"Truth can be stated in a thousand different ways, yet each one can be true." - Swami Vivekanand

Saturday, March 3, 2012

O' Father, ye forgoteth thy children?

Italian ship sailing near Bharteeya waters of Kerala fired gunshots at fishermen sailing nearby. Two fishermen hailing from Kerala died in this unfortunate incident.

The Kerala Police have started further procedure by taking responsible persons into custody. Italy rushed to rescue their men and to absolve them of ghastly deeds. Italian Consul General immediately started the procedure of talks and diplomacy. Italy contended that as the incident happened in international waters, Bharteeya Court cannot try its men. Only Italian Court or The International Court will be the appropriate forum to investigate further. This somewhat arrogant stand was taken by Italy within no time. This was undoubtedly in the interest of Italy, and it should be so. And to our surprise Bharteeya administration has stood strong this time. Thanks, still S M Krishna (External Affairs Minister) has not stepped in in the matter! The advocate for prosecution has ensured Italian administration that judicial process in Bharat is ‘free and fair’, so that they need not worry. Justice will be done in this matter.

One has to keep some patience and then react. The reaction, sooner or later, should be in the interest of Bharat. A Bharteeya person should support the cause of the victims and not the culprits.

But to our surprise, despite the strong stand taken by Union Government as well as local authorities in this matter, the stand taken by the Cardinal of Syro Malabar Church – Mar George Alancherry is highly objectionable. One could understand if political leaders at the Centre take a stand to lean on Italy’s side, because we know its interest and adherence to Italian leadership. But a Cardinal who is of this very soil sings in the tunes of Rome? Ironically, he is the 11th Cardinal of Bharat!.
Transformation!
He stated that “I am and will remain in close contact with the Catholic ministers of Kerala and I hope that they will help to pacify the situation. In particular, I trust in the work of the Tourism Minister, the Catholic KV Thomas, who participated in the consistory in Rome in past days and attended the mass with the Holy Father and the new cardinals: he is a man of great moral stature and of significant influence, both in the local and central government, and he assured me his maximum effort. I guarantee, in the next few days, my constant involvement with the Indian authorities on the matter”. (source: http://www.firstpost.com/india/why-is-keralas-newest-cardinal-batting-for-italian-killers-221271.html)
This statement of his invited some criticism, which subsequently made him change his earlier stand. He then maintained that, “I would like to precise my views reported by the news agency “Fides” regarding the incident in which two fishermen were killed in the sea. This event has to be investigated and if there is a culpable action it has to be dealt with legally and the culprits have to be punished. Truth and justice have to be established. What I said the other day parenthetically was that this event shall not become a cause for conflicts and enemity in the communities and between nations. I have no intention to take a mediatory role in the setting of this matter”.( http://www.fides.org/aree/news/newsdet.php?idnews=31062&lan=eng)

Two things should be noted here. Being a Bharateeya, he should have gone and met the families of the fishermen who lost their lives. Here, coincidently, the two dead fishermen were also Christians. He should have consoled the families and kith and kin of the demised. But he did not do so. Instead he asked the Government to soften its stand on Italian marines and ‘forgive them’. Are those Roman Catholics nearer to him than Bharateeya Christians? I cannot resist myself from giving Gandhiji’s quote on religious conversions (especially conversions of Hindus to Christianity), “As I wander about through the length and breadth of India I see many Christian Indians almost ashamed of their birth, certainly of their ancestral religion, and of their ancestral dress. The aping of Europeans by Anglo-Indians is bad enough, but the aping of them by Indian converts is a violence done to their country and, shall I say, even to their new religion.” (Young India: August 8, 1925). Gandhiji had also observed how everything in the case of a convert changes dramatically. He says, “If I had the power and could legislate, I should stop all proselytizing. In Hindu households the advent of a missionary has meant the disruption of the family coming in the wake of change of dress, manners, language, food and drink. (November 5, 1935). Has Cardinal George Alencherry proved this?

I humbly ask therefore, - oh Father, ye forgotteth thy own children? Where shall they knock now?

References:





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Sunday, February 5, 2012

Minoritysm, politics, challenges and remedies.


The question of minorities in Bharteeya society and politics is one of the most complex issues which needs serious consideration and analysis of our history.
Bharteeya society is a wonderful mosaic of various sects, creeds, languages and so on.  But amongst all, ‘religion’ plays an important role when it comes to political manoeuvre and social undercurrents. National integrity is also dependent on religious communities and cordial relations between them. Constant strife between majority-minority communities ensures national disintegration. We have had many in our history; one of them was in 1947.

Without considering the parameter of minority, we can’t proceed further. Constitution of Bharat does not define the term ‘minority’. But we can see that ‘minority’ depends on the numerical strength of a particular community vis-à-vis total population. But to what extent? When it ceases to be a minority?

But unfortunately we still haven’t defined ‘minority’ and political clan is therefore free to use it as they wish to serve their petty purposes.
Blaming political brethren alone won’t help. The social thinkers, intelligentia, mediapersons and social workers also need to actively work for it. And therefore our viewpoint towards non-Indic religions, nationality and hindutva matters.

Nationality – State is said to come into existence when it contains four essential ingredients viz. specific territory, people, government and sovereignty. But ‘nation’ is a sentimental and psychological concept. When people believe in one nationhood, a nation is said to be existing. Then there may not be a specific territory.

As the example of Israel goes, Jews had a strong feeling of oneness and dreamt of a nation for decades together. They had no Israel or their own country and were scattered all over the world. But they made it a point to converge at one place annually. Elders, youth, women continued to reiterate the remembrance of Israel on that day of congregation. They had a meal at the end of that function, called ‘Passover Meal’. After this meal, they resolved each year, “next meal over there”, means in Israel. World laughed at them. People mocked these Jews saying how can they dare to resolve when they are such a small community disseminated through the continents? But their determination and unity proved the mocking people wrong. And today we can see the mighty Israel. This took several generations. But the flow of nationalism continued and taken ahead by one generation to the next. Such is the uniqueness of nationalism.
Now when it comes to our country, which is such a binding force? Having multifarious society, hundreds of languages, thousands of dialects, and diversity of cuisine, rituals, and costumes makes it difficult to bind this populace in a single thread. Though it is a difficult task it’s not unachievable.  The thread is inevitably the Hindutva. The 52 shaktipeeths from kamakhya in Assam to all other parts of the country, 4 Ashramas established by AadiShankaracharya in four corners of Bharat, the shlok 
गंगे च यमुने चैव गोदावरि सरस्वती |
नर्मदे सिंधु कावेरी जलेस्मिन् सन्निधिं कुरु ||
Ganga at Hrushikesh. (courtesy: travel.paintedstork.com)
People used to chant this shlok before they began to bathe. It simply regards Bharat as one country, one nation. Or the shlok which describes places of pilgrimage situated at various places of this nation, and a Hindu always strives to visit these places to pay homage.

अयोध्या मथुरा माया काशी कांची अवंतिका,
पुरी द्वारावती चैव सप्तैते मोक्षदायकाः |
Therefore prior to arrival of British we were one Nation.

Gandhiji’s thought on nationhood – Gandhiji, while giving a thought to this issue says, “The English have taught us that we were not one nation before and that it will require centuries before we become one nation. This is without foundation. We were one nation before they came to India. One thought inspired us. Our mode of life was the same. It was because we were one nation that they were able to establish one kingdom. Subsequently they divided us.”
“I do not wish to suggest that because we were one nation we had no differences, but it is submitted that our leading men travelled throughout India either on foot or in bullock-carts. They learned one another’s languages and there was no aloofness between them. What do you think could have been the intention of those farseeing ancestors of ours who established Setubandha (Rameshwar) in the South, Jagannath in the East and Hardwar in the North as places of pilgrimage? You will admit that they were no fools. They knew that worship of God could have been performed just as well at home. They taught us that those whose hearts were aglow with righteousness had the Ganges in their own homes. But they saw that India was one undivided land so made by nature. They, therefore, argued that it must be one nation. Arguing thus, they established holy places in various parts of India, and fired the people with an idea of nationality in a manner unknown in other parts of the world. And we Indians are one as no two Englishmen are.” [1] Therefore, it becomes clear what the Gandhiji is referring to as a base of nationality and nationalism. He might not have taken word ‘Hindu’ openly in this regard due to political or other constraints on him. But surely Setubandha (Rameshwar), Jagannath, Hardwa, Ganges and the ancestors he is referring to the common thing as Hindu. Therefore people believing in Hindutva can make a strong nation of this country.

Indian politics has seen religion as a very dangerous yet instrumental factor for political parties and leaders. The parties which claim to subscribe to Gandhi ideology or claim to believe in Gandhian thoughts, make a poor show when it comes to assertion of Hindutva. On the other hand political parties claiming Hindutva affiliation consider petty caste and religion arithmetic for electoral victories. This creates utter confusion in the minds of common people but at the same time it destroys the very fundamental of secularism. It harms Hindu population more, being a highest vote share, easily divisible on caste lines and lacking single leadership.

Shahbano case: attack on secularism – The judiciary is considered supreme in our country when it comes to deciding of a case, law-point, implication of a statute or Constitution and so on. Its decision attains finality, if decided by the Supreme Court. The Shahbano Case[2] happened to be an example of ugly politics founded on religion and appeasement of a particular community by a political party. The Supreme Court gave its verdict[3] in this case favoring Muslim woman’s right to ask for maintenance after talaq (divorce) from her husband. Against this verdict, Muslim clerics and some extremists men started a campaign which spread with help of political parties. In fact the Government should have acted in a stern manner to deal with it and suppress the opposition to SC verdict to maintain the sanctity of law and supremacy of the system. But instead of doing this, it passed a law in the Parliament on the basis of its majority. That Act was named as ‘Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act, 1986. This law was intended to serve the demands of the extremists. It simply nullified the SC verdict. Thus it was a shock for secular credentials of a Government.

Divisive policies of Government – Government started various policies and programmes to uplift the downtrodden. But it did not perceive poor as simply a poor person, rather it identified him by his religion. Separate Ministry at Union as well as State level came into existence viz. Minority Development Ministry. A Minister from Minority community heads this Ministry and disburses State funds for welfare (?) of minority community. Haj subsidy is one of such issues where the Government should not spend its money received from common man. But SC has also held its validity. Poor Muslims may be assisted to visit Mecca. And that is continued. Now recently CM of Maharashtra Prithviraj Chavan inaugurated a new Haj House at Ganjipeth, Nagpur. This Haj House has come up on 19,000 sq.ft. It was completed by spending ` 15.5 crore. It has 40 rooms with 10-person each capacity. State Government worked very hard and efficiently in this regard and accomplished the promise! State Government is very poor according its own statements time to time. It has ‘no fund for Sainik Schools’ , ‘no money to buy power for cities like Thane and Pune’ , The State Government cannot pay the due increase in payment of Aadarsh shikshaks (ideal teachers) chosen by itself. Reason? No funds!  And to add insult to injury, at the inauguration of this newly built Haj House, CM of Maharashtra Prithviraj Chavan has demanded  `  500 crore from Centre towards various developmental activities for ‘minority communities’ in 10 districts of the state. Is it not a mockery of secularism? If it is not minority appeasement, then what else it could be? 

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh also meanwhile stated that people from minority community have first and foremost right over the resources of this country. This was clearly a move to woo those voters other than majority community. 

Does poverty have a religion? Meanwhile, Bombay High Court was hearing a case challenging the religion-based scholarship and freeship of the Government. Consider a situation, where two friends go together to a school. They are next door neighbours of each other. They sit on the same bench in their class at school. Their parents earn almost equal amount of money by doing similar work. They live in a slum. The only difference is, they profess different religions. When their school teacher will announce the religion-based scholarship, the one, professing religion of minority will become its beneficiary. The other, hailing from majority community will be simply ineligible for this scholarship. Why? What the teacher is going to answer that poor little child, when he asks, why am not getting the scholarship when my next door neighbour and my classmate, sharing the same bench and lunch is getting it? You literally will have no answer than saying that, “you will not get it because you are a Hindu!”. His only mistake was to take birth as a Hindu. And still we call this as ‘secularism’! You are sowing seeds of discrimination and hatred. It is hazardous for national integration. 

Challenges before national integration – Thus from above narration of various events, it becomes clear that the Government as well as leaders in political and social life are pretending to be secular and under the guise of being secular they are spreading hatred. 
In addition to the deeds of politicians, we have Islamic terrorism from across the border and finding its base on our soil as well. This fundamentalism and extremism can only be curbed by unity of people. No armed force will fully be able to wipe out the menace which has found its roots in some villages too. Love Jihad is a new dimension to the Islamic extremism. It will be dealt by alert youth which actively takes part in social life other than cricket, Bollywood and parties.
Christian missionaries and conversion problem is not new. We had great atrocities by St. Francis Xavier, who brutally massacred Hindus in Goa and Malabar. They pretend to work for the poor and downtrodden with ‘sacred heart’, but here they find their prey which results into scapegoat to increase the number of believers. Once people change their faith to Christianity, their language, cuisine, costumes change. Such things should not come in the way of worshipping God. But unfortunately it is so. And by this, the bond with the soil is sapped. They feel Jerusalem nearer to them. This conversion problem was considered by Gandhiji in his writings. He has categorically remarked that "I am sorry to have to record my opinion that it (Christian missionary work) has been disastrous. It pains me to have to say that the Christian missionaries as a body, with honourable exceptions, have actively supported a system which has impoverished, enervated and demoralised a people considered to be among the gentlest and the most civilized on earth.".  When a nurse asked him, "would you prevent missionaries coming to India in order to baptize? Gandhiji replied, "If I had power and could legislate, I should certainly stop all proselytizing. It is the cause of much avoidable conflict between classes and unnecessary heartburning among the missionaries".  

Even Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar had lucrative offers from Christianity and Islam when he was on the verge of conversion with mass of downtrodden people. He simply denied it and thought of Sikhism, Jainism and Buddhism for choice. Simply because these were the religions of this soil. Basic tenets of these religions are the same. He very well new the implications of converting to a foreign religion. He did not want to become a person detrimental to the national integrity. Ultimately he chose Buddhism for various reasons.  


Hindutva and national integration – Whenever a region becomes Hindu minority region, it begins claiming to get separated from the rest of Bharat. Is it not because Bharat is a Hindu nation? Whatever may be the reason, history proves that for the integration of our nation, Hindutva is essential thing that not only binds all together, but also attaches them to this soil. Therefore Hindutva should be the base of national integration. It is the mainstream of our nation. No doubt countless streams and brooks of various religions and sects will come and merge in it, but the flow will be invariably Hindutva. Thus people should be assimilated in the mainstream, as Hindu population of this country is doing from centuries. 

• We should clearly make a distinction between religion and dharma. These two concepts are different and cannot be used as synonyms. Scores of Supreme Court decisions have held that Hindutva is a way of life and cannot be limited in a sense of religion known to other parts of the world. It is a Dharma not religion. Dharma and religion are two different words. They are not interchangeable and one cannot be substituted for the other. The sentence in a Commentary on Constitution of India by Durga Das Basu makes it very clear; it says, ‘while Religion includes some and excludes all others, Dharma includes all and excludes none’. Therefore when we say Hindu Nation or Hindutva or mainstream as Hindu, we wish this widest concept of humanity essential to lead the world on path of progress, eco-friendly development, universal brotherhood and ultimate peace.

• Impartial Judiciary – the role of Judiciary as an impartial body to protect the rights of citizens is very essential. It is the custodian of Constitution. It also has given the right to declare any law passed by the legislature as unconstitutional or ultra-vires , if that law in its opinion violates the Constitutional provisions. But to visualize this unconstitutionality and declaring it to be so i.e. to strike down such laws, the judiciary not only needs to be impartial but to be fearless as well.

• Strong leadership – Not only political leadership, but also social leadership and NGOs need to be strong in matters of secularism and things detrimental to national integration. For petty benefits these leaders should not compromise the national interest. Its time they recognize their responsibility and duty towards social harmony and interfaith unity.

• Choice of right leadership – Indian electorate votes on lines of caste, money, allurement, regional lines but seldom on the issue of development. Recently Shri. K. S. Sudershan, former Chief of RSS and and eminent Muslim cleric Maulana Kalbe Sadiq have issued a joint appeal to the electorate not to vote on religious lines.  Instead they want voters to send honest representatives to assemblies and Parliament, regardless of their community of origin. This a welcome step. 

• Muslim intelligentia – The Muslim clerics and people from Islamic intelligentia should take upon the task to fight the extremism from within. They need to appear as bold enough to disown violence and terrorism in the name of religion. They need to tell their Islamic brethren, especially the youth, the meaning of Jihad and such other issues like cow protection. It can be done by harmonious construction of the Quran and other Islamic scriptures. They need to consider their responsibility in this regard and try to maintain the peaceful approach of Islam. That is the need of the hour.


References:
[1] Hind Swaraj or Indian Home Rule BY M.K.Gandhi pages 42-43.
[7] (Young India Feb 8, 1923)
[8] The Harijan dated May 11, 1935
[9] http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-11-02/edit-page/30349581_1_joint-appeal-identity-politics-muslim





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Wednesday, February 1, 2012

मंडुकोपनिषद

निवडणुकांचा मोसम आला...पडघम वाजू लागले...काही दिवसांनी मतदानाचा पाउस पडेल...हिरवे गवत उगवेल नवनिर्वाचित लोकप्रतिनिधींचे आणि लुसलुशीत कुरणे तयार होतील...पुन्हा नव्याने चरायला...


मला माझ्या रुपारेल कॉलेजची खूप आठवण होते.. विशेषतः पावसाळ्यातल्या त्या मस्त कँपसची..
पावसाळा आला की तिथे पहिल्या आठवड्यात नुसते डराँव डराँव चालू असायचे बेडकांचे..! इथून तिथे उड्या घेत असत हे बेडूक. आजचे उमेदवार आणि राजकीय नेते हे असेच नव्हेत काय? या पक्षातून त्या पक्षात, त्या पक्षातून अजून पलिकडे...
कसलाच धरबंध नाही...कोणी तिकीट मिळाले नाही म्हणून, कोणी कोणाला तिकीट दिले म्हणून, कोणी हव्या त्या मतदारसंघाचे तिकीट मिळाले नाही म्हणून, कोणी नातेवाईकाला उमेदवारी दिली नाही म्हणून...

मग काहींनी तर पक्षाच्याच कार्यालयावर हल्ले केले. खळ्ळ-खट्टॅक, फळ्ळ-फट्टॅक अन् राडा सुरु झाला. नासधूस, धक्काबुक्की, शिवीगाळ, तोडफोड अशा शब्दांना उठाव आला. समजूत काढण्याचे प्रयत्न सुरु झाले. चूक या निराश-हताश इच्छुकांचीच आहे. आपण कोणत्या स्वार्थी जमातीची तळी उचलून भांडत आहोत हे बिचाऱ्यांना आधीच समजायला हवे होते. कोणासाठी आपण पोलिस केसेस अंगावर घेत आहोत, कोणासाठी वडापाव खाऊन उन्हातान्हात कंठशोष करून घोषणाबाजी करत आहोत, कोणासाठी बायकामुलांकडे दुर्लक्ष करत आहोत हे कळायला हवे होते. तेव्हा बाईकवर झेंडे लावून घेतले, नंबरप्लेट्स बदलून घेतल्या, रॅल्या काढल्या.. आणि आता जेव्हा उमेदवारी कोणाला कोणत्या निकषावर दिली गेली, त्यामागचा ‘अर्थ’ कळल्यावर भ्रमनिरास झाला.

पक्षनिष्ठा हा शब्द तर कालबाह्यच झालाय जणू. पद-प्रतिष्ठा-पैसा हे मिळायला हवे, मग ते कोणत्याही पक्षातून का असेना, हा विचार बळावत चाललेला दिसून येतो. आयाराम-गयाराम ने ग्रासलेली राजनीती सर्वांचेच नुकसान करणारी आहे. ‘उमेदवारी नाही मिळाली तरी मी पक्षाचे काम करत राहीन कारण त्या विचारसरणीवर माझी श्रद्धा आहे. त्यासाठी मी घाम गाळला आहे.’ हा विचार होत नाही. पक्ष कोणाला तरी एकालाच तिकीट/उमेदवारी देऊ शकतो हेही तितकेच खरे. परंतु या कार्यकर्त्यांचेही बरोबर आहे, जर पैसे घेऊन तिकीट दिले जात असेल, नातेवाईकांना उमेदवारी दिली जात असेल तर त्यांनी तरी गप्प का बसावे?

तेव्हा बेडूकरावांचे गर्जन सुरु झाले आहे. टपाटप उड्या चालू झाल्यात. कुणी ‘आनंद’ घ्या कुणी मुकुंद घ्या अशी परिस्थिती आहे. कोणाचा कोणाला पायपोस नाही. नेत्यांनाही हे कळण्याची आवश्यकता आहे की आपण ज्याला राबवून घेतला आणि इतरांची डोकी फोडायला, राडा करायला वापरला तोच आपल्यावर उलटू शकतो. ‘करावे तसे भरावे’ या न्यायाने आपण जे बी लावले त्याची येणारी ही फळे आहेत. ती चाखावीच लागणार.  







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Saturday, January 28, 2012

Satanic Forces!


Human Rights must be guaranteed in a democracy in order to be a meaningful democracy. Can world’s largest democracy protect the rights of it's citizens by turning blind eye to the present situation and future challenges?

The immediate concern is the sub-judice case by Google and Facebook before Delhi high Court. Actually it is an appeal against lower Court’s order. 

It involves showing of objectionable content on it's webpages. This content is created by perverse users registered on these sites. Some viewers complained against it and Court threatened these sites to shut them down in Bharat. Now against that order of lower Court, Google and Facebook have appealed to the Delhi HC.

Second such incident is the happenings at the Jaipur Literature Festival (JLF) in Rajasthan. The organizers had invited Salman Rushdie to participate in the JLF. He had agreed to come, and announcement to that effect was made. But some forces started opposing his arrival and protested largely. It was all due to meager chunk of people, who ignited all the community. Government suggested Rushdie to avoid coming to Bharat. Threat to his life was the reason. Who threatened his life? Who issued fatwas? Is our Government so weak that it cannot go ahead to protect a person for some days? Is it really so feeble to bow against some extremist blockheads?

4 authors went ahead and read out passages from ‘Satanic Verses’. Now the Rajasthan Govt is behind them. They left Jaipur abruptly in fear of arrests. So is the state of ‘freedom of speech and expression’.

Infact the Rule of Law in Bharat is sufficient to deal with both the situations. The users who posted and published objectionable content can be very well booked and punished under the Indian Penal Code and Information Technology Act, 2000. Such is the case with the extremists who say ‘we won’t allow such and such person to enter Bharat’. Are they Govt.? or Constitutional sanctioning authority? Will Govt depend upon their approval? Does it not show absence of sovereignty in the Govt? Thus it is high time now, Govt should deal in strong and stern manner with these non-State actors. Who undermine the sovereignty of Govt. Political will is needed. One cannot expect the ‘vote-hungry crowd’ to discharge the duties properly. ‘Vote-bank greed’ won’t allow you to act rationally.

Like Salman Rushdie, Taslima Nasreen – Bangladeshi writer in exile – faces the same fate. Threats, endless feeling of insecurity, constant danger, frenzied mobs and satanic forces! What is their fault? To speak out against violation of Human Rights? They need to be protected and to be given the freedom to make people aware about the religious fanaticism and ideological extremism.

One can argue very well that the case of M F Hussain was similar to Mr. Rushdie or Shrimati Taslima Nasreen. Why then M F Hussain be condemned and Rushdie and Nasreen be protected and given free hand? This is very attractive argument to defend the case of Hussain. Also it seems valid prima-facie. But one needs to consider some basic difference between the two cases and then arrive at a conclusion.

M F Hussain was himself a Muslim. And he painted Hindu Gods and Goddesses in such a manner which hurt Hindu sentiments. He never painted any other religious figures than Hindu, in derogatory manner – to which some perverts regarded as an ‘art’. But did his ‘art’ prevent him from depicting other religious Gods but Hindu deities? Hence Hussain can be said to be a part of the fashionable cult whose only agenda seems to attack Hindu beliefs in Bharat. Such is not the case with Salman Rushdie and shrimati Taslima Nasreen. They themselves are born in Muslim families and they talk about the dangerous trends in Islam. They wish to eradicate the things detrimental to humanity at large. They need to be given the status of ‘reformationists’. Every religion except Islam has undergone the process of reformation at some or the other point of time. Many have undergone such process more than once. But Islam is an exception.

The thing which opposes reformation ceases to exist. Animals, plants, birds, insects, structures, machines, theories need evolution and reformation to maintain it's existence. Be it a lively or lifeless thing – natural or manmade – change and adaptation to changing environment is a must. How a religion can be exception to this eternal rule?

Thus Islam needs to come out of stagnation and accept new things. Salman Rushdie and shrimati Taslima Nasreen are the voices of billions of oppressed women and compelled children born in Islam. The voice of justified silent sufferers. It should not be suppressed. Humanity ought to give protection to such fearless and courageous ‘reformationists’ and contribute to their relentless efforts for the Herculean task.




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Friday, January 20, 2012

Protecting Minority Rights in Bharat.


This is a summary on the topic of the above Title, presented by me in recent visit to European Countries. -
असतो मा सद्गमय,
तमसो मा ज्योतिर्गमय,
मृत्योर्मा अमृतं गमय,
ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः |

I belong to the ancient land of seers and sages who devoted their lives in quest of peace and emancipation of soul. Gautam Buddha, as we all know, left his palace in search of peace. Today, the world is facing serious problems of Human Rights violations and atrocities on vulnerable sections. Terrorism, religious fundamentalism and ideological extremism are some of the most dreadful challenges before human race. We, as one of the oldest civilizations in the world – Hindu Civilization or more popularly known as Indus valley civilization, have lot to share with the world to make it a better and more beautiful place.

India i.e. Bharat has now a total population of about 120 crores (more than 1 billion). Owing to different languages, sects, religions (worship modes), cultures, regional varieties of costumes and cuisines, philosophies, we have a great mosaic of social patterns. All these aspects make every individual hail from minority community. But as a whole, Indian populace is one united nation owing to various factors providing a base to establish unity.

Minorities based on religion: India is essentially a Hindu Nation. Not by religion but by culture and tradition. Infact this culture has enabled India to assimilate the invaders, refugees, intruders into the mainstream and grow with them. The prayer from Vedas (oldest known literature to mankind) says, “आ नो भद्राः क्रतवो यन्तु विश्वतः|” (aa no bhadrah kratavo yantu vishvataha) meaning “let noble thoughts come to us from all directions). Today we have Muslims, Christians, Parsis, Jews as religious minorities. To protect their rights and bring them to mainstream, Government of India has a separate ministry called ‘Ministry of Minority Affairs’[1]. Its budgetary allocation was ` 2500 crores (25,000 millions). It provides for scholarships, freeships and other beneficial policies for persons from religious minorities. India had 2 Muslim Presidents as of yet. Today also Vice President is a Muslim viz. Hameed Ansari.

The Constitution of India is supreme law of the land and is a custodian of fundamental rights. It specifically confers upon its citizens the Rights to Freedom of Religion (Articles 25 to 28). Stretching this Freedom too far, some groups try to convert people from one religion to their own. This is done by force, allurement or under the garb of service. Such mass conversion destroys the indigenous culture of that group. Mahatma Gandhiji had said, “If I had the power and could legislate, I should stop all proselytizing. In Hindu households the advent of a missionary has meant the disruption of the family coming in the wake of change of dress, manners, language, food and drink.” (November 5, 1935). In protection of minority rights in North-East India, I urge you all to experience the indigenous culture there and visualize the mass conversion resulting into not only the demographic change but also destroying cultural identities.

So is the case with tribals in India. Tribal population is 8.43 crore i.e. 8.2% of total population[2]. Tribals are nature worshippers. They consider God in trees, snakes, cows, birds and rivers. Some groups are trying to destroy their culture and convert them to their own fold. Constitution of India considers these tribals as Scheduled Tribes. Special provisions are made to protect their culture. Many NGOs like Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram are working for them.

Parsis hail originally from Iran. They arrived on western coast of India. They and people on the coast were unable to communicate with each other, as each other’s languages were not known to them. The King there gave a glass filled with milk completely upto the brim. This was to tell the Parsis that there is remains no space to live. But the Parsis put a spoonful of sugar into it and suggested that we will live here amiably and assimilate with society as sugar in the milk. Today, Parsis are only 69,000. They are really a minority. But they have shown merit and achievement in many fields. They never subjected to any human rights violation ever. Tatas and Godrej are one of the biggest industrialists in the country. Only 2 persons were conferred title of Field Marshal by independent India and 1 of them is Parsi viz. Sam Manekshaw.

Jews lived a very safe life in India. When they were facing atrocities in various parts of the world, in India their community enjoyed freedom and liberty. Today also, being a minority they never feel subjected to any discrimination.

Regional Minorities: India is a Union of States. Every State has its own State Government but all people are governed by the Constitution of India. The exception is the state of Jammu and Kashmir. This State has its own Constitution and special status. The people known as Kashmiri Pundits were forced to leave the valley. This exodus from the valley resulted in seven lakh Kashmiri Pundits to stay away from their homeland and to live elsewhere in the country as refugees.[3] Their condition is pathetic. I take this opportunity to bring to light the real state of the affair.

The Jammu and Kashmir has always been a part of India. Lakhs of Hindu pilgrims visit the shrines of Amarnath and Vaishnodevi every year.

Indian Army builds bridges, roads and dams with its mechanical and engineering divisions. But it is wrongly blamed for Human Rights violations in the valley. The terrorism, especially cross border terrorism, is the real cause of Army’s presence there. Now it’s a debatable question whether terrorists have human rights, but apart this, Kashmir remains attraction for international policy makers. Recently, the Global Human Rights Defence (GHRD) in partnership with the Human Rights Focus Pakistan (HRFP) held a press conference in Muzaffarabad and brought in light the key issues in Pakistan Administered Kahsmir (PAK) as[4]:
a.      Unavailability of the right of minorities to vote in elections.
b.      Lack of political representation of minorities in the national Assembly.
c.      Lack of citizenship for minorities.
d.      Lack of employment opportunities for minorities.
Three approaches are there to solve the Kashmir issue:
1. Jammu & Kashmir belongs to India given its history and accession instrument signed by the then King of Jammu & Kashmir.
2. Jammu & Kashmir belongs to Pakistan given its Islamic majority population.
3. Jammu & Kashmir is a separate state i.e. Azaad Kashmir – i.e. nothing to do with either India or Pakistan.
To decide which among the three will be the correct answer to the problem, some suggest plebiscite. And it is very fair approach. Let the people living there decide about their choice. But the demand for plebiscite could have been the right approach some 60 years ago i.e. in 1947, when the population was mainly the original residents living for generations. Now seven lakh (7,00,000) were driven out in this six dreadful decades Will the plebiscite be justifiable now? Bringing back all these exiles, rehabilitating them and then performing plebiscite would be the right course to solve the problem and end the tussle over Kashmir issue.

Naxalite/Maoist movement: This is armed rebellion in some underdeveloped parts of India. It is matter of fact that those parts are lagging behind in development and availability of resources. But armed rebellion is not the answer. The movement has killed over 10,000 people in last 5 years[5]. These deaths include civilians, alongwith security personnel. Naxal leaders, causing this genocide, claim it to be for the underdeveloped tribals and villagers. But in the process tribals to do not show allegiance to this movement are brutally killed. The international links of this movement should be checked for supplies of ammunition and finance. They claim to be followers of Maoist ideology.

Linguistic Minorities: There are mainly 22 languages recognized by the Constitution of India e.g. Bengali, Gujrati, Marathi etc. But there are more than 800 dialects. Many dialects have their own literature. Linguistic minorities never face the problem of discrimination or coercion from main languages in any form. They cherish their own parlance of communication. All these Indic languages are products and derivatives of Sanskrit.
Dalits – Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes: Casteism prevalent in Hindu religion have caused the genesis of downtrodden minorities called as Dalits. In ancient days, person’s occupation ensued his/her caste. And child used to learn father’s occupation and continue with it as grown up. This resulted into a situation where taking birth intro certain community was decisive of that person’s caste.

People doing menial work considered to be of lower caste. The same occupation continued for generations and it resulted into inverse position. A person taking birth into certain caste had to take up the occupation of his forefathers’. Untouchability was like adding insult to injury. This caused downtrodden class of certain catses considered as lowest on the social strata.

Efforts for emancipation of Dalits: Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar was himself a Dalit born in 1891 in a family having lowest social status at that time. He faced embarrassing situations. But he did his education with confidence and went to London School of Economics where he completed his D.Sc. Then he was awarded with a Ph.D. by Columbia University in America. When he returned to India he dreamt of social justice for his brethren and struggled for it. He is considered as the Architect of the Constitution of India, for he was the Chairperson of the Drafting Committee for the Constitution. Therefore we find ample provisions in the Constitution for giving social justice to the oppressed and discriminated castes.

Dalit community is also progressing. Presently the Chief Minister of India’s biggest state is a Dalit woman. We had Dalit Vice Chancellors for Mumbai University as well as Pune University[6]. Dalit industrialists and businesspersons have come together and formed ‘Dalit Chamber of Commerce’[7]. The community is awakened to their social, political and economic rights and is progressing day by day.
Today, apart from Constitutional, legal and statutory provisions, the real solution would be to mingle with people from Dalit community and convince them about the importance of education and assimilate them into the mainstream by giving them respect and honour.

The Hindu civilization and its oldest scriptures give us some principles, which are essential for world peace. I end up here with mentioning some of them.
1.      Idea of global village: This thought is known as वसुधैव कुटुंबकम् (vasudhaiv kutumbakam) meaning, “whole world is one family”. Today due to technological advancements, we have come so closer that one cannot turn blind eye to other country’s problems, as they ultimately affect every country to some extent. Be it EURO concern or terrorism, we shall stand united to face these challegens.
2.      One Truth, various ways: एकं सत् विप्राः बहुधा वदन्ति | (ekam sat, viprah bahudha vadanti) meaning our ultimate aim is one, but the ways to reach this goal are different. Therefore, God is one, and everybody tries to reach him by various ways of worship, we call it as religions. Thus for religious tolerance and freedom to profess religion, this maxim is essential. Some scriptures give example as raindrops fallen at different places come through different rivers and brooks but ultimately merge into sea. That should be the idea behind unifying mankind having different religions.
3.      Love towards ecology and nature: Hindu philosophy believes that God is all pervading. In Swami Vivekananda’s words, “Each soul is potentially divine. The goal is to manifest this divinity within by controlling nature, external and internal. Do this either by work, or worship or psychic control, or philosophy, by one, or more or all of these -and be free. This is the whole of religion. Doctrines, or dogmas; rituals, or books, or temples, or forms, are but secondary details."

Ultimately I pray for happiness to all of us: सर्वे भवन्तु सुखिनः, सर्वे सन्तु निरामयाः, सर्वे भद्राणि पश्यन्तु, मा कश्चिद् दुःखमाप्नुयात् | ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः| (May everyone be happy, may everyone be free from all diseases, may everyone see goodness and auspiciousness in everything, may none be unhappy or distressed. Aum peace, peace, peace!)
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