Sangh Parivar - Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam

Lies, deceit and betrayal

admin — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 11:23:35 -0400

By M.D. Nalapat

Since he took office as the proxy of Sonia Gandhi more than four years ago, Manmohan Singh has sought with zeal to carry out her agenda of rendering India helpless to any economic challenge from the EU or a military one from China. Even in her election campaigns, Sonia Gandhi conveyed the message that the minorities were in danger of losing their lives and property. Just as George W. Bush and Dick Cheney scared the US voter into giving them a second term in office—by painting rival John Kerry as an individual incapable of protecting them against terrorism—Sonia frightened the minorities into supporting her hodgepodge of competing corporate interests masquerading as political parties.

Manmohan Singh took four years to expose himself as simply window-dressing for implementing the policies of Sonia Gandhi. Policies that have by now ensured the near-emasculation of the Indian business community in its battle against foreign competition.

An action that is seditious in the extreme is the attempted effort to bind India to the NPT and CTBT after decades of struggle to develop domestic alternatives. Manmohan Singh has long been against India’s nuclear expansion, including when he was Finance Minister (1991-96). Instead of permitting the AEC to reprocess all the spent fuel at its disposal, including at Tarapur, he has instead declined to source uranium from non-NSG states and more vigorously develop the country’s own uranium reserves. By throwing the country at the mercy of states that for long have sought to contain India, Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi are in fact going against the vision of Indira Gandhi, who boldly went in for a programme of nuclear self-reliance. What needs to be done is to increase efforts for procuring uranium, fast-track the thorium programme, open up the nuclear and broader defense sector to Indian corporates and reprocess spent fuel. The agreement now sought to be entered into with the IAEA and the NSG ought to be replaced with another one that protects the country’s technology and future. Should the US decline to agree to an equitable deal, India needs to sign a bilateral agreement with Russia, a country that has once again demonstrated its independence.

The country would find itself hard pressed to survive another term of the Sonia team. They need to go. Because of their access to money power, the Sonia-Manmohan duo is expecting to win its vote of confidence, thus giving it a few more months to fulfill Sonia Gandhi’s vision of an India helpless before the EU and China. What the country needs is another general election, as soon as possible. And to ensure that the country is spared a repeat of the present, the NDA needs to go before the people and warn them that each vote is needed to protect the country from the catastrophe to which it is being led by the UPA. The next round could well decide the future of India.

In the UPA regime, one of the first steps was to open the floodgates for hundreds of thousands from Pakistan and Bangladesh to come to India. Those masterminding groups active in mayhem now no longer needed to sneak across the border, protected by fire from Pakistan’s army. They could, and did, come in on regular visas. It is no surprise that jehadi nests have sprung up precisely in those cities where such “tourists” collected: Jaipur, Hyderabad, Lucknow and Mumbai. Since 2004, a powerful and largely home-grown network of terrorist groups has been formed across the country, that is building up its capabilities in order to strike at people and installations. Of course, the benefit of doubt has always been given to Pakistan. Even after the Kabul car-bomb, senior officials spoke off-the-record to mediapersons denying the involvement of the ISI. The suggestion that this misleading impression be put out came from a very high level within the UPA, one that is intent on painting Pakistan as a “victim” rather than as the epicentre of terrorism. It is only when Afghan authorities shamed these pro-Pakistan propagandists within the UPA that they fell silent, but not before several television outlets had run scrolls that “according to senior government sources”, the ISI was not involved in the blast.

Next came the unlocking of restraints on pro-Pakistan elements within Kashmir, headed by Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, the politician who as Home Minister was directly responsible for the actions that caused the 1989-1999 jehad in Kashmir. Today, with his vicious opposition to the leasing of land to facilitate the Amarnath Yatra (in the face of his own numerous favours to miscellaneous organisations, mostly pro-Pakistan), Sayeed is seeking to ignite a second jehad in Kashmir. The first caused the deaths of more than 40,0000 lives. A repeat may result in the felling of more than 200,000. It is because of the patronage given to him by Sonia Gandhi that the PDP leader and his flock are openly seeking to convert Kashmir into a mono-religious land, where only a single faith—that of the Wahabbis—will be allowed to exist.

Rather than bow to such a grotesque demand, secular elements within the state need to build a massive temple in the Kashmir Valley, as well as churches and gurudwaras, to send home the message that India is a secular country. By such an action, it will become clear to Wahabbi elements in Kashmir, as well as the rest of the pro-Pakistan brigade, that their efforts to destroy Kashmiriyat will not succeed. The building of different houses of worship in the Kashmir valley ought to have been done earlier. Unfortunately, even during the term in office of the NDA, there was a cosseting of religious extremism in Kashmir ,with the result that the degeneration of the secular ethos that has been witnessed since 1989 continued during 1998-2004 as well. Both Mufti Mohammad Sayeed as well as his secular-phobic daughter was indulged in by the PMO during 1998-2004. However, the license given to them to pursue their toxic agenda has sharply accelerated under the UPA, which has allowed the government in Kashmir to function as an agent of the Wahabbis, in defiance of the Constitution of India.

What needs to be done is to reveal a complete list of the land grants made by the PDP-Congress combine since it took office, so that the public can see for themselves the nakedly extremist logic behind the well-funded agitation against the lease of a small area of land to the Amarnath Shrine Board. Governor N.N. Vohra has distinguished himself in the past for his adherence to transparency, hence the request that he release records of land grants made by the now-defeated government. The people have a right to know. Of course, as has been witnessed by the secrecy with which the nuclear negotiations are being conducted, Sonia Gandhi’s team is allergic to sharing information with the people of India, even information already made available to external interests. The country is waiting to see if high constitutional functionaries such as President Patil and Governor Vohra will ensure through their behaviour that their allegiance is to the people of India and not to the particular politician who placed them in their current jobs. This columnist respects both, and trusts that they will show their mettle in the period ahead.

From a security perspective, there is a strong case for containing—before reducing—the Wahabbi influence over the Kashmir administration by creating a separate Ladakh state and a Jammu state. These two zones have nothing in common with Wahabbism, yet their ability to roll back the onrushing Wahabbi tide is being constrained by the control that the Kashmir administration has over them. The sooner Kashmir is trifurcated, the better for the people of the entire state, as well as for the nation. Also, in view of the fact that Pakistan-occupied Kashmir is a jehad factory, there needs to be a security cordon between it and the rest of Kashmir. This would be in contrast to the gaps in the existing firewall that have been deliberately created since 2004.

Particular attention has to be paid to West Bengal and Assam, as there are more than ten million illegal Bangladeshi migrants residing in these two states, several with unlawfully-obtained voting rights.

Since 2004, “secularism” has been defined in Soniaspeak as a policy that in effect discriminates against the majority community. Why should only the places of worship of a single community be under the control of governments, including those known to follow an exclusivist agenda? Why should institutions started by the majority community not be given the same privileges as those started by others? In a secular state, all faiths get equal treatment, unlike in India, where a particular faith has long been singled out for discrimination against its adherents.

Just as the Sonia team has sought to exacerbate societal tensions, whether those of community or caste, it has systematically worked to demolish the economy. Interest rates have doubled, and are threatening to go up further. The tax system has once again become punitive and authoritarian, with the remedies available to the citizen drastically reduced. Growth-boosters such as Special Economic Zones have practically been banned, while once again, the Nehru policy of creating private monopolies is being followed. Yes, politicians made money. The difference is that in the past, this was because of taking decisions that created new enterprises and wealth. These days, the bribes are being paid to perpetuate existing monopolies or create new ones, just as was the case during 1950-80. As for the field of education, centres of excellence are under government attack, and the potential for India to emerge as the education hub of the globe is being squandered

(The writer is Vice-Chair, Manipal Advanced Research Group, UNESCO Peace Chair & Professor of Geopolitics, Manipal University.)

Kashmir- Land and blood

rkm — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 22:35:11 -0400

The independence campaign flares up in a row about land for Hindu pilgrims

FIRE crackers and scattered cheering dotted the night on July 2nd in
Srinagar, as Kashmiris celebrated a rare victory over the Indian
government. Hours earlier, after a week of popular and violent
protests, Kashmir’s government had rescinded a gift of protected-forest
land to Hindu pilgrims. In response, local Muslim separatists called
off the protests they had organised. But after this triumph, which
followed a year or so of relative calm in the troubled valley, fresh
agitation seems likely.

ReutersA pilgrim’s rocky progress

Indeed, it may well spread beyond Kashmir and go national. On July
1st India’s main opposition, the Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata
Party (BJP), called for a nationwide strike to put pressure on the
state government—which, like India’s central government, is a coalition
led by the Congress party—to reverse its reversal. Sticking up for
Hindu pilgrims—hundreds of thousands of whom flock to a cave in Kashmir
each year to pay homage to a giant icicle they revere as an incarnation
of the god Shiva—is staple fare for the BJP. So is sticking it to
uppity Muslims.

As BJP leaders issued their call in Delhi, 80 people were injured in
rioting by Hindu activists in Jammu, the southern, mainly-Hindu, part
of India’s only Muslim-majority state. With a general election due by
next May and Congress in trouble on the back of soaring inflation and
other woes, the contretemps is a godsend for the BJP.

It is also handy for Kashmir’s separatist leaders. The 19-year-old
freedom fight has cost over 40,000 lives, by the Indian army’s count,
and at least twice that by the separatists’; but the current
death-rate, at a bit under 100 a month, is at an all-time low. That,
and internal feuding, has taken the wind out of the separatist
movement.

Fighting has flagged partly because Pakistan, which like India holds
part of the historic kingdom of Jammu & Kashmir and claims all of
it, has greatly reduced its former support to the insurgents. At the
same time, Kashmiris seem increasingly resigned to the status quo. Some
still hanker after the accession to Pakistan they feel was their due at
partition in 1947; probably a greater number want outright
independence. But many feel they have lost the battle. Turnout in local
elections, which the separatists boycott, is increasing. By rallying
support for their cause, separatist leaders may hope to dent turnout at
the next state election, due by November.

Hence the vigour with which they pounced on the government’s
decision to grant 99 acres (40 hectares) of land to a Hindu body that
manages the icicle pilgrimage. This, it was explained, was to help
provide temporary shelter for more than 400,000 devotees who visit the
icicle shrine, a cave at Amarnath in south Kashmir, each year. Yet the
separatist chiefs preferred to see it as a brazen effort by the
government to shift Hindus into the Muslim-dominated Kashmir valley.

Thousands agreed. Beginning on June 29th, the state capital,
Srinagar, and the rest of the valley saw their biggest protests since
the early-1990s, when the insurgency was at its height. Five people
were killed and hundreds injured in clashes between the army and
stone-throwing youths. In this time of strife, two of the biggest of
Kashmir’s many separatist factions, split over whether to negotiate
with the government, were reported to have reunited.

Also on June 29th, after noting which way the wind was blowing,
Congress’s main local ally, the People’s Democratic Party, quit the
state government. Reduced to a minority, Congress is now looking for
other allies to help it to hobble through to the polls later this year.
The gleeful separatists are meanwhile plotting protests against the
occupation of vast tracts of Kashmir by the army.

It may not stop there. Defying an unofficial curfew and a tear-gas
bombardment by soldiers nearby, several thousand men gathered in
Srinagar’s main mosque on July 1st. Despite a dozen huge green
Pakistani flags hoisted above the throng, the speeches they heard, from
local religious and political leaders, were mainly for independence.
“The land-transfer deal has brought so many issues to light,” said one
congregant, a local university professor. “In Kashmir, people are
angry.”

http://www.economist.com/world/asia/displaystory.cfm?story_id=11671155

Won't allow pilgrims to Ajmer dargah, warn VHP, Bajrang Dal

rkm — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 13:52:39 -0400

The Vishwa Hindu Parishad and the Bajrang Dal on
Wednesday warned that they will not allow pilgrims to reach the Ajmer
dargah, where the annual Urs has begun, unless the Jammu and Kashmir [Images] government withdraws its latest order revoking the transfer of forest land to the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board.

Bajrang
Dal Rajasthan unit's convenor Mahendra Singh Meena said that Hindu
activists of the saffron outfits would block buses carrying pilgrims in
Rajasthan during the two-day countrywide bandh beginning on Thursday.

He said 40 hectares of controversial forest land should be allocated to the SASB.

"We
are also demanding that the Jammu and Kashmir government be dismissed,
the army is withdrawn from the state, the subsidy of Rs 22,000 for a
Haj pilgrim be stopped and all Haj houses be converted into children's
homes."

"Since fanatic groups in Jammu and Kashmir tried to
stop the Amarnath Yatra on the land transfer issue, our agitation will
continue till our demands are met," said Meena.

Meanwhile, the Ajmer district administration has stepped up security arrangements near the dargah, an official said.

http://www.rediff.com/news/2008/jul/02vhp.htm

Centre has a report on security. Now act on it

manojzanvar — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 06:35:53 -0400

Internal document of the central government on national security, meant for restricted circulation, has painted a grim and worrisome scenario. The document has identified three areas of special concern—the increased ISI activities of subversion and terror, Bangla influx and Naxal menace.

The information is not startling, though its admission at the apex level is significant. For many years the centre under the UPA has been denying these threats. All suggestions pointing to their gravity were pooh-poohed with the claim that they were exaggerated. And the Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh unleashed his peace offensive with Pakistan with his now famous out of the box paradigm shift. He was at pains to sell Pakistani claims on Kashmir settlement as a positive development. All through the government tried to downplay the threat from Pakistan and the ISI activities in Kashmir, Bangladesh and Nepal, all targeted against India.

There were solid proof of Pak-inspired terror attacks, infiltration and creation of sleeper terror modules. But the centre responded by revoking POTA, reassuring the disaffected sections swayed by the ISI shenanigans and withdrawing security forces from the valley. These developments had created a national angst.

In that background it is both reassuring and heartening that the internal security document has recognised the real threat and sought to firm up a pro-active policy. According to a report in The Times of India (June 9) these threats are likely to be there till at least 2025. The report warned that ISI has a plan not only to keep terrorism alive in Kashmir but also stoke fundamentalism in the country.

Equally serious is the increasing belligerence of the Maoist extremists. Despite India’s persistent efforts for peace there is no change in ISI objectives which according to the document, include “liberation” of Kashmir, revival of terrorism in Punjab, use of Bihar-Nepal border for smuggling arms, explosives and fake currency, co-operation with ULFA, control of insurgent networks from Bangladesh and using certain madrasas in border states like West Bengal.

This overview of security threat, in the perspective plan of training in CRPF provides a hard-headed analysis of emerging challenges for India. The document analyses that Bangladeshi influx which often feeds jehadi cells can affect poll outcome in 20 assembly segments in Delhi alone and 25 Lok Sabha constituencies in the North-East and West Bengal. The actual impact of the illegal migration is much more and some estimates put it over 15 million.

The document further says that in South India, Maharashtra and Gujarat, the terror network and the underworld are active. All these aspects are interlinked, the document concludes.

It is now for the centre to work out a strategy with a long-term agenda and undiluted by vote bank considerations. The recent ISI-supported infiltrations in Jammu and Kashmir, and the arrest of about half a dozen ISI agents including Khalistani subversives from Punjab and other areas only confirm the veracity of this report. It is good that the official document has emphasised the threat of big demographic changes because of illegal Bangla influx. This population often shelters anti-India elements and provides steady recruitment to jehadi modules, the report says.

These infiltrators have become a major headache for law enforcing agencies and a real threat to internal security. Now that the official document has admitted the problem, it is for the nationalist forces to take it up and create a mass awareness to force the government to act, identify the infiltrators, deport them without delay and seal the border. No price in this war for national security is high. For, the nation has to survive if it has to protect democracy, secularism, peace and the treasure of our cultural heritage.

Inflation due to copying the West—K.S. Sudarshan

manojzanvar — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 06:32:11 -0400

A total of 871 swayamsevaks from different parts of the country including six swayamsevaks from Nepal and other parts of the world, were imparted training at the month-long Varga. Forty of these swayamsevaks declared at the Varga itself to dedicate three years of their life to the nation.

RSS Sarsanghachalak Shri K.S. Sudarshan, commenting on the sky-rocketing price rise, said the communists are staging a drama of protest against price rise, as the fact is that the key of running the government is in their hands. “The Prime Minister has to repeatedly bend before them and the people too have failed to recognise their interests. Since the economic policies are being copied from the West, this is the prime reason of high inflation in the country when the international prices shoot up,” he added.

The Sarsanghachalak referred to the project of Alka Jhadgaonkar who produced petrol from plastic waste. Under this project, 65 lakh litre petrol can be produced from 6500 MT plastic waste and it is cheaper than the ordinary petrol. The project has been discussed with the Chief Ministers of 12 states. But the Chief Secretary of Maharashtra misguided the Minister of State concerned citing high cost of machinery. Shri Sudarshan said the prices of petrol might come down if such projects are taken up. He further said the feeling of national interest is essential for the solution of the problems the country is facing today. But the national interest is being ignored. He pointed out that despite an announcement of recognition to a school by Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh under a district of the state, the District Magistrate concerned demanded Rs 21 lakh for issuing orders to that effect. The Left Front government of West Begnal, which snatched the land from farmers in Singur and Nandigram to give to the big industrial houses, is completely ignoring the public interest.

The Sarsanghachalak was addressing the concluding ceremony of third year Sangh Shiksha Varga held in Nagpur on June 8. Swami Raghveshwar Bharati, head of Ramchandrapura Math, Shimoga, (Karnataka), was the chief guest on the occasion. The Varga had begun on May 12.

Gokarn Peethadhishwar Shankaracharya Swami Raghvesh-war Bharati described the RSS as an image of the living God. He said the RSS is doing good works like Sri Ram and Sri Krishna. “The God has incarnated in the form of the Sangh. Its swayamsevaks are different forms of Gods and Goddesses. Today, at the time when consumerism is dominating, the feeling of sacrifice is being promoted within the Sangh,” he said. He called upon the swayamsevaks to work for cow protection, organic farming, promoting cow-based agriculture, removing the word ‘secularism’, bringing Muslims into the mainstream and remain a swayamsevak throughout their life. Describing Nagpur as the cultural capital of the country, he further said Nagpur is the place of inspiration for the whole country.

The Sarsanghachalak appealed to the Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh to bring a legislation in the Parliament for completely banning the cow slaughter. Therefore, they should do it. “It is a matter of shame that the cow slaughter started by the Britishers still continues in the country even after 60 years of Independence. More than one lakh cattle are slaughtered in the country everyday. Today we have only 17 crore cattle. Despite that the government hesitates to bring a legislation in the Parliament to save the cattle. It is because of the appeasement policies that the sentiments of Hindus are repeatedly hurt in this Hindu majority nation. It is claimed that the central law banning the cow slaughter is not being enacted due to Muslims’ opposition. But this is not the fact. Darul Ulum has said that there is no instruction of cow slaughter in Islam. Today, the majority of Muslims respect the sentiments of the country. But the government still hesitates to bring the legislation in the Parliament. The politicians concentrate more on their vote bank than the national interest,” he said.
(VSK, Nagpur)

Hindu Samhati leaders arrested after attack by 6, 000 strong Muslim mob in West Bengal

admin — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 19:34:38 -0400

FRIENDS OF HINDU SAMHATI

Registered in: New York, USA. Contact: hindusamhati@gmail.com

June 13, 2008

The Friends of Hindu Samhati, USA unequivocally condemns today's gruesome attack on the Hindu Samhati training camp at Ganga Sagar (West Bengal) by a murderous mob of local Muslims, at least 6000-7000 strong, starting Thursday (June 12, 2008).

Ganga Sagar is a very reknowned Hindu Tirtha Kshetra (Place of Pilgrimage) where the sacred Ganga River has a confluence with the Bay of Bengal. Ganga Sagar is located on the western edge of the Sunderban Delta on Sagar Island. At the edge of Sagar town - adjacent to the beach - is the ancient temple dedicated to Kapil Muni, the sage responsible for initiating the chain of events that ultimately resulted in Mother Ganga descending to the earth from heaven and giving mankind an opportunity to wash away its sins in her pure water. The earliest mention of this sacred place is found in the Mahabharata where a learned sage explains to Bhishma the significance of taking a dip at the confluence of Ganga Sagar. Millions of Hindu pilgrims visit this holy place all year round to take a dip in the ho,y Ganges, particularly during the Kumbha Mela and Makara Sankranti festivities.

Since this morning (Thursday, 12 June, 2008), Hindu Samhati had started conducting a training camp and workshop on the current socio-political scenario to 180 men, women and children in the peaceful and serene surroundings of Ganga Sagar.

Sri Tapan Kumar Ghosh, the National Convenor of Hindu Samhati is conducting the main sessions of this camp. Other eminent people and local notables are also present. Everything went on smoothly until this evening, when suddenly the camp building was surrounded by a murderous mob of about 6000-7000 local Muslims bent on mayhem. The Muslim attackers were well-prepared and have been throwing gas cylinders and petrol bombs (molotov cocktails) and kept on attacking incessantly for a few hours, to incinerate the whole camp. The entire camp building has been reduced to ashes. All 180 of our camp attendees (a large number of them women and children) and 15 policemen are trapped inside this burning camp along with our dear leader Sri Tapan Kumar Ghosh.

Already 14-15 attendees of the camp have been injured in the carnage, and at least 7 of them are in very critical condition and are not expected to survive. The names of the critically wounded include: Subodh Kundu, Bivas Mondal, Gopinath Biswas, Prasenjit Sardar and Gautam Halder, apart from 2 others that could not be identified because of serious facial burn injuries.

Nine camp attendees are still missing and may have been kidnapped by the Muslim mob. Their names are: Gautam Mondal, Kartick Biswas, Ram Shil, Palash Roy, Gopal Dolui, Piyush Senapati, Ashok Das, Shankar Nandi and Subhash Roy. We are very apprehensive about their well being.

The local police-station (Thana) has unfortunately sent in a small posse of 15 policemen who are totally inadequate for resisting such a huge Jehadi mob armed to the teeth. The police could not control the mob of Muslims even after firing several rounds.

As of Friday morning (June 13, 2008), as per the recent information received by us, the assault by the Muslim mob at Hindu Samhati campsite in Gangasagar is still on, although the intensity has abated a little bit. Some more police force has reached the trouble spot, though the large force required to subdue a mob of this size and temperament is nowhere in sight. A recent update by phone from the camp is that along with the 14-15 attendees who were injured, 2 policemen have also been seriously injured due to the assault by the Muslim mob. Scores of other attendees to the camp has sustained minor injuries in this most cowardly assault including the National Convener of Hindu Samhati, Sri Tapan Kumar Ghosh. Thankfully his injuries are not serious.

Apart from throwing petrol bombs to incinerate the camp building, the Muslim mob also tried to breach the wall by exploding cooking gas cylinders against it. Failing to break into the camp, the rampaging Muslim mob has attacked and seriously damaged some nearby houses of the local Hindus. They have also seriously damaged and set fire to an adjoining Kali temple and a 'Yatri Nivas' (Travellers' Lodge) run by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad. The fireball attacks have slightly abated but the vicious threats and stone pelting continues – all attuned to the collective chants of both 'naara-e-takbir, allahu akbar' (allah is the Greatest) and 'inquilab zindabad' (Long Live the Revolution).

Sagar island at the Ganga Sagar – the confluence of the Ganga and the Bay of Bengal – is one of the holiest pilgrimages of India, where millions of Hindus from all over India and the world gather during the 'Makar Sankranti' (Winter Solstice) for the 'Punya Snan' (Holy Bath) every year. If a peaceful Hindu gathering can be assaulted with such viciousness and impunity in one of the most sacred Hindu sites of pilgrimage, one shudders to think what lies in store for the Hindus of West Bengal a few years hence.

In a travesty of justice, instead of arresting the attackers, the Police in West Bengal have slapped a non-bailable arrest warrant against Sri Tapan Kumar Ghosh and 15 Hindu Samhati activists. The concocted charges against them are listed as being: "Incitement and Instigation for Rioting" and "Disruption of Communal Harmony".

As per the latest news received from the ground, Sri Tapan Kumar Ghosh and 15 Hindu Samhati activists have been framed and arrested for inciting communal disharmony by Kakdwip Thana (Police Station) in West Bengal.

1) The Friends of Hindu Samhati, USA strongly protests this outrageous attack on a peaceful, indoor religious function that was held behind closed doors. There was no provocation for this vicious assault nor was any outdoor procession held at the location. It is pitiable that the police could not provide security to its peace loving citizens and is instead insisting on closing the camp down.

2) We strongly urge the police and the local administration to arrest all the perpetrators of this heinous crime immediately and provide security to continue the camp at a nearby, alternate location.

3) We deeply deplore the travesty of justice in West Bengal and appeal to the police and the local administration to remove the framed charges and release Sri Tapan Kumar Ghosh and 15 Hindu Samhati activists immediately.

4) We request all friends and readers in India and abroad to call up the Indian administration to inquire about this incident. At least, they will know that people still care about justice and peace in India. The Numbers to Call are:

a) District Magistrate, South 24 Parganas
Phone: 033-24793713
Email: dm-ali@wb.nic.in

b) Mr. Praveen Kumar
District Superintendent of Police, South 24 Parganas, West Bengal
Mobile Phone: 91-98300-23142

c) Ganga Sagar Police-Station/Thana
Officer in Charge
Phone: 91-3210-240-205

d) Mr. Tomal Das
Officer in Charge
Kakdwip Thana (Police Station)
Mobile Phone: 98305-99612

e) Sub-Divisional Police Officer--Senior to Officer in Charge
Phone: 94349-66000

5) Finally, please show your solidarity with the beleaguered Hindus of West Bengal, and spread the news of this heinous outrage among your friends, co-workers and family.

Let us debate on secularism

admin — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 03:16:51 -0400

The BJP president Rajnath Singh speaking at the party national executive stirred up a hornet’s nest by calling for a nation-wide debate on secularism and its aberration. He said the word has lost its meaning in the Indian context and it has to be made redundant. He is right and he could not have chosen a better occasion to raise this issue.

The immediate provocation could have been the Karnataka election results. Commenting on the poll results the Congress and the CPM repeatedly referred to the BJP victory as a victory of communal forces and the defeat of the Congress as that of secular forces. By what definition this prognosis has found currency is not clear. The same electorate when votes for the Congress becomes secular and when votes for the BJP becomes communal. The media largely eating out of the hands of the establishment dutifully parrot this derivation. Is it not an affront to the Indian people? Sitaram Yechuri, who has not so far won any election, has the gall to come on the television and sermonise that the split in secular votes led to the victory of the communal forces.

The communists by their wicked cultural moorings have the indecent habit of always referring to the BJP “communal” party, without taking it by name. There are not many uncultivated in Indian politics like these Beijing gestapos. With the negligible electoral presence of just six per cent and cornered in two-and-a-half states the CPM harangue need not be taken seriously but for its veto power in the UPA. And if one is to take their cue and start calling them the fifth column, considering their wellknown and shameless kow-towing before Beijing and treacherous antecedents, Yechuris will have no place to hide. It is often the decency of the cultured that makes the scoundrels grow plumes.

The point here is the absurdity secularism has become. Parties like Congress cohabiting with Muslim League, MIM, MQM and PDP are talking of secularism. Even rabidly communal Muslim and Christian outfits call themselves secular. The CPM, which has built its political destiny singing hosannas to terrorists like Madhani, Afzal, SIMI and religious outfits like Jaamaat-e-Islami and Bangladeshi infiltrators and supporting the two-nation theory, calls itself secular. Actually, secularism has become an abuse. It has become a political slogan of the discredited power-hungry lot in India who are bereft of all ideologies and whose only raison d’etre is the common greed for power.

The word has lost its meaning by its abuse. It means radical anti-Hinduism and aggressive Muslim appeasement in India. The word carries no credibility. As a consequence, it will lose its sanctity, like socialism even if it remains in the Constitution. But Rajnath Singh has a point. A debate on the subject is a good education. It will clear many misconceptions and help India define its national identity.

In the nineties the then BJP national president L.K. Advani, in the wake of the Ramjanmabhoomi movement, triggered a positive and powerful debate on pseudo-secularism. It became very fruitful in the then political discourse and changed the exposition of contemporary ideological format.

The word secular was brought in by the backdoor during the Emergency through the 42nd Constitutional Amendment. The other word incorporated then was socialism, which the Congress government itself under P.V. Narasimha Rao government by adopting capitalism dictated by the World Bank undermined and left it meaningless. Secularism has also lost much of its relevance in translation, i.e. dharmanirpeksh instead of panthnirpeksh. But let us hope it will herald a healthy dialogue. Organiser will be too happy to promote this debate through our columns.