Secular India – Compare and Contrast
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Detailed Sachar Recommendations For Indian Muslims: Shocking! Must Read by Every Indian. It Will Blow You Away
Have you ever wondered what are Sachar Committee recommendations for Indian Muslim Here are the detail are as written by Arun Shourie Read it. It will blow you away!!!
The full article is here from Arun Shourie in Indian Express. The mind boggling level of muslim appeasement by Congress led UPA can be seen by the recommendations below by the Sachar Commission: 
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‘Recognition of the degrees from madrassas for eligibility in competitive examinations such as the civil services, banks, defence services and other such examinations’!
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It recommends that government use public funds to encourage formation of Muslim NGOs and their activities.
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It recommends that government provide financial and other support to occupations and areas in which Muslims predominate.
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It recommends that Muslims be in selection committees,
interview panels and boards for public services. -
It recommends that a higher proportion of Muslims be inducted in offices that deal with the public — ‘the teaching community, health workers, police personnel, bank employees and so on.’
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It recommends ‘provision of ‘equivalence’ to madrassacertificates/degrees for subsequent admissions into institutions of higher level of education.’
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It recommends that banks be required to collect and maintain information about their transactions — deposits, advances — separately for Muslims, and that they be required to submit this to the Reserve Bank of India!
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It recommends that advances be made to Muslims as part ofthe obligation imposed on banks to give advances to Priority Sectors.
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It recommends that government give banks incentives to open branches in Muslim concentration areas.
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It recommends that, instead of being required to report merely ‘Amount Outstanding’, banks be told to report ‘Sanctions or Disbursements to Minorities’.
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It recommends that financial institutions be required to set upseparate funds for training Muslim entrepreneurs, that they be required to set up special micro-credit schemes for Muslims.
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It recommends that all districts more than a quarter of whose population is Muslim be brought into the prime minister’s 15-point programme. ‘There should be transparency in information about minorities in all activities,’ the Committee declares. ‘It should be made mandatory to publish/furnish information in a prescribed format once in three months and also to post the same on the website of the departments and state governments…’
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It recommends that for each programme of government, databe maintained separately about the extent to which Muslims and other minorities are benefiting from it. But it is not enough to keep data separately. Separate schemes must be instituted.
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It recommends that special and separate Centrally Sponsored Schemes and Central Plan Schemes be launched for ‘minorities with an equitable provision for Muslims.’
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It recommends special measures for the promotion and spread of Urdu.
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It recommends the adoption of ‘alternate admission criteria’in universities and autonomous colleges: assessment of merit should not be assigned more than 60 per cent out of the total — the remaining 40 per cent should be assigned in accordance with the income of the household, the backwardness of the district, and the backwardness of the caste and occupation of the family.
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It recommends that grants by the University Grants Commission be linked to ‘the diversity of the student population.’
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It recommends that pre-entry qualification for admission toITIs be scaled down, that ‘eligibility for such programmes should also be extended to the madrassa educated children.’
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It recommends that ‘high quality government schools should be set up in all areas of Muslim concentration.’
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It recommends that resources and government land be made available for ‘common public spaces’ for adults of — its euphemism — ‘Socio-Religious Categories’ to ‘interact’.
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It recommends that incentives to builders, private sector employers, educational institutions be linked to ‘diversity’ of the populations in their sites and enterprises. For this purpose it wants a ‘diversity index’ to be developed for each such activity.
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It recommends changes in the way constituencies are delimited.
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It recommends that where Muslims are elected or selected innumbers less than adequate, ‘a carefully conceived ‘nomination’ procedure’ be worked out ‘to increase the participation of minorities at the grass roots.’
It notes that there already are the Human Rights Commission and the Minorities Commission ‘to look into complaints by the minorities with respect to state action.’ But these are not adequate as the Muslims still feel that they are not getting a fair share. The solution? Here is its recommendation, and a typical passage:
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‘It is imperative that if the minorities have certain perceptionsof being aggrieved,’ notice the touchstone — ‘if the minorities have certain perceptions of being aggrieved’ — ‘all efforts should be made by the state to find a mechanism by which these complaints could be attended to expeditiously. This mechanism should operate in a manner which gives full satisfaction to the minorities’, notice again the touchstone — not any external criterion, but ‘full satisfaction to the minorities’ — ‘that any denial of equal opportunities or bias or discrimination in dealing with them, either by a public functionary or any private individual, will immediately be attended to and redress given. Such a mechanism should be accessible to all individuals and institutions desirous to complain that they have received less favourable treatment from any employer or any person on the basis of his/her SRC [Socio-Religious Category] background and gender.’
Full article by Arun Shourie go here
Some Quotes
Cantwell Smith gave in his book, Modern Islam in India, published in the 1940s, of the effect that the British stratagem of instituting separate electorates for Muslims had had on the Muslim mind. The separate electorates led Muslims, as they had been designed to lead them, he observed, ‘to vote communally, think communally, listen only to communal election speeches, judge the delegates communally, look for constitutional and other reforms only in terms of more relative communal power, and express their grievances communally.’ [Wilfred Cantwell Smith, Modern Islam in India, Second Revised Edition, 1946, reprint, Usha Publications, New Delhi, 1979, p. 216]. Exactly the same consequence will follow from implementing the Sachar proposals — and the reason for that is simple: the essential point about the proposals is the same — that is, the Muslims can obtain them by being separate from the rest of the country.
The reaction cannot but set in. ‘As Muslims are being given all this because they have distanced themselves from the rest of us, why should we cling to them?’ the Hindus are bound to ask. ‘On the contrary, we should learn from them. Governments and political parties are pandering to Muslims because the latter have become a bank of votes. We should knit ourselves into a solid bloc also.’
Government Provides special grant to Muslim madrasas to celebrate Independence Day: No special grants for Hindu community
Is this why we pay taxes to the government … for it to be siphoned to Madrasas. Is this why Hindus placed their trust in Congress party and voted for it. Where does this leave the poor Hindus. Are we created just to satisfy endless Muslim needs and demands in India.
Special grant to madrasas to celebrate Independence Day http://www.rediff.com/news/2007/dec/30mad.htm
December 30, 2007 22:24 IST
Madrasas will now get a special grant to celebrate national festivals like Independence Day and Republic Day but hoisting of the national tricolour on these days will be mandatory for such institutions.
These are the new government decisions outlined in the 11th Five Year Plan that was approved by the National Development Council recently. The Plan document, under the head ‘Madarsas/Maktabs”, says that “Every School and EGS/AIE center will receive a special grant to celebrate national festivals of Independence day and Republic Day. Hoisting of national flag at these institutions on these occasions is mandatory”.
The document says that the government would support modernisation of all madrasas and maktabs, whose number is around 12,000, during the five-year plan. The document also talks about the need to inculcate human values and other kinds of worldly awareness among children to help them shape well for their future.
“Education in human moral values, civic duties, environment protection and physical education will be built into the system whereby every child is prepared to face the future with a healthy frame of mind and body and become a reasonable citizen,” it says. The plan document also says that education at madrasas and maktabs will foster the spirit of liberty, freedom, patriotism, non-violence, tolerance national unity and integration.
These new measures of the government have evoked criticism from some educationists.
While renowned historian Arjun Dev said that the decision was not appropriate, historian Irfan Habib said the government should pay attention to accessibility of educational institutions rather than such measures. “If the guidelines are general and for all educational institutions then that is okay and understandable. But if it is specifically applicable to madrasas and maktabs then that is not appropriate,” Dev told PTI.
On the mandatory hoisting of the national flag, he said Article 51-A of the Constitution already talks about it and every citizen is bound to adhere to it. “There is no point in specifically making them mandatory,” he said.
The government should pay attention to the availability and accessibility of educational institutions rather than talking about such measures, Habib said.
“Special grant and hoisting a national flag is not an issue. The real issue is number of educational institutions
available in the areas dominated by minorities. There are not enough schools,” he said.
“I don”t think this is an issue. If the government is allocating special grant, that seems fine,” said renowned educationist professor Yashpal, adding “Madrasa literally means a place where learning and teaching is done”.
A typical Islamic school usually offers two courses of study: a ‘hifz” course; that is memorisation of the Quran (the person who commits the entire Quran to memory is called a hafiz) and an ‘alim” course, leading the candidate to become an accepted scholar in the community.
A regular curriculum includes courses in Arabic, Tafsir (Quranic interpretation), Shariah (Islamic law), Hadith (recorded sayings and deeds of Prophet Muhammad), Mantiq (logic), and Islamic history.
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All Hindus should ask: Is Congress a party for all faiths. What special grants has Congress provided for the Hindus. Or has Congress transformed itself as a Muslim Congress party?
A Hindu backlash hits Sonia Gandhi
Column: Future Present
Much has been made in Indian history texts of the cruelty of the 1857 mutineers against colonial rule, who killed around 300 individuals of European descent during a brief spasm of violence. But little mention is made of the retribution that followed, in which an estimated 65,000 natives were killed, some from the mouths of cannon. Several “rebel” villages were torched, usually together with their inhabitants.
Neither has there been much reflection on the manner in which British rule reduced India to poverty. From around one-fourth of global output at the start of the 19th century, the share of the subcontinent fell to one-tenth of that by the time the British flag was lowered in New Delhi in 1947.
Independent India’s first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, had been educated from boyhood in Britain. He was so insecure after the British left that he requested the last viceroy of India, Louis Mounbatten, to remain as “free” India’s first governor-general and commander-in-chief of the armed forces. British control over the Indian army helped to prevent the full takeover of Kashmir by India in 1948, creating in the process a sore that has festered ever since.
Nehru also relied on British economist Nicholas Kaldor to fashion tax policies that punished the very merchant class that had funded the Congress Party’s decades-long struggle against the British. Ironically, the new government was as hostile to Indian entrepreneurship as the colonial power had been, and the country’s economy was soon straitjacketed by a “socialist pattern of society.”
While laws were passed that overrode Hindu customs ( including, it must be said, retrogressive ones such as caste), Nehru took care to exclude the Muslims and other minority groups from such legislation, thus retaining the separatist mindset which had resulted in the creation of the “Muslim” state of Pakistan out of “Hindu” India.
As a consequence of carrying forward policies that saw the Hindus as a threat and therefore sought to place them on a level below those of the minorities in India, while Hindu temples are subject to state control, churches, mosques and other minority houses of worship remain free. Several ancient temples are now administered by atheists or other non-Hindus in states across the country, and the donations that pour into them from Hindu devotees are sequestered by the state. In education, while Hindu managements face severe restrictions and controls, managements that are Christian or Muslim escape almost all such state-mandated limitations on their freedom.
Since Sonia Gandhi took over the governance of India in 2004 and appointed a prime minister from a minority faith, there has been an explicit bias in policy favoring minority groups at the expense of the Hindu majority, and a conscious effort to sideline officials seen as “practicing Hindus” — those who regularly visit temples — on the grounds that they are “Hindu fanatics.”
By contrast, almost none of the numerous bomb explosions that have taken place in Congress-ruled cities across India — such as Mumbai, Delhi and Hyderabad — have been traced to the perpetrators, because of an informal prohibition against “stereotyping” that prevents the police from intensive investigations in the mainly Muslim localities where the perpetrators are believed to be sheltering.
Such “partial” secularism, in which only Hindus are expected to be secular while Muslims and other minorities remain free to practice exclusionary practices, has led to a Hindu backlash across India. This found its first major expression in the Dec. 23 verdict of the electorate of Gujarat state, who re-elected the state’s chief minister, Narendra Modi, despite a well-funded rebellion within the ranks of his own party, the Bharatiya Janata Party, as well as the enmity of almost the entire television and print media.
The media correctly see him as posing a possibly fatal challenge to the Nehruvian policies that were embraced by the first BJP prime minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, who was as deferential toward Sonia Gandhi’s interests as members of her own Congress Party had been in the past. Modi thus challenges not only Sonia Gandhi but the Vajpayee cohort in his own party, who have for decades enjoyed a cozy and lucrative relationship with the Nehrus.
Despite occasional public posturing, in practice, the present crop of BJP leaders has been content to share in the spoils of the present Nehruvian state system. All, that is, except Narendra Modi, who defied his party leadership in making Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh — both of whom, being Christian and Sikh respectively, belong to minority groups — the target of his verbal barbs, despite strictures from the Sonia-friendly Election Commission.
Wresting Gujarat from this potent challenger was crucial to the continued salience of Nehruism, but the strength of the Hindu backlash against policies that penalize the majority community ensured a handsome win. The results have led to apprehension throughout the Nehruvian establishment, including almost the whole of the English-language media, that “Moditva” may spread to other states.
It may even within the next five years lead to a takeover of the central government by the Gujarat chief minister, who comes from near the bottom of the Hindu caste ladder, but who has emerged as the favorite of tens of millions of Hindus irrespective of caste, who seek parity with the minorities in running their houses of worship or educational and other institutions.
As Malaysia has shown, the advent of globalization and the demonstrated ability of Hindus to compete with the rest of the world have led to a renewal of confidence in a community of 840 million that has been kept at the margins for more than a millennium. The message of Gujarat is that the cry for parity by the Hindu community in India has become a political wave that could upset the Nehruvian system of partial secularism that has prevailed in India since 1947. Dec. 23, 2007 is a genuine turning point in the politics of the world’s largest democracy.
(Professor M.D. Nalapat is vice-chair of the Manipal Advanced Research Group, UNESCO Peace Chair, and professor of geopolitics at Manipal University. ©Copyright M.D. Nalapat.)
*Hilarious* Media Articles on Gujarat Elections
Assembled here are a collection of articles from the mainstream media for your reading pleasure, so to speak.
Some are plain mischievious, while others are devious, and a few genuinely erroneous. All the same in retrospect they are all hilarious, especially the “profound insights” of the political analysts such as Praful Bidwai and (clueless) poll pundits like Yogendra Yadav and team. One cannot help feeling that these folks’ analysis are heavily clouded by their sickular prejudices and arrogance which prevents them from grasping a basic understanding of the Hindu voters’ mind.
Opinion Pieces
Congress speaks
Polls/Satta/Media Analysis
Opinion Pieces This one takes the cake – Modi’s modus operandi failing in Gujarat — Praful Bidwai, (Indian journalist, political analyst, and activist!!??!), Khaleej Times, United Arab Emirates – Dec 14, 2007
“IS THE tide turning in Gujarat? A month ago, most Gujarat politicians, social scientists, activists, bureaucrats, and citizens agreed on the dead certainty of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s victory in the Assembly election – but with a smaller margin.
Today, they say, the BJP could lose – despite the Congress’s timid campaign. The Congress skirted issues concerning the 2002 violence, didn’t take on the BJP’s “Glorious Gujarat” slogan, or gather the nerve to field more than half-a-dozen Muslims in a state where 20 Muslim MLAs used to get elected. But it might still get catapulted into power.
All exit polls after the first-phase voting in 87 constituencies (of a total of 182) forecast a vote-swing away from the BJP. NDTV forecasts a loss of 13 seats for the BJP, placing it behind the Congress. Such a defeat will be a seismic shock for the BJP and a historic setback for the Sangh Parivar. LK Advani’s laughable anointment as the BJP’s Prime Ministerial candidate will only aggravate the shock. Even the party’s assessment is reportedly that it’s sure to win only 63 seats; and optimistically, another 15. The BJP is clearly on a downswing in Gujarat.. ”
Modi’s moment of truth Yogendra Yadav (political scientist and pollster) Eminent psephologist (??!!), Indian Express, India - Dec 9, 2007
“Democracy is taking revenge on Narendra Modi. This election may well be the long deferred moment of truth for the man who invoked popular mandate to bypass norms, laws or the Constitution. We cannot yet say that he will lose this election. But a journey through Saurashtra is enough to suggest that the BJP is losing ground in this crucial region. “
Why Modi must go
Shiv Visvanathan (The writer is a social scientist currently based in Ahmedabad) The message is simple. Narendra Modi must go. He is bad for BJP, bad for democracy, bad for Gujarat..
Congress Speaks
Sonia’s gloves off: ‘Gujarat run by liars, peddlers of religion and death…
Indian Express, India - Dec 1, 2007
“Sachchayee yeh hai ki aj Gujarat ki sarkar chalane wale jhoothe, beimaan aur dharm aur maut ke saudagar hain”
Cong confident, rejects exit poll predictions
Hindustan Times, India - Dec 17, 2007
Exit polls giving the BJP an edge in Gujarat have been dismissed by the Congress. The party exuded confidence of raising its tally substantially and even
Congress claims to win 110 seats in Gujarat
NDTV.com, India - Dec 15, 2007
”After finishing campaign in towns, villages and streets of Gujarat, we feel that Congress will get about 110 seats in the elections”, Gujarat Pradesh
If we win we will book Modi: Cong
NDTV.com, India - Dec 2, 2007
The Congress party on Sunday said it would not hesitate in taking action against Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra.
Get rid of double-faced Govt, says Sonia
Hindustan Times, India - Dec 4, 2007
Maganbhai Patel from Mandvi was confident that the success of the rally proves that the Congress would win all six Assembly seats in Kutch
Fear in Gujarat dangerous for country: PM
NDTV.com, India - Dec 7, 2007
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh talked about fear in Gujarat and minced no words as he took on Chief Minister Narendra Modi in his own turf
PM says no rule of law in Gujarat
Hindustan Times, India - Dec 7, 2007
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh addressed his first election rallies in Gujarat on Friday, lashing out at the BJP government for subverting the rule of law
Sibal says Modi is anti-development and anti-Gujarat
TopNews, India - Dec 8, 2007
Sibal described Modi as anti-development, anti-Gujarat, anti-people and the man in whose name and at whose behest most of the fake encounters in the state had taken place.
In Gujarat, if you are not with CM, God save you: Manmohan
Times of India, India - Dec 7, 2007
RAJKOT/SURAT: Coming down heavily on Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said he was keeping people in the dark by talking
Rahul Gandhi attracts huge crowds in his road show in Gujarat
Gujarat Global.com, India - Dec 9, 2007
If crowd is any criteria to judge the success of an event, maiden road show of young Congress MP Rahul Gandhi in diamond city Surat was a great
Modi Govt a regime of ‘falsehood’: Rahul Gandhi
Hindustan Times, India - Dec 9, 2007
Santosh K Joy, PTI Joining the election campaign in Gujarat for the first time, Congress MP Rahul Gandhi on Sunday termed the Narendra Modi government as
Polls/Satta/Media Analysis
Satta rates show Modi slipping
Times of India, India - Nov 25, 2007
AHMEDABAD: Forget opinion polls, which are giving a clear majority to the Narendra Modi-led BJP in Gujarat elections
Satta bazaar trashes Modi, swings in favour of Cong
CNN-IBN, India – Dec 21, 2007
In a dramatic last-day swing in the satta bazar, bookies there have swung suddenly against Narendra Modi. In fact 24 hours before the vote count, they now give Congress the edge over Modi in the race for power.
In what is seen as a dip in confidence on the BJP in the satta market, the bookies now say there is a positive vote swing towards the Congress. It is, however, not clear if this vote swing will be enough for the Congress to come to power.
Psephologists not sure if Modi in indeed winning – *****must read*** The results of the CNN-IBN-Indian Express-Divya Bhaskar-CSDS Exit poll on Gujarat Assembly Elections are out. Eminent psephologist (“the man who has seen it all”), Yogendra Yadav led the CSDS team which carried out the post-poll survey.
Yogendra Yadav: I would still wait for 23rd to be sure if Mr Modi is indeed winning the elections. The consensus of exit polls is still not the actual outcome.
Modi will scrape through in Gujarat, surveys predict
KalingaTimes, India - Dec 16, 2007
According to a survey conducted by the TV channel NDTV 24×7, the BJP was set to win 90 to 110 seats, while the Congress was tipped to win between 70 and 95
First round cause for Modi to worry
Times of India, India - Dec 14, 2007
NEW DELHI: The exit polls done for the first phase of elections in Gujarat seem to suggest that BJP will at worst win 13 seats fewer in this phase
Exit polls predict BJP setback in Phase 1
Hindustan Times, India - Dec 11, 2007
Up to 60 per cent of the registered voters turned out to stamp their choice in the first phase of assembly polls in Gujarat on
Punters root for a coalition in Gujarat
Times of India, India - Dec 3, 2007
The successful public meetings of Congress president Sonia Gandhi in Saurashtra and south Gujarat is what is said to have brought about
The Modi poll mystery
Economic Times, India - Dec 10, 2007
Political observers are going only so far as to say Modi might win by a vastly reduced majority this time. It is this paradox which make
Why good turnout in polls is bad news for Modi —- Experts give their pseudo views. Must read
CNN-IBN, India - Dec 11, 2007
“So is Saurashtra going to be the region where Modi meets the big defeat? “
“It’s possible. There is a big shift from the BJP stronghold in the region in 1998. From the 56 seats the part won out of 58, it could now go down to even 28-29 seats. Reports now suggest from the ground, that the Kolis, who have come in big numbers to vote, could be an important factor in determining the result. The Saurashtra Kolis are angry and rebellious and that could hurt Modi. The Patels, who have also come out in large numbers, however, seem to be staying with Modi,” said Rajdeep Sardesai.
BJP worried over poor turnout at poll rallies
Khaleej Times, United Arab Emirates - Dec 2, 2007
By Mahesh Trivedi (Our correspondent)
Stunned by poor turnout at public meetings of even bigwigs like BJP leader L.K. Advani, the 51-member election coordination committee of the BJP went into a huddle yesterday to discuss urgent steps to attract crowds.While a powerful orator like Chief Minister Narendra Modi, who has been addressing three rallies daily, has also failed to draw a wall-to-wall audience, television stars like Smriti Irani who toured Saurashtra yesterday, could rope in only 200 people. As one frustrated BJP leader told Khaleej Times, for the past five years, Modi has used the government machinery and sops to ensure jampacked meetings, giving no chance to the partymen to show their crowd-organising skills with the result that the saffronites have turned lethargic. In sharp contrast to the lukewarm response at BJP leaders’ speeches, each of Sonia Gandhi’s rallies on Saturday, were a sell-out.
IBNlive Chat: Gujarat Elections 2007, beyond Modi
CNN-IBN, India - Dec 10, 2007As Gujarat heads towards polls, CNN-IBN’s Political Editor Bhupendra Chaubey answers questions on everything you wanted to know about Gujarat Assembly Elections 2007 in a live chat on IBNLive. Here is the full transcript of the chat:
Bhupendra Chaubey: It’s a million dollar question. Honestly I think he is on a weak wicket. The only thing that can really take him past the post is a solid turnout. But how will that happen, given the fact that his own party is against him?
Bhavesh L Kookani Do you honestly think that IBN has been objective in its Gujarat poll coverage? Isn’t there an obvious anti-Modi/pro-Congress flavour in the reporting?
Bhupendra Chaubey: Not at all Bhavesh, in fact on the contrary I feel that we have been the only network which has dared to show the actual reality of Gujarat. The reality is that the situation on the ground for an ordinary Gujarati is much better. We have tried to move away from the horror of 2002 and talk about the Gujarat that’s supposed to be a vibrant Gujarat in 2007.
Interesting Snippet – on Rajdeep Sardesai/ CNN IBN
“The English news channels are now obsessed with the Gujarat election. On CNN-IBN they are mindful of the fact that Rajdeep Sardesai made his reputation by trashing Narendra Modi during the Gujarat riots. So the coverage is curiously sympathetic to the BJP, presumably in an effort to demonstrate ‘objectivity’. Times Now has the advantage of the relative anonymity of its anchors and so there’s less baggage to contend with”
Must read Interview: Compare and Contrast
Blast for the Past Gujarat Elections 2002 – The Rediff Interview Achyut Yagnik,
” I don’t see Hindutva upsurge” Yagnik, who met Senior Editor Sheela Bhatt in Ahmedabad, says there is no Hindutva wave in the state. What is the ground reality in Gujarat? Except in central Gujarat and some part of north Gujarat, I don’t find any Hindutva upsurge. In Saurashtra and Kutch, people are not talking about Hindutva. Of course, in urban areas you will find people talking about it. In Surat, the second largest city in Gujarat, you will find many people talking anti-Muslim Full article: http://www.rediff.com/election/2002/dec/04inter.htm
Here he completely contradicts himself:
“Last time there was a wave. There was the emotive issue of Hindutva. Hindu organisations were out on the streets working for the victory of Modi. This time there was no wave. The voter has been quiet about his preference,” Yagnik said.
BEST PIECE OF ADVICE
One Birju gives to Yadav, but it is applicable to all these pseudo-sec quacks masquerading as experts.
Birju: Yogendra, your tribe tried hard to project Modiji as losing the election, and now when polling is finally over, you have now knit up stories about how it is Modiji’s win and not BJP’s. You never adopted these lines for other parties, which are Maino or Maya or Mulayam-centric. Your shady role in NCERT syllabus is another proof of your utter bias and double talk. Why don’t you seek retirement from your pseudo talk?
http://www.ibnlive.com/news/psephologists-not-sure-if-modi-is-indeed-winning/54566-3.html
Congress Reactions: Danish Cartoons Protests versus Ethnic Malaysian Protests
This is surreal. The Danish cartoon controversy had nothing to do with india, yet evoked a gush of emotions from our Congress politicians, but when it came to helping ethnic Malaysian Indians agitating over supression in Islamic Malaysia, the same Congress, other than a pathetic show of mild concern has apparently washed their hands off the whole thing.
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Congress Reaction to Cartoon Protests |
Congress Reaction to Malaysian Ethnic Indian Protests |
| Sonia Gandhi: (in a letter to Syed Ahmed Bukhari, the Shahi Imam of Delhi’s Jama Masjid — ‘I have received your letter and share your sense of outrage about the publication of insensitive cartoons of the Prophet. The United Progressive Alliance government has conveyed its strong setiments to the government of Denmark through the Indian and Danish ambassadors in our respective countries,’ the letter said. Manmohan Singh Indian Government: India lodges protest with Denmark:The government on Tuesday said it had lodged a protest with Denmark over publication of caricatures of Prophet Mohammad in newspapers. |
Sonia Gandhi: As of now (Dec 13) no reactions. She does not seem to share any sense of outrage when temples of ethnic indians are being demolished of if they are being persecuted.Prime Minister Maomohan Singh: Last week, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh responded in general terms, saying ‘whenever Indian citizens abroad or people of Indian origin are adversely affected, it’s a cause of concern.’ SourceGovernment of India: Govt shuns Malaysia Hindu rights leader: Government plays safe New Delhi, Dec 9 (IANS) In a clear message that India can’t go beyond a point to push the cause of Malaysia’s Indian community, the government cold-shouldered Malaysian Tamil leader P. Waytha Moorthy during his visit here this week. A disappointed Moorthy had to leave India without meeting any minister or official. “There was no meeting with anybody from the external affairs ministry or anybody from the government,” an official source said. When Kharaventhan urged the government to take steps to “protect” the ethnic Indians in Malaysia, Speaker Somnath Chatterjee asked members not to say anything that would affect relations with the friendly country.Chatterjee ordered expunction of remarks by some members regarding police action against a demonstration of Malaysian Tamils, observing “we are a very responsible democracy. We don’t discuss …. Any other country in such a manner.” Demolition Silence “When a newspaper in Denmark published an offensive cartoon caricaturing the Prophet… the Prime Minister of India Manmohan Singh called up the Denmark Prime Minister to object to the publication of the cartoon,” he said and added that after the “100-year-old Malaimel Sri Selva Kaliamman temple in Kuala Lumpur” was demolished, “the Prime Minister did not even issue a statement, much less call up the Malaysian PM.” |
rime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday said the Government shared deep concern over its publication.Tragic tale of Indian diaspora in Muslim countries: Go here
Full selection of temple demolition photos: http://www.hinduhumanrights.org/Malaysia/MalaysiaPhotos.html
Peaceful Rally (full of Mahatma Gandhi’s Pictures) –See here and here
Congress Ad Woos Minorities 15-point programme for Minorities–Gujarat Elections
All Indians, thinking and the unthinking should ask now –Is the Congress party meant for the welfare of all communities or only for selected ones. Is Congress a secular party or a Muslim party. By voting for it will the majority community gain or stands to lose.
1. During the UP Assembly elections, Sonia Gandhi sent a letter in Urdu 15,000 UP Muslim leaders urging them to support the party and strengthen secular forces. Mother of all ironies!
2. And now for the Gujarat elections Congress has placed advertisements in a national newspaper “Prime Minister’s new 15-point programme for the Welfare of Minorities“.
Excerpts from the Hindu, ” The Ministry of Minority Affairs, Government of India has published a half-page advertisement in one of the national newspapers here, two days ahead of the first phase polls in the state to be held on December 11, titled, “Prime Minister’s new 15-point programme for the Welfare of Minorities”.
“The advertisement is explicitly directed at minorities and specifies names of religions like Muslims, Christians and others,” BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar told reporters here.
“The content of the advertisement and the timing of its release are aimed at using religion to woo a section of voters. It attempts to achieve polarisation on the basis of religion and it is a surrogate political advertisement calculated to give political advantage to the Congress party,” BJP has said in its compliant.
The advertisement says that the “government of India offers free coaching to students and candidates belonging to minority communities in approved coaching institutes” and elaborates on details of how to get the coaching.
Full Article titled: BJP files complaint against PM for ad on minorities
http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/holnus/002200712091551.htm
Let us take a look at exclusive welfare programs for minorities and ask where do the poor in the majority fit in or are they the net losers. Why are the programmes not meant for the poor in all the communities, but only for the minority communities? Why is it done on the basis of religion. Will such vote bank inducements to minorities encourage religious conversions. Will these divisive and sectarian measures support communal harmony or further aggravate it.
Selected points of the Prime Minister’s 15-Point Programme for the Welfare of Minorities are given below. For full, go here
(3) Greater resources for teaching Urdu
(4) Modernising Madrasa Education
(5) Scholarships for meritorious students from minority communities
(6) Improving educational infrastructure through the Maulana Azad Education Foundation
(7) Self-Employment and Wage Employment for the poor
(9) Enhanced credit support for economic activities
(10) Recruitment to State and Central Services
(15) Rehabilitation of victims of communal riots
Does strengthening Islamic communities in India (at the expense of the majority community) bode well for India, for Indian secularism, for India’s unity and for the majority Hindu community in India?
Now let us compare and contrast the plight of minority Hindus in neighbouring countries where the opposite is true. Muslims are strong and powerful and in majority. Let us what programs they have for Hindu minority communities
Hindu plight Pakistan, Bangladesh and Kashmir http://www.hafsite.net/media_press_release_hhr_2004.htm
Coming back to the topic on hand, ” Congress Ad Woos Minorities” would it be far-fetched to believe that such a scenario is more that possible, if Congress comes to power? http://secularindia.wordpress.com/2007/12/07/if-congress-wins-gujarat-sonia-should/
First Look: Sonia Gandhi’s Urdu letter to UP Muslims
www.rediff.com/news/2007/apr/20uppoll6.htm
If Congress Wins Gujarat, Sonia should….
Sonia Behn during the recent Gujarat election campaign called BJP merchants of death and this was followed by Congress General Secretary Digvijay Singh accusing the BJP of “Hindu Terrorism“
Here are some remedial, Congress-style secular measures Sonia Behn should enforce, should Congress come to power in Gujarat:
On The Political Front: Appoint Ahmed Patel, Sonia behn’s close and trusted senior minister as the chief minister to spearhead Islamic revivalism and usher in true secularism in Gujarat.
Make Muslim social activist Mrs Javed Anand (Teesta Setalvad) the deputy chief minister. Mrs Javed’s credentials are impeccable. With her staunch anti-communalist (read anti Hindu) stand, she would ideal in combatting “Hindu terrorists”
On The Religious Front: Re-impose jizia tax on the Hindus like the glory days of the Mughal era and use the funds generated to build mosques and dargahs. The funds collected should be used to rehabilitate and strengthen Islam, the muslims and the Ummah as well.
Temples donations in Gujarat should also be channeled for Mosques and other minority institutions as is already happening in other states. That is a critical to project Gujarat as a bastion of communal harmony and its cut from its Hindu past.
Haj subsidy is indispensable. Above and beyond the subsidy given by the national government, the state government should also embark on its own subsidy regime for Haj travelers. A new subsidy should be created for Christians intending to visit Vatican.
On The Social Front: There should be 20% reservation for muslims and 10% for Christians in government, police, and in all private enterprises as well.
Implement special reservation and incentives to dalits and tribals in Gujarat for their conversion to progressive religions like Islam and Christianity. This will ensure BJP never comes back to power and secular congress is assured of loyal votebank.
On The Human Rights Front: Promote Jesuit Father Cedric Prakash, the tireless crusader for human rights and as chief of Human Rights in Gujarat. This will take care of the secular Christian community which has long complained of not getting a free hand in converting tribals and destroying their native customs and beliefs. Fr Cedric Prakash will providing the balming jesuit love, and Christian love.
Free all (muslims) accused in Godhra carnage which is actually a Hindu terrorist conspiracy.
On The Economic Front: Besides Minority Economic Development Corporation for the welfare of religious and linguistic minorities in Gujarat and implementing the Sachar Committee recommendations, Congress should also look into the the Kerala Development model in Gujarat since Kerala is most secular with high percentage of Muslims, Christians and marxists. In Kerala, minorities ably supported by the marxists are one of the most prosperous and powerful communities, ahead of the Kerala Hindus. Modi’s model which made Gujarat most prosperous state in india will not do. That is Hindu-tva.
On The Arts Front: Provide asylum to M F Hussain, bharatmata’s favorite son. This will further bolster Gujarat’s secular credentials. Ahmed Patel’s government should fund Hussain next set of paintings of nude Bharatmaata and Hindu deities like these.
On The Education Front: Make Urdu second language to gain the trust of the minority community. Cedric Prakash should also set up a Catholic University in Gujarat. All Shishu Vidyalas and ekal Vidyalayas to be banned converted to madrasas and convents.
These are some ’secular’ measures that will ensure Congress party’s manifesto promises to create ‘new age Gujarat’. They will herald a golden age of lasting peace and harmonious and secular Gujarat. Just like the Muslim rulers did a few centuries back.
On the National Front: With Gujarat in her bag and BJP defeated, Sonia Maino should indulge in more secular acts.
Unconditionally free patriotic Indian Mohammed Afzal because he is not responsible for parliament attack. He was framed and set up by Hindutva. Or the Hindutva Indian army. And do not renew Taslima Nasreen’s visa.
Release another affidavit proclaiming Rama never existed. And print Christian cross on rupee notes to affirm commitment to minority religions.
These secular, pro-minority and anti-Hindu steps will ensure Congress and Sonia behn a thumping victory in 2009 elections and beyond.
Useful Links
What About Gujarat’s History, History of Communal Riots In Ahmedabad
Blog on Mrs Javed Anand (Teesta)
Congress Style Secularism, Congress’ Stained Secularism
Sonia Gandhi’s letter to Hindus to uphold secularism¹
¹: Sorry, no link because no such letter from Sonia Gandhi to Hindus seeking their support to uphold secularism exists.
Interview With Taslima Nasrin
Captures the essence of Taslima
http://www.atheistfoundation.org.au/taslima1.htm
ATHEIST FOUNDATION OF AUSTRALIA INC
TASLIMA NASRIN
As a member of the International Academy of Humanism Taslima reflects on the guiding principles of her life………………………..
I was born into a Muslim family. I was forced by my mother to read the Koran every morning, to pray namaz, and to fast during Ramadan.
…………………………………….
I was encouraged by my father to get a secular education. I learned about the ‘Big Bang’, evolution and the solar system and became suspicious about Allah’s six-day adventure to make the whole universe, the Adam and Eve story and stories of suns moving around the Earth and mountains like nails to balance the Earth so that the Earth would not fall down. My mother asked me not to ask any questions about Allah and to have blind faith in Allah. I could not be blind.
Then I studied the Koran without knowing the meaning – instead of reading it. I found it total bullshit. The Koran, believed by millions, supported slavery and inequalities among people – in other countries the equality of women had been established as a human right and the moon had already been won by men. The Koran supported the right of men to marry four times, divorce, have sex with female slaves and beat their wives. Women were to hide their bodies because the female body is simply a sexual object. Women were not allowed to divorce their husbands, enjoy inheritance, to have their testimony in court considered as seriously as men’s. I found that Allah prescribed Muslims to hate non-Muslims and to kill apostates.
With my own conscience I found religion ridiculous because it stops freethought, reason and rationality. My father told me not to believe religion and I became an atheist. I started writing against religion and all the religious superstitions. I was attacked, verbally and physically. The outrage of the religious people was so big that I had to leave my country.
My own country was one of the poorest in the world. I saw how poverty was glorified by religion and how the poor are exploited. It is said the poor are sent to the Earth to prove their strong faith for Allah in their miserable life. I have not seen any religious teaching that calls for a cure for poverty. Instead the rich are supposed to make Allah happy by giving some help (Mother Teresa’s type of help). The poor in society should remain poor and opportunists can use them to buy a ticket for heaven.
So I don’t accept Allah and his cruel unholiness. I have my own conscience which inspires me to support a society based on equality and rationality. Religion is the cause of fanaticism, bloodshed, hatred, racism, conflict. Humanism can only make people humane and make the world livable. End
Also this 1995 interview condenses her thoughts on Islam and religion in general.
Quotes:
I don’t need a revision of the Koran because I think the Koran is out of place, out of time.
Christian people can criticise Christianity, Hindu people can criticise Hinduism, but Muslims are not allowed to criticise Islam.
I said that Islamic law, sharia law, should be removed from society. We need civil law to give women total freedom and equality.
All about Taslima
http://taslimanasrin.com/index2.html
http://www.english.emory.edu/Bahri/Nasrin.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lajja
MF Hussain And Three Types of Art
I found this piece by V Sundaram, on embattled painter MF Hussain rather interesting. Here is what he says:
I have just finished reading a brilliant essay on the controversial subject of art and artistic expression by Kishore Asthana.
Let me quote his words in this context: “An artist creates art from three primary sources. The first, of course, is the heart. What emerges from an Artists heart can indeed be called ART. The second is the brain. Sometimes an artist creates art, like a student who writes an essay. This is essentially poster-art and is deliberately crafted. This should be called SmArt. Then there is the third source the organs of procreation. When the primary motivating factor for art arises out of the artist”s genitalia, then it can be termed FArt. Of course, in any work of art, there may be different proportions of Art, SmArt and Fart”
All responsible intellectuals would always be champions of artistic freedom, but within reasonable and civilized limits and not divorced from the accepted tradition of social, spiritual and cultural values. So long as these limits are respected, I am all for Artistic freedom. Whatever arises out of the heart of the artist must be inviolate for he has no discretion in it. We may criticize it but we do not have the freedom to ban it. SmArt-work is deliberately created. SmArtistic freedom should not be defended as vehemently, because, unlike Art, the artist has discretion in creating SmArt. If it makes us think, we should appreciate it. If it succeeds in raising our aesthetic sensibility, we should applaud it. However, if it goes against the grain, we should condemn it.
FArtistic freedom is like telling us that everyone is free to keep letting out either odoriferous or foul smelling farts in a crowded room and no one should object to these because every artist must have freedom to create FArt. In my view M F Hussain”s paintings are in the nature of foul smelling noisy farts in a crowded room and that is why thousands of people in India, and more particularly the Hindus, have expressed themselves against the so called artistic FArts of M F Hussain, with many of them dragging M H Hussain to several courts of law. The images of obscene Mother India, naked Sita on Hanuman”s tail and spread-eagled Durga are all examples of M F Hussain”s FArt. Likewise the explosive picture of Jesus Christ drawn by Chandra Mohan in Vadodara on the cross is FArt, too.
I fully endorse the magisterial finding of Kishore Asthana: “I am not for restraining anyone”s heart-born art, but I am against allowing people to FArt in the crowded cultural hall that is India, in the name of freedom of FArting.”
The self-appointed moral police which objects to petty things is at one extreme. The intellectuals, pseudo-intellectuals and artists who automatically rise in defense of all FArt in the name of ARTISTIC FREEDOM, without realizing that this term cannot be used for FArt, is at the other extreme. Both are equally guilty of thoughtlessly trivializing our society and making a mockery of our sensibilities. The UPA Government in New Delhi is the strongest defender of such a debased and debauched form of ARTISTIC FREEDOM
Full article is here: http://www.ivarta.com/columns/070625-mf-hussen-paintings.htm
Links to MF Hussain’s Paintings is here http://www.sanatan.org/en/05/Protests/MFHusain/paintings.php
