Sunday, May 9, 2010

When traitors seize power « Indian Realist

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    • That a fundamental reversal of a 60-year-old policy should have been taken without any consultation with civil society and any meaningful debate is itself scandalous. What compounds the offence is that a decision of this magnitude should have been taken for the flimsiest of reasons. In 1990, VP Singh decided to accept the Mandal Commission report because he wanted to puncture a public rally that his troublesome Deputy Prime Minister Devi Lal was planning. Last week, the Congress president grandly signalled her acceptance of caste enumeration in the Census because that would iron out the rough edges of the party’s troubled relations with caste-based parties, both inside the UPA coalition and in the larger ‘secular’ world.

      A decision that will change the basic structure of Indian politics, the Hindu faith and even have a bearing on the economy was taken remarkably casually. The final decision was left solely to an individual who was perhaps unaware of the earlier turbulence in India when caste was superimposed into the Census. Civil society was neither consulted, nor did either the Government or the Opposition suggest that such a decision shouldn’t be taken in a hurry and for petty, collateral considerations.

    • A most debilitating social regression was put into effect because India’s leaders were too intellectually lazy to comprehend the consequences of what they had done.

      The re-definition of Hindu society along officially-recognised caste lines will alter the landscape of India. The use of caste numbers to drive a hard political bargain was earlier based on bluff, now it will be based on tangible numbers — an escalation in the stakes. For 60 years and more, a galaxy of Indian modernists tried to either rise above caste or keep this social institution confined to the rituals of marriage and mourning. Now, at a stroke, Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi have put caste into the centre-stage. From now on, Indians will once again be defined by their caste and politics will follow the mobilisation of caste.

      Just when India seemed poised for bigger things, a hidden hand emerged from nowhere to drag the country down again. The country will pay a huge price for the Congress’ coalition management skills. It may be so high that there won’t be much of an India left.

    • This “caste policy” was introduced by the British as a way of social engineering after the 1857 revolt. Their objective was to fragment Hindu society into water-tight compartments and ensure that they remain in a state of mutual hostility . But such a policy being adopted by an Indian party after independence is nothing but treason.

      Notice that while Hindus will be asked their caste by census commissioners, no provision has been made to ask Muslims and Christians which sect they belong to — Shia or Sunnir or Ahmadias; or Protestants, Catholics or Seventh Day Adventists. This shows the agenda of Congress.

      The presiding deity of Congress, Sonia Gandhi, is a shady character with foriegn linkages. Seeing her recent desisions, I am convinced beyond doubt that she is a plant into the Gandhi family and is taking orders from the Americans and the Church to further their interests in India to the detriment of the pagans. Infiltrating christians into pagan ruling families is an old Christian trick that was well played in Europe when it was being Christianised through force and deception.


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Maharashtra requests Uttar Pradesh to allot land for its bhavan in Lucknow - dnaindia.com

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    • Lucknow:
    • Maharashtra has requested the Uttar Pradesh government to provide suitable land for setting up Maharashtra bhawan here.
    • "A letter has been sent to Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayawati last week seeking allotment of and for construction of Maharashtra bhawan in Lucknow in order to provide cheaper accommodation to those coming here from that state," Maharashtra's minister for minority affairs Naseem Khan said here today.
    • Khan said lots of people from Maharashtra visit UP especially for religious purpose as the state is a centre of all faiths, including Hindu, Muslim and Buddhism, besides being a major tourist centre.

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Chapel bhajans

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    • Shevlin Sebastian
    • When Fr Joseph Thattarassery was appointed as the parish priest of St Joseph’s Church in Tripunithura eight years ago, it changed his life. A mild interest in Carnatic music became a passion. That, he points out, had much to do with that central-Kerala small town, eight km south of Kochi. “There are some 130 temples in and around Tripunithura,” he says. And most of the major temples, like Sree Poornathrayeesa and Chakkamkulangara, regularly host classical concerts — or kacheris as they are called.
    • “Ragas were something I was struggling to learn. Soon, I could see their excellence in concerts,” he says. Then, one day, a brilliant concert by a young Carnatic vocalist changed it all for the priest. Chennai-based T M Krishna’s kacheri inspired Fr Thattarassery to the extent that he thought of starting something similar in the church. So, he took some ragas, and changed the lyrics to suit Christian themes.
    • Despite the misgivings, Fr Thattarassery began a bhajan recital at 4 am, every Friday, with a group of singers. And slowly the parishioners were drawn in by the power of the south Indian classical tunes. “When you listen to the Gregorian chants (Western liturgical music), you feel the Christianness in the song,” says Fr Thattarassery. “But when you listen to a Carnatic song with Christian lyrics, you get the feeling that Jesus Christ belongs to our land.”
    • After five years, Fr Thattarassery was transferred to the Our Lady of Perpetual Help church at Ochanthuruth in the Vypeen Islands west of Kochi. Quickly, he started a 12-person choir for bhajan singing, which included three Hindus: Unnikrishnan on the mridangam, Lalu on the tabla, and Devadas on the flute. “It has been an amazing experience for me,” says Devadas. “To play Carnatic music inside a church before dawn has brought me nearer to God. I feel an inner peace.”

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Telegraph Nepal : Nepal leaders Thapa and Khadka in India to attend World Hindu meet

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    • The Chairman of Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP)-Nepal, Mr. Kamal Thapa, who has been longing for the revival of Nepal’s 240 Years old Hindu Monarchy and controversial Senior Nepali Congress Leader Khum Bahadur Khadka, who has been of late seen disfavoring Secular Declaration of the country, are already in India.
    • They are scheduled to attend ‘World Hindutwa Conference’ being held in Mumbai of India beginning today, May 9, 2010.
    • The three day meeting in Mumbai will see participation of India’s Hindu Fundamentalist party’s leader Mr. Bal Thackrey, it is also reported.

      It is expected that some 1600 participants from 104 different countries across the globe will be attending the conference.

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The Muslim businessmen of India

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    • By Aakar Patel
    • The Ansaris of Mid Day did not make their money from weaving, but from newspapers. The founder was Abdul Hamid Ansari, who wrote and published the Urdu weekly Inquilab. Its website refers to him as "mujahid-e-azadi" or freedom-fighter. Ansari was a Congressman who joined the Muslim League as did most of Bombay's Muslims. But he did not accept Jinnah's invitation to move to Pakistan.

      His cause, he wrote Jinnah in a letter of which the Ansaris are proud, was India's Muslims, and he and his press would remain here.
    • Muslims should be attracted to tijarat, because the prophet of Islam was also a trader. But because few Indian Muslims are converted from trading castes, they are not particularly good at business. They tend to be tradesmen instead: carpenters, butchers, plumbers and so on.

      The Indian exception is the Shia from Gujarat. Though it is a tiny community, perhaps no more than a half a million people, it totally dominates India's other 160 million Muslims in matters of business. So it isn't so much religion that makes a difference so far as the ability to trade is concerned, but the linguistic community an Indian belongs to, and his caste.

      Wipro's Azim Premji, India's second richest man, is a Khoja. An electrical engineer from Stanford University, Premji is part of Bombay's Khoja elite, whose most famous member was of course Jinnah.

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Jagran - Yahoo! India - नवीन जिंदल हिंदू विवाह अधिनियम में संशोधन के पक्ष में

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    • कैथल [
    • सांसद नवीन जिंदल व डा. रामप्रकाश ने खापों के हिंदू विवाह अधिनियम में संशोधन के लिए अभियान को समर्थन देने का ऐलान किया है। साथ ही दोनों ने मामले को संसद मे जोर-शोर से उठाने की घोषणा की।

      शनिवार को सांसद नवीन जिंदल ने बाकायदा सर्वजातीय सर्वखाप महापंचायत को भेजे पत्र में समर्थन देने का ऐलान किया। कहा कि वह समाज की आवाज को संसद में उठाएंगे। वहीं राज्यसभा सदस्य डा. रामप्रकाश ने भी भिवानी में एक कार्यक्रम में खापों के अभियान को समर्थन देने का ऐलान किया।

    • सांसद ने कहा कि उन्होंने तथा उनके परिवार ने हमेशा ही समाज की परंपराओं, मान्यताओं, सभ्यता व संस्कृति का आदर किया है तथा भविष्य में भी करते रहेंगे। पत्र के माध्यम से सांसद ने कहा कि खाप पंचायतों ने समाज को सदैव नई दिशा दी है। सांसद ने खाप पंचायतों से दहेज प्रथा तथा कन्या भू्रण हत्या के खिलाफ भी मुहिम चलाने का आह्वान किया।
    • उधर भिवानी में पत्रकारों से बातचीत में डा. रामप्रकाश ने कहा कि हमारी प्राचीन संस्कृति को धीरे-धीरे छिन्न भिन्न करने के प्रयास किए जा रहे है। उन्होंने कहा कि स्वामी दयानंद सरस्वती ने भी सत्यार्थ प्रकाश में भी अपने गोत्र व अपने गांव में विवाह वर्जित बताया था।

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Pratahkal - १३५ फीट ऊंची मीनार पर चढ़े ६ युवक

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    • सुरक्षा की दृष्टि से लगा रखी है निर्माण पर रोक
    • गुलमण्डी स्थित जामा मस्जिद की अधूरी पड़ी मिनार को पूरा करने की मांग को लेकर आज 6 युवक उसी पर चढ गये और स्वीकृति नहीं देने पर उपर से कूद जाने की चेतावनी दे रहे थे। मिनार 135 फीट उंची है।  इस मिनार के निर्माण पर शहर की सुरक्षा की दृष्टि से प्रशासन ने रोक लगाई हुई है। युवक करीब ३ घंटे बाद नीचे उतर आये।
      जामा मस्जिद परिसर में लोगों की आपत्ति के बाद कई सालों से मिनार अधूरी पड़ी है।
    • भीलवाड़ा
    • बताया जा रहा है कि उक्त मिनार का निर्माण कार्य वर्ष 2001 में आरम्भ हुआ था लेकिन 135 फीट की उंचाई तक निर्माण कार्य हो जाने के बाद वर्ष 2005 में जिला प्रशासन के निर्देश पर नगर परिषद ने बिना स्वीकृति के निर्माण बता कार्य पर रोक लगा दी थी।

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Digvijay for cell against Hindu terror outfits: India Today - Latest Breaking News from India, World, Business, Cricket, Sports, Bollywood.

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    • Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh has urged Home Minister P. Chidambaram to set up a separate cell to deal with Hindu militancy.

      He reportedly cited the increasing evidence of involvement of hardline saffron outfits in terror activities to demand such a cell.

      Singh, a former chief minister of Madhya Pradesh, suspects bureaucratic and police patronage to some of these outfits. He is also concerned over the systematic RSS infiltration into the bureaucracy and the army.

      Party sources said Singh expressed concern at some RSS affiliated organisations training IAS aspirants with a view to saffronise the administration.

      He also pointed out that a number of NGOs backed by the RSS had penetrated the social sector.

    • Singh also urged the home minister to expedite the cases involving innocent Muslim youths from Azamgarh.

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Organiser - Instead of fighting terrorism, UPA is busy inventing Hindu terror

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    • Togadia Speak
    • Instead of fighting terrorism, UPA is busy inventing Hindu terror
    • By Dr Pravin Togadia
      • We must control population which is a deterrent in the nation’s development. (Umpteen number of government people have said it time and again. But Hindus do not get ration for the third child and those who produce unlimited children and refuse to control population are further given reservations and even financial help with the money paid by those Hindus who do family control for nation’s development!)

      • Indian Constitution must be respected. (But we would make constitutional changes for giving Muslim reservations!). Human rights must not be violated (only of Kashmiri Muslims! Hindus, army and police in Kashmir have no human rights?).

    • Bharat has a unique peculiarity. Bharat waits much longer than any other country for good things to happen. People in Bharat have intrinsic faith not just in Bhagwan but also in goodness within human beings. Therefore, instead of concluding anyone’s remarks as untrue or dishonest, Bharat waits and gives time to all those to make those good things happen. In 1947 when Bharat became independent from the British Raj, the then ruling party promised good governance. Bharat waited much longer. That party ruled for almost 30 years. Bharat waited for Hindu progress because the worse affected during British Raj and even before in Muslim Raj was Hindu! From work to trade and from temples to various laws-everything that was Hindu, was demolished. Few Hindus were doing well due to local reasons, but as a whole, Hindu was in a total bad shape. Shadow of Partition wounds was there (is still there on Hindus in Bharat and in Pak!), but Bharat waited. After 30 years, Bharat woke up to the fact that there was no point in only helplessly watching churches grow at the cost of Hindus, Muslims get more and more concessions that too at the cost of Hindu pockets, Hindu monuments and temples being called disputed lands_ Bharat woke up. Bharat realised that poverty eradication, green revolution etc were slogans. Few people’s poverty was eradicated, but that flow did not reach the common man.
    • Bharat is watching! Such sacrificing people make Bharat. Only hanging Kasab is not enough. He should not even get a chance of appeal or mercy because as per our Constitution these are rights only for Indian citizens. He and Afzal Guru must be hanged immediately. Perhaps government would do so promptly with Kasab, but without attacking Pak (another diplomatic and vote greed double game!) but at the same time government would slap more and more cases on Hindus and Hindu organisations! Political balancing for votes is more important these days than safety of Bharat. But Bharat is watching all the double games!

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Forward or backward? - India - The Times of India

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    • Subodh Ghildiyal
    • There is certainly a new vigour for mapping the OBC share in the country’s burgeoning population, which would turn the clock back on India that last saw a caste headcount in 1931. This time, there seems to be no stigma attached to a step like this which was earlier considered to be socially divisive.

      The political mood indicates its inevitability. Parliament saw national parties like the Congress and BJP back the call of OBC outfits, with even those not associated with backward politics like Akali Dal lending their voice to the rising pitch for OBC headcount. The biggest leap of faith came from the Left which made a proforma submission of “believing in class and not caste” before bowing to mounting political compulsions in the name of social welfare. Not one party called it a “retrograde move” that will set the country back, a stock argument till now.
    • The question, however, is: why this out-of-theblue demand for an OBC census? Especially when politics appears to be settled and backward quota is a reality that the upper castes have long reconciled to.
    • The demand will be for “proportional representation” in quotas. Else, there seems little justification in demanding the exact determination of OBC population.
    • “There are signs of a revival of backward politics, like during the Mandal days,” a leader said. Mulayam Singh and Lalu Prasad, who are fighting for survival on their home turf, seem to be working towards consolidating backwards under a political umbrella, as they had done during their heydays. But not all OBC leaders are sure as they feel caste politics comes in layers just as caste itself falls in the labyrinthine logic of “Mishraon me Mishra” . A well-heeled backward leader from Tamil Nadu fears the move, which while giving political heft to outfits like RJD, SP, DMK, JD(U), may be a doubleedged sword. The concern is shared by another leader who feels a nationwide investigation on backward numbers may just reveal more than what is good for these parties. A caste survey, while intended to bring about a fresh backward consolidation, can actually sow seeds of fragmentation.

      “What if it is found that Yadavs or Kurmis have grabbed a much larger share of the reservation cake than their share in OBC population? Empirical revelations to this effect can trigger demands for subquotas from marginalised backwards ,” a leader said.
    • Caste census was done away after Independence because there was a desire to look beyond social divisions which made the leadership struggle in its attempt to forge a united challenge to the Raj. The advent of caste census in 1911 itself was a result of competing claims of divergent Muslim-Hindu interests as their population size would determine their representation in proposed bicameral legislatures.

      In 1901, the Aga Khan wrote to Lord Minto that the census enumerating religions gave inflated figures of Hindus because of inclusion of “animists and tribals” and “certain other communities which are classified as Hindus but were not” . This led to the division of Hindus in three parts — Hindus, animists/tribals and depressed classes/untouchables — from the 1911 census onwards.

      Now more than six decades later, there are political gains to be had in reviving the practice.

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Auditing India: What, why, who are we?

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    • Nilanjana S Roy
    • But with that, he joins a grand tradition of arguing over India. Historian Irfan Habib has pointed out that it wasn’t until the late 14th century that the Hindus began calling India ‘Hindustan’ — Ind or Sindh-stan was a chiefly Greek and Persian construct before this time. Much before that, though, Alberuni (973-1078 CE) and other travellers would comfortably refer to the inhabitants as Hindus: “The Hindus believe that there is no country but theirs, no nation like theirs, no kings like theirs, no religion like theirs, no science like theirs.” And many centuries later, Veer Savarkar would take this to an extreme, demanding that India must be a Hindu land, “reserved for the Hindus”. “India is such a huge concept, like Europe,” observes the historian and writer William Dalrymple, “It’s something you encounter only when actually thinking about it.”
    • TEN WAYS OF LOOKING AT THE IDEA OF INDIA

      THE MAHABHARATA
      THE INDICA: Alberuni
      THE IDEA OF INDIA: Sunil Khilnani
      THE ARGUMENTATIVE INDIAN: Amartya Sen
      INDIA AFTER GANDHI: Ramachandra Guha
      THE STORY OF MY EXPERIMENTS WITH TRUTH: M K Gandhi
      INDIA: A WOUNDED CIVILISATION, INDIA: A MILLION MUTINIES NOW: V S Naipaul
      HINDUTVA: Veer Savarkar
      INDIAN STUDIES IN THE HISTORY OF AN IDEA: Edited by Irfan Habib
      THE DISCOVERY OF INDIA: J Nehru


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Living it up lately

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    • By NEETA LAL
    • A “matrimonial meet’’ hosted by non-profit organisation Vina Mulye Amulya Seva (VMAS) saw the attendance of over 300 single, divorced and widowed people from across the country.

      However, this was no ordinary meet. All the attendees were senior citizens well into their 60s and 70s with a few even pushing 80! Kitted out in their Sunday best, the seniors — a few with walking sticks — were accompanied by their friends, children, even grandchildren!

      “My mother passed away three months ago and it was a shock for all of us,” admitted Ketki Dave, 38, a school teacher who was accompanying her 68-year-old father. “My dad retreated into a depression. So I convinced him to come along to this fair. Let’s hope we’re able to finalise a proposal for him.”

      Meanwhile in Vadodara, a “blind date” was organised by VMAS for over 400 elderly men and women last month. The participation rules were simple. The attendees paid a nominal registration fee which entitled them to an hour-long interaction with other interested parties and helped them zero in on their choice. A complimentary lunch allowed further bonding between people. A Hindu priest was also present to match horoscopes, if required. Just in case the couples decided to tie the knot at the venue itself, VMAS facilitated that, too.

      Encouraged by the ebullient response to their meets, VMAS is now fanning out its operations to Mumbai, Bangalore and Kota.

      “Rather than head for old-age homes, we encourage senior citizens to get married and spend the last few years of their lives happily with a companion,” says Natu Patel, an organiser with VMAS, who has helped hundreds of elderly Indian couples find suitable mates over the last five years.

    • To encourage more women to attend marriage fairs, the organisation has an added incentive — a beautiful sari is presented to each participant along with reimbursement for train fare and local transport.
    • Clearly, life begins at 60!

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