கர்நாடக இந்து-கிறிஸ்தவ மோதல்கள்: மூலகாரணம் என்ன?
~ ராஜா ஆர்.எஸ் source: tamilhindu
கர்னாடகாவில் கடந்த சில நாட்களாக மதக் கலவரம் தலை தூக்கியுள்ளது. கிறித்தவ தேவாலயங்கள் தாக்கப்பட்டு வருகின்றதாக வரும் செய்திகள் நம்மை கவலையுறச் செய்கின்றன. இந்த தாக்குதல்களில் சில இந்து அமைப்புகள் ஈடுபட்டிருக்கின்றன என்று கிறிஸ்துவ அமைப்புகள் குற்றம் சாட்டுகின்றன. பொதுவாக இந்துக்கள் மதத்தின் பேரில் அடித்துக்கொள்வதை விரும்பாத ஒரு சாதுவான சமுதாயம். மற்ற மதத்தவரின் வழிப்பாட்டுத் தலங்கள் தாக்கப்படுவதை நாம் கண்டிக்கிறோம். ஆனால் உண்மையில் அங்கு என்ன நடந்தது? நிகழ்ந்தவைகளுக்கு அடிப்படைக் காரணம் என்ன? யாருக்கு என்ன கோபம் ?..
எனக்கு கிடைத்த சில தகவல்களை உங்களுடன் பகிர்ந்துக்கொள்கிறேன்.
சமீபத்தில் ஒரிஸ்ஸாவில் ஒரு மரியாதைக்குரிய இந்துத் துறவி - சுவாமி லக்ஷ்மனானந்தா அவர்கள் கொடூரமாக கொல்லப்பட்டதின் விளைவாக பெரிய அளவில் அங்கே மதக் கலவரம் வெடித்தது. அதன் எதிரொலியாகத்தான் கர்னாடகாவிலும் கிறிஸ்தவ சர்ச்சுகள் மீது தாக்குதல்கள் நடக்கின்றன என்றுதான் முதலில் நினைக்க தோன்றியது. ஆனால் நடந்த விஷயங்கள் வேறு. மங்களூரை ஒட்டிய பகுதிகளில் புதிதாக முளைத்திருக்கும் ஒரு மதமாற்றக் கும்பல் “வாலாட்டியதே” இத்தனைப் பிரச்சனைக்கும் மூல காரணம் என்பது தெளிவாகத் தெரிய வந்துள்ளது.
“சத்ய தர்ஷினி” என்று ஒரு புத்தகம். அதில், இந்து கடவுள்கள் மீது வீசப்பட்டுள்ள தரக் குறைவான, சொல்லக் கூசும் தாக்குதல்கள். இவைதான் அங்கே மதக் கலவரத் தீயை மூட்டி விட்டுள்ளன.

மங்களூரில் இயங்கி வரும் “நியு லைஃப் ட்ரஸ்ட்” (New Life Trust) எனப்படும் கிறுத்தவ அமைப்பு அந்தக் கன்னட புத்தகத்தை மக்களிடையே விநியோகம் செய்துள்ளது. அதில் பரம்பொருளின் திருவுருவாக நாம் அனைவரும் கருதி வழிபடும் சிவபிரான், இராமர், கிருஷ்ண்ர், தேவி ஆகிய தெய்வங்கள் பற்றி கேவலமான சொற்களால் தரக்குறைவாக விமரிசித்திருக்கிறார் நூலின் ஆசிரியர்.
அந்தப் புத்தகத்தில் கண்டுள்ள வசனங்களில் சில இதோ…( இவற்றை இங்கே குறிப்பிடுவதே வேதனையாக இருக்கிறது. ஆனால் மக்களுக்கு இந்தத் தகவல்கள் போய்ச் சேர வேண்டியுள்ளதால் இடுகிறேன். மன்னிக்கவும் ):
“நாராயணனின் புதல்வியான ஊர்வசி ஒரு வேசி. அவளுடைய மகன் தான் வசிஷ்டர். இப்படிப்பட்ட வசிஷ்டர் தான் இந்து கடவுளாகிய இராமனுக்கு குரு.”
“சீதையை கடத்திச் சென்றது பிரம்மா. இப்படிப்பட்ட ஆசைகளுக்கு அடிமைகளான சிவன்,விஷ்ணு, பிரம்மா போன்றவர்களை கடவுள் என்று அழைப்பது பெரிய பாவம்.”
“கடவுளே ! கிருபை கூர்ந்து இந்தியர்களான பாவிகளை விடுவியும். அவர்கள் கேவலமான உறவுகள் (’விபசாரம்’) வைத்துள்ள கடவுள்களை வழிப்பட்டு வருகின்றனர்.”
“கிருஷ்ணர் என்பவர் ஒரு கீழ்த்தரமான நபர். இவரை வழிபடும் மூடர்களை விடுவிப்பது (அதாவது மதமாற்றம் செய்வது) நம் கடமை.”
இந்த “சத்திய தர்ஷினி” புத்தகத்தை முதலில் எழுதியது சூரியநாராயண ராவ் என்ற “இந்து பெயர் தாங்கிய” ஒரு ஆந்திர கிறிஸ்தவர். அவர் “அருளியதை” கன்னடத்தில் ராம ரெட்டி என்பவர் மொழி பெயர்த்துள்ளார்.
இந்த புத்தகத்தை New Life Trust அமைப்பு, மத மாற்ற பிரச்சாரத்திற்காக விநியோகம் செய்யப் போய் அது தான் இப்பொழுது கலவரத்திற்கு காரணியாகியுள்ளது.
கிறிஸ்தவர்கள் ஒன்றும் சாதுக்கள் அல்ல. அவர்கள் தரப்பிலிருந்து போலீஸ் மீது மிகக் கடுமையான தாக்குதல்கள் நடத்தப்பட்டிருக்கிறது.

இந்தத் தகவல்களை நமது அறிவு ஜீவி செய்தி நிறுவனங்கள் வழக்கம் போல் கண்டு கொள்ளவில்லை. மதச்சார்பின்மை என்பது இந்துக்களுக்கு மட்டும் தானே? சிறுபான்மையினர் என்பவர்கள் என்ன வேண்டுமானாலும் செய்யலாம். இத்தாலியிலிருந்து அமெரிக்கா வரை, அவர்களைப் பற்றி கவலைப்பட பல நாடுகள் உள்ளன. இந்துக்களைப் பற்றி உள்ளூர்க்காரன் கவலைப்பட்டால் அவன் மதவாதி !

ஓருவரின் உண்மையான மதத்தை மாற்ற நினைப்பது என்பதே உண்மையான ஆன்மீகத்திற்குப் புறம்பான ஒரு கேவலச் செயல். அதிலும் இது போன்ற மற்ற மதத்தின் மீது சேற்றை வாரிப் பூசும் செயல்களை என்ன சொல்ல?
சிறுபான்மை இனம் என்று தங்களை சொல்லிக்கொண்டு, பெரும்பான்மை மக்கள் எல்லோரும் தங்களை பொத்திப் பாதுகாக்க வேண்டும் என்றும் எதிர்பார்க்கிறார்கள். ஆனால் பெரும்பான்மையினர் மூக்கைச் சுரண்டி விளையாடி விட்டு, அவர்கள் மிகச் சிறிய அளவில் எதிர்வினை புரிந்தாலும் குய்யோ முறையோ என்று கூச்சல் போடுவதால் என்ன பயன் ?
இந்து தெய்வங்கள் மீது அவதூறு பேசுவது இது முதல் முறை இல்லை. நாடு முழுவதும் இது பல வருடங்களாக நடந்துக்கொண்டிருக்கிறது. தமிழகம் உட்பட..ஆனால் இவர்கள் என்னவோ ஒன்றும் அறியாத தங்களைத் தாக்கி விட்டதாக அலறுவது நல்ல காமெடி.
“மதச்சார்பின்மை என்பதும், மத நல்லிணக்கமும் ஒரு வழிப் பாதை அல்ல. நமக்கும் அதில் பங்கு இருக்கிறது” என்பதை மதமாற்ற மிஷனரிகள் புரிந்து கொள்ளும் வரை இந்த மாதிரி பிரச்சனைகளை நாடு சந்தித்துக் கொண்டுத்தான் இருக்கும் என்பது கசப்பான உன்மை.

The intellectual scene in Post-independence India 21/09/2008
A speech of S. Gurumurthy given to IIT Chennai
source: haindava keralam

... Defeat and anger go together. Abuse and defeat go together. So, it is in this norm and with this understanding of what an intellectual debate means, I would like to place before you some of my thoughts today. Some of may find it provocative. I am confident that the audience is competent enough to absorb this and think rather than get into the mood which all of us have got used to in the last 30-40 years abuse.
Background: India before Independence
Let us see the pre-independence background, the intellectual content of India. See the kind of personalities who led the Indian mind Swami Vivekananda, Sri Aurobindo, Gandhiji, Tilak- giants in their own way. Most of them were involved in politics, active politics, day-to-day politics, handling men, walking on the road, addressing meetings, solving problems between their followers. And, meeting the challenges posed by the enemy, the conspiracies hatched against them. They were handling everything, yet, they were maintaining an intellectual supremacy, and an originality which history has recorded.Let us look at the academic side. Whether it is a P.C. Ray who wrote on Indian Chemistry in 1905 or Sir C.V. Raman who wrote about mridangam, tabala, and violin, and saw the physics in it (this was in 1913); whether it was R.C. Majumdar or Radhakumud Mukherjee who saw greatness in the Indian civilization; trying to bring up points, instances, historical evidence to mirror the greatness of India to the defeated Indian race, they were all building the Indian mind brick by brick.Sri Aurobindo spoke of Sanatana Dharma as the nationalism of India. He didn't rank it as a philosophy. He brought it down to the level of emotional consciousness. Swami Vivekananda spoke of spiritual nationalism; it was the same Swami who spoke of Universal brotherhood. For them philosophy was not removed from the ground reality. The nation was at the core of their philosophy. Swami Vivekananda was called the "patriot monk".Mahatma Gandhi spoke of Rama Rajya. Bankim Chandra wrote Bande Maataram. The song, the slogans in it, the mantra in it made hundreds of people kiss the gallows smilingly and many others went to jail. It transformed the life of the people. This was the intellectual scene, this was the content. This is what powered the intellectual as well as the mass movement in India. This was the core of India, the soul of the Indian freedom movement.
The symptoms: India immediately after Independence
Imagine what happened in 1947 and after, India was able to intellectually lead not only Indians but also the whole world because of the intellectual assertion that the freedom movement brought about. Let us look at post Independence India. The persons who led post-Independence India were also trained in the same freedom movement. They went to jail, but they were not rooted in the intellectual content of the Freedom movement!The first Prime Minister of India Jawaharlal Nehru was in jail for 7 years. He was a great intellectual, purely in the sense of his capacity to reason, understand, read, and expound a thought. He told Galbrieth once, "I would be regarded as the last English Prime Minister of India." See the intellectual capability of the man, the enormously competent mind.But intellectualism doesn't exist in a vacuum. It has to be rooted in something concrete. Swami Vivekananda's universal brotherhood was rooted in India's greatness as a civilization. The concept of "Vasudaiva Kutumbakam" cannot exist without a living form, a population which believes in it and believes in itself. You need to have a society which believes in it.That is why India could invite the Jews who were butchered, raped, all over the world. In 107 out of 108 countries, this race was butchered. At least they had the courtesy and the gratitude to publish a book. The Israeli government published a book that out of 108 countries that we sought refuge, the only civilization, the only country, the only people, the only ideology that gave us refuge was the Indian civilization. They published a book, which most Indians are unaware of.And we invited the Muslims. The refugee Muslims first landed in Kutch. And they are called the Kutchy Memons even today but not the Memons who bomb Mumbai. But the Memons who lived with us.In the year 1917, many of you might be aware, a case went to the Prey Council, equivalent to the Supreme Court now. The Kutchy Memons went and told the Prey Council that we are Muslims for namesake, but we follow only the Hindu law. Please don't impose the Shariat on us. The Prey Council ruled that they are Muslims but the only sacred book they have is called "Dasaavathaara", it is not Koran. In fact they knew no language other than the Kutchy language.And in the "Dasaavathaara", nine avatharas were common between Hindus and Kutchy Memons. We call the tenth avathaara "Kalki" and they call him "Ali". The Prey Council ruled that the Shariyat law is not applicable to them. The All India Muslim League took up the case, went to the British and told them that this finding is dangerous to Islam and requested them to pass a law which will overrule this judgment. The British government passed a law in 1923 which was called the "The Kutchy Memons Act" declaring, "If a Kutchy Memon wants to follow the Shariat, allow him to do so". It doesn't mean a Muslim must follow the Shariat. Between 1923-1937, before the All India Shariat Act was passed not a single Kutchy Memon filed an affidavit with the pleathat he wants to follow the Shariaat. That was the integration prevalent in India. In 1937, when the All India Shariat Act was passed, the preamble to the act mentioned that this was being passed by a demand made by the AIML leader Mohammed Ali Jinnah. Today, the Shariat has become a part of Muslim consciousness.The purpose behind making you aware of this background is that 99% of the people who speak about the constitutional rights of the minorities or the distinctiveness of Muslim life are unaware of the facts. Till the year 1980, in Cooch Behar district, the Shariat law was not applicable. In 32 instances between 1923 and 1947 by legislation, the Shariyat law was not applicable to the Muslims. This is the extent of the intellectual gap in India.
Secularism: A Reversal and perversion of the Indian mind.
And now, coming to what is the position today. Everything that drove the freedom movement - everything that constituted the soul of the freedom movement, whether it is the Ram rajya of Gandhiji or Sanaatana Dharma of Sri Aurobindo or the spiritual patriotism of Vivekananda or the soul stirring Vande Maataram song, came to be regarded not only as unsecular but as sectarian, communal and even as something harmful to the country.Thus, there was a reversal, a perversion of the Indian mind. How did it occur? Today, the intellectualism of India means to denigrate India. There are mobile citizens and there are non- citizens deriding India. Go to the Indian Airlines counter you will find people deriding India. Go to a post office they will deride India. Go to a railway station, they will deride India. It is the English educated Indian's privilege to deride India. When I was talking to postal employees in the GPO, Chennai (a majority of them were women). I told them the basic facts about the post office. I said it is one of the most efficient postal systems in the world, one of the cheapest in the world, one of the most delivery perfect postal systems in the world. For one rupee, you are able to transport information from one end of the country to the other.And you have a postman, no where in the world this happens the postman goes to the illiterate mother and reads out the letter, he is asked to sit there and shares a cup of coffee and comes away. Money orders are delivered to the last rupee. It is an amazing system, one of the largest postal systems linking one of the most populous nations, one of the most complicated nations with so many languages.Somebody writes the address in Tamil and it gets delivered in Patna! It gets delivered to Jawaan at warfront! When I completed my speech many of the women were wiping their tears. I asked why are you crying I have only praised you. They said, "Sir, this is the first time we've been praised, otherwise we've only been abused!"You know how many people use the railways in India? A million people and that is equivalent to the population of Australia! And we have only abuses for them! Have we any idea of what this country is? India has been compared with Singapore, Hong Kong, Korea, Japan and Taiwan. You can walk across many of these countries in one night (laughs)! The best politicians, intellectuals, sociologists in India have compared us with them because, we have never understood what we are and unless you do that, you can never relate us with others.
Demonising India: Projecting a negative image.
This enormous intellectual failure, to the extent of being intellectually bankrupt, did not occur overnight, it was no accident. There is a history behind this enormous erosion. And I told you about these mobile citizens, what they have done to us. Every country has problems. There is no country without any problem. Are you aware of what is one of the most pressing problems in America today? It is incurable according to the American sociologists; even American economists have begun to agree with them. American politicians are shaken, one third of the pregnant women are school going children. And mothers mix the anti-pregnancy pill in the food without daughter's knowledge everyday.But this is not the image of America. The image of America is a technologically advanced country etc. etc. Ours is the only country where the mobile citizens of India have transformed the problems of India into the image of India -its identity is inherently related with its problems.Go to any country and the same negative stereotype is echoed that India is suffering from poverty and malnutrition. India has no drinking water. Indian women are burnt. If they are married, they are burnt, if they are widows, they are burnt. See the image that has been built about this country. Who did this? The English educated Indian.And one Kaluraam Meena (have you ever heard of him? Asks the audience to raise their hands if they have), only a small fraction of this large audience has heard of him. When Clinton came to India, he went to a village called Nayla where the villagers interacted with him. And one of the panchayat board members asked him, "Sir, I am told that in the West, all of you believe that this country is a rotten country, a backward country, a poor, hungry country. Do you also think like that?"Clinton was shaken, because he might have thought that this person might be approaching him for some favour. I will relate my experience when I went to the Carter Centre in 1993. They were talking about dispute resolution and all that. I went there to meet somebody, if not Carter, somebody else at least. His Deputy, a lady, was very hesitant to receive me. "Mr. Gurumurthy", she said, "Mr. Carter is not around, anyway, I can spare seven-eight minutes for you." I said three or four minutes of your time would do. Even before I could start, she said, "Mr.Gurumurthy, we don't have funds, we will not be able to help" (laughter from the audience). I replied, "Let us assume you have a hundred billion dollars, how much will you give me? One billion? One million?"She kept quiet, I said: "I don't need your money. I came here to discuss whether community living is an answer to disputes. I have come to discuss this because you have suggested electoral means to resolve problems in communities which have no damn idea of what an election is; whether community living is an answer because you don't what that means. She sat and discussed this with me for two hours. This is the image we have projected that anybody, who comes from India, comes to beg. Ordinary Indians did not create this impression; educated Indians created it. This is the work of civilservants, NGOs. Christian missionaries during the freedom movement created this. Indians are filthy, rotten, dirty and unhealthy, advertising abroad these are the people who need to be saved. We have to Christianise them, enlighten them, and give us money. I can understand that because it is their business. But what did we do after 1947?We repeated the same mistakes. We projected India as a country of unending problems. As I said, every country has problems. Only in India, problems become identities. How many dowry deaths take place in India in a year? Yet, India is projected as a country burning its own daughter-in-laws. And we also talk about it. Every damn newspaper will be writing about it. We believe in self-deprecation. And this goes on in the guise of intellectualism in India. And one woman, she attempted to take a film of the widows. I wrote an article, asking her to go to Lijjat Paapad. A widow brought me up. Millions ofwidows have worked to bring up their children. It is a nation, which believes in Tapasya. You may not believe in it but you are an exception. Compare Deepa Mehta"s attitude with Sarada Maa's who was the wife, who became a widow after Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa's passing away. She went to the very same place where Deepa Mehta went and saw the widows. Sarada Maa said, "These widows are so pure, they are an illustration and an example to me." Deepa Mehta saw them as prostitutes. The widows have already been hurt once. Why are you sprinkling salt on their wounds?I am very sorry to speak about this, but I have to, this audience is enlightened enough to understand me. Indian women are sexually unsatisfied and so they are becoming lesbians? This is one bloody story against us, about us. This is the image of Indian men and women, and this film is in English. Catherine Mayo wrote a book and Mahatma Gandhi said about it, "I have no time to read this filth. But I am under a compulsion, under pressure because this has been published abroad. The image of India has been rubbished and I have to counter it." With this introduction, he wrote about the book and said that this woman is a gutter inspector (laughs).The intellectualism in India is gutter inspection- people are of this kind etc. Understand the level of erosion.
Indian Politics: Weaknesses and Pitfalls
Let us look at the post independence scenario from the macro level. We installed a system of governance and it postulated all the important goals for the Indian society and polity, which was gulped by the Indian academia, by the Indian intellectuals. We will have a classless society through socialism. We will have a casteless society through equality. We will have a faithless society through secularism. We will have a modern society devoid of tradition.Instead of politics restructuring caste, caste has restructured politics today. Political parties are talking only in terms of castes. Has any Indian intellectual come to terms with caste? You must understand caste if you want to handle the Indian society. You cannot say that I want to have a very different kind of society. You have to handle the Indian sentiment, the Indian tradition and Indian beliefs. You can't clone a society of your choice in India. Social engineering has failed everywhere; the masters of social engineering have given up the Communists - whether it is sociologists or economists you have to accept a society as it is. You can only increase the momentum of evolution in the society; you can't forcibly bring about a revolution today. But, Indian leaders and intellectuals, till today, keep abusing caste. They don't know how to handle the caste. Let me narrate to you how a community in Karaikudi handled this issue. The Chettiyar community assembled top businessmen, professionals from all over the world for 3 days to discuss their culinary act, how to construct houses, what languages they use, what old adages and stories their grand parents used to tell, what clothes they used to wear; not one word of politics, mind you. This was not even published in the newspapers. Intellectuals were not even aware of it. So, caste is a very important instrument in India, you may not like it. Unfortunately, every intellectual leads a caste life inside, but outside he is casteless! He is cloning an approach outside. There is no intellectual honesty at all.And what happened in the case of secularism? In India, any one who is not a Hindu is per se secular. In the year 1947, just 10 years had passed after the Muslim League demanded and got the country partitioned, the leader who voted for the resolution for the partition of India was Quazi Millath Ismail, (who was leading the same Muslim League on the Indian side), the Congress certified that the Muslim League in Kerala is secular and hence it can associate with them. The Muslim League outside Kerala is communal with the same president! Three hundred and fifty crores are spent today for the Haj pilgrims out of the funds of secular India every year. No one can raise an objection. At least I can understand why politicians don't want to do that because theywant the Muslim votes. But what about the intelligentsia. What about newspaper editors and journalists? And academicians? None of them speak out. The reason is that we have produced a state dependent intellectualism in India. We don't produce Nakkeerans anymore, our intellectualism is a derivative of the State and the State is a derivative of the polity. And in turn the polity is a derivative of the mind of Macaulay and Marx.
The Indian education system: A Legacy of Macaulay.
This Macaulayian system of education is a poison injected into our system. At least I had the opportunity of schooling in Tamil and hence could withstand the corruption that this English education brings with it. This corruption begins the moment the child steps out of the house. He is told to converse in English at home. This did not happen even in pre-Independence India, even when Macaulay wrote that notorious note sitting in Ooty. How many of you know Macaulay's formulation? Just those two or three sentences at least which form the crux - "We require an education system in India which will produce a class of interpreters, who will be Indian in colour and Englishmen in taste, opinions and morals."This is the education system, which we have been continuing with, which was earlier conceived to produce clerks for the British Empire. If you have to differ from an English educated person you have to differ only through the English language. If you have to abuse somebody, even that has to be done in English! If you abuse the Anglicised Indian, he will not find fault with the blame but with the grammar in your language! This is the extent to which a foreign language has possessed us. But, we must master English, that is needed, but why do we have to become slaves of the English language? We must use that language as a tool, but why do we consider it as a status symbol? This is the influence of Macaulay.If you want to understand the Macaulay/Marxist mix in India, you have to go a little back to see how Marxism grew out of the Christian civilisation. I recommend that you read the Nov 27, 1999 edition of the Newsweek, which describes how the Christian idea of the end of time called the "apocalypse", influenced the entire history, art, music, prognosis, sociology, economics, and the entire attitude of the Christian civilization towards the non-Christian civilisations.A Christian scholar who describes how Communism grew out of Christianity has written it. In 1624, Anna Baptists, a group of Christians who believed in the basic tenets of Christianity seized power in a particular place, banned private property and use of any book other than the Bible. When Marxism came up later through the exposition of Das Capital, the Marxists began expounding their doctrine as an extension of Christianity.The thesis, antithesis and synthesis of making Christianity acceptable to the age of enlightenment was the Hegelian way demanded rationalisation of Christianity in the days of the Protestant movement. Hegel began with a disagreement, then started interacting with Christianity and ultimately ended up accepting Christianity. You can see the same phenomenon with Marxist postulates- "capitalism is my enemy, we have to deal with capitalism" and finally "we have to find a synthesis with capitalism".
Marx on India
In fact in the year 1857, Marx wrote about India, " India was a prosperous civilisation. It had a very high standard of living. Their productivity was higher. India was an economic giant." It was so. If you look at the statistics in 1820, India's share of world production was 19%, and England's share was 9%, please note that Britain was deep into the industrial revolution at that time. 18% of the world trade was in Indian hands at that time whereas 8% was the figure for Britain and 1% for US. When 80% of the American population was engaged in agriculture, India had 60% of the population engaged innon-agricultural occupations. This is supposed to be an index of development. All these statistics can be found in Paul S. Kennedy's "Rise and Fall of Great Powers". So, Marx says, "This was a great civilisation which had produced prosperous communities." A prosperity which went deep into the villages. In the early stages, when the East India Company came to Murshidabad, an unknown name in Bengal today the Britishers were awe struck with its prosperity and wrote that it was more prosperous than London. This is no more disputed anyway, even by Indian intellectuals. Marx acknowledges the fact that this was a prosperous country and also had equality but unfortunately, he says for 2000 years the society did not change nor did it allow anyrevolutionary forces to enter! In his worldview human beings cannot progress without a revolution!In the two articles on British rule in India and the East India Company- history and results written by Marx, quoted in the New York daily "Karl Marx does grant though somewhat in a grudging manner that "materially, India was fairly industrious and prosperous even before the onset of the British rule. He said that India was an exporting country till 1830 and started importing because it had opened its trade to the British." Many of you may not be aware that the kings in India had no right to over the lands, which came under the jurisdiction of panchayats. Whether it was Emperor Ashoka or Bhagavan Sri Ramachandra, the rule was the same. It was changed only during the British rule under the Ryotwari system. Even the Mughals could not changeit. It was also found that family communities were based on domestic industry, with the peculiar combination of hand-spinning, hand- weaving, agriculture etc. which gave them a supporting power.The misery inflicted by the British on Hindusthan is of an entirely different kind and infinitely more intense than what it had to suffer before civil wars, invasions,revolutions, conquests, famines all these did not go deeper than the surface. But, England broke the entire framework of Hindusthan, the symptoms of reconstitution are yet to emerge clearly. This loss of the Old World without the emergence of a new order imparts a particular melancholy to the present misery of Hindus and Hindusthan. Marx goes on to say that the British interference destroyed the union between agriculture and the manufacturing industry. Suddenly he remarks that the English interference dissolved this semi barbarian, semi-civilised community.He concedes that they were prosperous, that they organised their affairs well, they have a measure of independence, they have a democracy at the lowest level, all this has been conceded. Then, how does he classify us as "semi-barbarian and semi-civilised communities"? He notes that India's social condition remained unaltered since remote antiquity. This is important, for him revolution is the core, the soul and centre of the society. This society never had a revolution; hence it cannot be modern! There is an underlying assumption, which considers revolution as a pre- requisite for being modern.Hence, he feels that the destruction wrought by the British is the inevitable revolution needed for the development of the Indian society. England had vested interests, violent interests in bringing about this "revolution". But, the question in focus is whether mankind can fulfill its destiny without a fundamental revolution in the social state? Whatever might have been the crimes of England, she was the unconscious tool of history in bringing about a revolution, whatever bitterness the spectacle of crumbling of an ancient world may evoke, from the point of history, we have to exclaim - should thistorture torment us?Since it brings us great pleasure, were not the rule of Taimur, souls delivered without measure? It is a creative destruction in the cause of revolution according to him. If you see Indian Communism which was expounded by a man called Rajane Palme Dutt. Has anyone heard of his name? (Two persons from the audience raised their hands). Two. He was born of a white woman and an Indian father in England. He was in charge of Indian Communism for 25 years. He never came to India though. In his book, "India Today", he laid down the framework, the policy for Indian Communists, what must bedone, what is the kind of revolution needed in India, the development model etc. In those days, even good photographs of India were not available, yet this man spoke about India sitting in London. He came to India for the first time in 1946, ten years after he wrote this book and realised that he had to revise it. He stayed for 30 days! A visitor to India was the father of Indian Communism! And from that day till date, the Indian Communist has never been with India. Not only that, they took over the Indian mind in the post- independence period. It is these Marxist/Macaulayist intellectuals who will certify whether somebody is modern or traditional, backward or secular or communal, progressive or regressive. They were running an Open Air University issuingcertificates every day through the press. They have branded me as a communal man.
Labels: Tools for stultifying important debates
Labels substituted debate in India. Simply a label - communal, that is enough. Four or five editorials will appear preaching that Gurumurthy is communal and the matter must end there. No one would even discuss what communalism is! Religious fundamentalism, RSS/Bajrang Dal fundamentalism! Anyone, who exposes the Hindu cause in India is a fundamentalist! We have seen this term being used so casually and superfluously and incessantly by politicians and newspapers. Has anyone bothered to understand the meaning of religious fundamentalism going beyond these slogans?Secularism is an intra-Christian phenomenon. It has no application outside Christianity at all. Secularism resolved the fight between two powerful persons, the King and the Archbishop who were loyal to the same faith, to the same prophet, to the same book and to the same Church. It is not a multi-religious virtue.A multi-religious idea, a multi-religious living, a multi-religious culture, a multi-religious fabric or a multi-religious structure was unknown outside India. There was usually only one faith and no place for any other, not even for a variation of the same faith. Fifty six thousand Bahais were butchered in one hour in Tehran! They believed in the same Koran, in the same Muhammad, the only difference was that they said that Muhammad might come in another form again. That was their only fault and they were all butchered.But we have no such problem. We can play with God, we can abuse God, and we can beat God!If I say that monotheistic religions have had a violent history, and the reply will be "you are communal." But this is exactly the same conclusion that a study in Chicago revealed, probably, the only study on fundamentalism conducted by anybody so far. This fundamentalism project brought out five volumes each volume about eight hundred to nine hundred pages. The conclusion they have reached is that, "Fundamentalism is a virtue of Abrahamic religions. It is not applicable to eastern faiths at all.What about the Indian intellectuals? Day in and day out, they keep abusing us as fundamentalists, communalists, that we are anti-secular and it is being gulped down by everyone including those from the IITs and IIMs, lawyers and police officials, journalists and politicians. Look at this intellectual bankruptcy.An inner revolution: The much needed changeWe need a mental revolution, an inner revolution; we need to get rooted in our own soul. There is a missing element in India today and it is this. That element has to be restored otherwise Indian intellectualism will only be a carbon copy of Western intellectualism. We are borrowing not only their language and idiom but also we trying to copy the very soul of the West.So, all that we need to do is (it is impossible to share the entire depth of the subject in one evening's lecture programme. I have only tried out point out in an incoherent way, how a completely fresh mindset has to be evolved. And unless it evolves, the Indian mind, which leads India, will be in a perpetual state of confusion ordinary people are perfectly all right.Consider for example how thirty years before there was a question whether Tamil Nadu will be a part of India or not. The Dravidian parties have taken over the mind of Tamil Nadu. It had virtually ceased to be a part of India. And their attack was aimed at Hinduism. The moment you attack Hinduism you attack India. This is a fact. Neither politicians nor intellectuals nor academicians realised this. But, the ordinary people did. Just three religious movements- the Ayyappa movement, the Kavadi movement and the Melmaruvatthur Adi Para Sakti movement- have finished the Dravidian ideology to avery great extent. It is only the outer shell of Dravidianism that remains today. Tamil Nadu has been brought back successfully by Ayyappa, Muruga and Para Sakti, not by the Congress or the BJP or any other political party.How many people have intellectually assessed the depth and the reach, the deep influence of religion over the people? A paradigm shift in a study of India would be an intellectual approach to this subject. Or consider for example its influence on economics. Many of you by now would have studied economics in some detail. Take a look at the society in India and compare the figures for public expenditure for private purposes, which is called the social security system in the West. 30% of the GDP in America is spent for social security, 48% in England, 49% in France, 56% in Germany and 67% in Sweden. This private expenditure is nothing but what you and I do by taking care of parents, our wives and children, brothers and sisters and grandparents, widowed sisters and distant relatives. This expenditure is met by the society in India. And there is no law in India that people should do this. We consider it as our dharma. A person went to a court and demanded a divorce from his father and mother. The American court granted it saying that the only relationship that exists between two persons of America is their citizenship. The law in America recognises no other relationship ... In the year 1978, an interesting incident occurred in Manhattan. There was a power failure for six hours. Manhattan is in the heart of New York where you find the UN building, the World Trade Centre and the head quarters of many multinational companies. One third of the world's health is concentrated in Manhattan. Within six hours, hundreds of people were killed, robbed and assaulted. We don't need electricity to behave in a civilised manner. How many intellectuals in India have ever articulated from such a sympathetic approach? We have only tarnished the image of this country. We must be ashamed of this.
Conclusion
I shall conclude my speech with this example. When Sri Aurobindo came to Pondicherry in search of a new light. He used to get five rupees from a friend and four persons used to live on this. A cup of tea was one of the luxuries they used to have everyday in the morning, on the Pondicherry beach.Sri Aurobindo used to always look at a mystic called Kullachamy (Subramanya Bharati has written a poem about him). He used to behave like a madman, wandering here and there, throwing stones ... One, day he came near Sri Aurobindo, lifted his cup of tea and emptied it in front of him. Then he showed the empty cup to him, placed it on the table and went away. Sri Aurobindo's friends were angry and wanted to chase him. Sri Aurobindo stopped them and said, "This is the kind of instruction I had been expecting from him. He wants me to empty my mind and start thinking afresh."That is my appeal to you.

THE TRUTH ABOUT KANDHAMAL(orrisa violence) by s.gurumurthy
source:gurumurthy.net

Contrary to what Indians here and Christians elsewhere have been told by evangelical missionaries, media and seculars, the Kandhamal arson is not, as it has been concocted, a clash between Hindu and Christian faithfuls at all! The truth is that it is a continuation of the clashes that had started in early 1990s between the 'Kandha' tribe, who did not convert to Christianity and 'Pana' caste, most of whom had converted. Religion is the spice added to this mix.

Kandhas are a Scheduled Tribe [ST] and 'Panas' are a Scheduled Caste [SC]. Both are entitled to reservation benefits under the Constitution, yet, with a difference. While the ST reservation will continue even if the beneficiary becomes a Christian, the SC reservation will cease on conversion. So, when the Panas became Christians they lost their reservation rights. But, under the influence of the missionaries and secular parties, and claiming to speak the same language 'Kui' as Kandhas, they agitated for ST status. So that, despite becoming Christians, their reservation rights would continue if they got listed as ST. But, the Kandhas, who saw that their share of reservation would be cut into if the Pana demand were conceded, began resisting it. Thus, reservation is a cause of the Kandha-Pana divide, but not the only cause; dispute over land is another.

The Kandhas were the traditional rulers of Kandhamal and that is the reason the district bears their name. The lands at Kandhamal belonged to them by the traditional rights that go with the tribes. It was their misfortune that the Kandhas chose to remain true to their traditional faith and resisted conversion to Christianity. The Panas were fortunate as most of them became Christians accepting the allurements offered by over 360 evangelical outfits operating in Kandhamal and harvesting souls for The 'Only True Faith' and 'God' and, in the process, raking in millions and millions of dollars from global funds for the noble harvest. Besides the perks that conversion yielded, the Panas, as Christian minorities, have now the protection of the state, patronage of the media and secular parties, and above all, the powerful support of the Christian nations all over the world. The Kandhas, whose only fault was that they did not convert, have none of these. So they suffer all the limitations of the majority community under the skewed Indian Constitution that clubs the Hindus in Mumbai with the Kandhas in Khandmal! With such powerful secular forces ranged against them, the Kandhas are being further corned in two ways. One, the Panas who have become relatively better off have gradually taken over much of the lands of the Kandhas, by commerce and fraud, as the Khands see it. Two, on top of it, the Panas are also claiming the ST status to grab a share of the reservation from the Kandhas, and thanks to the secular parties' support, seem to be nearly getting it. In substance thus, it is a Khand vs Pana war over land rights and reservation. Surprisingly, in the face of the 'itch of his colleagues' to paste Hindu-Christian label on Kandhamal, Shivraj Patil, the Union Home Minister, saw the truth and 'refused to treat' the ongoing clashes 'as communal'! But, more surprisingly, only one newspaper, a financial daily, reported his view while others had blacked it out!!

This is not the first time that the Kandhas and the Panas are at war. In the year 1992, the war between them lasted for three months, resulting in over 20 deaths. The issue was then, as it is now, land and reservation, which was the very consequence of the conversion of the Panas to Christianity. The Panas got financial and political advantage and also gained lands that belonged to the Kandhas. But though they lost their reservation benefits in the bargain, they began reclaiming it through their demand for ST status. It needs no seer to say that it is religious conversions that sequenced into hostilities between the Kandhas disadvantaged as Hindu majority and the Panas protected as Christian minority. No major clash between the Kandhas and the Panas was reported before the missionaries entered Khandmal. The Christian population in Kandhamal which was some 2% in 1961 and 6% in 1971, rose to 27% in 2001.These numbers speak volumes without words. Yet, now the missionaries, media and the seculars shout from house tops that only after VHP and Bajrang Dal have entered the scene, there are clashes and the minorities are being butchered. In 1992 there was no VHP worth the name in Orissa; and the Bajrang Dal was not yet born. Yet bloody clashes did occur in Kandhaamal between the Khands and the Panas. This points to only the one and the only fact, namely, that it is not the VHP or the Bajrang Dal, but, the entry of global evangelism aided by unlimited global funds for harvesting the Panas to Christianity that has turned the Kandhas and the Panas hostile to each other and had led to clashes between them. Actually it was the unresisted conversions that brought the Hindu outfits into Kandhamal. Now their resistance is faulted. But what about the cause – the global evangelical conversions powered by huge global funds? Why is the entire secular establishment deafeningly silent on this.
And where does Swami Laksmananda fit into this theatre of Kandhas and Panas, evangelists and the seculars and why was he murdered? A vedanta scholar, his only fault was that, when the establishment had let down particularly the Khands, who refused convert, he stood by them. He did to resist what the missionaries did to convert. Namely, he ran schools, colleges, satsangs, and discourses that had become a great hit with the Kandhas and also the Panas who refused to convert. He became the biggest roadblock to the missionaries in their harvest. He was targeted by the evangelists for a long time. In December 2007 an attempt was made on him in the village of a Congress MP and a Christian convert. Again, some 24 hours before he was murdered, the Swami got a letter threatening that he would be done away with if he did not close down his work against conversion in Kandhamal. He personally lodged that letter as FIR with the police. Yet, the Swami, along with four of his disciples, was done away with the very next evening. The Kandhas reacted violently when their best hope, the Swami, was snuffed out. This was the context for the August 2008 clashes that was always waiting to happen between the Kandhas and the Panas. Yet it was no one-sided affair, as made out to be. A secular newspaper has investigated and reported that the Panas responded to Kandhas attack with gun fire and killed four which has alerted the State to the possibility of the emergence of Christian-extremist alliance in Kandhamal.

This the story of how Kandhamal, the backward district of Orissa, competes for global status with Bangaluru now, but for entirely different reasons. While the fortunate Bangaluru became the pride of India thanks to the twenty-year old software techies who have put the nation on the knowledge map of the world, the unfortunate Kandhamal has become the shame of India, thanks to the seculars aggregating votes and the evangelists harvesting souls, with the media turning blind eye to both and finally to truth.

Response to Hindustan Times Article "Whos the real Hindu?"

By: Bandyopadhyay Arindam.source:ivarta.com

(This is a response by Dr. Arindam Bandyopadhyay to the article by By Mr. Karan Thapar, Hindustan Times, August 30, 2008)

Dear Mr. Thapar

I am responding to your recent article on Hindustan Times. Hope you will have the opportunity to see it.

Mr. Thapar: Does the VHP have the right to speak for you or I?

Dr. Bandyopadhyay: Definitely not for you, even if I am to assume that you are a Hindu, may be accidentally by birth, as was claimed by our first Prime Minister.

Mr. Thapar: Do they reflect our views? Do we endorse their behaviour? They call themselves the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, but who says they represent all of us?

Dr. Bandyopadhyay: I agree. They definitely do not represent people like you and your journalist - intellectual crowd like Vir Sanhgvi, Rajdeep Sardesai, Sagarika Ghose and Barkha Dutt, nor the activists of the kind of Teesta Setalvaad, or the politicians like the Lalus and the Mulayams.

Mr. Thapar: This Sunday morning, I want to draw a clear line of distinction between them and everyone else. My hunch is many of you will agree.

Dr. Bandyopadhyay: Now where did you get the right for doing that? Did we give you the right? How did you imagine that even if we do not agree with VHP, we will agree with you?

Mr. Thapar: Let me start with the question of conversion - an issue that greatly exercises the VHP

Dr. Bandyopadhyay: and, for your information, a certain Mr. Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi who said "proselytizing under the cloak of humanitarian work is unhealthy, to say the least" and "If I had the power and could legislate, I should stop all proselytising.... it is the deadliest poison that ever sapped the fountain of truth.")

Mr. Thapar: I imagine there are hundreds of millions of Hindus who are peaceful, tolerant, devoted to their faith, but above all, happy to live alongside Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains and Jews.

Dr. Bandyopadhyay: Smart move - lump all the non-Hindu religions together. Please leave the Sikh, Buddhist, Jains and Jews alone - they do not belong to the faiths you seem to represent- the "peaceful, tolerant, devoted to their faith" Muslims and Christians.

And "happy to live alongside"?

Yes, we did live happily alongside for the 700 years of Muslim rule. Only we lost maybe just a 100 million Hindus and had to accept, Jizya tax and put up to few atrocities such as having our daughters and sisters raped, our temples vandalized and razed and our properties taken away, but mostly we were happy to live like a second or third class citizen - we sure lived alongside.

Are you also representing the Hindus of Pakistan and Bangladesh, in your hundreds of millions? May be they don"t count since they are not Indians. Should I, say, include Hindus of Jammu and Kashmir or do Hindu minorities matter like their Islamic and Christian brethren?

And what about the 200 years of British rule, which Will Durant described as the most sordid and criminal exploitation of one nation by another in all recorded history.
Let me remind you what Lord Curzon, the late Viceroy of India, had said about India, "Powerful Empires existed and flourished here while Englishmen were still wandering painted in the woods, and while the British Colonies were a wilderness and a jungle. India has left a deeper mark upon the history, the philosophy, and the religion of mankind, than any other terrestrial unit in the universe."

And when the British left after a successful "loot" of over a trillion dollar (in today"s value) that funded the British Industrial revolution, India was transformed from a producer of about 25 percent of world GDP in 1750, to only 2 percent in 1900. Those 200 years of "benevolent" Christian British rule, left India with 20 million famine-related deaths, a literacy rate of 11% (1947) and a life expectancy of 25yrs (1921).
Sure some people did happily live alongside at that time and some still do praise the Christian British for "civilizing" us.

How about Goa under Inquisition from the Portuguese Church- requested by the venerated St. Francis Xavier himself, an unmatched saga of mayhem for over two centuries that outlasted even the inquisition in Europe and left less than 20,000 adherents to the their Pre-Christian faith from an original 250,000.

Mr. Thapar: If any one of us were to change our faith how does it affect the next man or woman?

Dr. Bandyopadhyay: Now let"s start to look at some opinions of a few famous people about Christianity and Conversions.

Let me start with Swami Vivekananda. I hope he passes your scrutiny as an original Hindu of a Non- VHP kind. He was sent to represent Hindu Dharma to Chicago over a century ago - thankfully he had no secular media to face. And these are his words, "They come to my country and abuse my forefathers, my religion, and everything; they walk near a temple and say "you idolaters, you will go to hell" ... "If all India stands up, and takes all the mud that is at the bottom of the Indian Ocean and throws it up against the Western countries, it will not be doing an infinitesimal part of that which you are doing to us."

How about some westerner"s comment? Thomas Jefferson, the former US President, had mentioned, "Millions of innocent men, women and children, since the introduction of Christianity, have been burnt, tortured, fined, imprisoned; yet we have not advanced an inch towards uniformity. ...were the Pope, or his allies, to send in mission to us some thousands of Jesuit priests to convert us to their orthodoxy, I suspect that we should deem and treat it as a national aggression on our peace and faith."
This is what Pitrim Sorokin, a Harvard sociologist had said, "During the past few centuries the most belligerent, the most aggressive, the most rapacious, the most power-drunk section of humanity has been precisely, the Christian Western world..During these centuries western Christendom had invaded all other continents; its armies followed by priests and merchants have subjugated, robbed or pillaged most of the non-Christians. Native Americans, African, Australian, Asiatic populations have been subjugated to this peculiar brand of Christian "love" which has generally manifested itself in pitiless destruction, enslavement, coercion, destruction of the cultural values, institutions, the way of life of the victims and the spread of alcoholism, venereal disease, commercial cynicism and the like."

And this is what thy holy Pope John Paul II, in 1999, on his visit to India said, "Just as in the first millennium, the Cross was planted on the soil of Europe, and in the second on that of the Americas and Africa, we can pray that in the third Christian millennium a great harvest of faith will be reaped in this vast and vital continent (of Asia)."
I could expand or should l trust your journalistic curiosity to do some search yourself?
In case you still do not get the message - it is about preservation of dharma, of righteousness, of choosing between good and evil, of standing against atrocities, of pride and self-esteem, of patriotism and liberty).

Mr. Thapar: And even if that happens with inducements, it can only prove that the forsaken faith

Dr. Bandyopadhyay: Do you mean "Hinduism? Did your mask slip for a moment? Mr. Thapar: had a tenuous and shallow hold. Dr. Bandyopadhyay: on people of your stripe. Mr. Thapar: So why do the VHP and its unruly storm troopers, the Bajrang Dal, froth at the mouth if you, I or our neighbours convert? What is it to do with them? Let me put it bluntly, even crudely. If I want to sell my soul - and trade in my present gods for a new lot - why shouldn"t I?

Dr. Bandyopadhyay: Sure you can sell your soul and you proved it well. But let me reinforce the basics, never taught or learnt by you.

The reason is the concept of Bhartvarsha, the land later named as India, and her over 8000 yrs old Civilization, called the Indus - Saraswati Civilization. It is the purity of Bharat"s religion and culture and the tradition of her indigenous people who later came to be labeled as "Hindus" by foreigners. People of different faiths, languages and customs, lived and survived in this civilization. Jews and Parsis got their shelter after been persecuted everywhere. Tribes and sects lived happily in remote places without fear of their identity being trampled. And that was all because the "forsaken faith" of Hinduism did not preach proselytizing.

India is not a Muslim or Christian country even after 900 years of invasion, torture and annihilation because of the Hindus. You may not agree but there are many who do agree with what Annie Besant had to say, "After a study of some forty years and more of the great religions of the world, I find none so perfect, none so scientific, none so philosophical and none so spiritual than the great religion known by the name of Hinduism. Make no mistake, without Hinduism, India has no future...And if Hindus do not maintain Hinduism who shall save it? If India"s own children do not cling to her faith, who shall guard it? India alone can save India and India and Hinduism are one.
So if by this time you do not understand, Mr. Thapar, let me tell you once more clearly that the true Hindus, who have not sold their souls and who do not trade their gods, feel that the existence of Bharatvarsha and her Spiritual soul is threatened.

It is the only country in the world where the majority of the population are actually fighting for their right to live peacefully without being terrorized, to safeguard their culture and tradition, to prevent their history from being wiped out, to save their temples from being taken over, to defend their faiths in their religious deities and icons, to save their saints from being humiliated and murdered, to preserve their heritage from being destroyed, to pray to their own God of faith and to visit their own pilgrim sites, in their own country and with their own money.

Their unity is deliberately being divided. Their elected government and politicians are deaf to their needs. Taxes paid by them are openly and specifically allocated for the prosperity and development of their adversaries. Their newspaper and television media, by and large, ridicule them and identify with foreign faiths with foreign masters. Atrocities committed on them are not even reportable or "narrated objectively" whereas a mere allegation against them is good for headline news and warrants unqualified condemnation, without investigation or verification.

There is no body that they can trust. They have no spokesmen, no Government to ensure their welfare, no media to express their anguish, no academic to pen their chronicle.
They have their backs to the wall.

Their country has already been broken down to pieces - they cannot allow any further fragmentation.

They have realized that they have to fight back.

And that is what has started to happen - if you can put your ears to the ground - be it in Orissa or Jammu, you can hear the reverberations.

Mr. Thapar: Even if the act diminishes me in your eyes, it"s my right to do so. So if thousands or even millions of Dalits, who have been despised and ostracized for generations, choose to become Christian, Buddhist or Muslim, either to escape the discrimination of their Hindu faith or because some other has lured them with food and cash, it"s their right.

Dr. Bandyopadhyay: I was sure waiting for this topic to surface.

Have you ever heard of Dalit Christian Mr. Thapar? A little enquiry on your part will tell you that the Dalit Christians, who account for over 70% of the 25 million Christians in India, have been largely converted by exploitation, coercion and the false hopes of egalitarian status but still suffer from the segregation, oppression and discrimination, only now at the hands of their fellow Christians of the upper castes. Conversion into the new faith has not redeemed them from the stigma of "untouchablity". A Dalit Christian has minimal say in the leadership and control, has minimal access to education (despite a wide network of Christian missionary schools and colleges), job opportunities and entrepreneurship development. Even in the local church communities, controlled by Christians of the "upper castes", Dalit Christians often have separate entries, separate place to sit, separate cups at the Eucharistic celebration, separate communion rails, and even separate cemeteries. Thus ends the Christian promise of equality, human dignity and egalitarian status through conversion. Have you ever criticized the Christian organizations for their Dalits and why they are "ostracized"?

You are fully aware that caste discrimination is a degenerated, socio-political evil manifestation of an ancient vocational order according to mental inclinations and unrelated to birth right. You also know this has been declared illegal in modern India. India had a President, a deputy Prime Minister, a Chief Justice, and currently has the Chief Minister of its largest state belonging to the lower caste. India is also the only country that has had religious minorities as its head of state not once but repeatedly, after its modern birth. But give me an honest answer. Who do you think perpetuates this social evil any more than our politicians and our media? So why is it that this ill politics of contemporary Indian society, of its lawlessness, exploitations and dominations, conveniently blamed primarily on Hindu religion?

Have you ever demonized the "faith of Christianity" for its Crusades, Inquisitions, anti Semitisms, witch burnings, black slaveries and the destructions of Mayans, Incas and Australian aboriginal civilizations, the African and Asian Colonization, besides the two world wars.

As a leading media personality, what have you or your clan done to eradicate this system, other than parroting the same politicians and laying the blame on Hindu Dharma that ensured a just state for thousands of years, with no caste problem, until the British landed on its soil?

And how does that justify Christian proselytizing and domination over the lower castes and tribes of the Indian populace?

At least bring a modicum of integrity to your profession, Mr. Thapar. Can you, for once, clear the web of lies, half-truths and disinformation that clouds your thoughts and write a "truthful" article on any of the topics like Joshua project, the 10/40 window, the Project Thessalonica, the Maranatha Volunteers, etc.

Arguably you may believe you should ask them to reconsider, although I would call that interference (so conversion, by hook or by crook is okay but asking to reconsider is "interference"), but you certainly have no duty or right to stop them. In fact, I doubt if you are morally correct in even seeking to place obstacles in their way. The so-called Freedom of Religion Acts, which aim to do just that, are, in fact, tantamount to obstruction of conversion laws and therefore, at the very least, questionable. (So, the law of the nation is now incompatible with your Christian sympathy. How patriotic? Can you tell me why the church leaders including the holy one at Vatican, while saying that they do not indulge in forced conversions, are so worked up and demand the revocation of the law?

However, what"s even worse is how the VHP responds to this matter. Periodically they resort to violence including outright murder (So when an octogenarian VHP leader and his associates are killed brutally by mercenaries, it is not really violence or murder. It was the evangelist way of giving the message of their only God to a "heathen" idolator. It is okay to do so because they are subhuman Hindus of the VHP kind.)

Mr. Thapar: What happened to Graham Staines in Orissa was not unique

Dr. Bandyopadhyay: I am sure you know very well that it had nothing to do with VHP or Bajrang Dal, but you had to make your "anti VHP case". If you honestly do not know, I request that you consider an alternative profession.

Keeping in mind your selective amnesia and incompetence, I seriously doubt whether you remember the unique, sister Abhaya "suicide" case, who was "blessed" by the father in the Kottayam convent. It is been reported that a former Congress Prime Minister had tried hushing up the case and that the High court, had reprimanded the CBI for tampering with some relevant CDs. The case remains undecided for 16yrs.

Mr. Thapar: Funny, no body called this a failure of the "Hindu" judicial system.

Last week it happened again. Apart from the utter and contemptible criminality of such behavior, is this how we Hindus wish to behave? Is this how we want our faith defended? Is this how we want to be seen? I have no doubt the answer is no. An unequivocal, unchanging and ever-lasting NO!

Dr. Bandyopadhyay: Depends on what kind of Hindu you represent.

In case you do not know, protest and violence is a natural instinct of all life forms, especially to defend the integrity of their being. Surely, you cannot be dreaming of depriving Hindus of their right to self defense. Though the world likes to believe and promote the "Gandhi" image of Hindus, there are other icons of Hindus - starting from the "mythological" Ram and Krishna to the Shivaji and Rana Pratap and the Subhas Bose and Bhagat Singh.

Mr. Thapar: The only problem is it can"t be heard. And it needs to be. I therefore believe the time has come for the silent majority of Hindus - both those who ardently practice their faith as well as those who were born into it but may not be overtly religious or devout - to speak out.

Dr. Bandyopadhyay: They are speaking out - listen to the people of Jammu, Orissa and Gujarat We cannot accept the desecration of churches, the burning to death of innocent caretakers of orphanages, the storming of Christian and Muslim hamlets even if these acts are allegedly done in defense of our faith.

(But we should gladly accept the desecration of our temples, the Christian - Marxist mercenaries killing our Hindu monks and the Islamic terrorist bombing our hospitals.
We should accept the diversion of temple funds for churches and mosques, and the subsidy from the Hindu majority"s money to visit pilgrimages to Mecca and Jerusalem.
We should also accept the largest state subsidy to those secessionists of Kashmir, who howl anti-India slogans and hoist Pakistani flag, and yet successfully clamor to disallow the temporary use of a mere 40 hectares of land for the Hindus, on way to a pilgrimage in their own country.

We need to assure them that Hindus will take it lying down.

Why don"t you show us the way, Mr. Thapar?

Why don"t you announce Mr. Thapar, that the next time a Christian or Muslim wants to kill some Hindu that you choose to be the sacrificial cow; if they want to rape somebody they can pick her up from your family; and if they want to practice the art of "suicide bombing" they can go to your office address?

Mr. Thapar: Indeed, they do not defend but shame Hinduism. That"s my central point. I"m sorry but when I read that the VHP has ransacked and killed I"m not just embarrassed, I feel ashamed. Never of being hindu but of what some Hindus do in our shared faith"s name.

Dr. Bandyopadhyay: You already expressed a solution - sell your soul and trade your god. Have you considered the possibility that the majority of one billion Hindus may be embarrassed by people like you or actually consider the VHP inadequate to meet the challenge of defending India"s honor.

Mr. Thapar: This is why it"s incumbent on Naveen Patnaik, Orissa"s Chief Minister, to take tough, unremitting action against the VHP and its junior wing, the Bajrang Dal.

Dr. Bandyopadhyay: What kind of action Mr. Thapar? The one you prescribed for Mr. Modi, some time ago after the foolish, rabid Hindu fanatic Gujaratis elected him again as their Chief Minister? Do you remember writing, "Only the sudden removal of Narendra Modi can stop this..."

How many Modis are you willing to stop? How do you propose to derail the progressive Gujrati in his march towards his freedom - economic and spiritual? Did you not hear the five crore voices speaking through the ballot in Gujrat or the voices in Himachal and Karnataka?

Mr. Thapar: This is a test not just of his governance, but of his character. And I know and accept this could affect his political survival. But when it"s a struggle between your commitment to your principles and your political convenience is there room for choice? For ordinary politicians, possibly, but for the Naveen I know, very definitely not.

So let me end by saying: I"m waiting, Naveen. In fact, I want to say I"m not alone. There are hundreds of millions of Hindus, like you and me, waiting silently - but increasingly impatiently. Please act for all of us.

Dr. Bandyopadhyay: It is said that during the British rule there was never more than 20-30 thousand British national in India at any one particular time. The British managed to rule for 190 years with the help of the "brown sahibs" who, as Thomas Macaulay defined, are a class who may be interpreters between us and the millions whom we govern, a class of persons Indian in blood and colour, but English in taste, in opinions, words and intellect.

Today how much we wish that the British had taken their pet brown sahibs along with them. Max Muller, more than a century ago, while translating the Vedas, had wished that his translation "will tell to a great extent... the fate of India, and on the growth of millions of souls in that country. It is the root of their religion, and to show them what the root is, I feel sure, the only way of uprooting all that has sprung from it during the last 3000 years."

If he was alive today, Mr. Muller could have been a very happy man to know you Mr. Thapar.

May Jesus and Allah together bless you, since you have chosen to forsake, the shallow faith of your forefathers.

We pray that may each member of the billion strong community, that you have chosen to misrepresent and misguide, find you and your ilk, worthy of pardon.

May India once again rise to forgive her own treacherous brood?

Bandyopadhyay Arindam

நாம் மட்டும் ஏன் இப்படி?

soure:tamilhindu
~ ராஜா ஆர்.எஸ் | நாள்: 2008-09-09 | பார்வை: 47 | அச்சிட

“உலக தொலைக்காட்சிகளில் முதல் முறையாக. திரைக்கு வந்து சில மாதங்களே ஆன…”

அது வினாயக சதுர்த்தி ஆனாலும் சரி, தீபாவளி, பொங்கல் ஆனாலும் சரி அலறத் தொடங்கிவிடும் நம் தமிழ் தொலைக்காட்சிகள். நடிகர், நடிகைகளின் சிறப்பு பேட்டிகள், படம் உருவான கதை, அன்று வெளியாகவுள்ள படங்களின் பாடல்கள் என்று ‘களை’ கட்டிவிடும். ஒரு வாரம் முன்பிருந்தே தொடங்கிவிடும் இந்த ‘அன்புத் தொல்லைகள்’. நம்மவர்களும், எந்த டி.வி.யில் எத்தனை மணிக்கு என்ன பார்க்கலாம் என்று திட்டமே தயாரிக்க அரம்பித்து விடுவார்கள்.

இன்று என்ன பண்டிகை, அதன் முக்கியத்துவம் என்ன என்றெல்லாம் பற்றி நமக்கென்ன கவலை? அதையெல்லாம் பற்றிக் கவலைப்படத்தான் வீட்டில் சில பெரிசுகள் இருக்கிறார்களே. நமக்கு வேண்டியது ஒரு கொண்டாட்டமான விடுமுறை, டிக்கெட் செலவு இல்லாமல் சில படங்கள். “வாழ்க்கையை அனுபவிக்கத்தானே மனிதப் பிறவியும் விழாக்களும்? இதுகூட இல்லைன்னா அப்புறம் என்னையா?”

காலை சுமார் 5.30 மணிக்கு ஆரம்பிக்கும் அன்றைய நிகழ்சிகள். ஒரு மங்கல இசை, பஜனை, அருளுரை அல்லது சொற்பொழிவு என்று துவங்கும் நாள் 8.30 மணியானால் ‘சூடு’ பிடிக்கத் தொடங்கிவிடும். அப்போதுதான் நம்மவர்கள் முக்கால்வாசிப் பேர் படுக்கையை விட்டு எழுந்து ஒரு கப் காப்பியோடு டி.வி. முன்னால் ஆஜர் ஆவார்கள். மனுஷன் தூங்கும்போதே இந்த “ஒரு பைசாவுக்கும் உதவாத” மங்கல இசை, சொற்பொழிவு எல்லாம் முடிந்தாக வேண்டும். “அதையெல்லாம் போய் மனுஷன் பார்ப்பானா?”

காலை 8.30 மணிக்கு மேல் அது எந்தப் பண்டிகையானாலும் சரி, நடக்கும் ‘பூஜை’ ஒன்றுதான். தீபாவளி என்றால் கங்கா ஸ்நானம், லக்ஷ்மி பூஜை. வினாயக சதுர்த்தி என்றால் வினாயகர் பிறந்த தினம், பொங்கல் என்றால் உழவர் தினம். இதெல்லாம் பற்றி நமக்கென்ன? “நம்ம தலைவர் படம் எதாவது T.V-ல போடறானா, அதைச் சொல்லு”. கிருஷ்ணர் பிறந்த கதையும், நரகாசுரனைக் கொன்ற கதையும் நமக்குச் சோறு போடுமா? இருக்கவே இருக்கு நமீதாவின் ‘மனம் திறந்த’ பேட்டியும், அவருடைய திரையுலக ‘சாதனை’களும். அதைச் செவிகுளிரக் கேட்டாலே நம் ஜென்மம் சாபல்யம் அடைந்து விடும். சமையலறையில் அம்மா சமையல் முடித்துவிட்டு பூஜைக்கு உட்க்காருவார்கள். அப்பொழுதுதான் நம்ம ஆள் “பண்டிகைகள் சுவையா, சுமையா?” பட்டிமண்றம் பார்த்துக் கொண்டிருப்பார். பூஜை மணி ஓசையை மிஞ்சிக் கொண்டு பட்டிமன்றக் கூச்சல் தெருவில் கேட்கும். பூஜை செய்யும் சில பெரியவர்களுக்கோ எரிச்சல். “இதெல்லாம் இப்போதான் போடுவான். மத்தியானம் போட்டால் என்ன? நான்கூட பார்ப்பேனே!” அவர்களுக்கு அவர்கள் ‘கஷ்ட்டம்’.

சரி. விநாயக சதுர்த்தி என்றால் 24 மணி நேரமும் விநாயகர் பற்றியே நிகழ்ச்சிகளை ஒளிப்பரப்ப முடியுமா? முடியாதுதான். ஆனால் அவரை இப்படி 24 மணி நேரமும் அவமானப்படுத்த வேண்டாமே? ஏன், விநாயகர் பற்றிய பல சுவையான செய்திகளைப் படமாக்கலாமே? சில திருத்தலங்ககளை நேயர்களுக்குக் காட்டலாமே? அரை நாளாவது அன்றைய பண்டிகை தொடர்பான நிகழ்சிகள் இருக்கலாமே? சுதந்திர தினத்தை எடுத்துக் கொள்ளுங்கள். சுதந்திர தினத்துக்க்கும் சிம்ரனின் வாழ்க்கைச் சரிதத்திற்கும் என்னையா தொடர்பு?

“சொல்லுவதெல்லாம் சரிதான். ஆனால் சினிமா தொடர்பான நிகழ்ச்சிக்களைத்தானே மக்கள் விரும்பிப் பார்க்கிறார்கள்? எங்க வியாபாரம் என்ன ஆவது?” என்று கேட்பார்கள். வருடம் 365 நாட்களும் சினிமாவை வைத்துக் கொள்ளை லாபம் எடுக்கும் தனியார் தொலைக்காட்சிகளுக்கு ஒரு சில பண்டிகை நாட்களின் போதாவது லாபத்தைக் கொஞ்சம் விட்டுக் கொடுப்போம் என்ற எண்ணம் வருவதில்லை. மக்கள் எக்கேடு கெட்டாலும் பரவாயில்லை. நம் பாக்கெட் நிரம்பவேண்டும். போதை மருந்து விற்றுக் காசு சம்பாதிப்பதற்கும் இதற்கும் என்ன பெரிய வித்தியாசம்? இரண்டிலுமே சமூகப் பொறுப்பு என்பது அறவே இல்லையே.

அவர்களை மட்டும் தப்புச் சொல்லி என்ன பிரயோஜனம். நம்ம மஹா ஜனங்களையும்தான் சொல்லி ஆக வேண்டும். சிவராத்திரியோ அல்லது வைகுண்ட ஏகாதசியோ வந்துவிட்டால் இரவு தூக்கம் விழித்தாக வேண்டும். என்ன வழி? இருக்கவே இருக்கு சினிமா தியேட்டர். அன்றுதான் விடிய விடிய நாலு படம் ‘சிறப்புக் காட்சி’ போடுவானே. திருவிளையாடலும், திருமால் பெருமையுமா அங்கே காட்டுகிறான்? அது எந்தக் குப்பையானாலும் பரவாயில்லை. தூக்கம் விழித்தாக வேண்டும். புண்ணியம் கிடைத்து விடும்.

இப்படி கண்டதைப் பார்த்துப் பாவத்தைக் கட்டிக் கொள்வதற்கு பேசாமல் இழுத்துப் போர்த்திக் கொண்டு தூங்கலாமே! நாம் தூக்கம் விழிக்காவிட்டால் சிவனுக்கும் விஷ்ணுவுக்கும் ஏதாவது குறைந்தா போய்விட்டது?

இதுமட்டுமா? விநாயகர் சதுர்த்தி என்றால் ஊரெல்லாம் வற்புறுத்தி நண்கொடை வாங்கிப் பணம் சேர்க்க வேண்டும். ஒரு விநாயகர் சிலையைத் தெருவில் வைத்து ஒரு பத்து நாள் கூத்தடிக்க வேண்டும். இவர்கள் அலற விடும் ‘பக்தி’ கானங்களைக் கேட்டு அவராகவே போய்க் கடலில் விழாத குறைதான்.

நம் மக்கள் மட்டும் என் இப்படி? மற்ற மதத்தவரைப் பாருங்கள். அவர்கள் பண்டிகையை எவ்வளவு கண்ணியமாக நடத்துகிறார்கள். நோன்பு என்றால் அதை எவ்வளவு சிரத்தையுடன் கடைப்பிடிக்கிறார்கள்? ‘அட அவர்கள் மதத்திலெல்லாம் கண்டிப்பு அதிகம்ப்பா. நம்ம மதத்தில் சுதந்திரம் அதிகம்’ அதற்காக? ஏற்கனவே, இந்தியாவில் நாங்கள் வந்த பின்னர்தான் கல்வியும் நாகரீகமும் வந்தது என்று சொல்லிக்கொண்டு அலைகிறார்கள்.

இன்னொரு பக்கம் பச்சை சுயநலம். இந்து கலாசாரத்தில் எதெல்லாம் உயர்ந்த விஷயங்களோ, அதெல்லாம் இன்று கடைச் சரக்காகி விட்டது. ஜோதிடம், யோகாசனம், வாஸ்து சாஸ்திரம், ரத்தின கற்களின் சாஸ்திரம், ஆயுர்வேதம்… இன்னும் எவ்வளவோ. நினைத்துப் பாருங்கள்.. இவை அத்தனையும் சல்லிகூட எதிர்ப்பார்க்காமல் நம் முன்னோர்கள் நமக்காக விட்டுச் சென்றவை. அனால் இப்பொழுது தெருவுக்குத் தெரு இவற்றை வைத்து எத்தனை பேர் பணம் அள்ளுகிறார்கள்? இவர்களில் எத்தனை பேர் தன்னை இந்து என்று மார்தட்டிக் கொள்ளத் தயார்? இந்து மதத்துக்கு ஒரு அவமானம் என்றால் இவர்களில் யாராவது குரல் கொடுப்பார்களா? அல்லது தாங்கள் உபயோகப்படுத்தும் அறிவு இந்து மதத்தின் கொடை என்பதை பிரகடனப்படுத்துவார்களா?

இந்து மதத்தால் என்ன என்ன நன்மை உண்டோ அதெல்லாம் நமக்கு வேண்டும். ஆனால், அதனை கௌரவமாக வைத்துக் காபாற்றத்தான் நம்மில் பலருக்குத் தயக்கம். சுயநலத்தை மறந்து உலகின் சிறந்த மதத்தின் உன்னதத்தை நாம் பெருமையோடு உயர்த்திப் பேசக் கற்கப் போவது எக்காலம்?

A Requiem for Godhra!
September 2, 2008
Bhadrapad Shuddha Trutiya

By U. Narayana Das
The trauma of burning!

Have you ever daydreamed with a cigarette between your fingers till the burning end slowly crept up and singed the intertriginous surfaces between them? Have you ever fallen off a motorcycle and experienced the hot silencer coming into contact with your leg? Have you ever touched a flame or a hot stove? Have you ever experienced very hot liquid or oil spill singeing your skin?

Just a three-second exposure to water at 1400 F (60 Deg C) or a one-second exposure at 156 Deg F (68.8 Deg C) causes deep thermal or full thickness burn. Above 160 Deg F, the burn is instantaneous. The temperature of freshly brewed coffee is 180 Deg F (82.2 Deg C).

The good lord has given us four layers of skin - to protect our flesh from heat or cold, bacterial, fungal or viral invasions or other environmental damage. Actually three of them comprising the epidermis are above the real skin or dermis, in medical lingo. We do not know whether the good lord intended us to have a complex about the complexion of the second layer from the top. If only we did not have a complex about its colour! Incidentally, we constantly shed the upper-most layer once in every four weeks.

What happens when the skin ceases protecting the body because burns morphed it? Burn injuries associated with smoke inhalation could be quite traumatic. The combination multiplies the chances of morbidity and mortality, because of circulatory burn shock, distant organ injury and the generation of free radicals, which in the presence of depleted body defense mechanisms cause more severe injury.

The mental trauma that a person who is on fire undergoes transcends mere physical injury. Sustaining burns through abnormal circumstances is a situation, which exacerbates the victim’s mental trauma; so is the case in which the possibility of returning to normal daily activity is ruled out; or when the person is concerned about scarring or body image, or there is obvious disfigurement.

In such circumstances the person under fire undergoes severe mental depression, social withdrawal, sleep disturbance and heightened stress levels. These psychosomatic symptoms are triggered by intrusive memories or visual images (of the fire and being on fire), hyper-vigilance (increased wariness or being easily startled) and fear or avoidance of anything related to the accident, including refusal to talk about the incident.



When the whole body is on fire, the victim is “beyond exhaustion, locked into a private world where all existence is a miasma” to use a popular novelist’s quaint description of pain and “the will to survive ceases”, to invert his expression. The body prays the good lord to end it all!

No wreaths for the Karsevaks!

This was what the fifty nine Karsevaks including women and children travelling in S6, Sabarmati Express on February 27, 2002 underwent – bodies wholly on fire, they were beyond exhaustion, locked into a private world where all existence was a miasma of pain and with the will to survive ceasing, praying the good lord to end it all.

Our good prime minister did not seem to lose any sleep that night – on February 27, 2002 - as he did on the night of the Glasgow bombings in 2007. For after all, only the minorities have first claim to our national resources and the prime ministerial sleep is a national resource. It does not come cheap – to the nation!

To be fair, our good prime minister was not alone in not losing sleep over the horrible, indescribable death that befell the hapless Karsevaks. Our society as a whole, its intellectuals, the leading lights of its media, the secular intelligentsia and the human rights brigade which rushes to defend rapists, child molesters and mass murderers disvalued them.

For us they ceased to exist not after the horrendous death; they never were! They died a horrendous death not because they committed some crime that deserved it but because they took to God’s work in a country in which nearly 90% of the populace worshipped that God!

The politics of death!

The objective of this piece is not to justify the aftermath of the horrendous death of the fifty nine Karsevaks - even a single unnatural death is one death too many. It is to focus on societal reaction to the two events.

In the six years since the Karsevaks died a horrendous death - bodies wholly on fire, beyond exhaustion, locked into a private world where all existence was a miasma of pain and with the will to survive ceasing, praying the good lord to end it all – nobody thinks of them; nobody talks of them; no commemoration meetings are held; no cenotaph erected and no prayer meetings held to pray the good lord to rest their souls in peace.

In stark contrast, the aftermath has been described as genocide, holocaust, pogrom et al. The English language media in India let its imagination run riot and quite a few media persons made a career out of the dead bodies of Gujarat - not of the fifty nine Karsevaks, but of those killed in the aftermath.

Was the aftermath the first communal riot in India? Wilkinson, no friend of what the western media fondly calls the Hindu right wing observed, “one can think of not one or two, but many instances when the ruling party was not the anti-Muslim BJP, or its analytic equivalent, the Shiv Sena, but deadly Hindu-Muslim riots nonetheless took place.”( Ref 3)

Wilkinson’s article purported to have been originally published in ‘The Economic and Political Weekly’ (October 29, 2005) was a reply to Ashutosh Varshney’s review of his book ‘Votes and Violence’ (2005, New Delhi, Cambridge University Press). The blog that reproduced the article, ‘Communalism Watch’, has a telling sub-title: “Resources For All Concerned By The Rise Of The Far Right In India” with only a parenthetical, “And With Occasional Information On Other Countries Of South Asia.” It is perhaps needless to add that the blog ‘Watches’ ‘Communalism’ through a monochromatic lens, in keeping with the political correctness and ‘secular’ ethic of the Indian media.


According to him, in point of fact, “in the post-independence era Congress has at times benefited electorally from Hindu-Muslim violence and I find that we can identify no robust statistical relationship between Congress rule and the level of riots, a result I attribute to the widely varying communal character of the party and its leadership across time and place.”

In a grave travesty of justice to the Karsevaks who died a horrendous death, one of the messiahs of social justice, Lalu Prasad Yadav had a report ‘made to order’ to garner electoral advantage in the 2006 elections in his home state.

The English language media would rather there was no reaction to the horrendous deaths of Godhra, in order to be able to praise the ‘resilience’, ‘composite culture’, ‘triumph of secularism’ et al.

Rajiv’s ‘Gandhian’ reaction to the Sikh killings following the assassination of his mother in 1984 – ‘the earth trembles when a big tree falls’ is too well known.

In reaction to the killing of a congress legislator in Vijayawada in 1990, the secular party cadres went on a three-day rampage burning and looting and systematically targeting the residences and businesses of a dominant caste in the state. The slain legislator was not exactly known for his Gandhian virtues but lived by the sword and later graduated into politics.

In reaction to the conviction of their leader on corruption charges by a court in Tamil Nadu in 2000, the AIADMK cadres went on rampage burning buses in one of which three unfortunate girls were burnt alive.

It was the turn of another secular party – the Telugu Desam - to avenge the death of its legislator in Anantapur (Andhra Pradesh) in 2005. The party too went on a three-day rampage burning more than 600 government buses. This slain legislator was also not exactly known for his Gandhian virtues but lived by the sword and later graduated into politics.

In reaction to the publication of a cartoon in a newspaper in far away Denmark there were not only protests but also burning and looting in Lucknow and Hyderabad in 2006.

In reaction to a news-report criticising one of the DMK scions published in the Tamil daily Dinakaran, owned by another branch of the ruling dynasty the ‘secular’ cadres of the DMK went on rampage burning the newspaper’s offices in which three unfortunate employees were burnt alive in 2007.

In relation to the police firing in Nandigram in 2007, the Marxian god, Buddhadeb Bhattacharya said, “they were paid in their own coin.”

Just imagine how the ‘secular’ media would have screamed if only Narendra Modi had said this in relation to the aftermath of Godhra?
The foregoing was not an exhaustive list of ‘secular’ reactions to events nor does it justify any of them. Similarly it is just not just to vilify a single individual for the aftermath of Godhra.

Would the ‘secular’ polity shed a tear for the fifty nine unfortunate victims of Godhra at least now, six years after the event?

source:hjs
communalism.blogspot.com