The slaughter of the cow in india and our Govt's refusal to pass a total ban on it ,would go down as one of the historical example of the failure and weakness of a race to stand up for his Dharma and establish righteousness in an issue that has aboslutely no merits and has been only twisted and contrived to extract election mileges..
contrary to popular perception invaders and kings who have ruled our country have shown great sensitivity and tolerance to this one act. Not one but several Mughal rulers imposed a total ban on cow slaughter to respect Hindu and Jain sensititvies..[The clash within: democracy, religious violence, and India's future By Martha Craven Nussbaum]...
The legacy of cow slaughter owes its origins to The British Empire which carried out its large scale practice ,mainly for satieting its huge army contingents. They then managed to project it as an essential principle in the practice of free religion for the Muslims..by this ingenious stance they managed to kill 2 birds with a stone[as they have often done against our fat-headed race]..they got away with being saddled with the blame of this practice and secondly..sowed the seeds of a perennial conflict; the flames of which would be forever fuelled by this pseudo-secularist ideology..
It is interesting to note that the anti cow-killing movement[1880-1884] almost upturned this boat as people cutting across religious lines took part in a vociferous agitation against them and that actively included Parsis,Muslims and Sikhs. (i have often wondered why our history text-books never mentioned this "secular' protest while they unabashadly dedicate chapters to notorious rulers who have been enemies of our culture like Babar, Aurangzeb,jehangir and almost creating demi-god impressions about them in our impressive minds..possibly it would amount to saffronization of textboot..lucky that the cow rarely comes saffron in its hide color]well thats a different story altogether)
The legacy..as usual continued and for the pat 5 decades our successive govts used[rather abused] this principle of secularist freedom to selectivley allow slaughter of cows in our country.In 1966 Indira Gandhi refused to bring on the legislation even on the table despite nationwide protests which led to police violence and deaths..
In the present scenario slaughter for meat continues large scale in Kerala ,West Bengal and North Eastern states..there are more than 32000 unlicensed abbattoirs in our country where the animal is transported to and killed in a gruesome and utterly unhygenic manner..millions of cattle heads are made to walk across the vast Gangetic plains of Bihar,jharkhand and West Bengal for illegal transportation to bangladesh for slaughter..
On this backdrop i would write a series of posts on this practice..there are severeal aspects from which to look at it..ethical, economic,political,demographic as well as karmic..
i for one feel there should be a healthy national debate on the issue and if passed a total , blanket ban imposed on it...
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Hinduism and the mordern intellectual
I have often wondered as to why the mordern society has so much disillusionment with the Hindu religion..and why are we;as a people;are so very apathetic to both,its concerns and oppurtunities.
It probably has to do with the abstractness of the religion;its refusal to bring orderliness;heirarchy and cannonization which suffocate the intrinsic freedom that the disciple needs to reach the intangible Supreme.Despite its periodic decay in the form of casteism,ritualism and dogmas; Hinduism has been the most honest religion to its people.it has presented the Lord as the abstract, the many faceted and the compliment of good and evil..it has refused to classify creation into Satan and God,to create a hierarchy of preisthood, an orderliness of organized sainthood and certificates of miracles...instead it has shown the saint within the human;evil as a play of the Lord and miracles as a natural manifestation of the Purusha.
The mordern intellectual ;in his effort to classify the subtle, to satisfy the intellect and give a gross form to spirituality [e.g. ten commandments,holy book,one saint,one pilgrimage,etc]has ofen found a stoic silence from Hinduism . He has then created its own form [Godmen;who are all fake,rituals that lack meaning,some festivals that lack spiritual gravity but have a lot of peripheras,etc ,etc]
if only they kept this intellect aside and made an effort with an open mind, to recieve what a spiritual Master has to offer [for me all this intellectual gymnastics ended with the part 1 and 2 course of the Art Of Living]..they would realize and only gasp at the good fortune to be born in the land of India and as a Hindu...
It probably has to do with the abstractness of the religion;its refusal to bring orderliness;heirarchy and cannonization which suffocate the intrinsic freedom that the disciple needs to reach the intangible Supreme.Despite its periodic decay in the form of casteism,ritualism and dogmas; Hinduism has been the most honest religion to its people.it has presented the Lord as the abstract, the many faceted and the compliment of good and evil..it has refused to classify creation into Satan and God,to create a hierarchy of preisthood, an orderliness of organized sainthood and certificates of miracles...instead it has shown the saint within the human;evil as a play of the Lord and miracles as a natural manifestation of the Purusha.
The mordern intellectual ;in his effort to classify the subtle, to satisfy the intellect and give a gross form to spirituality [e.g. ten commandments,holy book,one saint,one pilgrimage,etc]has ofen found a stoic silence from Hinduism . He has then created its own form [Godmen;who are all fake,rituals that lack meaning,some festivals that lack spiritual gravity but have a lot of peripheras,etc ,etc]
if only they kept this intellect aside and made an effort with an open mind, to recieve what a spiritual Master has to offer [for me all this intellectual gymnastics ended with the part 1 and 2 course of the Art Of Living]..they would realize and only gasp at the good fortune to be born in the land of India and as a Hindu...
Friday, September 4, 2009
Ashram Satsang on Sundays
I dont know why I make this tiring journry from the small little town of Davangere where i study ,, all the way to the banglore Ashram...every time i take the overnight train which drops me to the bangalore city station early morning and then another two bus changes before i reach the Ashram..and then its another hard day at Seva or sometimes back to the city for odd jos till Satsang at 4.30 evening..
the sun scorches down on the amphitheatre ..we sing one bhajan after another..but all the time the heart is waiting for Guruji..and then there is that one glimpse..amidst a throng of people He emerges..radiant..blissfull..
chaos reigns as people rush to come close to Him..for some time i can see nothing but people's heads and the dazzle of the sun behind..but soon things settles down..the Master takes his seat and then there is the magic moment..when He gives me that look..
and i suddenly know why i made this journey all the way..just for the look..for that second which stretches to eternity..and I know that my Father loves me like none else and will take me home..
the sun scorches down on the amphitheatre ..we sing one bhajan after another..but all the time the heart is waiting for Guruji..and then there is that one glimpse..amidst a throng of people He emerges..radiant..blissfull..
chaos reigns as people rush to come close to Him..for some time i can see nothing but people's heads and the dazzle of the sun behind..but soon things settles down..the Master takes his seat and then there is the magic moment..when He gives me that look..
and i suddenly know why i made this journey all the way..just for the look..for that second which stretches to eternity..and I know that my Father loves me like none else and will take me home..
Friday, August 28, 2009
Secularism and The Constitution
The word 'Secular' was inserted in the preamble by the 42nd
Amendment Act 1976.
Secularism has been explained and described as...
1. the belief that all religions are equally good and efficacious pathways to perfection on or God realisation.
2. Secularism in India does not mean irreligion. It means respect for all faiths
and religious.[ref SECULARISM - BROODING SPIRIT OF INDIAN CONSTITUTION
* DR. R.P. RAI]
The question now stands whether any of these priciples are being upholded in either letter or spirit??
As per the first priciple , does it not automatically become the responsibility of the State to ensure that the infringement of one's religion by another by a supposition that it is superior to the other, be considered as against the basic spirit of secularism as enshrined by the constitution. If this is the case, isnt missionary Conversion a crime in the eye of the law.
as per the second principle , does it also not concer that it is the duty of the State to not be apathetic to the considerations of the faithful and provide equal and fair provisions to all.if such is the case, has justice been done in the attitude of the State towards pilgrims to Haj vis a vis Amarnath; Gujarat riot victims viv-a-vis Hindu pandits in Kashmir; the Shah Bano case,etc
I feel that a very significant fact that we tend to overlook is that religion is not just a matter of faith..it is linked to nationalism as well as cultural identity..as an example take the case of geographical areas wherever the ethnic balance has been tilted and Hindu majority has been reduced to a minority..Assam,J & K,Meghalaya,Tripura and manipur..there is a violent and vociferous demand for separitism and secession...a sense of Indianness seems to have evaporated from these lands..
have we wondered why??...
and is there lessons to be learnt...
Amendment Act 1976.
Secularism has been explained and described as...
1. the belief that all religions are equally good and efficacious pathways to perfection on or God realisation.
2. Secularism in India does not mean irreligion. It means respect for all faiths
and religious.[ref SECULARISM - BROODING SPIRIT OF INDIAN CONSTITUTION
* DR. R.P. RAI]
The question now stands whether any of these priciples are being upholded in either letter or spirit??
As per the first priciple , does it not automatically become the responsibility of the State to ensure that the infringement of one's religion by another by a supposition that it is superior to the other, be considered as against the basic spirit of secularism as enshrined by the constitution. If this is the case, isnt missionary Conversion a crime in the eye of the law.
as per the second principle , does it also not concer that it is the duty of the State to not be apathetic to the considerations of the faithful and provide equal and fair provisions to all.if such is the case, has justice been done in the attitude of the State towards pilgrims to Haj vis a vis Amarnath; Gujarat riot victims viv-a-vis Hindu pandits in Kashmir; the Shah Bano case,etc
I feel that a very significant fact that we tend to overlook is that religion is not just a matter of faith..it is linked to nationalism as well as cultural identity..as an example take the case of geographical areas wherever the ethnic balance has been tilted and Hindu majority has been reduced to a minority..Assam,J & K,Meghalaya,Tripura and manipur..there is a violent and vociferous demand for separitism and secession...a sense of Indianness seems to have evaporated from these lands..
have we wondered why??...
and is there lessons to be learnt...
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Media and Right wing Organizations
It is sad that extremist right wing organizations like the Shiv Sena and Bajrang Dal has played a poignant role in portraying the Hindu religion in poor light.To state that this has lead to a misunderstanding of Hindu rights and feelings , would be an understatement.The fact that their activities are a reaction of fifty years of organized bias against the majority community, can in no way justify the extremism and sense of intolerance in their action, as it goes against the basic tenets of Hinduism, which stands for tolerance and respect to other faiths.This has given a scoring point for the secularists and intelligentsia of our country to denounce right wing activity in every form and actually benefited the appeasement machinery of the Government.
At the same time there is definitely an exaggeration by the part of the media in its portrayal of such activities. They have more than often presented to the public a blatantly one sided view of the whole picture. A classic example of that was the murder of Graham Steins , a Christian missionary in Orissa vis a vis Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati , a Hindu monk.The murder of Steins, no doubt a horrifying one, was reported as an attack on humanity , a stain on the Indian culture,and what not .Steins was repeatedly in controversy for his alleged role in conversion en-masse in the tribal belt.In fact ,the whole history of subversive conversion in orissa and the untold sufferings it has brought to those who resisted , is itself very eye-opening.
Swami Laxmanananda , on the other hand was a monk who, along with organizing enormous social relif work amongst the poor in Orissa, resisted the conversion activities of the evangelists.He was brutally murdered in broad daylight; yet the whole incident was passed off as a solitary Naxalite encounter, despite the glaring proofs that there was a deeper nexus and foul play at large.The media, not only overlooked the incident , but shockingly went on to continue its biased reporting on Sena and Dal atrocities on Christian converts , in retaliation for the murder.
There has been a number of inquiry commissions set up by none other by our "secular" Central govt., and all of them have uni vocally accepted the role of missionaries in promoting conversion and resulting violence in nexus with naxalism in tribal Orissa.
What i mean to say, is that, it is not that there are no violent and extremist elements in Hindu organizations. They need to be denounced and reined in , just as any other fundamentalist organizations. but their role has been blatantly overplayed by our secular media, even going on to branding it as "Saffron Terror"
Orissa is not the only case.. Sadhvi Pragya,Batla house encounter,Godhra incident,etc etc,..there are countless cases of such biased reporting...
will get back with more of that on the role of the Indian media..
At the same time there is definitely an exaggeration by the part of the media in its portrayal of such activities. They have more than often presented to the public a blatantly one sided view of the whole picture. A classic example of that was the murder of Graham Steins , a Christian missionary in Orissa vis a vis Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati , a Hindu monk.The murder of Steins, no doubt a horrifying one, was reported as an attack on humanity , a stain on the Indian culture,and what not .Steins was repeatedly in controversy for his alleged role in conversion en-masse in the tribal belt.In fact ,the whole history of subversive conversion in orissa and the untold sufferings it has brought to those who resisted , is itself very eye-opening.
Swami Laxmanananda , on the other hand was a monk who, along with organizing enormous social relif work amongst the poor in Orissa, resisted the conversion activities of the evangelists.He was brutally murdered in broad daylight; yet the whole incident was passed off as a solitary Naxalite encounter, despite the glaring proofs that there was a deeper nexus and foul play at large.The media, not only overlooked the incident , but shockingly went on to continue its biased reporting on Sena and Dal atrocities on Christian converts , in retaliation for the murder.
There has been a number of inquiry commissions set up by none other by our "secular" Central govt., and all of them have uni vocally accepted the role of missionaries in promoting conversion and resulting violence in nexus with naxalism in tribal Orissa.
What i mean to say, is that, it is not that there are no violent and extremist elements in Hindu organizations. They need to be denounced and reined in , just as any other fundamentalist organizations. but their role has been blatantly overplayed by our secular media, even going on to branding it as "Saffron Terror"
Orissa is not the only case.. Sadhvi Pragya,Batla house encounter,Godhra incident,etc etc,..there are countless cases of such biased reporting...
will get back with more of that on the role of the Indian media..
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
secularism??
A muslim girl in a Mangalore school has recently been debarred from attending school because she refused to comply with the rules which forbid the wearing of burqa to the classroom. the girl in a series of press interviews has stated that" religion is more important than education" and the English media has been splashing it in front pages and branding it as a prohibition of practise of free faith in a secular country.
its interesting how an issue can be profected in a perverted light to whip up sentiments in the garb of "secularism"..lets examine a few detals
the prohibition of exhibition of such aspects of one's faith is a basic tenet of the rule and regulations of the school. one gains admission to it only after acceptance of following these ascribed rules. further the rules apply acroos religious divide.devotees of Lord Ayappa are also forbidden to wear their traditional attire to the classroom.
A number of Muslim girls attend the school without wearing burqa. This just goes on th show that the demostration of one's religion and its external facets have their places and an institution is not one of them.
Just as the wearing of burqa is a matter of personal faith,it also needs to be noted ,that there are several implications of the same in a multi-ehtnic multi-religious society of India in general, and Coastal Karnataka[being highly communally sensitive] in general. It is thus only correct that rigidity in matters of faith deem confinement in such educational institutions where as the protagonist says"religion is more important than education" like madrasas. In an educatuional insitution which lays focus on the imparting of knowledge, such practises should find no place.
It is sad that our intellectia has successfully managed to distort the the mind set of the society through the media.The whole issue does not deserve mention.In today's progressive and evolutionary world we ought not have any place for dogmas and their whinings.
I wish to end with the words that the principal of the school wrote to the student " i have deep regard for your courage and dare to stand up for your religion. i only wish you use the same for more important issues like national integration and social welfare"
food for thought..???
its interesting how an issue can be profected in a perverted light to whip up sentiments in the garb of "secularism"..lets examine a few detals
the prohibition of exhibition of such aspects of one's faith is a basic tenet of the rule and regulations of the school. one gains admission to it only after acceptance of following these ascribed rules. further the rules apply acroos religious divide.devotees of Lord Ayappa are also forbidden to wear their traditional attire to the classroom.
A number of Muslim girls attend the school without wearing burqa. This just goes on th show that the demostration of one's religion and its external facets have their places and an institution is not one of them.
Just as the wearing of burqa is a matter of personal faith,it also needs to be noted ,that there are several implications of the same in a multi-ehtnic multi-religious society of India in general, and Coastal Karnataka[being highly communally sensitive] in general. It is thus only correct that rigidity in matters of faith deem confinement in such educational institutions where as the protagonist says"religion is more important than education" like madrasas. In an educatuional insitution which lays focus on the imparting of knowledge, such practises should find no place.
It is sad that our intellectia has successfully managed to distort the the mind set of the society through the media.The whole issue does not deserve mention.In today's progressive and evolutionary world we ought not have any place for dogmas and their whinings.
I wish to end with the words that the principal of the school wrote to the student " i have deep regard for your courage and dare to stand up for your religion. i only wish you use the same for more important issues like national integration and social welfare"
food for thought..???
Monday, August 24, 2009
elections:regret stories
Its interesting how the elections turned out this year..BJP lost and was immidiately bashed and scrutinised by all sections of the Media..they ended up with an univocal answer..the days of ideology and propaganda are over and that only Governance and Development works...
Yet lets take a look as to how the BJP govt. is functioning wherever it is in power as compared to the Congress.
The Congress claims to have strong economic policy makers ..however even a layman will tell you that that the country has taken a rapid backslide economically post 20004. there is no fiscal restraint..the inflation just keeps going up..funding for infrastructure projects suffer...no market reforms except civil aviation..increased off-budget expenditure through populist measures!!! every reversal has been attributed to the Global meltdown. Yet in the same economic environment ,save Rajasthan..all the BJP ruled states have scrpted success stories..
i live in Karnataka, and despite the utmost attempt by the English Media to vilify the govt., Yedyurappa has done a fine job forcing acknowledgement from friends and detractors alike.
Gujarat is a model state for our country..whatever our pseudo-intellectia says..one needs to visit that state to fell its prosperity and governance...Modi's devotion to work shows and their faith in him is palpable ..
Chattisgarh is the only state where the Naxals are being resisted by the Salwa Judum program..of course our intellectuals are again hoarse over it[pity they always seem to reserve all their sympathy towards anti-nationals]
i wish all of us take an initiaitive to read beyond what the media throws at us..and realise who's working for our country and who's not..its not really a question of BJP vrs Congrerss..its just that i feel at this point of time the leadership of our Central Govt. does not have the focus and commitment to do good for India...
Yet lets take a look as to how the BJP govt. is functioning wherever it is in power as compared to the Congress.
The Congress claims to have strong economic policy makers ..however even a layman will tell you that that the country has taken a rapid backslide economically post 20004. there is no fiscal restraint..the inflation just keeps going up..funding for infrastructure projects suffer...no market reforms except civil aviation..increased off-budget expenditure through populist measures!!! every reversal has been attributed to the Global meltdown. Yet in the same economic environment ,save Rajasthan..all the BJP ruled states have scrpted success stories..
i live in Karnataka, and despite the utmost attempt by the English Media to vilify the govt., Yedyurappa has done a fine job forcing acknowledgement from friends and detractors alike.
Gujarat is a model state for our country..whatever our pseudo-intellectia says..one needs to visit that state to fell its prosperity and governance...Modi's devotion to work shows and their faith in him is palpable ..
Chattisgarh is the only state where the Naxals are being resisted by the Salwa Judum program..of course our intellectuals are again hoarse over it[pity they always seem to reserve all their sympathy towards anti-nationals]
i wish all of us take an initiaitive to read beyond what the media throws at us..and realise who's working for our country and who's not..its not really a question of BJP vrs Congrerss..its just that i feel at this point of time the leadership of our Central Govt. does not have the focus and commitment to do good for India...
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