Ideal Bharatiya School

Being a Bharatiya Hindu I first got the opportunity to read the English version of the Mahabharata and Bhagavad Gita by C. Rajagopalachari, much after I graduated from college. The Westernization of India must not be at the cost of her culture and spirituality. Instead, Indians today take pride in aping the West and adopting a 'secular' creed, which basically makes them soul-less and identity-less.
Like the principal U.P. Mishra said; 'Holy scriptures like the Gita guide human beings, their behaviour towards individual, family and society. So by teaching lessons from the Gita we, in a way, are teaching students about the importance of their life and making them realise their responsibilities.
It is very unfortunate that our first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru did not possess the same wisdom else India today would have produced citizens with the true Spirit of the Bhagavad Gita, the will to stand up and physically fight if necessary, to preserve dharma and knowledge.
A great civilization that has always accepted diversity would not have been tryst with such a marred destiny.

A school where Hindus & Muslims study Bhagwad Gita
"Lucknow, Dec 26 (IANS) Schools across the country may have modified textbooks over the decades, but an institution in Lucknow has persisted with the Bhagavad Gita as a moral science textbook for the last 75 years. Hindu as well as Muslim students have to study it.
Besides being the 'prescribed book' for the moral science subject, the Holy Scripture is also a compulsory subject for all students of Gita Vidyalaya in the Babuganj area here.
'Holy scriptures like the Gita guide human beings, their behaviour towards individual, family and society. So by teaching lessons from the Gita we, in a way, are teaching students about the importance of their life and making them realise their responsibilities,' school principal U.P. Mishra told IANS. "

Read the complete article: http://daily.bhaskar.com/article/SPL-a-school-where-hindus-muslims-study-bhagwad-gita-1692508.html

Little Master Stands Tall!!

When the nation is grappling with such enormous corruption scams involving people from the politics, bureaucracy and the corporate world, Sachin stands tall by turning down a lucrative Rs 20 crore liquor endorsement deal. This indeed is a master restraint shown by the little master to even his fellow cricketers involved in match fixing scandals. When the need for heroes is so dire, we may have found someone who has the courage to do the right thing.
These words of praise that; “Sachin, an idol to crores of youths has shown that he is a responsible citizen of the society and stuck to his principles by rejecting a huge amount” coming from a politician is a big Irony.
Sachin is truly a great role model.

Maharashtra govt lauds Sachin for refusing to endorse liquor ad
"MUMBAI: The Maharashtra government has appreciated master blaster Sachin Tendulkar for choosing his principles over money; by saying 'no' to endorse a RS 20 crore liquor advertisement. In a letter to the legendary batsman, Minister of Social Justice Department Shivajirao Moghe welcomed his decision, refusing to endorse a liquor advertisement."
The article can be read at: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/cricket/top-stories/Maharashtra-govt-lauds-Sachin-for-refusing-to-endorse-liquor-ad/articleshow/7176585.cms

PV Narsimha Rao Versus Congress

By now everyone including the most ardent Congress haters would acknowledge that the PV Narsimha Rao was the architect of the current day Indian Economy which has been growing at a rate only second to the Chinese. Rao became the PM when Rajiv died. Some people wanted the seat to go to Sonia but somehow Rao prevailed. He then selected Manmohan Singh who had never won an election as his Finance Minister (it turns out that Manmohan was the second choice). As per the article attached, Rao stood against the common wisdom of leftists like Arjun Singh and started the economic liberalization. Had it been anyone but Rao, we would still be growing at the Nehruvian rates. Rao deserves all the credit because this liberalization would have happened even with is first choice for Finance minister who was the director of the London School of Economics. So why is there a concerted effort in Congress to deny the credit where it belongs? One reason could be that the establishment in Congress wants all the credit given to the Gandhi family. No one would be surprised if that were the case. The sycophantic culture of Congress is no revelation to anyone but the most naïve.
There could, however be another reason. Bear with me for a moment. The Muslims are trying to revive the medieval version of Islam because they think that the glory days of Islam were due to the then religious practices rather than the innovation of the middle age Muslims. The same way, a number of Congressmen would want to go back to the pre-Narsimha Rao days of Congress when winning election for the Congress was a cinch. They think that the Nehruvian model of economics combined with the established vote bank politics (raising the bogey of Hindutva to scare the Muslims. Case in point is Digvijay Singh) will bring the glory days of Congress back. What they are completely ignoring is that the Indian voters have moved with the times (at least to some extent!). Last elections in Bihar tell us that at the end of the day, it is performance rather than caste politics, which will trump all other tricks. What part of the fact that the Muslims voted for the BJP in Gujarat do they not understand?
Congress is going through a crisis. After the BJP, it still is the distant second best choice for India especially if they make the inner machinations of the party more democratic rather than dynastic. Like the Muslims they need to look within and introspect rather than take the easy way out.

The Genie In The Shadows
Kalyani Shankar
"Rao let Manmohan take credit—perhaps because he preferred a low-profile style of leadership. As the IMF and the World Bank had already provided the basic framework for liberalisation, Rao allowed Manmohan a free hand to take every measure needed to meet the obligations to these international financial institutions. As Congress president, CPP leader and prime minister, Rao bore the brunt of criticism from his party and the opposition, since both saw Manmohan as Rao’s creation. As head of a minority government, Rao found it very difficult to push economic reforms through. There had been many stormy parliamentary party meetings in which senior cabinet ministers like Arjun Singh led the attack on Rao and Manmohan for their departure from the Nehruvian model. The Left and other opposition parties like the BJP also wouldn’t support liberalisation. In these circumstances, Rao took care to protect Manmohan from criticism and did not accept the latter’s resignation letters when the tempo of attacks intensified. "
The article can be read at: http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?269743

Sedition: A Favorite Crime Of The Liberal Left

The entire collection of Indian (and some non Indians as well) leftist liberals is up in the arms about the conviction and sentencing of Maoist sympathizer and seditionist Binayak Sen. One thing I would like to say about these guys. They are united the world over. They sympathize with causes without understanding what is at stake! I had the pleasure of visiting a tea plantation in WB long time ago. While going through a very small town called Phalakata, I saw a banner painted on the wall. It was a very large banner, appealing for the release of “non-white activist Mumia Abu Jamal”. Upon some research, I found out that Abu Jamal was convicted of killing a young police officer in the American city of Philadelphia. I seriously doubt that most people living in that town would have known about Philadelphia (It’s not New York or LA), let alone a convicted murderer from there. People who painted it did it without knowing anything about the cause.

Binayak Sen’s help for the Maoists was not due to his desire to help the poor although it may have started that way. There are ways to help the poor without a gun or proposing sedition. It is done all over the place. Binayak Sen himself was doing so! However, for a lot of people (including Sen after he lost his way), the excuse of help is just that- an excuse. The real agenda is their intense hatred for the laws of the land, establishment and anything that is against their vision. Religion and nationalism are favorite subject for their scorn. For them, all this is a perverted sport. Either they do not care about who gets hurt or they do not care. The bodies of sixty plus policemen wasn’t even cold yet and Medha Patkar and Sandeep Pandey were in Jharkhand voicing their support for the Maoists.

As Mr. Kanchan Gupta says in his excellent article – “Scornful repudiation of the authority of the state and the legitimacy of Parliament, in a sense, has become the leitmotif of the Left-liberal intelligentsia’s immoral defence of Maoists, terrorists and separatists: We do not accept the rule of law, hence neither we nor those whom we speak for can be accused of violating the law. Sophistry separates this from the crudity with which those waging war on the state articulate their purpose. For example, the Maoists are waging war on the state not to defend tribal rights but to supplant democracy with totalitarian rule; for them their defenders and facilitators in the media and among the intelligentsia are “useful idiots, but idiots nonetheless”.

He then goes onto say-“A fair assessment of the curious case of Binayak Sen would be incomplete without mentioning his admirable efforts to take healthcare to the poor, impoverished tribals of Chhattisgarh. Undoubtedly, Rupantar, set up by him and his wife Elina, has done remarkable work. Not many alumni of Christian Medical College in Vellore would give up lucrative careers at home and abroad to tend to the sick and the suffering in the interiors of Bastar. But somewhere along the line, the healer became an ideologue and a partisan in Chhattisgarh’s war against Maoists, choosing to align with Left extremism over apolitical humanism.”

That is the tragedy with some of the leftists. They start out by doing the right thing. Sandeep Pandey started off with his admirable efforts with ASHA. I used to donate money to his organization. He also left a rather comfortable position of a professor at IIT Kanpur. But somewhere along the way, their focus changes and they start to believe in their legend rather than the cause. At least Sen and Pandey started on the right path and lost their way. Most others are just publicity hungry minor celebrities for whom activism becomes a way of cheap publicity and staying relevant. What happens is that when usual cheap tricks fail to garner support, their rhetoric becomes more and more shrill; the activities start bordering on criminal. At this stage most of them find themselves espousing anti-national causes including sedition.
As. Mr. Gupta says, at least the state gave Sen a chance to defend himself. The Maoist kangaroo courts live by the “my way or the bullet” law!

Sen has been sentenced but there are equally big if not bigger seditionists in the country. Unfortunately, they belong to the minority community and thus are untouchable in the rule of the current administration. A detained Imam Abdul Lone has confessed that Syed Ali Shah Gilani paid money (Rs. 400 per youngster) to pelt stones. This Gilani is a known seditionist last seen in New Delhi sharing the stage with Arundhati Roy. Lone’s confessions establishes what has been suspected all along that this was no intifada but work of anti Indian / pro Pakistani terrorists. Think about it. One small act of crime and a small amount of money from Gilani ended up with more than 100 J&K youngsters dead (I am not even going to mention the causalities on the defense and police side to prove a point to the sane J&K Muslims-at least take care of your own!!). Binayak Sen’s sentencing is the first step. Until people like Arundhati Roy and Gilani are out their unpunished, we should not celebrate.

The Kanchan Gupta article can be read at: http://www.dailypioneer.com/306255/Spurious-protests-over-Binayak-Sen.html

The Gilani article can be read at: http://www.rediff.com/news/report/hurrriyat-paid-youth-to-pelt-stones-imam/20101227.htm

Santa In Our Villages

Habit is second nature, or rather, ten time’s nature. So says William James. It is easy to assume a habit; but when you try to cast it off, it will take skin and all. So says H.W. Shaw.

But when it comes to casting off the religion and faith that one is born into, it must take a lot more than just the skin. It would be like killing something inside of a person? It must force a person to question and denounce everything their forefathers did. Have we ever questioned as to why anyone would take such an extreme steps? Why are poverty stricken and other such vulnerable Indians susceptible to religious conversions? What is our culpability? What is our responsibility? When confronted with constant humiliation, ill-treatment, hunger and abject poverty where young children are forced to eat mud, people are forced to taking such extreme measures such as conversion. The above picture is from a village in the Allahabad from where BBC had some time back published an article picturing poor village kids with severe malnutrition because of eating mud.

No one would deny that the age-old caste discrimination still exists in many parts of the country. In recent news, police protection had to be given to allow re-entry of dalits into the ancient Sri Chidambareshwarar temple in East Rajapalayam village of Salem district in Tamil Nadu. No self-introspecting Hindu would approve of the caste based discrimination. It is not only anti Hinduism but also denies basic human rights to the weaker Indians. All one has to do is to take a serious look at the roots of the system. They will find that it is social elitism rather than our religion which is responsible for this evil.

We have in our earlier post exposed the plight of dalits who have embraced Christianity to escape the caste oppression of the Hindu social order and how Christianity itself is finding it difficult to shrug off the worst of caste discrimination. In the town of Trichy, situated in the heart of the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, a wall built across the Catholic cemetery clearly illustrates how caste-based prejudice persists. The dalit christians also found that the caste system has followed them into their new faith. We had also written about some Christian in Mumbai were looking for upper caste Brahmins convert grooms for their daughters. This clearly indicates that the system has got nothing to do with religion and more to do with social elitism.

At a time when Christianity is declining in the western world, the missionaries and NGO’s in India with massive funds are taking advantage of this deep social and economic divide to lure villagers and tribals. It’s their poverty and simplicity that make them easy prey for conversion. By doing so, the Christian missionaries are cutting the roots and tradition of the people, making them look westwards, towards a alien culture.

According to an old Wall Street Journal article Christian missionaries are converting poor and helpless villages through deception, fraud and false miracles. When sick, poor and illiterate Hindu patients go to Christian missionary-run medical facility for treatment they are offered fake medicine and asked to take it in the name of Hindu God’s. After allowing him to suffer for days, the missionary then gives the patient an authentic allopathic pill and asks him to take it in the name of Jesus. When it cures him, the impressed and grateful villager is asked to embrace Christianity. Other cheap miracles tricks performed to convince illiterate villagers are to burn the wooden idol of Hindu God’s along with metal cross, the idol is reduced to ashes and the cross remains unscathed. One other common trick is to throw the bronze idol and the wooden cross in the water together, the metal idol sinks and the wooden cross floats. Such conviction-less and deceitful methods of conversion can only lead to frequent clashes and violence, as is evident from riots’ of Kandhamal district in Orissa.

Our philosopher and Swami Dayananda Saraswathi said: "Religious conversion is violence and it breeds violence. In converting you are also converting the nonviolent to violent". Same sentiment was echoed by Swami Vivekananda when he said, “Every man going out of the Hindu pale is not only a man less but also an enemy the more”.

We need to realize that India will continue to grapple with these kinds of atrocities resulting out of conversion, till such time the greed in our rich elite and the social stigma of caste system persists in the Hindu community. Don’t take me wrong, I am not against capitalism and free market economy. It’s when the elite and rich Hindus flaunt their enormous wealth and indulge in extravagant wastage that such questions raise. The world witnessed the most expensive wedding of Lakshmi Mittal’s daughter termed “billionaire wedding’ by the Forbes magazine and enrolling as «the most extravagant wedding in modern time» in the “Guinness Book of World Records”. The other Mega-Weeding took place in Lucknow, the state capital of one of India’s most poor and underdeveloped state, UP. The Sahara group owner, Subrata Roy invited 10500 guests for his son’s weeding. One newspaper reported that arrangements for the week long wedding "would put a maharajah to shame".
In an another example of such monstrosity, rich and famous businessman, Mukesh Ambani’s Godzilla-sized $2 billion home was in the headlines recently for generating a power bill of Rs 70,69,488, Mumbai's highest residential electricity bill. It’s an irony that Mumbai also happens to house Asia’s largest slum “Dharavi”. Some time back the backward Vidarbha and Marathwada region of Maharashtra was in the news for the farmers committing suicide, but also because a local businessman from Aurangabad booked 113 Mercedes Benz cars and 101 BMW sedans at one go from a Pune dealer.

Lately we have been witnessing enormous scams and a continuing shameless apathy of our political leaders. One wonders how the nation could dip to such pathetically low moral and ethical standards. Could it be because we have lost our basic moral and ethical guidelines of Hinduism such as Yamas and Niyamas, "restraints and observances, found in the 6,000 to 8,000-year-oldVedas, mankind's oldest body of scripture? The Hindu elite and the wealthy need to start practicing the Vedic practice or Niyam of Santosha and contentment. They should strive to seek joy and serenity in life by involving in philanthropic activities like Warren Buffet and Bill Gates and contribute towards the development of the poor and the needy.

The nation needs to go back to its roots and practice of restraint like the Yama of Daya/ Compassion by conquering callous, cruel and insensitive feelings toward all beings. The people with excess and more means need foster sympathy towards the needs and suffering of the less fortunate.

They need to practice, observation like the Niyam of Dana/Giving and become generous in giving and liberally without thought of reward. Feed and give to those in need and bestow ones time and money without seeking praise.

That is not to say that the middle class Indians are absolved of any responsibility. A dalit was shot dead in Bihar for sitting in a chair in front of some upper caste criminal. The so called upper caste Hindus need to shed any sense of superiority over the so called lower castes and embrace all Hindus. Being born into an upper caste family does not entitle them to an elevated status. It is their deeds which do so. All Hindus need to abandon this cruel and hypocritical practice of caste system. It is the Human thing to do. It is the Indian thing to do.

It’s a shame that a nation that gave the world the Vedas at a time when Europeans were still grappling in their caves has come to such an impasse where our poor villagers have to entertain Santa Claus!

Hindus Use Christian Conversion Methods to Reconvert Villagers
“I converted to Christianity about 8-10 years ago because I was offered Rs750 every month by the missionaries for which I only had to attend church on Sundays,” said Bisraba Digal, 37, of Minia village. “Now, I want to come back to Hinduism because I want to live in peace in my village and not at some refugee camp,” said the father of two after collecting his share of blankets, buckets and plastic sheets from the government relief truck parked nearby.
Read more at : http://www.livemint.com/2008/09/04002155/Hindus-use-Christian-conversio.html

Congress Encouraging Conspiracy Theories

As a friend rightly said, when India has the Congress party with its minority appeasing leaders like Rahul Gandhi, Digvijay Singh, P. Chidambaram and host of others then why does India need Pakistan, ISI or the Lashkar-e-Toiba to create communal disharmony? These leaders are quite capable of pushing an essentially liberal, humane and anti radical developing nation into a path to self-destruction.
The hypocrisy and an abject lack of any positive ideology of the Congress party was exposed on the two day 83rd Congress plenary session in New Delhi where the entire focus was on attacking the RSS and BJP. Some months back, India’s Home Minister Mr. P. Chidambaram while inaugurating a conference of chiefs of police forces said, a new phenomenon of "saffron terrorism" involved in many bomb blasts has been uncovered. Rahul Gandhi has equated the banned SIMI (Students Islamic Movement of India) to RSS with every breath. If that were not enough, he told the American Ambassador that ‘radicalized Hindu groups are a bigger threat than the Lashkar-e-Toib. Digvijay Singh on the other hand lies about a conversation he didn’t have with Karkare about threats from Hindu organizations and goes on to attend the release of a book named RSS ki Sazish 26/11.
Congress and most Pakistanis share a philosophy- blame Hindus organizations and hold the BJP responsible for everything that goes wrong around them. While this has worked in the past without consequences, current addition of this brainwashing of the Indian Muslims with absurd conspiracy theories is going to put the country in great harm. These senses of victimhood instilled in the Indian Muslims will strength a sense of entitlement rather than a desire to develop and excel. This phenomenon is evident in Pakistan and the rest of the Muslim world
The New York Times May 25, 2010 issue published an article titled- “U.S. Is a Top Villain in Pakistan’s Conspiracy Talk?” which said, “Conspiracy theory is a national sport in Pakistan, where the main players — the United States, India and Israel — change positions depending on the ebb and flow of history”. The article further states, “People want simple explanations, like evil America, Zionist-Hindu alliance,” said a Pakistani diplomat, who asked not to be named because of the delicate nature of the topic. “It’s gone really deep into the national psyche now.”
It talks about the famous Pakistani right-wing Islamist TV personality Zaid Hamid and how he used Google search to support his theory that India, Israel and the United States — through their intelligence agencies are conspiring to destroy Pakistan.
Zaid Hamid has also come up with similar conspiracy theory for 26/11 Mumbai attack and claims that it was the work of RSS the Hindu Fascist, Zionist and other Hinduvta organizations in collaboration with the Israeli secret service Mossad forming an Anglo-American-Mossad-RSS Nexus.
It is understandable when Islamic fanatics from Pakistan spit venom on India and come up with such weird theories but it’s extremely troubling when the Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh’s is endorses and perpetuates such conspiracy theories.
What Congress and other pseudo secular parties need to understand is that India too will be in a similar or bigger mess than Pakistan if they continue to patronize Islamic terror perpetrators without punishing them and blame and condemn Hindu organizations for crimes they didn’t commit. Peace and secularism in India is due to Hindus and Hinduism. Blaming them will disturb a delicate balance and stretch the social fabric beyond its breaking point. The results of this action and the inaction against the perpetrators while encouraging the minority community to evoke victimhood are frustrating the marginalized Hindus even more

What Terrorizes India?
In the end, Mr. Gandhi deserves to be criticized not merely because he's wrong, but because his apparent naiveté hurts India. His comment to Mr. Roemer directly undercut one of New Delhi's main foreign policy objectives—to get the international community to take the threat from Pakistan-based terrorist groups more seriously. More broadly, Mr. Gandhi and his party encourage precisely the kind of conspiratorial mindset and culture of grievance among a section of Indian Muslims that they ought to be working to end. Read the complete article at: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703581204576033031265052272.html

U.S. Is a Top Villain in Pakistan’s Conspiracy Talk
Conspiracy theory is a national sport in Pakistan, where the main players — the United States, India and Israel — change positions depending on the ebb and flow of history. Since 2001, the United States has taken center stage, looming so large in Pakistan’s collective imagination that it sometimes seems to be responsible for everything that goes wrong here.

“When the water stops running from the tap, people blame America,” said Shaista Sirajuddin, an English professor in Lahore.

The problem is more than a peculiar domestic phenomenon for Pakistan. It has grown into a narrative of national victimhood that is a nearly impenetrable barrier to any candid discussion of the problems here.
Read the complete article at:http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/26/world/asia/26pstan.html

Congress: Divide and Ruin?

Divide and rule worked really well for the British. Congress learned that well from the British. Well, that and hypocrisy. Most communal riots happened in Congress and the so-called secular party ruled states. Yet, it is the BJP, which draws parallels with Nazis, and god knows which other choice villains by the seniors from Congress. It is not only Muslims who have been victimized during Congress rule. Jagdish Tytler was seen walking around in the latest plenary session of Congress despite of having been responsible for wreaking murderous havoc on the Sikhs back in 1984. It is they who actually practice true communalism.
This policy has worked for the Congress for a long time and they have thrived despite of one incompetent government after another. They have divided and fooled the voters into voting for them. However, in face of Islamic terrorism practiced by Pakistan(as a foreign policy doctrine) and Indian fundamentalists(as a path to some sort of a dar-ul-Islam), the divide and rule policy is not going to pay the same dividend as it has in the past.
India is an ancient culture, which is delicately held together by Hinduism, and culture derived from it. We are still together despite of major differences in language and other aspects of life. Hinduism is the glue that holds this house of cards. If Congress succeeds in its nefarious designs of demonizing the religion and it’s followers, well we can imagine what will happen to the nation.
The voters and the opposition in the Lok and Rajya Sabha must stop Congress and its demagogues in their tracks. Time has come for all the Hindus to unite and take our nation back from Congress and its leaders for whom political power is greater than the nation.

The Congress is out to demonise the RSS
"By demonising the RSS as a terrorist and Nazi-like organisation, the Congress under the leadership of Sonia Gandhi seeks to insult millions of Hindus in this country, warns B Raman"

The article can be read at: http://www.rediff.com/news/slide-show/slide-show-1-congress-is-out-to-demonise-rss/20101223.htm

Digvijay Blames RSS for 26/11 Attack

Digvijay Singh can be seen in the above picture, amongst Muslim leaders releasing a book called, RSS ki Sazish 26/11? On this blog, we have often posted articles by Muslim journalists and thinkers who do not perpetuate any kind of conspiracy theory. They are sane and logical people. That cannot be said about all the Muslims. A lot of Muslim world still believes that 9/11 was carried out by Jews. Similar kind of Muslims including the senior Congress leader A R Antualy have blamed 26/11 attacks on Hindus despite of confessions and proofs. This kind of a sick attitude can be justified in a really perverted way if the Muslims nurse it. A lot of them cannot live with other religions and tomtom the superiority of Islam even in the face of the obvious. One would expect a lot more from a leader like Antulay. He is in the know. What CANNOT be justified is someone like Digvijay Singh supporting these extremist Muslims in India and validating their falsehoods. This is beyond votebank politics and is indicative of a diseased imagination of a desperate man. Despite all his tall claims, he has still not produced the call records of his discussion with Karkare and blames the Bharat Sanchar Nigam for not being able to produce the records.
Digvijay is towing the Pakistani line by endorsing Zaid Hamid’s theory of 26/11 Mumbai attack being the work of Hindu Fascist and Zionist Hinduvta organizations like the RSS.

If the Indian voters do not get rid of leaders like him, then those leaders will get rid of the only homeland for Hindus – INDIA!!

Rahul on Terrorism
There are those who dismissed Rahul’s comments as stupidity but to do this is to absolve him of responsibility for what he said. Besides, there seems to be more to what Rahul Gandhi told the American ambassador if you keep in mind what another Congress general secretary, Digvijay Singh, recently said about Hemant Karkare’s tragic death. He later clarified that he had not meant that the terrorist attack on Mumbai was the work of Hindu terrorists but has not explained why he was releasing a book called, RSS ki saazish—26/11. This absurdly titled book has been written by a Muslim journalist and if Digvijay Singh was not sympathetic to the idea mentioned so explicitly in the title, what was he doing at the book’s release?

Read the complete article at:http://www.indianexpress.com/story-print/726626/

Contribution Swami Thambi

CWG ScamThickens

Two undertrials Nishant and Amit have sought security for being threatened by the Jail officials. It seems these two undertrials were being pressurized by jail security to kill two of the three CWG officials locked up in the Tihar jail. If this is a lie then it is too big a lie / scam to have been concocted by these low level criminals. Therefore, it is reasonable that these guys are telling the truth. If the claims of these undertrials have to be believed then that raises the next logical question. Someone wants to shut those two guys forever. Cui Bono? Who is Benefitting from all this? Who Indeed!!!

Under pressure to kill jailed CWG officials, say undertrials
NEW DELHI: In a sensational development, two undertrials today told a Delhi Court that they were allegedly pressurized by Tihar jail officials to kill two Commonwealth games officials lodged in the high security prison.
Read More:http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Under-pressure-to-kill-jailed-CWG-officials-say-undertrials-/articleshow/7139822.cms

Why No Hindu Names On The Most Wanted Terrorist List?

A list of India’s most wanted terrorists has been published. From all the utterances of various Congress leaders, one would have expected many Hindu names on the list. Amazingly, there are none on the list. So I would like to ask a few questions.

Why there is not a single Hindu name in the “Most Wanted Terrorist” list if 'radicalised Hindu groups' posed a bigger threat than outfits like Lashkar-e-Tayiba, Mr. Rahul Gandhi?

Why does the “Most Wanted Terrorist” list have only names of people from the Green Brigade and not from the Saffron Brigade Mr. P Chidambaram?

How come the “Most Wanted Terrorist” list only has names from organizations like Indian Mujahideen and Jam-I-yyathul Ansarul Muslimeen and not a single name from Sangh Parivar, Mr. Digvijay Singh.

India's new 'Most Wanted Terrorists' list
India's terror picture appears grim. Thirty-one names are part of a new 'Wanted' list charted after the recent Varanasi blast. The 'Most Wanted Terrorists' list comprises jihadis from the Indian Mujahideen and the Jam-I-yyathul Ansarul Muslimeen, which is strongest in Kerala and Karnataka.
Read the complete article: http://www.rediff.com/news/slide-show/slide-show-1-indias-new-most-wanted-terrorists-list/20101221.htm

Lying, Cheating And Pseudo-Secular Politics Of Congress!

Politicians do not waste words. They realize the pitfalls of saying the wrong things. Digvijay Singh has risen to the ranks of Congress General Secretary by practicing all kinds of dirty politics. He knows what succeeds and what is equivalent to suicide in politics. Why, then, is he lying and prating? There are reasons behind it and the two articles discussed in this post allude to the reasons and consequences of this action. As Mr. Punj says, even with two thirds majority, Rajeev Gandhi government could not survive the Bofors scandal. How can a non performing Manmohan Singh sarkar, with a thin majority survive scams after scams? As per Mr. Punj, one way could be to paint the BJP and RSS in such nasty colors (Nazi is a near invective!) that the opposition will get divided. There exists a problem with Mr. Punj's analysis. Calling someone a Nazi does not require any kind of proof. However, the Hemant Karkare call was a blatant lie and Digvijay would have known that there was a finite probability of this coming out and blowing up in their faces. I doubt that the old guard in Congress would approve of a lie.

Mr. N V Subramanian, another respected analyst like Mr. Punj, says the reasons are future elections where the Congress thinks that they need the Muslim votes. He also says that the Bihar elections show that the Muslims votes are no longer in the Congress kitty. Which may explain the escalation of the anti-Hindu rhetoric by these votebank politicians? Since this has been a Congress ploy for long, no one would be surprised.

Coming back the Karkare lie, I have some thoughts which I would like to share.

1. Digvijay has hitched his political stars to the Rahul Gandhi's wagon. He has been doing and saying things all along to firm up Rahul Gandhi's standing in the party. In fact, he even went up against the inner coterie of Rahul Gandhi's mother. However, the interests of those two groups are not mutually exclusive and the inner coterie may have let Digvijay prevail. I dare say that this could have gone well with the old guard of Congress to which Mr. Sharad Pawar used to belong. The old guard which is now the third group in Congress has been sidelined. They are only used when the other two groups will not do. For example, when it came to soothing the feathers of Karunanidhi camp (in the aftermath of the 2G scam), Pranab Mukherjee was sent.

2. The Karkare lie was to divert the attention from the 2G scam. Digvijay would have needed support to substantiate his lie. However, that support of the third group and the media may have been taken for granted. After all, the media laps up anything which is anti BJP / RSS. But the third group may have been really upset. Being seasoned politicians that they are, they could not have criticized Digvijay. It would have made the party look bad and would have upset the Gandhi family. There existed a third way. Sharad Pawar, being an ex-member of this third group could have offered or agreed to provide his help. Now R R Patil is also a very consummate politician. He would not have opened up his mouth about the lie unless there was a reason behind it. The reason was the third group wanted to shut Digvijay up in an indirect way and Patil's statement about the non-existence of the proof of the Karakre phone call put Digvijay in the spot. His lie was called. But he is like the gambler who has invested too much in the game and cannot go back. He has to bet some more and that may be the reason for his latest outburst about equating Hindu outfits with the Nazis.

NVS also says that utterances like Rahul's embolden the Pakistanis against India and the Pakistani conspiracy theorists find unlikely supporters in India. This exactly what Bhai Narendra Modi said today. With leaders like Diggi and Rahul, who needs the Pakistanis?

A method to his madness
Balbir Punj

The Congress has neither disowned nor silenced him. So the frequency with which Mr Digvijay Singh repeats his absurd stories, including the tale about Karkare (it has been denied by the slain police officer’s widow; but that has not dampened his enthusiasm) raises a fundamental question: Is he saying things which his party wants him to say? Are his utterances part of a larger conspiracy?
The article can be read at:http://www.dailypioneer.com/304958/A-method-to-his-madness.htmlhttp://

Fatal attraction
N.V.Subramanian.

The UPA government has always been suspect on the issue of Islamist terrorism. It directly derives from the Congress's votebank politics. There is no evidence that the Muslims vote en bloc for the Congress anymore if they ever did before. The spectacular victory of the JD-U/ BJP coalition lead by Nitish Kumar in Bihar grounded on considerable favourable Muslim voting advertises that the Congress's votebank politics is not delivering.
And yet, the Congress has become unable to embrace mainstream politics, a politics, in a phrase, of non-appeasement. Non-appeasement politically was first advocated by L.K.Advani in the late-Eighties and Nineties, and much of the BJP's early attractiveness drew from it. With the Advani-led Ramjanambhoomi Movement culminating in the bringing down of the disputed structure in Ayodhya, accompanied by the rightward Hindutva lurch of the BJP and the removal of the feeling of second-rate citizenship on the part of Hindus, the concept of non-appeasement lost its salience and traction. The article can be read at: http://newsinsight.net/archivedebates/nat2.asp?recno=2080

Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Se – III

In this last of the series of articles on this movie made for patriotic Indians, I share with the readers the third and last important strand of my thoughts as I watched Surjyo Sen fight the might of British empire with his band of 65 mostly teenagers.
In the last decade or so, after the BJP came to power, India has started believing that the West led by USA is a potential if not already an actual ally of India. The shared values are indeed very important and visible. We too want an India where every individual free is and flourishes to the best of his potential. We admire nations like UK and USA who have taken in people from all countries including the ones oppressed by colonialism and afforded them freedom, dignity and opportunity. Indeed, it is not unfair to say that the western nations have been more friendly to Indians than perhaps any other group of countries.
India has received some recognition from these countries now, for it's consistent democracy and human rights record, for it's other freedoms and the commitment of all it's politicians of all shades to modernity and secularism. From the perspective of these countries, India alone amongst backward nations has achieved modernity with a free and constitutional framework and therefore worthy of respect.
I have to say that I had become ready to put behind all the animosity of British rule in India and started believing that we should deepen the friendship with the West to a point where there is real alliance with the West to spread modernity and democracy.
The movie forced me to question that belief and desire.
As I watched British ruthlessness and racism in the movie, their brutality and readiness to reduce Indians to a subhuman level, I found myself asking how deep is the West's commitment to equality of all humans and did they ever really abandon their racism. If perchance they indeed believe, without expressing it openly for political reasons, that they are a genetically superior lot, can they ever be true partners of India on equal terms.
We cannot brush aside these questions. We have to objectively evaluate the West's behavior, in colonial period led by Britain and in post – colonial period led by the USA, in order to form a correct attitude and policy towards the West. We should not go by pronouncements and expressions of support. We should look at their actions and the end results sought by them. Then alone we will be understand what really goes on in their mind.
As I tried to go over the key incidents with respect to India – West relationship, the picture is not pretty and indeed, this movie forced me to shift my stance on how we should relate to the USA. If we look at how the Western nations behave, it is clear that their commitment to liberty, freedom and human rights is more or less restricted to their own citizens. They never have and perhaps never will truly believe in the equality of all men. I can give no better example of this than their eulogistic references to Chruchill. Here is a man who routinely proclaimed superiority of his race and made abusive comments about “lesser” peoples. He also maintained that whites must rule over colored peoples. His ideas of liberty and freedom did not extend to peoples like Indians. Yet, if you hear a typical Western man (a white man actually) talk about Churchill, you will get the impression that Churchill was the inventor of the concept of Universal Human Rights.
There are many other pointers, impossible to ignore, that say that in their heart of hearts, white people still want to maintain superiority over others, using foul means if needed. One notices many times in Western media, lists of “biggest” terror strikes on free nations. I lost count of how many times they never mention any terror strike in India. At least one such instance was noticed AFTER 26 /11. The list of the most “horrific terror attacks ever”, posted on frontpagemag site, included Beslan terror attack (justifiably), included the shoe bomber and not the horrific 26 / 11 attack. As if someone making a crude attempt at killing white people and failing is a bigger incident than butchery of 180 + Indians !
They are racists, let us not keep ignoring the elephant in the room.
Nowadays Americans give the argument that since a black man was elected to US presidency, they have washed the sins of their past racism. It is not really a valid argument. I suspect it works the other way round. In a racially polarized society, blacks feel so humiliated that they can't think of voting for a white man if there is a black man in the race. Hence a solid block of minority votes combined with a percentage of white “liberal” votes ensured the victory. This is exactly what happens in one of the most casteist state of India – UP. The Dalits have been oppressed so much, even in modern times, that they cannot dream of voting for parties traditionally identified with upper castes.
I, therefore felt, as I watched the movie, that we must operate with a presumption, a very safe one based on our centuries of interaction with them, that we should never expect a real meeting of hearts with any Western nation. We have to learn a lot of skills from them and hence I would not advocate shutting all doors on them. But we must always be cautious and certainly in strategic matters, we should assume that they will be neutral even in the face of utmost viciousness against us, if not on the side of our enemies.
This means India will not have any significant allies in global politics. This is as it should be. India has a distinct sense of values, different from Islamic world, from China and from the West. Our interactions with all the nations must be transactional and we should not seek a starry eyed (but woolly headed) “partnership” or “natural alliance”. Let us face it. We have no natural allies. The similarities with the West are superficial, the differences profound. With others, there is no superficial overlap either.

The movie really gave a perspective of India's experience with the West. We do forget in the goody goody atmosphere of a summit meeting with US how vicious the British were and, examine closely and you find the same in the US. Let us be cautious of them. May our eyes always be dry in dealing with them.

British Prejudices: Hindus and Muslims!!

As per reports, a guy who as a youngster led a life indistinguishable from a young Swede did the suicide bombing in Stockholm. He went from a fun loving young guy to a jihadi after arriving in Luton in England. The report says: Abdaly was transformed into an extremist over the course of the next few years, perhaps by the preaching of al-Muhajiroun, a radical group whose former leader, Anjem Choudary, has said that the suicide bombing should be seen as a "severe warning" and "should not come as a surprise." Omar Bakri Muhammad founded Al Muhajiroun in Saudi Arabia in 1983. The outfit was banned and Bakri moved to England where he used the liberal laws to establish his network there. The group started to spread hate literature on British university campuses and because of their virulent messages they were banned. However, they relaunched the outfit and Anjem Choudary assumed the leadership role. Needless to say, it is a combination of this and similar outfits along with very liberal British laws that is responsible for a number of terrorist attacks in and around England. Now this outfit can be blamed these attacks but one has to take a look at it from a historical perspective. The British always had a preference for Muslims over Hindus. Islam is a Semitic religion and thus closer to Christianity. Even after they left the subcontinent after the imperfect division of the land, they carried that prejudice with them. They convinced the western powers that a Muslim Pakistan was going to be a better bulwark against the spread communism than a Hindu India. Of course this prejudice was enforced by Nehru’s misplaced foreign policy inclinations. This also led to a number of decisions made by the US and UK which were against Indian interests. Later on, when the British needed workers in steel and cotton mills or doctors for their health services, they got them from Pakistan (East and West) rather than India. The population of Pakistanis and Bangladeshis grew in UK. Eventually even Indians started to migrate to the UK. Unlike the Indians (Hindus and Sikhs), the Muslims refuse to assimilate and developed a strong ghetto mentality. The radical Muslim leaders expertly exploited this “I am a victim of the system” syndrome. Today the Hindus and Sikhs have a higher education, income and house ownership that the UK national average. On the other hand, barring a few very rich Muslims, most of them are languishing at the bottom. Anjem Choudary has to be a Pakistani or a Bangladeshi. The Pakistani Britons send their young boys to spend extended periods of time in Pakistan. Between that, outfits like Al Muhajiroun, lack of proper education and poverty, do these kids actually stand a chance? As far as the British government is concerned, instead of forcing the Muslims to adapt to the British ways, they are kowtowing to the whims of the very same mullahs. It seems that in one of the British cities, they banned pig figurines because the mullahs found it offensive. The British government, old and new, is responsible for all these terrorist problems. Now I am not saying that the British should have encouraged migration of Hindus and Sikhs. It is their country and hence their prerogative. All I am saying is that their age-old prejudice against the Hindus is coming to bite them.

Lessons from the Swedish suicide bombing
"Second, the radicalization of Abdaly confirms that Britain's reputation for creating extremists is well-deserved. Before 2001, al-Abdaly had led the normal life of a Swedish young man -- his friends commented on his Israeli girlfriend, his beer-drinking, and his partying while in high school. All this changed once he arrived in Luton, Britain, which has become infamous as a center for radical Islam."

India a 'Raucous Democracy' thinks US.

Like we had said in our earlier post, the Aam Aadmi needs to thank Wikileaks founder Julian Assange for these valuable pieces of information. We are getting an unbiased true assessment of our countries politicians from the smart American diplomats. There analysis seems immaculate about our countries politics, leaders and the bureaucrats when describing them as corrupt, incompetent, egoistic and stuck in the cold war era.
Now you may ask why we have to rely on what others think of ourselves. It is because we live among / with them and our judgments get clouded. How else can we explain voting for the Gandhi family not once but twice in the last decade? Moreover, in the face of a global economy and the never-ending war on terror, we need to interact with foreign leaders all the time. If we keep sending leaders who are not taken seriously, then India and Indians will get the short end of the stick all the time.
Long ago, there was a report presented in the US Congress about a similar assessment of our Bureaucrats. They were described as vain, egoistic, extra sensitive and hard to deal with. With so much personal baggage, how can one expect these IAS/IFS officers to deal with Indian interests? Recently Indian Ambassador to the US, Meera Shankar was patted down in the state of Mississippi. Now by any stretch of imagination, it has to be a humiliating experience for a woman. I feel bad for her. The MEA threw their weight behind her and got their apology. One of her fellow diplomats went ahead and called this a national shame. Now this I have severe problem with. If patting down of a diplomat is a “National Shame”, then what are the scams, wastage of food, kids eating clay to alleviate hunger and all other “issues” that leave the aam aadmi gasping for air?
People of Bihar have shown the way. After suffering these leaders for so long they voted them out of the office. The voting pattern of the rest of India need to reflect what Aam aadmi thinks of these politicians. That would be a vindication of correctness of our assessment. Only time tell when India will becomes a “mature democracy” and shed the “raucous” tag.

REVEALED: What US thinks of Sonia, PM, Karat
In the cables, US diplomats complain of bureaucratic inertia, a lack of capacity, oversensitivity, corrupt or populist politicians, a bureaucracy that is stuck in the era of 'the cold war' and profound suspicion of their motives,
"With the future of Indian foreign credibility hanging in balance, Sonia Gandhi has been unable to show principled leadership even when it might benefit her party at the polls.
Prakash Karat, the Communist party of India (Marxist) general secretary, is described as an 'extortionist'.
Congress minister, Arjun Singh, is described as being from the party's 'Jurassic' wing, and that he is 'spectacularly inept'.

Read the complete article:http://www.rediff.com/news/slide-show/slide-show-1-what-us-really-thinks-of-sonia-karat-pm/20101217.htm

Does Rahul Gandhi Harbor Hatred for Hindus?

So there we have it. In one of our earlier posts, we had alluded to the wikileaks document where the US ambassador David Mulford said that Congress would stoop to any level to win elections. This was said in the context of the so called Hindu terror. Now we know why the ambassador said that. It seems the Rajkumar Rahul Gandhi, your next PM, told him that radicalized Hindu groups posed a bigger threat to India than LeT. This would be quite funny if this guy were not going to be the next PM. Unfortunately, thanks to Congress their myopic search for a unifying force (back in the late 1990s when Congress was floundering), led to the doors of the Gandhi family. Sonia and Rahul Gandhi assumed important positions. Now in most democracies, the national leaders are people with education in law. You may even find journalists and business leaders. Now I don't have to tell you the qualifications of the Gandhi family. When Indian voters in their infinite wisdom, voted these two in, they did not look at what they were bringing to the party. From all the scams and mishaps, we know what their leadership skills are. From the wikileaks documents, we know what they think of mainstream India and aam aadmi (who is a Hindu in majority of the cases).
According to the article; Rahul's 'irresponsible' remark undermines anti-terror fight: BJP in the Daily Pioneer the BJP spokesperson Ravishankar Prasad said,"In one stroke, Rahul Gandhi has sought to give a big leverage to the propaganda of all terror groups operating from Pakistan and certain segments of the Pakistan establishment," he told reporters here.
Prasad said such remarks impinge upon India's strategic security and fight against terrorism.
"If he sees a fringe radical Hindu group as the biggest threat in spite of so many terrorist attacks including 26/11 in which involvement of Pakistani groups is confirmed, then it only underscores how ignorant he is about India and its problems," the BJP leader said.

Red-faced Congress downplays Rahul's comment
December 17, 2010 15:21 IST

Coming under attack after his reported statement that 'radicalised Hindu groups' posed a bigger threat than outfits like Lashkar-e-Tayiba , Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday diluted his comments by saying that terrorism and communalism of all types are a threat to India .
"Rahul Gandhi's view is that terrorism and communalism of all types are a threat to India. We need to remain vigilant against acts of terrorism of all kinds no matter who commits them," All India Congress Committee General Secretary Janardan Dwivedi said in a release issued on his behalf.
The statement came hours after the Congress grappled with the issue of the WikiLeaks cable, which claimed that Rahul Gandhi had told United States Ambassador Timothy Roemer that growth of 'radicalised Hindu groups' which create religious tensions in India could pose a bigger threat to the country than activities of groups like Lashkar-e-Tayiba.
The article can be read at:http://www.rediff.com/news/report/red-faced-congress-downplays-rahuls-comment/20101217.htm