Do we even need to discuss Kashmir with anyone else, its ours after all

Time and time again the Kashmir issue comes up in the press. The latest furor was cause by the views of Shri Prashant Bhushan that he aired openly. 

His view was somewhat simplistic – “people have a right to decide” – nothing wrong with that per se – it’s an utopian thought. Though it leaves us with an issue / the definition of “people” is quite vague. Which “people” will decide exactly what ? This posting is a result of my Kashmir visit as couple of months ago. It is a bit directionless, but nevertheless my views in light of the recent news.



The Valey of Kashmir – The Most Prized Real Estate On Earth

Minority Appeasement

Part of the issue is minority appeasement – this is encouraging the ultras , in exactly the same way that the Bihar CM refuses to speak against the Indian Mujahedin or Mulayam refuses to acknowledge SIMI, Indian politicians have chosen to ignore separatist activities in Srinagar – this should not be tolerated – its okay to demonstrate, it okay to express opinions – but as soon as you speak about seceding from the state – that is illegal and the leader needs to be arrested following the letter of the law (and each time till the miscreants get the message) – India should not be scared of Geelani or Malik or others – Geelani did not need house arrest – it accomplishes nothing – he should have been sent to Tihar – only then would he have learnt. 

And the message should be simple – no excesses – if you break the law, you will go to jail in accordance with the law – the same should be applied to demonstrators who turn violent (but directed more at the leaders who encourage the violence) – but no excesses after all we are dealing with Indian citizens with the same rights as other Indians.

Minority appeasement so far has not helped. It in fact has kept the minorities poor. In the US for example, there is minority quota for the Native Indians – of course, no prizes for guessing that they are the worst off community. I remember during Hanukkah , people with Jewish skull caps were all felicitated – was this an appreciation of their religion – I don’t think so. It was an appreciation of their economic prowess , their economic wealth. Their control of Wall Street and the Media in the United States. If you want to help the minorities , educate them – bring all up to a certain standard to that they can earn and think for themselves and create wealth – but minority appeasement is not that , it is simply using the minorities as a Vote bank – simply put, use and throw.

Partly the problem is one of marketing in which it seems the ultras are better than the law makers. Lets say there was a terrorist organization and it called itself (a name I have made up for example sakes) “United Front of Poor And Hardworking Souls” (like the Aam Aadmi slogan is being misused by the Congress and the BJP of late) – would you ever believe that such an organization could commit crimes ? No – Similarly Mujaheddin means soldier of Islam – a nobel cause from the sound of it. 

Lawmakers should only use acronyms or numbers when referring to terrorist organizations and perhaps it should name its police units better to ensure moral support from the masses (all masses) including keeping people informed (via media). The battle against terror is to be fought both with guns and guile and probably more of the latter.

Special Rights For Kashmir / Perception

This is more than half the problem. Open any checking account in a bank in Delhi – there are special rules for people from Jammu & Kashmir. There are special rules for phones from Kashmir including lack of usage of any one-time passwords, etc. If we are to do national integration, we should fully implement it – why all these exclusions for people from Kashmir – this is the fault of Delhi law makers for sure.

Article 370 needs to be quashed. More so there is another law (referred to as the “J&K bill 2004”) that disbars kashmiri women who marry outside the state – their ability to buy land in the state and other property rights – how can this stand in a country like India

Sometimes, I think we in India need to get our “head out of our as*es” – Kashmir is India, but the perception on the streets is not so – this has to change !

Plebiscite – Yes, Kashmir needs plebiscite

But not how everyone thinks. Srinagar is a small village essentially – a very small suburb of Gurgaon, etc – this small village cannot hold the rest of India hostage. 

Kashmir belongs to India and Indians need to decide. Some weak kneed politicians angling for some minority vote gains cannot be allowed to make the decision for India – YES *if* there should be plebiscite – there should be a pan-india vote asking all Indians if they wish to allow Independence of Kashmir and based on that vote , the decision should be made once and for all. 

Geelani is one man – his processions have a thousand or so – how can the country like India be held hostage to this ? 

As Mr. M J Akbar has said – when the British left , there was only the scope for creation of India and Pakistan , no third country – and the ruler of Kashmir signed the Instrument of accession – so where is the issue? The main outstanding issue in my opinion ,is the illegal possession of Gilgit, Baltistan and other areas by Pakistan

So In Summary What is the Kashmir Problem ?

In my book, the current issues (aka the Kashmir problem) are :

a) Law and order – caused by appeasement policies in Srinagar – this is intermittent though. Geelani causes it every now and then. Yasin Malik has of course decided to get married and live in bliss (did he not vow celibacy at one point ?) – maybe shaadi.com and the ability to date across borders changed his mind – I believe he has married some red-haired liberal artist – and, of course, one hardly hears of him any more – probably romancing on the Dal lake and why not.

b) Militancy – This is largely under control – I was vacationing there a few weeks ago. It was as peaceful and beautiful as described. Yes, the airport security was a bit of a nuisance. But clearly people who complain have not traveled abroad. In the US when you are asked to strip down to your “chaddis” – you will know. Its not the the Srinagar airport security is more stringent. It is that the airport security elsewhere in India is lax.

But there may be trouble brewing. The “War on Terror” is ending in Afghanistan and U.S. troops are bound to leave. Will this have any effect on India – time will tell. But one needs to be cautious on our borders. In far away Andaman islands, a newspaper had recently highlighted this risk. While most of the Delhi newspapers were busy focusing on Katrina Kaif’s (the “kashmir” focus of the masses) love interest.

c) Tourism – A beautiful place like Kashmir needs a lot more tourists. People are dependent on it. A couple of forts , historical monuments (Hari Parbat, Pari Mahal, etc) are still occupied by the Army – there is perhaps no need for that. Let historical monuments be used as centres of tourism and not as military barracks. I am not advocating the Army leaves or anything close to that – if a border area needs the army it should be there – but there is no need to take over some of the important historical monuments.

What was surprising was that I was able to visit the Hazratbal mosque with ease – there was hardly anyone there in a monument of such importance. Hazratbal should be one of the most important monuments in Islam having one of the three relics of the Prophet – I would have thought there would be mile-long line – Kashmir could do with a lot more tourism.

d) Womens Rights – Scrapping of the 2004 Land bill – this is totally against equality and would not stand any legal scrutiny

e) Scrapping of Article 370 – 370 is not an umbilical cord, it is more like the appendix or a wisdom tooth that is no longer required. There should be no argument on it – a Presidential ordinance can scrap it and it should be done away and dealt with – life will go on without interruption. The “problems” caused by the scrapping is just a paranoia that has been created.

f) Return of Gilgit and Baltistan – In discussing with Pakistan if we begin from the thought that we want the rest of the land back – that is a far better starting point for negotiations than simply going to one’s knees (and talking about the LOC) – and if fact this is not even a point for negotiation – we actually do want it back.

And frankly, why do we even need to discuss Kashmir with anyone else, its ours after all!

A TRIBUTE TO CHATRAPATHI SHIVAJI

Article posted by https://www.facebook.com/ananthakrishnan.ramanathan.3/posts/1173492692690865

A TRIBUTE TO CHATRAPATHI SHIVAJI ON HIS DEATH ANNIVERSARY !!!
( MY HERO )

A young prince is seated on the throne. His soldiers have brought a handcuffed Patil (a village chief) before him. Patil, with a thick and long moustache, had dishonored a helpless widow. In a stern and majestic tone the young prince announced the judgment, “cut off his both hands and feet!! This is the least punishment for the crime he has committed”. All present were taken aback at the firm devotion of the prince to justice. Not only were they wonder-struck but also pleased beyond measure. The village people began to say to one another: ‘Ah! Look! How devoted to justice our young prince is!? He is not in the least afraid of the wicked people. He is kind and loving towards the poor, the downfallen and the wretched. He is ever determined to help them and to protect them. What is more, he regards all women as mothers!

Don't you wish to know who this young prince was? He was none other than Shivaji. At the time of this incident he was just fourteen. In another incident…… in Nachani village of Pune province, a ferocious and huge cheetah was creating nuisance. He used to attack villagers suddenly and run away into the jungle. Scared villagers ran to Shivaji for help. They cried, “Save us from this wild animal. He has killed so many children. He attacks us especially in the night when everyone is sleeping”. After patiently listening to the villagers, he said, ‘don?t worry!! Calm down. I am here to help you”. Shivaji, along with his chieftain Yesaji and few soldiers, went to the jungle. As soon as the cheetah appeared, Shivaji's soldiers frightened and backed off. But Shivaji and Yesaji bravely confronted the Cheetah and killed him in no time. Villagers rejoiced and hailed, “Jay Shivaji!!”

Shivaji's father's name was Shahaji. He was always away from home, fighting wars. How he became aware of this fearless and unique nature of his son is itself an interesting story. On a certain occasion, Shahaji took his son to the court of the Sultan of Bijapur. Shahaji and all others touched the ground thrice and saluted the Sultan. He asked his son Shivaji to do the same thing. But.....! Shivaji stood erect with his head unbent. He seemed to be determined that he would not bow down to a foreign ruler. He walked back from the court with a lion-like gait and bearing.

You may ask: how did Shivaji acquire all these noble virtues - courage, heroism, love of the motherland and love of Dharma? Even when he was a little child, his mother Jijabai used to tell him stories of heroes, of saints and sages who appear in the Ramayana, and the Mahabharatha. She taught him all about Hindu Samskars and patriotism. As Shivaji listened to these tales of heroism and Dharmik deeds, he grew more and more eager to be like Rama or Krishna, Bheema or Arjuna. His teacher and guide, Dadoji Kondadev was a great man. He not only taught Shivaji about all kinds of warfare tactics but also about politics and good administration. Both, Dadoji Kondadev and Jijabai, carved his personality.

Though Shivaji was a prince, he enjoyed playing with anyone of his age and easily mixed up with the common peple. Soon, he became the heart of all. At the age of twelve, he and his friends took the oath of defeating foreign rulers and establish swarajya where people can live fearless and happy and follow their dharma. At the young age of sixteen, he started raising his own army. In the same age, he captured one of the forts. It was the fort of Torana. Another meaning of Torana is garland. Jijabai proudly said, ‘look! Shivaji has brought us a garland of independence!”.

As Shivaji grew old, he fought many wars and defeated several lieutenants and commanders of foreign rulers. While fighting with the enemies, he put himself in a grave danger very often. He not only established his independent sovereign against all odds but also undertook reforms to make his people happy. He inspired and united the common man to fight against the tyranny of foreign rulers such as Aurangjeb, by inculcating a sense of pride and nationality in them. Isn't it great about Shivaji? Sant (sage) Ramadas was his spiritual guru (teacher). He sang in praise of Shivaji: “The land and its Dharma have been uplifted. A kingdom of bliss has arisen.”

After reading the thrilling and inspiring tale of Shivaji, don't we feel that we too should follow the example of Shivaji? Why is this so? It is becauseShivaji underwent all hardships for the sake of his country, for the sake of its Dharma. He did not care for his own life and quite often entered the very jaws of death. Till his last breath, he lived for his country and for the Dharma of the Hindus. It is nearly three hundred years since he died but the memory of this great man lights up the torch of inspiration.
--
Aano bhadra krtavo yantu vishwatah.(- RIG VEDA)
"Let noble thoughts come to me from all directions"

Accounts of ancient India as provided by visiting foreigners

Some of the most stunning accounts of ancient India are provided by visiting foreigners along with the Indian literature of the time which is a major source of learning about the contemporary socio-economic practices.

Indica by Megasthenes : Ambassador to the court of Chandragupta Maurya. His excerptstell about city made up of mainly wood. Wooden Boundries around Rajgriha,Society divided in 7 major socio economic group including Philosophers,Artisans, Military, Shepherds(Chandragupta was himself a shephard by caste), farmers and Administrators.

Pliny described the drain of wealth from Europe(greek) to S Asia or India. This is evident from the issuance of Gold coins during the times of Kanishka. Indian Textiles and spices were famous all along the Silk Route. We imported Horses, Wine and pearls from Europe and Middle East.

After the spread of the Buddhist religion, Chinese travelers came to India in big numbers to collect religious books and to visit holy places of Buddhism
Fa Hein: He was the first Chinese Buddist to travell to India during the Golden age of Chandragupta II. He mentioned that droughts dont occur in the Empire(which is considered as exaggeration) but still it implies people were satisfied. He mentions a class called Chandala. They lived outside town. And came only to scavange. People shut their gates when they used to come. This proves the prevelence of Untouchability; So no Golden age for Sociologists.

Huan Zang: He wrote that he was once robbed on his way which indicates that during the Empire of Harsha trade routes were not secured and centre started to weaken. He told Harsha was very generous and religious (But it is believed he was sponsered by Harsha). An incident is mentioned where Harsha has called a sort of council of Buddhist monk to present them gifts and chaos happened where some one even tried to kill him . He provides wide excerps of Nalanda and spent considerable time there.

Persian Travellers after the attack of Turks
Alberuni (Al-Briuni) travelled to India to learn about the Hindus. He criticised Indians of being arrogant in sharing information. He illustrated the inhuman practice of Sati among Rajput Dynasty. But he was impressed by the wealth of the nation.

Al Masudi, mentions the excellence of Indians in Mathematics.
Abdur Razzaq a persian Ambassador visited Vijayanagar during the reign of Devaraya II. He was overawed with the size and grandeur of the city of Vijayanagar. He wrote, “The city is such that eye has not seen nor ear heard of any place resembling it upon the whole earth”.

Marco Polo arrived on the Coromandel Coast of India in AD 1292 . He entered the kingdom of the Tamil Pandyas near modern day Tanjore, He mentions that according to customs Kings used to sit on Earth. On his asking why they do so the King replied Everyone comes from this earth, works on it and dies here. So they are considered austere rulers. He described the place as the most spendid province of the world. He mentions most of the pearls and gems are produced in Pandayan Empire along with Ceylon (Sri lanka). Cotton was mostly worn both by rulers and subject due to intense hot climate. The king took pride in not holding himself above the law of the land and people travelled the highways safely with their valuables in the cool of the night.

The Persian traveler Abdur Razzak who visited in the 15th century described vijaynagar as follows " The city of Vijayanagar is such that the pupil of the eye has never seen a place like it, and the ear of intelligence has never been informed that there existed anything to equal it in the world"

Portuguese Traveller Domingo Paer was overwhelmed by the greatness of the city. He mentions that no city of Rome is comparable to Hampi. Gardens, Architecture, Military were massive. He mentions of a market where you can buy anything from vegetables to precious Gems. Jewellery was a norm in Indian Families. Market was frequently visited by the members of royal families.

It is said Vasco De Gama filled his ship with spices and earned 60 times the money his entire voyage cost.

When Nader shah invaded India he looted ship full of wealth worh 13 crores. and Kohinoor which according to him was as precious as " If a stone is thrown in all 4 direction and covered with a gold coin will be incomparable to its cost".

But Sufism and Bhakti also tells us that people were unhappy of caste system (Meera Bai) . They wanted to lead a simple life. Corruption was rampant ever since the times of Mauryas. Common men led a simple life. Totalitarianism was prevelent,Prostitution was legal, People enjoyed Wine. Education was given due importance till the arrival of turks. Agriculture and Trading were the main professions. Taxes were high (upto 50%, later on).

Heading for Politically Correct Suicide

Heading for Politically Correct Suicide

http://indiafacts.org/heading-for-politically-correct-suicide/

Heading for Politically Correct Suicide

This global political correctness is suffocating and stifling millions of ordinary citizens who are steadily browbeaten into silence and cowardice.

Sumedha Sarvadaman @https://twitter.com/SumedhaSarv
Demography (Persecution & Proselytisation) | 22-12-2015

Dec 2015 – In Bhopal a Muslim leader speaks to the crowds (1).

Mullah: Jo Allah ke baare mein gustaskhi kare, jisse jahan maukka mile usse wahan utha de, bas. (Whosoever insults Allah, at the first given opportunity kill him)

A massive crowd of Muslims cheer, raising ‘Allah Ho Akhbar’ slogans


Mullah: (translation) Listen, listen Bhopal, once a Christian lady insulted the Quran, which comes second in order for Muslims, after Allah. One Bhopali Muslim called Banne Khan did not wait, he got up and cut off her head. As simple as that… Bas!

Crowds cheer loudly again.

Mullah: These are the brave Bhopalis. They did it and showed to the world that they are not a kamjor kaum (weak community)

Crowd cheering gets louder.

Mullah: We have been patient. Very patient. We kept on and on and on and on and on…being patient. But enough now. We saw how in front of our eyes an innocent Yakub Menon was hung till death. Many Hindus too said he was innocent. When an innocent Yakub can be hung, then why can’t Kamlesh Tiwari who insulted Allah, be given death penalty? And if he is not given death penalty then every Muslim will stand up. Because Muslims are a brave community.

By this time a dangerously charged crowd cheers in top of its lungs.

In Bijnor, a Mullah representing Bijnor Muslims said “The Muslim community gathered in front of the Collectors Office and demanded death for Tiwari. In case the state does not do so, on behalf of all Bijnor Muslims we have declared Rs. 51,000/- prize money for who so ever gets us the head of Tiwari”. He further threatened “Tiwari, listen carefully wherever you are, any corner of the world or in jail, the Indian Muslim will not leave you, you are gone”. (2)

In Karnataka, a Muslim Leader is addressing the crowds: ‘Gustakh e Rasool ki ek hi sazaa’ (The only punishment for critiquing the Prophet)

Crowds complete the sentence: ‘Sar tan se judaa. Sar tan se judaa’ (Separate the head from the body. Separate the head from the body) (3))

Leaders of Owaisi’s AIMIM threatened the government to take action against Tiwari, else they would be forced to take the matter in their own hands and do what is Sharia complaint. Congress leader Noori Khan took out a rally demanding death for Tiwari as per Sharia. (4) (4A)

Similarly, from Saharanpur to Muzzafarnagar to Indore to Lucknow to Deoband to Dehradun to… And right down till Bangalore, city after city saw large crowds, at times over one lakh Muslims (5), violently protesting on the streets, disrupting the city, burning effigies, asking for a law against blasphemy and demanding nothing less than a death penalty for Tiwari.

As per an Amar Ujala report, in Muzzafarnagar, the crowds stoned the house of a BJP Leader (City Head). The lathi welding crowds were so violent that even the police couldn’t enter the area. And if that wasn’t terrifying enough, Madarasa going kids were out on the streets demanding death for Tiwari and raising slogans against PM Modi. Yes, school kids.

Near Jaipur, the rally which started from a mosque and passed through the town, raised pro-Pakistan and pro ISIS slogans – “ISIS Zindabad!”– as per SP Tonk Deepak Kumar. When the San Bernadino mass murderer openly supported ISIS, what’s the difference between these protesters and the mass murderer? (6)

Yet we saw Muslim leader after Muslim leader come out in support of Sharia. From Al Husaini, of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board to Delhi Leader Ashu Khan, none believed that democracy, freedom of speech or Indian laws must be upheld. None condemned violent death threats to Tiwari or support for ISIS. None said, ‘Hey guys chill, this is 21st century India not 7th century Banu Quarysh which we can terrorise and establish Supremacist Islam’.

All spoke the sharia. Why?

Because Uttar Pradesh SP leader Azam Khan called RSS pracharaks ‘Homosexuals’. And Kamlesh Tiwari from the Hindu Mahasabha, responded by calling them and their God the same in a letter. Tweedle dee.. Tweedle dum, you’d think. (7)

But no. All this and more happened after Tiwari had already been arrested for ‘hurting Muslim sentiments’. As per Jagran on 3 Dec, the crowds had blocked the national highway and clashed with the police, injuring policemen. The police had ‘no option’ but to arrest Tiwari to ‘calm’ the violent crowds.

But Azam Khan is still a free man. All those who gave death threats haven’t been arrested till date. When people like Azam Khan or Junior Owaisi abuse Hindus, their gods and also the mothers of those Hindu gods on more than one occasion, then that I guess, must be Freedom of Expression.

In a civilised India bound by laws, the right response to such barbaric nonsense would have been to arrest each and every one of those behaving like terrorists amidst chants of ‘Allah Ho Akhbar’, but not one arrest has occurred. And then we wonder how radicalisation is booming. We never realise the fault lies with us. And lo and behold, instead of standing by Tiwari, the Hindu Mahasabha disowned him. It said Tiwari is not our working president or a member. (8)

The law has failed us

Like my 60-year-old friend says, ‘During the All India Ramzan Riots 2013, I was in a minority of one, with five guys in soiled pyjama suits and unkept beards attacking me, but the police did not hear me because as per the Nehru-Ambedkar-Gandhi-Owaisi-Periyar Constitution and Indian Laws, those five were the minority. But then in a country, whose own PM (Rajiv Gandhi) overruled and junked the Supreme Court of India ruling in the Shah Bano case, just so he could impose Sharia, violent lawlessness is a given.

In the war against sharia, the first battle to win is the freedom to critique Islam.

No, I don’t support bad mouthing anyone’s God or any human for that matter. And nor am I saying Hindus are weak, they are not. But in these critical times, instead of uniting to protect freedom of expression, in even larger counter rallies, to watch only Tiwari being arrested for retaliating or disowning him like Mahasabha did, or the law arresting Tiwari to ‘calm’ barbarism, is to willingly follow the Sharia.

The Bhagavad Gita is a book of thought and action. And as against ‘religion’, which expects you to follow a Book of Instructions, Dharma tells you to use your discerning faculties, to do the right thing at the right time, to preserve and protect the natural and universal order.

Also it is Hindu wisdom and not weakness that we can criticise and critically analyse our faith and gods. Our Shastras and Vedas are a result of debates. Debates have helped us grow noisily, spiritually and intellectually. They have helped us reject what doesn’t work, accept and evolve what works. When religions across the world can reform, why is one religion adamant on living and dragging the rest of the world to the 7th century, where it survived and spread by the sword?

Any ‘God’, is the creation of humans. Equally, humans like Rishis, saints and sages have interpreted the divine wisdom of the known and unknown universal truth, in their own unique ways. Humans are not infallible and realising that does not harm either our Gods or sages, it only helps followers evolve and discover the Unknown. Using one’s intellect and reasoning to question what ‘God said’, only benefits the religion. Else it’s blind faith, breeding robots.

Honestly the world is sick and tired of hearing ‘but some misinterpret the readings of Quran’. This is a lame excuse to shield barbarism and protect the commitment to jihad. If some portions are so ‘open’ to misinterpretations that millions want to establish ‘The Book’ and ‘The Caliphate’ on the rubble of civilisation, then as a responsible religion, why haven’t those portions been expurgated?

If you don’t think that Mahomet was gay, or some Muslims are gay, fair enough let’s debate it. Or take legal recourse. But for crying out loud, Freedom of Expression (FOE) comes with the Freedom to Offend. Also for the record, calling someone gay is not offensive.

Caliphate texts and Caliphate court poetry are filled with esoteric homosexual experiences as scholarly research demonstrates. But if every second day one religion gets up from his side of the bed to talk of spilling blood or rips apart ‘offensive’ brains, with millions supporting the action, then frankly I think the only conclusion is that this entire religion is offensive and needs to be challenged.

Islam should be discussed threadbare. Reading material quoting Mohamet should be freely distributed at every corner so people who haven’t read Sitaram Goel, can not only read it but question it, have scholarly debates. That’s what freedom of Speech is, and I’d like to see Islam respect this right of the civilised world.

Planet Sharia: What the Numbers Reveal

Author of many books on Islam, Dr Andrew Bostom says

‘This validates Trump’s Muslim Immigration Moratorium – As per outstanding pollster Kellyanne Conway,25% of the US Muslims believe that violent jihad against Americans is justifiable. 

And 51% US Muslims want Sharia applied in the US, in whole or part’. 

He further adds ‘And following supportive evidence in my books,77% Muslims from the 5 largest Sunni Muslim Nations and 83% Shiaite Iranians want Sharia to be the law of the land. 65% Muslims worldwide want the brutal, totalitarian Caliphate system re-created.

57 Muslim nations member organisation of Islamic Cooperation, the largest UN voting bloc, seeks to replace human rights instruments like the US Bill of Rights with Sharia complaint Cairo Declaration which negates US 1st Amendment Freedom of Conscience and Speech, and enshrines Sharia punishments which defy our conceptions of both human rights and human dignity – Death for ‘apostasy’; Imprisonment and/or death for ‘blasphemy’; Stoning to death for adultery; Amputation for theft; Gross legal inequality for non-muslims and women’. (9)

As per the Middle East Survey, “Shari’a and Violence in American Mosques,” written by Mordechai Kedar and David Yerushalmi, says “over 80% US Mosques advocate or promote violence. 58% invited Imams who promote Jihad. 51% had texts on-site which advocated violence. In 84.5% of the mosques, the imam recommended studying violence-positive texts. The leadership at Sharia-adherent mosques was more likely to recommend that a worshipper study violence-positive texts than leadership at non-Sharia-adherent mosques.” (9)

As per PEW, in neighbouring Pakistan, only 28% disapproved of ISIS, 62% had no opinion. Also as per PEW, an overwhelming majority across the world support Death for Apostasy and Blasphemy. And if that wasn’t enough then hear this – 50 Million across the world support ISIS as of now, a number that’s only growing. (10)

“More British Muslims join ISIS than the Army.” A quarter of British Muslims sympathized with the Charlie Hebdo shootings in Paris, according to a February poll by ComRes for the BBC. 

A 2008 YouGov poll found that a third of Muslim students believe that killing for religion can be justified, and 40% want the introduction of Sharia as law in the U.K. Another poll, conducted in 2007 by Populus, reported that 36% of young British Muslims thought apostates should be “punished by death.” (11)

But the media tells us that it is only “a few Muslims” who indulge in and support these horrific acts.

‘Rage’ as a Justification for Violence

‘O but please be good, as we don’t want to ‘enrage’ or ‘provoke’ some people. And if they get offended, then please please please quickly apologise. This hypocrisy is against every tiny grain of what my parents or Dharma taught me: be fearless, be honest and never apologise for your positive, decent values. But such is the sickening Dhimmitude of this world, which goes out of its way to feed its underfed pet Islam who constantly needs ‘understanding’.

As per the FBI in 2014, there were more Jewish victims of anti-religion hate crimes – 648, than all other religions combined – 492 (12).

‘A full 74 percent of North African and Middle Eastern residents registered anti-Semitic beliefs, including 92 percent of Iraqis, a whopping 69 percent of relatively secular Turks, and 74 percent of Saudis’ says National Review.

Yet after the Charlie Hebdo massacre, when France invited world leaders for a Unity March in support of free speech ‘Je Suiz Charlie’, French President François Hollande asked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not to attend the rally as his presence could be ‘divisive’ in a EU nation, which has the highest number of Muslims. The Israeli premier still elbowed his way to the front.

So there, even at a crucial event like the World Unity March, Jews were asked not to ‘provoke’ Muslim hatred against Jews. I wonder what Charlie’s irreverent French boys – who used merciless political satire, offending those who brutally abuse power – who lived by their philosophy “It’s forbidden to forbid” and died fighting for they refused to suck up to Islamists, as that’s a sure shot way to ensure terrorism stays – would have thought of their French President’s double standards at a march held in their honour.

I had written on Charlie Hebdo earlier (13). The most disturbing part was that while most ‘moderate’ Muslims on social media condemned the attack, they added a ‘but’. I reject the killings ‘but’ why provoke. The reasoning seems to follow this line:

I reject the killings ‘but’ this is a lesson for those who mock the Prophet.

I reject the killings ‘but’ understand the geo-political and economic reasons behind it.

I reject the killings ‘but’ don’t just blame Islam, this is all America’s fault.

And so on and on.

Many Muslim forums on Facebook celebrated the killings.

IndiaFacts columnist Tufail Ahmad wrote an article highlighting the appalling response of Indian Muslims on social media forums. When comedian Bill Maher lashed out at Islamic militancy saying, “Hundreds of millions of the world’s Muslims are supporting the Paris massacre,” he sounded over the top. But then within a few days it was for all of us to see.

But here is the thing, when you can’t name the enemy, how can you defeat it? Appeasement is so ingrained in France that till recently they said they were fighting “mentally ill individuals” and “not motivated by religion”. And then one day in French Mosques, they found arms and ammunition to feed an entire army.

Supremacist Sharia vs the Civilised World

From “Rangeela Rasool” in 1929, where the publisher was murdered for “insulting the Prophet” to the recent movie “Vishwaroopam”, there are numerous such cases where thousands of “offended” Muslims have violently protested, rioted and executed Taliban style justice over films, poems, books, you name it. Clearly they just need an excuse to fight with the civilised world and impose Supremacist Sharia. Just like Muslims don’t kill cows on Eid in Saudi Arabia, but do so in India to establish their religious supremacy.

And each time the Indian democracy has allowed Sharia-prescribed FOE to help jihad claim that much more space. Laws were sidelined. And the non-Muslim ‘offender’ had to apologise in case he was mercifully alive.

Whether it was in 1986, when Muslims got ‘offended” by a short fictional story published in Deccan Herald, and violent riots which spread over several towns, lasted for 3 days killing 17. The riots didn’t abate till the publisher was arrested, and the newspaper published an apology on radio, TV and press. (14)

Or in 2010, when a college professor T.J. Joseph had his hand chopped, as punishment on allegations of blasphemy, again by Muslims who got “offended” due to a question paper set by Joseph which was approved by the University. Joseph’s family made a statement that they forgave the attackers who wanted to enforce Darul Islam. (15)

Or in 2004, when again hundreds of “offended” Muslim protesters attacked various offices of leading Odia daily ‘Samaj’, burnt the press following the publication of a report about the Prophet’s birthday. The Sub Editor was arrested. The publication gave an unconditional apology. (16)

Or in January 2015, when hundreds of “offended” Muslims protested at the Deoband police station, demanding the immediate arrest of a 9th Class boy who had allegedly, put a Facebook post mocking the Prophet. The police tried convincing the crowd that the boy had acted out of ignorance, not malice. But unable to convince the enraged crowd, senior officials directed the police to arrest the boy. (17)

Or in November 2015, when “enraged” Muslims yet again upheld Sharia above the Indian law. They held rallies and attacked multiple offices of a prominent newspaper Lokmat in Maharashtra, over a picture of a caricatured piggy bank in an article called ‘ISIS Money’. Now the ISIS flag is black with white Arabic script which says ‘There is no other god but Allah’, below that it says ‘Mohamet is a messenger of Allah’. The piggy bank was black, had the same script on its snout with various world currencies pouring into it. Yes, that ‘hurt sentiments’ as the pig is ‘un-Islamic’. The dreaded ISIS carrying the same words on their flag is not ‘un-Islamic’ or ‘offensive’. And yet again the most shameful part was, the editor of Lokmat apologised to these barbarians. He too believed that Sharia is above the law. (18)

In UK, the Oxford University Press has issued a guidance which bans mention of pigs or pork in schoolbooks, just so Muslims aren’t ‘offended'(19). Forget mentioning pigs, or eating a ham sandwich that could get you killed, little kids of all religions are being denied that adorable pink piggy in their Goosefeather Toy Farms. (20). One can hear the oink-oink in the toy, but can’t see it. It has been removed, all because that piggy is “un-Islamic” and “OFFENDS” some.

The list is endless.

Idea of India

“Since October 23 & 24 would be the most important dates for Muharram, the Durga Puja immersion dates would have to be readjusted. Muharram coincides with Navami & Dashami, hence no immersion will be allowed on 23rd or 24th Oct. Durga Puja immersion can be conducted on 22nd or 25th Oct” West Bengal CM, reported by the Telegraph.
As per Social Activist Tapan Ghosh, ‘Idols of Ma Durga, Lakshmi, Sarawati, Ganesh, Kartik were thrashed by ‘Friends of Hindus’ in Sodepur, Hoogly Dist, West Bengal on 15th Oct 2015. The police allegedly offered money to Hindus to keep quiet.

As per leading daily Jagran, on 23 Sept 2015, Muslims threw stones at the Ganesh Visarjan procession in Goonda UP.

On 6 Sept 2015, while raising pro-Pakistan slogans, Muslims attacked a Janamashtmi procession beating up many, in Meerut (Jagran).

On 24 Aug 2015, Muslims stopped the Kawariya procession from passing through their area in Moradabad (Jagran).

On 17 June 2015, four Muslims vandalised several idols of Lord Hanuman in Etah (Jagran).

On 26 May 2015, Muslims vandalised a temple, broke idols in Bulandshahr (Jagran).

On 25 Feb 2015, Muslims vandalised a Vishnu Lakshmi temple in Saharanpur (Jagran).

On 21 Feb 2015, Muslims vandalised a Shiva Temple, breaking idols in Pratapur, Meerut (Jagran).

As per a UN report, in 2010 alone, 28,000 Hindu daughters of West Bengal were kidnapped, raped, converted and trafficked by Islamic fundamentalists.Tuktuki Mondal’s case of 2015 is well known.

On 20 Sept 2014, Bangladesh asked the Indian government to investigate Jamaat-e-Islami links with Trinamool Congress.

In April 2015, a mob of 2000 Muslims attacked Mallikapur Village in West Bengal, desecrating temples, burning crops, and looting houses. Called the Falta Riots, the police refused to help.

As per an IndiaFacts report, in June 2015, there was ethnic cleansing of Hindus by Muslims in Panchagram, 35kms from Calcutta. Hindus were persecuted, houses looted, women dishonoured, and temples desecrated.

On 4 May 2015, a Hindu religious procession was attacked in front of a mosque in Juranpur village, West Bengal followed by heavy bombing from both sides. Four Hindus were killed. Locals said, the injured couldn’t be taken to any hospital as all the roads were blocked by Muslims.

In the same month, large scale attacks occurred in the nearby Naoda village where no police force is present.

On 29 January 2015, large scale violence rocked Usti market in South 24 Parganas district of West Bengal. More than 50 Hindu shops were ransacked, looted and gutted by a mob of rioting Muslims.

Even in this case, the list is endless, and here I have just covered some happenings in just two states, in the past few months.
Is Sharia Deciding Free Speech ‘Standards’ for Social Media too?

Since early this year (after Facebook founder Mark Zurkerberg recieved death threats from Islamists), people like me who risk our lives to work towards raising consciousness are being targeted on Facebook. Facebook has deleted four posts of mine and had blocked me from posting. As we speak, they have blocked me for seven days. Believe it or not, for posting this:

(Post) “OMG! There are 16 Muslim countries which have officially banned Israelis from entering, not for security reasons but for reasons of hatred for the Jew nation. Imagine if Muslims were banned from even one country? Already they are going ballistic over Donald Trump’s call for a temporary ban till laws are made stricter. We wouldn’t have heard the end of that famous victimhood rant “but all Muslims are not terrorists. Damn you, Evil Amreeka!’.

Alas the hypocrisy! But importantly what do we do about this Hindu NEED for acceptance which makes him lap up any amount of victimhood? As a famous Muslim journalist whom I have high regard for once told me – “In no other country do Muslims cry victimhood after every terror attack. Because Hindus are suckers for victimhood and love playing big brother.” (End Post)

You see, calling out anti-Semitism, or sticking your neck out to highlight Islamic extremism or terrorism is not upto Facebook’s ‘Community standards’ as it might ‘offend’ and ‘enrage’ some. The FBI director, federal immigration officials and the intelligence communities across the globe have confirmed the huge security concern with refuges piling into Germany, France, US etc, and ISIS’s capability to manufacture high quality fraudulent passports. We know that at least two of the perpetrators of the Paris attacks got in through Greece using fake papers. Plus, there is Tashfeen Malik in San Bernardino, who got into the country by misrepresenting herself on her fiancé’s visa.

When Muslim terrorists are continuing massacre after massacre, Muslims can no longer sit and say ‘But all Muslims are not terrorists. America is evil and communal”. One expected them to come up with ideas on how to identify a ‘radical’ Muslim among ‘normal’ Muslims, ideas on how to stop Muslim radicalisation.

The backlash we saw from majority Muslims after Trump’s call to stop all Muslims from entering the country till US figures out what is going on, was a raging firestorm in India. This when his call was not unconstitutional. Why, we even saw His Royal Highness Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin Abdulaziz Alsaud of Saudi Arabia tell Donald Trump to withdraw from the 2016 Presidential race.

What is worse—aggressively dealing with terrorism and temporarily banning those who might include terrorists amongst them till vetting procedures are reliable or continuing to allow everyone including terrorists at the risk of innocent lives?

It’s for no other reason that 45% Democrats and 72% Republicans favour the temporary ban as per a Fox News Poll (16 & 17 Dec 2015).
Facebook blocks Golda Meir

Nowadays it’s not beyond anyone on get blocked on Facebook for violating its “community standards”, and that includes Israel’s first female Prime Minister Golda Meir.

HonestReporting.com’s Yarden Frankl says ‘So yesterday we suddenly got logged out of Facebook with a message which says ‘This post has been removed from your account as it violates our community standards’.

Her post – A picture of Golda Meir with a very powerful quotation of hers which I feel cuts right through the chase of what happens here. Her quote ‘Peace will come when the Arabs love their own children more than they hate ours.’

We have recently seen how young Palestinians killed Jews and got killed in turn by Israelis trying to defend themselves. We have seen how parents of these teenage terrorists said, they are proud of their martyred kids.

In essence these parents are happy that their kids lost their lives trying to kill Jews for reasons of religious hatred. And Golda’s quote is outside the standards of relative discourse as Facebook feels her statement may cause violence.

The reason why it’s shocking is because Facebook obviously has very high standards. So I did a test, I went to another FB account and typed ‘Death to Israel’. And suddenly I got a whole lot of groups. 

The largest group was ‘Down with America and Death to Israel’. Full of hate, violent pictures and more hate. Something is seriously wrong with Facebook when ‘love’ violates community standards but ‘death’ is not violative.’ says Frankl (21)

When my friend and a popular blogger, who is constantly harassed by Facebook’s high community standards, reported to them about a page called ‘Modi ki Ma ka Bhosda’ (PM Modi’s Mothers Vagina), he got this reply from FB ‘We are sorry, but this does not violate our community standards’.

Acclaimed author, writer, activist and anti-Islamist Tarek Fatah too, is a victim of Facebook’s ‘Community Standards’. This is what Fatah says ‘There is something wrong with Facebook’s “community standards” if terrorists can communicate freely, but people fighting Islamism and jihadi terrorism cannot… I discovered that Facebook’s security was apparently being handled out of an office in Hyderabad, India, home to some of the country’s leading and most vocal Islamists… If Facebook insists on punishing those of us who put our lives at risk to fight the ISIS scourge, then the social media giant should hang its head in shame.” (22)

Rajeena a Muslim journalist from Kerala, was threatened and excommunicated. Her Facebook account was blocked after she posted a story on what her co-religionists were upto : Sexually molesting children in their Madrassas. (23)

Last week when 20 people attacked Facebook’s Hamburg (Germany) office, the company apologetically said ‘they would encourage ‘counter speech’ and step up the monitoring of xenophobic commentary’. Facebook is under probe in Germany over alleged failure to remove ‘hate speech’, as Germany fights to cope with the inflow of Muslim refugees. (24)

But if you call out the Dhimmitude of the civilised world or the hypocrisy, fake victimhood and extremism of the Islamic world, you do not meet the high community standards of Facebook. Thus in a free world, this social media giant willingly toes the Sharia.

How do we Separate the Chaff from the Wheat?

The theocratic ideology of Islam thrives on victimhood and polarisation. And world over, the love for the underfed pet Islam, the love for Muslim appeasement and victimhood, has left us spinelessly whimpering – “terror has no religion” or “this is not real Islam” its “Radical” or “Moderate” or “Political’ or ‘Normal’ or “Scarlet Red”, “Leafy Green”, “Ashes of Roses”, “Shocking Pink” Islam. Honestly these shades sound like a sinister joke now.

It’s extremely difficult to separate the chaff from the wheat. ISIS is within us today. Like Jekyll and Hyde.

That California couple who mass murdered colleagues for eating pork, were ‘normal’ Muslims leading a ‘normal,’ well-assimilated ‘American Dream’.

That 15-year-old Farhad Jabbar in Australia who shot down a policeman, was a sweet boy who loved playing cricket. That 20-year-old Bilal who blew himself in a football stadium in France was a cute chubby-cheeked boy who loved football. That 26-year-old Hansa who happily blew herself in France, was a happy-cowboy-girl. That 11-year-old Shaufat, the youngest terrorist to be arrested so far in Israel, stabbed a train guard because ‘I wanted to die a martyr’ he says. Israel doesn’t know what to do him, as the world doesn’t have laws to deal with 11-year-old terrorists, yet they keep getting younger.

That Maharashtrian engineer who was the first Indian bomber to graduate from the ISIS school of terror was an amiable patriotic boy. In the latest news, Rehan and Sharjeel who joined Al Qaeda are young students from the country’s premier institute, Jamia Millia Islamia University Delhi.

Yet nobody wants to ask Islam tough questions. But when the British PM barges into Obama’s room screaming “TERRORISM”, you know the situation is beyond control. And when people stick their neck out to highlight it, they are either blocked or jailed or killed or abused.

Britons, for fear of soiling their impeccably liberal grey suits, fed 1400 defenseless children to Jihadi sharks for 16 years in Rotherham and allowed Jihadi Johns to go on camping holidays to ISIS and return to reintegrate into British society.

Sweden, for fear for being labelled ‘racist’ gives lenient punishment and does not deport its Muslim rapists who have over three decades made Sweden the Rape Capital of the world. An Amnesty Report says ‘that while many Swedish girls lose their virginity after being raped by immigrants, these rapists enjoy impunity’.

Germany for fear of rocking its multicultural boat opened its floodgates to what some call ‘The Barbarian invasion of Rome’. The Result? That happy boat is on the verge of going up in flames. Thousands are marching against this invasion.

Belgium for fear of being politically incorrect, has nurtured terror in its backyard. There’s hardly a terror attack in the EU which cannot be traced back to the Brussels suburb Molenbeek. Given the demographics, they also call Belgium -Belgistan.

I often wonder, is it that when Obama ‘warns Americans against blaming Islam for terrorism’, he knows he has ‘no choice’? As who knows which ‘well-assimilated’ American Muslim might get ‘enraged’?

This global political correctness is suffocating and stifling millions of ordinary citizens who are steadily browbeaten into silence and cowardice. Indeed, it has long stopped being mere political correctness. It is suicidal stupidity.
References:
https://t.co/6I6KnBoEnd
https://t.co/CY0nfFze7I
https://t.co/wDTkJx6gNi
https://t.co/t8U5bNK0R1 , https://t.co/X7mFXrQZIA
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/meerut/1-lakh-Muslims-gather-in-Muzaffarnagar-demand-death-for-Kamlesh-Tiwari/articleshow/50139316.cms
https://t.co/vRAuTCawzk
https://t.co/VuHfxO2gXp
https://t.co/m6NoLL3qBD
https://t.co/i63jKaw4az , https://t.co/XY4bubVZUu
http://www.nationalreview.com/article/428146/more-than-few-islamic-extremists?
http://www.wsj.com/articles/how-to-beat-islamic-state-1449850833
https://t.co/KFubuDH7qf
http://blogs.swarajyamag.com/2015/01/20/who-is-making-the-world-more-islamophobic/
http://www.apnewsarchive.com/1986/Death-Toll-Reaches-16-in-Rioting-Over-Short-Story/id-f7980a41d9238adc67bdc1f54530c28a & http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1986-12-10/news/8604020261_1_deccan-herald-moslems-police-gunfire
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assault_on_T._J._Josep
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bhubaneswar/Protesters-attack-Odia-daily-offices/articleshow/28814778.cms
http://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/fb-post-lands-class-9-deoband-boy-in-trouble/article1-1306155.aspx
http://www.wsj.com/articles/indias-biased-debate-on-intolerance-1449078739
http://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/top-publisher-bans-mentions-of-pigs-or-pork-so-as-not-to-offend-muslims-or-jews-9976568.html.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/religion/8136069/Toy-pig-removed-from-farm-set-to-avoid-offending-Muslim-and-Jewish-parents.html
http://rebmottle.com/golda-meir-a-hater/
http://www.torontosun.com/2015/11/24/why-would-facebook-censor-me?token=c4
http://www.thenewsminute.com/article/kerala-woman-journalist-threatened-fb-account-blocked-after-post-child-sexual-abuse
https://t.co/f24GTil8Qi

Sumedha Sarvadaman
Sumedha is a designer and writer and a strong nationalist who doesn’t believe in being a bystander or a fence-sitter.

SICKULAR INDIANS-Barkha Dutt

SICKULAR INDIANS-Barkha Dutt

Barkha daughter of SPDutt and Prabha Dutt . a graduate from St Stephen's College ,ND , Masters Degree in Mass Communication from Jamia Milia University . Mass Communication Research Centre then Master's degree in journalism from Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism, New York. Gujarat:The making of a tragedy, edited by Siddharth Varadarajan and published by Penguin (ISBN 978-0143029014). The book is about the 2002 Gujarat riots. Barkha later wrote a book "This Unquiet Land" which was released in December 2015.

Barkha Dutt is married twice. And, co-incidentally, both of her husbands are Kashmiri Muslims.

The name of her first husband was Mr. Mir. There is no information available in the public domain about the reason which compelled the couple to get separated. 

After divorcing Mir, Barkha Dutt married Haseeb Drabu. Mr. Drabu is now the Finance Minister of Jammu and Kashmir in the PDP-BJP Government headed by Mufti Mohammed Saeed.
Being a half Muslim , it is but natural she will support the community

(Source. Unofficial: Dr. Subramaniun Swamy)
And this is her style of Journalism.................
Our leading journalist Barkha Dutt asked Hindu US representative Tulsi Gabbard , "Are you going to stay as Hindu?"

What kind of Journalism is this? Why so much hate and Untouchability for Hinduism? Indirectly Barkha Dutt asks Tulsi if she was planning to convert to some other religion!

We never saw her asking such questions to any other Non Christian politician in the US or any non Hindu politician in India.

Most of the hardcore anti Hindu people have taken the most prominent places in Media, Bollywood etc and they keep spreading disinformation and hate against Hindus and brainwashing the younger generations against Hinduism and in general Indian culture and civilization!

Tulsi Gabbard had come to cheer Modi at Madison Square in New York when Barkha started asking these questions to her.
---------------------------
Barkha Dutta - How did you come to know as Tusli? How did you come to be a practicing Hindu?
Tulsi Gabbard - My parents gave all five of us Hindu names.
Barkha Dutt - All five of you?
Tulsi Gabbard - I practice Hinduism. I practice Karma Yoga and Bhakti Yoga.
Barkha Dutt - Is it the religion you are going to stay with?
Tulsi Gabbard - This is the motivation for my life and this is the only way of life for me.
Barkha Dutt - Because this is very unusual because you are the only Hindu in the US congress!!!
That was Burqa Dutt For us
(Source Unofficial...Subramanium Swamy.

We do not have a Caste system…

We do not have a Caste system…
Article from https://vhsindia.org/en/we-do-not-have-a-caste-system/#comment-5978


Narendra Devadas

All Hindus are entitled to two identities. One of the ‘thousands of Jathi’s’, as a default professional-community identity and secondly, as an identity by choice, one of the ‘four Guna-varna’s’. For example, I am by birth a Smartha Brahmin (Jathi) but by Choice or Swadharma, I am a Kshatriya (Guna-Varna).

Hinduism is based on universal consciousness experienced as universal love.

The Jathi system is based on the family profession, where the father used to be the primary teacher for the son. Jathi is essential for the stability of arranged marriages, where the professional community samskaras and extended families, support long-term stability of marriages, family well-being and therefore, it also enabled professional excellence. This is the system that has lasted for thousands of years and made India one of the two world leaders until 1750.

In a rare case of personality (Guna) mismatch with the profession (Jathi), one is free to discard ones Jathi and Guna-Varna, and change to a different Jathi and Guna-Varna, by following ‘Swadharma’ (chosen dharma), without a formal procedure. However, to identify with a community, there are formalities or samskaras. This is similar to any modern organization. This has been the case with Hinduism for millennia. This is because; Hinduism allows evolution without the struggles against rigid organizations.

For thousand of years, unjust practices in Hinduism were local and transitory, and self-correcting, mainly because our scriptures did not support such unjust and intolerant ways, as in some other religions. Hinduism is based on universal consciousness experienced as universal love.

We do not have a caste system as in most other countries, where the privileged rich rule over the less privileged as a birth right, as for example in Europe, Japan and even in modern US, where a rich 1% rules over the 99% of the less privileged, supported by the US supreme court decisions. There are neighborhoods and ‘public’ places like restaurants in US and Europe, where you are not allowed or ‘unwelcome’, strictly based on skin color or race or a ‘dress-code’-the worst form of caste system. A brief online search will reveal that the caste systems as practiced in other parts of the world were, and are, much more unjust and violent than the Hindu Jathi-Guna-Varna system.

The historically well practiced, divide and rule policy of the British has amplified the natural differences in Jathi-Guna-Varna system and it has created a segment of self-loathing Hindu secularist, who need to be re-educated and reintegrated. We need to express this on social media frequently, so that we can put an end to these habitually destructive foreign propaganda machines and, the ignorant and corrupt Hindu secularists who follow them blindly.

https://vhsindia.org/en/we-do-not-have-a-caste-system/#comment-5978

WE DO NOT HAVE A CASTE SYSTEM… This article very nicely explains the basics of the actual caste system.

To this I will add that one of the purposes of our elated ancient masters in making distinctions in professions, social and mental patterns was to ensure and encourage the speediest path one can take towards self realization (liberation/enlightenment).

If you had a definite professional background-one that is a wholesome and total part of your being, then, it directly enables you to transcend it as the direction towards enlightenment.

For eg. if you are like say Dr.Abdul Kalam, his chosen profession was so much part of him. Any job he takes up is directly aligned to the thought patters of a scientist as well as in gratitude and in support of the nation that supported this system. It has become his very nature (not just a second nature). He became one with the work and everything that he did from morning to night was with these 2 thought patterns as the core.

Thus he stood a huge chance of completing with it and transcending it. This was what everybody was encouraged to do in our system.

In course of time everything decays as the proportion of people retaining these values diminish to the expansion in population. It is time to understand it for what it was meant to be and not be ignorant slaves to a corporate culture or become part of the useless philosophies promoted by communism and other similar ideologies followed all over India that will only breed crooks eventually.

Karthikai Deepam-The Symbolism & the Significance

Karthikai Deepam-The Symbolism & the Significance

The SYMBOLISM 

It is on this day that Lord Shiva appeared as an endless flame of light at Tiruvannamalai in Tamil Nadu before Lord Vishnu and Lord Brahma, who were fighting between each other as to who is superior.

In order to sort out this fight, Lord Shiva as a huge column of fire, asked them both to find the ends of this form of light - his head and feet; and who ever finds it shall be considered as the superior.

Lord Vishnu took the form of a boar (Sanskrit:Varaha, Tamil:Varaham(pandri) ) and tried to reach the end of the fire beneath the earth. He failed miserably and came back to Lord Shiva saying that he was unable to find the end of the fire from the bottom.

Lord Brahma on the other hand, took the shape of a swan (Sanskrit: Hansa, Tamil:Annam) and flew to find the beginning of the fire on the topside and flew towards the skies. After flying high with no end in sight, he chanced upon a piece of Thazhambu, a flower, learnt from it that it had been floating down for thirty thousand years from Lord Shiva's head.

He seized upon this and claimed to Lord Shiva that he had seen Lord Shiva's head. Lord Siva realized the falsehood and pronounced that there would never be a temple for Lord Brahma in this world. He also forbid the use of the flower Thazhambu in his worship.

Lord Shiva appeared as a flame hill (Arunachala Hill) at Tiruvannamalai in Tamil Nadu. Indeed, the very names `Tiruvannamalai' and `Arunachala' translate as `holy fire hill.' This occurs on the day when the moon is in conjunction with the constellation Karthigai (Pleiades) and pournami. This constellation appears as a group of six stars in the firmament in the shape of a pendant from the ear.





Constellation Karthigai (Pleiades)





Tiruvannamalai Arunachala Temple










The Shivalinga in the temple is the Agni linga. The tiny lamps lit during the Karthigai festival (Karthigai Deepam) are believed to be the miniature replicas of the fire linga. Every year thousands of devotees from all over flock to Tiruvannamalai to see the spectacular Karthigai Deepam (the fire lit on top of the hill symbolizing the original column of light) there.





Agal vilakku (oil lamps) lit up during Karthigai Deepam

The SIGNIFICANCE 

LORD BRAHMA represents the mind and intellect, LORD VISHNU represents the material world and its attractions and LORD SHIVA represents the endless cosmic infinity. 

Material pursuits are not going to take you to any higher states. You can only increase your possessions and no matter what you do in this short lifespan, you are bound to realize its actual insignificance sooner or later in this lifetime itself or through repeated lifetimes of doing the same thing. In this context, with this clarity, Lord Vishnu submits before Lord Shiva. 

Lord Brahma represents the mind which can go after all kinds of higher pursuits and all such mental pursuits only increase the ego. The ever changing mind is also deceptive and cunning. 

Even after realizing the futility of the pursuit, the mind seeks to justify and also engages in scheming activities to retain or prove its superiority. Thus Lord Brahma came about with a false evidence of the flower to falsely claim his position. 

Lord Shiva, representing the cosmic infinite emptiness which supports all physical manifestations banishes such falsehood that the mind is capable of. 

The mind and its ever changing engagements are to be banished from a temple or from the core of a seeker of truth. 

The fire and the light are symbolic of destroying of all falsehood-both material and intellectual with the pure light of knowledge to regain our own pure and infinite state. This is to show that no matter what we pursue, our only purpose in this world is to regain our own original infinite state.

Lord Vishnu and Lord Brahma pursuing both ways and returning back in futility clearly is a loud message that we have come this far after millions of years of physical evolution and having come to the highest possible state to be able to make this enquiry, we are urged not to waste it with endless deceptions and preoccupations.

So, if we go to Tiruvannamalai every year and just see the symbolic representations (which are retained only for carrying the significance to generations) and return back, glorifying and expressing the awe of Lord Shiva, it is not going to serve the intended purpose.

What ever rituals you do for Lord Shiva-is it going to enhance the cosmic source in any way? The clear message here is to transcend all the material and intellectual attractions and engagements without deceiving ourselves and continue our natural evolutionary journey with the wisdom of knowledge, to become one with the cosmic source.

Being born as Hindu itself is like winning a lottery because you are born into the only tradition which has elaborately laid out the path to attain the highest possible truth, unlike other basic paths laid out for societal well-being. Hence, it will be a terrible disrespect to your true tradition, if you dont have this as the primary purpose of existence and do what ever it takes to realize it.

Kartikai Deepam and Lord Muruga
Lord Muruga, also known as Skanda, Subrahamaniya and Kartik, was born as six different babies to Lord Shiva after he awoke from the deep meditation after Goddess Sati’s death. The six babies were looked after by the Six Krittika stars and the six children were later joined to a single force by Goddess Parvati.

Krittika is the six stars or the Pleiades cluster – when Muruga joins them as a child they make seven stars. As Muruga was born as six different babies and later joined into one He is popularly known as Aarumugan in Tamil culture.

Lord Muruga as Kumaraguru Advising Lord Shiva
Another legend has it that the lamps lit symbolically represent knowledge, victory and peace. Muruga as Kumaraguru is believed to have taught the meaning of ‘OM’ to Lord Shiva. Thus the lamps lit on the day are in remembrance of sharing the ultimate knowledge of ‘OM.’ The knowledge of OM helps in enlightenment and emancipation.

The Lord Muruga episode is also symbolic of continuous life and masters appearing in the physical plane to share the science of enlightenment, which can be attained through meditations on the maha mantra OM.

OM is AUM - A (ah) is the first sound one can make. If you try making any sound with your mouth, you will realize that A (ah) is the first sound possible and there is no sound before that. U (oo) is the mid sound you can make in a similar way and and M (mmm) is the final closing sound in a similar way.

Hence, the mantra OM or AUM, covers the entire sound phenomena that represents the entire manifested world. When you intone this sound, it represents the entire manifested material world and in the gap you have when you intone the next AUM lies the SILENCE, the silent space which supports all manifestations.

So, AUM, silence, AUM, silence, AUM, silence ..... and there will come a point where nothing else exists in your meditation except these 2 and when you are established only in this, the silent infinity takes over and you become one with the cosmic source.

Tipu-Francois Ripaud Diary-The Tyrant Diaries

The Tyrant Diaries
From the memoirs of a French adventurer who served at Tipu’s court
FRANCOIS GAUTIER
In December 8, 1988, an old trunk was discovered in the attic of the house of Elaine de la Taille Tretinville, who died at 91 in her 14th arrondissement flat in Paris. She was a descendant of the family of Les Ripaud Montaudeverts. Among the contents was a manuscript in the hand of the most famous of the Montaudeverts—Francois Fidele Ripaud de Montaudevert. It starts with these words (in old French): “I, Francois Ripaud, am old today, but I want to tell you the true story of Tipu Sultan.”


Born in Saffre, northwestern France, in a middle-class family, Ripaud enrolled as a sailor, aged 11, on the Le Palmier. After many adventures, he settled in Mauritius, where he married and had two children. In 1797, hearing of Le Grand Tipu Sultan, he sailed from Mauritius (then called Ile de France) to Mangalore and sought a meeting with the sultan, promising “to raise a large force in Mau­ritius and put it at Tipu’s disposal”. Tipu, who had an early connection with the French, having been instructed in warfare by French officers in the employ of his father, jumped at the idea and gave Ripaud letters of credential. 

On August 19, 1798, Ripaud came back to Mauritius and made a proclamation seeking volunteers for an “expedition to travel to Mysore to assist Tipu in his resistance to British encroachment in south India”. It must be noted that, two months earlier, Napoleon had invaded Egypt and dreamt of establishing a junction with India against the British, so the governor of Mauritius received instructions to collaborate and Ripaud was able to sail to Mangalore with a shipload of French soldiers who were welcomed there like heroes.

Life at Tipu’s court was a dream for our hardy adventurer, but he began to have some misgivings. In his diary entry of January 14, 1799, he writes: “I’m disturbed by Tipu Sultan’s treatment of these most gentle souls, the Hindus. 

During the siege of Mangalore, Tipu’s soldiers daily exposed the heads of many innocent Brahmins within sight from the fort for the Zamorin and his Hindu followers to see.” Even so, he cast his doubts aside and put up for Tipu’s benefit a dem­onstration of the egalitarian political ideas of France: in 1799, a French paper entitled ‘Proceedings of a Jacobin Club formed at Seringapatnam by the French Soldiers in the Corps Commanded by Francois Ripaud’ was found in Tipu’s palace. It listed 59 Frenchmen in the pay of “citizen Tipu” and described a “primary assembly” of May 5, 1797, to elect a president (Ripaud) and other office-bearers. The ‘Rights of Man’ were proclaimed and the sultan formally received a small delegation from the club.

After this interval, we find another diary entry in which Ripaud is appalled at what he witnessed in Calicut (Kozhikode): “Most of the Hindu men and women were hanged...first mothers were hanged with their children tied to their necks. 

That barbarian Tipu Sultan tied the naked Christians and Hindus to the legs of elephants and made the elephants move around till the bodies of the helpless victims were torn to pieces. Temples and churches were ordered to be burned down, desecrated and des­troyed. Christian and Hindu women were forced to marry Mohammedans, and similarly, their men (after conversion to Islam) were forced to marry Moha­mm­edan women. Christians who refused to be honoured with Islam were ordered to be killed by hanging immediately.” These events were corroborated by Father Bartholomew, a famous Portu­guese traveller, in his memoir, Voyage to East Indies.

Another diary entry of Ripaud says: “To show his ardent devotion and steadfast faith in the Mohammedan religion, Tipu Sultan found Kozhikode to be the most suitable place. 

Kozhikode was then a centre of Brahmins and had over 7,000 Brahmin families living there. Over 2,000 Brahmin families perished as a result of Tipu Sultan’s Islamic cruelties. He did not spare even women and children.”

A disgusted Ripaud left Seringapatnam and went back to France, where he obtained captainship of a fine fighting ship, the Shapho. On February 23, 1814, fighting an English frigate, Ripaud had his arm ripped off by a cannon ball. He died the same evening. Even the British, his arch enemies, gave a 21-cannon salute to this brave adventurer, once Tipu Sultan’s ‘Great White Hope’.

(The writer is editor-in-chief of La Revue de l’Inde. This piece is based on two books: Jean Feildel’s A la Mer, en Guerre: Vie du Corsaire Ripaud de Montaudevert and Louis Brunet’sRipaud de Montaudevert: Scenes de la Revolution Francaise a L’ile Bourbon.)

The Scientific Dating of the Ramayana

The Scientific Dating of the Ramayana

Did Rama exist? A billion Hindus believe he did and an unbroken tradition of Rama…Rakesh Krishnan Simha @SimhaRakesh
Indology | 15-11-2015

http://indiafacts.co.in/the-scientific-dating-of-the-ramayana/


Did Rama exist? A billion Hindus believe he did and an unbroken tradition of Rama worship has continued for thousands of years in India. Rama is also a hero in Indonesia (despite it being a Muslim country), Thailand and in several other South East Asian countries. Without the weight of historical tradition, the Ramayana would have been swept away by the tidal waves of conquests that India suffered over a period of 1300 years.

A Ramayana ballet from Indonesia

But there are others who argue that there is no proof Rama lived. These are the same people who will happily agree that a child can be conceived without human conception. 

Despite the overwhelming scientific evidence produced by the likes of Charles Darwin, they believe the earth was created in 4004 BC and that a certain being called god created the world in seven days. (Or was that six? Yes, he was so powerful he needed to rest on Sunday.) 

They won’t question any Christian or Muslim myths – howsoever outrageous, bizarre or downright funny – but Hindu traditions are open season for them. They want you to produce Rama’s birth certificate, and chances are even if you somehow get a copy, they will ask for the doctor who attested it.

The British and their acolytes like Max Muller are originally responsible for the prevailing stereotypes about Indian history, religion and culture. Muller, who was in the pay of the East India Company, went so far as to describe the Vedas as childish poetry.

In her History of India, academician Romilla Thapar describes the celebrated Rig-Veda as “primitive animism”; the Mahabharata as the glorification of a “local feud” between two Aryan tribes; the Ramayana as “a description of local conflicts between the agriculturists of the Ganges Valley and the more primitive hunting and food-gathering societies of the Vindhyan region” (sic).

But the Ramayana, Mahabharata, and other ancient Indian texts like the Vedas, Puranas and Upanishads are true records of Indian history, interwoven with mythology, philosophy and spirituality. Just because they talk about battles between gods and demons is no reason to dismiss their accounts of kings and other contemporary developments as mere story telling. 

It is indeed amazing that the Bible mentions numerous fantastic events like the Great Deluge, Pillar of Fire, instantaneous healing of cut-off ears, is full of sexual imagery including incest and is yet considered a history of Christianity and Jews, while the ancient Indian texts are considered “mere” mythology.

The unfortunate part is that many secularists, brown sahibs and Macaulayites – a class of Indians who are English in outlook and Indian only in looks – readily agree that India’s epics are pure mythology and gleefully bow down to the verdict passed by their former white colonial masters. In their view, because the British averred that Indian epics do not pre-date the Christian Bible, then it must necessarily be true.

Science comes to history’s aid

Science, however, is not parochial. Just like the laws of motion cannot be questioned, scientific evidence is incontrovertible. Science also has a habit of shaking up the deepest foundations if they rest on a bed of lies. 

Catholic Christians – or more accurately their boss, the Pope – had to admit at long last in 2009 that the Earth was not the centre of the universe, a discovery made by Galileo 400 years ago (and which the Hindus knew thousands of years before that).

Ruins of Dwarka, underwater at the Gulf of Khambhat

In the late 1980s divers of the National Institute of Oceanography, Goa, led by leading archaeologist S.R. Rao discovered Krishna’s sunken capital Dwarka, precisely at the place in Gujarat where Krishna mentioned it was located. 

Palaces, pillars, fort walls, a port, anchors and various artefacts have been discovered. This is among the rare instances where a historical fact has been established through scientific methods. It establishes the fact that Krishna existed. So the Mahabharata was true, and since it mentions incidents from the Ramayana, then doesn’t it prove that Rama also existed?

Also, literary references to the characters from the Ramayana Era provide limits after which the Ramayana could not have occurred. For example, Valmiki is referred to in the Taittiriya Brahmana (dated to 4600 BCE) and therefore Ramayana must have been written before the Taittiriya Brahmana was composed.

Follow the clues

The wonderful thing about the Ramayana is that when Valmiki wrote the epic, he made it idiot-proof. (For fun let’s assume Valmiki being a prescient sage knew that secularists, communists, India haters, British invaders and Macaulayites would exist in the future and try to run down his historical opus.) 

He packed so much information about the various planetary positions of those days, the geography of the areas mentioned in the epic, the seasonal events, and about the genealogy of various kings that modern astronomers and scientists can have a crack at the dates on which those events occurred.

Genealogical links and archaeological findings provide clues to the dating of the Ramayana era. According to journalist and author B.R. Haran, “In no other nation and no other religion in the world, true history is so meticulously documented, supported by umpteen evidences. Any ancient history is supported with evidences of architecture and literature. 

The Sangam literature is the documented evidence for the existence and ruling of Tamil kings, and similarly, Ramayana and Mahabharata are the documented evidence for Rama and Krishna. Questioning Ramayana and Mahabharata is like questioning the very existence of India.”

Archaeological and literary methods can only provide approximate datelines. For determining the precise time of the Ramayana events, scientists use astronomical calculations. Several of India’s leading astronomers, astrologers and retired nuclear scientists have come together to establish the dates of India’s ancient history.

Note that the “Hindu epics are myth” brigade is led by communist academicians who have zero interest in the truth, Nehru family carpet baggers, Christian freeloaders who have penetrated Indian cultural outfits, and Indians who have slept with their Anglo-American PhD guides to become, in Arun Shourie’s words, “eminent scientists”.

Dr Raja Ramanna

On the other hand, most of those trying to prove the epics are history are scientists. For instance, at a global colloquium (http://ignca.nic.in/nl002503.htm) jointly organised by The Mythic Society, Bangalore, Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts and Sir Babasaheb (Umakanth Keshav) Apte Smarak Samithi Trust on January 5 and 6, 2003, the late Dr Raja Ramanna, the father of the Indian nuclear bomb, said the “best clock for dating was the sky itself and the position of stars”.

These scientists are studying facts, they are looking back in time at precession or the position of stars. They are not regurgitating the discredited writings of Karl Marx, the racist German who supported English rule over India. So you judge for yourself who is speaking the truth and who’s peddling snake oil.

Dating the Ramayana

So how is astronomical dating done? Historian Dr P.V. Vartak says: “Sage Valmiki has recorded the dates of events in detail, albeit by describing the positions of stars and planets. To decipher the astronomical encodings has not been a trivial task, and not many have attempted to do so. 

It should be noted that the ancient Indians had a perfect method of time measurement. They recorded the ‘tithis’ (days) according to the nakshatra (star) on which the moon prevailed, the months, the seasons and even the different solstices. By noting a particular arrangement of the astronomical bodies, which occurs once in many thousand years, the dates of the events can be calculated.”

Dr Vartak has taken hundreds of illustrated passages from the epic to establish dates. He writes: “Valmiki records the birth of Rama as Chaitra Shuddha Navami (9th), on Punarvasu Nakshatra and five planets were exalted then; Sun in Mesha up to 10 deg; Mars in Capricorn at 28 deg; Jupiter in Cancer at 5 deg; Venus in Pisces at 27 degrees and Saturn in Libra at 20 degrees. (Bala Kanda 18, Shloka 8.9). December 4, 7323 BCE, therefore, is the date of birth of Rama, when the four planets exalted. Ramayana occurred over 9300 years ago.”

Frankly, only an astrologer or astronomer can make any sense of it. Still, Dr Vartak’s passages illustrate how dating can be done with sufficient information. Events – such as an eclipse, planetary or astral positioning or a comet sighting – mentioned in an epic like the Ramayana may have occurred subsequently or prior. Over a period of say, 20,000 years, a particular type of event could have happened several times.

Stars shift position too vis-a-vis the earth so the star field we see in the night sky is not what the ancients saw 9000 years ago. This is called precession and has to be factored into all calculations. The idea is to back astronomical data with other reference points such as geography (for instance, how many of those eclipses took place over Ayodhya) in order to reduce the probability of error.

King Guha’s descendants

The Daily Pioneer (http://www.dailypioneer.com/todays-newspaper/ramayana-not-a-work-of-fiction.html) reports that an international team of researchers consisting of geneticists, anthropologists, archaeologists and historians have found that Ramayana is a chronicle of events and characters recorded by Sage Valmiki and not a work of fiction.

The team, led by Dr Gyaneshwer Chaubey, a genetics scientist of the Estonian Biocentre in Estonia, included scientists from the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Hyderabad; Delhi University; Indian Institute of Technology-Kharagpur; and the Institute of Scientific Research on Vedas. It has found that the Bhils, Gonds and the Kols communities are the true descendants of characters featured in Ramayana.

The Kol tribe, found mainly in areas like Mirzapur, Varanasi, Banda and Allahabad in Uttar Pradesh, are the descendants of the Kol mentioned in the Ramayana, the study says. Guha, the Nishad king, who helped Rama cross the Ganga during his journey to the forests, is the ancestor of the present day Kol tribe. “These groups of people carry the basic indigenous genetic traits of India… they are the true descendants of Rama and his contemporaries,” Dr Chaubey said.

Who knows, further research could come up with more surprises. For, unlike the secularists, Macaulayites and communists who are unanimous that Rama never existed, the scientists are not adamant that the date is fixed. Like all good scientists, they just want to continue looking in the hope that one day they’ll nail the truth.

“Where do we go from here?” asks Dr Kalyan Raman, a Chennai-based scientist, and offers the answer: “Trash western Indological work done with motivation and instead rewrite Indian history.” Truth, he says, should be perceived in terms of our national heritage.

Epilogue: Why Hindus love Rama

Unlike Krishna, who had the 16 kalas or qualities that makes one perfect, Rama had mastered only 14 kalas. The prince of Ayodhya is, therefore, imperfect and he shows it on several occasions, most starkly when he asks his wife to undergo a chastity test. Again, when an uncouth citizen questions his queen’s chastity, Rama sends his pregnant wife off to the forest. Krishna would have probably publicly mocked and shamed the citizen instead of banishing his own queen.

Flaws aside, Rama is loved by Indians because he takes sacrifice to a new level. He is a warrior prince who cheerfully gives up the greatest empire of the day so his step mother would not have the slightest reason to complain.He is a husband who lets go his wife because one man – just one –among his millions of subjects objected to her presence in the kingdom.

Looking at things from the perspective of the modern era – where we instinctively genuflect before politicians – Rama was taking it too far, but for the king of Ayodhya his own comforts or that of his family mattered little. True to ancient Hindu laws, he knew the king’s primary duty was to serve his people. So how could he have even one unhappy citizen, howsoever boorish that person may be?

In their moving and brilliant translation of the Ramayana, William Buck and B.A. van Nootena say: “Rama could discover the truth of things, and men resorted to him from all over the earth, as the rivers of the world all flow to the sea. Rama was well-honoured and well-loved. His presence filled the heart.

“Rama was strong enough to support all men, and gentle as the new moon’s beams. Fame and wealth never left him. When he was king men were long in life, and lived surrounded by their children and grandchildren and all their families. The old never had to make funerals for the young. There was rain and fertile earth; indeed, the earth became bountiful.

“Peace and Rama ruled as friends together, and bad things did not happen. Men grew kind and fearless. Everyone had about him a certain air and look of good fortune.

“A king like Rama was never seen before and nowhere remembered from the past in any kingdom, nor did any like him ever follow in the later ages of this world.”

Rakesh Krishnan Simha
Rakesh Krishnan Simha is a New Zealand-based journalist. He writes on foreign affairs and defence for Russia Beyond the Headlines, a project of the Moscow-based Rossiyskaya Gazeta group, Russia’s largest media group. He is on the advisory board of Europe-based Modern Diplomacy.