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
Thursday, September 9, 2010
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!
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
INDIAN MEDIA'S REVERENCE TO 10 JANPATH
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London-based and most respected financial daily, The Financal Times, referring to the ‘disappearing act’ of Congress chief and UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi and her heir apparent son and daughter from India, said that the Indian media is quite respctful to the Nehru dynasty. How true it is. The context for the daily to make such a reference to the Indian media was the abrupt cancellation of British Prime Minister David Cameron's appointment with the Chairperson of UPA and Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and the Indian media's respect for her right to privacy. For more than a week (as I write this column) Sonia was not to be seen in public or in the stormy session of the Lok Sabha.
For a flippant media which reports about the wedding sari of junior NTR’s would -be wife, or the suicide of some model in Mumbai or what a defunct Russian portal reports, the secrecy behind the whereabouts of one of the most powerful women in the world is NOT news!! Do you remember? When Atal Behari Vajpayee was the Prime Minister, even his routine visit to hospital for a check-up would create grave doubts in the media about his "failing health". So was the case with regard to PV Narasimha Rao as well. But Sonia Gandhi stands on a different pedestal for the media.
There were sketchy reports in one or two dailies that Sonia’s mother might be seriously ill and that must have prompted the Italian-born Indian National Congress chief to rush to be with her. A perfectly understandable and quite natural sentiment for any human being irrespective of the nationality or the position one holds. But should it be kept a secret unless you are flustered about your roots. People of India have accepted Sonia as a naturalised Indian citizen. Then, why should she be reticent? That is her personality. Except for election meetings, have you ever seen her interacting with the media on a regular basis espcially when she heads a party that has been ruling the nation for most part of the six decades, and especially so when she is also the chairperson of the ruling UPA.
The other charitable explanation that was given for the “missing act” , especially when the Parliament is in session and the country is in a state of turmoil on various fronts, is that she might be busy with “match-making” for her most eligible bachelor son. Assuming that this could be nearer to truth, why should it be under wraps, unless there was a fear that his former girl friend whom he was dating for years, might create hurdles.
Yet another excuse for the “unspecified emergency”, as reported by the UK daily, was that Sonia herself could be ill. If this can be given any credence, it is all the more reason there should be no veil of secrecy. She is not just the daughter of a soldier in Mussolini’s army taken captive by Russian army. She is the prima donna of contemporary Indian politics wielding extra-ordinary powers and slavish adulation by her partymen. People of this country should know what exactly is her problem.
You may wonder why the British daily took pains to report her “missing act” in detail. It is because just a day before her scheduled appointment with the British Premier Cameron, the meeting was cancelled citing “unspecified emergency”.
Anyway, for Indian media it is no NEWS. Television channels notorious for trivialisation of news did not go anywhere near this story.
Though media failed to take note of Sonia’s “missing act”, the wily Congress party was not perhaps sure whether the people (atleast the vocal minority) will have the same respectful attitude to the occupants of 10 Janpath, especially when three or four major issues are confronting the nation – Price rise and its fall out in Parliament, burning of Kashmir, internal disarray in the Congress party and Indo-Pak relations.
How to ensure that Sonia’s views on these issues are conveyed to the people of this country so that they don’t notice her “absence from the scene of action”? The party’s PR managers and spin masters came out with a brilliant idea. They caught hold of the July issue of party’s mouthpiece – SANDESH – and excerpted different pieces for circulation among the national media as fresh news items as though Sonia made those statements a day earlier. The Hindu carried a story headlined “Focus on J&K Development: Sonia”, (Source: Sonia’s letter to her fellow Congress workers in SANDESH. ) So, an impression was sought to be given that Sonia did not neglect the serious issue in J&K. Times of India addressed her concern on the internal bickerings among ministers while carrying a story :”Curb ego, Cong tells mantris”. Source? SANDESH again!
What about fuel price hike and the resultant inflation? How can the Congress chief be silent on this whether she is physically present in Delhi or visible in the corridors of Parliament or not? The New Indian Express came to the rescue of the party. The daily carried a story “Fuel price hike to fund Centre’s social sector schemes”. Source? What else? SANDESH!
The only sinner seems to be Deccan Chronicle which somehow missed out the story to register Sonia’s presence in India through her contributions to the party magazine.
Interestingly, there was no reference to the Commonwealth Games scandal in Sonia’s statements for the simple reason that the issue of SANDESH from where excerpts were circulated belonged to the month of July and the CWG scam broke out only last week.
London-based and most respected financial daily, The Financal Times, referring to the ‘disappearing act’ of Congress chief and UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi and her heir apparent son and daughter from India, said that the Indian media is quite respctful to the Nehru dynasty. How true it is. The context for the daily to make such a reference to the Indian media was the abrupt cancellation of British Prime Minister David Cameron's appointment with the Chairperson of UPA and Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and the Indian media's respect for her right to privacy. For more than a week (as I write this column) Sonia was not to be seen in public or in the stormy session of the Lok Sabha.
For a flippant media which reports about the wedding sari of junior NTR’s would -be wife, or the suicide of some model in Mumbai or what a defunct Russian portal reports, the secrecy behind the whereabouts of one of the most powerful women in the world is NOT news!! Do you remember? When Atal Behari Vajpayee was the Prime Minister, even his routine visit to hospital for a check-up would create grave doubts in the media about his "failing health". So was the case with regard to PV Narasimha Rao as well. But Sonia Gandhi stands on a different pedestal for the media.
There were sketchy reports in one or two dailies that Sonia’s mother might be seriously ill and that must have prompted the Italian-born Indian National Congress chief to rush to be with her. A perfectly understandable and quite natural sentiment for any human being irrespective of the nationality or the position one holds. But should it be kept a secret unless you are flustered about your roots. People of India have accepted Sonia as a naturalised Indian citizen. Then, why should she be reticent? That is her personality. Except for election meetings, have you ever seen her interacting with the media on a regular basis espcially when she heads a party that has been ruling the nation for most part of the six decades, and especially so when she is also the chairperson of the ruling UPA.
The other charitable explanation that was given for the “missing act” , especially when the Parliament is in session and the country is in a state of turmoil on various fronts, is that she might be busy with “match-making” for her most eligible bachelor son. Assuming that this could be nearer to truth, why should it be under wraps, unless there was a fear that his former girl friend whom he was dating for years, might create hurdles.
Yet another excuse for the “unspecified emergency”, as reported by the UK daily, was that Sonia herself could be ill. If this can be given any credence, it is all the more reason there should be no veil of secrecy. She is not just the daughter of a soldier in Mussolini’s army taken captive by Russian army. She is the prima donna of contemporary Indian politics wielding extra-ordinary powers and slavish adulation by her partymen. People of this country should know what exactly is her problem.
You may wonder why the British daily took pains to report her “missing act” in detail. It is because just a day before her scheduled appointment with the British Premier Cameron, the meeting was cancelled citing “unspecified emergency”.
Anyway, for Indian media it is no NEWS. Television channels notorious for trivialisation of news did not go anywhere near this story.
Though media failed to take note of Sonia’s “missing act”, the wily Congress party was not perhaps sure whether the people (atleast the vocal minority) will have the same respectful attitude to the occupants of 10 Janpath, especially when three or four major issues are confronting the nation – Price rise and its fall out in Parliament, burning of Kashmir, internal disarray in the Congress party and Indo-Pak relations.
How to ensure that Sonia’s views on these issues are conveyed to the people of this country so that they don’t notice her “absence from the scene of action”? The party’s PR managers and spin masters came out with a brilliant idea. They caught hold of the July issue of party’s mouthpiece – SANDESH – and excerpted different pieces for circulation among the national media as fresh news items as though Sonia made those statements a day earlier. The Hindu carried a story headlined “Focus on J&K Development: Sonia”, (Source: Sonia’s letter to her fellow Congress workers in SANDESH. ) So, an impression was sought to be given that Sonia did not neglect the serious issue in J&K. Times of India addressed her concern on the internal bickerings among ministers while carrying a story :”Curb ego, Cong tells mantris”. Source? SANDESH again!
What about fuel price hike and the resultant inflation? How can the Congress chief be silent on this whether she is physically present in Delhi or visible in the corridors of Parliament or not? The New Indian Express came to the rescue of the party. The daily carried a story “Fuel price hike to fund Centre’s social sector schemes”. Source? What else? SANDESH!
The only sinner seems to be Deccan Chronicle which somehow missed out the story to register Sonia’s presence in India through her contributions to the party magazine.
Interestingly, there was no reference to the Commonwealth Games scandal in Sonia’s statements for the simple reason that the issue of SANDESH from where excerpts were circulated belonged to the month of July and the CWG scam broke out only last week.
Thursday, July 29, 2010
TALIBAN IN GOD'S OWN COUNTRY
“There are plans to Islamise Kerala in 20 years using money and marriages. Popular Front of India (PFI) is trying to multiply Muslim numbers in the state by influencing youth of other religions and converting them by giving money, marrying them to Muslim women and thus producing kids of the community”.
Who uttered this unspeakable communal gibberish? I won’t be surprised if you think that this “rabidly communal” statement is either from Nitin Gadkari or Parveen Tokadia or some hard-core Hindu fundamentalists. But the surprise is that this was the statement of a chief minister whose party has always been a great benefactor of the minorities and whose cause they always upheld while deriding the majority community in the country in one sweeping statement as “communal”. How can we forget that it was the CPM chief minister EMS Namboodiripad was who responsible for the creation of a separate Muslim majority district, Malappuram, which has now become the hotbed of Islamic terrorism.
Yes, the statement was from Kerala chief minister VS Achutanandan. He also said that the radical Muslim outfit –Popular Front of India (PFI) was aiming to convert Kerala into a “Muslim Country”. Let us not mistake him that he was trying to score political points over his home minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan. CPM general secretary Prakash Karat did not differ from his CM either. A day earlier Karat also warned the state against the threat of Muslim terrorism in the context of the PFI activities.
Achutaanandan being the head of the government was probably concerned about the terrorist activities in the state. He says the PFI in its earlier avatar as National Development Front had given training, money and weapons to youngsters to eliminate opponents. Now they were trying to create a clean image by organising freedom parades on the Independence Day. Several district administrations had already banned the parade, he said.
It is no secret that Kerala which has around 25% Muslim population with lot of Gulf connections has become the hotbed of terrorism in the South. Even as early as in 2008, Kerala’s links with global terrorism came to light when three Keralites were killed in an encounter in Kashmir. It is now the CPM has woken up from its deep slumber.
What triggered the wrath of the Communists in the state was the attack on a college professor T J Joseph whose hand was chopped off in Taliban style. What was his crime? He was reported to have set a question paper for internal examination in the college which allegedly hurt Muslim sentiments.
Since the PFI role was suspected in the case, Police raided its offices and “it exposed PFI’s pan-Islamist network fed by a heady mix of Wahhabism and hawala”. The raid also brought to light al-Qaueda training, tapes,Taliban style courts that dispense justice according to Shariat law, literature on conversion, explosives enough to kill dozens and documents indicating unusual interest in the Indian Navy. It was also reported that it was one of the PFI’s Taliban-style courts in Kottayam district that drove them to sever the limbs of Joseph.
Interestingly, however, the state home minister K Balakrishnan does not subscribe to the view that Taliban style courts are functioning in his state though his own Police were aghast while viewing the CDs seized from PFI. According to the police, the CDs showed brutal punishment like severing of limbs of the enemies of Faith. Activists were also made to slaughter animals so as prepare them for human slaughter.
Well, the question is whether it is genuine transformation for the Kerala communists to realise the true colours of Muslim extremists and contours of jihadi extremism, especially after they passed a resolution in the Kerala Assembly for the release of Abdul Nasser Madani from Coimbatore jail where he was incarcerated as an accused in the Coimbatore Bomb blast case in which 58 were killed and hundreds injured. After his release, he formed a political party which supported the Left Democratic Front in 2007 elections. After Madani’s Islamic Sevak Sangh was banned, it was renamed as NDF in 1993. The strategy was not to have a name which will sound Islamic or Arabic, but national so as to hoodwink the people. Therefore, he latest avatar of NDF is Popular Front of India formed in 2006.
PFI’s activities include “Love Jihad”. The modus operandi is to finance Muslim youth for getting the latest gadgets and attire to lure non-Hindu girls with promises of marriage, convert them into Islam and drop them at terrorist training camps. According to crime record bureau of Kerala police, 8 girls are reported missing every day in the state. In 2007 alone, 2167 girls and 2530 girls in 2008 were reported missing. Kasargod tops the list of jihadi conversions with 568. But only 123 cases were registered with the Police. According to one estimate, 4000 girls have been converted under Love Jihad all over India. That is why Kerala CM apprehends that his state would become Muslim country in 20 years and points his finger at outfits like PFI.
PFI, however, says it is ironical that both the CPM and RSS which have a long history of being actively involved in all criminal activities are speaking against the PFI. It was a sort of poetic justice when PFI says in its website “CPM in spite of its tall claims of secularism is basically a Hindu party in Kerala. The CPM is trying to consolidate the Hindu and Christian communal votes”. CPM which considered itself “ultra secular” is paid back with its own coin.
The PFI does not spare the Christian missionaries as well. It says “evangelists financed by rightist groups in the US are behind the Church in Kerala. They are high pressure missionary groups who raise money on the number of people converted – a charge that is often levelled by the Sangh parivar against the missionaries.
It is also felt that since the Congress at the national level and UDF at state level are wooing the Muslim votes, the Left is trying to consolidate Hindu and Christian votes. The CPM, for a change, is likely to play Hindu card in the coming Assembly elections. After all, both the CPM and RSS are speaking the same language on “Love Jihad”.
Who uttered this unspeakable communal gibberish? I won’t be surprised if you think that this “rabidly communal” statement is either from Nitin Gadkari or Parveen Tokadia or some hard-core Hindu fundamentalists. But the surprise is that this was the statement of a chief minister whose party has always been a great benefactor of the minorities and whose cause they always upheld while deriding the majority community in the country in one sweeping statement as “communal”. How can we forget that it was the CPM chief minister EMS Namboodiripad was who responsible for the creation of a separate Muslim majority district, Malappuram, which has now become the hotbed of Islamic terrorism.
Yes, the statement was from Kerala chief minister VS Achutanandan. He also said that the radical Muslim outfit –Popular Front of India (PFI) was aiming to convert Kerala into a “Muslim Country”. Let us not mistake him that he was trying to score political points over his home minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan. CPM general secretary Prakash Karat did not differ from his CM either. A day earlier Karat also warned the state against the threat of Muslim terrorism in the context of the PFI activities.
Achutaanandan being the head of the government was probably concerned about the terrorist activities in the state. He says the PFI in its earlier avatar as National Development Front had given training, money and weapons to youngsters to eliminate opponents. Now they were trying to create a clean image by organising freedom parades on the Independence Day. Several district administrations had already banned the parade, he said.
It is no secret that Kerala which has around 25% Muslim population with lot of Gulf connections has become the hotbed of terrorism in the South. Even as early as in 2008, Kerala’s links with global terrorism came to light when three Keralites were killed in an encounter in Kashmir. It is now the CPM has woken up from its deep slumber.
What triggered the wrath of the Communists in the state was the attack on a college professor T J Joseph whose hand was chopped off in Taliban style. What was his crime? He was reported to have set a question paper for internal examination in the college which allegedly hurt Muslim sentiments.
Since the PFI role was suspected in the case, Police raided its offices and “it exposed PFI’s pan-Islamist network fed by a heady mix of Wahhabism and hawala”. The raid also brought to light al-Qaueda training, tapes,Taliban style courts that dispense justice according to Shariat law, literature on conversion, explosives enough to kill dozens and documents indicating unusual interest in the Indian Navy. It was also reported that it was one of the PFI’s Taliban-style courts in Kottayam district that drove them to sever the limbs of Joseph.
Interestingly, however, the state home minister K Balakrishnan does not subscribe to the view that Taliban style courts are functioning in his state though his own Police were aghast while viewing the CDs seized from PFI. According to the police, the CDs showed brutal punishment like severing of limbs of the enemies of Faith. Activists were also made to slaughter animals so as prepare them for human slaughter.
Well, the question is whether it is genuine transformation for the Kerala communists to realise the true colours of Muslim extremists and contours of jihadi extremism, especially after they passed a resolution in the Kerala Assembly for the release of Abdul Nasser Madani from Coimbatore jail where he was incarcerated as an accused in the Coimbatore Bomb blast case in which 58 were killed and hundreds injured. After his release, he formed a political party which supported the Left Democratic Front in 2007 elections. After Madani’s Islamic Sevak Sangh was banned, it was renamed as NDF in 1993. The strategy was not to have a name which will sound Islamic or Arabic, but national so as to hoodwink the people. Therefore, he latest avatar of NDF is Popular Front of India formed in 2006.
PFI’s activities include “Love Jihad”. The modus operandi is to finance Muslim youth for getting the latest gadgets and attire to lure non-Hindu girls with promises of marriage, convert them into Islam and drop them at terrorist training camps. According to crime record bureau of Kerala police, 8 girls are reported missing every day in the state. In 2007 alone, 2167 girls and 2530 girls in 2008 were reported missing. Kasargod tops the list of jihadi conversions with 568. But only 123 cases were registered with the Police. According to one estimate, 4000 girls have been converted under Love Jihad all over India. That is why Kerala CM apprehends that his state would become Muslim country in 20 years and points his finger at outfits like PFI.
PFI, however, says it is ironical that both the CPM and RSS which have a long history of being actively involved in all criminal activities are speaking against the PFI. It was a sort of poetic justice when PFI says in its website “CPM in spite of its tall claims of secularism is basically a Hindu party in Kerala. The CPM is trying to consolidate the Hindu and Christian communal votes”. CPM which considered itself “ultra secular” is paid back with its own coin.
The PFI does not spare the Christian missionaries as well. It says “evangelists financed by rightist groups in the US are behind the Church in Kerala. They are high pressure missionary groups who raise money on the number of people converted – a charge that is often levelled by the Sangh parivar against the missionaries.
It is also felt that since the Congress at the national level and UDF at state level are wooing the Muslim votes, the Left is trying to consolidate Hindu and Christian votes. The CPM, for a change, is likely to play Hindu card in the coming Assembly elections. After all, both the CPM and RSS are speaking the same language on “Love Jihad”.
Friday, July 23, 2010
GEO-POLITICAL REALITIES
Who said that we forgot Mahatma Gandhi and his ideals and remember him ceremoniously only on Oct 2? It is not the whole truth. We can’t be untruthful to the apostle of Ahimsa and Satya. Yes, our government and politicians remember him whenever we go in for talks with Pakistan. What did Gandhiji preach us? He said if someone slaps you on one cheek, show him the other. That’s what we are doing very religiously whenever we get insulted by Pakistan. Go again across the border or invite them to our land and submit ourselves to have egg on our face again and again. There are some cheer leaders on our side who call themselves “incurable optimists” who want this to happen. For them, Pakistan is always right.
No, it is not just our External Affairs Minister SM Krishna’s smug performance and the “forbearance” he had to swallow whatever his counterpart Shah Mohd Qureshi hurled at him without any diplomatic decency that shows India in bad light. But Krishna did not show the same gesture to his own colleagues back in India. He started attacking Home Secretary GK Pillai for his “untimely” remark on Headley’s disclosures thus making him the scapegoat for the failure of talks. His tirade against Pillai also exposed the rift between MEA and Home Ministry. If at all there was any outcome on Indo-Pak talks, it was this. Exposing our own weaknesses rather than fixing Pakistan for its nefarious role in exporting terror. As a cartoonist put it, we need peace talks between our own MEA and Home Ministry before we think of peace talks or composite dialogue or whatever phrase we invent, with Pakistan. We not only showed the other cheek, but praised the one who slapped us when Krishna and Qureshi were on the same page on Pillai.
When Pak Foreign secretary came to India, he was no different from his minister. He termed the dossiers presented to him as “piece of literature”.
In fact, the first slap was when our Prime Minister had a summit meeting with his counterpart from Pakistan at Sharm-el-Sheikh. Our Prime Minister walked into Pak trap when he condescended to include Balochistan in the joint statement. At that time the scapegoat was, like Pillai this time, the one who drafted the joint statement and who now presides over our national security affairs.
It is no secret that it was our Prime Minister who was pushing for talks with Pakistan when he met Pakistani Prime Minister at Thimpu, undoubtedly under the pressure of the US whose strategic interests demand it. When Qureshi said that “India was not prepared”, he was only making a complaint to the US against India. Did you notice that even before Krishna could return to his country, the US started welcoming the talks? Now that the talks were botched up, why is Dr Man Mohan Singh adopting the message of Gandhiji’s three monkeys? Don’t speak evil, hear evil, and see evil. He should atleast sort out the turf war under his nose.
As if our discomfiture is not enough while dealing with Pakistan, especially over Headley’s disclosures, the US too is not happy over the use of Headley inputs on ISI’s active role on 26/11 tragedy. There was initial reluctance on the part of US to give access to Headley for Indian investigators. When the NIA succeeded in getting vital info on ISI, the US does not want to be the instrument for India to embarrass Pakistan and that is the reason the US wants India to act “responsibly”, whatever it means.
When we talk about Headley, we can’t ignore our own double standards. Krishna says Headley’s revelations can’t be ignored and Pakistan can’t be “selective” on fighting terror. Fair enough. What is our track record? When the same Headley says that Ishrat Jahan is an LeT operative, we say “we can’t take note of the statement of a person who is behind the bars in the US”. Why this “selective” approach when it comes to Gujrat or Modi? And how can you expect Pakistan to take Headley seriously?
When we analyse the Indo-Pak talks and the US pressure, we must realise one thing. It is not a sense of altruism to have peace in the sub-continent that the US wants India and Pakistan to bury the hatchet. It is guided by its own selfish interests. In a year’s time, the US will start its first phase of pull out from beleaguered Afghanistan where it finds itself in deep trouble. When it pulls out of Afghanistan completely, it does not want the country to be taken over by Taliban and al Queda and pose a threat to its interests once again. That is why the US wants Pakistan, its frontline partner in fighting terror, to engage Taliban who have entrenched themselves on the Pak-Afghan border. If Pakistan has to do that its eastern border with India should be free of tension.
But that is where Pakistan is playing a clever game. It wants US intervention to sort out all issues with India (read Kashmir issue) At the same time it wants to strike a deal with Taliban for dominance over Afghanistan. After all, ISI and Taliban have symbiotic relationship. At any rate, Pakistan wants to keep India out of Afghanistan so that it can have a proxy rule in Kabul. The recent donors meet in Kabul has confirmed this.
Afghan President Karzai too is a man in jitters. Once the US and Nato forces pull out, he will be made a mincemeat by Taliban and al Queda. That is the reason he is trying to have peace with Taliban categorising them into good Taliban and bad Taliban. “Inclusive government” in Afghanistan that India talks about is all hot air. Pakistan is going to recover its lost ground in Afghanistan and as an analyst put it, it will be a great reward for Pak army and ISI for their support to Islamic extremism and global terrorism. Since the entire tribal population of northern Afghanistan is not with Taliban, there is also a distinct possibility of civil war rearing its head once again in the country of rugged terrain.
No, it is not just our External Affairs Minister SM Krishna’s smug performance and the “forbearance” he had to swallow whatever his counterpart Shah Mohd Qureshi hurled at him without any diplomatic decency that shows India in bad light. But Krishna did not show the same gesture to his own colleagues back in India. He started attacking Home Secretary GK Pillai for his “untimely” remark on Headley’s disclosures thus making him the scapegoat for the failure of talks. His tirade against Pillai also exposed the rift between MEA and Home Ministry. If at all there was any outcome on Indo-Pak talks, it was this. Exposing our own weaknesses rather than fixing Pakistan for its nefarious role in exporting terror. As a cartoonist put it, we need peace talks between our own MEA and Home Ministry before we think of peace talks or composite dialogue or whatever phrase we invent, with Pakistan. We not only showed the other cheek, but praised the one who slapped us when Krishna and Qureshi were on the same page on Pillai.
When Pak Foreign secretary came to India, he was no different from his minister. He termed the dossiers presented to him as “piece of literature”.
In fact, the first slap was when our Prime Minister had a summit meeting with his counterpart from Pakistan at Sharm-el-Sheikh. Our Prime Minister walked into Pak trap when he condescended to include Balochistan in the joint statement. At that time the scapegoat was, like Pillai this time, the one who drafted the joint statement and who now presides over our national security affairs.
It is no secret that it was our Prime Minister who was pushing for talks with Pakistan when he met Pakistani Prime Minister at Thimpu, undoubtedly under the pressure of the US whose strategic interests demand it. When Qureshi said that “India was not prepared”, he was only making a complaint to the US against India. Did you notice that even before Krishna could return to his country, the US started welcoming the talks? Now that the talks were botched up, why is Dr Man Mohan Singh adopting the message of Gandhiji’s three monkeys? Don’t speak evil, hear evil, and see evil. He should atleast sort out the turf war under his nose.
As if our discomfiture is not enough while dealing with Pakistan, especially over Headley’s disclosures, the US too is not happy over the use of Headley inputs on ISI’s active role on 26/11 tragedy. There was initial reluctance on the part of US to give access to Headley for Indian investigators. When the NIA succeeded in getting vital info on ISI, the US does not want to be the instrument for India to embarrass Pakistan and that is the reason the US wants India to act “responsibly”, whatever it means.
When we talk about Headley, we can’t ignore our own double standards. Krishna says Headley’s revelations can’t be ignored and Pakistan can’t be “selective” on fighting terror. Fair enough. What is our track record? When the same Headley says that Ishrat Jahan is an LeT operative, we say “we can’t take note of the statement of a person who is behind the bars in the US”. Why this “selective” approach when it comes to Gujrat or Modi? And how can you expect Pakistan to take Headley seriously?
When we analyse the Indo-Pak talks and the US pressure, we must realise one thing. It is not a sense of altruism to have peace in the sub-continent that the US wants India and Pakistan to bury the hatchet. It is guided by its own selfish interests. In a year’s time, the US will start its first phase of pull out from beleaguered Afghanistan where it finds itself in deep trouble. When it pulls out of Afghanistan completely, it does not want the country to be taken over by Taliban and al Queda and pose a threat to its interests once again. That is why the US wants Pakistan, its frontline partner in fighting terror, to engage Taliban who have entrenched themselves on the Pak-Afghan border. If Pakistan has to do that its eastern border with India should be free of tension.
But that is where Pakistan is playing a clever game. It wants US intervention to sort out all issues with India (read Kashmir issue) At the same time it wants to strike a deal with Taliban for dominance over Afghanistan. After all, ISI and Taliban have symbiotic relationship. At any rate, Pakistan wants to keep India out of Afghanistan so that it can have a proxy rule in Kabul. The recent donors meet in Kabul has confirmed this.
Afghan President Karzai too is a man in jitters. Once the US and Nato forces pull out, he will be made a mincemeat by Taliban and al Queda. That is the reason he is trying to have peace with Taliban categorising them into good Taliban and bad Taliban. “Inclusive government” in Afghanistan that India talks about is all hot air. Pakistan is going to recover its lost ground in Afghanistan and as an analyst put it, it will be a great reward for Pak army and ISI for their support to Islamic extremism and global terrorism. Since the entire tribal population of northern Afghanistan is not with Taliban, there is also a distinct possibility of civil war rearing its head once again in the country of rugged terrain.
Thursday, June 10, 2010
WHAT SCIENTIFIC TEMPER? BULLSHIT!
There is no dearth of organisations that operate under camouflaged identities against the interests of the majority community in the country and to ridicule their faith. Pseudo-historians with unflinching loyalties to the ideology of the Left did it. Since the Left did not have faith in religion or God except the God they worshipped like Marx or Lenin or Stalin or Mao whose dubious record is extermination of sizeable section of the humanity in the name of their ideology, these historians also dubbed every faith and belief of the majority as mere “myth”. Therefore, Ram was a “myth”, Krishna was a “thief” or “womaniser.”They also endorsed the Raj’s “invention” of Aryn invasion which has now been conclusively proved to be unadulterated falsehood.
The second category of Hindu-baiters are the secular pretenders. Their only agenda has been to run down all those symbols of the majority community, their ethos and civilizational values. Hindus were mere pagans and they had no sense of history and their values do not go well with the modern civilization and scientific temper.
The third category is the so-called “civil society groups” or differently called “Human Rights Activists”. They won’t mind hobnobbing with the Left extremists or Jihadis and espousing their cause knowing full well that both these groups are anti-national and are working only to overthrow democracy. These groups, whatever their nomenclature, are the front organisations for the “destructive forces” that have been unleashed in this country.
If you have to list out such organisations this column is not adequate for me. But I can name only one organisation which has been in the news recently and which works against the faith and belief of the majority community in the name of science and spreading scientific temper among the people. If you scratch the surface what stands out is their anti-Hindu mindset. It is Jana Vignana Vedika (JVV).
JVV has been running a campaign against the “fish medicine” distributed free of cost by Bathini family to asthmatics for more than 160 years. First, the herbal paste that was given to lakhs of patients from all over the country and abroad every year was ridiculed saying that it was nothing but quackery or at worst, contained “steroids”. Lot of scientific tests were conducted and cases were filed in the courts to restrain the family from going ahead with the distribution of the herbal paste. Ultimately, the scientific tests proved that the paste did not contain “steroids” nor any harmful substance for human consumption. The cases were therefore disposed of.
But this organisation which swears by science could not stomach the clean chit given by scientific institutions. Therefore, this year they came with yet another excuse to stop the distribution of herbal paste. The outfit felt that administration of fish medicine in the manner it was done, could spread contagious diseases due to contamination of water and fish. It held a seminar in Hyderabad on the eve of the distribution of “fish medicine”. A dentist was drafted to endorse its “discovery” that mouth infections like oral herpes, ulcer and other communicable diseases could spread due to consumption of “fish medicine”. Therefore, the JVV wanted the government to take action against Bathina brothers for “exploiting gullible asthmatics”.
After all, you expect an organisation which operates in the name of science to be “scientific” in its approach. Since this practice of administering fish medicine with fish fingerlings as the medium has been going on for decades, do they have any well-documented case histories of patients who suffered contagious disease, oral herpes or other communicable diseases after the administration of medicine? Simply bringing in doctors to endorse the JVV’s prejudice or imagined fear is not science.
The JVV talks about “exploitation of the gullible”. However, media reports say that most of those who came to Hyderabad for fish medicine were not first-timers. Unless, they had reasons to believe that the medicine had some effect on them, they will not be “gullible” enough to come for the second time or third time from distant places. What right JVV has got to question their faith, assuming that it is just faith that may cure?
There are apostles in other religions who claim that they can make a dumb speak, deaf to hear, paraplegic to walk etc etc. They do it on public platforms in the name of “miracle cure”. What happened to the “Vignana” of JVV not to question such practices? Is it not exploitation of the gullible for “harvesting of souls”? Atleast the Bathini family does not have any such ulterior motive in the distribution of fish medicine. That is where the JVV stands exposed with regard to its real intentions. Will it undertake such a virulent campaign if the “fish medicine” were to be distributed either by a Moulvi or Maulana with the active support of MIM? No chance!
True, some of the allopaths also joined the campaign of the JVV. It is no surprise because they have not accepted any other system of medicine and they have been branding such non-allopathic system as “quackery”. If lakhs of people throng for cure in a different system, their branch of medicare is threatened. Some of them demand that the ingredients of the fish medicine to be made public. Well, will they get the Coke formula made public especially when it is consumed by millions of people all over the world and especially when it is proved to be harmful to human health?
Interestingly, some Jain organisations also joined the campaign for entirely different reasons. They were not against the medicine as such, but the fish that is used for administering the medicine. Their concern was for thousands of fish fingerlings that sacrificed themselves for the benefit of man. Understandable. But they can’t question the right of any individual to be a non-vegetarian just because Jains are vegetarians.
I have a suggestion for JVV. Will it take the trouble of spreading scientific awareness with regard to some minor day-to-day issues? One could see even the urban elites spitting on the roads, public places and parks. Is it a healthy habit for the society? There are umpteen road side tiffin centres which are run on most unhygienic conditions leading to gastro problems among the people. Dairy farms are run in thickly populated areas leading to mosquito menace. These are happening throughout the year and not just for one day in a year. These are the issues, among many others, on which the society has to create scientific awareness among the people rather than running after a family which has been doing some service with all good intentions. There is no documentary evidence to prove their intentions to be otherwise except that they sport religious marks which becomes unpalatable to outfits like JVV.
The second category of Hindu-baiters are the secular pretenders. Their only agenda has been to run down all those symbols of the majority community, their ethos and civilizational values. Hindus were mere pagans and they had no sense of history and their values do not go well with the modern civilization and scientific temper.
The third category is the so-called “civil society groups” or differently called “Human Rights Activists”. They won’t mind hobnobbing with the Left extremists or Jihadis and espousing their cause knowing full well that both these groups are anti-national and are working only to overthrow democracy. These groups, whatever their nomenclature, are the front organisations for the “destructive forces” that have been unleashed in this country.
If you have to list out such organisations this column is not adequate for me. But I can name only one organisation which has been in the news recently and which works against the faith and belief of the majority community in the name of science and spreading scientific temper among the people. If you scratch the surface what stands out is their anti-Hindu mindset. It is Jana Vignana Vedika (JVV).
JVV has been running a campaign against the “fish medicine” distributed free of cost by Bathini family to asthmatics for more than 160 years. First, the herbal paste that was given to lakhs of patients from all over the country and abroad every year was ridiculed saying that it was nothing but quackery or at worst, contained “steroids”. Lot of scientific tests were conducted and cases were filed in the courts to restrain the family from going ahead with the distribution of the herbal paste. Ultimately, the scientific tests proved that the paste did not contain “steroids” nor any harmful substance for human consumption. The cases were therefore disposed of.
But this organisation which swears by science could not stomach the clean chit given by scientific institutions. Therefore, this year they came with yet another excuse to stop the distribution of herbal paste. The outfit felt that administration of fish medicine in the manner it was done, could spread contagious diseases due to contamination of water and fish. It held a seminar in Hyderabad on the eve of the distribution of “fish medicine”. A dentist was drafted to endorse its “discovery” that mouth infections like oral herpes, ulcer and other communicable diseases could spread due to consumption of “fish medicine”. Therefore, the JVV wanted the government to take action against Bathina brothers for “exploiting gullible asthmatics”.
After all, you expect an organisation which operates in the name of science to be “scientific” in its approach. Since this practice of administering fish medicine with fish fingerlings as the medium has been going on for decades, do they have any well-documented case histories of patients who suffered contagious disease, oral herpes or other communicable diseases after the administration of medicine? Simply bringing in doctors to endorse the JVV’s prejudice or imagined fear is not science.
The JVV talks about “exploitation of the gullible”. However, media reports say that most of those who came to Hyderabad for fish medicine were not first-timers. Unless, they had reasons to believe that the medicine had some effect on them, they will not be “gullible” enough to come for the second time or third time from distant places. What right JVV has got to question their faith, assuming that it is just faith that may cure?
There are apostles in other religions who claim that they can make a dumb speak, deaf to hear, paraplegic to walk etc etc. They do it on public platforms in the name of “miracle cure”. What happened to the “Vignana” of JVV not to question such practices? Is it not exploitation of the gullible for “harvesting of souls”? Atleast the Bathini family does not have any such ulterior motive in the distribution of fish medicine. That is where the JVV stands exposed with regard to its real intentions. Will it undertake such a virulent campaign if the “fish medicine” were to be distributed either by a Moulvi or Maulana with the active support of MIM? No chance!
True, some of the allopaths also joined the campaign of the JVV. It is no surprise because they have not accepted any other system of medicine and they have been branding such non-allopathic system as “quackery”. If lakhs of people throng for cure in a different system, their branch of medicare is threatened. Some of them demand that the ingredients of the fish medicine to be made public. Well, will they get the Coke formula made public especially when it is consumed by millions of people all over the world and especially when it is proved to be harmful to human health?
Interestingly, some Jain organisations also joined the campaign for entirely different reasons. They were not against the medicine as such, but the fish that is used for administering the medicine. Their concern was for thousands of fish fingerlings that sacrificed themselves for the benefit of man. Understandable. But they can’t question the right of any individual to be a non-vegetarian just because Jains are vegetarians.
I have a suggestion for JVV. Will it take the trouble of spreading scientific awareness with regard to some minor day-to-day issues? One could see even the urban elites spitting on the roads, public places and parks. Is it a healthy habit for the society? There are umpteen road side tiffin centres which are run on most unhygienic conditions leading to gastro problems among the people. Dairy farms are run in thickly populated areas leading to mosquito menace. These are happening throughout the year and not just for one day in a year. These are the issues, among many others, on which the society has to create scientific awareness among the people rather than running after a family which has been doing some service with all good intentions. There is no documentary evidence to prove their intentions to be otherwise except that they sport religious marks which becomes unpalatable to outfits like JVV.
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
A NEW LOW IN JOURNALISTIC STANDARDS
With two Telugu news channels devoting almost the entire air time on Tuesday (June 1,10) on a non-issue, as if nothing else happened in the world, it becomes very clear that the powerful visual media outlets have become a tool in the hands of the proprietors to settle personal scores. Besides, television channels have come handy for the disgruntled elements in society to misuse this medium for their own personal agenda.
Let’s take the case of Nityananda. I am not here to hold brief for him. The very fact that he hid himself in a remote village in Himachal Pradesh for two months and chose to be in touch with the outside world through his website does not speak high of his personal character. You don’t expect this from someone who calls himself “Swami” and much worse, “Paramahamsa”. A disgruntled disciple in his own Ashram thought of using the television medium to “expose” Nityananda and a channel which allegedly had some problem with him on land deals, readily obliged the estranged disciple. The channel may claim that it telecast the tape showing Nityananda in a compromising position in “public interest”. May be. I am not here to dispute that. In the process, the channel only helped a grumpy disciple to settle scores with his master. In other words, the channel allowed itself to be used by someone who had a different agenda. Is it ethical?
Close on the heels of this episode, someone who did not like the style of functioning of a Swami in Shimoga, planned to prepare a CD using the look alike of the Swami and showing him to be in a compromising position with women and to circulate it among the television channels in Karnataka. Timely intervention by the Police saved the Swami’s honour. Otherwise, the channels in Karnataka would have gone to town with the tape without any verification.
Whatever may be the defence of the channels in obliging such interested parties, what is irrefutable is that it sets a dangerous trend in the media world.
What is that dangerous trend was seen on Tuesday when two Telugu news channels – NTV and ABN-Andhra Jyoti – kept on telecasting charges and counter charges throughout the day. The issue revolved around another Swami. This time, it was Swami Swarupananda of Vizag-based Sarada Peetam. This Peetam itself is a new one and may be, he is a self-styled Swami. That is beside the point. Bhakti TV, a devotional channel from the NTV stable, has been telecasting Swarupananda’s religious discourses in the channel. The charge by the Swami was that the CEO of NTV demanded one crore rupees for telecasting his discourses and blackmailed him. Incidentally, the same CEO had to quit two television channels earlier under a cloud and the allegations, (one does not know about the veracity of the charges) were similar – extortion and blackmail. The Swami recorded the telephone conversation with CEO of NTV and other business executives and gave the tape to ABN-Andhra Jyoti which readily obliged to telecast the audio tape.
Why did the Swami give the tape to this particular channel when there are twelve more news channels in Telugu? Thereby hangs a tale. Proprietors of NTV and ABN-AJ have long standing rivalry though both belong to the same caste. It appears caste does not seem to be a uniting factor when it comes to business rivalry. ABN-AJ found the tape a wonderful weapon to run down NTV and to paint the proprietor as a blackmailer.
How can NTV take it lying down? It started a propaganda war against ABN-AJ proprietor and Swarupananda. The channel, without any shred of evidence made all sorts of allegations against the Sarada Peetam chief, like land grabbing, misuse of funds donated by the devotees. NTV also carried a spoof in Telangana dialect poking fun at the Swami in a most disgusting language. It was a mockery of press freedom. It is for the legal pundits to examine whether the channel crossed all limits of press freedom and abused it for personal vendetta without any iota of public interest. To make matters worse, the channel used journalists to wage a proxy war against ABN-AJ proprietor and recalled all his past misdemeanours.
This does not mean ABN-AJ emerged as a paragon of virtues. The proprietor himself, a journalist of sorts in his “Poorvashram”, came on the screen in a Q&A programme and dared the rival channel to come out with evidence, if it has any, against him.
We have seen sensationalisation of news, trivialisation of news; but Tuesday saw a new low in journalistic abuse by the proprietors. If NTV blackmailed the Swami, he was free to approach the Police. Of course, he did it, but only after inflicting damage on the channel, for which another channel was a party. Thus, the channels, as I mentioned earlier, have become a tool for blackmail. It will be a misnomer to call them “news channels” or we may have to redefine the concept of “news”. There was a time when a newspaper will not even carry a clarificatory rejoinder if the original story appeared in another daily. But the competition and entry of people who have no commitment to the media except for the political clout one derives to erase the past , the rules of the game have changed. These proprietors have even usurped the office of “editor”. Editors’ prerogative no longer exists and this institution of “editors” itself is facing the threat of extinction.
Someone asked me what is the remedy for this disturbing trend. We need a media council with enough teeth and powers for punitive action to closely monitor these channels and pull them up whenever they go astray. In a democratic set up, we can’t prevent anyone from starting a channel or launching a newspaper. We can only activate the civil society to form media vigil groups so as to create awareness among the readers and viewers to shun those rogue media outlets. Of course, this is easier said than done.
Let’s take the case of Nityananda. I am not here to hold brief for him. The very fact that he hid himself in a remote village in Himachal Pradesh for two months and chose to be in touch with the outside world through his website does not speak high of his personal character. You don’t expect this from someone who calls himself “Swami” and much worse, “Paramahamsa”. A disgruntled disciple in his own Ashram thought of using the television medium to “expose” Nityananda and a channel which allegedly had some problem with him on land deals, readily obliged the estranged disciple. The channel may claim that it telecast the tape showing Nityananda in a compromising position in “public interest”. May be. I am not here to dispute that. In the process, the channel only helped a grumpy disciple to settle scores with his master. In other words, the channel allowed itself to be used by someone who had a different agenda. Is it ethical?
Close on the heels of this episode, someone who did not like the style of functioning of a Swami in Shimoga, planned to prepare a CD using the look alike of the Swami and showing him to be in a compromising position with women and to circulate it among the television channels in Karnataka. Timely intervention by the Police saved the Swami’s honour. Otherwise, the channels in Karnataka would have gone to town with the tape without any verification.
Whatever may be the defence of the channels in obliging such interested parties, what is irrefutable is that it sets a dangerous trend in the media world.
What is that dangerous trend was seen on Tuesday when two Telugu news channels – NTV and ABN-Andhra Jyoti – kept on telecasting charges and counter charges throughout the day. The issue revolved around another Swami. This time, it was Swami Swarupananda of Vizag-based Sarada Peetam. This Peetam itself is a new one and may be, he is a self-styled Swami. That is beside the point. Bhakti TV, a devotional channel from the NTV stable, has been telecasting Swarupananda’s religious discourses in the channel. The charge by the Swami was that the CEO of NTV demanded one crore rupees for telecasting his discourses and blackmailed him. Incidentally, the same CEO had to quit two television channels earlier under a cloud and the allegations, (one does not know about the veracity of the charges) were similar – extortion and blackmail. The Swami recorded the telephone conversation with CEO of NTV and other business executives and gave the tape to ABN-Andhra Jyoti which readily obliged to telecast the audio tape.
Why did the Swami give the tape to this particular channel when there are twelve more news channels in Telugu? Thereby hangs a tale. Proprietors of NTV and ABN-AJ have long standing rivalry though both belong to the same caste. It appears caste does not seem to be a uniting factor when it comes to business rivalry. ABN-AJ found the tape a wonderful weapon to run down NTV and to paint the proprietor as a blackmailer.
How can NTV take it lying down? It started a propaganda war against ABN-AJ proprietor and Swarupananda. The channel, without any shred of evidence made all sorts of allegations against the Sarada Peetam chief, like land grabbing, misuse of funds donated by the devotees. NTV also carried a spoof in Telangana dialect poking fun at the Swami in a most disgusting language. It was a mockery of press freedom. It is for the legal pundits to examine whether the channel crossed all limits of press freedom and abused it for personal vendetta without any iota of public interest. To make matters worse, the channel used journalists to wage a proxy war against ABN-AJ proprietor and recalled all his past misdemeanours.
This does not mean ABN-AJ emerged as a paragon of virtues. The proprietor himself, a journalist of sorts in his “Poorvashram”, came on the screen in a Q&A programme and dared the rival channel to come out with evidence, if it has any, against him.
We have seen sensationalisation of news, trivialisation of news; but Tuesday saw a new low in journalistic abuse by the proprietors. If NTV blackmailed the Swami, he was free to approach the Police. Of course, he did it, but only after inflicting damage on the channel, for which another channel was a party. Thus, the channels, as I mentioned earlier, have become a tool for blackmail. It will be a misnomer to call them “news channels” or we may have to redefine the concept of “news”. There was a time when a newspaper will not even carry a clarificatory rejoinder if the original story appeared in another daily. But the competition and entry of people who have no commitment to the media except for the political clout one derives to erase the past , the rules of the game have changed. These proprietors have even usurped the office of “editor”. Editors’ prerogative no longer exists and this institution of “editors” itself is facing the threat of extinction.
Someone asked me what is the remedy for this disturbing trend. We need a media council with enough teeth and powers for punitive action to closely monitor these channels and pull them up whenever they go astray. In a democratic set up, we can’t prevent anyone from starting a channel or launching a newspaper. We can only activate the civil society to form media vigil groups so as to create awareness among the readers and viewers to shun those rogue media outlets. Of course, this is easier said than done.
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