How to create a real secular India!

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Following is the Link to the article over simmering discontent on providing special privileges to Muslims by the Manmohan government. The present Congress or UPA government is persistent that Muslims of our country have lagged behind and need special packages. “We still think that unless we can give economic freedom to the Muslims, the soul of Mahatma Gandhi would not rest in peace,” the Congress- leader Mr Dasmunshi said.

This is outrageous! In a secular country, there is no place for dividing people on the religion-based ‘minorities’ and ‘majoritities’. Yes, if Indian muslims are economically backward, do provide them opportunities, and that policy actually should be applied to all the economically-backward people of India, why alone a particular community! Infact,if we classify people for the purpose of providing socio-economic opportunites, it will go in a long way towards ending caste-based reservations in a gradual manner.

Many a time, I see very hostile reactions to Muslims on the discussions boards are discussed over the internet. And vice-versa! To be proactive towards one’s religion is a good thing, but let there be no hostilities! If Hindus constantly sharpen the myth that Indian Muslims are not joining the streamline, this will only lead to further polarization. Similarly, the Indian Muslims will have to see through the pseudo-secularist policies of Congress and outright casteists like Mulayams, Laloos and will have to come out of ghetto mentalities. The whole story of Indian freedom struggle is full of constant bickerings and mutual distrust between Hindus and Muslims which led to the division of country (British divide and rule policy notwithstanding!). This is my firm conviction that the future of India lies secure only if we implement secularism in true way, like uniform civil code, phasing out reservations and doing social justice to economically backward people.

When India attained independence from Britain, it opted for a secular polity, thanks to the fore-sightedness of the founders of our Constitution. Pakistan on the other hand started its journey to create a ‘pure’ or ‘holy’ land for the Muslims. In last 60 years of its journey, unfortunately it has gone from bad to worse because in the process of creating a theocratic State, it has been ruled by mullah- army nexus and democracy has been suppressed. ‘Mullah power’ is the only power in that country. Letus apply this principle to our country: given our diversities, contradictions, poverty, illiteracy ours too is a fertile land for disintegration and fundamentalism, but thanks to our secular constitution, we have been able to thwart these tendancies. For example, Mr Jinnah told people of East Pakistan (now Bangladesh)- soon after the birth of pakistan- that they must accept Urdu as as their language. The Bangalis people were being ‘lorded’ over by the Punjabis of (west) Pakistan. The end result was that a separate Bangladesh was created: out of a pure land for Muslims, there was another nation created! The principle of religion could not keep them together! In India, in 1960s, the nation confronted the issue of National Language, there were widespread protests in Tamil Nadu and Bengal in particular over the implementation of Hindi as the national language. India tried to tackle this issue and the issue of language- based formation of States through democracy and establishing a dialogue with ‘separist leaders’ like E V Ramswamy Naicker ( popularly known as EVR) and later on CN Annadurai of Dravid Khazagam (now called DMK party) who wanted a separate Tamil country and involving them in the process of nation building. Now DMK is a partner in national politics and Tamil Nadu is as much a part of India as any other State is. Punjab is a fresh example in our minds.

Experts had written that when Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian empires could collapse and rebron as a Europe consisting of small language -based countries, what would prevent India from meeting the same fate! We could have, but we did not fall prey to the demons of fundamentalism, and fascism and that helped India retain its boundaries.

How India tackles the issue of resolving its dilemma of minority versus majority and reservations will define the future.

The Cotrast

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Mahatma Gandhi was nominated for Noble Peace Prize 5 times, says the official web-site of Noble Prize Committee (link). The very fact that the Committee uses the phrase “Mahatma Gandhi, the Missing Laureate” says it all! This is the biggest ommission and commission on part of the Noble Committe atleast in the 20th century. It says:

“A frequent criticism from non-Indians was also that Gandhi was too much of an Indian nationalist. In his report, Professor Worm-Müller expressed his own doubts as to whether Gandhi’s ideals were meant to be universal or primarily Indian: “One might say that it is significant that his well-known struggle in South Africa was on behalf of the Indians only, and not of the blacks whose living conditions were even worse.”

Whereas, read about Winston Churchill. The Wikipedia says:
“He denigrated the father of the Indian independence movement, Mahatma Gandhi, as “a half-naked fakir” who “ought to be laid, bound hand and foot, at the gates of Delhi and then trampled on by an enormous elephant with the new viceroy seated on its back”. This was in 1940s when Winston Churchill -as Prime Minister of Britain- did everything possible to scuttle the steps towards Indian independence. During those times, he is also claimed to have said that democracy was totally unsuited to Indians. He was an established anti- India personality.

For the records, Sir winston Churchill received Noble Prize in literature in 1953. He was a Statesman, Prime Minister of Britain, writer, speaker and truly a multi-faceted personality.

Pitfalls of democracy

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This letter published in a daily expresses dismay at the current affairs of our democracy.

“While having dinner at a native friend’s house the other day in Houston, I requested the host to track the developments in India on the website of The Tribune. The very first slot was the unruly scene in the Lok Sabha, portraying the worst display of parochialism. Such incidents occurred in the past too. But what happened on Tuesday pales into insignificance.

There was jostling, pushing, pulling and shoving for nearly 15 minutes and MPs of the Left parties came close to assaulting Union Shipping Minister T.R. Balu. Marshals had to be called to protect the Minister!

My host’s candid query with furtive looks was “are both Chennai and Kolkata not within India?” I felt sheepish and small at the odd bite but retorted, “these are as Houston and New York are”. But I do retain the itch at heart and so share with you aloud: The development of a state is the development of the region which, in turn, is the development of the nation.

It is time we condemned provincialism and parochialism and kept the democratic values high on the agenda. We cannot have a decent democracy if the members of Parliament don’t behave decently in Parliament.”

Prof SUDARSHAN DHINGRA, Houston (USA)

Source: ‘Mailbag’, The Tribune (March 19, 2007)

Why peace eludes the world and middle east!

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Today while driving back from work, I was listening to NPR (National Publc Radio) and “In All Things Considered”, was the interview going on with a Iraqi doctor- Dr Ali Hamdani- who was leaving the war-ravaged Iraq (Waiting a Year to Leave a Life in Iraq). The doctor said that it took him almost a year to be able to move out of Iraq (to Syria and then he plans t o go to USA where he sees his future adding that it is ironic that the place (USA) which devastated his country will be the refuge for him). He said that his he is a Sunni and his wife is a Shia (or vice versa, I do not remember what exactly he said), and when years back they married, this question of different sect never came up for even a discussion, when he approached her father. He adds'” we had same prophet, same God”.These days, says the doctor, politics is being played in the name of sects. We all know
sectarian violence has gripped the nation of Iraq, where peace is still eluding even after the dictatorial regimen of saddam Hussain has been overthrown and an elected government is place, largely due to US invasion of Iraq.

I was moved while listening to Dr Hamdani’s interview. He said that he is not leaving Iraq- the only country he has known- but is being pushed out of it.
We talk about war, we see US forces all the time of TV channels, but what about the common man who is struggling there, is under the constant threat and where death is looming over his head. that is the scenario of a war ravaged nation where sectarian violence has become full blown. People of same religion are killing each other, two brothers of same God or prophet are fighting, killing each other.

Conversions in India: what is the future?

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A story about the conversion issue has appeared on www.Tehelka.com. As we remember, this paper is run by Tarun Tejpal and the group has successfully exposed many a politicians in the past for accepting bribes [by sting operations and many have raised the ethics of sting operations! As if the thieves and thugs (read politicians here) have a morality and we need to reciprocate them!!] . This has often led politicians fretting and fuming and many a heads have rolled over after the exposure of these scandals (notably, Bangaru Laxman of BJP, Jaya Jaitely of Samta Party).

When this story appeared on Tehelka, Iwas more than impressed. Today the ‘progressive’ journalism in India has somhow become synonymous with not talking about Hinduism or the perils of conversions mainly by Christian organizations. If you talk about such issues, you are automatically branded as agents of either RSS or BJP! This is the general perception and which of course is not true.

The title of this news-story on conversions (click here for the link) on Tehelka is: “Preparing for the harvest …”. In this disturbing expose’ the author VK ShashiKumar has shown how evangeslist organizations -aided and fully supported by Bush Administration- have targeted Indian with full fervor and zeal!

Whereas the findings may be nothing new in the sense that Christian missioanaries have been targeting India for a long time with a ‘mission’ to proselytize India, the article is very timely.

I had in one of my previous write-ups on this site had written about the Maranatha organization (www.maranatha.org) and its concerted efforts about the proselytization in many countries with a special emphasis on India. Their appeal for building 1000 Churches in 1000 days is very appealing and is a big fund raiser. This is the link to my write-up.

Another recent news is about the spiritual Guru, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar ( link ) who has called upon the nation to bring unity among dalits and upper-catse Hindus. He wants them to come closer and reconcile. This is indeed the need of the hour!

What exactly do we need to do? These are the measures to be taken:

1. Hindus must not feel insecure that their religion is being targetted by Christian missionaries. Donot antagonize them by force or violence. Listen to them, but understand their design too. In the grab of doing good work -particularly in the field of health and education- they tend to convert people. Grasp this fact. Try to understand them and donot get converted in the process! Firmly resist conversions! This is the very first simple step.

2. Hindu organization must go the interiors of India, particulraly tribal area and do the work what the missionaries are doing: in the field of education and health.

3. We must narrow the divide between so called upper caste Hindus and lower caste Hindus. We often say that christian missionaries are embracing dalits, but are we ready to embrace our brethern?

I recently had an opportunity to study again Gandhiji’s “My Experiments with Truth”. Attempts were made to lure him into Christianity while he was in South Africa. Upteen times the missionary friends tried to persuade him to embrace Jesus! This actually resulted counter-productive. His resolve to study Hinduism intensified and made him a more devout Hindu. He studied and discussed Bible and other religious scriptures, but Geeta was the fountain of wisdom for him. Gandhiji was a shrewed man. In the process of studying other religions, he never got ‘carried away’. He wanted to find reasons, if any, why he should leave Hinduism and he found none! Similarly he tried to find reasons- if any- as to why he should embrace any other religion: and he found none! And of cousrse, Gandhiji’s clarion call of embracing Dalits is still very much relevant and holds promise to the befitting reply to the conversion business.

Shame India!

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What a shame for Hindus! A non-Hindu visitor from America has been ‘thrown’ out of the Puri Temple! Click on the link for the details. This news was published on the NDTV online version.

Are we becoming fanatics? Why this intolerance? Why this humiliation on someone who is interested in visiting a place of Hindu worship? Is this the essence of religion? If by mistake he entered the sanctum sanctorum of the temple, he could have been politely told about this!
We often make grunts and noises about proselytization/ conversions being forced on Hindus, but these kinds of acts simply do no good for a religion which is the oldest religion and claims to preach universal brotherhood. Puri Temple is a prominent place of worship for Hindus and such acts not only project the religion in bad way, they also highlight the rigid orthodoxy practiced by the priest classes. We have come across such incidences where temple authorities have refused admittance to women, dalits and visitors of other faiths. These are totally condemnable acts. We need to relect upon the corrective measures for removing such anomalies from the religion.

Feudal Politics

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The latest results of assembly (Vidhan Sabha) elections in Punjab, Uttaranchal and Manipur have not been of help to Congress. It has been voted out of power in Punjab and Uttaranchal. For BJP, it has been a gain as it has come back to power now.

I know about Punjab. Five years back, people voted against Badal government (SAD + BJP) to bring in Congress because they wanted a change as Sardar Prakash Singh Badal had not delivered upto their expectations. Captain Amrinder Singh of Congress got 5 years and now he is also out. People can just vote against the ruling government in a hope that the new regimen will bring some change, but things donot change. It is not that now people have all love for Badal , actually people had no other option! Punjab is a propserous state, but corruption in the government departments is like a pest: it ssems that it will never be exterminated and in the process politicians continue to loot the State. Personally speaking as a voter, I prefer SAD + BJP combine over Congress, but as far as corruption and concern for development are concerned, all these parties are the same (letus hope, BJP with a better representation in this government will monitor the progress of the Badal performance in a better way)!

Mr Badal has a filial love for his kith and kin (**see below, how many relatives of Badal were given tickets this time)! The states have become personal fiefdoms for politicians: they are like princely states or empires for them where they raise enormous wealth in their 5- years term (knowing well that they may not be elected next time): Om Prakash Chautala (more notoriously), Bhajan Lal have done this in Haryana, Badal has done so in Punjab, Laloo- Rabri did so in Bihar, the media is abuzz that the current chief minister of UP, Mulayam Singh Yadav has amassed property worth more than 100 crores; Mayawati has built an empire in UP and Sonia Gandhi is doing the same at the Center. Similarly the name of JayLalita comes to our mind.

Solution: people have to be the watch-dogs. We have to rise above party-politcs and form non-partisan platforms/ organizations to watch the performance of the governments. Persoanl likings for one politicl party or the other is not bad, but we have to assess the performance of the goverment in a dispassionate manner.

**Almost all close relations of Parkash Singh Badal won from various segments. His nephew Manpreet Singh Badal won from Gidderbaha and his son-in-law Adesh Partap Singh Kairon from Patti. His other relative Birkram Singh won from Majitha and Janmeja Singh Sekhon from Ferozepore. Jagbir Singh Brar won from Jalandhar cantonment (source: The Tribune, Feb 28, 2007))

Chamcha- Giri

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The trait of chamcha-giri (flattery) is well-established in our politicians. Here is a letter expressing the same sentiments.

Cringing flattery

I was surprised to see the photograph (Feb 8) showing Punjab Finance Minister and Congress candidate from Amritsar, Surinder Singla, making fawning obeisance to the AICC president, Sonia Gandhi. Apparently, Sonia Gandhi did not bother to acknowledge Singla’s gesture reverential gesture and looked towards another side.
Many Congress leaders used to bow before Indira Gandhi like slaves. Former Congress president Dev Kanth Barooah earned the sobriquet of her Durbari Maskhara (court jester) by his ludicrous remarks “Indira is India”.
At a rally in Jind, Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda described Sonia Gandhi as “a holy stream of the Ganga in the polluted politics”. Once the late BJP leader Pramod Mahajan compared Atal Bihari Vajpayee with Jesus Christ as both shared the same date of birth – December 25.

BHAGWAN SINGH, Qadian
(Source: The Tribune, Feb 27,07)

Gandhi: Father of Pakistan?

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This letter was published in The Pioneer (link) onFeb 25, 2007.

This refers to the article, “Did Jinnah really fight for freedom?” (February 18), by Samuel Baid. The writer needs to be appreciated for disclosing the fact that Pakistan’s largest Islamic party, Jamiat-ul-Ulema Islam, has decided to expunge Mohammed Ali Jinnah’s name from the list of Pakistan’s freedom fighters. The reason given is that neither did Jinnah do anything for Islam, nor had he gone to jail during the freedom struggle.
The JUI is the Pakistani version of India’s Jamiat-ul-Ulema-e-Hind (JUH), which was founded by Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, a close associate of Mahatma Gandhi since 1919. The JUH had opposed India’s Partition till the end, hoping it could re-establish Muslim rule throughout undivided India with the support of Hindu leaders like Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru. Jinnah’s partition plan, however, shattered such hopes.
The choice of the JUI for the next person to be named “Father of Pakistan” would, therefore, logically fall on Maulana Azad and Mahatma Gandhi, the torchbearers of the Khilafat movement in 1920 and subsequent struggle against the British. It was Mahatma Gandhi who brushed aside the burning questions of the time, such as the massacre at the Jallianwala Bagh and the Rowlatt Act, and made Khilafat an important movement. Gandhi’s authoritative biographer, DG Tendulkar, says: “Around Gandhi new forces were gathering. The ulema felt that the Muslim divines of India whose collective power and influence had been shattered after the revolt of 1857 should again come together…” (Mahatma, Vol-I).
On March 10, 1920, Gandhi observed: “The Khilafat has now become the question of questions…” On March 19, explaining the four parts of the Khilafat movement, he said that while its three parts were to be followed by all Hindus, Muslims and others, the fourth was mainly for Muslims. He observed: “But Muslims have special Quranic obligations in which Hindus may or may not join. They, therefore, reserve to themselves the right, in the event of the failure of non-cooperation-cum-non-violence, in order to enforce justice, to resort to all such methods as may be enjoined by the Islamic scriptures. I venture heartily to associate myself with this resolution…”.
This is a sample of Gandhi’s double-faced non-violence — one for Hindus and another for Muslims.

Ram Gopal
New Delhi

MPLAD: Scrap it

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Recently the issue of MPLAD (MPs and MLAs Local Area Development Scheme) has been in news again.This scheme was initailly started by the then Prime Minister Mr PV Narsimha Rao and each MP was sanctioned one crore rupees annually to spend on the development of his/her area. This lucrative scheme -with no accountability- was liked by all MPs and if I am correct, the current tag is 2 crore rupees annually. This is a huge money, particularly when you multiply this by 5 and that this money is largely unaccountable. One reader in The Tribune- while appealing for scrappimg this fund- has raised a very valid point that the scheme also circumvents the spirit of the panchayati raj institutions (PRIs). The letter is reproduced below.

The editorial “Scrap MPLADS” (Feb 19) rightly suggests Parliament to wind up the MPs’ Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS) as recommended by the Administrative Reforms Commission headed by Mr M. Veerappa Moily in its latest report, Ethics in Governance. This scheme has remained mired in controversy since its inception and the malaise has spread to municipal corporations across the country, involving a whopping Rs 15,000 crore.
Several other committees had also called for the abolition of the scheme. One cannot lose sight of the corrupt practices in this scheme in a string operation. The Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court has also upheld Parliament’s right to disqualify members who were caught accepting bribes in the sting operation.
Unspent money under this scheme by MPs and MLAs and favouritism in sanctioning the funds are the other maladies. Examples galore, some MPs have diverted the entire fund meant for eight or nine Assembly segments to just one or two for political mileage.
The scheme also circumvents the spirit of the panchayati raj institutions (PRIs). To make use of the taxpayers’ money judiciously, the scheme needs to be scrapped. Let the crores of rupees allocated under this scheme be saved and utilised for actual development.

S.K. KHOSLA, Chandigarh