Monday, May 25, 2009

Future of Sri Lanka’s Tamil Hindus – I

Future of Sri Lanka’s Tamil Hindus – I

B R Haran

Re-Hinduise identity of Lankan Tamils

In this context, Tamil Nadu has a moral responsibility to play a meaningful role in creating peace and harmony in the island nation. But considering the track record of the Dravidian parties and their intimacy with the Church, one can anticipate only facilitation of the Christian agenda. It is therefore imperative for Hindu organizations such as the RSS, VHP, Hindu Munnani and other religious organisations to embark on a cultural and spiritual mission to Sri Lanka, to instill hope and confidence in the minds of the shattered Tamil Hindu community.

Reliable sources say the Hindu Council in Vavuniya has done good work in the past six weeks by visiting overcrowded refugee camps, providing food, clothes, soap, medicines, sanitary requirements, etc. They have been organizing prayer groups too. As the incipient infrastructure is already in place, Hindu philanthropy in India could rise to the occasion, adding manpower and finance and help in the rehabilitation of civilian refugees.


Sri Lankan experts feel there is no history of “anti-Sanskrit” or “anti-Brahmin” sentiments in the island; hence this is the opportune moment to establish contact between Hindu religious heads from Tamil Nadu and Buddhist heads from Sri Lanka to strengthen Sanatana Dharma. Organisations like Kanchi Matham, Shaivite Adheenams and Tirumala Tirupathi Devasthanam could play a great significant role by establishing their service branches with the permission of the Sri Lankan government.


The famous Chidambaram Natarajar Temple is supposed to have lands and properties in the island, which could be used to build temples and service branches. The TTD can think of building a Temple for Bhagwan Venkatachalapathi and conduct spiritual courses. Experts feel the time is ripe to reintroduce “Brahmanic” Tamil ethos in Sri Lanka, to mainstream it, and by precedent influence developments in Tamil Nadu.

In a way, this would re-Hinduize the Tamil identity in north and eastern Sri Lanka and exert a wholesome precedent to rollback the so-called Dravidian juggernaut in Tamil Nadu. ‘Dravidian’ Tamil Nadu would be sandwiched between a resurgent Hindu Karnataka and a Hindu Tamil-Sri Lanka, leading to the re-emergence of Tamil Nadu’s clear Hindu identity. A strong Tamil-Hindu presence in Sri Lanka would go a long way in defending India’s southern frontier in all respects.


BJP at crossroads: Back to basics or irrelevance?

BJP at crossroads: Back to basics or irrelevance?


Virendra Parekh

"Many of us, utterly overcome by Tamas, the dark and heavy demon of inertia, are saying nowadays that it is impossible, that India is decayed, bloodless and lifeless, too weak ever to recover; that our race is doomed to extinction. It is a foolish and idle saying. No man or nation need be weak unless he so chooses, no man or nation need perish unless he deliberately chooses extinction” Aurobindo, “Bhawani Mandir

“One who may die but will not perish has life everlasting”Lao Tse

Following the stunning defeat of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the recent Lok Sabha elections, the secularist commentariat lost no time in advising the BJP to eradicate once and for all the remaining traces of Hindutva from its thinking and programmes and move to a centrist position.

BJP will be courting certain death if it were to heed the secularists’ advice. For the advice is not objective and well-meaning but interested and partisan, motivated by a burning desire for total disarmament of Hindu society ideologically, morally and politically.

The real challenge before the BJP, however, is not to find a successor to Mr. Advani but to rediscover its own original self, to compare what it aspired to be in its original incarnation with what it has made of itself through decades, and chart out a course of self-renewal which would restore its credibility and relevance.

There is a historical parallel between the plight of BJP now and Congress in the pre-independence era. Everything that Congress is saying now about BJP is what Jinnah used to say about Congress in the 1940s

The first thing for BJP to do, therefore, is to resolve its ‘existential dilemma’ in favour of returning to its roots. It must develop the courage and vision to think and act like a party centred on Hindu India. If parties speaking for Dalits, Muslims, Yadavs and other small groups claim legitimacy, a party whose vision encompasses 82 percent of the population cannot be denied it. Secondly, a Hindu-centric party or polity need not be anti-Muslim in intent or action. Only it will not run after votes of Muslims as Muslims.

Earlier, BJP relied exclusively on ideology. Of late, it is relying exclusively on development. Naturally, it faltered. At a time when the community felt besieged nation-wide by jihad and Christian evangelism, BJP disappointed its supporters by consciously avoiding these issues. BJP lost because Hindus who gathered to hear Narendra Modi did not get to hear what their hearts wanted to hear.

Third, BJP must have a 24x7 TV channel of its own. It must also have a chain of newspapers both in English and in regional languages, which would have excellent secular content (be it economy, society or sports) but whose editorial policy would be driven by a nationalist vision.

»æð·àæè ·ÚÙð ·ð çÜ° Âàæé¥æð´ ·æð Üð ÁæÌð ÌèÙ Üæð» ç»ÚxÌæÚ

»ýðÅÚ Ùæð°ÇæÐ

âêÚÁÂéÚ ÂéçÜâ Ùð ÕèÌè ÚæÌ âæ·èÂéÚ ·ð àæ×àæÙ ƒææÅ ·ð Âæâ âð ÌèÙ Üæð»æð´ ·æð »æñ·àæè ·ð çÜ° Üð Áæ Úãð Âàæé¥æð´ ·æð ¥æÁæÎ ·ÚæØæ ãñÐ ÂéçÜâ Ùð ¥æÚæðçÂØæð´ ·ð ·yÁð âð »æǸè, ¿æ·ê ¥æñÚ ·éÀ ¥‹Ø âæ×æÙ zæè ÕÚæ×Î ç·Øæ ãñÐ

China now bigger threat than Pak: IAF chief

China now bigger threat than Pak: IAF chief
May 24, 2009

New Delhi: Taking China’s dramatic military expansion seriously, the Indian Air Force chief has said China poses a more real and potent threat to India than Pakistan, which remains caught in a vortex of conflict and instability.

Terrorists Attack ISKCON Temple in Chittagong, Bangladesh

Terrorists Attack ISKCON Temple in Chittagong, Bangladesh
May 25, 2009

Chittagong (Bangladesh): On May 18, ISKCON News Weekly received a distraught message from an obviously emotional monk at ISKCON’s Nandankanan Sri Sri Gour Nitai Ashram in Chittagong, the main seaport of Bangladesh.

'Peace Festival 2009' - Hindus lured towards Christianity

'Peace Festival 2009' - Hindus lured towards Christianity
May 25, 2009

Ambarnath (Dist. Thane): ‘Peace Festival 2009’ program was organized at Circus Grounds in Ambarnath during 21st to 24th May 2009 which was attended by nearly 800 people.

'Slumdog' actors to get free homes against illegal dwellings

'Slumdog' actors to get free homes against illegal dwellings
May 25, 2009

Mumbai: Unauthorized houses of 'Slumdog' actors have been demolished by BMC. But Maharashtra Govt.'s MHADA took pity on them and immediately announced to provide free houses to both the actors.

Lord Hanuman keertans keep Youth busy in Hyderabad

Lord Hanuman keertans keep Youth busy in Hyderabad

Spirituality rocks like never before
Pic: Above group of students conduct keertan sessions in Hyderabad city to initiate youngsters into Spirituality.

Forget grooving to angst-filled rock anthems, a group of youngsters in the city are finding solace in religious keertans now. Meet the members of the ‘Babosa Commando Force’— a group of Hanuman bhakths who are conducting special keertan sessions every sunday at different venues in the city. These young devotees — all college students — hope to initiate other youngsters into spiritualism through their endeavour.

OBAMA'S JIMMY CARTER IMAGE CREATES PROBLEMS FOR US

OBAMA'S JIMMY CARTER IMAGE CREATES PROBLEMS FOR US

B.RAMAN

During the US Presidential primaries last year, I had expressed my misgings that Barack Obama might turn out to be another Jimmy Carter, whose confused thinking and soft image paved the way for the success of the Islamic Revolution in Iran .

2. The defiant action of North Korea in testing a long-range missile with military applications last month and its latest act of defiance in reportedly carrying out an underground nuclear test on May 25,2009, can be attributed----at least partly, if not fully--- to its conviction that it will have nothing to fear from the Obama Administration for its acts of defiance.

4. A series of actions taken by the Obama Administration have created an impression in Iran, the Af-Pak region, China and North Korea that Obama does not have the political will to retaliate decisively if they act in a manner detrimental to US interests and to international peace and security.

9. Jimmy Carter took a little over three years to create the image of the US as a confused and soft power. Obama is bidding fair to create that image even in his first year in office. The North Korean defiance is the first result of this perceived soft image. There will be more surprises for the US and the international community to follow if Obama and his aides do not embark on corrective actions before it is too late.

Christian Radio routinely abuses Dalits, tortures employees to convert (New Delhi)

Christian Radio routinely abuses Dalits, tortures employees to convert (New Delhi)