Sunday, May 31, 2009

Farewell to the H-word

Farewell to the H-word

Hindutva is posing a serious image problem which distracts attention from the other attributes of the party. Hindutva may be a backdrop but if the backdrop grabs all the (negative) attention, the everyday message of the party is lost.

There are times when a term becomes a block and an obstacle. Clause 4 became a block for the Labour Party and "dictatorship of the proletariat" for the Communists. Both were shelved.

The BJP should quietly shelve Hindutva in the same way as Nehru shelved Gandhism and Narasimha Rao dispensed with socialism.

Enlightened nationalism and modernity should become the two defining attributes of the BJP. Otherwise the party faces a growing marginalisation for its inability to move with the times.

AFTER 62 YEARS, THE RAJ IS BACK IN A NEW AVATAR

AFTER 62 YEARS, THE RAJ IS BACK IN A NEW AVATAR

India Retold

Is this development sudden? Have we all not seen it coming for a long time? When the self-appointed Royal Family of India has been practicing this for decades and even aggressively promoting smaller princely families within the Congress party, is it any surprise that this cancer has now spread to the whole polity, save the Left and, to some degree, the BJP?

This so-called "democracy" that Rahul Gandhi is ushering into the Congress is no more than a variant of the democratic sham that the British had introduced to humor and inflate the egos of a few Indians, and then use them to perpetuate their Raj. Rahul's exercise similarly places him and his family on a pedestal completely beyond reach of everyone else. It also does not upset the pecking order of other political princes lower down the order. All that is does is that it allows a few "peasants" to compete with each other to reach somewhat higher positions where they can become more visible to the Crown Prince who can then pick a few of them every now and then and give them an entry into the exclusive club of lower placed dynastic families. By doing so, he hopes to earn their everlasting gratitude and, at the same time, keep the existing minor royal families on their toes and within their limits.

Obama represents real democracy at its best. For an Obama to happen in India, all routes that lead to and that perpetuate dynastic rule have to be ruthlessly cut. The rot started from the very top and it is only from there that its elimination has to begin.

Look at the irony. At a time when Nepal has removed its king and Bhutan's king has started the process of handing power over to the people, India has accelerated its regressive descent into dynastic Raj. And the vanguard of this decay is India's supposedly liberal and modern media, and its so-called intelligentsia.

what, why and how of Hindu identity ?

What is Hindu Identity?

transcript of a talk on Hindu identity
by Rajiv Malhotra of Infinity Foundation

Hindu Identity

But we have many sacred texts, not one. Some people ask me, what is your book? And I tell them, we don’t have a single book, we have a whole library! Because of the very nature of revelation, the experiences of our ‘rishis’ and idea of living enlightenment in our tradition, we have an inexhaustible supply of enlightened gurus all through our history. Hence, we Hindus have a huge corpus of spiritual knowledge.

So these are the three issues: Why Hindu identity is needed, what is the Hindu identity, and how do we project it? The ‘what, why and how’ of Hindu identity are the important issues that I feel Hindus have not dealt with enough.

Hinduism Offers Mutual Respect, Not Merely Tolerance

Luckily, Hinduism does not have this problem because Hindus do not claim exclusivity. Instead, they offer mutual respect rather than just tolerance.

And this is something that the Hindus can contribute to the world very proudly as one of the most important things that the world needs right now.

Hinduism has mutual respect to offer to other faiths, not merely tolerance. So this resolves the first major hurdle to having a Hindu identity. It provides the answer to the question: “Will Hindu identity be a source of divisiveness, tension and conflict?” In fact, with more Hindus claiming a Hindu identity which sets the example of positive mutual respect for each other, that would actually help reduce tensions.

Hyphenated Identities are Acceptable

Therefore it is perfectly ok for you as a bonafide American to be a Hindu at the same time. It does not undermine your ‘American-ness.’

Assert Your Identity as a Hindu

The problems in explaining Hindu identity to other people is not from the Americans’ side, but from our side because we Hindus shy away from asserting our religious identity.

We have deliberately chosen not to talk about our identity with people of other faiths.

Is Hinduism Against Identities?

An idea persists among Hindus that the Advaita philosophy has taught us non-dualism and therefore there is no such thing as my individual identity.

In response to this argument of “dualism means no identity,” the Hindus should argue that in the Gita, Arjuna is asked by Krishna to take claim of an identity. There are Kauravas and Pandavas. To carry out his dharma, Arjuna has to be a Kshatriya. All these are identities. Being a Kaurava or Pandava is an identity. Being a Kshatriya is an identity. Arjuna is in fact told by Krishna that you have work to do and you cannot run away from your work and duty in the name of non-dualism. This is the message of Gita.

The solution to this obstacle is that we have to bring our spiritual knowledge into our daily lives and perform a ‘lila.’ In a lila, you have to have an identity because you are performing God’s work in this world that is only possible through adopting a unique identity.

This issue involves living the full life, not only the spiritual life but also the social life. It involves carrying out one’s dharma, playing the lila in this world and performing a particular role which involves having an identity. There is an ultimate reality which is non-dual and there is also a provisional reality (material word) which is our kurushetra, karmashetra and dharmashetra where we have to perform roles and therefore we have to have an identity.

I think this is the central issue, the central source of confusion which is preventing a lot of people from claiming a Hindu identity. The sooner a conversation starts to clarify these points in the minds of the Hindus, the better.

Aung Sang Suu Kyi: just quit Myanmar

Sandhya Jain


Ms. Suu Kyi’s husband, late Michael Aris, was a white Briton and her two sons, Alexander and Kim, are British citizens.


With her entire family belonging to another nationality, and also another faith (Christian) Ms. Suu Kyi is a Myanmar citizen by formality only, being the daughter of Gen. Aung San. With her sharply pro-western tilt, she has no right to aspire for political leadership of a country which the West desires to exploit for its mineral wealth, and reduce to a de facto colony.


The still largely Buddhist populations of Thailand and Myanmar are currently under pressure, as are large parts of China. But whereas Beijing shows some signs of awakening to the threat by reviving the nation’s Confucian roots, there is little or no recognition of danger by the monasteries in Myanmar. Monks are easy to rent for pro-democracy (sic) demonstrations.


This trend of imposing dual citizens (natives married to white Christians) upon the non-monotheistic world that has barely recovered from the colonial depredations of the 19th and 20th centuries needs to be firmly rebuffed.

The new Myanmar constitution rightly denies the right to contest elections to citizens married to foreigners; so Ms. Suu Kyi should call it a day.


Prisoner without a conscience


Nobel allurement


The non-white, non-Christian world has now woken up to the danger of marriages of political leaders to foreign nationals, and is no longer impressed by awards and certificates – these are increasingly perceived as badges of intellectual slavery and political subordination. Myanmar plans to hold elections under its new constitution in 2010; ideally the lady should be removed from the nation before these are held.


Intrusion for subversion


A western foothold in Myanmar would put pressure on both India and China, and it is high time these two large Asian neighbours began to look out for their mutual interests and concerns, rather than aggravate foolish rivalries.

interesting conference on 'indian management'

interesting conference on 'indian management': do submit proposals



Call for Submissions for the Inaugural Conference of the Indian Academy
of Management (IAOM), to be held at XLRI - Jamshedpur, India

Indian Management: Past, Present and the Future

The thoughts of Indian management could arouse a collection of scripts
among Indian and international practitioners and researchers that could
range from Rama Rajya, Yudhisthara's rule and Krishna's wisdom; Canakya, Chandragupta, and Ashoka; Babar, Akbar, and Aurangjeb, Gandhi, Nehru,and Patel; to Tata, Birla, and Ambani.

NEED FOR THIS CONFERENCE

India was an economic superpower until 1760, and accordingly led the
world with management ideas and practices. But much of that was lost
with its colonization and the struggle to shed the colonial ideas in the
last 250 years. India is now again emerging as an economic power, and
business schools are focusing on the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, and
China) nations instead of the Triadian market of US, Europe, and Japan.
Thus, it is important to further focus our research energy on Indian
management and reveal about what is unique about Indian management -
good or bad, effective or inefficient, beautiful or ugly.

Relief work by Hindu Samhati---Aila Devastation

Relief work by Hindu Samhati---Aila Devastation

Relief work by Hindu Samhati at Sandeshkhali, North 24 Parganas after Aila–storm Devastation.

“Affected by the Secular Seva (relief-work), many organization are going several times to Sheikh Para of Muslim Community. But nobody dare to step in the Bhangipara Village, a mixed area of Tribal Sarder People and Scheduled Castes both Hindu in religion.”- an aggrieved Jagannath Sarder stating their situation with a demand of some medicines for his ailing neighbour and family members.

The realization of Jagannath Sarder has a conformity with other Hindu victims of Aila-struck zone. Moreover the Muslim dacoits are venturing to loot every thing from the locked and temporarily left houses of the Hindus in this chance. Even such gangs are trying to enter into the habitated Hindu areas in night time.

Tapan Kumar Ghosh, President, Hindu Samhati instructed the HS Relief Team to stand and support firmly for the Victim Hindu People including others without any discrimination to the ideals of Bharatiya way of Seva Dharma.

The Hindu Samhati Relief Team requires more dry-foods, medicines for fever and diarrhoea, ORS, disinfectants, water purifier tablets or drops and funds for running its relief work in North & South Bengal.

गुलाम आस्ट्रेलिया के लोग हमला करके साबित क्या करना चाहते है ?

गुलाम आस्ट्रेलिया के लोग हमला करके साबित क्या करना चाहते है ?

दुनिया के छोटे से छोटे देश आज आजाद है लेकिन आस्ट्रेलिया और न्यूजीलैंड की राष्ट्र अध्यक्ष आज भी बिर्टेन की महारानी है । यह गोरी चमडी के गुलाम मानसिकता के लोग अपनी गुलामी में खुश है ।

आस्ट्रेलिया पर भारत को अपनी तरफ से लगाम कसनी चाहिए । उसका बहिष्कार होना चाहिए ख़ास कर क्रिकेट में भी । हमारी टीम एक देश के ख़िलाफ़ खेले नाकि दुसरे देश के गुलाम देशो के साथ भी । कठोर कदम उठाना ही चाहिए सरकार को ।

Saturday, May 30, 2009

मुसलमानों को कांग्रेस का इनाम क्या होगा???????

मुसलमानों को कांग्रेस का इनाम क्या होगा???????

Ostrich approach

Ostrich approach

Hari Shankar Vyas

During an informal BJP Cabinet meeting at Bhopal, a Minister, Nagendra Singh expressed his inner feeling and said, “There was no attraction in our PM-in-waiting Advani ji.” Some Ministers endorsed Singh nodding their head. But there was pin drop silence in the meeting. CM Shivraj Singh Chauhan tried to salvage the matter. Later, it was said that the party would not analyse the cause of defeat. The Minister also gave clarification. It clearly means that BJP has banned discussions on the cause of their defeat. At every level of the party, it is being insured that nobody should point a finger at Advani or any office bearer of the party for the defeat. Even the party leadership is trying not to have any discussion or analysis regarding the election fiasco.

But matters are exactly the opposite with Mayawati. She discussed the cause of defeat for an entire week. She let her MLAs speak. She kept mum for three hours and took note of the stories of corruption and reprimanded her officers. She forced some party office bearers to resign and changed some of them.

Is fair always lovely?

Is fair always lovely?

Chandan Mitra

It may sound a bit far-fetched to attribute the Congress Party’s relative success in 2009 to the same factor, but there appears to be some basis to the conjecture that fair-skinned people have a higher rate of acceptability among voters compared to others.

But irrespective of achievements, politicians from erstwhile princely families usually have a head-start over their opponents; often, their indifferent performance in the constituency is overlooked by voters while the record of others is subject to intense scrutiny. Arguably, this is in part due to the average voters’ familiarity with scions of erstwhile ruling houses in such constituencies. But I also wonder whether this acceptability has something to do with appearance.

Whichever part of India one may consider there is an underlying factor of appearance, which helps propel a politician ahead of his not so fortunate counterparts. This could even be an explanation why film actors are motivated to take the plunge into the political arena. Heroes and heroines are usually better looking than the average fan, which is why they get a flying start to their political career:

India may have progressed in many ways, but socially we appear to be regressing in attitudes. Till we collectively conclude that fair is not necessarily lovely, I don’t see an escape from this atrophied mindset.

Samarth: Hindus, become active to save Nation & Dharma

Samarth: Hindus, become active to save Nation & Dharma


HJS Congratulates Endowments Minister of Karnataka for helping poor devotees

11000 Government Temples set for Jeernoddhar (Total Renovation) in Karnataka



Bangaluru: HJS Bangaluru members met Shri. Es En Krisshnaiah Setty Honourable Minister for Endowments and Housing, Govt Of Karnataka at his office in Bangaluru. Sri Sandeep Joshi congratulated Sri Setty for having taken a positive decision to fulfill the long standing need of the poor devotees which will enable them to visit various important Pilgrimage Centres in Karnataka

Where is India in the encounter of civilization? - Hegde lecture

Where is India in the encounter of civilization? - Hegde lecture

Written by Rajiv malhotra

(Transcript)

“Disruptive forces” - Centrifugal forces

Nation’s Sovereignty and the Role of Civilization

Cynical attitudes in India

Escapism

“Disruptive forces – Fragments

Three Scenarios for India’s Future

Scenario A is India's fragments get taken over as parts of West, Pan-Islam and China;

Scenario B Indian "culture" succeeds globally but Indian nation-state disappears. (India is not a nation but a culture);

Scenario C India emerges as a thriving nation-state with its own civilization and helps the world.

Globalization and Civilizational Competition

Top three civilizational competitors

The reality I feel is that the West, China and Pan-Islam, each publicly projects their claim of superior civilization and future domination of the world. And United States certainly feels that it is the leader and does not want to give up that claim.

Now these top three civilizations have the following attributes. Each has collective super ego with common values and chauvinistic grand narrative of history (who we are? How our ancestor were great and glorifying ideas and stories about them) and each is committed to achieve global dominance. Each also actively nurtures its civilization and projects it via academics, education, media and policy.

Success factors for competing civilizations

Success Factors

West

China

Islam

Historical Identity and Manifest destiny




Modern Institutions




Financial Capital




Political/Military Capital




Intellectual Capital




China

Chinese insist that they have their own modernization which is not westernization. What they are telling is that they are telling their youths to modernize but that they have the Chinese approach to modernity. That does not mean you have to mimic the West. You modernize with all consumables and modern technology and all that but there is Chinese philosophical and civilizational ethos behind it.

Pan-Islam

Pan-Islam has a theological grand narrative from God. Islamic grand narrative comes from God which gives them identity, meaning and direction. They have a sacred geography – so the Kaba for example is sacred and you cannot point at Jamma Masjid to pray or any other particular place to pray. So the sacred geography is unique. There is a literalist account of history. Literalist means you cannot say it is metaphorical and we can reinterpret them for today. They are considered to be actual historic events so you cannot mess with it.

There is also preordained projectory into future. Not only the past is fixed but the future is also pre-ordained and you have to live in accordance to achieve that. So there is a scenario of “us” versus “them” – Dar-ul-Islam (us) versus Dar-ul-Harb (them).

Civilizational encounter between US and India

America does not have just one point of view and there is no stable point of view – it keeps shifting just like in India where we have many points of view on a complex issue and the views shift over time.

USA’s civilizational Threat Psychosis

America has a dual psychosis – civilizational threats it perceives from China and from Islam.

I call this a “Father-Son clash” because China’s industry has been sort of produced or exported by United States. It was US that sent capital to China from Nixon-Kissinger era.

The other psychosis which I have depicted in the right hand side is the clash of fundamentalisms. The Islam is not looking for modernity. They are competing against fundamentalist Christianity and its rival claims over historical prophets each having finality. So this fundamentalism versus fundamentalism between American Christianity and Islam is also a ‘Father-Son Clash’ in the sense that Islam is a offspring of the lineage of Judaeo-Christian prophets.

Now you can see that United States has got here a problem because United States considers itself as consisting of Christian ethos and very modern enlightened secular ethos. Now both these are threatened by two offspring or two civilizations which ironically America has created and America has gifted them the tools in a metaphorical sense.

Challenged America hedging its bets on India

The build up India voices in American think tanks and American policy and so on are saying let us invest in India financial capital, market and labor; let us have military alliances let us have regional political alliances. And the benefit is that it will counter China's hegemony, it contains Islamic threat; it is good for US corporate interests and India will be a stabilizing force in the third world.

But there is also a caution at the bottom that says that if this happens and India is too successful then in the long term we have another China like threat. So while there is a voice that says let us build up India there is also a voice that is concerned that it may get out of hand and become too strong. Therefore let us come to the right hand side that says let us fragment India.

The "Fragment India" is a much older voice than the "Build up India" voice. The "Build up" India is more of a corporate voice and political voice over the last ten years. But the fragmentation of India is a voice that has been there since the cold war. In the fifties and sixties United States has had this attitude that .let us divide and rule. They built up this Dravidian movement; Annadurai was built up and all kinds of movements were built up to fragment India and play one against the other. When Nehru was pro-Soviet then the United States used the Dravidian movement to counteract Nehru's programme of unifying India. So the fragmentation of India is a very old policy. And it says exploit Dalits vs. the Brahmins; Dravidians vs. so-called Aryans; Women vs. Men Minorities vs. Hindus.

US Interventions in India

So I call this the Mother-in-law syndrome. Do I want the couple to be united and happy or do I want them to fall apart?

So I kind of play between these two poles and do not want either pole to happen too much. So United States' policy towards India keeps vacillating between these two poles of "Build up India" and "Fragment India" And you cannot expect a long term stability in the way.

Deconstructing India

So the first building blocks to study are the castes, minorities and women.

Invasion Theory of India

Then there is this idea that everything good about India was imported into India. The so-called Aryans brought Sanskrit. The Greeks brought philosophy and rational thought; Hinduism was a colonial construction; Indian culture was started by the Mughals and British gave Indians a nation and cricket and now we have to import our human rights from America.

Afro-Dalit Project

And they are very much active in Tamil Nadu building up a whole network of youth empowerment and youth training to give them a contrary sense of history that they are historically a kind of oppressed people and non-religious and so on. The Church has a vested interest in it because if you can dislocate their identity from the rest of India then you can re-programme them and give them a new religion and so on. This is called Dalitstan project.

So I was invited to this scholar's office. And I saw this map. This is the map of the Dalitstan that was hanging there. On the northern part is Mughalstan which is from Afghanistan, Pakistan and all the way to Bangladesh. This turns out to be what Mullah Omar says when he states that he wants to put the flag of Taliban on the red fort of Delhi and recreate the Mughal Empire. And the southern part of India is Dalitstan and Dravidstan.

Then I started getting deeper into it and found that there is merit in the thesis that says that the local minorities are being appropriated by global nexuses. Afro-Dalit Project is just one example.

“Disruptive Forces” – Frontier India

So Hegde's "Disruptive forces" of 1992 have turned into Frontier India mindset where the following wild things are happening. Local minority is co-opted as a branch office of some Global Nexus; many minorities are apart of some global majority and are used for trans-national agendas; third world intellectual franchises are set up to deconstruct their own nation.

Minorities as part of Global Majorities

If you are at the Macdonald’s in Delhi and you have local establishment with twenty employees you would not say that this is a minority institution. You would say that it is part of global empire. It is part of a huge global multi-national.

Now why don't you not apply the same thing to the Southern Baptist Church or Baptist Church which is a huge multinational which has set up a big network of churches in Nagaland and Tamil Nadu and they have a plan of twenty thousand churches in South India. So why do you call them minorities and not call them branch offices or subsidiaries of global multinationals?

Positive India narrative

And now the irony is that both these views are also encased in India. In India also you have the technocrats, industrialists those kind of people who believe in a positive sense of India. Then you also have people in social sciences (and a lot of social science views are actually imported) in India who do not have faith in India as a nation. So you have both voices within India also.

Hypothetical situation for US intervention in India

Let us say under such scenario Taliban takes over Pakistan and thus is now nuclearized Taliban. Now let us say US is fighting and years go on and the causalities build up and US faces economic pressures at home and another election is coming.

So Obama or the future president has to figure out a way for exiting. So when the US exits, after having flared it up, then it has become a mess that somebody is going to encounter and guess who is going to bear that brunt of it? that will be India. I will also surmise in this hypothesis that Taliban will then have their vision of setting up that Mughalstan. They will see that they have enough disruptive forces sitting in India which can be incited by them and then they can get going with a huge revolution. Now that US has gone they can take over.

Number Two. United States may also have another kind of intervention in India which is to safeguard Christians being persecuted. Some of you may think this is far fetched. So United States may decide "Ok Taliban has got North India. We can go and intervene here and there and get some Christianized pockets in South India. We have built our own base there and we have built a network of support.” So this is the worst case scenario.

Now similar analysis also applies to Islam and China intervening, as each of them has stakes in India and ambitions in India. One can do scenarios like what if China and Pakistan jointly take military action. China would love to have Arunachal Pradesh because of the water -the Brahmaputra river water which can then be taken to Tibet. China would love to take Nepal because most of the water that comes to Ganga comes from Nepal and filters down to India.

What India can contribute to the world?

So to start with what are the problems the world faces where India can offer a solution? I will list just three.

One is that development- the cycle of economic development is not sustainable or scalable. It is not ecologically possible to have development of such large number of people and achieve the per capita consumption of the western standard and also you cannot scale to the whole world.

Then the Abrahamic civilizations are based on exclusivity and a mandate to take over the world and that is not going to sustain peaceful environment.

Finally the human rights laws that exist protect the individual but not cultures. There is no law broken if the language is made extinct or if your culture or your rituals are gone. If you as an individual are not violated then the culture as an entity does not have a status. Only the individual has a status.

There is a whole worked out system in Indian society on ecological sustainability starting with being content with less consumerism. The whole Ashrama model where you divide life into four stages has you as a consumerist in the second stage as householder (Gruhasth). But in the stages before and after that you learn life to be happy without much consumerism. These are social models which may be of application to world order where you cannot expect every body to live hundred years old and be a consumerist from zero to hundred at the American level.

Then there is the concept of groups that are de-centralized and self-organized without a state or a very centralized government or authoritarian government running the show. And all of this results in pluralism, dignified aging and decentralized social security.

Civilizational archetypes: Yogi vs. Gladiator

Yogi’s Dilemma

So at the base of this I have Yogi's dilemma when facing the aggression of a Gladiator. So this is the question I ask those who are very spiritually inclined people. Imagine you are a Yogi and a Gladiator comes to you and says I am going to kill you and you cannot change his mind and you cannot run away.

Indian civilization has to solve this dilemma. And we will see two ways.

One is Mahatma Gandhi's and the other is Bhagavat Gita: non-violent and violent.

You remain the Yogi within but you fight the Gladiator.

The obstacles to this are, India lacks the hard power in terms for economics, governance, military, geopolitics etc. India also has a clash of soft power generally because its own discourse is colonized.

And the final obstacle India faces is its loftiness, apathy of the world, other-worldliness etc, which we have seen before.

I have said three things.

There is a global reality of three major civilizations at peace and war. And their competition will intensify for self-interest. We can wish otherwise but this is the reality. India is a major playground and battle ground for these global forces. The reality of India is that there is internal fragmentation which is worsening and the disruptive forces that Hegde talked about have worsened. These are supported by cycle of vote banks, quotas and bribes. Minorities are becoming branch offices for global nexuses and are receiving funding and ideological and political support. These are the centrifugal forces threatening India's future. As far the future for India, I see that presently India lacks the civilizational Conesus and power necessary to survive as a nation-state in a dangerous world. India itself will disintegrate and its parts assimilated into others while India's culture will flourish as their. Or if India's civilizational foundation can be secured, then it could be a key solution provider to world problems.

लड़कियों के गायब होने के चलते गरमाया धर्मातरण का मुद्दा

लड़कियों के गायब होने के चलते गरमाया धर्मातरण का मुद्दा

ओमप्रकाश तिवारी,जागरण

मुंबई महाराष्ट्र के उत्तरी हिस्से में हिंदुओं के ईसाई बनने की घटनाएं अक्सर प्रकाश में आती रहती हैं। लेकिन पिछले वर्ष पुणे में इस्लाम स्वीकार करने की एक घटना अब पुलिस विभाग के लिए सिरदर्द बनती दिख रही है, क्योंकि इस घटना में इस्लाम स्वीकार करनेवाली कुछ युवतियों के गायब होने की रिपोर्ट उनके अभिभावकों ने दर्ज कराई है । धर्मातरण की यह घटना पिछले वर्ष अक्टूबर माह की है। पुणे के पूर्वी हिस्से में स्थित एक शैक्षणिक संस्थान आ़जम कैम्पस में मुस्लिमों के एक सम्मेलन के दौरान छह युवतियों एवं तीन युवकों ने इस्लाम ग्रहण किया था । इस सम्मेलन का आयोजन प्रसिद्ध इस्लामी वक्ता डा। जाकिर नाईक की संस्था इस्लामिक रिसर्च फाउंडेशन ने किया था।

केशरिया रंग का विरोध !!!

केशरिया रंग का विरोध !!!

ये कैसी मंदी..??

ये कैसी मंदी..??

भारत में झूठ तथा फरेब सबसे ज्यादा है


इसी प्रकार आप विदेशी नामचीन अखबारों को उठाकर देखिए...वे विज्ञापनों के लिए उस प्रकार से पागल नहीं दिखेंगे जैसे ये हिन्दी या भारतीय अंग्रेजी के अखबार दिखते हैं। विदेशी अखबारों में पढ़ने के लिए बहुत कुछ होगा जबकि कीमत कम होगी। वहीं हमारे यहाँ मामला उल्टा है। अखबारों को अब आप कुछ ही मिनट में फैंक देते हैं।

हमारे देश में खबरों के लिए अखबार शुरू हुए थे और समाजसेवा के लिए स्वयंसेवी संगठन (एनजीओ या कहें गैर सरकारी संगठन) लेकिन ये दोनों ही अपने रास्ते से भटक गए। आज अखबार खबरों को छोड़कर विज्ञापन के पीछे लगे हुए हैं और एनजीओ समाजसेवा को छोड़कर फंड कलेक्टिंग के पीछे लगी हुई है। कम से कम भारत में तो ये अपने मूल उद्देश्य से भटक गए हैं। आज कोई अखबार खुलता है तो पहले वहाँ विज्ञापनों की जुगाड़ की बात होती है। पन्ने विज्ञापनों से भरे होते हैं और बची जगह पर खबरें लग जाती हैं। हद तो तब है, जब उसके बाद भी मंदी की बातें होती हैं।

Let's Take Yoga Back

Let's Take Yoga Back

As I slowly continue to discover the true beauty of yoga, I find myself increasingly proud to be Hindu; to be able to claim the religion that has brought this amazing practice to the world as my own is truly empowering.

Yet through my work with the Hindu American Foundation (HAF), a nonprofit advocacy organization, I have become keenly aware of an alarming trend that disassociates yoga from its Hindu origins.

So, perhaps it's time for the Hindu community to look inward and accept our share of the blame in losing the affiliation between Hinduism and yoga. How can we maintain and promote the Hindu origin of yoga if the majority of yoga studios don't have Hindu students, forget the idea of Hindu yoga teachers?

As yoga seems to move further and further away from is Hindu origins, I am fearful of the day when instructors will altogether stop naming the various asanas in Sanskrit or ending class with the traditional 'Namaste' - that is the day yoga as a Hindu practice will truly be lost.

In an effort to avoid such a catastrophe, I urge you, as a Hindu American, to reclaim yoga by once again becoming an expert in its practice. We cannot lay claim to a practice if we as a community don't follow it ourselves.

Grandparents, moulvi held for kids’ forceful conversion

Grandparents, moulvi held for kids’ forceful conversion

Lokpal Sethi | Jaipur

Rajasthan police have arrested a couple and a moulvi on Wednesday for forcefully converting their two grandsons to Islam. The incident has been reported from Beawar village near Ajmer. The boys had come from Mumbai with their parents to spend summer vacation with their grandparents.

Boys’ father Rajesh Kathat in the complaint alleged that while he and his wife were not at the home, his father Mangilal and step-mother Sakina, took the children — 10-year-old Akash and 8-year-old Rahul — to a Moulvi, who performed circumcision despite boys’ resistance.

Friday, May 29, 2009

Dangers of trusting them too much

Dangers of trusting them too much

Subramanian Swamy

There are many ways to prevent EVM fraud.

One way to reduce the risk is to have machines print a paper record of each vote, which voters could then deposit into a conventional ballot box. While this procedure would ensure that each vote can be verified, using paper ballots defeats the purpose of electronic voting in the first place.

Using two machines produced by different manufacturers would decrease the risk of a security compromise, but wouldn’t eliminate it.

A better way, it is argued in the cited International Electrical & Electronics Engineering Journal article, is to expose the software behind electronic voting machines to public scrutiny. The root problem of electronic machines is that the computer programs that run them are usually closely held trade secrets (it doesn’t help that the software often runs on the Microsoft Windows operating system, which is not the world’s most secure). Having the software closely examined and tested by experts not affiliated with the company would make it easier to close technical loopholes that hackers can exploit.

Now the Madras High Court is soon to hear a PIL on the EVMs. This is good news. The time has arrived for a long hard look at these machines. Otherwise elections would soon lose their credibility.

Samarth: Enough of worthless democracy

Samarth: Enough of worthless democracy



Govt. not approving Savarkar memorial in France from 11 years

Govt. not approving Savarkar memorial in France from 11 years


Anti-Savarkar Congress-led Central Government has not done anything for 11 years on the project approved by the French Government!

Swatantryaveer Vinayak Damodar Savarkar had jumped into the sea in France and the incident will complete 100 years on 8th July 2010. The French Government has granted permission to erect a memorial of Swatantryaveer at Marseilles port.

But the proposal is lying with the Central Government for the last 11 years. Fans of Savarkar have therefore, decided to start a signature campaign and submit a representation to the President, Pratibhatai Patil.

क्या प्रधानमंत्री आज रात सोयेंगे ??????????

क्या प्रधानमंत्री आज रात सोयेंगे ??????????


प्रधानमंत्री के रूप में इस महान शख्शियत को एक मुस्लमान के आस्ट्रलिया में पकडे जाने पर रात भर नींद नही आई थी. रात भर जागता रहा। नींद ही नहीं आई की हिंदुस्तान के एक मुस्लमान को आस्ट्रलिया ने आतंकवाद की घटनाओ में संदेहास्पद जान कर पकड़ कैसे लिया ।

अरे यहाँ हिंदुस्तान में तो घटना करने के बाद भी घर जमाई मानते है और आपने उनको जेल के संखिचो के पीछे धकेल दिया। जब तक वो वापस हिंदुस्तान नही आगया यहाँ उसे सेलिब्रटी जैसा स्वागत नही मिला तब तक तो माननीय प्रधानमंत्री ने भोजन नही किया.

और जब आज दिन रात हिंदुस्तान के हर एक चैनल और अख़बार बता रहे है की हिंदुस्तान के नौजवान बच्चे आस्ट्रलिया की सडको पर दरिंदो द्वारा लहू ल्हुअन हो हस्पताल में जिंदगी और मौत से लड़राहे है तब हिंदुस्तान का यह अजीम शख्श अपने शेयर मार्केट और नए मंत्रियो के रंगीन ख्वाबो में खो रहा है. एक बयान अभी तक नहीं आया की वहा पर हिन्दुस्तानी नौजवानों का होगा क्या?

हिन्दुओ का खून इतना भी पानी नहीं हुआ परधानमंत्री जी की आप उनका इसप्रकार तृसकर ही करदो.
आप चाहे कैसे भी बने प्रधानमंत्री पर हो तो २५ करोड़ हिन्दुस्तानियो के और जो मर रहे है वो हिन्दुस्तानी ही है क्या हुआ जो मुस्लमान नहीं. उनको बचाना तो आपको ही पड़ेगा. बड़े आदर से एक बात कहूँगा प्रधानमंत्री जी आप कमजोर नही है यह तो मानगाये अब सहाभ सिद्ध भी तो करदो। क्योंकि निर्णायक और मजबूत लोग अभी घाव ही धो रहे है। आप वहा मरहम नही लगा सकते यहाँ आस्ट्रलिया में पिटे, लुटे, घायल भारतीयों पर तो लगा दो.

सोचो इसी आस्ट्रलिया ने नुक्लिएअर टेस्ट करने, उसके पादरी ग्राहम के उडीसा में मरने, या कंधमाल की घटनाओ ने हम हिन्दुस्तानियो से नाक रगड़वा दी थी। और हम है की अभी अपने मंत्री मंडल के बाप बेटे, सासुर और दामाद की कुर्सी बिछाने में ही लगे है। अब तो सरकार को रंगीन खुमरियो से बहार आजाना चाहिय.

BJP lags behind, but Rajnath races ahead


Nazarwala
The cadres were confused and bewildered, and found absurd excuses to stay indoors in the scorching summer heat.
The Varun Gandhi effect was stunningly electrifying. Youthful Varun had a point of view. He articulated what many Hindus felt -- nothing wrong in that.
The opportunistic RSS/BJP bosses were in two minds. Mark their initial reactions and the subsequent ones. They wanted to reap positive benefits flowing from his statements and, yet, they were neither honest nor supportive for Varun when he faced criticism.
The unpalatable truth is that the Varun effect went a very long way in boosting the sagging BJP morale in UP. But for him, the BJP would have got fewer seats than the 10 they eventually got.
The man solely responsible for the BJP's humiliating defeat is Rajnath Singh. He was the party president with unfettered powers.
Shifting the responsibility for the BJP's all-India failure on Narendra Modi and cunningly escaping accountability by the national president is a move in that direction.
Rajnath is a highly ambitious and ruthless leader in a hurry. A pensive L K Advani owned up moral responsibility and refused to act as the Leader of the Opposition in Parliament. Rajnath was thrilled. He thought the decks had been cleared for him to take on that important role.

Unfortunately for the ambitious Rajnath, in comes his senior Murli Manohar Joshi. Rajnath's dreams got crumpled for the time being. Hastily, he rushed to Advani and manipulated things to keep Joshi out. A shattered 82-year-old Advani was a safer bet than Joshi.

A Gorakhpur boy plays a dutiful son to his blind mother

A Gorakhpur boy plays a dutiful son to his blind mother

By Pawan Shah

Gorakhpur, May 27: In a unique case of son's dedication towards his mother, Kailesh Giri Brahamchari, has been carrying his mother on his shoulders and taking her all over the country to visit places of Hindu worship.

He left his house at a young age of 23 years. He has been traveling continuously for over 13 years to accomplish his mother's desire of undertaking a pilgrimage to the four most prominent abodes of Hindu Gods, spreading across length and breadth of India.

He says that it's his duty to fulfill his mother's desire of visiting the four abodes in India as his mother undertook the pledge after he had fallen off a tree.

People do admit candidly that the son's gesture is indeed rare. He is also being referred to as the modern day 'Shravan Kumar'.

The mother-son duo are being sought after everywhere, the people seek the blessings of the mother and give her offerings as well.

‘Sethu project will be revived’

‘Sethu project will be revived’

VINODHINI
New Delhi

May 28: Newly sworn-in Cabinet minister M.K. Azhagiri on Thursday has promised to revive the controversial Sethu Samudram which was inaugurated in Madurai by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi during the previous UPA regime when T.R. Baalu was the Union shipping minister.
Visibly relaxed after the swearing in ceremony at the Rashtrapathi Bhavan, the elder son of the chief minister who won from Madurai parliamentary constituency by more than one lakh votes told this newspaper that the DMK manifesto had promised the people that the "prestigious" project would be revived despite opposition by some people on religious grounds.
"I will personally meet the Prime Minister in this regard. We will fulfill the promise we have given to the people," he said at Tamil Nadu Bhavan after the ceremony at Rashtrapathi Bhavan.

The winner takes all

The winner takes all (May 28, 2009)


An effortless return to the Indira and Rajiv Gandhi era
By Swapan Dasgupta

It is paradoxical that despite functioning in a democratic environment, the internal regime of India’s political parties is grounded in committee-room secrecy. This wasn’t always so. Till the late-1960s, the Congress, for example, had a reasonable degree of inner-party democracy.

The tradition of political openness received a grave setback after the Congress split of 1969 and the Emergency. The emergence of an all-powerful leader and the dynastic principle meant that decision-making was abrogated to the one and only leader. This may explain the steady stream of regional leaders and social constituencies that felt stifled and broke away from the Congress, never to return.

The Congress recovery in 2004, and the awesome advance in 2009, owed little to any well-considered plan of rejuvenation. It was an outcome of happy circumstances.

Rahul Gandhi has proclaimed his intention of democratizing the Congress, beginning with the Youth Congress. The intention is noble, and suggests that the heir apparent may have cottoned on to the root cause of the decline of political culture — a problem he has tried to circumvent by encouraging the growth of political families.

The BJP’s problems have multiplied on two counts.

First, the RSS has lost its moral authority and social influence, thanks to its unwillingness to face contemporary realities.

Secondly, success in electoral politics has triggered a breakdown of ideological certitudes and added to the charms of aggregative politics.

Since the defeat in 2004, the BJP has more or less shed all pretence of inner-party debate, not least because the RSS minders and their chosen nominees have lacked the calibre and self-assurance to handle challenges. After the May 16 defeat, there is a strong possibility that a beleaguered RSS may insist on eschewing all debate altogether and settling for greater control. If that happens, the future of the BJP may be bleak.

To strengthen the quality of democracy and the efficacy of political parties, a system of constant interaction involving the top and the bottom is imperative. David Cameron’s reinvention of the British Conservative Party suggests a possible way. It is time the political culture incorporated the argumentative Indian.

Terrorism must be finished like this .....

Slaying of Afzal Khan by Shivaji Maharaj

The Incident


Who was Afzal Khan?

Afzal Khan was the Mughal Sardar in the Court of Aurangzeb and notorious for severing the Tulja Bhavani idol at Tuljapur near Kolhapur. After he Severed Tulja Bhavani idol Shivaji took an oath of exterminating Afzal Khan.

He was a typical Hindu Hater and gave a free hand to his troops to attack and plunder Hindu Homes in Maharashtra. His troops massacred Hindus and committed undescribable atrocities on Hindu women and Children. His Aim was to somehow bring Shivaji down from the fort and kill him and present his head as a gift in the name of Allah to Aurangzeb! However, Shivaji tore open the guts of Aurangzeb and a handful of Maratha Army routed the huge Mughal Army by the Grace of Goddess Bhavani.

india's future: the ugly reality of nuclear power costs

india's future: the ugly reality of nuclear power costs


http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/29/business/energy-environment/29nuke.html?ref=business

Some Indian analysts like Swaminathan Aiyar of Swaminomics fame think that cost of nuclear fission reactors will come down as India becomes a manufacturing base.

I have my doubts. For one India does not possess a critical mass of scientific/ intellectual/ academic base in reactor construction that it does in software. Even if this does happen - the deal does not immidiately allow us critical technologies like reprocessing spent fuel. In fact - this might lead to dual slavery. We build cheaper reactors for others (e.g. US, Australia and Canada) while they hold us hostage to Uranium shortages.

Incidentally - Brahma Chellaney has been warning for years about the absurd costs of fission, and Manmohan's pipe-dream deal. India is better served investing in indigenous breeder reactors - or better yet solar power

Ram Pradhan committee : A cover up of Police failures


steps to second partition

Vinita Kamte, the wife of slain police officer Ashok Kamte who was killed during the 26/11 terror attacks, has expressed disappointment over the Ram Pradhan committee report which has given a clean chit to the Mumbai police and government.
"There are serious lapses and discrepancies on the part of senior police officials, which has been conveniently covered by the committee report. All the officers who had not performed their duties have been given a clean chit and will continue occupying their office," Vinita said.
She said that she wanted to depose before the panel to point out these discrepancies but was not allowed to do so
Vinita, however, said she would not approach the Maharashtra Chief Minister or any other politician and would take an appropriate legal recourse to address the issue.
She alleged that certain portions of the call records of the police control room on November 26 were deleted.

BJP must choose between ideology and drift

BJP must choose between ideology and drift

from Agent Provocateur by Kanchan Gupta

The BJP must decide its ideological direction/orientation, reframe ideology within the matrix of today’s India, and stand by it. Or it must boldly stand up and say, “Ours is an ideology neutral party. We shall sway with the wave.”

The consequences of the former course of action would be three-fold:
. Those allergic to ideological rigour will make an exit. This could debilitate the party in the short and medium term, but strengthen it in the long term.

. The BJP’s integrity quotient will increase.

. The drift which began in 1998 will be arrested.

The consequences of abandoning ideology would also be three-fold:
. Those who lack morals and scruples shall take over the party.

. The BJP will, in due course, become a pale shadow of its past and jostle for space with the RJD and SP.

. The drift will gather speed; integrity quotient (at an all time low) will plummet.

Thursday, May 28, 2009

The Economy’s Search for a “New Normal”

The Economy’s Search for a “New Normal”

Shamus Cooke

For example, households are rapidly getting rid of expenses they can no longer afford, due to either joblessness, low wages or lack of credit. They are thus saving more than they are spending. For an economy that depends on 70 percent consumer spending, this is a huge problem, not only for the US, but for the world as well, since many countries constructed their economies as export machines directed towards US consumers.


Is this problem likely to go away anytime soon? Probably not. The recession is creating such dramatic effects on so many people that the consuming culture is being changed, much like what happened after the Great Depression. The New York Times notes:
“...forces that enabled and even egged on consumers to save less and spend more - easy credit and skyrocketing asset values - could be permanently altered [!] by the financial crisis that spun the economy into recession.” (May 9, 2009)


If the US consumer can no longer be the driving force of the economy, what will replace it? The elitist Economist magazine offered a cure: because consumer spending will be debilitated, “something else will have to grow more quickly. Ideally that would be exports and investment.” (May 6, 2009)