It was not something that was unexpected. I mean, the differences among the all party delegation that went to Jammu and Kashmir over the meeting with the avowed separatists and those who owe their allegiance to Pakistan and those who do not want to work within the framework of the Indian Constitution. Expectedly, the communists, for whom patriotism and nationalism are dirty words, took the lead to reach out to the separatists.
The condescending attitude of these interlocutors, as reflected in their body language while meeting the pro-Pakistanis, was too obvious. In fact, Ram Vilas Paswan made no bones of it when he said that he was feeling more comfortable with hawks like Syed Ali Shah Geelani than any other leader in his own country.
But what these self-styled optimists, without exception, said after the meeting with the hardliners was quite candid. The hawks are reported to have said something before the cameras for the consumption of the world at large, particularly their mentors and pay masters in Pakistan, and just the opposite in closed door meetings.
This double speak inspired this columnist to imagine a meeting between Geelani and our own Asaduddin Owaisi of Majlis Ittehadul Muslimeen who had something in common with the pro-Pak hawks, though history and geography placed Owaisi on a different platform. Had there been an one-on-one meeting with Geelani and Owaisi,a la Ram Vilas Paswan, the conversation would have been like this.
Here is an imaginary chat:
Owaisi: Salaam ale ghum
Geelani: Wale ghum salaam
Owaisi: How I wish I could have lent my support openly to your pro-Pakistani stand on Kashmir had our Nizam succeeded either in securing Dominion Status for Hyderabad state or merged with Pakistan.
Geelani: But I believe even now people feel that you still have soft corner for the Land of Purity.
Owaisi: I can’t be so explicit, Jenab. But, you are so fortunate. Inspite of your strong pro-Pak sentiments and refusal to work within the framework of Indian Constitution, the Indian government is scared of touching you and political leaders knock at your door even though you show them the boot. And what is more, they pay obeisance to you in the full gaze of television cameras. However, that is not the case with me.
Geelani: Well, you also turned history on its head when you opposed the celebration of “Telangana Liberation Day”. The Andhra Pradesh government and other mainstream political parties were shitting in their pants because of your numbers and they conveniently called it “Merger Day”. You could rewrite history and it is not a mean achievement.
Owaisi: I don’t consider it an achievement, Geelani sahib. I would have been happy if the Razaakar movement that Jenab Qasim Razvi led with the blessings of the Nizam VII, Osman Ali Khan had succeeded and the then trouble-makers were thrown out of the state to ensure the continuance of Nizam rule. Nizam had contributed so much for the Hyderabad state.
Geelani: Well, we did it with regard to the Pundits here. They have become refugees in their own land. Your Nizam also did his best. It was not an easy job to raise a private army of 200,000 militants to do his bidding, whereas we had to rely on Pakistan to capture Kashmir after the Hindu ruler here signed the accession treaty with India. Of course Pakistan could not complete the job. And, Insha Allah, we are trying to complete the unfinished agenda by creating Intifada like situation here in the Valley.
Owaisi: But we have lost that chance for ever thanks to Sardar Patel and that is why I was so angry when I said it was not correct to celebrate “Telangana Liberation Day”. Indian Army killed so many “Muslims of Qasim Razvi’s militia” in September 1948 in the name of “Police Action” code-named “Operation Polo”.
Geelani: I know. But it is said that on one day Razakars killed 22 persons in cold blood in some village near Warangal because they protested against the Nizam.
Owaisi: No Saab, it was just a “reaction” to the armed struggle by the Communists.
Geelani: But the very same Communists are coming to me uninvited with a deep bow and warm embrace and talk about peace.
Owaisi: Why Communists? Did not obsequious Ram Vilas Paswan come and wait at your doorsteps to be called in. Did you notice his body language? He was cringing. Do you know? He was the one who served as Union Minister in the “communal” BJP led NDA government! After the defeat of NDA, he went around with a look-alike of Osama bin Laden seeking Muslim votes for his one-man party.
Geelani: That apart, did you notice one major difference between the two situations. Here in Kashmir we are making a section of the people (atleast) to revolt against the establishment though the Indian state has granted a special status under Art 370 and pumping funds which no other state in India gets. Whereas people of Hyderabad state, despite Razakar’s action - the locals may brand it “genocide” - and Nizam’s despotic rule, did not revolt and create a difficult situation for the Nizam if you ignore that saffron-robed Sadhu (referring to Swami Ramanand Tirtha). But for “Police Action” you could have asserted your independence or merged with Pakistan. Despite lack of development, poverty, illiteracy, subjugation, the locals were docile (In a hushed tone) Do you know the reason? Kashmir was a Musliam-majority state with a Hindu ruler. It was easy for us to mobilise the extreme elements in the society to revolt and sustain our struggle for 60 years. Your state had Hindu majority under Muslim ruler. You know how Moghuls kept the Hindus subjugated for centuries. They could not rise in revolt and without local support you just can’t do anything. So, the Nizam caved in. That explains everything and especially the role of religion. By the way, do you still have the spirit of Razakars in your party?
Owaisi: Kya Saab! What MIM stands for? It is Majlis Ittehadul Muslimeen. Do you know what Qasim Razvi”s militia known as? It was Ittehadul Muslimeen. We just added some prefixes like All India Majlis. In fact our detractors blame us that our forefathers inherited the legacy of Qasim Razvi when they formed MIM.
Geelani: Lot of these “byte” soldiers are waiting outside and they may even eavesdrop.Let’s stop here. Khuda fiz
Owaisi: Khuda fiz
Saturday, September 25, 2010
Thursday, September 16, 2010
CAN THERE BE A GREATER POLITICAL PACKAGE FOR J&K THAN ART 370?
One does not know whether the PM-in-waiting Rahul Gandhi is a “migratory bird” or not, what is clear is that he is certainly an insensitive and immature bird trying to fly faster than its wings can support. Otherwise, he would not have rushed to the support of the beleaguered chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir Omar Abdullah when the entire nation is disappointed with his inept performance and even the government sources were making it known that there is governance deficit in the troubled state.
Well, it is a different matter that Farooq Abdullah may claim that his son was given a certificate of merit and commended by the Prime Minister for his best performance at the all-party meeting. In the absence of a denial from the PM, we have to believe Farooq. Whether it is “double-speak” or “cohesion”, it is for the PM to assert at yet another briefing for the select editors.
Anyway, the princeling wants to give Omar “time” since he is handling a “tough job”. He wants to give more time even as the state is on the boil for three months after having taken the lives of 89 people and injuring hundreds. What is the time limit that Rahul wants to give to his buddy? Does he want another hundred lives to be sacrificed for the sake of keeping the third generation leader of the Kashmir’s political family in power?
Yes, Omar is an elected leader of a duly constituted government reflecting the collective wisdom of the people of the state. He cannot be ousted on account of any political conspiracy or by any unfair and un-Constitutional means. If he fails to perform and spends his weekends in Delhi and exhibits extreme insensitivity to the grievances of his electors pushing the state into a state of turmoil, should the electorate suffer his incompetence? Interestingly, it is a case of like father like son. When the state was on the edge, father was watching T-20 matches in South Africa and even when Farooq was the chief minister of J&K, in the eighties, he was known to be playing Golf in London when his home state was encountering terror acts from across the border.
J&K is not like any other state in the country. Our neighbour, on the verge of collapse, has been instigating the people and stoking violence with the help of its stooges across the border who style themselves as “separatists” “azadis”, not to speak of LeT operatives who have been let loose on the soil of the Paradise on earth under the guidance of ISI. In a turbulent scenario like this which has been troubling the state for nearly six decades, can we afford to have a chief minister who does not care to reach out to his own people, but prefers to reach out to 10 Janpath for support? If he does not show political maturity to opt out, or sensitive enough to establish rapport with his own people, should there not be a demand for his ouster.
Well, there is a catch. If Omar throws in the towel, what is the alternative, especially when the Centre is clueless and has been pandering to the pro-Pakistani elements? After all, keeping aside his non-performance for a moment, he raised a bogey of the misuse of Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) to deflect the blame on the Indian Army and thus to the Centre for the mess he has created after squandering the massive mandate he got from the people just 18 months ago. While our heavily-accented Home Minister, after having made an ass of himself in dealing with Maoists, is trying to play a different game. The man who wanted the Indian Army to come to his rescue in crushing the Maoist violence, is lobbying for diluting the powers of the Army in a most sensitive region of the country just to placate the separatists. The Union cabinet is vertically divided on this issue and the Army, as is an open secret, is totally opposed to any tinkering with the AFSPA.
In a hapless situation like this, the Central government talks of “political package” “autonomy”, “meeting the aspirations of the youth” etc. Congress high priestess has posed a question to all us. “Why the youth of Kashmir are so angry”. Her party was part of the alliance government both with the PDP and the NC for the last six years and she should tell us why her party or the alliance government has failed to understand the reasons for the youth anger and their failure to assuage the anger in the valley? Moreover, she did not ask a single question when lakhs of Pundits were driven out of the Valley which, Madam must know, included Kashmiri youth? Was there a difference between the Kashmiri youth like Muslim youth and Pundit youth? Had the political parties cutting across ideologies intervened at that time, the state would not have come to this pass.
When we talk of “political package”, we have to pose a question to ourselves. Can there be a greater political package to the people of Kashmir than Art 370. If that has not addressed the issue, what else could? Economically, so far, the Centre has pumped in more than one lakh crore rupees on the state. Still, if the people appear to be dissatisfied, it could only be because of the Pak infiltrators and separatists who are doing their best to create a wedge between the people and the state by various means. It will be foolhardy on the part of the Centre to think that they can solve the problem by dialogue. With whom will you open the dialogue? With separatists? When the separatists’ agenda is known what will the govt achieve by opening a dialogue. There is no special problem for the youth of Kashmir, distinctly different from the rest of the country. Case in point is the agitation by Telangana youth for the cancellation of Gr-I exams and the violent demonstrations of advocates in the state. How are they different from Kashmiri youth? Because of the instigation from Pakistan, overt support by the separatists and the geography of the state makes it appear that the grievances of the Kashmiri youth are more genuine than the rest. Isolating the separatists and azadis from the rest of the people with an iron hand and relocating the youth in different parts of the country with suitable employment coupled with the rehabilitation of Pundits in the Valley would solve the problem to a great extent. The Army should have no fetters in protecting our borders and in preventing infiltration from Pakistan which has a vicious agenda. Rest of the noise generated by political parties like “autonomy” will only pave the way for greater anarchy and confusion serving the territorial ambitions of Pakistan.
Well, it is a different matter that Farooq Abdullah may claim that his son was given a certificate of merit and commended by the Prime Minister for his best performance at the all-party meeting. In the absence of a denial from the PM, we have to believe Farooq. Whether it is “double-speak” or “cohesion”, it is for the PM to assert at yet another briefing for the select editors.
Anyway, the princeling wants to give Omar “time” since he is handling a “tough job”. He wants to give more time even as the state is on the boil for three months after having taken the lives of 89 people and injuring hundreds. What is the time limit that Rahul wants to give to his buddy? Does he want another hundred lives to be sacrificed for the sake of keeping the third generation leader of the Kashmir’s political family in power?
Yes, Omar is an elected leader of a duly constituted government reflecting the collective wisdom of the people of the state. He cannot be ousted on account of any political conspiracy or by any unfair and un-Constitutional means. If he fails to perform and spends his weekends in Delhi and exhibits extreme insensitivity to the grievances of his electors pushing the state into a state of turmoil, should the electorate suffer his incompetence? Interestingly, it is a case of like father like son. When the state was on the edge, father was watching T-20 matches in South Africa and even when Farooq was the chief minister of J&K, in the eighties, he was known to be playing Golf in London when his home state was encountering terror acts from across the border.
J&K is not like any other state in the country. Our neighbour, on the verge of collapse, has been instigating the people and stoking violence with the help of its stooges across the border who style themselves as “separatists” “azadis”, not to speak of LeT operatives who have been let loose on the soil of the Paradise on earth under the guidance of ISI. In a turbulent scenario like this which has been troubling the state for nearly six decades, can we afford to have a chief minister who does not care to reach out to his own people, but prefers to reach out to 10 Janpath for support? If he does not show political maturity to opt out, or sensitive enough to establish rapport with his own people, should there not be a demand for his ouster.
Well, there is a catch. If Omar throws in the towel, what is the alternative, especially when the Centre is clueless and has been pandering to the pro-Pakistani elements? After all, keeping aside his non-performance for a moment, he raised a bogey of the misuse of Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) to deflect the blame on the Indian Army and thus to the Centre for the mess he has created after squandering the massive mandate he got from the people just 18 months ago. While our heavily-accented Home Minister, after having made an ass of himself in dealing with Maoists, is trying to play a different game. The man who wanted the Indian Army to come to his rescue in crushing the Maoist violence, is lobbying for diluting the powers of the Army in a most sensitive region of the country just to placate the separatists. The Union cabinet is vertically divided on this issue and the Army, as is an open secret, is totally opposed to any tinkering with the AFSPA.
In a hapless situation like this, the Central government talks of “political package” “autonomy”, “meeting the aspirations of the youth” etc. Congress high priestess has posed a question to all us. “Why the youth of Kashmir are so angry”. Her party was part of the alliance government both with the PDP and the NC for the last six years and she should tell us why her party or the alliance government has failed to understand the reasons for the youth anger and their failure to assuage the anger in the valley? Moreover, she did not ask a single question when lakhs of Pundits were driven out of the Valley which, Madam must know, included Kashmiri youth? Was there a difference between the Kashmiri youth like Muslim youth and Pundit youth? Had the political parties cutting across ideologies intervened at that time, the state would not have come to this pass.
When we talk of “political package”, we have to pose a question to ourselves. Can there be a greater political package to the people of Kashmir than Art 370. If that has not addressed the issue, what else could? Economically, so far, the Centre has pumped in more than one lakh crore rupees on the state. Still, if the people appear to be dissatisfied, it could only be because of the Pak infiltrators and separatists who are doing their best to create a wedge between the people and the state by various means. It will be foolhardy on the part of the Centre to think that they can solve the problem by dialogue. With whom will you open the dialogue? With separatists? When the separatists’ agenda is known what will the govt achieve by opening a dialogue. There is no special problem for the youth of Kashmir, distinctly different from the rest of the country. Case in point is the agitation by Telangana youth for the cancellation of Gr-I exams and the violent demonstrations of advocates in the state. How are they different from Kashmiri youth? Because of the instigation from Pakistan, overt support by the separatists and the geography of the state makes it appear that the grievances of the Kashmiri youth are more genuine than the rest. Isolating the separatists and azadis from the rest of the people with an iron hand and relocating the youth in different parts of the country with suitable employment coupled with the rehabilitation of Pundits in the Valley would solve the problem to a great extent. The Army should have no fetters in protecting our borders and in preventing infiltration from Pakistan which has a vicious agenda. Rest of the noise generated by political parties like “autonomy” will only pave the way for greater anarchy and confusion serving the territorial ambitions of Pakistan.
Monday, September 13, 2010
VANA PRASTHA ASHRAM
BHARADWAJAR VANA PRASTHA ASHRAMAM AT VELAMUR
Velamur, a little known hamlet to the rest of the world, has a hallowed place in the history of Sri Vaishnavism. Velamur is the birth place of Sri Ranga Ramanuja Maha Desikan, whose importance to Sri Vaishnavites is next only to Yethirajar and Sri Vedanta Desikar. Sri Ranga Ramanuja Maha Desikan is also revered as the second Ramanuja. His commentaries on ten important Upanishads are hailed as his greatest contribution to Hindu philosophy in general and Sri Vaishnavism in particular. He has therefore come to be known as “DASOPANISHAD BASHYAKARAR”
After the collapse of Vijayanagar empire, whose kings were esteemed patrons of Vaishnavism, there was a great threat to Vaishnavism and it is the undaunted efforts of saints like Sri Ranga Ramanuja Maha Desikan that helped Vaishnavism to flourish again with great aplomb.
There is a grand temple dedicated to Sundara Varadar and Lakshmi Narayanan in Velamur with a separate shrine for Dasopanishad Bashyakarar, the second one after Sri Rangam.
With the grace and blessings of the present Andavan Swami His Holiness Sri Ranga Ramanuja Maha Desikan, works for the Raja Gopuram and Vasantha Mandapam in Velamur are in progress.
To keep up with the spiritual tempo generated in the village by HH Andavan, descendents of Rishi Bharadwajar and people of Velamur origin have formed a Trust in the name of the presiding deity of Velamur temple known as SUNDARAVARADHAR CHARITABLE TRUST (Regd No.50/2007).
One of the main objectives of the Trust is to run a Vana Prastha Ashramam in honour of Rishi Bharadwajar. It is NOT yet another Home for the aged to be run on commercial lines nor an orphanage. It is designed to be a centre for those devout individuals who would like to pursue spiritual life after they had fulfilled all their family/parental responsibilities and ripe enough to enter the third Ashram (Vana Prastham) as ordained by our scriptures.
Velamur village with its spiritual history and the presence of a grand temple nearby provide the right ambience who long for solitude and serene atmosphere away from the hustle and bustle of highly polluted Metros.
The Ashram has a capacity for 14 sadhaks at present and there are plans for expansion. It has only a dormitory –type accommodation and a spacious kitchen with the necessary modern kitchenware. The inmates have to have respect and belief in the concept of “self-help” and they will be encouraged to keep themselves busy with some activity like watering flower plants, preparing garlands for the temple, singing bhajans, dhyanams, yoga etc.
Accommodation and food will be free to the inmates. However, inmates are expected to offer a nominal sum for the hygienic upkeep of the Ashram and to organise events every month like Sudarshana homam, Laksha Deepam, Laksharchana, Go Rakshana, Grama Seva etc, so that the village reverberates with spiritual fervour.
We appeal to all the Sri Vaishnavites to help us find the right people for the Ashram by spreading this message.
Issued by:
TRUSTEES OF SUNDARA VARADHAR CHARITABLE TRUST
Contact: Ranga Ramanujan
Tel: 09848023289
Email: srramanujan@gmail.com
S_ramanujan9@yahoo.co.in
Velamur, a little known hamlet to the rest of the world, has a hallowed place in the history of Sri Vaishnavism. Velamur is the birth place of Sri Ranga Ramanuja Maha Desikan, whose importance to Sri Vaishnavites is next only to Yethirajar and Sri Vedanta Desikar. Sri Ranga Ramanuja Maha Desikan is also revered as the second Ramanuja. His commentaries on ten important Upanishads are hailed as his greatest contribution to Hindu philosophy in general and Sri Vaishnavism in particular. He has therefore come to be known as “DASOPANISHAD BASHYAKARAR”
After the collapse of Vijayanagar empire, whose kings were esteemed patrons of Vaishnavism, there was a great threat to Vaishnavism and it is the undaunted efforts of saints like Sri Ranga Ramanuja Maha Desikan that helped Vaishnavism to flourish again with great aplomb.
There is a grand temple dedicated to Sundara Varadar and Lakshmi Narayanan in Velamur with a separate shrine for Dasopanishad Bashyakarar, the second one after Sri Rangam.
With the grace and blessings of the present Andavan Swami His Holiness Sri Ranga Ramanuja Maha Desikan, works for the Raja Gopuram and Vasantha Mandapam in Velamur are in progress.
To keep up with the spiritual tempo generated in the village by HH Andavan, descendents of Rishi Bharadwajar and people of Velamur origin have formed a Trust in the name of the presiding deity of Velamur temple known as SUNDARAVARADHAR CHARITABLE TRUST (Regd No.50/2007).
One of the main objectives of the Trust is to run a Vana Prastha Ashramam in honour of Rishi Bharadwajar. It is NOT yet another Home for the aged to be run on commercial lines nor an orphanage. It is designed to be a centre for those devout individuals who would like to pursue spiritual life after they had fulfilled all their family/parental responsibilities and ripe enough to enter the third Ashram (Vana Prastham) as ordained by our scriptures.
Velamur village with its spiritual history and the presence of a grand temple nearby provide the right ambience who long for solitude and serene atmosphere away from the hustle and bustle of highly polluted Metros.
The Ashram has a capacity for 14 sadhaks at present and there are plans for expansion. It has only a dormitory –type accommodation and a spacious kitchen with the necessary modern kitchenware. The inmates have to have respect and belief in the concept of “self-help” and they will be encouraged to keep themselves busy with some activity like watering flower plants, preparing garlands for the temple, singing bhajans, dhyanams, yoga etc.
Accommodation and food will be free to the inmates. However, inmates are expected to offer a nominal sum for the hygienic upkeep of the Ashram and to organise events every month like Sudarshana homam, Laksha Deepam, Laksharchana, Go Rakshana, Grama Seva etc, so that the village reverberates with spiritual fervour.
We appeal to all the Sri Vaishnavites to help us find the right people for the Ashram by spreading this message.
Issued by:
TRUSTEES OF SUNDARA VARADHAR CHARITABLE TRUST
Contact: Ranga Ramanujan
Tel: 09848023289
Email: srramanujan@gmail.com
S_ramanujan9@yahoo.co.in
Thursday, September 9, 2010
WAS EVR ANY DIFFERENT FROM TERRY JONES?
There is universal condemnation, and rightly so, of the call given by the Pastor of Florida church, Terry Jones to burn copies of the Koran on the anniversary of September 11 attacks at the World Trade Centre. Jones has been variously decried as “lunatic fringe”, “insane” and the Secretary of State Ms Hillary Clinton lost no time in condemning Jones outburst as “disgraceful” and “disrespectful”, citing George Washington to say that the US would not give any sanction to bigotry. But the pastor of a small time church in Gainesville seems to be defiant. He finds a rationale for his threat: “we should address radical Islam and send a very clear warning that they are not to retaliate in any form”.
This may be pastor’s wishful thinking. If his threat is executed, it would only pave the way for more radical Islam than the world is witnessing today. It will be a God-sent opportunity for the masterminds of Jihadi or Wahabi movement to recruit more and more “soldiers of God” for the “holy war”. Already, Afghan militants have said that they would kill every American citizen they come across and they have a track record in executing their threats.
The condemnation for the pastor’s threat is not only from the US Christians and the Arab world, needless to say from India for it considers itself more secular than any other country in this planet, but also from Europe and the Vatican. The Vatican official daily talks of protests around the world against the burning of Koran as it is “contrary to the respect owed to all religions and against our doctrine and faith”.
The buzz word today is Islamophobi a. Europe is worried that “Islam would sooner rather than later conquer Europe”. Ban on veil in France, Belgium and ban on minarets in Sweden and Switzerland reflect this fear. A Vatican official exhorts Christians in Europe to produce more children to counter the huge growth in Muslim immigrants to most of the European countries.
Therefore, the protest against the Florida Pastor is not mainly out of concern for increasing bigotry, but out of fear of Islamists and their intolerance. Take for example Pakistan. The country has banned cartoon networks which telecast Hindu mythology. Can this not be termed as “religious bigotry”. Like good Talibans and bad Talibans, bigotry also seems to be of two kinds. If the bigotry is of non-Muslim variety, it is bad, but not Islamic bigotry.
Be that as it may, one cannot resist drawing a parallel to what happened in our own country a few decades ago. Florida pastor is a small fry and he does not represent all the Christians except for 50 or so group in a small church. His threat to burn Koran could have been dismissed as the misguided act of an immature person. But it received world wide attention and condemnation.
Well, public memory is very short. What happened when the so-called “social revolutionary” EV Ramaswamy Naickar, the face of Dravidian movement in Tamil Nadu, led a procession of Hindu gods and goddesses garlanded with chappals, while his cronies were pouring excreta on the idols and beating them up with chappals on the main arterial road of the then Madras city. Forget the Hindu society which lost its verve and nerve after 1000 years of slavery, how did the nation react or the non Hindus. Was there a whimper from Christians and Muslims? Contrast this with the sound and fury against Jones from every religious group or for that matter against the Danish cartoonist.
On the contrary, EV Ramaswamy Naickar, who is no more than an uncivilized man of venom and hatred towards the Hindus, is hailed by his blind followers as great “social reformer”. All his acts to offend Hindu sentiments were eulogised as “social reform” intended to put an end to the superstitious beliefs of the Hindu masses.
The present government in Tamil Nadu has put up statues of this phoney reformer in every nook and corner of the state. To add insult to the injury one such statue was put up just infront of the famous Sri Rangam temple which is the most sacred place for the Vaishnava sect of Hindus. It is like putting up a statue of Godse in front of Gandhi Samadhi or near the Sabarmati Ashram or the statue of Veer Savarkar in front of Jama Masjid in Delhi.
Did any of those who make noise against Jones raise a little finger against Karunanidhi when he defended the statue of EVR in front of Sri Rangam temple? Will he put up the statue of bogus reformer in Velankanni or Nagore facing Christian and Muslim religious shrines. It is not the suggestion of this writer that he should. But why this discrimination. What superstition has EVR removed from Hindu society? You must ask this question to the family of Karunanidhi.
Look at the superstition when it comes to Karunanidhi himself. Did EVR ask him to sport a yellow shawl as against the black shawl, the dress code of Dravidian movement? Can Karuna’s followers or partymen call him by his name. He can be called only by his titles and not by name, so he will be referred to as “Muththamiz Arignar, Tamilaga Mudalvar, Doctor, Kalaignar” and his name “Karunanidhi” will be omitted. What sort of self-respect movement he has inherited from his mentor – EVR? Though EVR said there was no God and God is the creation barbarians and led a movement on that premise, what we witness today in the state is oozing religious fervour with no let up on superstitious rituals
This may be pastor’s wishful thinking. If his threat is executed, it would only pave the way for more radical Islam than the world is witnessing today. It will be a God-sent opportunity for the masterminds of Jihadi or Wahabi movement to recruit more and more “soldiers of God” for the “holy war”. Already, Afghan militants have said that they would kill every American citizen they come across and they have a track record in executing their threats.
The condemnation for the pastor’s threat is not only from the US Christians and the Arab world, needless to say from India for it considers itself more secular than any other country in this planet, but also from Europe and the Vatican. The Vatican official daily talks of protests around the world against the burning of Koran as it is “contrary to the respect owed to all religions and against our doctrine and faith”.
The buzz word today is Islamophobi a. Europe is worried that “Islam would sooner rather than later conquer Europe”. Ban on veil in France, Belgium and ban on minarets in Sweden and Switzerland reflect this fear. A Vatican official exhorts Christians in Europe to produce more children to counter the huge growth in Muslim immigrants to most of the European countries.
Therefore, the protest against the Florida Pastor is not mainly out of concern for increasing bigotry, but out of fear of Islamists and their intolerance. Take for example Pakistan. The country has banned cartoon networks which telecast Hindu mythology. Can this not be termed as “religious bigotry”. Like good Talibans and bad Talibans, bigotry also seems to be of two kinds. If the bigotry is of non-Muslim variety, it is bad, but not Islamic bigotry.
Be that as it may, one cannot resist drawing a parallel to what happened in our own country a few decades ago. Florida pastor is a small fry and he does not represent all the Christians except for 50 or so group in a small church. His threat to burn Koran could have been dismissed as the misguided act of an immature person. But it received world wide attention and condemnation.
Well, public memory is very short. What happened when the so-called “social revolutionary” EV Ramaswamy Naickar, the face of Dravidian movement in Tamil Nadu, led a procession of Hindu gods and goddesses garlanded with chappals, while his cronies were pouring excreta on the idols and beating them up with chappals on the main arterial road of the then Madras city. Forget the Hindu society which lost its verve and nerve after 1000 years of slavery, how did the nation react or the non Hindus. Was there a whimper from Christians and Muslims? Contrast this with the sound and fury against Jones from every religious group or for that matter against the Danish cartoonist.
On the contrary, EV Ramaswamy Naickar, who is no more than an uncivilized man of venom and hatred towards the Hindus, is hailed by his blind followers as great “social reformer”. All his acts to offend Hindu sentiments were eulogised as “social reform” intended to put an end to the superstitious beliefs of the Hindu masses.
The present government in Tamil Nadu has put up statues of this phoney reformer in every nook and corner of the state. To add insult to the injury one such statue was put up just infront of the famous Sri Rangam temple which is the most sacred place for the Vaishnava sect of Hindus. It is like putting up a statue of Godse in front of Gandhi Samadhi or near the Sabarmati Ashram or the statue of Veer Savarkar in front of Jama Masjid in Delhi.
Did any of those who make noise against Jones raise a little finger against Karunanidhi when he defended the statue of EVR in front of Sri Rangam temple? Will he put up the statue of bogus reformer in Velankanni or Nagore facing Christian and Muslim religious shrines. It is not the suggestion of this writer that he should. But why this discrimination. What superstition has EVR removed from Hindu society? You must ask this question to the family of Karunanidhi.
Look at the superstition when it comes to Karunanidhi himself. Did EVR ask him to sport a yellow shawl as against the black shawl, the dress code of Dravidian movement? Can Karuna’s followers or partymen call him by his name. He can be called only by his titles and not by name, so he will be referred to as “Muththamiz Arignar, Tamilaga Mudalvar, Doctor, Kalaignar” and his name “Karunanidhi” will be omitted. What sort of self-respect movement he has inherited from his mentor – EVR? Though EVR said there was no God and God is the creation barbarians and led a movement on that premise, what we witness today in the state is oozing religious fervour with no let up on superstitious rituals
Thursday, September 2, 2010
TERROR HAS NO RELIGION, BUT COLOUR!!
If there is a synonym for “double standards”, it is this much abused expression “secularism”. All these days our secular pretenders have been dinning into the heads of Indian masses that terror has no religion. That is, so long as terrorists and terrorism were identified with people professing faith to Islam. They drew inspiration, right or wrong, from their holy book. The names these terror groups coined for their militant outfits were in one way or the other related to the army of their God. They sincerely believed that their God ordained them to kill those “kafirs” or non-believers and the name that was given to such an adventure or agenda was “jihad” (holy war) and the jihadis had their berths reserved in heaven.
The jihad was not confined to India and thanks to the financial and manpower support provided by some of the Islamic nations, and Al Queda, they spread far and wide wreaking havoc in Europe, Chehenya, Egypt, Afghanistan, Pakistan and as a climax to their acts of terror in New York city on the fateful day of 9/11. There were many recruitment and training centres to brainwash the young minds to assume the role of soldiers of God and there was no dearth of petro funds for the sponsors of terrorism. The masterminds of this pogram could not have succeeded but for the silent support of the non-violent Muslims. Though many apologists tried to find a rationale for terrorism stating that poverty, illiteracy and alienation led to perversion of young minds, developments subsequent to 9/11 proved that such an alibi is nothing but a myth because highly educated and rich youth from the community were attracted to the concept of Jihad.
Therefore, this brand of terrorism had come to be known as “Islamic terrorism” and interestingly, the perpetrators of this terrorism had no objection to the phrase. But the objection came from the secular pretenders of India who felt that terror has no religion. For the political class and the media, this came as a politically correct stand. In fact, I recall a leading journalist, and author lamenting over the fact that why LTTE terror was not branded as “Hindu terror” or for that matter the ULFA. A highly knowledgeable man that he is, how come he missed the point that LTTE or ULFA had not drawn inspiration from any Hindu holy book or scriptures. It is a different matter that LTTE’s architect Velupillai Pirabhakaran was a Christian and not a Hindu. Moreover, it was a territorial war and not a holy war as the jihadis claim theirs to be.
But those secular pretenders who objected to the phrase “Islamic terrorism” though the entire world accepted it as such, they did not have a second thought when they coined the phrase “Hindu terror”, just a few groups were SUSPECTED to be involved in the blasts in the recent past. That is what our great Home Minister who has been pilloried by his own party for the use of phrase “Saffron terror” says in defence: “The message is right wing fundamentalist groups are SUSPECTED to be behind some bomb blasts and that message should not be lost in the furore over the phrase”. Can a responsible minister make a statement and condemn particular group of people based on ‘SUSPICION’? The cases of blasts that he refers to have not even come up for trial and in some cases there was not even a charge sheet. Even those fringe groups did not draw inspiration from Vedic texts or atleast they did not say so. Possibly, yes, possibly, some could have acted as a retaliatory measure and to generalise it on behalf of its religion or its chosen colour, is nothing but extreme form of perversion.
The National Socialist Council of Nagaland is a Christian terror group operating in Nagaland. Its proclaimed objective is to establish a separate nation under the slogan “Nagaland for Christ”. In the neighbouring Tripura, there is another group, banned though, operating under the name “National Liberation Front of Tripura and it wants “Kingdom of God and Christ” for Tripura. No one in his senses would coin a phrase “Christian terror” citing such misguided movements.
But you can always take liberties with Hindus because they don’t constitute a tactical vote bank as they are divided into hundreds of castes and sub-castes. The Muslims in the country have been on the defensive because of Jihadi terrorism and the fact that many Muslim youth had training in Bangladesh, Pakistan and other Arab countries for terror mechanism. If you have to make them feel comfortable and pleased with the establishment what else would be effective other than parity. So invent Hindu terror and lock up some Hindu activists behind bars on “suspicion”. It comes very handy when the right wing forces accuse the Congress of going soft on Jihadi terrorism in order to placate a particular community.
Do you notice yet another double standard here? When it comes to serial blasts in Mumbai local trains, or Godhra violence or attack on Swami Narain temple, it was a reaction to Ayodhya and therefore have to be understood as such. When hundreds of Indians were killed and lakhs maimed as a result of Islamic terrorism, there should not be reaction or retaliation from right wing groups assuming that Chidambaram’s suspicion had some basis. Even before credible evidence surfaces and produced before the trial courts, the Home Minister is in a hurry to use the phrase “Saffron terror” demonstrating his ignorance and insensitivity to the word “saffron” in the Indian culture, tradition and civilization. Indian tradition is such that even an octogenarian will fall at the feet of one who wears saffron attire even if the latter is in his twenties or thirties. That is the respect saffron colour enjoys, as a symbol of sacrifice, in Indian tradition. Style and accent are not enough Mr Chidambaram, you must have respect for the tradition of this ancient nation. If you really want to be effective and go in history as a capable home minister, instead of passing the buck to the state chief ministers when confronted with the Left wing extremism such as the one in Bihar hostage crisis, take the bull by its horn. Don’t try to divert the attention by imagining something on suspicion which does not exist. I mean your pet phrase “Saffron terror”. Hope you know other colours as well – like green, white and red!
The jihad was not confined to India and thanks to the financial and manpower support provided by some of the Islamic nations, and Al Queda, they spread far and wide wreaking havoc in Europe, Chehenya, Egypt, Afghanistan, Pakistan and as a climax to their acts of terror in New York city on the fateful day of 9/11. There were many recruitment and training centres to brainwash the young minds to assume the role of soldiers of God and there was no dearth of petro funds for the sponsors of terrorism. The masterminds of this pogram could not have succeeded but for the silent support of the non-violent Muslims. Though many apologists tried to find a rationale for terrorism stating that poverty, illiteracy and alienation led to perversion of young minds, developments subsequent to 9/11 proved that such an alibi is nothing but a myth because highly educated and rich youth from the community were attracted to the concept of Jihad.
Therefore, this brand of terrorism had come to be known as “Islamic terrorism” and interestingly, the perpetrators of this terrorism had no objection to the phrase. But the objection came from the secular pretenders of India who felt that terror has no religion. For the political class and the media, this came as a politically correct stand. In fact, I recall a leading journalist, and author lamenting over the fact that why LTTE terror was not branded as “Hindu terror” or for that matter the ULFA. A highly knowledgeable man that he is, how come he missed the point that LTTE or ULFA had not drawn inspiration from any Hindu holy book or scriptures. It is a different matter that LTTE’s architect Velupillai Pirabhakaran was a Christian and not a Hindu. Moreover, it was a territorial war and not a holy war as the jihadis claim theirs to be.
But those secular pretenders who objected to the phrase “Islamic terrorism” though the entire world accepted it as such, they did not have a second thought when they coined the phrase “Hindu terror”, just a few groups were SUSPECTED to be involved in the blasts in the recent past. That is what our great Home Minister who has been pilloried by his own party for the use of phrase “Saffron terror” says in defence: “The message is right wing fundamentalist groups are SUSPECTED to be behind some bomb blasts and that message should not be lost in the furore over the phrase”. Can a responsible minister make a statement and condemn particular group of people based on ‘SUSPICION’? The cases of blasts that he refers to have not even come up for trial and in some cases there was not even a charge sheet. Even those fringe groups did not draw inspiration from Vedic texts or atleast they did not say so. Possibly, yes, possibly, some could have acted as a retaliatory measure and to generalise it on behalf of its religion or its chosen colour, is nothing but extreme form of perversion.
The National Socialist Council of Nagaland is a Christian terror group operating in Nagaland. Its proclaimed objective is to establish a separate nation under the slogan “Nagaland for Christ”. In the neighbouring Tripura, there is another group, banned though, operating under the name “National Liberation Front of Tripura and it wants “Kingdom of God and Christ” for Tripura. No one in his senses would coin a phrase “Christian terror” citing such misguided movements.
But you can always take liberties with Hindus because they don’t constitute a tactical vote bank as they are divided into hundreds of castes and sub-castes. The Muslims in the country have been on the defensive because of Jihadi terrorism and the fact that many Muslim youth had training in Bangladesh, Pakistan and other Arab countries for terror mechanism. If you have to make them feel comfortable and pleased with the establishment what else would be effective other than parity. So invent Hindu terror and lock up some Hindu activists behind bars on “suspicion”. It comes very handy when the right wing forces accuse the Congress of going soft on Jihadi terrorism in order to placate a particular community.
Do you notice yet another double standard here? When it comes to serial blasts in Mumbai local trains, or Godhra violence or attack on Swami Narain temple, it was a reaction to Ayodhya and therefore have to be understood as such. When hundreds of Indians were killed and lakhs maimed as a result of Islamic terrorism, there should not be reaction or retaliation from right wing groups assuming that Chidambaram’s suspicion had some basis. Even before credible evidence surfaces and produced before the trial courts, the Home Minister is in a hurry to use the phrase “Saffron terror” demonstrating his ignorance and insensitivity to the word “saffron” in the Indian culture, tradition and civilization. Indian tradition is such that even an octogenarian will fall at the feet of one who wears saffron attire even if the latter is in his twenties or thirties. That is the respect saffron colour enjoys, as a symbol of sacrifice, in Indian tradition. Style and accent are not enough Mr Chidambaram, you must have respect for the tradition of this ancient nation. If you really want to be effective and go in history as a capable home minister, instead of passing the buck to the state chief ministers when confronted with the Left wing extremism such as the one in Bihar hostage crisis, take the bull by its horn. Don’t try to divert the attention by imagining something on suspicion which does not exist. I mean your pet phrase “Saffron terror”. Hope you know other colours as well – like green, white and red!
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