sangh

Where is Sangh leadership hiding on Terrorism?

sjain — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 23:56:12 -0400

I am quite saddened by the response of our Sangh Parivar leaders in standing up for the issues that are near and dear to the hearts of common Indians i.e. Democracy, Terrorism, Caste Divide, Enviornment etc.

Our leaders are great in standing up for minor issues such as Ram Sethu and Amarnath Land but they seem to missing the forest for the trees.

Recent terrorism incidents provide perfect opportunity to unite the whole nation behind Sangh Parivar and BJP. Right now, Sangh Parivar leader should have declared enough is enoug and we want the Sonia Gandhi's government to resign. They could have launched a huge rally in Delhi. By mobilizing all of their resources, they could have launched a massive rally to 10 Janpath, to force UPA government to take action.

Common man is angry over this issue. Every section of the society, including so called "seculars" will have supported sangh parivar's demand to make government take action or get out.

It could be the launch of election campaign to get rid of Sonia Gandhi's government.

But alas, our leadership leaves us so much to desire ...

Sometimes, I think RSS leadership is similar to UPA Government ... despite mounting criticism of RSS or terrorism in India, there is no action forthcoming. RSS can't seem to get its act together in getting media behind it and UPA can't seem to fight off terrorism.

BJP Govt to renovate Hindu temples in Karnataka

sjain — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 22:09:19 -0400

By Team Mangalorean, Bangalore

BANGALORE, July 16, 2008: The Government has decided to renovate 20,000 temples, which are in dilapidated condition. The Muzrai Department would renovate temples with the financial support of Non-Resident Indians and philanthropists, Minister for Muzrai and Housing S.N. Krishnaiah Setty told presspersons on Wednesday.

There were no archaks in a majority of the temples and daily poojas were being conducted in about 20,000 temples belonged to the Muzrai Department in the State. A few temples have been generating an annual income of Rs. 100 crore, the minister said.

With the involvement of film stars, sportspersons and NRIs, a campaign would be launched soon in Bangalore to raise funds for renovation works of temples. The local citizens and leaders have been asked to submit detail estimate plans containing information about temple history, location, funds required for renovation, to Deputy Commissioners and tahsildars in all districts. Out of 34,000 temples, only 185 temples have sufficient funds for maintenance.

Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa would lead a delegation to participate in the U.S.-based Association of Kannada Kootas of Americas Kannada conference in Chicago, US. The meet will commence from August 29. The delegation would appeal to the NRIs from Karnataka to donate funds for taking up renovation works of temples, the Minister said.

Hundis (donation boxes)

The department has decided to electronic "hundis" in all temples. The first electronic "hundi" will be established at the Banashankari temple in the City soon. Tenders would be invited to set up such "hundis". The cost of each "hundi" would be around Rs. 1.5 lakh, he said.

On encroachment of lands belonged to temples, the minister said a squad would be constituted to recover such lands.

Rs. 80 crore Master Plan to renovate Kukke temple

BANGALORE: The State Government has prepared a Rs. 80 crore Master Plan for renovation of the Kukke Subramanya temple located in rural village called Subramanya in the Western Ghats of the State, about 105 km from the coastal town Mangalore.

The temple is one of the famous pilgrimage sites in the state. A sum of Rs. 80 crore of the temple funds would be utilized for renovation work of the temple, construction of guesthouse, commercial complex, booking counter, bus-stand and other facilities. The work would be launched soon and would be completed in a year, Minister for Muzrai S. N. Krishnaiah Setty told presspersons on Wednesday.

Kukke Subramanya is on the bank of river Kumaradhara. There are quite a few guest houses at Kukke. The funds would be utilized for construction of more guest houses for providing accommodation for visiting pilgrims from the other parts of the country and abroad, he said.

Kukke Subramanya was in the news last year when cricketers Sachin Tendulkar, Robin Utthappa and film celebrities such as Shilpa Shetty and the Kapoor family visited the temple.

Tirupathi Temple

A decision has also been taken to construct a 1,000 room guesthouse on 7.5 acres, land adjoining the Lord Venkateswara Temple at Tirumala in Tirupathi, for providing accommodation for pilgrims visiting the temple from Karnataka.

Mr Setty said that the land dispute between the State Government and the Andhra Pradesh Government has been resolved. An agreement would be signed soon between two states for construction of the guesthouse. Thousands of devotees have come forward to donate funds for the construction of the guesthouse which would be built in a span of two years, the Minister said.
The land dispute had come to the surface over the past decade after the Karnataka Government stated that the land belonged to it and the Andhra Pradesh Government claimed that the land was taken over by that Government in 1958.

The 7.5-acre land was donated by the then Maharaja of Mysore and after the formation of the State the land became a Government property. Over the last few years, the State Government has given a narrow piece of this land to the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams to widen the road adjoining the Lord Venkateshwara Temple.

Original Source: http://mangalorean.com/news.php?newstype=broadcast&broadcastid=85090#

Note: Kartanaka Government manages all the Hindu Temples in Karnataka and therefore they are also responsible for upkeep of temples. For this work, no Tax money is being used, all the fund for this project will be generated from Temples itself. This will help boost tourism economy of the state.

Rashtriya Sewa Bharati : Bringing about positive attitudinal change

sjain — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 12:02:27 -0400

It was election time. High pitch election fever was everywhere. Money was profusely distributed throughout that constituency. Election agents of a candidate belonging to a particular political party arrived at Mangaleshwari Nagar, a remote village in East Coast Road of Ramanathapuram district in Tamil Nadu, with boxes of fresh currency notes of 500 and 1,000 denominations to distribute among people of this particular village. One currency note was available for each voter to get his support. But, to those agents’ surprise, the people of this village categorically refused to accept money from them.

“Let the Grama Sevika of Sewa Bharati come, you speak to her”, was the reply from the people of the village.

The agents patiently waited for hours. The Grama Sevika reached the village as per her regular programme. She was informed about the presence of agents with currency notes.

“We will cast our vote to an honest and patriotic leader of high spirit, not for money”, the Sewa Bharati volunteer roared. This was echoed by all the villagers. This incident forced the agents to return with dejection. One of our national problem was defeated in a nice and simple manner by the Sewa Bharati volunteer, by commanding the trust of the people by her relentless work and service mindset. The Grama Sevika guided the entire village and she was along with the people who stood as an example for the entire nation.

This is just a glimpse of the positive change being brought about in remote areas of the country by the volunteers of the Sewa Bharati. The Sangh swayamsevaks today runs more than one lakh similar service projects in remote areas of the country. Only under the banner of Sewa Bharati more than 50,000 service projects are run at about 23,000 places. It includes 13,786 projects of education, 10,908 of health care, 17,560 of social welfare and 7,452 self-reliance projects. It does not include the rural development projects.

“This change did not come in one day. It took about three decades for us to win the trust of the people. Today our workers are serving people from birth (Matrichhaya) to death (crematorium). Self-respect is being infused among the people of Sewa Bastis by starting various projects of self-reliance. Not only the children, but youths and adults also are being made literate. During the birth centenary year of Shri Guruji, Sewa Bharati, Delhi made more than 12,000 people literate just in three months. Now this project has been adopted by various other Prants with the objective to make every countryman literate,” says Shri Sitaram Kedilaya, Akhil Bharatiya Sewa Pramukh of RSS.

Before the formation of Sewa Bharati in 1979, the then RSS Sarsanghachalak Shri Balasaheb Deoras addressed a gathering of uniformed swayamsevaks at Ambedkar Stadium, Delhi on Varsh Pratipada Day (April 8, 1978) and formally called upon them to go to different sections of the society to start constructive activities among them. He directed the swayamsevaks to raise self-respect of the socially and economically deprived people so that the whole Hindu society could stand united and foil the game plans of the anti-national forces. It was a new direction to the swayamsevaks who till then were busy in running mostly the daily shakhas.

Before this call by the late Balasaheb Deoras, several swayamsevaks had individually started some service projects at certain places and their results were very encouraging. The organised initiative of service activities began only after this call of Bala Sahebji who himself inaugurated a Samskar Kendra in Delhi, later. Some experiments of service had also begun in southern parts of the country, especially in Karnataka, with the inspiration of the late Yadavrao Joshi, but there was no concrete initiative in northern parts of the country. It was Shri Vishnuji, presently the patron of Madhya Kshetra Sewa Bharati, who started a coaching centre at Sangam Park, a Valmiki Basti of Delhi, and practically materialised the call of the then Sarsanghachalak in the beginning of 1979. By the end of 1979 Sewa Bhartai was formally formed and registered in Delhi. It was the beginning of an organised service initiative on the part of the swayamsevaks. Gradually, this work took roots in other states also and various kinds of activities, as per the requirements of the bastis, were added to it.

In the year 2002, a national body, namely the Rashtriya Sewa Bharati, was formed to provide an umbrella cover to all the service activities being run by various wings of Sewa Bharati all over the country. Besides these projects of the Rashtriya Sewa Bharati the VHP runs 34,910 projects, Vidya Bharati runs 9,682 projects, Deendayal Research Institute runs 1,000 projects, Akhil Bharatiya Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram runs 6,503 projects, Bharat Vikas Parishad runs 1,050 projects, Rashtra Sevika Samiti runs 404 projects, Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad runs 168 projects and Akhil Bharatiya Drishtihin Kalyan Sangh runs 66 projects.

Sewa Bharati is committed to weed out the difference of superior and inferior from the society and different kinds of activities are being carried out by its volunteers to achieve this objective. This year on Republic Day when the whole country was busy in watching the live telecast of Republic Day celebration from Rajpath, New Delhi, the Sewa Bharati activists organised padyatras in 11 Sewa Bastis of Delhi. The padyatras were led by 18 senior saints. Prior to it, Swami Satyamitranand Giri, Swami Parmannda Maharaj, Didi Maa Sadhvi Ritambhara, Swami Raghvanand, Baba Prakash Shah, Mahant Naval Kishore, Mahamandaleshwar Ramate Jogi, Sant Nityanandji, Swami Divyanand Maharaj of Gita Niketan, Haridwar and Sadhvi Samvidanand also visited the Sewa Bastis in Delhi. Sri Sri Ravi Shankar also attended a function organised at Gannor (Haryana). The visits of saints in Sewa Bastis strengthened the unity of Hindu society and a large number of people who were being misguided by the alien cultures returned home.

Besides various projects of health, education and Bal Samskar the Sewa Bharati volunteers adopted terrorism-affected children of Jammu & Kashmir. Over 70 of such children presently stay at Gopaldham project of Sewa Bharati at Bhopra, Ghaziabad. Sewa Bharati has made complete arrangement for rehabilitation of these children, who were handed over to it by the Army about three years back.

In order to instill the spirit of nationalism into the children of Sewa Bastis the Sewa Bharati volunteers organise Bharatmata Poojan on Republic Day every year. Lakhs of children participate in these functions. Sewa Bharati also utilised the tradition of Kanyapoojan in north India to bridge the gap of poor and rich. Lakhs of girls belonging to Sewa Bastis are invited by the people of well-to do families during the navratras and they are worshiped like goddesses with full respect. It proved very effective in strengthening the feeling of social harmony.

The initiatives of Sewa Bharati have received applaud not only from the society but also from the government. It has been honoured by various state governments. “Our work is not reactionary. We are working for the society and not to counter the activities of other people or organisations. This is not sewa. It is our duty towards our own people. It is our duty to provide those facilities to the deprived people that we desire for ourselves. We are basically working with this feeling of duty,” adds Shri Sitaram Kedilaya.

(Rashtriya Sewa Bharati, 10196/A, Sewa Kunj, Mata Mandir Gali, Jhandewalan, New Delhi-55, E-mail: rashtriyasewa@gmail.com)
www.sevabharathi.org
http://sevabharathi.blogspot.com/
http://www.sevabharathi.org/
http://www.sevabharathikozhikode.com/
http://www.sevabharathiap.org/
http://www.sevabharathitn.org/
http://www.sevabharathi.net/
http://www.jankalyansamiti.org/
http://www.IDRF.org/
http://www.sewausa.org/
http://www.sewainternational.com/
www.sewainternational.org/index.html
http://www.vatsalyatrust.org/
http://www.svmm.org/
http://www.ssvvk.com/
http://www.nele.org.in/
http://www.sevakeralam.org/
http://jankalyansamiti.com/
http://www.letindiadevelop.org/
http://www.youthforseva.org/
http://www.hinduseva.org/
http://www.vanvasikalyanparishad.org/
http://vka-mah.org/
http://sevapratishthan.com/index.htm
http://www.sevanow.org/

Original Source: http://www.haindavakeralam.com/HKPage.aspx?PageID=6996

Bloomington kids mesmerize audience with Grand Ramayan Play : Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh USA

rkm — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 13:24:59 -0400

The great Indian epic Ramayan was presented by 60 kids from Bloomington - Normal, Illinois, USA with all fanfare and festivity on June 8 ,2008 at the prestigious Bloomington Center of Performing Arts (BCPA). This event was attended by more than 600 spectators who appreciated the talent and enthusiasm of kids enacting the scenes from this timeless epic. The occasion was the grand finale of "Kaun Banega Ramayan Expert" (KBRE) contest. This contest was organized simultaneously across towns in USA by Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh (HSS) .

Preparation for the event extended over a period of three months. The kids ranged in age from 4 to 15. All the dialogs were in English while preserving the reverence and deep emotional fervor associated with Ramayan.The well choreographed enactment was interspersed with drama, songs & dances, war scenes and melodrama. This is the first time such a large revue on Ramayana was performed in Midwest America.

The main objective of the event was to bring the spirit of Ramayan to every one in the community and lay the foundation of strong value oriented character among kids and adults. Mr. Shrinarayan Chandak (Vice President -HSS - Midwest region - USA, ) in his opening remarks dwelt on the significance of Shri Ram's message in our current life and times. He emphasized on how lessons from the Ramayan can help us become better leaders and generate lasting success in our social, business, corporate and political involvement.

Mr. Saumitra Gokhale (North America HSS teacher) brought out significant and subtle relevance of being involved with Ramayan. Among others he also emphasized the valor of a bird called Jatayu in Ramayan who sacrifices his life fighting the powerful demon king Ravan. This episode reflects on the sheer conviction to fight for righteousness irrespective of strength. In another instance Lakshman decides to follow his elder brother, Shri Ram to the forest. Here the attachment and reverence of Lakshman was to the all noble and strong ideals of Shri Ram in addition to the unconditional love of a brother. Mr. Gokhale also stressed on how Ramayan is very relevant to our lives in spite being set in a very ancient time.

The scenes from Ramayan that got enacted included 'Balakand', 'Vidyabhyas at Vishwamitra's gurukul', 'Sita Swamyavar', 'Ram Vanvas', ' Sita Apharan', 'Lanka Dahan', 'Setu Bandhan', 'Lakshman Indrajit yudh', 'Hanuman Sanjivani', 'Kumbhakaran yudh', 'Ram Ravan yudh', 'return of Shri Ram to Ayodhya' and 'Shri Ram Pattabhishekam'.

The extravagant show was appreciated by all in the community. The evening concluded by handing over of prizes to the winners of the KBRE competition which included online and in-person Ramayan quizzes, painting on Ramayan themes, story telling and elocution.The contest was preceded by narrating Ramayan stories to kids in the community.

The documentary on the ceremonious enactment of Ramayan in various cultures across the world from Siberia to Indonesia and from Myanmar, Thailand, Singapore and beyond brought in focus the global hues in celebrating the glory and values of Shri Ram.

An informative documentary on the resources available to the kids in the community through 'Balagokulam' – a Sunday school on divine Hindu morals, scriptures and inspirations was also presented. The HSS Bloomington chapter has been successfully conducting 'Balagokulam' for kids for quite sometime now.

The evening of celebration left the kids and the audience ecstatic with divine joy commonly associated with Ramayan.

Resources : Balagokulam Presentation, Ramayana Introduction

Photos

Print Media reports : Andhra-Jyoti, Telegu-One, Sakal, Dainik-Yawatmal 1, 2

IT Professionals joining Sangh Parivar in hordes throughout India

sjain — Fri, 09 May 2008 11:41:48 -0400

Originial Source: Rich techies on weekend ‘guilt’ trips to Sangh

Bangalore, May 7: IT executive Shrichand Kaushik, 25, doesn’t waste his Saturdays and Sundays at parties or spas. He heads to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh office for a bout of soul-searching.

Neither does Guru Prasad, a young Infosys employee, spend the weekend watching the IPL boys and girls or lazing about the house. He, too, makes it to the Sangh state headquarters, where he can meet Lokesh B.H. and M.P. Kumar, the CEOs of Ratna Rai Infotech and Global Edge Solutions.

They are all regulars at the IT milan, held on the lines of the Sangh parivar’s Diwali and Holi milans.

Every fortnight for the past one year, scores of young Bangalore techies have been gathering at these meetings, feeling sheepish about skipping their share of the daily shakhas and hoping to exorcise the guilt through the milans.

The meetings end with the members singing the Sangh anthem, “Namaste sadaa, vatsale mathrubhoomi (salutations, ever-loving motherland)”, their right hand placed over the chest. Some of the wealthy yuppies even turn out in the Sangh’s khaki knickers.

Most are aged between 25 and 35, and include junior, middle-level and senior executives, some of them already millionaires. Word of mouth has increased the attendance from around 25 at the beginning to about 100.

They discuss the issues of the day and not business or office politics, and wonder if it’s worth their while stashing up the bucks if they cannot “share a part of it with society”.

The guilt trips that the gatherings are have sometimes yielded tangible results, like a corpus for scholarships for poor but “bright and meritorious” students.

Some of the techies’ attraction is born out of faith in the Sangh’s ideology of a “strong nation”. For others, the “sanitised” lifestyle of the swayamsevak (Sangh volunteer) is an ideal to aspire to.

Few of them would admit they see the Sangh as a springboard to a political career in the BJP. But the enthusiasm with which they have virtually taken over the party’s central election office makes one wonder if the impulse is merely “social service”.

The milans may be a fortnightly business, but with the Karnataka polls drawing near, the BJP’s Malleshwaram office in the heart of Bangalore is overrun with the IT boys at any time of the day.

They have created a portal that is a political analyst’s dream. The databases are so well updated that a click will tell you which leader is campaigning where and when, apart from other sundry details.

In their oversized bush shirts and jeans, the clean-shaven techies with their crew cuts stand out from the tilak-wearing Sangh-BJP worker in kurta-pyjamas.

Oozing attitude and flitting from room to room, the boys refer to the senior leaders by their first names. Arun Jaitley is “Arunji” for party officials but to the IT lads, he’s just Arun, a “pioneer and practitioner of IT in politics”.

The Kaushiks and Prasads speak with as much authority on the state elections, and how poorly the Congress and H.D. Deve Gowda’s party are placed, as on ancient Indian history — or their versions of it. They claim to know as much about the future of the Sangh as about that of the IT industry.

“Anything modern need not be western,” says Kumar, arguing globalisation and the Sangh are “perfectly compatible”.

Asked how many techies are in the Sangh, the answer ranges from 2,000 to 1 lakh, including those from Mysore and Mangalore, the state’s other IT hubs.

But, Lokesh explains, the IT milans are confined to small, “manageable” groups so that the discussions and debates don’t wander off-course. The Sangh doesn’t maintain membership records, claiming “voluntary participation” lies at the core of its credo.

So why are they here? Kaushik, a senior executive with Torry Harris Business Solutions, cites “Indianisation” as his inspiration.

“It’s erroneously called Hindutva, but I want to quote a Hindi adage that says the world will awaken only when the Hindu awakens and when the world awakens, only then will humanity gather faith in itself.”

Kaushik claims there is no contradiction between his version of “Indianisation” and globalisation, which spawned the industry that has turned him into a millionaire at 25.

“To understand a country you must understand its history, and globalisation has clouded this understanding,” he says.

For Prasad, the Sangh is like a personality-development kit. “I have understood the traditional values of India, the family and social values, through the Sangh.”
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