** Verdict 2009

** Verdict 2009

from ULTRA CURRENTS by GlobalCitizen

Verdict 2009: Happy and Unhappy
Undercurrents.ca

The re-election of congress government would mean a renewal of attacks on Hindu religious practices & institutions by a combination of forces. This would also mean opening the doors fully for evangelists to operate with government patron.

The Indian voter has seen the election purely from an Indian stability point of view, which is quite mature. The Indian voter either due to or in spite of his illiteracy and poverty has done which no voter in any other part of the world would do. The Indian voter has “voted” for an outsider to rule them. That is a characteristic so peculiar to the Indian sub-continent. They seem to have an affinity to things foreign. The Indian cricket team has a foreign coach; the Indian congress has a foreigner as its chief.

If the congress government can demonstrate that it can be a truly secular party, then we would support it totally. But they have a strong Christian agenda which is threatening to a Hindu. They would do anti-Hindu things in India what right wing Christians can only dream to do in the west.

For centuries Hindus were ruled by sword and deceit. They had a brief respite from foreign rule when the great Mahatma under exceptional circumstances produced exceptional leadership qualities and won freedom from the British. Now the same Hindus are giving away their freedom by democratic means.

We congratulate the majority Hindu population of India who were more open hearted then their western counterparts and welcomed Ms.Sonia, an Italian, as their party chief. It now remains to be seen how she reciprocates.

Shveta Chhatra - A new big tent

Shveta Chhatra - A new big tent

from Offstumped by yossarin

Anti-Congressism doesnt cut it, its not even an ideology and as a mere negation of Congress doesnt offer alternatives.

Hindutva as a political ideology doesnt cut it for it was poorly articulated, barely codified and narrowly interpreted and practised. It sustained agitational politics based on real and legitimate concerns but it lost its moral bearings along the way to condone Adharma. It also did not offer coherent policy alternatives for governance. Shivraj Chauhan may have simplified Hindutva to mean “Development” but that is what it is has been reduced to end of the day an oversimplification.

There is a legitimate place for Hindutva as a philosophy but it is not in the political realm but in the social realm.

There is a legitimate place for an organization like Vishwa Hindu Parishad but it is not as a political special interest group but as a Social service organization. For the VHP to justify itself as legitimate organization of social Hindu interests it must reform itself into a transparent representative body that is open to modern thoughts and challenges.

Koenraad Elst on the BJP’s Debacle

Koenraad Elst on the BJP’s Debacle

from Seriously Sandeep by Sandeep

In his masterpiece, Decolonizing the Hindu Mind, Koenraad Elst makes a very perceptive observation about the BJP. He concludes that the BJP–ever since its inception–has always played the game by the rules set by its opponents. In his brief but lucid piece analyzing the BJP’s 2009 poll disaster, he underscores the same point and expands it to suit the present context. Here it is, in full.

BJP apes Congress, fails

Koenraad Elst

Right-wing parties all over the world have a common trait: Once in or near power, they betray their own support base. The BJP is no different. It is needlessly described as a ‘Hindu chauvinist’ party which it is not. To prove its ‘secular’ credentials, the BJP chose to become the ‘B’ team of the Congress. And was rejected by the voters

Church claims credit for Congress crown

Church claims credit for Congress crown

from Hindu Statement by borneveryday

For anyone who feels that the church in India does not have any poilitcal ambitions, here is a shocker. But for many of us, its not a surprise at all, just that they have admitted to it in public. The church is claiming credit for the UDF win in Kerala. With this I think their next target would be India as a whole. The Hindu temples are being taken over by the government and the government inturn is taken over by the Church. Wow thats a nice way to take control of a country.

What i dont understand is that when Hindu religious sadhus/priests ask for people to support a party that party is termed as “communal”, whille the church and the mullahs asks for people to support someone the party automatically becomes “secular”.

“This is an answer to those who said the faithful would not follow the advice of priests and bishops in political affairs. The Church has worked that hard against the LDF government,” said Dr Stephen Alathara, spokesmen of KCBC, the apex body of Catholic bishops in Kerala.

A pastoral letter by the KCBC, read out amid Sunday Mass in Kerala’s churches a fortnight ahead of the polls, exhorted the flock to steer clear of the CPI(M) and the BJP, a negligible presence in the bipolar state. “Constitutional crises are frequent nowadays. The violations of minority rights in education sector should be assessed in this context.”

Sena alleges EVM malfunction in South Mumbai

Sena alleges EVM malfunction in South Mumbai
Prasanna Zore in Mumbai

The Shiv Sena's Rawale has refused to accept defeat even as Milind Deora declared the winner of the South Mumbai.

Rawale alleged that there was a problem with some EVMs and a complaint would be lodged with the Election Commission in this regard after consulting senior leaders of the Shiv Sena including executive president Uddhav Thackeray.

Rawale cited the examples of US and Indonesia where the use of EVMs has been stopped due their inconsistency." I wonder how i got only 5 votes from an area that is a Shiv Sena stronghold," the defeated candidate said.