both Are Still At Large.
People Think They Are In Safe Shelter Of Some Politicians (blessed by) or The Other.
Both Politicians And Police Are Financial Beneficiaries.
Police Thinks That It Is Futile To Arrest Muslim Culprits For Obvious Reasons.
Therefore, What’s Harm Taking Money From Them!!
Politicians Think, These Muslim Culprits Will Fetch Them Both Money And Vote.
Moreover, These M – Criminals Will Supply Them The Much Needed Muscle Power To Silence The Opposition. This Technology Was Mastered By The Leftist Parties the art borrowed from their foreign counterparts, Not Only CPIM, But Also Forward Block, RSP, SUCI, etc.
Therefore, Shed Some Crocodile’s Tear After Any Major Mishap, Let The People Shout For Sometime. Everything Will Be Okay In Due Course.
In This Horrible Mograhat Case, Mamata Banerjee Opened The Treasury Of State Govt., As If It Is Her Own Money And As If, The Dead Persons Are Martyrs For Some Great Cause. Every Victim Will Get 2 Lakh Rupees Hard Earned By You And I as compensation for their fun though, they claim, consumption of liquor is against Shariyat law.
People Are Compelled To Think That This Large Heartedness Only Because Almost All The Victims Are Muslims.
She Does Not Think What A Dreadful Bad Precedence She Has Set For Future References.
If This Is Not Muslim Appeasement, Then What Else?
This Naked Muslim Appeasement Will Take Our West Bengal To Which Disaster?
Texas Action Alert***
Tarrant County College Needs to Hear From You!
Support a Brave College Professor,
Paul Derengowski
Dear David,
A grave injustice has occurred at Tarrant County College in Texas . If this situation is allowed to stand, it sets a bizarre precedent for future attacks on an increasingly rare breed: truthful college professors!
***Action Item***
After reading the account below, please call to register your “respectful outrage” to the office of the President of the Southeast Campus:
President Bill Coppola
Phone: 817-515-3001
Read the following account from Professor Paul Derengowski:
My name is Paul Derengowski, and I was hired by Tarrant County College in 2008 to teach Great World Religions, Bible History I & II, and Introduction to Philosophy. On November 8, 2011, I gave the second of a two-part lecture on Islam, as I've been doing Spring, Fall, and sometimes twice in the Summer, dealing with Islamic history and doctrine, and more particularly Muhammad's move to Medina. A question had been raised by two Muslim students in the previous the lecture concerning the sources I used to discuss the raid at Nakhlah. At the start of the second lecture I provided my sources (The Life of Muhammad by Haykal and the Qur'an), which included reading Sura 2:216-217. That is when all hell broke loose. Both Muslim students, for an hour, berated me, my sources, and my credentials. When other students in the class attempted to ask questions or make comments, then the Muslim students would interrupt them as well. Finally, toward the end of the class period, a student made a comment on how "scary" the person of Muhammad seemed to be. That's when the male Muslim blurted out "you ought to be scared," and then bolted for the door in a fit of outrage. I subsequently filed a campus police report on him out of concern for the safety of students and myself. The female followed suit as well, claiming later in a libelous email she passed around unbeknownst to me—that is, until one of the students forwarded the diatribe to me later—that she was not going to sit there and listen to me slander her religion, even though all I did was quote from Islamic sources. It was the libelous email that really started the wheels in motion leading up to my resignation. The female Muslim student not only stealthily sent around the email to all the rest of the students in the class to (1) defame me behind my back, but also to (2) try and gather support for her reckless behavior. She ended up with zero support from anyone. In it she made the same baseless claims of slandering Islam, but included some selective quotes from a couple of Mormon bloggers who had done what she was doing, and that is malign me in a malicious way, as well as a portion of blog I had written in 2009 on the Abdulmuttalab idiot who tried to blow up the plane over Detroit. Both Muslim students then turned to TCC administration to make their specious complaints. The sad thing is, as if what these students did was not sad enough, is that the administration kowtowed to them, called me in and questioned everything from my syllabus (which was already approved and essentially the same ever since 2008) to my motives for teaching, to the banner on my website dealing with Islam. I was informed that I was to teach "neutral" in my views on religion, my opinions and insights were not welcome, that the remainder of my syllabus would be nixed, and that I was to strictly abide by the department approved book (which in reality, I was the one who even selected it for the course). None of the other students were called in and questioned as to what happened. After a veiled threat concerning my employment for failure to abide by the neutrality mandate, I subsequently resigned. Since my resignation on Nov. 15, I've received several letters of support from the remaining students, as well as notes of encouragement from past students for standing my ground. There are currently, at least, three grievances that have been filed by the students in the class with the administration, yet the administration continues to drag its feet. It has done NOTHING! TCC administration claims that an investigation is ongoing, but no one has ever been spoken to on the matter. As of today, I've been interviewed by CBS, FOX, KLIF-Dallas, and The Collegian, as well as have several of my students, but as much as I appreciate some of the effort, the two Muslim students have gone unscathed in this whole matter. Grades have been overturned in their favor, which is a clear violation of TCC policy, as well as another slap in my face for acting in an appropriate manner when students are insubordinate, and they've been allowed to return to class, without repercussion, while several of the students in the class are now suffering discrimination, disrespect, forfeiture of return on money invested by their companies for taking certain classes, and lower grades. It is truly a despicable thing the TCC administration has allowed at what I termed a "terroristic act of jihad." This is the Cliff Notes version of what has transpired. There are many more details and the story only keeps getting uglier. I hope this helps you to understand just a little of what has gone on, and is going on, these past weeks, as the "religion of peace" and its followers wreak havoc once again upon American soil, education, and freedom. If you need to speak to me directly, you may contact me at apologetics@capro.info.
Thank you
Among 171 Hooch Deaths In Mograhat, The Most Are Muslims.
Nurul Islam, alias Khoka (Khokon) Badshah Is the Main Culprit.
Since Long In Mograhat, Selim And Nurul Are Government.
Among 171 Hooch Deaths In Mograhat, The Most Are Muslims.
Nurul Islam, alias Khoka (Khokon) Badshah Is the Main Culprit.
Since Long In Mograhat, Selim And Nurul Are Government.
Both Are Still At Large.
People Think They Are In Safe Shelter Of Some Politicians (blessed by) or The Other.
Both Politicians And Police Are Financial Beneficiaries.
Police Thinks That It Is Futile To Arrest Muslim Culprits For Obvious Reasons.
Therefore, What’s Harm Taking Money From Them!!
Politicians Think, These Muslim Culprits Will Fetch Them Both Money And Vote.
Moreover, These M – Criminals Will Supply Them The Much Needed Muscle Power To Silence The Opposition. This Technology Was Mastered By The Leftist Parties the art borrowed from their foreign counterparts, Not Only CPIM, But Also Forward Block, RSP, SUCI, etc.
Therefore, Shed Some Crocodile’s Tear After Any Major Mishap, Let The People Shout For Sometime. Everything Will Be Okay In Due Course.
In This Horrible Mograhat Case, Mamata Banerjee Opened The Treasury Of State Govt., As If It Is Her Own Money And As If, The Dead Persons Are Martyrs For Some Great Cause. Every Victim Will Get 2 Lakh Rupees Hard Earned By You And I as compensation for their fun though, they claim, consumption of liquor is against Shariyat law.
People Are Compelled To Think That This Large Heartedness Only Because Almost All The Victims Are Muslims.
She Does Not Think What A Dreadful Bad Precedence She Has Set For Future References.
If This Is Not Muslim Appeasement, Then What Else?
This Naked Muslim Appeasement Will Take Our West Bengal To Which Disaster?
ARAB SPRING and SECULAR WORLD
Separation of Religion and State addresses the Equality of a person, irrespective of his religion.
By virtue of equality anyone in USA expects to get equal protection from the Law and so
any infraction makes it a news .That is why, a hundred million dollar Mosque Complex ,
got the support of the New York City Mayor , even being so close to such sensitive place as Ground Zero,New York , where three thousand Americans were perished in one day's fateful hit by Islamists.
Whereas during normal time in Egypt,officially secular, just for repairs to a Church, the Coptic Christians, sons of the soil, will be in the waiting for unknown amount of time for a mandatory approval. We just recently seen the death and destruction to Christians and Churches of Egypt, when it is still not a declared theocracy In sixty years of theocracy the minorities in Pakistan and Bangladesh are slowly andsurely on the way to thorough cleansing out. . In Kashmir valley , India , the Hindus are minority and the Hindus are almost wiped out ,though India is secular.
In today's world of globalization when mass migration is a norm of the day , across the continents , it is only reasonable that minorities in all the places get same treatment of equality. One settling in USA,Europe , India , enjoys equality , irrespective of religion : whereas one residing in a theocracy gets a harsher treatment. It is not in order.
Salman Taseer, secular minded Governor of Punjab, Pakistan ,is murdered, by his own body guard, for his ideas to reform the murderous Blasphemy Law , to save an illiterate Christian woman , condemned to death by that Law.The betrayal by a professional security detail is shocking , yet it pales in significance when we find the murderer is accorded accolades fit for a hero, by the entire Nation. Yet, real chilling is the ready offer by advocates to represent the murder suspect for free in court of law. And lawyers are the cream of society.
In different articles on Tunisia , Egypt, ,Libya Yemen and Bahrain the stress is placed to bring home the point that the mass in charge of the brigades today , are young & educated and armed with computer in stead of AK47.
It is assumed that they will not be fundamentalist We hope so. The inclination of broader mindset is however,fading.
The reality of mind-set of the advocates in Pakistan and the turning of Secular models of Iran, Afghanistan and Iraq into Islamic states is ominous sign for the future of secularism in Egypt and Tunisia . To prove the point Islamic Brotherhood garnered 40% of vote and we see lurking of a Islamic Theocrcy in Egypt The world leaders and the media in particular , even buoyed by present euphoria, need to drive the point that the world demands the nations to march forward towards secularism , ending the unholy discrimination to the non-islamic population. This is simply the need of the day .Non- Muslims ,are treated by constitution as of secondary status
in Islamic countries. But non-Muslims deserve the same equality in front of Law, like the Muslims enjoy in USA , Europe, Australia & India and other secular nations all over the world.
But we do not see activity in this direction from anyone , not even by so-called Moderate Muslims, Their initiative is needed to spearhead such movement towards Equality.
Extremely baffling is the total lack of discussion by the Media about the role of Theocracy in the
Islamic nations and the need to usher in equality by adopting Secular governance forsaking theocracy all over the world.
In India the law is not only equal to all , but law twists itself , for serving a cause of the minority.
The same Media , in India and abroad swoop down on India and Hindus even if a minority is offended.
The Muslim painter Maqbool Fida Hussain gets holy joy in depicting Hindu Gods in nude and
amorous vulgar sex acts The protests by Hindus make Fida Hussain aggrieved and some pseudo-secularists, Media and agents of Anti-hindu Gang raised Hell and lobbied for Hussains right to draw Nude Hindu Goddesses.
The same Clique, who fights for Muslims' rights for equality and freedom of expression for painting vulgar acts, never utters a word for Rights of Non-Muslims in Muslim Countries, just to live there.
Have you seen New York Times taking up the issue of Secular Equality in Islamic Nation ?
THE CROOKED WAYS OF PSEUDO-SECULARISTS
A petition has been going around the world started by Indian pseudo-secularists. What is in the petition? A request to the Delhi University to not drop a blasphemous essay on Ramayan written by an A K Ramanujan which for years was being taught in their history classes. The essay ostensibly is about the existence of 300 Ramayans and how the different versions differ from each other so one is advised to take any historical account with a pinch of salt.
In reality the essay is full of mockery of Hindu deities, and filled with such outrageous statements as: Hanuman was the henchman of Ram.
Fortunately, Vishwa Hindu Parishad activists succeeded in persuading the university to drop the essay from the syllabus. As expected the rabid left wingers, and people who call themselves Indians but basically hate India and would do well to go to Pakistan or to the Communist China for they love their systems of government so much, went to the Supreme Court to reinstate the essay in the curriculum. The Supreme Court referred the matter back to the University Council. The University Council so far has not reinstated the essay, though the "lunatic diversity lovers" , who are never in to promoting diversity in Bangladesh and Pakistan, just in India, because the Hindus are not violent, are out in strength, demonstrating in India and writing across the Globe, to have the essay reinstated. One of their champions, Dilip Kumar Patnaik, wrote an opinion piece in India Tribune telling us among other things that Lord Rama would disapprove of the essay's removal. The rebuttal to his opinion by Dr. Kelwala makes interesting reading and exposes the hypocrisy and intellectual dishonesty of the crooked pseudo-secularists. Dr. Kelwala's rebuttal is being given below.
A BOOK ON RAMAYANA DISPARAGING GOD RAMA AND SITA AND OTHERS IS GETTING AROUND COURTESY OF
ANTI-HINDU ZEALOTS AND THE BENEFICIARIES.
WHY IN THE WORLD A MEDIA WHICH SELLS ITS PAPERS TO HINDUS WILL PUBLISH GLEEFULLY SUCH ARTICLES
AS ONE BY DILIP KUMAR PATNAIK. WHAT IS THEIR MOTIVE.
IF IT IS FOR HEALTHY DISCUSSION THEN WHY THE INDIA TRIBUNE IS NOT STARTING A DISCUSSION ON APPROPRIATENESS
OF KORANS APPROVAL OF KEEPING 4 WIVES AT A TIME BY THE MALE OR DISCARDING OF ANY WIFE BY UTTERING THE
WORD "TALAQ" THREE TIMES TO A WIFE.
WE DRAW THE ATTENTION OF INDIA TRIBUNE TO ADDRESS SUCH ISSUES WHICH BEDEVILED THE WORLD, LIKE KORANIC
INJUNCTION OF PERPETUAL "DOZAKHS" TO "KAFIRS" OR JIHAD TO THE " KAFIRS " TILL THEY ARE CONVERTED
WHY ON RAMAYANA WHICH IS NOT ASKING TO WAGE A WAR TO ANYONE WHO IS SIMPLY A NON- BELIEVER. IT
ONLY IS TARGETED TO HURT HINDUS.
Pseudo-secularists are out to make Hindus feel guilty
By Surendra Kelwala
Livonia, MI: Dilip Kumar Patnaik in his opinion piece — Delhi University must not drop essay on Ramayana — published in India Tribune issue dated November 11, exhorts Delhi University to not drop the essay on the Ramayan from its history syllabus.
It is a classic example of how tendentious reporting of facts and a deceitful appeal to our broad-mindedness is used by pseudo-secularists to make Hindus feel guilty over demanding the right thing.
Dilip Kumar Patnaik first puts us on the wrong footing by declaring that those, who demanded the essay’s removal are not following the values of Lord Sri Rama. As if Ram would have highly appreciated the Hindu deities getting written as a bunch of clowns. Then he tells us that nobody in his or her right mind can question the scholarly credentials of Ramanujan. This is a clever way to silence anybody from questioning Ramanujan’s real intentions lest one is perceived as mentally deranged. I for one, failed to see — and per Dilip Kumar Patnaik, I must disqualify from saying anything further because I don’t have the right mind; the mindset of the pseudo-secularist - any true scholarship in his writing. It is nothing but a long-winded, meandering, disparaging, irreverential and contemptuous way of describing Hindu deities. Their actions and emotions are presented such as to mock them in a tongue-in-cheek fashion. There is a total lack of scholarly depth in the writing, and no perspicacity to touch upon and appreciate the treasure trove of mythological and psychological underpinnings that characterize that great epic.
Then Dilip Kumar Patnaik wants us to believe that Hindus are stupid because they have unnecessarily worked themselves up over Ramanujan’s claim that there are 300 versions of the Ramayan and believe that it diminishes the importance of Valmiki’s version. To make this as the main point of contention is true intellectual dishonesty. Hindus don’t give two hoots about these two features of the essay. The trouble with Ramanujan’s essay is that it treats Hindu deities in a manner that no one in India will dare treat either
the Prophet and the Koran or Jesus Christ and the Bible. To describe Hanuman as henchman of Ram, with which the essay starts, sets the tone of other indignities, which the essay continuously inflicts upon other revered figures of the epic. Henchman per dictionary is: a person who supports a political figure chiefly out of selfish interests or a member of a criminal gang.
Ram was no mobster and Hanuman did not serve him out of selfish interests. If the aim of that essay is to teach us such distortions of Hinduism as history then God bless Indian scholarship.
In his next essay on the Mahabharat, there is further evidence of Ramanujan’s warped scholarship when he slyly slips in his real view of the Mahabharat: “The problem of Draupadi and her five husbands.”
Finally, the Ramayan and the Mahabharat are religious epics and the real reason they are finding a place in the history department — instead of getting sung in Hindu temples or at best studied in the discipline of Comparative Mythology — is because it gives the pseudo-secularists an acade-mic platform to selectively demoralize Hindus by ridiculing their pride in their heritage.
