Aseema December

Dhanu Sankramana/December/ 2

ASEEMAA Journal for National Resurgence Vol.10 No. 6 December 2009 Dhanu Sankramana Edited, Printed & Published by Naaraayana Shevire on behalf of Jnana Bharathi Prakashan, Mangalore - 575 008

When Laloo Prasad Yadav took over as the Railway Minister, he misused his portfolio by recruiting Biharis in CHIEF EDITOR Deepak Kamat Indian Railways throughout India. The media never objected [email protected], to this discrimination. www.greathindu.com However, when the Marathis — inspired by the Thackerays – attacked the Biharis, the media screamed Advertisement/Cir.Manager “racism”, “linguistic domination” et al. Chandrakant Patil [email protected]. There is a simple logical solution to such an impasse. 09686137934, 09096991295 When in Rome, be Roman. If you are going to stay in Mumbai, you have to respect Marati. Now this is not just Cover Setup Sunil Kulkarni about Marati. If one goes to any place, he has to respect the [email protected] local culture. This is what the Thackeray’s insisted that you respect the culture of the land. PRINTED AT What Thackerrays did is very sensible. Respecting the culture of the land is the minimum one can do if one is a Digantha Mudrana Ltd., gentelmen. But, there are several who take local culture for Yeyyadi, Mangalore-575008 granted. That is certainly fraught with dangerous Phone: 2212551 consequences. We ought not to discriminate against any Cover Price : Rs. 20.00 community or any language group. It is incumbent on us to respect the local culture wherever we go after all India is a ADDRESS land of cultural diversity. 4th Floor, City Point Building, So the key word is wherever you are, respect the local Kodialbail, Mangalore - 575 customs, don’t try to dominate with your narrow003 mindedness. The locals will just hit back. Then don’t report Mobile : 94484 92707 this case to the media which is always eager to divide India. EMAIL Respecting the local culture is part of patriotism. There is [email protected] nothing un-Indian or un-Hindu in what the Thackerrays did. However, the way in which they did it was objectionable in Websites: www.aseemaa.in that they resorted to gross violence. There is a reason and www.greathindu.com/aseemaa season for everything. Dhanu Sankramana/December/ 3

REDEEMER OF THE MARATI MANOOS THACKERRAY DEFENDS ATTACK ON CNN WHY RAJ THACKERAY MAY STILL SUCCEED THACKERAY'S OPEN LETTER TO TENDULKAR PEARL HARBOUR, 26/11 AND INFAMY THOUGHTS ON ANIMAL SACRIFICE IN NEPAL CROCODILES ON HINDUISM PROUD TO SING VANDE MATARAM PURI SEER ALLEGES MEDIA DOUBLE GAME CHIDAMBARAM IS AT IT AGAIN WENDY DONIGER IS A SYNDROME SRI SRI ON CORRUPTION LIBREHAN BENEFITS BJP THOUGHTS ON HINDU FESTIVALS HINDUISM AND BIG-BANG THEORY PEEPING INTO TANTRIC SEX DATING THE BIRTH OF LORD RAMA TOO EASY A CONCLUSION I WAS TAUGHT TO LOVE DEATH INDO-US DEAL GONE SOUR RAJEEV SREENIVASAN FEARS ON US INDIA POISED AND SHINING CHINESE DIMENSIONS OF THREAT SRI SRI & SIMI USLESS LIBREHAN REPORT LEAKED Dhanu Sankramana/December/ 4

REDEEMER OF THE MARATI MANOOS I was interested in finding out the reactions of bloggers to Raj Thackeray's onslaught on “para-prantiya” (pronounced in Marathi) which means “people from outside the state of Maharashtra”. But to my dismay, the event seems to have been ignored or at best, given a passing mention in the blogosphere. What Raj is doing is not new. Neither is it unique to Maharashtra alone. Awakening the linguistic identity of a populace and instilling a sense of injustice and hurt pride in them is the easiest way to get ahead in Indian politics. About two years ago, Raj Thackeray had separated from the Shiv Sena because he saw no meaningful future for his political career in the party as Thackeray Sr had thrown his weight behind his

own son, Uddhav. At that time, the tone of his politics was progressive and pragmatic. There was no rhetoric which the Sena was famous for nor was there pandering to the linguistic or religious sentiments of people. After the initial hoopla about how the emergence of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena could affect future elections, everyone seemed to forget about the man. A small local election ensued and the MNS had a poor showing. A large number of MNS workers who had come in from the Sena were contemplating a return. With his back to the wall, our hero had no other option but to take refuge in the oldest and surefire strategy to win a votebank for himself. Having said this, the “Marathi maanus” propa-

RAVINDRA rightunderthenose.blogspot.com ganda is neither without basis nor has it failed to evoke strong support among the locals, particularly in the larger cities like Mumbai. The ever-increasing influx from other states is getting a bit tiresome. There is a feeling among the locals that the outsiders bring in their own alien culture and never make any attempts to harmonise themselves with the local ones. There is also the sentiment that the outsiders look at say, Mumbai, just as a place to milk and make money and then go back to their roots in their home states. These feelings are not unjustified. Particularly if you look at the UP-Biharis, who are currently the target of the MNS, these have increasingly begun to assert their presence in the state.

Dhanu Sankramana/December/ 5

The “chat puja” which is largely a North Indian festival may have been celebrated in Mumbai for many years. But of late, the event has started attracting huge money and hype. The celebration of the UP diwas was totally uncalled for. Worse, the UP-Biharis are finding influence with the local politicians who are finding their sheer numbers a convenient vote bank. The increasing clout is represented by the cabinet minister Kripashankar Singh, who is from UP, but now a minister in Maharashtra. Amitabh Bachchan’s fans may cringe at the MNS chief’s diatribe against the superstar. However, Raj uses the Big B only as an example to prove his point. Despite having made a name for himself after staying in Maharashtra for so many years, the Big B has become an ambassador for UP. Which means what? That the Big B has his roots in UP! This must be true for most of the other Upites. If you have roots in one state, you will never ever want to assimilate in the ethos of your adopted state. As Raj Thackeray in his May 3rd carefully drafted speech outlined, language chauvinists from all states are guilty of poisoning minds. Many of the arguments put forward by him are not easy to refute. He read out a statement attributed to Sonia’s partner in govt, Anbumani Ramadoss, who has warned Dravidians against Rajnikant’s attempts to come into the centerstage of TN politics. This, despite, Rajnikant (who is a Maharashtrian) has completely transformed himself into a Tamilian and is a hero to the locals there. We know of language chauvinists in other states like Andhra, Karnataka etc. Dhanu Sankramana/December/ 6

We also know how it is difficult, nay impossible, to have a comfortable stay in capital cities of states if you cannot follow the local language – try living in Chennai without knowing Tamil or in Kolkata without knowing Bengali. The lingua franca in offices is not English, it is the local language.

But in Mumbai, you need not really know Marathi. Hindi is good enough. That shows the liberal attitude of Maharashtrians. It is this liberal attitude which politicos like Raj Thackeray is trying to change for his electoral gains. You can fault him for his crudeness and foul language, but you cannot bar him legally, as Home Minister RR Patil has recently found out. Then, politicians cannot be given moral sermons too. So how does one stop him? Not easy. In a country where states are drawn on linguistic basis (a Nehru legacy), we must be prepared for hardening of such identity differentiation. Only if you redraw the states on some other basis, will the language identity be dented. To take the poison out of Raj’s bite, we have to first take away the luxury that chauvinists from other states have. Then, and only then, can we look at Raj Thackeray in the eye and tell him to shut up!

Thackerray defends attack on Mumbai CNN-IBN office Mumbai: Bal Thackeray is unwilling to admit that the Shiv Sena attacked the media when party activists ransacked IBN-Lokmat's office and beat up a couple of journalists on Friday. "Will you call it an attack on the media if a journalist's wife beats him up for his wrongdoings?" the Sena chief asked. Thackeray on Monday said the partymen had attacked a person, Nikhil Wagle, and not the entire media. Other political parties too had targeted the media in the past, he said. "Ashok Chavan and RR Patil should clarify if they will call it an attack on the media when a journalist is beaten by his wife for his wrong deeds, Thackeray said in an editorial

in the party mouthpiece Saamna. "It has become necessary to define a journalist."

"At that time, Congress workers had dragged him to the police station. He later apologised. What is so wrong if Shiv Sainiks could not control their feelings?"

"Some people attack the Sena and hit the Sena chief below the belt just for the sake of publicity," he said. "If someone beats these people they cry that the media has been attacked. They expect people to agree with all their views. I do not call this journalism."

Even the NCP had targeted the media in the past, he said.

He said a person had been attacked. "It has no connection with the media. I do not need to learn journalism from a person like Wagle." Thackeray also accused Wagle of being crazy for publicity. "Two days after Rajiv Gandhi's assassination,

Wagle's newspaper Mahanagar had raised doubts about Sonia Gandhi's character in a report," he said.

To substantiate his argument, Thackeray has listed attacks by the Congress and the NCP leaders over media houses like Zee TV, Loksatta, Nava Kal, and even IBN. " Ashok Chavan had assured stern action against the attackers at that time. What happened to that assurance?"

Dhanu Sankramana/December/ 7

A K Bhattacharya

WHY RAJ THACKERAY MAY STILL SUCCEED Social scientists have argued fulfilling some of the basic ecothat Raj Thackeray, the nomic needs of Mumbai, even Maharashtra Nava Nirman Sena though he may frown upon the leader, will fail to sustain or get quality of the service he gets popular support for his recent from the latter. Thus, the social movement in Mumbai against scientists have concluded, Raj migrant workers from Bihar and Thackeray will fail to strike a Uttar Pradesh seeking livelihood chord with the Marathi middle in the country’s financial capital. class, the way his uncle had The argument is premised on managed to do and that lack of their assessment that the culsupport will be strong enough to tural, social and economic milieu put an end to the current movethat prevailed in Bombay in the ment against north Indian mi1960s is no longer the same in grant workers. Mumbai in the first decade of the This assessment may not be 21st century. correct because the diagnosis of The Marathi angst that was why Raj Thackeray launched this present four decades ago due to movement seems to be flawed. It the perceived threat from south might appear that the Indians cornering the city’s most Maharashtra Nava Nirman Sena remunerative jobs (and which Bal leader launched this movement Thackeray used to build a to protect the Marathis or create political base for his party) is not more job opportunities for them. there in Mumbai today to be This may not be entirely true. A exploited by Raj Thackeray, it more important reason for has been argued. Also, migrant launching the movement was his workers from Uttar Pradesh and growing insecurity as a Marathi Bihar are mostly doing only those leader. With the demographic jobs in the city (driving a taxi or profile in Mumbai, in particular, vending vegetables) which are by changing rapidly, a Marathi and large shunned by the leader in that city has good Marathis, who have moved up in reasons to feel threatened. It is life and therefore will not ordithis risk perception that seems to narily look at them as an option. be the driving force behind his On the contrary, the average movement. middle-class Marathi will look at a Note that while defending north Indian migrant worker as what they did in Mumbai, Raj Dhanu Sankramana/December/ 8

Thackeray and his associates are pointing their fingers at leaders like Amar Singh and Lalu Prasad. They have argued that Mr Singh and Mr Prasad are trying to create a political base for themselves by exploiting the sentiments of a large number of north Indians engaged in different jobs in Mumbai. Their real anger is against these leaders from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. In fact, one of the statements from Mr Thackeray has clearly suggested that these leaders should confine their politics to their own states and refrain from expanding their territory. It is a fight for constituency. Raj Thackeray and other Marathi leaders have no objection to workers from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh living in Mumbai to earn their livelihood. The problem starts when these north Indian workers become a potential vote bank and political leaders from the north descend on the city to build a base for themselves or their parties. If leaders like Lalu Prasad, Mulayam Singh Yadav and Mayawati refrain from exploiting the large presence of people from north India in Mumbai for political gains, the movement against migrant north Indian workers in India’s financial capital will die down on its own.

Already suggestions have been made to the effect that north Indian migrant workers are free to live in Mumbai, but they must do so as Mumbaikars and, therefore, not as a vote bank for politicians from the north. But it is naive to believe that political leaders from north India will stay away from Mumbai because the potential political gains are too tempting for anyone to ignore. Thus, Raj Thackeray’s movement will also gain impetus and even though the north Indian migrant worker serves a specific economic purpose (providing cheap labour), their continued presence in the city will become an issue because it is after all a fight for exploiting a vote bank. In many ways, this is a story that is likely to be repeated in many other parts of India if our political leaders do not mend their ways. A few years ago, the appointment of Sheila Dikshit as Delhi’s chief minister had become a big issue even within the Congress party because she was not seen as a politician hailing from Delhi. Would the scenario be any different if a leader from Orissa or Bihar, for that matter, were to exploit the large number of migrant workers from either of these states living in Kolkata for political gains? Sixty years after India’s independence, migrant workers in the country are still seen as potential vote banks and political leaders do not still miss an opportunity to exploit them. Today, Raj Thackeray sees his political base shrinking as a result of north leaders trying to exploit the sizeable presence of north Indians in Mumbai. But if he gets an opportunity like Lalu Prasad, he too would not hesitate to play the same game.

Bal Thackerray's open letter to Sachin Tendulkar Dear Sachin,

You played like a Badshah in cricket…You won international fame, you earned huge amounts of money. Nobody grudges you for that, rather we are proud of you…You shine like a sun in the world of cricket..But you said in a press conference that ‘I am proud of being a Maratha and a Maharashtrian, but first of all I am an Indian’… Your straight drive saddened the minds of Marathis. ..because you left the pitch of cricket and came over to a political pitch, and there too you jumped your gun..On hearing you say that Mumbai belongs to everybody, the Marathi mind was saddened, there was no need for saying so…You are ‘run out’ on the Marathi mind’s pitch…. 105 persons sacrificed their lives to get Mumbai, the same Mumbai cannot belong to every Tom, Dick and Harry’s father (kisi ke baap ki nahin)..and if any body tries to delink Mumbai from the rest of Maharashtra, then the Marathi manoos (people) will not hesitate to wring off his neck… Sachin, remember one thing, when you shower fours and sixers from your bat, people applaud, but on the issue of justice and rights for Marathis, if any body uses his tongue as a bat and showers fours or sixers against the Marathis, the Marathi manoos will not bear it…So, whatever you earned on the cricket pitch, do not fritter away on a political pitch..I am giving you this friendly advice for your own sake.. Jai Hind, Jai Maharashtra Bal Thackeray Dhanu Sankramana/December/ 9

Pearl Harbour, 26/ 11 & another day of infamy By B Shanthanu On the eve of the first anni- and air forces of the Empire of versary of the attack in Mumbai, Japan. The United States was at below are excerpts from the peace with that Nation and, at preface to Sh B Raman’s latest the solicitation of Japan, was book on 26/11 (emphasis mine). still in conversation with its Government and its Emperor *** Preface to “MUMBAI 26/11 looking toward the maintenance - A DAY OF INFAMY” by B of peace in the Pacific… Raman - Excerpts *** During the intervening time Even while holding talks with the Japanese Government had the US on peace in the Pacific, deliberately sought to deceive the Japanese Empire secretly the United States by false and treacherously planned and statements and expressions of carried out massive surprise hope for continued peace…No attacks from the air and the sea matter how long it may take us on Pearl Harbour in Hawaii on to overcome this premeditated December 7, 1941, killing a invasion, the American people in large number of American their righteous might will win military personnel and civilians through to absolute victory. I and destroying the US naval believe I interpret the will of the base there. Congress and of the people when I assert that we will not In an address to the US Congress the next day, which only defend ourselves to the came to be known as the “Day uttermost but will make very of Infamy” speech, the then US certain that this form of treachPresident Franklin D.Roosevelt ery shall never endanger us again. …There is no blinking at said: the fact that our people, our Yesterday, December 7, territory, and our interests are in 1941 — a date which will live in grave danger. With confidence infamy — the United States of in our armed forces — with the America was suddenly and unbounded determination of our deliberately attacked by naval Dhanu Sankramana/December/ 10

people - we will gain the inevitable triumph — so help us God… Sixty-seven years later, the world saw another day of infamy on November 26,2008. Around 8-30 PM, a group of 10 Pakistani terrorists belonging to the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LET), an ally of Al Qaeda and a strategic asset of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), secretly landed in the seafront area of Mumbai, the jewel of India and the business and financial capital of a newly-emerging economic power, divided themselves into four groups and went around spreading death and destruction over a wide area in the seafront. …One group killed the ordinary people of the city—innocent men, women and children. Many in a railway station. Some in a hospital. And some others on the roads and elsewhere. Two others, after killing the diners and staff of a restaurant, entered and occupied two five-

star hotels frequented by the business and social elite of India and the world. They remained in occupation of the hotels for nearly 60 hours and engaged in a confrontation with the security forces before they were killed. The fourth group forced its way into a Jewish cultural-cumreligious centre, took its six inmates—-four Israelis and two with dual US nationality— hostages, tortured them and finally killed them before the security forces could intervene. Among those tortured and killed by them was an Israeli woman, who was expecting a baby. It was one of the most treacherous attacks in the history of terrorism. And one of the most dastardly. As treacherous and as dastardly as Al Qaeda’s attacks in the US homeland on 9/11.

Mumbai killing over 170 innocent civilians. Instead of reacting with as much righteous indignation and force against Pakistan as Roosevelt did against the Japanese Empire for its act of treachery, we chose to give it the benefit of doubt.

The Japanese Pearl Harbour attack lasted just a few hours. The LET attack lasted 60 hours plus.

…We entered into peace talks with Pakistan.

The ISI-sponsored LET attack was as treacherous as the Japanese attack.

The Japanese attack targeted mainly military Within two months of this act installations and personof treachery, we entered into an nel. The LET attack taragreement with Pakistan for geted only civilians— setting up a joint counterIndians and foreigners. terrorism mechanism…

Even as these talks were going on, the ISI was preparing And as dastardly. two other groups of terrorists for use against India. One group And how did we react? attacked the Indian Embassy in Kabul in the first week of As a nation? As a July,2008. people? As a political class? What brave statements we made after the Kabul attack! We As we have always threatened to have the ISI destroyed! The Pakistanis and done. the ISI must have chuckled Brave and indignant within themselves. Imagine the Government of India translating words in the beginning. And a subsequent relucits brave words into action! It has never done it. tance to translate the

But Al Qaeda was not the tool of any State. No State was using it to attack the US. The LET was. It was the tool of Pakistan’s military-intelligence establishment. …The ISI used it in Afghanistan in the 1980s. It has The Pakistanis must have been using it against India since been certain that it will never do 1993. it in future. So as the peace …The LET helped the ISI in talks were going on and as the its strategic agenda against so-called joint counter-terrorism India. mechanism was holding one meeting after another, a new ..This was not the first act of group of terrorists was being mass casualty terrorism carried trained commando style. Initially, out by the LET in Mumbai. they were trained in camps in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. This was the second. Subsequently, in Karachi. The first was in July 2006 Then, they sailed to Mumbai when terrorists trained by it and attacked in the darkness of carried out a series of exploearly night. sions in the suburban trains of

words into action. The day of infamy on December 7,1941, changed the history of the world.And our own day of infamy of November 26,2008? Has it changed the history of the sub-continent? Have we created the fear of God in the minds of Pakistan and its terrorist surrogates? Have our reactions made it certain that there will not be another 26/11 in our history? Far from it. Far, far,far from it.

Dhanu Sankramana/December/ 11

Thoughts on Animal Sacrifice by Hindus in Nepal

Gadhimai Fair in Nepal is dedicated to Goddess Gadhimai, a local deity, an incarnation of Goddess Shakti. The fair, notorious for the sacrifice of large number of animals, is held once in five years in the Bara District of Nepal and is mainly attended by people from Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand in India. This year the Gadhimai festival has garnered lot of international media attention the number of animal sacrificed is estimated to be more than 100,000. Animal sacrifice is cruel and it has no place in the teachings of Sanatana Dharma (Hinduism). But Hinduism is not based on strict written codes or rules. Therefore each individual is given the freedom to express his/her faith. Some individuals try to appease deities through animal sacrifice which is part of tantric worship. Quite often an individual performs animal sacrifice out of ignorance thinking that the deity will be pleased with the sacrifice. This is the result of the lack of proper understanding of

class and the rich. The Gurus go all the way to talk about the animal sacrificing Upanishads and Hindu as uneducated, Bhagavad Gita in superstitious believing United States and Euin witchcraft and rope but never ventantrics. Educated ture into the rural arHindus impatiently eas of India where tries to distance from there is no electricity such events and talk and proper educaloftily about Yoga, tional facilities. Upanishads and the Only a few Hindu organizations work in rural India. Majority scientific achieveof the organizations are often ments of ancient Hinconfined to a particular caste or dus. area. A pan-India outlook for the The real culprits development of the Hindu community as a whole is misshere are educated ing in majority of the organizaHindus, modern day tions. Hindu Gurus and Majority of the Hindu political Saints, Hindu leaders, leaders are sadly confined to a particular region or reduced to Hindu organizations the status of caste leaders. It is and the government. a well known fact that majority of Majority of the Gurus the leaders are not interested beyond developing their family and Saints are only interested in working wealth. It is time for Hindus in India to select a strong Hindu among the middle leader with a pan-India outlook. the teachings of Hinduism. Who is to be blamed? It is easy to blame

Dhanu Sankramana/December/ 12

It is for educated Hindus to come together and make sure that the money they contribute to the Gurus and Saints should be spend on spreading the true teachings of Hinduism among the rural community in India. They should make sure that the money they donate are used in building educational facilities in rural India to help Hindus. The state governments which control the wealth of Hindu temples in India should spend the wealth on the welfare of Hindus especially on education of Hindus in rural areas plus providing electricity, good roads and modern communication means.

You can never blame a Hindu who goes to sacrifice an animal for personal wish fulfillment or as a thanksgiving for his/her prayers heard. Because he/ she comes from areas in India where there is no electricity, no proper roads and not even good water to drink. His sole refuge is in a local deity who can be appeased with his personal wealth and that is quite often his domesticated animals.

Crocodile in Hinduism Makara as Vahana Crocodile or Makara is of great significance in Hinduism and plays an important role in many famous incidents mentioned in Hindu scriptures. The Vehicle or Vahana of Goddess Ganga is a crocodile or Makara and She is believed to travel from the Himalayas to the Bay of Bengal atop a crocodile. The Hindu rain-god Varuna also rides on Makara. Varuna is also the god of the oceans and seas. The God of Love (Kamadeva) has crocodile as his emblem and Rati his wife carries it with her. Kamadeva and Rati are also depicted riding the Crocodile. The most popular incident involving a crocodile in Hindu Scriptures is the Gajendra Moksha. Gajendra, a proud elephant, is pulled into the river by a demon in the guise of a crocodile and he tries to escape from it and the struggle continues for several years and finally the elephant prays to Lord Vishnu and the Lord arrives on the scene and rescues the elephant. Another popular instance of crocodile intervention is in the life of Adi Shankaracharya. Adi Shankara wanted to become a Sanyasi but his mother was dead against it. One day, while bathing in the Periyar River near his house in Kaladi in Kerala, a young Shankaracharya was attacked by a crocodile. His mother was unable to save him and therefore Shankara asked her to

give him the permission to renounce the world so that he can be a Sanyasi at the time of his death. Left with no other option, she agreed to it. Shankaracharya recited the mantras of renunciation and immediately, the crocodile left him. After this episode Shankaracharya’s mother gave him the permission to take up Sanyasa. Another two instances of crocodile in Hindu Scriptures is the incidents involving Lord Hanuman. Once Lord Hanuman was bathing in a lake in the Himalayas and all of a sudden a huge crocodile clasps his legs. With great difficulty he drags the animal out of water. The animal turns itself into a beautiful damsel and proclaims that because of Daksha's curse she became a crocodile and it is Hanuman's contact that revoked the curse. Similarly, when Hanuman was returning from Lanka his perspiration fell in the mouth of a Nakshtra and she gave birth to Makara Dhwaja.

Dhanu Sankramana/December/ 13

There is understandable disquiet over the resolution adopted by Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind during its 30th general session at Deoband from November 1-3. “The grand session of Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind while expressing concern over communal hatred and violence exploiting the issue of Vande Mataram, condemns the provocative activities in this connection,” the resolution says, “We can love and serve our country, but cannot elevate it to the status of Allah, the only one worshipped by Muslims… The fatwa of Darul Uloom (Deoband) is correct… This house demands that the issue of Vande Mataram not be deliberately raised for causing communal discord and threat to law and order.”

Proud to sing Vande Mataram

The resolution apparently refers to a fatwa reportedly issued in 2006 by Darul Uloom, Deoband, instructing Muslims not to participate in the celebrations planned by the Ministry of Human Resource Development to mark the centenary of Congress adopting Vande Mataram as the National Song on September 7, 1906, as it would require the singing of Bankimchandra Chattopadhyay’s soul-stirring immortal lines. The mullahs of Deoband need not have worried. Whoever had given the idea to Mr Arjun Singh had got his date wrong. The planned celebrations turned into a fiasco after historians pointed out that the Congress never met in September 1906, so it could not have possibly adopted Vande Mataram Not be deliberately raised? as the National Song on that This is truly astounding. Without date. any provocation whatsoever, On that occasion, too, IndiJamiat Ulama-i-Hind adopts a ans, including Muslims, were resolution endorsing a fatwa outraged by the Deobandi fatwa against Vande Mataram issued reported by media. But was there by Darul Uloom, Deoband, and really a fatwa? On September 4, urging India’s Muslims not to sing CNN-IBN reported that no such the National Song lest it defile fatwa had been issued by Darul Islam. Yet it wants the resolution Uloom, Deoband. According to to be seen as a warning to those this news channel, the seminary “causing communal discord and wanted to “steer clear of the threat to law and order” — a not- issue” and insisted that it had no so-thinly veiled reference to “role to play” in the controversy. Hindus — by “deliberately” Darul Uloom, Deoband “categoriraising the “issue of Vande cally stated it had not issued any Mataram”. fatwa on Vande Mataram, nor Dhanu Sankramana/December/ 14

Kanchan Gupta had it directed Muslim children to skip classes on September 7”. After the mandatory fingerpointing at “communal forces”, Mohatamim Maulana Margoobur Rehman told CNN-IBN, “Darul Uloom is being unnecessarily dragged into the Vande Mataram controversy.” The official website of Darul Uloom, Deoband, does not list the edict instructing Muslims not to sing Vande Mataram which has been cited by Jamiat Ulama-iHind. But the website of Darul Ifta, the fatwa division of Darul Uloom, Deoband, lists a fatwa (385/358-B/1430) dated April 7, 2009, which says Muslim children “should avoid hymning it (Vande Mataram)” as it is “against our creed of tauheed”. A classic example of taqiya? Was the April 7, 2009 fatwa meant to set the stage for the Jamiat Ulama-iHind’s November resolution? Why was it issued after Deoband vigorously distanced itself from the “Vande Mataram controversy”? And, what prompted Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind to revive the rancid debate over whether it’s haram for Muslims to sing Vande Mataram? Was the purpose to provoke a backlash and then claim victimhood? In a sense, any discussion on

the repudiation of Indian nationBut it is definitely a hood by Islamic fanatics who view India’s National Song not as a great Islamic act in Incelebration of the concept of dia because the cow is motherland as defined by our civilisational ethos but as Hindu worshipped in India,” idolatory is meaningless. There’s nothing startlingly new about the Ali Mian said in an advitriolic denunciation of Vande Mataram by Maulana Mahmood dress to a congregaMadani and his ilk who believe tion of Indian and Paki“bringing women into the mainstream will create social problems stani ulema in Jeddah and issues including their security”, want India’s Muslims to “don on April 3, 1986. Ali their Islamic identity”, say salam Mian and his fellow instead of namaste and live in a was an open gathering and joyless, dark world of ignorance ulema on the All-India not a religious congregation; where sharia’h will apply to girls and since Maulana Mohamed Muslim Personal Law Ali had not found the band as young as 10 years old. We have heard similar denunled his procession as Board, which lacks le- that ciation of Vande Mataram with “taboo in Islam”, he could not the explicit purpose of hurting the gitimacy yet holds Mus- object to the singing of Vande sensitivities of India’s majority Mataram. He then went on to lims in thraldom, were sing Bankim’s composition Hindu community and rejecting India as a nation earlier too. And which Mohandas to later issue a fatwa the attack has not been reKaramchand Gandhi associstricted to our National Song. against the singing of ated with “the purest national Maulana Syed Abul Hasan Ali spirit”. It is this national spirit Nadwi (better known as Ali Mian) Vande Mataram by which bothers those among of Darul Uloom Nadwatul Ulama, us who are loath to see their Muslims. the other famous Islamic semiidentity linked to the identity Issuing fatwas against Vande nary, was unrestrained by such of India. Mataram can be traced to Congress’s considerations as Hindu sentiAt the far end we have the willing capitulation in the face of ments. likes of Maulana Mahmood opposition by those who place faith with their separatist “Cow-slaughter in over nation. In 1923, the Congress Madani agenda, but that does not met at Kakinada and Maulana mean every Muslim is perIndia is a ‘great IsMohamed Ali was brought to the suaded by the Jamiat Ulamalamic practice’, said venue in a procession led by a i-Hind’s bunkum. raucous band. As was the practice, My respect for Mr Shahid Mujaddid Alaf Saani the session was scheduled to begin Siddiqui has gone up by with a rendition of Vande Mataram by leaps and bounds for thumbII. This was his farPandit Vishnu Digambar Paluskar. ing his nose at the mullahs sightedness that he When Pandit Paluskar rose to sing and declaring that he not what had by then become the anthem only sings Vande Mataram described cowof India’s freedom movement, but sings it with pride. Mr Mohamed Ali protested, Siddiqui is not in a minority of slaughter in India as Maulana saying music was a “taboo in Islam” one — there are many a ‘great Islamic prac- and, therefore, singing Vande Muslims who will lend their Mataram would “hurt” his religious voice to him because they tice’. It may not be sensitiveness. Pandit Paluskar are proud to be Indian. retorted that the Congress session so in other places. Dhanu Sankramana/December/ 15

A section of media playing double standard, alleges Puri Seer By Golakha Chandra Das Hindu religion and culture as well said it was for the Chief Minister to as the attacks on religious leaders. spell this out. “Ask the CM, why Responding to questions on the are you asking me?” demanded the Bhubaneswar (Visakeo)recent murder of a head of one of seer, before adding that he was not Sankaracharya of Puri Gobardan the ashrams in Puri, he said it was bothered about threat letters being Pitha, Jagadaguru Swami “a matter of concern” that the sent to him. Nischalanand Saraswati has State government is unable to alleged that a section of media, “The CM should say who killed particularly the electronic media is protect sadhus. Laxmanananda Saraswati and who playing double standards on “A couple of years ago, I used was behind the murder. various sensitive issues. to take pride in telling people Laxmanananda was attacked on across the country about the safety nine previous occasions and he While addressing the media of Puri. I used to say that even at had escaped, but the tenth attack here on June 15, the Puri Seer 2.00 a.m. one could walk around was committed by trained and argued that the whole electronic media kept their concentration on Puri without any fear. But I can’t armed people. say the same thing now.” nun rape case in Kandhamal but This indicates that somebody not a single TV channel showed Answering questions on the had conspired and engaged trained the brutal muder of Hindu seer suspected links between Maoists people to eliminate Swami Laxmananda Saraswati and and a religious group, the Puri seer Laxmanananda,” he said. the side effects of conversion. It is vinash and not vikas that is taking place, he observed, while talking to reporters here and said that India has turned directionless. He went on to refer to the Ram Setu controversy and the conversions that are taking place. “Why is it that conversion is deemed not a problem in our neighborhood, be it due to the influence of Pakistan or China?” he questioned, before announcing that the politics of the ‘vote bank’ is squarely responsible for allowing large scale conversions to take place. The seer went on to express concern over the onslaught on the Dhanu Sankramana/December/ 16

CHIDAMBARAM AT IT YET AGAIN Chidamabaram did not personally hand over the Liberhan report to the Indian Express or to the NDTV for that matter, Chidambaram has unabashedly stated in Parliament, ‘I am not so foolish to leak out parts of the Report to the media’. Yes we agree that Chidambaram is not foolish but we indict Chidambaram for failing in his duty to place the report first in Parliament, we indict Chidambaram for the leaks--we do not care how the leaks happened and through whom it took place. He should own up the responsibility. There can be no two opinions on this. Chidambaram has always played it safe and the UPA government has always played with vote bank politics. It is not then fair to blame the Opposition for having disrupted the proceedings of Parliament.

Reports this also is a political tool for the Congress.No Commission Reports are really directed to uphold justice. If it does not suit the interests of the ruling party then it is damned and is rejected. But one wonders what happened to the Jain Commission Report and the ATR. Parliament was not only stalled but a government fell thanks to the Congress’ shouting brigade. So after Commission Reports fulfill the Congress’ myopic motives these are forgotten and gather dust.

Now the Liberhan Commission Report with full of holes and leaking obviously biased and well timed. When it was handed over to the PM in the presence of Chidambaran in June why did the UPA government withhold it so long, abetted its leak just on the eve of the Jarkhand elections? The Commission Report has not gone into how and why Babri Masjid Coming to the Commission came into the political centre stage. Report there is one glaring Why were the locks of Babri similarity with the Sachar Report- Masjid broken thereby a court Justice Liberhan found what the order violated. Justice Liberhan Congress wanted him to find .He can easily excuse himself by saying went even a step further and that it did not come under the indicted the BJP leaders? A report terms of references. Justice places facts –it is not for him to Liberhan seems to have an ESPindict anyone. As all Commission by applying his clairvoyance he

puts in black and white that though Vajpayee and Advani claim no role in the demolition they cannot be absolved because Liberhan thinks that Vajpayee,Advani and Joshi could have been used by the Parivar as the publicly acceptable faces of the movement. The witnesses’ statements that went against the BJP and the Parivar can be accepted as reliable, but not the BJP leaders’ oral evidences. Justice Liberhan has used the word ‘could have’ this is a vague termwhere are the evidences that the Parivar ‘could have’ used them and where are the evidences of his hypothesis that they are the acceptable faces of the Movement. On the one hand he says that the common people were not for the demolition then from where did the Movement arise? The demolition was not a spontaneous outburst but was carefully planned out according to Justice Liberhan. The Commission has also brought in the diversion of funds to Faizabad and Ayodhya just before the kar seva, mobilization of the kar sevaks as well as arrangements made at the site with ‘military like

Dhanu Sankramana/December/ 17

precision’, clearly proves that the plan was not just symbolic kar seva,as stated by the Sangh and BJP leaders-this goes to show how biased Justice Liberhan is and his clairvoyance is at work.

unmindful of the consequences. The reality is that the Congress government waited-because the demolition work must become a fact so that it would use it to garner votes. Why then did it not continue waiting for the State to One gets the impression that act-why at 11am the Cabinet was Justice Liberhan was watching called. This reminds one of the through a telescope and this after Congress sponsored genocide 17 years and thus able to describe when Indira Gandhi was assassithe military like precision of the nated. The Centre waited for three arrangements. If this is so then days for the killing and the raping bulldozers would have been used to wrought the maximum revenge to demolish the structure-not just when the big tree fell-allowing the hand pickaxes. One must consmall plants around to die and gratulate Justice Liberhan for his wither. very imaginative mind. He has substantiated this by pointing to the If Babri Masjid is a mode of assault on the disputed national structure the structure as well as instruments and material. What was televised and Centre is responsible to safeguarding it. The Kar newspapers pictures depicted were a few youth trying hard to Sevaks did not fall from scale the walls and with pickaxes the heavens right into trying hard to break the domes. Had the instruments and tools been Ayodhya. The so called sharp and appropriate and worthy instruments and tools for demolition task and that with were not hidden in their military precision then the whole pockets and the ‘military structure would have fallen. One must remember that we are talking like precision’ movements could not have of on old decrepit structure. Next Justice Liberhan has absolved Narashima Rao. The late PM was waiting for a report from the State government which never came. Does it mean that no matter what happens unless the State government makes a request the Centre would not act? This is a rather dangerous proposition. The Centre can intervene when it sees activities of destruction with ‘military precision’ on-when it sees that the State government is

back on Justice Liberhan’s clairvoyance gift and scan the earlier period regarding Babri Masjid. Rajiv Gandhi was determined to bring Ram Rajya and hence ordered his supporters to break the lock of the closed structure. This was not only contempt of court but also initiated a whole sequence of religiouspolitical nexus leading to vote bank politics.

So Rajiv Gandhi must be indicted for the role he played which led to the demolition of the one and a half domes of the Babri Masjid. Tell us Justice Liberhan why you overlooked this important input? Why do failed the notice of the all join to conspire against this nation and Central Intelligence its people? Should comAgencies. missions Reports become So the whole unfortu- the tools for the Connate episode has the gress to continue to hidden HAND towards divide and disintegrate its hidden motive. The this nation? Congress needs to be indicted first. Then we Dr Mrs Hilda Raja, need to recall and fall

Dhanu Sankramana/December/ 18

Vadodara

WENDY DONIGER IS A SYNDROME

Seriously Sandeep

criticism of her work by (mostly) Indian scholars. As Rajiv Malhotra and others have shown on several occasions, this phenomenon owes to an imbalance in the academic narrative and is fundamentally about power.

The element of power dates back to the founding days where entire departments of Indology, Sanskrit, and Oriental studies Wendy Doniger has bewere liberally funded by the work as fanatics, stowed a rather flippant interBritish colonial administration. view in Outlook India on the eve Hindutva agents, They were liberally funded of the release of her new book, right-wingers and because British imperialism The Hindus: An Alternative BJP members. This needed these Indologists to History. The title is sufficiently interpret the local customs and pompous, entirely faithful to form of branding is, laws that in turn helped them Wendy Doniger’s career as an unless I’m mistaken, shape policies to rule over the Indologist. Aditi Banerjee renatives (sic). Indologists were sponded with a comprehensive a tactic perfected by naturally obliged to keep their rejoinder that yet again demonmasters happy. From the time of the Communists: strated Wendy’s credentials as William Jones, who is justifiably recall Lenin’s faan honest scholar of Indology. called the father of (modern) Aditi’s almost line-by-line mous technique of Indology right up to the likes of dissection of the interview Doniger and Michael “sticking the convict Wendy makes a good, although old Witzel, the research, narrative, observation: a scholarly work badge” on his oppo- and interpretation was, should stand or fall on its own unsurprisingly, colonial in both nents. Of course, I merit, and using victimhood colour and flavour–Eurocentric, both as a means to deflect valid don’t imply that if you will. It was not so much criticism as well as to artificially from a spirit of free and objective Doniger is a Cominflate the value of scholarship inquiry that research in Indology is in poor taste. However, munist but the tactic progressed but more to meet Wendy Doniger or her scholarpolitical and missionary ends. is eerily familiar. ship is not quite the problem. It This trend continues today is a syndrome of which she is Indology was flawed from where new scholarly papers and the contemporary, and loudest the start books are written with an exrepresentative. press intent to “reinterpret” or Wendy Doniger’s credentials provide an “alternative interpreare pretty hoary–with numerous But it is truly tation” of Indian mythology, the seminars and papers and books Vedas, Puranas, symbolism, amazing how and publications in scholarly sages, Gods, and Goddesses. Doniger manages to journals to her credit. As an expert and scholar, she It is therefore no coincibrand even serious Indology has peer-reviewed other schol- dence–or any sinister cabal at and erudite scholarly work but has consistently work–that almost all of these scholarly works meet with such ars who criticize her shown intolerance towards Dhanu Sankramana/December/ 19

Jyotisha: astrology and astronomy, dealing particularly with the auspicious days for performing sacrifices. Kalpa: ritual intense criticism by not just scholars but by practicing Hindus.

The answer to that is found in Aurobindo’s caution: in his time, he said that these [scholars] lacked the background necessary to properly read this largely spiritual literature [Vedas]. Aurobindo spoke on the authority of the native Indian tradition, which prescribes the prerequisites to understand and interpret these texts. In general, anybody who wants to write any commentary or similar work, especially on the Vedas should at the minimum know these Vedangas (literally, the limbs of the Vedas) apart from knowing the Vedas themselves: Shiksha : phonetics and phonology (sandhi) Chandas : meter Vyakarana: grammar Nirukta: etymology

Every single work that is considered as authoritative today by Hindus stem from this tradition–from the three major schools and other work by later scholars demonstrate adherence to these prerequisites. Works by scholars in Britishruled India like Ananda Coomaraswamy, M.Hiriyanna, P.V. Kane, and Ramana Maharshi (who largely spoke through silence and in the oral tradition) contain the same strand of fidelity to this tradition. These prerequisites is also known in general as Adhikari bheda, which simply means that a student should first successfully complete all the previous courses before attempting to sit for an Engineering exam.

and bird songs for various occasions. Then it was also found that bird sing – believe it or not – just for pleasure. So Staal extends the theory to say that, similar to skiing, dancing and music, mantras and rituals too are done for pleasure. Between Staal’s athirathram in 1975 and Wood’s in 2006, one was held in 1990 near Thrissur which I attended for a day. This athirathram, which was extensively covered in Malayalam newspapers, was highly respectful and the words I heard were not “playful” or “pleasurable.” I can understand singing for pleasure, but am yet to meet a priest who said, “it’s a weekend and raining outside, let’s do a ganapati homam for pleasure.” [Ed: A highly recommended reading]

Besides, there’s an entire cultural, philosophical, and spiritual heritage that cannot be understood merely in theory and bookish learning–it requires living the tradition. Even their This lack of knowledge of knowledge of Sanskrit is susthese prerequisites is a highly pect–for someone who holds notable feature of Western Indology. Their claim of scholar- sufficiently intimidating titles ship and/or expertise in Indology such as Mircea Eliade Distinguished Professor of the History rests almost wholly on their of Religions, it is rather shameknowledge of Sanskrit. But as we’ve seen above, mere knowl- ful to commit such blunders: edge of the language of Sanskrit According to Doniger, the isn’t enough. It sometimes leads concept of a “sex-addict” is to rather laughable results: introduced into the Valmiki Ramayana by Lakshmana Having established this similarity between bird song and calling Dasaratha kama-sakta, mantra, the theory then takes off which she defines as “hopewith a life of its own. There are lessly attached to lust.” vedic rituals for making rain and It is not clear where Doniger curing illness and similarly birds picks up the term ‘kama-sakta‘sing for building nests or attractthe term does not appear upon a ing females; there are rituals

Dhanu Sankramana/December/ 20

search of the text of the Valmiki Ramayana as given in the Titus online database, which is based on the following version of the text: G.H. Bhatt e.a., The Valmiki Ramayana, (Baroda 19601975), prepared by Muneo Tokunaga, March 12, 1993 (adaptations by John D. Smith, Cambridge, 1995.)…I will give the benefit of the doubt to Doniger and assume that the term kama-sakta has been used by Lakshmana to describe Dasaratha in the ValmikiRamayana. That in and of itself does not imply that Dasaratha was “hopelessly addicted to lust.” Kama-sakta simply means an attachment (sakta) to desire (kama). Kamadoes not itself necessarily refer to sexual desire, or even erotic or romantic desire. Dasaratha’s reluctance to allow Rama to serve as guard over Vishwamitra’s yajna, for example, or Lakshmana’s unwillingness to be parted from Rama, could equally be characterized as kama-sakta. To assume it to mean “attachment to lust” is another in a pattern of Doniger’s ex-cathedra translations in variance with traditional Sanskrit nirukta (etymology) for which she has been repudiated before.

Vaikhanasa Agamas! She makes a superfluous reference to the fact that the Kama Sutra does not discuss temple worship-one wonders why the Kama Sutra would be a relevant reference for discussion of temple construction… Contribution of Western Indology Whatever the faults of Max Mueller and similar folks, they couldn’t be accused of this kind of shoddy, unreasonable, and distorted scholarship. Continuing the observation on Sanskrit, it is amazing that most of these Western Indologists/Sanskrit experts and scholars have never written anything in Sanskrit despite their praises for the language’s beauty, structure, and mathematical precision. We’re talking a period of roughly 100 years at the least. On the contrary, a single generation of English education produced an enormous body of original English prose, poetry, scholarly work, and other non-fiction work entirely written by Indians in an astonishingly short period. The same explanation holds true for this dichotomy: politics and balance of power. At least Max Mueller honestly admitted his lack of command over Sanskrit.

[Aside: For a more detailed treatment of her Sanskrit knowlI am surprised at your familedge, this is a good place to iarity with Sanskrit. We [Europehead to.] ans] have to read but never to Which is also what propels write Sanskrit. To you it seems them to look for things in the as easy as English or Latin to most unlikely places. For inus… We can admire all the stance, Doniger looks for infor- more because we cannot rival, mation about temple architecand I certainly was filled with ture/temple-building in the Kama admiration when I read but a few Sutra instead of the vast corpus pages of your Sundara Charita. of the Pancharatra and

[Max Mueller's letter to a Nepalese scholar and Sanskrit poet, Pandit Chavilal; undated but written probably around 1900.]

In terms of overall contribution, Western Indology has pathetic little to show when compared to Indian Indologists and scholars who not only studied the methodology but applied it effectively and accomplished far more. Even in a work like the Arthashastra, Shyama Sastri draws from an astonishing diversity of sources in his lengthy preface. In reality, today’s Western Indology is facing terminal, and irreversible decline.

Dhanu Sankramana/December/ 21

In the last three years, the Sanskrit Department at Cambridge University and the Berlin Institute of Indology, two of the oldest and prestigious Indology centers in the West have closed down. Other universities in Europe and the US share this fate: the Catholic University of Louvain in Belgium, once a respected leader in Oriental studies has cut down its Indology programs; the Sanskrit Department at Harvard, one of the oldest in the US is trimming its Sanskrit programs and has stopped its Summer program of teaching Sanskrit to foreign students. This partly explains why scholars like Wendy Doniger and Witzel are increasingly becoming aggressive. Majority of these universities no longer enjoy colonial funding, and the scholarship they produce is rarely seen outside their own academic circles. Closing notes In closing, Wendy Doniger is a classic illustration of what happens when somebody is confronted with a superior culture. The initial state of dumbfoundedness gives way to irrational hatred towards the thing that such a mind cannot comprehend. This was pretty much the reaction of Islam when it first set foot in India. Her incredible felicity for detecting only sex in everything that India has produced should qualify as the scholarly equivalent of the wonders of the world. Her refusal to engage her critics in debate and to tar them as fanatics and fundamentalists is the other side of the same coin.

Wendy Donger has been quite successful in creating an aura of trendiness around her books in the fashionable circles in urban India. Needless, secular magazines like Outlook lap her up with some glee because she has shown to be quite adept in the Art of Indian Secularism. The fact that in an epic work of 24000 verses, which has stood the test of time, the only worthwhile thing she found was Rama and Sita’s sex life (as she imagines it) speaks eloquently about her own Alternate History.

Dhanu Sankramana/December/ 22

SRI SRI ON CORRUPTION It is everywhere; even in India there is corruption. Corruption begins when the sense of belongingness ends. If you draw a circle of belongingness around you corruption only begins after that. Politicians need to be more spiritual. By spiritual I mean, have a sense of belongingness towards people. Mahatma Gandhi is an example of this, in this century. He was a spiritual person and at the same time he was a politician too. He had the sense of sacrifice. ‘I want nothing for myself but I want it for my people’. That spirit is going down somewhere along the line. That is why there is corruption and all sorts of unethical businesses have sprung up. We need to inculcate those value systems again, both in politics and in business. Trust is the backbone of business. From what we’ve seen in last 10 months, it took 10 years for

communism to collapse, it took less than 10 months for capitalism to collapse, and the reason is that we have ignored our value system and ethics in business. We have ignored the

human values of caring and sharing, of dedication and devotion. If we can somehow reinculcate these values in our youth, I tell you the youth are ready for it. They want this because they have seen the older generation just running. It is like running on the treadmill that is going nowhere.

Dhanu Sankramana/December/ 23

Many BJP and RSS leaders took objection to the naming of senior leaders including Mr L K Advani, Dr M M Joshi and Mr Seshadri in the report. They said there were audio and video recordings which clearly showed these three leaders appealing to the crowd against taking the law into their hands at Ayodhya on the fateful day. They wanted to know how the commission could say that the Sangh leaders had no “mind” to stop the crowd from going on a rampage that day. They also expressed shock at the commission naming Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee in its report, especially when Justice Liberhan himself had said there was no need to summon the BJP leader. Liberhan’s silence on Rao’s role strange: CPM The CPI-M has expressed surprise that the Liberhan Commission has “strangely” condoned the role of the P V Narasimha

LIBREHAN BENEFITS BJP ;Dipankar Chakraborty NEW DELHI, 26 NOV: The BJP is likely to reap political dividends out of “many a lacunae” in the Liberhan Commission’s findings into the 6 December 1992 demolition of Babari mosque in Ayodhya, feels a large section of the RSS and BJP leadership. “Indeed the report would benefit the BJP and cement the Sangh Parivar” a senior BJP MP told The Statesman. It is the ruling Congress party, which is in the dock now that the report had been tabled in the House, he said. The Congress has annoyed Muslims by coming out with “koora (rubbish)” after 17 years, with the action taken report not naming anybody, he added. A senior Sangh Parivar functionary termed the report “prejudiced” and said that it had many lapses that raised serious doubts about the working of the commis-

sion and the conclusions it arrived at. He said if the commission thought finding out if Rama was indeed born at the disputed site in Ayodhya did not fall in its jurisdiction then how had it so conclusively held the RSS-BJP responsible for the demolition. Within the Sangh Parivar, the findings of the report have raised eyebrows about the modus operandi for fixing the criminal culpability of BJP and RSS leaders. They said there were no attempts at naming the conspirators and also who brought the heavy hammers and weapons to demolish the mosque. They alleged that the Commission only made its judgment based on a superfluous observation of facts which were already in the public domain. There was nothing new as such in the commission’s report, they said.

Dhanu Sankramana/December/ 24

Rao-led Central government in the Babari mosque’s demolition. In an editorial in the forthcoming issue of its official organ~ People’s Democracy ~ the party said that “this runs completely contrary to known facts of that period. The entire secular political line up in the country had backed the Central government and called for firm action in defence of secularism”. In fact, the write-up “Punish the guilty” said, the National Integration Council meeting a few days before the demolition, boycotted by the BJP and AIADMK had unanimously adopted a resolution moved by the late CPI-M general secretary Harkishan Singh Surjeet, asking the Rao government to take all measures necessary to protect the Babari Masjid. Despite all this support, the government did not act effectively.

THOUGHTS ON HINDU FESTIVALS This thought provoking article is an excerpt from the editorial of Vedanta Kesari published in October 2007 – which asks people to look beyond mere celebrations during Hindu festivals. Festivals need not be celebrated with a great lot of pomp and show. One can also observe them with due solemnity and religious fervor. One can celebrate a festival in a sattvika manner rather than getting lost in a rajasic or tamasic display of one’s wealth or emotions. Sattva is the element of purity and calmness. If a person wishes to celebrate a festival in a spirit of sattva, it means he does not want to indulge in meaningless show-off and waste of one’s energies and resources. Instead of just hosting a social gathering, he could then think of making better use of his resources.

many years and then stopped it. A friend asked him, “Why don’t you perform the Durga Puja any more?” “Brother,” replied the man, “my teeth are all gone. I have lost the power to chew goat meat.” Indeed, many of our religious observations, when shorn of their original spirit, become a sham, a

case of making offerings as long as one can ‘chew the goat meat.’ Or else how do we explain the mean or low display of one’s emotions in the name of festivals? Source: Excerpt from the editorial of Vedanta Kesari of Ramakrishna Mission published in October 2007

He could extend help to the needy (feeding the poor or gifting financial help) and make use of time in meditating on God and thinking of spiritual matters. Or make use of this opportunity to relax and brush up one’s spiritual roots. Behind many of our festivities lie our weakness and desires. Sri Ramakrishna used to humorously say: A man used to celebrate the worship of Durga with the sacrifice of goats and with other ceremonies. He continued the worship Dhanu Sankramana/December/ 25

HINDUISM AND BIG-BANG THEORY There are numerous theories regarding the origin of universe but the Big Bang model is the broadly accepted theory. But thousands of years before scientists came up with Big Bang model, did the sages of Upanishads knew about the cosmos wake up. In his long introductory essay in the book ‘The Big Bang and the Bhagavad Gita,’ R.A.S. Koacha suggests that the early saints of modern day Hinduism knew about this cosmic event through mystic insight. Big Bang Theory postulates that 12 to 14 billion years ago, the portion of the universe we can see today was only a few millimeters across. It has since

expanded from this hot dense state into the vast and much cooler cosmos we currently inhabit. (NASA)

haps also called ‘Shabda Brahman’ in the scriptures as Brahman manifests itself as a ‘Sphota’ or explosion.

Some of the conclusions from the book – ‘The Big Bang and the Bhagavad Gita,’ R.A.S. Koacha

But Brahman is before and after Big Bang

However, Brahman being the one and only Reality, represents Is Brahman an oblique everything, including event the reference of Big Bang? state of singularity before the Big Bang, as well as the whole The very name ‘Brahman’ representing the Ultimate Reality manifested universe after it. As the point of singularity, Brahman in Hindu religion appears to be nothing but an implicit reference is the impersonal absolute of to the ‘Big Bang’ itself. The word pure timeless existence. ‘Brahman’ is derived from the Big Bang is represented Sanskrit root ‘brh’ which means by Symbol OM to ‘grow big’ without limit and As all creation emerges from can be an oblique reference to Brahman with the Big Bang, its an explosion. Hence it is per-

Dhanu Sankramana/December/ 26

symbol is the single syllable ‘OM’ (Shabda Brahman). The ‘OM’ is the only symbol used as a ‘Mantra’ (Invocation) by the seers of the Upanishads in meditation to attain oneness with the cosmos. It also represents the waking, dream and deep-sleep states of all living beings. Hence it is the appropriate symbol of Brahman in its transcendent as well as immanent aspects. Representing the primal sound of creation the ‘AUM’ symbolizes the manifesting sound (or vibration) of the ‘Big Bang’ which astronomers have detected as the residual cosmic emanation from that explosion. Hindu Samkhya System Negates Creation Out of Nothing In the Hindu Samkhya System we have the earliest refutation of the creation out of nothing (ex nihilo), and the first fullfledged theory of creation. According to Samkhya the effect preexists in the cause. There is nothing like a new creation but only a manifestation of what was already present in the cause in a potential form. Thus Prakriti or material nature is the primordial matrix or plenum out of which all material as well as psychic phenomena evolve. Mind and matter are but manifestations of the same principle. Prakriti is the homogenous universal field (Quantum field?) at first in a state of equilibrium, its three constituents the illuminating (Sattvic), activating (Rajasic) and restricting (Tamasic) being in a balanced state. When this balance is disturbed by the preponderance of one or the

other of the constituents (Gunas) creation becomes inevitable.

explosion (Sphota) resulting in the sound (Nada) of creation (OM). (Sound is used in the scriptures for all kinds of vibraThe evolution of the manifold tions.) is succeeded by its involution and reabsorption back into the unitary state, only to be reemitted after a period of potentiality. These processes are governed entirely by the tension between the forces among themselves and no extraneous agency is necessary to account for them.

All creation (Kala) proceeds from this sound.

The concepts of Narayana, Lila, Sankalpa are attempts by Upanishad Seers to simplify the complex Bing Bang Theory

Thus the doctrine of Nada, Bindu, and Kala is but an implied reference to the Big Bang theory of creation.

The Upanishads are more cryptical in their description of creation. According to them the (Source: Excerpts from The Big ONE (Brahman) wished to be Bang and the Bhagavad Gita by R.A.S. many and creation is only an Kocha Published by Bharatiya Vidya expression of its WILL Bhavan, Mumbai) (Sankalpa). Sometimes creation is depicted as divine play (LILA) of the Supreme Being. But any game will lose its meaning when the omniscient player knows all, from beginning to end. The scripture state that the universe originated from Narayana; Narayana is too difficult to interpret even in Sanskrit. He is very the Big Bang personified. (Jagat Narayanodbhavam) The Bindu (dot) in Shaivism is the Few Millimeter Long Primordial Seed The Kashmiri cult of Shaivism is more explicit in its account of creation. The whole universe was at first concentrated at one point or dot (Bindu). It is the Primordial Seed of creation. After a period of germination it undergoes an Dhanu Sankramana/December/ 27

PEEPING INTO TANTRIC SEX ABHILASH www.hindu-blog.com

cosmic dance – don’t mistake it for real dance. They gaze at each other and keep the eyes open in foreplay and forget about their surroundings. Several different types of touch are practiced in Tantric sex. There are several rituals, movements, touches and exercises in Tantric sex but it should not be practiced without the help of a knowledgeable person. Talk about Tantra and the first thing that come to the mind are sex, magic and witchcraft. Is this the real Tantra? Take a look at Google search. The first page on Google search on ‘Tantra’ is dominated by the word ‘sex.’ But Tantra has more to it than mere sex. Since modern world associates Tantra with sex, I took a peep into Tantric sexual literature. Several books and articles are available on Tantra and most of them just arouse sexual curiosity. Some confuses the reader. But some western scholars have done detailed study on the subject. Here I am sharing some of my findings: It is hard to give a particular period to Tantrism. Most scholars believe it is preVedic.Shiva and Shakti are main gods in Tantrism. They are a symbol and represent the male

and female. Some Tantric texts are conversations between Shiva and Shakti. It has close relation to the modern Advaita philosophy of Shankarachraya, the oneness of all being. So, Tantrism believes that the ‘first life energy’ is present in all of us and we can invoke it in our activities in daily life including sex. Foreplay is of great importance in Tantric Sex. But Orgasm is given little importance. The period just before orgasm is of utmost importance. Tantric sex tries to maintain that particular effect for a long time – in fact for hours. This is often misunderstood as prolonged orgasm. The ardhanarishwara, halfman or half-woman, concept is a part of Tantrism. Touch, kissing, breathe all are used to create the energy by the partners. The partners unknowingly join in the

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Tantrism should not be overlooked just because it talks about sex and contains elements of animism. Tantrism believes that truth can be only experienced through direct realization. One might have read and studied about sex but all this are secondary to the real sexual experience. Real sexual union is not forced; it is not a routine; but a true cosmic dance of creation.

Dating the era of Lord Ram Lord Ram was born on the noon of January10 in the year 5114 BC. In Hindu calendar, it was the ninth day of Shukla Paksha in Chaitra month. Stunned! Well, this exact date of the birthday of Lord Rama is found in the book ‘Dating the Era of Lord Ram’ by Shri Pushkar Bhatnagar. The exact date was obtained by entering the planetary configuration at the time of the birth of Lord Ram as mentioned in the Valmiki Ramayana in Planetarium Software. Interestingly, for thousands of years Hindus have been celebrating Ram Navmi, the birthday of Lord Ram, exactly on the same time and date. In the original Sanskrit Ramayana written by Sage Valmiki, while mentioning about the birth of Lord Ram, Valmiki had mentioned the astronomical details of the precise moment. Valmiki himself was present in the palace of Dasaratha and he mentions it thus in Bala Kanda of Ramayana. On completion of the ritual six seasons have passed by and then in the twelfth month, on the ninth day of chaitra month when the presiding deity of ruling star of the day is Aditi, where the ruling star of day is punarvasu, the asterism is in the ascendant, and when five of the nine planets viz., Sun, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, and Venus are at their highest position, when Jupiter with Moon is ascendant in Cancer, and when day is advancing, then Queen Kausalya gave birth to a son with all the divine attributes like lotus-red eyes, lengthy arms, roseate lips, voice like drumbeat, and who took birth to delight the

Ikshwaku dynasty, who is adored by all the worlds, and who is the greatly blessed epitome of Vishnu, namely Rama. [1-18-8, 9, 10, 11] When this data was entered in the Planetarium software, the day was January 10, 5114 BC. But how could Chaitra Shukla Navami occur in January? We celebrate Ram Navami in March or April. The answer to this was found in an article in Organizer. There is an astronomical phenomenon called ‘precision’ of the sun as also of the equinoxes. According to the latter, the star which is now taken to be the Pole Star (Dhruv Tara), would yield the place to the Star Abhijit (Vega, alpha Lyrae), 14,000 years from now. So when the lunar month of Chaitra occurred seven thousand years ago in the month of January, 7000 years later, it occurs in the month of (generally) April. Further, Valmiki had mentioned about other planetary configuration. One such was the planetary configuration when King Dashratha decided to make Lord Ram the king of Ayodhya. According to the book, such a planetary configuration was prevailing on January 5, 5089 BC. Lord Ram was then 25 years old and there are indications in the Ramayana that Lord Ram left Ayodhya when he was 25. The solar eclipse mentioned in the Ramayana work out precisely to the Ramayana period. From an article written in 2003 in the Tribune by Saroj Bala on the book ‘Dating the Era of Lord Ram’ Valmiki Ramayana refers to the solar eclipse at the time of

war with Khardushan in latter half of 13th year of Shri Ram’s living in forests. Valmiki has also mentioned that it was Amavasya that day and planet Mars was in the middle. When this data was entered, the computer software indicated that there was a solar eclipse on October 7, 5077 BC (Amavasya day) which could be seen from Panchvati. On that date, the planetary configuration was the same as has been described by Valmiki i.e. Mars was in the middle, on one side were Venus and Mercury and on the other side were Sun and Saturn. On the basis of planetary configurations described in various other chapters, the date on which Ravana was killed works out to December 4, 5076 BC. Shri Ram completed 14 years of exile on January 2, 5075 BC. That day was also Navami of Shukla Paksha in Chaitra month. Thus, Shri Ram had come back to Ayodhya when he was 39 years old (5114-5075). To understand the book ‘Dating the Era of Lord Ram’ one needs to have some elementary knowledge of astronomy. When we try to prove the birth of Hindu icons, it must be understood that these Hindu icons rarely bothered about birth and death. Through Sanatana Dharma they teach us to rise above birth and death. It believes that life is a continuity. And therefore it scoffs at the debates like ‘No Ram’ and ‘Yes Ram lived.’

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TOO EASY A CONCLUSION Even the Liberhan report cites conspiracy, an Indian favourite. says Swapan Dasgupta lessons in undergraduate civics. In the normal course, some 17 years of single-minded perusal of a subject — backed by an army of researchers and support staff and privileged access to government records and all the relevant individuals — should have resulted in a work that is magisterial, rigorous, incisive and almost definitive. It is a commentary on Manmohan Singh Liberhan that all the privileges and perks of the government of India and an astonishingly flexible deadline couldn’t inspire him to produce a report on the “sequence and events leading to and all the facts and circumstances relating to the occurrence at the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid complex at Ayodhya on December 6, 1992” that would have been cherished for its fairness and legal erudition. Instead, the country has been, first, “leaked”, and subsequently presented with, a report that may well serve as a model for undistinguished prose, empirical inadequacies and tendentious generalizations.

The extent to which the premises of one inquiry are reproduced in another is quite remarkable. In the past two decades or so, there have been three inquiry reports, all three divulged to the media before being presented to Parliament, that have pursued a common thread: conspiracy.

To those interested in governance, the Liberhan Commission has thrown up a multitude of issues. The more abstruse of these centre on the wisdom of charging the Rs 8 crore or so spent by the commission on salaries (not including expenses) to the national rural employment guarantee scheme. At a more sublime level, there are concerns over the unrestricted licence granted to State-appointed commissions of inquiry to reflect on life in general. Since one inquiry report often becomes a template for another, there may be some virtue in imposing a set of guidelines to prevent the rigorous exploration of a specific subject from being embellished by

Tamil Eelam death squad in 1991, had its interim report leaked to the media in 1997. Relying quite heavily on Intelligence Bureau inputs, the 5,280page report, comprising eight volumes of interim findings, also smelt an elaborate conspiracy that stretched from the LTTEheld Northern Sri Lanka to Tamil Nadu. M.C. Jain held the then

The Thakkar Commission report on the assassination of Indira Gandhi, presented to the government in February 1986, but suppressed till it was leaked A cabinet under pressure to respond speedily to contain the to the media in March 1989, damage arising from a breach of parliamentary privilege met recommended that the “Central hurriedly for 30 minutes to consider the report. India’s political government should seriously guardians considered a clutch of recommendations, including consider the question of approprofundities such as “It is inherently unfair, immoral and legally priate agencies to investigate the dubious to hold democracy hostage to religious and casteist black- matter as regards the involvemail”, and “As members of a single union, the State Governments ment of R.K. Dhawan, the then must… trust the union government and expect a reciprocal trust as special assistant to the former well”. The monosyllabic response of the government’s action taken prime minister”. To C.K. Thakkar, report to most of the insights of the commission was: “Agreed.” Indira Gandhi’s death at the Displaying a sense of humour that is otherwise not very evident, hands of her Sikh bodyguards the report’s recommendations include the observation that: “In the seemed a consequence of a palace conspiracy. first half of their career, most officers fall prey to extraneous influence for securing transfers and postings or other benefits for In a similar vein, the Jain themselves. In the latter half, the emphasis is equally on finding out Commission of inquiry — which and securing a roosting ground for their post-retirement period.” To was given 12 extensions — into this unexpected display of candidness, an astonished government the death of Rajiv Gandhi at the could only respond: “Noted.” hands of a Liberation Tigers of

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Tamil Nadu chief minister, M. Karunanidhi, and his Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam responsible for abetting Rajiv’s murderers. It also went on to blame the former prime ministers, V.P. Singh and Chandra Shekhar, for being indifferent to the threats to Rajiv’s life. The Congress responded angrily to the report, demanded the dropping of all DMK ministers from the Union council of ministers and subsequently withdrew support to the I.K. Gujral-led United Front government. This week, and perhaps because it, too, included suggestions of an elaborate conspiracy that extended from the top to the lowest rung of the sangh parivar, the Liberhan Commission was leaked to the media. Unfortunately for those who fed the media, there are as yet no indications that the political fallout of Liberhan’s experiments with truth will have as devastating a consequence as the reports of Thakkar and Jain — perhaps a case of diminishing returns from conspiracies. A feature of the Liberhan report is its post-facto rationalization of events that at that time seemed to be discordant. That there was a loose coordination between the various arms of what has come to be known as the sangh parivar isn’t in any serious doubt. The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the Bharatiya Janata Party, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and, for that matter, sundry sadhus and sants were, after all, working for a common cause: the construction of a grand Ram temple at the site of the erstwhile Babri Masjid. Yet there were important differ-

ences. The BJP, for example, had to combine its commitment to the temple with the imperatives of running a state government and respecting the rule of law. Just three months prior to the demolition, the state government run by Kalyan Singh was put into an awkward position by obstinate sants and sadhus (unconnected to the RSS) who refused to obey a Supreme Court directive to desist from constructing a ceremonial gate and a podium at a distance from the disputed shrine. The BJP believed the sadhus were being obstinate and it took a lot of persuasive skill to persuade the VHP to observe a short truce for negotiations with the Centre. Predictably, these yielded nothing and it is in the ensuing frustration and anger of the VHP and the sants that we can glean important clues relating to the demolition. Curiously, most of the holy men who added their congregational might to the movement have not been censured. This doesn’t exonerate the BJP of its responsibility for reneging on an assurance to the Supreme Court. At the same time, it doesn’t detract from the fact that L.K. Advani, Vijaya Raje Scindia and even Kalyan Singh were completely taken aback by the unexpected turn of events. As an eyewitness to the demolition, I can state with certainty that until about 12.30 pm, when a former editor of an RSS publication (and a virulent Advani critic) rushed to the podium and asked for the idols to be removed, the BJP leadership was unaware that the Babri structure was in danger of imminent collapse.

a sweeping reconstruction, but it does suggest that the perception of a grand conspiracy involving the BJP, VHP, RSS and the assortment of highly individualistic sadhus may be somewhat facile. There were some people who organized a small band of activists with pickaxes and ropes. They rightly calculated that the actions of the vanguard would have an unstoppable bandwagon effect. It was the job of Liberhan to sift through the evidence and present a picture of the events as they happened. Instead, he fell back on the Indian penchant for grand conspiracies that can’t be corroborated with empirical evidence.

In India, conspiracy is a rhetorical flourish and the commissions of inquiry mirror this casual attitude to a serious charge.

These may be trivial details in Dhanu Sankramana/December/ 31

Islamic Reformist Mansour Al-Hadj

IN MY YOUTH, I WAS TAUGHT TO LOVE DEATH In an article in the liberal emagazine Aafaq (www.aafaqmagazine.com ), reformist writer Mansour Al-Hadj, one of the magazine's senior reporters, described the Islamist education he received as a youth in Saudi Arabia, which stressed the culture of death and the glorification of martyrs. The same messages, he said, were conveyed by the Islamist propaganda to which he was exposed as a university student in Sudan. Following are excerpts from his article: [1]

did not learn to love life. On the contrary, I learned to love death as a martyr for the sake of Allah. I was taught that love of life is a characteristic of the hypocrites [i.e. insincere Muslims], and that the ones who protect their lives most keenly are the infidels, as stated in the Koran. I also learned that one who does not participate in Jihad or prepare himself for Jihad dies a hypocrite, as stated in the hadith.

purify the corpse, and a martyr's death in battle is itself an act of purification.

"Sheikh Saleh bin Fawzan AlFawzan, member of the [Saudi] Fatwa Committee and the Supreme Judiciary Council, has said: 'A shahid who dies in a battle with the infidels to promote the word of Allah should not be washed, or wrapped in any shroud other than the clothes in which was killed, because the blood that covers him is a sign of his martyrdom, and should remain on his body and not be "I learned that, had Allah thought this world worth as much removed by washing. When he arises on the Day of Resurrecas the wing of a mosquito, [He] tion, the blood dripping [from his "Growing Up in Saudi Arabia, I would not have permitted the body] will have the fragrance of Did Not Learn to Love Life... [But] infidels to drink even a sip of musk. This blood is the result of to Love Death as a Martyr for the water in it, as stated in the Sake of Allah" hadith. And I was taught that this obedience to Allah, and it must "After the suicide bombings in world, which will [one day] cease stay on [his body] because it is [a sign of] Allah's grace. [For the two hotels in the Indonesian to exist, is a prison for the besame reason,] the prayer [for the capital of Jakarta, a friend of mine liever, who wishes to escape it, dead] must not be said over him, said to me: 'I think something's and a paradise for the infidel, wrong with the world. Why would who wishes to enjoy all that is in because Allah has honored him with martyrdom, and this [immedia person blow himself up when it. ately] puts him on an exalted love of life is a natural human level, for Allah has said that the instinct?' I answered: 'Love of life "I learned about the exalted is a natural instinct, but love of rank that Allah bestows upon the martyrs are [not dead, but are] "alive [and] are provided sustedeath for the sake of Allah is a martyr, [a rank so exalted] that nance from their Lord [Koran, creed [in Islam], by which the his body is not washed [after 3:169]."" believer brings himself close to death] and you do not say the "[In Saudi Arabia], we were the Creator of Life. prayer [for the dead] over him "Growing up in Saudi Arabia, I for the purpose of washing is to also taught that every martyr has Dhanu Sankramana/December/ 32

six privileges. [First of all], from the very first blow, he is absolved and can see his place in Paradise. [Second,] he is spared the torments of the grave. [Third], he is spared the great fear [of Judgment Day]. [Fourth], the crown of honor is placed on his head, each of the precious stones in it worth more than this entire world. [Fifth], he marries 72 wives from among the Virgins of Paradise. [And sixth], he can intercede on behalf of 70 of his relatives, [ensuring that they join him in Paradise after their death]. "When I was young, I enjoyed listening to Islamic hymns, like the rest of my generation, because in school and in Koran school they taught us that listening to secular songs is forbidden, and that those who listen to them and do not repent will be punished by Allah by

having [molten] lead poured into their ears. This [threat] was accompanied by [all sorts of other] stories told by the preachers and clerics. "[For example], they frightened us with a story about a young man who was listening to secular songs [on the radio] while driving his car at an insane speed. [The car] flipped over, and as he was dying, and the paramedics [arrived and] prompted him to say the shahada, but instead of repeating the shahada he repeated the words of the song [he had been listening to]. This, we learned, was proof of the unfortunate end [he would suffer] for his sin of loving music." The Hymns We Learned Exalted the Martyrs and Urged Muslim Mothers to Welcome the Death of Their Sons

"Most Islamic hymns speak of jihad for the sake of Allah, of the Muslims' suffering throughout the world, and of the high rank that Allah bestows upon the martyr. These are hymns full of militant zeal, which stir up the emotions and the fervor of the youth, and arouse their desire to join the ranks of jihad to defend Islam and raise its banner... [Some hymns] address the mothers, urging them to accept the death of their children and take pride in their death as martyrs for the sake of Allah. "Here the text of one of these hymns: 'Weep not and regret not, o mother of the shahid. Today your sons [have joined] the generation of anticipated victory. Tell everyone: My son gave up his life for the Lord. My son was a proud man, and for him death is

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life. Lucky is the heavenly bride who shall receive such a bridegroom, whose fragrance spreads all around him. We shall make you smile again, o mother of the shahid. O mother, do not weep. I am the ransom of Islam, and today my faith has called me. Refraining [from waging jihad] is forbidden. You can ask me about the gardens of Paradise, but this world is worthless rubble. We shall make you smile again, o mother of the shahid. We are bound by a covenant with Allah that we shall never accept humiliation. We come as the army of truth. We protect the lands of Islam. Allah is protecting us, so we do not fear the tyrants. We shall make you smile again, o mother of the shahid.' "I grew up hating life. The closer I felt to Allah, and the more my love for Allah grew, the more I hated life and despised [the sinners] - those who fight Allah and his Prophet by acts of disobedience, and those who do not worship Allah in the right way, which [1] naturally [believed] was the Sunni way.

"I was taught that I must hate the Sufis for the sake of Allah, because they are people who follow 'forbidden innovations.' I was taught that the Shi'ite creed is [also] corrupt because they show too much reverence for the [fourth Caliph], the Imam Ali Ibn Abu Talib, and revile the Companions of the Prophet. "As for hating the infidels and non-Muslims, [I was told that] this is fundamental to the faith, because love for Allah and love for his enemies cannot live together in the heart of a Muslim." "Most of the Booklets in the Library of [My] KoranSchool Were... about the Jihad Fighters and the Miracles They Performed" "In my [youth], I admired two groups of jihad fighters: the Arab and Afghan fighters who were fighting the Russians [in Afghanistan], and the Sudanese fighters. [The latter] were fighting their own brethren in Sudan, yet they called it jihad and called their fallen 'martyrs.' Like everybody else in Saudi Arabia, I read

Dhanu Sankramana/December/ 34

stories about the courage of the jihad fighters in Afghanistan and about the miracles they performed - how the angels fought beside them and how their bodies did not rot [when they were killed] but gave off a fragrance of musk. "The Saudi authorities helped these jihad fighters, and [Saudi clerics issued] fatwas in their support. These stories made a great impression on us. Most of the booklets in the library of [my] Koran school were about jihad, and about the jihad fighters and the miracles they performed. I still remember how, at the end of the prayer, the mosque imams used to call [on the worshipers] to support the jihad fighters in Afghanistan. When I Was a Student in Sudan, We All Watched a Sudanese TV Series about the Life of the Jihad Fighters and Their Virtues "In late 1998 I began my university studies in Sudan. [At the time] I was deeply impressed by a [Sudanese] documentary called 'The Fields of Sacrifice,' which aired every Friday evening. All the students, who came from the various parts of the world to study Arabic and Islam, keenly followed this program, which showed the [daily] lives of the jihad fighters before, during, and after battle. [The show also included] enthusiastic speeches by their commanders, and hymns and poems recited by the fighters. "I remember scenes describing the lives of [the fallen] - men in the prime of their youth who were killed in that war. I clearly remember the voice of the narrator describing the virtues of these martyrs, their words and

deeds, and [I remember] how I longed to be in their place. That program made a great impression on the students. It was a dose of jihad propaganda at the end of every week. I don't know what became of it and of those who directed it after 2005, when the Islamists in Sudan signed peace treaty with those who had been called 'enemies of Allah,' but who now had become partners in the Sudanese government. "The Islamic regime in the Sudan used to hold 'wedding celebrations' for martyrs killed in the war, in which they celebrated the martyr's marriage to the heavenly brides. These functions were attended by government representatives, who would give the family a sum of money, and the most important part of the wedding was a speech by some high-ranking official, and [also] the singing of hymns that would fire up the people who came to offer their condolences. "The best of the Sudanese youth died victims of this Sudanese jihadist propaganda. The Islamists in Sudan exploited religion to recruit young men who were eager to die for Allah. [Sudanese] youths competed to join the jihad battalions known as 'tank killers,' seeking martyrdom and ready to blow themselves up to destroy the enemy tanks. The Sudanese politicians took pride in these fighters, saying 'the enemy has tanks but we have tank killers.'"

[1] www.aafaqmagazine.com, October 24, 2009.

A deal gone sour Brahma Chellaney The ritzy state dinner US president Barack Obama hosted in honour of prime minister Manmohan Singh at the White House could not obscure the fact that Singh's visit yielded little in substance. The elaborate pomp and ceremony also did little to change perceptions in India that it has lost ground in America's Sino-centric Asia policy. During the presidency of George W Bush, many in India had whipped themselves into rapturous frenzy over what they saw as a tectonic shift in US policy toward India. All it required to shatter their bliss (and belief) was a change of government in Washington. The lesson: Unlike India's personality-driven, sentiment-laced approach, US foreign policy is shaped by institutional processes that preclude abrupt U-turns or shifts. To be sure, Bush was Indiafriendly. But he left office without translating his thinking into concrete policy guidance to various departments to treat India as a strategic priority. In the absence of a national security directive to the powerful State Department, Pentagon and Commerce Department bureaucracies that run day-to-day aspects of India policy, the vaunted Indo-US nuclear deal has failed to deliver tangible strategic benefits, or even to promote joint defence research and development. US export controls on high technology continue to target India like before. The developments since 2008 actually hold the most-sobering lesson for Singh, who staked his political reputation to push through the nuclear deal. He peddled the deal as a transformative initiative that would help put the Indo-US relationship on a muchhigher pedestal. But more than a year after the deal came to fruition there is no sign of its transformative power. Rather, India now is concerned about its diminished role in US foreign policy. Dhanu Sankramana/December/ 35

China against any attempt to forcibly change the territorial status quo.

Despite a much-celebrated strategic partnership between the world's most-populous democracies, the US values India more as a market for its goods and services than as a collaborator on pressing strategic issues. Indeed, just as it has been balancing its relationships with India and Pakistan for long, Washington now is balancing its ties with India and China. The nuclear deal itself is turning sour. It will take a decade or so before the first imported nuclear-power reactor begins to generate electricity. The economics of generating power from imported reactors hasn't even been discussed. Costs are likely to be so high as to saddle Indian taxpayers with a major subsidy burden. Two nuclearpower plants currently under construction in Finland and France are billions of dollars over budget and years behind schedule. Despite a strong US push to bag major reactor contracts and New Delhi's action in reserving two nuclear parks exclusively for American firms, no reprocessing agreement could be clinched during Singh's visit. Key differences remain over such an agreement, which would have to pass US congressional muster. Singh went to Washington after

But more than Washington, New Delhi is to be blamed. The deal-peddlers in India allowed their wishful thinking to blind them to the strategic trends that getting his Cabinet to approve a were firmly set long before Obama came to the White nuclear-accident liability bill, which seeks to cap liability at a House. mere $537 million (Rs2,500 Take the China factor. Bush crore) and makes the Indian left office with a solid Chinastate-run operator, rather than friendly legacy, best illustrated the foreign supplier, liable for by the manner in which he compensation payment. Parliaignored the Chinese crackdown ment must seize the opportunity in Tibet and showed up at the when this bill is tabled to examBeijing Olympics. The talk of a ine in full the nuclear deal, which US-China diarchy -- a G2 -thus far has escaped legislative ruling the world had begun scrutiny in India. The bill -before Obama was elected intended to provide cover mainly to US firms, which, unlike It was also under France's Areva and Russia's Bush that the US Atomstroyexport, are in the private sector -- seeks to further renewed aid to burden Indian taxpayers, rather Pakistan on a than put the onus on the sellers of multibillion-dollar reactors. massive scale, while If anything, Singh's visit was a reminder that Obama's tilt towards China on key Asian issues and growing US reliance on and aid for Pakistan have emerged as major sticking points in the Indo-US relationship. The policy frame in which Washington is viewing India is not the larger Asian geopolitical landscape, but the southern Asian context. But even on regional matters, the US has on occasion sought to pursue approaches antithetical to India's vital interest. Also, at a time when Sino-Indian border tensions have escalated, Washington has failed to even caution

Dhanu Sankramana/December/ 36

pressuring India not to take diplomatic sanctions against Islamabad after 26/11. Clearly, the deal was oversold.

Rajeev Srinivasan on why he fears Dr Singh's State visit to Washington, DC may be disastrous In the old black-and-white Frank Capra film Mr Smith Goes to Washington an idealistic small-town man played by James Stewart is elected to the US Congress, where he is appalled by corrupt politics; but in the end his innocence wins over the blase denizens of the capital. In a sense, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's [ Images ] trip to the US in the near future is being portrayed in the same way, but the Indian is neither as idealistic nor as naive as the Jimmy Stuart character, nor is there likely to be a happy ending. US President Barack Hussein Obama [ Images ] has just returned from a tour of Asia. And exactly where did he go? China and Japan [ Images ], and also Singapore and South Korea, but not India [ Images ]. This one fact speaks volumes about the mind-share India occupies in the American establishment: India is not important. (Nor is it part of Asia according to them, but we will not digress. However we can be quite sure that a future Obama trip to India, if any, will be bracketed with one to Pakistan. Welcome to re-hyphenation.)

But if they are so smart, why do Democrats persist in kowtowing to China and pouring money into Pakistan? It must be because it is standard Democratic Party policy. Despite the illusions many Indians harbour, Democratic administrations have been nastier towards India Then there was the recent appointment of Robin Raphel to in general, notwithstanding the the Richard Holbrooke [ Images sterling counter-example of the ] team dealing with Pakistan and Republican Nixon-Kissinger duo sending the 7th Fleet to the Bay Afghanistan. Raphel is wellof Bengal in 1971 to intimidate known as one of the most India. virulent and vitriolic critics of India in the entire US DemoLiberal-left types in the West, cratic set-up. She was, until despite protestations to the August, a registered and paid contrary, are fascinated by lobbyist for Pakistan. She is totalitarians and fascists. They infamous for insisting that the are impressed by Vietnamese accession of Jammu and who defeated them, and ChiKashmir [ Images ] to India is nese who fought them to a not final, and for asserting that standstill in Korea. Pakistan is the very epitome of a On the other hand, they 'model, modern, and moderate despise a weak and moralising Muslim nation'. nation like India (some of them On top of this, rediff.com have not yet forgotten V K reported last week that Christine Krishna Menon's marathon Fair, who had rubbed Indian speech at the United Nations, officials the wrong way recently nor all the hot air about nonregarding Baluchistan, was offered a job as the 'South Asia' expert in the Obama administration, which apparently she turned down. problem and suggested that China should intervene in it. The implication is that China is the master of Asia, and that lesser powers such as India and Pakistan (yes, hyphenation again) must listen to China.

The indications, therefore, are that the Obama administraObama's joint statement with tion does not take India seriChinese strongman Hu Jintao ously. All of the latter's hollow could well have been written by pretensions to great-power-hood the Chinese, when it comes to have been seen through by the its perspective of India: It reDemocrats, one might think. ferred to the India-Pakistan Dhanu Sankramana/December/ 37

Atomic Scientists reported recently that Pakistan's nuclear arsenal is bigger than India's, and that they are growing it rapidly. India has no more than 60 to 80 warheads, Pakistan at least 70 to 90, and China 240.

alignment. Obama is the only US president in recent years to have refused to meet the Dalai Lama [ Images ], as appeasing China is high on his agenda; similarly the Democratic fascination with Mohammedan tyrants as well. Victor Davis Hanson of the Hoover Institution wrote in The Wall Street Journal that Obama may well be following in Jimmy Carter's footsteps. Carter, of MEOW fame (moral equivalent of war), who groveled to MiddleEasterners, bringing upon himself the Iran hostage crisis that destroyed his presidency. Obama is going down this path with his Af-Pak policy, which consists primarily of outsourcing the Afghan problem to Pakistan's Inter Services intelligence, to be followed by the United States declaring victory and leaving. He is ignoring the instructive example of Neville Chamberlain appeasing Hitler [ Images ]. Meanwhile the ISI cannot believe its good luck: Obama is showering billions on it on top of the $11 billion that Bush has already given them, with nothing to show.

Of course, India is also handicapped by not having a proven delivery vehicle like an intermediate-range ballistic missile that can reach Beijing [ On top of this, there is an Images ] (and also by having entire generation of Cold-Warvoluntarily declared a moratoera non-proliferation ayatollahs, rium on nuclear testing). This many of them Democrats with should be enormous cause for ties to Obama, who believe India concern for India, because it has no business maintaining a leaves India vulnerable to the nuclear arsenal. These people blackmail of a first strike by are on the ascendant, and Pakistan or China, neither of strangely they have no problem which has ever said they will not with proliferation by China or indulge in a first strike. India Pakistan: The The Washington cannot deter them because the Post reported how the CIA threat of a second strike is merely stood by and watched meaningless if the others's when China delivered two fullarsenals and delivery systems fledged nuclear bombs to are bigger and more reliable. Pakistan in 1982. On the political side, here is Shortly thereafter, Pakistan, another fear -- about what as part of the A Q Khan nuclear Manmohan Singh may concede Wal-Mart, happily proliferated in Washington. His recent trips these to third parties. have left a trail of wreckage as far as India's foreign policy is Quite clearly, the non-proliferation ayatollahs have a rather concerned. This leads one to interesting twist on semantics: wonder whether the foreign for them, 'proliferation' is defined ministry lacks the resources to brief the prime minister. as India creating a minimum deterrent to defend itself from Look at what the PM has two nearby rogue States. Of said on previous trips abroad: course, these are the same people who created treaty after In Britain in 2005, while treaty -- Non-Proliferation Treaty, receiving an honorary degree Fissile Material Cut-off Treaty, from Oxford, Singh said that Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty colonialism had done India good. -- whose prime intent was to He claimed that India benefited contain the Indian nuclear from 'meeting the dominant deterrent. empire of the day'. He omitted to mention that the dominant The respected Bulletin of the

Dhanu Sankramana/December/ 38

empire had stolen roughly $10 trillion, and left hitherto prosperous India poverty-stricken. In Havana at the Non-Aligned Meet in 2006, Singh informed a delighted General Pervez Musharraf [ Images ] that Pakistan was also a victim of terrorism, just like India, and absolved the Pakistani State of involvement in acts of terrorism. This, almost immediately after the Mumbai [ Images ] blasts in July of that year. In the US in 2008, with George Bush [ Images ] a lame duck and the Democrats rampant, Singh assured Bush: 'The people of India deeply love you'. Exactly how did Singh arrive at this conclusion? And how exactly did he think this would be received by the severely antiBush Democrats, who were likely to win?

why the US does not respect having the PM say things that then require substantial damage India as a potential ally. India is only a source of raw materials control? and a market, just as the imperiWhat might the PM agree to alists saw it. India does not in Washington this time? One deserve any respect, either. A grim possibility looms. There is wimpy India -- which cannot a lot of talk about the G-2 from deter even a failed state like people like Zbigniew Brzezinski, Pakistan -- is merely an extra in the former Cold Warrior and the big scheme of things. eminence grise extraordinaire (who can forget he was an A nation that has no admirer of Osama bin Laden [ Images ] in the old days?). The long-term strategic G-2, that is, the US and China, intent, and whose is to divide the world up among leaders can be easily them: the Atlantic and the Eastern Pacific to the US, while manipulated through the Western Pacific and the flattery, is a banana Indian Ocean Rim belong to republic. Unlike China.

China is delighted to go with this prescription, which is reminiscent of Spain and Portugal dividing up the world between them with the Vatican's blessings some centuries ago. A In Sharm-al-Sheikh, Egypt [ few months ago, a Chinese Images ], in July 2009, Singh admiral suggested precisely gratuitously introduced such an outcome: They would Balochistan into the Indolook after the Western Pacific, Pakistan dialog and promised a he kindly offered the Americans delinking of talks from terrorism. the eastern part of the Pacific. The grateful Pakistanis are now using Balochistan as a major It is entirely possible that, card in their propaganda claim- given the trial balloon of the ing Indian malfeasance there. Sino-US statement on China's They have also concluded that role in South Asia, the Amerithe 26/11 Mumbai siege has cans will convince Manmohan now been forgotten by India -Singh to endorse the idea of the that is, Pakistan can proceed G-2. There will be the usual with further acts of terrorism round of 'clarifications' and with no untoward conse'retractions' and howls about quences. 'misquotes', but at the end of the day, it would be plain as daylight Aren't there people who know that India had publicly accepted how to craft diplomatic verbiage banana-republic-dom in the that serves the usual purpose -Asian Century. to obfuscate and mystify while sounding pious -- instead of We have to be prepared for such an eventuality. And that is

China, which intends to rule the world, India, which can only imagine itself as a second-rate power, will remain one. Welcome to realpolitik.

Dhanu Sankramana/December/ 39

India poised and shining Dr.Vijaya Rajiva

India is poised and shining as it heads into the 21st century. Economically, the prediction is that along with China and the U.S. it will be amongst the three largest economies in the world. The expectation is that the country will also seriously tackle the problems of poverty, illiteracy and health care.

In addition there are the internal threats of fifth columnists and others working for the balkanization of the country. Apart from all of these threats there is the internal threat of India fast losing its ancient and traditional Dharmic values which commenced with the Veda several millennia ago, and which Guru Golwalkar attempted to Will it also be poised and shining in the sense of a secu- bring to the fore of Hindu conlar Hindu Nation ? Many factors sciousness in the post colonial era. In that sense, while reacting will have to be taken into account. The external threat in the to China/Pakistan, India has to be vigilant that Dharma is not shape of hostile neighbours is ever present and is not likely to lost. True, upholding Dharma requires fighting Adharma, but it go away despite India’s best efforts. As is well known China also requires a deep commitment to Dharma without which does not want a rival on the the struggle will degenerate into Asian stage and Pakistan has and most likely will continue its the sort of ideological quagmire that the Communists of India, visceral hatred of India. Both chiefly the Maoists/Naxalites these countries have in the have fallen into. past tried to sabotage India’s attempts to come out of the True, the country must colonial swamp ( and no doubt seriously beef up its defences will continue to do so). India’s and be ever ready to meet other neighbours are either aggressive neighbours, but no sitting on the fence or are Dharmic person can imitate the rapidly falling into the Chinese Maoist and behead a lowly orbit, although this last movepoliceman or chop a constable’s ment is likely to be reversed arms and slit his throat as the because of geopolitical consid- Naxalite insurgents have reerations. cently done. In this regard Dhanu Sankramana/December/ 40

Gandhiji is right and the Maoist is wrong. The end does not justify the means. Above all the Dharmic warrior cannot be a coward and hide his/her face, as the Naxalite leader Kishenji does. He routinely appears with his face and head covered. One cannot imagine Mahatma Gandhi covering his face and head as he appears to lead the Satyagraha movements. The obstacles in reawakening to a secular Hindu Nation are also the threats from the zealots of the Islamic and Christian faiths ( who use both fair means and foul), from Maoist sympathizers, and from the younger generation of Indians who have not been exposed to the history of the freedom struggle against colonial rule and take for granted the freedoms they now have. Simultaneously, they have also internalized the negative colonial viewpoints regarding Hinduism, the religion of the majority of Indians . There are also the present day active anti Hindu activists such as Kanchiah Illaiah who are not merely advocating Dalit and tribal advancement (which no Hindu in present day India would want

to deny) but using that particular stick to beat Hinduism with. See his most recent book A Post Hindu India ( Sage Publications, 2009). These activists also exist in the Indian Diaspora, although their malign influence has waned somewhat. Take for example their nefarious attempts to stop funds from reaching well deserved Hindu social service movements, merely on the argument that these organisations are Hindu. Fortunately, their baleful designs have not succeeded.

urban India or in great parts of the country. These are actionable crimes and the authorities in government and the legal system are empowered to punish such acts. The law needs to be enforced more rigorously. More needs to be done in terms of the government’s affirmative programs and reservations. Much has been done.

economy had already come into being, necessitating a division of labour, which then became hardened into hereditary occupations. Some place the hardening of caste life at a later date, in the first few centuries of the Christian era.

Hence, Varna and Caste are not identical and even scholars confuse and conflate the two terms. The Outcastes, that is And certainly the Rashtriya those who fell outside the varna Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and caste systems are the programs of service directed people who till recently were towards the tribals and the referred to as the Untouchables It is in this context that propo- Scheduled Castes are in full (now the Dalits, the Scheduled nents of a Hindu Nation must swing and are being accomCastes, Scheduled Tribes). consciously think through the plished with such dedication that Their lowly occupations extendcharges levelled against Hindu- even critics are stopped in their ing down to scavenging of night ism by such activists ( Hindus tracks, both literally and in a soil cannot by any stretch be cannot afford to bury their heads theoretical sense. See, for described as an Occupation. in the sand) but simultaneously instance, the book Fascinating Mahatma Gandhi put forward the universal appeal Hindutva by Badri Narayan of the Vedas, which surely are (Sage Publications, 2009). supported both the fountainhead of the Hindu There is no sanction in the varna and the caste tradition. Here the path is quite Vedas for Untouchability or the clear. The Vedic legacy is one of caste system as it developed in system, but not the the unity of beings, both human the subsequent period. In the Outcaste system, as and non human, the respect for Vedas, one finds a general Earth and respect for the entire is well known. His division of labour, a general universe. This is the oldest division of society into scholars/ advocacy of the statement in human history of priests, the military classes, the these ideals and certainly are caste system was merchant classes (those who the abiding ones today. because of its close manage the wealth of society) The most serious charge and the service classes or the link to the division of against Hinduism is that it labouring class. This is the condemned a large section of its Varna system. The growth of the labour in the population to the humiliations specifics of the caste system economy, especially and trials of an inflexible caste took place as the economy the village economy. system and that the abuse of expanded with its growing the Scheduled Castes and differentiation of labour. Schol- He did not believe Tribes continues unabated ars are not certain about when today. This last charge is only the caste system started. Some that the division of partially true. While in many place it after the end of the late caste into hereditary remote areas of India this ill Vedic period, i.e. the 6th century occupations, is abtreatment does certainly exist, it B.C. Certainly by then the rich is no longer the rule either in urban life of a highly productive solutely necessary. Dhanu Sankramana/December/ 41

survive. It may be relevant to point out that he is a convert to Christianity. The Hindu does not have an agenda, if only because of the millennia that Hinduism has survived, whether of invasions, conquests or occupations. It gives the Hindu a sense of continuity and a certain balance, and a certain gratitude to the land and to the ancestors. Nor will the Indian subcontinent fall victim to anti national forces if there is sufficient vigilance. As Annie Besant , intrepid fighter for the Indian freedom movement, put it: of Hinduism must be taken seriously, and the shortcomings of Hinduism (social injustice) acknowledged, it is also incumbent on Hindus to also look with respect and a new appreciation of the glories of their ancient heritage, both culturally and There is no need for Hindus philosophically/spiritually. One to be defensive and refuse to cannot expect this from conlook at the problem. On the verts to other religions. They contrary every serious minded have a political agenda. And their Hindu must actively work to forecasts of gloom and doom efface the Outcaste system. and their expectations about the And there are some serious inevitable demise of Hinduism initiatives taken already, such as are just wishful thinking. Their admitting the Dalits to all asrepeated criticisms are not only pects of Hindu worship. In some socially motivated, but have the places they are also being quite direct goal of somehow trained as priests to perform defeating Hinduism and replacHindu rituals. Here again the ing it with alien faiths, i.e. faiths Sangh Parivar (the RSS, the alien to India. This project is not Viswa Hindu Parishad and sister likely to succeed, not only organizations have taken the because of Hinduism’s resillead ) is to be both commended ience, but because many of their and supported in its endeavours.theoretical presuppositions are Guru Golwalkar was the second ill founded. For instance, leader of the RSS after its Kanchan Illaiah who is a profesestablishment in 1925 by Dr. sor at Osmania University, Hedgewar. India, has declared with brash bravado that Hinduism will not While the work of the critics Certainly, proficiency and acquisition of skills can be obtained by a lifelong and even hereditary occupation, but it is not mandatory. The individual is free to choose his/her occupation.

Dhanu Sankramana/December/ 42

“ If Hindus do not maintain Hinduism, who shall save it ? If India’s own children do not cling to her faith, who shall guard it ? India alone can save India, and India and Hinduism are one.” The reawakening must however, not be a complacent one, but a fully self conscious endeavour. This is the least we can do in memory of the saints and sages that have graced this land and have upheld noble ideals of universal well being and as well the millions of everyday Hindus who by and large have kept the faith, and because of whom we can call this land Punya Bhumi. The aim of the awakened Hindu must be that all of Mother Earth becomes a Punya Bhumi. This must be our challenge in the new millennium. As the Vedic sages hymned it : SARVE SUKHINAH BHAVANTU (May all beings be happy !). ( The writer taught Political Philosophy in

CHINA Dimensions of Threats Subramanian Swamy Since 2008, the relations between India and China have begun to sour. Will it lead to a war? What are the various dimensions of threats from China? When it comes to defence preparedness, we cannot discount any threat from China. In formulating our defence strategy the threat perceptions have to be factored based on the military capacity of China. On the other hand, our foreign policy has to be based on China’s stated intentions. But no matter how friendly China may sound diplomatically in its stated intentions, if its military capability increases then we have to match it by increasing our military preparedness. Instead, today our defence expenditure has been reduced to an all time low of 2.3% of GDP even as China has maintained a steady expenditure of 6% of GDP for its defence. China’s stated intentions may be not to go to war with India but merely to needle us. But that should not relax us because of China’s growing military capacity to wage war

with India, and hence we have to prepare our defence accordingly. As the saying goes : “we must sweat in peace so that we do not have to shed blood in war”. The blunder committed by Prime Minister Nehru was in believing China’s stated intention to be friendly with India. Therefore he did not allow our defence expenditure to increase to counter China’s growing military capability. So our defence factories were not producing weapons and winter clothing for our jawans but coffee percolators for canteens and tennis shoes for officers to play badminton and ping pong in the cantonment club. China in the meantime was developing roads and buying arms from abroad to equip itself. Thus, in 1962 when they decided to attack us on the border we were unprepared, and thus got defeated. Chinese army came down the hills to Tezpur before withdrawing back. We cannot therefore rely on any country’s stated intentions since it could be a deception to fool us. Inten-

tions are subjective and cannot be easily measured for its reliability and accuracy. But capacity to wage war is objective since it can be physically quantified in terms of missiles, tanks, battleships, fighter aircraft, and troop divisional strength etc.. We can thus never be complacent about China’s capacity to inflict damage to us, nor should we as a large mature and civilized population exhibit a fevered imagination about China’s assumed evil intentions to harm us, as we are doing today, and thus in a self-fulfilling prophesy could knee jerk our nation into a war. DIMENSIONS OF CHINA’S THREATS First , a threat is of a Chinese possible attack over some provocation such as Dalai Lama’s visit to Tawang. Some Indians tremble at the thought of that happening. This is a neurosis which I call as the 1962 syndrome. It is like China’s neurosis arising from the events of 1937-45 when Japan occupied that country and brutalized it with atrocities. China reacts aggressively if Japan so

Dhanu Sankramana/December/ 43

provided our leadership does not lose its nerve as it had happened with Nehru then. Therefore those in India who think otherwise, that is Chinese will walk into Assam and Kashmir not to mention Bahraich in UP, have been brought up on the British Imperialist version of our history, which is that India is always a sitting duck for anyone who wants to invade the country.

much buys an aircraft. The reality today is that even if we go to war, it will not be a repeat of 1962 because as China and the rest of the world have learnt by the events of 1962, and by subsequent unconnected events, war unites the Indian people as nothing else does, and India nationally consolidates when attacked from abroad. This phenomenon Chanakya had defined as the concept of Chakravartin,viz., that the Indian people in a national crisis set aside their differences and unite as one people.. Had this concept not been applicable to India , then the 1962 attack would have been disastrous for us, and may have even led to balkanization our nation as

the Chinese had expected to happen. Today, with this knowledge and knowing that Tibet and Sinkiang are simmering with insurgency, it is not anymore a one-way street or a picnic for China to attack India. The Chinese will not be able to cross our borders and contiguous areas. Moreover, the Indian air force is superior in the border arena, and the terrain on our side of the border provides a much shorter and friendlier supply chain for our troops while China’s supply chain is very long and through relatively more hostile terrain. Hence, if China goes to war with us, the results would be different from 1962,

Dhanu Sankramana/December/ 44

What should be of concern today is not China’s suspected perfidy and India’s assumed collapse, but the implication of India’s current militarily and psychological preparedness. It is important that we wipe out from our sub-conscious mind the humiliating defeat of 1962, and also act in a manner that China understands that never again it should dare to remind us of 1962. If China decides to wage war over Arunachal especially for recovering Tawang, then India should take it as an opportunity to wipe out Nehru’s legacy of 1962. The Chinese claim over Tawang and Arunachal is based on its assertion that this territory was a part of Tibet. This is an utterly false claim. It was only for brief periods in history when an aggressive Independent Tibet occupied the Monpa tribal town of Tawang and then reduced the Monpas to serfs and slaves. The Monpas have not forgotten that brutality even today. The Dalai Lama although“our

honoured guest”, only pooh poohs China claim to Tibet but does not explicitly state that Tawang and Arunachal are parts of India. Tibetan refugees based in Dharamshala in Himachal are much more explicit. They claim Arunachal with Tawang as part of “free” Tibet. They also do not recognize the MacMohan Line. China cannot base its claim on Tawang and Arunachal on this sordid and feudal legacy of Tibet. China will however not find it in its interest to go to war over Tawang. It is today needling us to win the sympathy of Tibetans in Lhasa. But that does not mean we should let our guard down. China should know it is the resolve of the Indian people that for Tawang, without which town the rest of Arunachal cannot be accessed by the Chinese military, India will go out for an all out war, even abrogate the NehruVajpayee treaty to regard Tibet as a part of China. It is moral and just for us to go to war to defend Tawang and Arunachal. As our territory Second, the threat from China to India arises from UPA government’s abdication of vital national interests for its domestic political survival in power, which is in favour of China. This has enabled China to multiply its strength vis-à-vis India. For example, India rebuffed pro-Indian elements in Nepal and instead helped Maoists, who lean to China, to usurp power in that country because of what the then coalition partner, the CPM, of the UPA had wanted. Again China was invited by Sri Lanka to build a naval base in Hamantota which port is just 35 miles east of the Tamil Nadu coast, because India declined to help since another partner, the DMK, had wanted to help the LTTE and not Sri Lanka. Today not one of India’s eight neighbours with common borders with us, supports us against China. Recognizing this factor is crucial for our preparedness against China, as correctly diagnosed by

the RSS Sarsanghchalak Ma. Mohan Bhagwat in his India Today interview recently. We should start now to correct for our neighbours’ hostility to us. We should begin by openly supporting Sri Lanka, and not fall for the proLTTE propaganda that Tamils are suffering from brutalities. Tamils need constitutional protection and India should influence the Sri Lanka Buddhists to encourage the MPs of Sri Lanka Parliament to vote for the constitutional amendment Bill when it is introduced. We should help the Nepal Army and the Madeshis to resist the Maoists and liberate Nepal since the Nepal Maoists are now openly helping the Naxalites in India. Third, China has us ringed in today with naval bases from Gwadar in Baluchistan, to Humantota in Sri Lanka, to Coco Islands in Burma. Hence, for the first time China is positioned to attack us from the Indian Ocean, Arabian Sea, and Bay of Bengal. Since India today is encircled by China from the north with the help of our neighbours and from the south through its naval bases provided by the same neighbours, we have to take appropriate steps to develop our navy and air force to face this new situation. We should develop a strategic cooperation with Indonesia to monitor the Malacca Straits that is very close to Indira Point in Nicobar islands, and through which straits pass 90 percent of China’s energy supply in oil tanker ships.. Therefore, the appropriate policy for India is to match Chinese military capacity by concrete action and not by speeches or media hype, by spending not 2.3% but 7% of GDP on defence, for which we have to tighten our belts. We have to sweat in peace– by preparing our defence– so that we do Dhanu Sankramana/December/ 45

boldness.

not have to shed blood in a war. Instead today we are sweating at the thought of war without preparing to defend against it. That is, at present we are doing precisely the opposite of what we ought to be doing. The problem today is not what China is planning to do to attack us but what India is not planning to do to prepare to defend itself. We should also not be defensive while arguing the border dispute with China. Chinese officials must explain to us why when they have accepted the McMohan Line for the border with Burma, they are rejecting it with India. Also their argument for demanding Tawang is religion-based, i.e., Tawang was a part of Drepung Monastry which is in Tibet and therefore is a part of China. By that argument, KailashManasarovar area should a part of India since our Mahadev Lord Shiva resides there. Unfortunately our ministers and officials do not have the self-confidence or enjoy any trust in China to frankly articulate India’s interest with necessary

But, under no circumstance we should go want to go to war merely to recover the relatively small area of our lost territory. We should continue to argue with the Chinese for a solution, just as Lord Krishna did with Duryodhana to the exasperation of the Pandavas and especially Draupadi. But when war becomes inevitable because of the intransigence of our adversary then of course we have to meet the challenge by war. Fourth, China has been consistently arming Pakistan even with nuclear weapons technology according to well known and well placed whistle blowers in Pakistan. This may be in Chinese national interest to keep a flank against India opened. Chinese officials told me in a discussion I had in Beijing recently that they have assisted Pakistan with the knowledge of the IAEA and within international law. Be that as it may nevertheless since it is well known that Pakistan has declared war with India in 1947, 1965[twice], 1971, and 1999, therefore helping Pakistan with dual use technology is defacto directed against India and therefore an unfriendly act.. Moreover, Pakistan is the base and crucible for Islamic terrorists who periodically carry out horrendous terrorists acts on Indian soil.

To meet this particular threat we have to adopt the ancient Hindu method of saam, dhaam, bheda, dand with China. We have to work Dhanu Sankramana/December/ 46

out on operational strategy for each of the four measures. But first we must talk with China especially in the context of the rising threat of a Taliban take-over of Pakistan which will adversely affect both India and China. The recent Islamic violence in Xinjiang is a case in point. Therefore we must pursue every opening with China to reduce their support to Pakistan. According to me, a deal with China on Pakistan is possible, in any case worth trying for.. These are the four dimensional threats that China poses to India. We have, at least for the present, to deal with these threats on our own capability. And we can do so too.Those who had been dreaming of the US siding with India against China should wake up now after the Obama-Hu meeting in Beijing recently. That meeting has made it clear that the US recognizes a veto for China in South Asian affairs. For India, the best course to design a national security strategy based on a massive defence build up with a conciliatory foreign policy whereby we do not react on a daily basis to every media report emanating from either side. But I do feel the MEA needs to be more forthcoming in briefing the Indian media about the nuances of SinoIndian relations on a regular basis. If a Sino-Indian understanding can come about it will be a major factor for world peace. We should strive for that without letting down our guard

SRI SRI & SIMI This happened in Kerala & Sri Sri gave an audience to the SIMI (Student Islamic Movement of India) leaders. Four leaders from SIMI came to meet Sri Sri at the residence of one of the organizers. Following their entry, an air of tension enveloped the hall where hundreds were waiting to meet with Sri Sri. Naseeb, one of the devotees, guided them to the room where Sri Sri was sitting with a few of us. They (the SIMI leaders), were dashing youths in their mid 20s. One of them was carrying the holy Koran. They were little stern and stiff. Their eyes were fixed and seemed to reflect an inner fire. They looked prepared to repulse anything that Sri Sri would tell them and most unlikely to listen to reason. Sri Sri was His usual smiling self. The stage was set. It had all the signs of a classic confrontation. On one side were the brash youth

intemperate, impatient, driven by ideology and out to prove their superiority. On the other was a youthful, realized sage, unperturbed, offering sane explanations that echoed an uncommon depth and breadth of understanding. Those of us in the room, were eager to see how Sri Sri would deal with these firebrands. Sri Sri embraced them and offered them chairs to sit. There was not an iota of difference in His attitude. Any casual onlooker could be forgiven for thinking that Sri Sri considered these gentlemen as amongst His most ardent devotees. Perhaps the only difference that we could see was that they were seated on chairs while the rest of us were on the floor! For us, it was yet another opportunity to witness the unconditional love that Sri Sri exemplifies. The leader of the group spoke first. He asked SIMI: You had wanted to meet with us.

SRI SRI: Yes. I wanted to understand why your organization was opposed to the Anandotsavam. SIMI: We thought that holding an Anandotsavam (celebration) on December 6th was a deliberate move to insult our religious sentiments. Do you know about our religion?. Do you believe in the Koran at all? SRI SRI: Yes of course. SIMI: (Not expecting this answer, pointing to the Koran, they shot the next question) We believe that Koran is the only knowledge. What about you? SRI SRI: This is one amongst the various knowledge revealed to man from time to time. SIMI: But God has said this is the only knowledge. The way of the Koran is the only way. There is no other way. SRI SRI: This message

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can be found in scriptures of all religions. In the Vedas it is said Naanyah Panthaah Ayanaaya Vidyate meaning There is no other way but the way of Truth! The same is said in the Bible, Jesus says, To go to my father, you have to go through me. I am the only way. SIMI: But our scripture says worshipping any form or idol is evil, it is blasphemy. SRI SRI: What is Good and Evil after all? It is relative. Relative existence is not the complete picture For example: Milk is good, but too much milk can kill you. Poison is harmful, but a drop of poison can save your life. Most lifesaving medicines have poison written on them! These are neither absolutely good nor bad they are just there. Truth transcends duality, and God is the Absolute and only Truth. So, where is the place for evil? SIMI: Yet you Hindus worship many Gods, whereas our ideal is there is only one God and His message is what is required to go to heaven. SRI SRI: There is only one god in many forms& SIMI: (Restless and unwilling to listen to any explanation, they interrupted Sri Sri.) But the Koran says you should only worship Allah who is formless whereas the Hindus worship idols which are only stones. SRI SRI: At this, Sri Sri suddenly asked them: Do you honour the Koran? SIMI: (They seemed a little taken aback at this question from Sri Sri and with a righteous air answered). Yes, it is Gods word! SRI SRI: Do you honor the Mecca? SIMI: Yes, of course! That is our sacred place. SRI SRI: So also, Hindus honour Dhanu Sankramana/December/ 48

Gods creation as God. Just like sound (Koran), the crescent moon, Kaaba and the month of Ramadan are sacred for you, Hindus consider the River Ganges, the Himalayas, Saints as sacred. See, a picture of your daughter is not your daughter, but you still adore the daughters picture. When you see the picture arent you reminded of your daughter? (They nodded a yes) SRI SRI: So also, a symbol is not God but is honoured as God. This sense of honouring and sacredness makes you awake and alive. That is why the ancient Rishis said to feel the entire creation and your whole life as sacred. They considered God as omnipresent, as inseparable from His creation; like the dance and the dancer. Sri Sri elaborated further Spirit loves diversity. Is there only one type of vegetable or fruit? God created many type of fruits and vegetables. There is not just one type of tree, not just one type of snake, cloud, mosquito&.Even you change your dress for different occasions. So how could this consciousness that manifested this whole creation be monotonous? There is only one God in many forms. Only one God is advocated. When you accept the variety of Divinity, you cease to be a fanatic and fundamentalist. A pregnant silence filled the room as they looked at each other expecting the other to speak. Then as a face saving measure, the SIMI leader replied, I will need to go and consult my higher scholars. With a compassionate expression on His face, Sri Sri said: Never mind, (with a wave of His hand) forget about religion. We are all human beings. Let us have a peaceful society. Let us focus on development. SIMI: No No No! What are you saying? You are talking about this world. What we do here is immaterial. The Koran tells us that what matters is what you get in eternal life and not to worry about material life. By doing service to the society you will simply remain here. You have to obey Allah. Allah is the only God and

receptive and that too when hundreds were waiting outside just for a glimpse of Sri Sri.) SIMI: Do you know, that over 1400 years ago, in the middle of the desert, God revealed the secrets of creation. Even when there was no science, God said that the Atom is the smallest particle!

Mohammed is the last prophet. SRI SRI: At this Sri Sri stopped them and after a pause asked them: Do you think the Sikh Gurus are not prophets. Isnt Mirabai a prophet? What about Chaitanya Mahaprabhu? Once again, there was silence. Their ex-pressions had changed. The rigidity had weakened and in its place was some confusion/uncertainty. Sri Sri seemed totally at ease unmindful of the challenges posed at Him. SIMI: No! You can go to heaven only if you believe in Allah and the Koran. SRI SRI: No my dear there was Buddha, Mahavira, Nanak, Jesus, Shankara& Do you think they are not in heaven? If not, then I would rather be with them! SIMI: You are such a nice person, but we pity you because you cannot get the truth. You cant go to Allah. You cant be rewarded by Allah. God will never show mercy on you. SRI SRI: Never mind. (with a mischievous smile ) I will be with these people (Shankara, Jesus, etc.) (Even as we were admiring Sri Sris patience and objectivity, we were concerned at the wrong indoctrination that these youths had been subjected to. We also observed a few others who were in the room were getting a little restive, possibly wondering why Sri Sri was spending so much time with these people who were obviously not at all

SRI SRI smiled and said: Yes, the same is there in the shaastras too which were known more than 10,000 years ago. In the shaastras it is said that the Earth is over 19 billion years old! Truth is beyond time and space. It is not confined to one time or one place One needs to have a scientific spirituality. As if to conclude the conversation Sri Sri gave them Ladoo as prasad. By now there were traces of a smile on their faces. When they were about to leave He gave them a hug. They definitely seemed to be less stern than earlier. Could their attitude have changed? We wondered whether this (changed attitude) would persist or would they go back to their old fanatic ways. But one thing was for sure, Sri Sri had made an impression that they would not forget! Later, while Sri Sri was having His lunch, someone asked Him, Why is that Islam is producing so many terrorists all over the world? No other religion has given rise to so many terrorists in the world. What is the reason? SRI SRI: Look at the commitment and the fire in them. Take the good from them and learn what you should not be doing. Dont label them as bad people. They have not been imparted the knowledge of Vedanta. (Then as He was adding ghee to the chilli powder) He smiled and said In this creation, there is a place for everything. ********** Excerpted from an article by Swami Sadhyojata and

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USLESS LIBREHAN REPORT LEAKED THERE WAS NOTHING NEW IN IT Hindus should celebrate December 6 as "Renaissance Day". That dirty structure ought to have been demolished soon after independence. It was a mark of slavery. Deepak Kamat, [email protected], http://www.greathindu.com Whenever something untoward takes place, a Commission of Inquiry by a Retired Judge is constituted. He spends public money (Rs. 8 crore to be precise) and tables a report which contains nothing new. This is not what I am saying. This is what the former CBI Director Joginder Singh said. And I endorse him fully. Now let me tell you why

Librehan Commission report is useless. For this, I have to go back in time when Babur demolished Ram Temple in Ayodhya because he believed in the Koran — which tells the believers to either convert or kill the Kafirs (Hindus)/trouble him to the max. After independence, it was incumbent on us to destroy

that mark of slavery called Babri Mosque (after all, it was built after demolishing the Ram Temple). However, intellectual terrorists in Congress party aided by the Leftists and Muslim separatists made all bids to rebuild Ram Mandir impossible. As a historical corrective, the Hindus grouped together and pulled down that dirty structure called Babri Mosque on December 6, 1992. Hindus should celebrate this day as “Hindu Rennaissance Day”. We are proud of the demolition and are keen to see a Ram Mandir soon. The useless Librehan Report might be good for a political witch hunt. But for us, the Retired Judge better go to sleep.

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