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Want to know the history

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do many meet prisoners for so many reasons. do we take congnisance of al these things.so why priyanka shuld not meet Naokini . Sehe may want to find out why she killed her father.

Why dont we allow people to have some privacy in theri life.

prabhakaran.
 
2008052750031401.jpg
THE SAGA OF INDIAN CANNONS: R. Balasubramaniam; Aryan Books International, Pooja Apartments, 4B, Ansari Road, Darya Ganj, New Delhi- 110002. Rs. 4500.

Rudyard Kipling’s much fabled Zam Zamah, which is actually a very big cannon, is featured in this colourful collage-cum-compendium, which appears to be a labour of love of the author; else why should an educationist be devoting so much time, energy and money into a project which is essentially fodder only for the gunners, and may be for the military history buffs and military technologists interested in medieval times? Other Indian cannons dealt with are the Durga tope of the deccani Daulatabad Fort, the karak bijli of Golconda, the Bhawani Shankar of Jhansi, Babur’s tufangchis, Akbar’s multi-barrelled cannons, Sher Shah Suri’s bronze cannon, Tipu Sultan’s ban artillery, Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s Sutlej Gun , the Dogra mortars, the Congreve rockets, the Dardennels cannon, and many others dating back in time to the very advent of the then state-of-the-art and classy metallurgy of the Indian subcontinent way back in 15th century A.D.
History Zam Zamah was also known, in literary circles, as the “Kim’s Gun.” It was cast by Ahmad Shah Abdali, and later changed hands till it finally came into the possession of the English after the subjugation of the Sikhs. Apart from all this lore, song and dance, the cannon along with the gunpowder shaped the contours of empires, geography and history, ever since the Chinese Sung dynasty first used a crystalline white powder in 900 A.D. Babur, the original Moghul, speedily vanquished a vastly superior Afghan force under Ibrahim Lodhi in Panipat on April 20, 1526 with the crafty deployment of cannons with the tufangchis playing hell with the charging Afghan cavalry. Later, the British used it to great effect in their conquest of India, with the artillery gaining the “Royal” prefix. In battle, it is the artillery that inflicts the maximum casualties on the enemy; the casualties from small arms fire of the infantry are nominal.
The technology for casting (forge-welding, copper, bronze, brass, fabricated cast iron, and wrought iron) of cannons came to the sub-continent from the Ottoman Turks (rumis), the Mameluke Egyptians, the Chinese and the Portuguese, many of whom were employed in the service of the local rajas/ sultans/moghuls. There were some Poles, as well as quite a few French soldiers of fortune, who played starring roles in the manufacture, deployment and command of artillery units in the various periods of history. The main concern of the rulers was to ensure central control in respect of the command of the guns, and casting of cannon and ball.
World class The Mughals faltered in keeping up with the latest Western trends in technology and they paid heavily for this lapse as the Marathas, who had Europeans artillery men in their lashkars, and mounted-raiders reduced Mughal rule to the confines of the very ramparts of Delhi’s Lal Quila by the time Bahadur Shah Zafar came to the throne. The British with their European-manned guns in an “artillery-centric”, sepoy army, made a mockery of even that. R. Balasubramaniam has done a good job by any standard undoubtedly; however, having started with the intention of showcasing only the world class metallurgy in medieval India, he seems to have got carried away by its use in the casting of cannon, and gone on to author this remarkable glossy which is the first of its kind. Kudos are in order as the book is a collector’s item. There are few glaring lapses in this otherwise very high standard work.


http://www.hindu. com/br/2008/ 05/27/stories/ 2008052750031400 .htm
The invention of cannons and their use in warfare added a different dimension to battles. The fates of nations were decided by the use of cannons. The science of gunpowder and the technology of cannons, from their introduction in the Indian subcontinent in the middle of the fifteenth century up to the pre-modern period, have been illustrated using Mughal miniature paintings and analysis of extant cannon pieces. The massive and wonderful forge welded iron cannons and cast bronze cannons of medieval India have been presented, some for the first time, in this book. The mighty cannons that established Mughal, Maratha, Sikh and Deccan powers have
been described. Indian innovations in cannon technology like shaturnal (cannons fired from back of camels), composite cannons (of inner wrought iron bore and outer bronze casting) and bans (battlefield rockets) offer sufficient proof of Indian ingenuity in science and technology.

The book draws inspiration and major material from the original publications on the subject by the author. Written simply and profusely illustrated with line drawings and photographs, the book embodies the latest researches on the subject. It will fascinate both serious scholars and lay readers, and provide them rare glimpses into India's rich military and metallurgical heritage.

2008; pp. xviii+332; Size 22 cm x 31 cm;
Copiously Illustrated; Exclusively on Art Paper;
Bibliography; Index; ISBN-978-81- 7305-339- 9; Rs. 4500

Professor R. Balasubramaniam has vast experience in teaching corrosion and Indian archaeometallurgy. After graduating in metallurgical engineering from the Banaras Hindu University in 1984 with a gold medal, he completed his PhD in materials engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, USA in 1990. He has, since then, been teaching and conducting research at the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur in the Department of Materials and Metallurgical Engineering. He is the recipient of several prestigious awards like the BHU University Gold Medal (1984), BHU Ghandhy Gold Medal (1984), Indian Institute of Metals Vishwa Bharathi Award (1984), Indian National Science Academy Young Scientist Award (1993), Humboldt Fellowship from the German Government (1996), Materials Research Society of India Medal (1999) and Metallurgist of the Year (1999) awarded by the Government of India. The widely published author is on the editorial board of several international journals. His significant research work on the famous 1600-year old Gupta period corrosion-
resistant Iron Pillar, located in the Qutub, has received national and international acclaim. He is the author of four other books, Delhi Iron Pillar: New Insights, The World Heritage Complex of the Qutub, The Story of the Delhi Iron Pillar and Marvels of Indian Iron Through the Ages.
 
Rajiv plotter mercy verdict delayed

Thu, 12 Jun, 2008,03:37 PM​
. The Madras High Court has adjourned hearing on a petition seeking early release of Nalini Sriharan - jailed for the past 17 years - for protecting the assassins of ex-premier Rajiv Gandhi.

The petition points out that her behaviour during imprisonment had been good and she should be freed soon.

. Nalini, who is serving the sentence in the Vellore prison recently filed a petition in the Madras High Court seeking her release on grounds of good conduct.
Nalini had sought release a few years back and it was rejected by the prison officials on 28 December in 2006.

Release opposed

When the case came up for hearing Thursday in the Madras High Court. Janata Party president Subramania Swamy had filed a petition against the release of Nalini.
He requested the Court to implead himself as a party in the proceedings.
Counsel for Subramanya Swamy, Rajagopal said that Swamy should be considered as a party to the proceedings keeping in mind the welfare of the society.
He contended that the Supreme Court had sentenced Nalini to death and it was already brought down to a life sentence.
The convict does not have any inherent right to demand premature release.
Elangovan, who appeared for Nalini, said that the allegations by Swamy were baseless and requested time to file his reply.
Wilson, who appeared for the State and the Centre also followed suit and wanted more time to file the reply.
Following this, the case was adjourned by Judge Nagamuthu to 18 June.
Gandhi's daughter Priyanka Vadra had said her family had pardoned Sriharan after a controversial secret meeting with her in March.

The trip raised a lot of eyebrows as their was no official record in the visitors book at the prison of her visit. However Priyanka Gandhi said the visit was ‘to come to terms with reality’.
Conspiracy theorists see a larger gameplan in her visit and Nalini’s subsequent plea for release from the prison.
If the rumours doing the rounds are to be given credence then the Rajiv Gandhi assassination has plenty of wheels within wheels.
A female suicide bomber sent by the Sri Lankan Tamil separatist group LTTE killed Gandhi at an election rally in Sriperumbadur in Tamilnadu state in 1991.

The assassination that shocked India is seen as a reaction after Indian troops briefly engaged the rebels in a chaotic battle to halt the separatist war in Sri Lanka.
http://newstodaynet.com/newsindex.php?id=8196 & section=7
 
This is a great article on a party and its leader who grew up in the divisive politics of Tamilnadu engendered by its core policies of anti-Brahminism.

http://newstodaynet.com/col.php?section=20&catid=30

Much ado about a nuisance!

Saturday, 21 June 2008, 03:19 PM

Point Blank

T R Jawahar
Dr Radhakrishnan Saalai in Chennai has always fascinated me as a geographical metaphor for the political trends in TN.Entering it from the Gemini flyover end, there is a spot on the road wherein, if you take a left turn you reach the residence of CM K ... Gopalapuram, not CIT Nagar.

A right turn there would take you to Poes Garden where resides the Queen Bee of the AIADMK, that is, when she is not in Kodanadu C/o Nilgiris. The political traffic on this road much travelled has always been heavy with either of the two heavy weights alternating in power and the turns taken by the various political travellers would depend on who is ruling the roost, in State or Centre. It is now the turn of PMK, after turning left for about four turbulent years, to turn right now.

For the present, however, Dr Ramadoss looks stranded at the crossroads, with a no-entry sign hung on the left and nary a welcome arch on the right as he had expected. Of course, one can bet the Poes gates will eventually open, at least just enough for him to squeeze through, provided the maverick maruththuvar is ready to cut his own ego to size in due deference to the mighty one residing inside. But the Dr has little choice. Having literally talked himself out of the DPA, he has necessarily to beg his way into the new shelter. Well, not really new, as he had been there before. But then he and his bunch of self-styled BC-OBC champions have been everywhere over the last one decade.

The rise of Dr Ramadoss and his pocket-party PMK is an enduring sub-tragedy amidst the bigger disasters of the two major Dravidian dispensations. Dr R burst on the political scene sometime in 1988 claiming to be a messiah for the Vanniars, who in his view, were shortchanged in the socio-economic-education-employment spoils of the State. His agitating gang soon achieved notoriety for felling trees and blocking highways. The period was the immediate aftermath of MGR’s death with the State in a flux and under President’s rule. The vacuum was just right for the entry of such hot, albeit obnoxious, gases. The Cong at the Centre was aspiring to recapture TN that was lost in 1967 and so started indulging the avaricious Dr R. They fell out soon enough and the DMK-AIADMK musical chair re-started in 1989 with the Cong back as piggy-back. But by then Dr R had got political legitimacy. The felled trees were worth more than the axes. And the damage has gone beyond mere trees.

BC-OBC politics has always held sway in the country, but for almost four decades it was the preserve of the Congress. Dr R, therefore, could be deemed a pioneer of sorts who decentralised it in this part of the country and made it a potent political tool in the hands of smaller outfits, much ahead of the Laloos, Mulayams and Mayawatis. In fact, he preceded even ‘Weepy’ Singh in sensing the political potential of Backwardness. So as Dr R’s ambitions grew, emboldened by the attention his agitational politics was drawing, he sought to expand his horizons beyond his own caste. And the Vanniyar Sangam soon gave birth to the Paattali Makkal Katchi. But it is doubtful if the paattalis (toilers) outside the pale of his caste were ever fooled into throwing their lot with him.

The advent of coalitions at the centre in 1996 was the next big opportunity. The shrewd caste politician switched to power play. But it was not until 1998, a full decade after his debut, that he could taste real raw power. Thanks to J and BJP, the PMK as part of the NDA was now in Parliament and even the Central cabinet, though it had not a single MLA in the State. From then on, the PMK has been more or less a permanent fixture in the Centre, whoever the ruler and whatever the alliance. Sure even the DMK and its Baalus are as entrenched in Delhi as the Qutub Minar, but Dr R is different. His party has been the most promiscuous, partnering almost every other party registered with the EC. The PMK has been with the DMK, AIADMK, MDMK, the BJP, Congress, Left, you name it. And it has been moving so seamlessly between alliances and arrangements that anyone, if he bumps into Dr R, must ask ‘where are you?’ instead of ‘how are you?’. In short, the PMK is the personification of all that is evil about coalition politics.

With power has come some seeming sophistication. The PMK has learnt the art of putting up road blocks without resorting to de-forestation. May be they have run out of trees, but certainly not blackmailing tactics. And with vulnerable big brothers (or sisters), it has got away till date. For instance, it has succeeded in stalling virtually every development project, be it airport expansion or NLC or Satellite townships, on one pretext or another. Not that the projects were conceived with honourable intent by the rulers, but the PMK’s veto power is grossly disproportionate and wholly unconstitutional. And worse, the resolution of some issues points to more unseemly under the table deals! After all, nuisance has a value too.

This immoral political outfit is at the vanguard of every moral issue. Serious social problems like drinking, smoking in public, cultural degradation, capitation fee, and illegal sand mining have lost their sheen simply because the PMK is sponsoring them. Genuine activists and victims’ interests are lost in the din and stink raised by PMK, armed as it is with rotten tomatoes and even more rotten tongues. In reality, neither its decibel levels nor its legislative arithmetic is justified by its true ground level support base. The party has always won its way through alliances and secured plum posts through ransom politics. Its real strength has never been electorally tested and is anybody’s guess. So it’s time the bluff is called and the PMK is left to fend for itself. That would be a great relief to the State. And in the interest of J and K too, to be rid of blackmail, if that’s motivation enough.

If the Left and Right turns are closed, there is only one other option on RK Saalai for political nomads like PMK: Go straight and drown in the Bay of Bengal. For that’s where they all belong.
 
The biggest danger to our existence and sovereignty comes from proselytization. Unless we become aware of this and fight this menace our existence as a community will be lost.

Ramaa

http://newstodaynet.com/col.php?section=20&catid=29

‘Inculturation’ - A danger to communal amity!

Saturday, 21 June 2008, 01:38 PM

By: B R HARAN

Religious conversion has been a subject of dispute for ages and the Church has been well known for conversion activities to spread Christianity through out the world in its pursuit of souls for harvesting. It mostly follows the strategies of allurement and pressure to convert the people following other religions. Pope John Paul, when he visited India, had openly called for the evangelisation of Asian continent and ordered his Padres to harvest maximum number of souls in Asia in general and India in particular. The renewed campaign, which started then with full force, has increased manifold with the development of a close relationship between the Church and the Pseudo-secular political parties. This relationship has been possible due to the considerable chunk of Christian vote bank and the Church’s involvement in education and health sectors

The old style of the Church with regards to conversion has been to influence the elite class of a society first, and in India it did attempt to propagate and influence the Brahmin community during the initial stages. But, as the Brahmins have been the protectors of the Vedic philosophy and practitioners of the Vedic traditions, which have been the hallmarks of the cultural heritage of this great nation, they strongly opposed the moves of evangelizations. Later on, as it realised that the focus on Brahmins would be a waste of time and resources, the Church started to focus on other castes and in the process it drove a wedge between the Brahmin and non-Brahmin elites. As a last resort, it forced its way into the so-called lower denominations, which also formed the major chunk of the society. As its target group was gullible, the Church easily exploited the innocence, thereby earning huge dividends.

The three hundred years of British rule helped the Church to establish its missionaries at various pockets of the country, particularly in tribal areas and rural India and since then the harvesting has been going on slowly and steadily. After Independence, the Constituent Assembly’s noble intention of giving room for ‘propagating’ one’s religion’ helped the Church to score brownie points. This is evident from the fact that the Northeast, which was predominantly Hindu at the time of independence, has become almost totally Christian within fifty years. Similarly in the south, where the Portuguese onslaught paved the way for the establishment of Christianity, conversions have been rampant. Goa, which was the focus of Christian Persecution during the Portuguese invasion, has turned out to be predominantly Christian. As the Portuguese landed in the coastal areas of Tamilnadu too, the state has witnessed laborious activities by the missionaries, which was helped by people like G.U.Pope and Bishop Caldwell. Later on the Church and Missionaries were, and are still, aided and abetted by the Dravidian Movement, with an ulterior motive of isolating the Tamil people from the Hindu fold. Kerala has a few districts, which are dominated by the community, particularly Syrian Christians, who form 80% of the 22% Christians in the state. After achieving a considerable harvest in Goa and Kerala, the other three states of TN, AP and Karnataka have become the focus of missionaries.

With stiff opposition from the Hindu religious, cultural and social organszations, the Church has been adapting different strategies to achieve the objective of soul harvesting. As the nation was reeling under poverty, illiteracy and ill-health due to the thousand years of looting by the Moghul and British Invaders, the education and health sectors came in handy for the Church and Missionaries to strategise and channelise their conversion methods. Apart from Health and Education, they also started applying a novel method called ‘Inculturation’, which dates back to as early as the 17th Century.

Robert de Nobili, a Jesuit from France, who came to India in the early 17th century, wanted to pose himself as a Brahmin from Rome after learning Sanskrit and a few Vedic scriptures too. He wore saffron robes and conducted discourses living in a hut and claimed that the Bible was one of the lost Vedas! As he gave a Hindu colour to himself, he was quite successful with a large gathering of followers, until when the people realised his dubious motives (Refer: The Portuguese in India, Orient Longman, Hyderabad, 1990). As the European religious leaders were not convinced of his methodology, they didn’t apply his strategies elsewhere.

Moreover, as Hindu leaders like Swami Vivekananda, Gandhiji, Ambedkar and Narayana Guru had thorough knowledge of Christianity and its motives of evangelisation, the Church and missionaries could not extend their activities beyond a certain limit and confined their operations to rural and tribal areas. Even during the time of Nehru, who made no bones about his sense of vagueness for Hinduism, the Congress government in Madhya Pradesh constituted the Niyogi Commission (1956), which confirmed the dubious methods adopted by the Churches & Missionaries for harvesting souls and it also recommended a ‘ban’ on conversions. Despite Nehru’s mistake of failing to table the Commission’s report, the Congress government in MP went on to enact the anti-conversion law called the Madhya Pradesh Dharma Swatantraya Adhiniyam in 1968 following Orissa, which passed the Orissa Freedom of Religion Act, 1967. Later in 1977, the Supreme Court of India upheld the Constitutional validity of both the laws through the Stainislaus v. State of Madhya Pradesh (AIR 1977 SC 908) case. Now, Gujarat has an Anti-Conversion Law in practice and other BJP ruled states have also followed suit.

In the last three to four decades, the Church and Missionaries have developed a close rapport with the pseudo-secular political parties by showing its vote bank as a trump card. The Church has now revived the process of ‘Inculturation’ with an aim to adopting the well-established Hindu cultural practices to make a changeover in the minds of the gullible masses.

The Church has started setting up Hindu type of buildings and called them as ‘Catholic Ashrams’ controlled by ‘Saffron robed’ Padres projecting themselves as ‘Swamijis’. The Hindu style of architecture, construction, layout and interior designs are being followed. The buildings also have the Sanskrit ‘Ohm’ symbol in front of them and the saffronised Padres claimed that Ohm is not Hindu, but Vedic! Some Churches also sculpture the statues of Jesus in ‘meditating’ posture (Kerala), Jesus sitting cross-legged on a lotus (Hyderabad), Jesus emerging after a purification bath in Ganges (Haridwar) and they even claim that yoga and meditation are not connected to Hinduism and that they are universal, common to all religions! The ‘Ashtothram’ and ‘Sahasra Naamam’ (108 and 1008 names) have also been prepared for performing ‘Archana’ on Jesus and the ‘Aarti’ is also being performed.

continued....
 
contd..
In Tamilnadu, Churches have started ‘Padayatras’ for Velankanni Shrines, some times even with the ‘Irumudi’ (similar to the one taken for Sabari Mala Yatras). The Velankanni pilgrims have started wearing saffron robes. Many Churches have started giving ‘Chakra Pongal’ (Sweet Rice) as ‘Prashadams’ for the people. Apart from Velankanni in Nagapattinam, the Velankanni shrine in Besant Nagar, Chennai also follows these practices of inculturation. The seemingly deliberate setting up of ‘Mary shrines’ in street corners, next to ‘Vinayaga’ enclosures / small temples, is a concerted effort to replace ‘Goddess Maariamman’ from the scheme of things as they exist now. Evangelists have been seen brazenly telling the village people that Mary (Mother) and Mari (Amman) are one and the same. During festival times one can find digital banners in the Santhome area of Chennai City near Marina Beach, claiming Mary as ‘Thiru Mayilai Annai’ (Mother in Mylapore), while the true ‘Thiru Mayilai Annai’ is Goddess Karpagambaal of Kapaaleeshwarar Temple, which was demolished by the Portuguese. The whole world knows that ‘Girivalam’ (Circumambulation of Hill Temples) is being performed at Thiruvannamalai every ‘Pournami’ (New Moon Day) and the same practice has been started by Churches at many places after erecting a huge Cross and a Prayer House on Hillocks. A Church on the hillock at a place called Achirupakkam near Melmaruvaththur Adi Parashakthi Temple is a classic example for Chrsitian Girivalam. The Church has adapted every Hindu practice and the only thing left is the replacement of ‘Hindu Murthis’ with Jesus and Mary statues, which is most likely to happen anytime if this inculturation continues. The Churches claim that this concept of inculturation has been aimed at bridging the divide between Indian Cultural Experience and the Western Character of Christianity.

Similar to the Christianising of Yoga and Meditation, fine arts like Baratha Natyam is also allegedly being Christianised by a few institutes in the country. The adaptation of practises of Hindu religion, culture and fine arts by the Church and missionaries with an intention of de-Hinduising them, have created havoc in the psyche of the Hindu majority provoking it beyond the limits of tolerance.

The only remedy lies in bringing a Constitutional Amendment. At present, the Constitution ensures ‘Freedom of Religion’ to practise & propagate and certainly doesn’t grant the right to convert others. The relevant ‘Article-25’, which ensures freedom of religion, is subject to public order, morality and health. But, the process of inculturation being practised by the Church now, violates all and calls for a total ban on such attempts and a legislation of a Central Anti-Conversion Law. Also, the Constitution must be amended, so as to remove the word ‘propagate’, which is deviously used by the Church. The minorities must be allowed to practice their religion. But it should not be done at the cost of national interest and communal amity.
 
"Thittam pottu thirdura kuuttam thirudinkonde errukkum...."

The governance borrow the idea how to govern, from western world. As long as this continues , so long the dharma will be protecterless and be vulnerable to those cultural butchers.

"Ishvaro Rakshathu"

It's disheartening to see our own people lacks proper sense of discrimination.
 
St.Thomas' two skeletons - (Mylapore, India; Ortona, Italy)

St. Thomas' two skeletons (Mylapore, India; Ortona, Italy)
Can you name the only Saint who left behind his two skeletions?: One was the skeleton as a youth (Found in Mylapore, Chennai), and the second skeleton as an old man (Found in Ortona, Italy). St. Thomas deserves a Bollywood movie to celebrate creationism.


Kalyanaraman


Read the very revealing article by Sri V.Sundaram
http://www.scribd.com/doc/3826832/St-Thomas
 
to convert to right path - one can tell any amount of lie - may be that could be the justification of the evangelists.

basically our house is not in order - some one could say but that doesn't justify others to occupy our house. That talks a lot about the integrity of those people. What Kunjuppu what do you say?
 
malgova,

i agree with you that from our viewpoint there is no integrity for the other people as you call them. they see an opportunity to play their game.

except, if not anything else, we should get our house in order.

i think we will all agree just on that. any step as to how to do it, starts our disagreement.

i hope this answers your query.

thank you.
 
Kunjuppu!

The "ORDER" needs to be recognized as such, it is simple as that.

Regards
 
MM-ji,

For the order to be recognized as such, you shd not be here. If you are not living life in the service of God, how can others accept any order.
 
malgova,

i recognize the order. you recognize it.

the problem is that the man in the street does not. i go along with happy.

please come up with some ideas as to how you propose to go about propagating the order.

thank you.
 
Kunjuppu!

Good that you recognize it. Thought you had confilcts with Jati order. Now are you ok with that?

man in the street will, with our sincere and structured prayers to the Lord.

I don't understand your " i go along with happy"

More important than propogation is protection - Just a plain observation "Dharmo Rakshati Rakshitaha" We protect the Order , the Order will protect us - any relation is symbiotic.

Regards
 
Last edited by a moderator:
malgova,

i must have misunderstood the nuances in your query.

i do not practice jathi.

i interpreted ORDER as the Hindu Way of Life, as opposed to other religions.

i believe in an inclusive Hinduism without castes, like Ramanujar.
 
Denying Hindus space
Times of India
Tarun Vijay

The Amarnath land row in Kashmir has proved that if Muslim politicians of the valley feel strongly about something they can make the government bend and accept their demands.

So it is hypocrisy when they complain in some summits in London that Delhi doesn’t heed them or they have less power to rule the valley ‘appropriately’ and hence need more autonomy.

They fought on the streets and denied a piece of land to Hindu pilgrims to be used for facilitating a night’s stay and food in that snowy area just for two months. The land was barren; not a single tree grows there and not one person was to be stationed there permanently.

Yet the votaries of Kashmiriyat , who would announce day and night how keen they are to see Kashmiri Hindus return to their localities and how their religion stands for love, compassion and peace, stood firm, spreading lies to ensure that Hindus do not get an inch of space for a temporary shelter.

They said it is a place which will be used to reduce Muslims in the valley to a minority. The land is forest area, Hindus will destroy the environment, they said. It’s a plot by Indians to assault Muslims of the valley. Hence, land will not be given at any cost, the politicians said.
They won. And they knew what they are saying to defend their indefensible position are all lies.
The first thing the new governor N N Vohra was made to do was to take back the proposal on behalf of the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board for the acquisition of approximately 100 acres of land. He didn’t begin his tenure trying to see Kashmiri refugee Hindus are returned with honour and safety to their homes. Nor could Vohra hold any meeting to ensure the valley is free from jihad and that developmental plans are executed to benefit all patriotic citizens. The first move that a Hindu majority country’s constitutional appointee took was against the interests of Hindus.

I am sending this column from Kolkata where, being involved in a seminar on security, I saw a message from the then Governor General Sinha wishing that the seminar goes off well. It is the kind of message that holders of gubernatorial posts often send but there is a difference: while all constitutional authorities use just one symbol of the state insignia – that is, the replica of the Sarnath pillar with four faces of the lion – in Jammu and Kashmir, another state insignia is used parallel to the Indian one, representing Jammu-Kashmir.

The only state in India which has a separate flag and a special power bestowed on it by the constitution is Jammu and Kashmir.

On an average it gets 10 times more grants compared to any other Indian state yet it complains a hundred times more about Delhi’s discrimination and prejudice. The jawan who protects the people and the territory with his sweat and blood is not allowed to buy an inch of land in the state due to the constitutional provision of Article 370 which bars any Indian from settling down in Kashmir.

Dr Syamaprasad Mookerjee, who became the youngest vice-chancellor of Calcutta University at the age of 34 and later founded the Bharatiya Janasangh, fought against the special powers bestowed upon Jammu & Kashmir that separated it from the rest of the country and paid for his patriotism with his life. He began a movement in 1953 opposing the state’s separate entity, was arrested at the state’s border on May 11, 1953 and kept under house arrest in Srinagar. He was brought dead to Kolkata, his hometown, on June 24, 1953 (he breathed his last under mysterious circumstances in custody of the Jammu & Kashmir govt on June 23).

Born on July 6 , 1901, he was barely 52 when his death shook the nation. Prime Minister Nehru refused an inquiry and while Syama Prasad’s mother Jogmaya Devi wrote a poignant letter which drew a rude reply.

Kolkata was up in protest and even Somnath Chatterjee, the current Speaker of the Lok Sabha, wrote a letter of protest which was published in the Manchester Guardian . Syamaprasad’s martyrdom made a difference in the sense that the provision of having two heads of the state was abolished and the sadar-e-riyasat (head of state) sys tem was replaced with the usual governorship in vogue elsewhere.

‘They have killed him’

Was Syamaprasad killed? Yes, said the Mother in Pondicherry. He was an ardent devotee of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother had great hopes from him to change the politics of India. In a book written by an ardent devotee of Sri Aurobindo, Manoj Dasgupta (Dr Syamaprasad Mookerjee “a pure and manly life”, pp:52,53,) he has described a conversation which is quit revealing. He writes: ‘I may add here a personal note in this context (death of Dr.Mookerjee while in detention in Kashmir). It was during the ‘de facto’ transfer of Pondicherry [1954] the Ashram was invited to participate in a cultural programme. One evening when the Mother came out of the interview room in the playground (of the Ashram), she began to talk to Debu and me about the preparations for the programme. In course of the conversation the question of the present political situation in India came up. I told Mother that in earlier times we had such great leaders, today we have none.

She said that politics was always steeped in falsehood and that was one of the reasons why Sri Aurobindo left politics.


Among the present leaders, she said that she had reposed great hope on Syamaprasad, but: “Ils l’ont tue ‘ They have killed him. (The entire conversation was in French). When I looked at her with surprise, she said, “My child, you don’t know, that there are many ways of killing with slow poison.”

Why was Syamaprasad denied a space and life in Kashmir for his just and patriotic demands?

My friends tirelessly write about Kashmir’s patriotic past and how during Pakistan’s surprise attack in 1947, Kashmiri Muslims had raised the slogan – ‘ Hamlawar khabardar, hum Kashmiri hain taiyyar (Attackers beware, we Kashmiris are ready to face you)”.
If Kashmiri Muslims were so patriotic, why was Syama Prasad not given a place of honour in the valley for his efforts to bring Kashmir at par with other Indian states?

(contd.)
 
contd..

Like Amarnath yatris have been denied space by the present Kashmiri Muslim politicians, patriots like Syamaprasad were denied a space by the secular media and politicians of the same ilk.

In fact the socio-political space for assertive nationalists is sought to be reduced in every sphere of life. It’s difficult to publish your views in the so called ‘free, objective and independent’ media and even if some space is given, the seculars frown upon it as if an anti-national act has been committed. The entire coverage of the Amarnath land row proves it. The slant is too visible against one set of people and favouring the prophets of denial. Why is this so?

Watch the well-orchestrated denial of space to India since the Shaikhs and Muftis have ruled Kashmir. The region got its name fr om Rishi Kashyap. This legend is sought to be denied or underplayed so much that it’s almost invisible now in any contemporary note on Kashmir’s history. Kashmir’s legacy of a citizen King, Lalitaditya, is denied and dustbinned and the language of the land, the base of any variety of Kashmiriyat , i.e. Kashmiri is denied a rightful place of honour in state affairs. Yes, the state language of Kashmir is not Kashmiri, but Urdu! Because the Shaikhs in their progressivism, reinforced by their leftist supporters, thought that Urdu belongs to Muslims and Jammu and Kashmir, being a Muslim-dominated area, must have Urdu as its state language. And yet they talk of some Kashmiriyat.

They saw their Hindu neighbours being killed, raped and maimed and yet, not a single Muslim Kashmiri took out the kind of protest demonstrations which were done to protest the sanction of a piece of land for the Amarnath pilgrimage.

And yet they say Kashmiriyat means love, peace and harmony.


When Hindu temples were razed and deities desecrated, when orchards of Hindus were destroyed and posters pasted on their homes asking them to leave the valley sans their women, who were the Kashmiri Muslims who wrote even letters to editors denouncing such heinous acts?

When massacres like Wandhama occurred and infants were shot dead by terrorists wielding AK-47s, the case was officially closed even before an inquiry could have been set up. Which Kashmiri Muslim leader stood firm and said ‘this is not done, we will ensure that till the culprits (who were all too well known) are brought to book, the case will remain open?’
Now, having forced the newly-appointed governor to take back the Amarnath Shrine Board’s application for land, they say they will provide all help to pilgrims. They forgot that hundreds of Hindu pilgrims have died in snowstorms in previous years, mainly due to tortuous weather and inadequate facilities . When Hindus wanted a small shelter on a barren waste land just for the two months of the yatra season, they were denied.

Can we have a better version of Kashmiriyat please?

But when the matter of Haj comes up, they are provided every facility at government expense – yes, the Delhi government’s expense. Haj houses, increased quotas every year, ambulances, hospitals, doctors and free delegates for Mecca at g overnment expense. Extra-large Haj terminals and extra-constitutional reservations in jobs and educational facilities.

But space for Hindus is unacceptable.

It’s not a question of Kashmir politics, but shows a mindset that grows on hate and intolerance. It’s not an issue of denying Hindus a space in the valley or in the so called mainline media, but an attitude that denies India in pursuit of state facilities. It’s a cowardly attitude indeed. Otherwise why would the papers published in the valley or in the secular realm of Delhi use the inexplicable term “militants” for terrorists. Can anyone explain why terr orists are not called such, but are glorified as “militants”? Do we need to send them copies of Oxford dictionaries to understand the difference between a terror-striker and a fighter for a cause called militant?

I have enough material to prove step by step, line by line how the people of Kashmir and the rest of India were fooled by Srinagar politicians on the Amaranth land row. But what will it prove in face of a decidedly hateful attitude against a particular community? The same Rainas, Bhatts, Kauls, the same blood and ancestors, same language and cultural lineage, same skin and race, and yet, just a little change in the way of worship makes one to hold rifles and the other to pray for mercy.

Remember, the Kauravas too had den ied space to their brothers. They told Krishna the Pandavas will not even get space equivalent to the tip of a needle. But the Pandavas ultimately made a mark because they were right.

The author is the Director, Dr Syamaprasad Mookerjee Research Foundation.
http://indiasecular.wordpress.com/
 
Vedic farming practise for mangoes a hit

Unnao: Four years ago, when a Lucknow-based horticulture institute floated the idea of homa-farming, cultivators in the mango belt of Kakori and Malihabad adopted it in droves.

While most of them gave it up to return to agro-chemicals, one odd man stuck it out - practising this ancient Indian farming technique based on the Vedas.

Today Ramesh Chandra Tiwari, a farmer in Unnao district, is reaping the benefits and is thankful to the Central Horticulture Sub-tropical Research Institute (CHSRI) for giving him the idea. The yield has kept increasing year after year on his 12-bigha mango orchard and there are none of the usual pests to be found near the trees.

"The method is an age-old phenomenon invented in India and is described in detail in the Rig Veda," said Tiwari. "Besides farmers from neighbouring areas, I have also imparted the training to people from Austria, Australia, Turkey, United States, Spain and other countries," he added.

The term `homa' is derived from the ancient Hindu practice of performing `yajna' or `havan' - by lighting a ritual fire and putting various things in it amid the chanting of Vedic mantras. Homa farming, Tiwari said, is a mix of performing havans and administering organic fertiliser to the crop. Said Tiwari: "My initial investment was high but now my costs are meagre and my profit is increasing every year." Last month he organised a fair and invited farmers and scientists from around the globe.
http://www.mumbaimirror.com/ net/mmpaper. aspx?page= article&sectid=3&contentid=200807062 0080706020442576 71897b77

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Kunjuppu!

Please LEAVE Sri Ramanujaacharyar alone. Paavam Avvar.

Regards






kunjuppu said:
malgova,

i must have misunderstood the nuances in your query.

i do not practice jathi.

i interpreted ORDER as the Hindu Way of Life, as opposed to other religions.

i believe in an inclusive Hinduism without castes, like Ramanujar.
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