I am provoked to write this By M.S.N. Menon Yes. When I’m told that Hindus “live in darkness” I’m provoked. I’m a Hindu, not the usual one, for I took the trouble to make a special study of human civilisations and religious atrocities. Naturally, I see religions in a different light. Not the way the “faithful” see them. Religions are full of lies and false claims. The Jews claimed they were “the chosen people of God.” Where did this delusion take them? To the worst persecution known to man! They remain the object of the longest hate in human history. Take Christianity. What is its claim and what is the reality? It claims to have civilised Europe. In fact, it destroyed one of the greatest civilisations of man—the Greek civilisation. Vassili Vassilevsky, one of the most stimulating authors of Greece, says: “It took us inheritors of a joyous paganistic culture, a long time to internalise the notion of ‘guilt’. Even today we do not wholly accept the idea that the body is the source of evil.” And yet Jesus had said that the “Kingdom of God is within you.” Then, who put the Devil inside the Christian to torment them? The Organised Church. And it also destroyed the Roman empire. One of the first acts of the Christians (that of Emperor Theodisius), when they came to power in Rome, was to order the destruction of the most splendid library in the temple of Serapis. Obviously, the Church had no desire for enlightenment. The Hindus pray for light daily. The Church converted the pagan temples into tombs, says W.E.H. Lecky, “for the adoration of the bones of the basest and most depraved of men among the Christian monks.” (History of the Rise and Influence of the Spirit of Rationalism in Europe”, Vol.II) And a Christian mob stripped and cut into pieces a gifted, virtuous and beautiful lady in Alexandria. What was her crime? That she was the leader of the Neo-Platonists! The Roman empire had produced some of the great men in history like poets Horace and Virgil, historians like Livy and Polybius, philosophers like Epictetus and Plotinus, orators like Cicero, lawgivers like Cato. What did Christianity produce in the 1500 years of its dominance over Europe? Not one man of greatness! And almost every great man who was born in Europe after the Renaissance was outside the Church. And the Roman empire spread the Hellenistic civilisation in half the world. What has the Christian empire to show? It is the claim of the church that it made a major contribution to the growth of morality in Europe. In fact, it made little contribution. It called Descartes, father of moral philosophy, an atheist! The Church gave its blessings to both capitalism and imperialism. And later to colonialism. Secretary of State Amery (UK) says that an active empire and an inactive Church cannot go together. The Church had a big hand in slave trade. If there was a conscience problem, it helped to ease it by saying that the black man was the son of the Devil. Denouncing the trade in black men, Lord Palmerston says: “If all crimes committed from creation down to the present day were added together, they would not exceed, I am sure, the guilt of the diabolic slave trade.” In America Lincoln had to fight a civil war to outlaw the trade. The Church was behind the rebel southern States. According to the Church, the dark races were not required in God’s scheme of things. The genocide of the Incas, Mayas and others has no parallel in human history. They were more civilised than the Europeans. “By millions upon millions” says Draper “whole races and nations were remorselessly cut off. The Bishop of Chiape affirmed that more than 15 million were terminated in his time. From Mexico and Peru, a civilisation that might have educated Europe, was crushed out.” (Intellectual Development of Europe, Vol. II) On Galileo’s incarceration, Draper writes: “What a spectacle! This venerable man, the most illustrious of his age, forced by the threat of death to deny the facts…treated with remorseless severity during the remaining ten years of his life….” In the dungeon. There is nothing in human history as diabolic as the Inquisition. It was created by the Popes to perfect the “art” of torture of the apostates. I can only think of the gas chambers of the Nazis, which did away with six million Jews. “What strikes me most in considering medieval torture is not so much this diabolic barbarity, which is impossible to exaggerate, as the extraordinary variety and what may be termed the artistic skills they displayed”. (Lecky) What else can one expect from a religion which had thought of eternal hell fire as a punishment for even small wrongs of men! What about Islam? Space compels me to make it a short review. In his book “In the path of Mahatma Gandhi”, George Catlin, the American philosopher, asks: “What has Islam to offer to compare with the philosophy of Vedanta and the Upanishads?” So much for its “Superiority” claim! Be that as it may, what is the record of Islam’s atrocities? “The Islamic conquest of India is probably the bloodiest story in history,” says Will Durant, the American historian. The Muslims do not want to be reminded of their past. But it is necessary, says S.Bashiruddin, former Vice Chancellor of Dr. Ambedkar Open University. (See his ‘Deen and Dharma”). He says: “Through the present generation of Muslims is not responsible for what has been done centuries ago, an awareness of such a legacy can sensitize the Muslim opinion leaders…” With such a record of their past, I would like to know from Christian and Muslim brothers, in which way they are “superior” to the Hindus. Do not tell me that your religious texts do not permit these things. This is an easy explanation. I don’t take it. Men are judged by what they do, not by what they believe or by what is written in their scripture. |
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
M.S.N. Menon provoked to write
Monday, October 13, 2008
Singed by communal fire byVarghese K. George
New Delhi, October 14, 2008
Nearly 150 people have been killed in sectarian violence in the country in the last three months — roughly one-eighth of the toll of the 2002 Gujarat carnage which left 1,200 people dead.
More than the number of casualties, what makes this season of hate dangerous is its geographical spread — across eight major states. And, the fact that it will continue into election season — over the next two months Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan, and then Delhi and Jammu and Kashmir will go to the polls.
The general elections are due early next year. The tension is simmering and prolonged and, but with no rows of bodies, which would have embarrassed the perpetrators.
The Opposition BJP and mentor Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) have raised the pitch on several policy initiatives of the ruling Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA), particularly the ones such as the Sachar committee report that calls for affirmative action for Muslims and Ranganath Mishra commission which favours reservation benefits for Dalits who have embraced Christianity or Islam.
In the first week of November 2007, the RSS national executive in Dharward in Karnataka passed resolutions opposing both the reports. A resolution also asked the Hindu Dalits and tribals to oppose the government’s moves and offered support.
During Christmas, the first round of violence broke out in Kandhamal in Orissa and the area is yet to see peace. A demand by Dalit Panos — who are mostly Christians — that they be counted as tribals has been a point of conflict with Kandh tribals, after whom the district is named.
Tribals get reservation benefits irrespective of religion and the Kandhs don’t want to share the benefits with the Panos.
Recurring incidents of terrorist violence driven by Islamism, has allowed the Sangh Parivar to keep its Hindutva agenda alive in a subtle and veiled fashion. Repeated references to terrorism – though as a governance issue — tremendously helped the BJP to come to power in Gujarat and Karnataka.
The idea of an “enemy within” has been strengthened by “jihadis” and the failure of the Congress and allies to effectively tackle it, both at political and governance levels.
When the Muslim-majority Kashmir Valley erupted in protest against a move to hand over a piece of land for facilities for pilgrims to Amaranth shrine in August, it strengthened the rhetoric.
Controlled friction, without rows of bodies, over a large area will keep the Congress — accused of facilitating illegal migration in Assam and pampering Muslims from Kashmir to Bangalore — on the defensive. The reason why this season could be too long for comfort. courtesy
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Six in a family burnt alive in Adilabad
Six burnt alive in Adilabad
The Hindu October 13, 2008S. Harpal Singh
BHAINSA (ADILABAD DT.): Six members of a family, including three children, were burnt alive at Vatoli village near Bhainsa town in Adilabad district of Andhra Pradesh in the early hours of Sunday.
The incident comes as a sequel to the communal flare-up that claimed three lives in Bhainsa town on October 10.
The six belonged to a tailor’s family, one of only two families belonging to a particular community in this small village about 12 km from the communally sensitive Bhainsa town. The badly charred bodies of the head of the family, his wife, daughter and three grand children were extracted from the debris in one of the three rooms of the tiled house. The daughter had come home from Himayatnagar in Maharashtra with her child and her aunt’s two sons. more
Friday, October 10, 2008
Krishna Mohan Banerjee's Conversion, 1832
Conversion to Christianity
On completion of his studies in 1829, he joined the Pataldanga school as an assistant teacher. In 1832, he converted to Christianity, under the influence of Duff. As a result of his conversion, he lost his job in David Hare’s school.
His conversion to Christianity raised a storm in Hindu society. The journals of the day became full of angry tirades against the activities of the Christian missionaries. He himself was too independent a man to remain silent. He declared his determination to pursue with steadfastness his course of action and endure with patience all opposition. The campaign against Hindu College led to the dismissal of Derozio.
When the missionary society was later established he became the first Bengali priest. In 1833, he was convicted of forcibly converting a young boy to Christianity. That did not daunt him. He converted his wife, his brother Kali Mohan, and Ganendra Mohan Tagore, the son of Prasanna Coomar Tagore. Subsequently, Ganendra Mohan married his daughter Kamalmani and became the first Indian to qualify as a barrister. He was also instrumental in the conversion of Michael Madhusudan Dutt. He became a deacon of the Anglican Church in 1836 and was superintendent of the Mirzapur School of Christ Church. He used to preach and deliver sermons in Bengali.
Throughout the 1840s and 1850s, he sought to convince the Brahmins of their folly and take the plunge into Christendom. While Krishna Mohan Banerjee always propagandized the superiority of Christianity over other religions and wrote extensively, Rajnarain Bose questioned how he could claim that Christianity represented the most advanced stage of religious evolution when it was still so full of superstition, mystery and miracles.
Monday, October 6, 2008
COMMUNALISM
Now, Karnataka
Now, Karnataka
in Mangalore,
Front line
Demand to ban Bajrang Dal to distract attention: BJP
Oct 6th, 2008 | By Sindh Today | Category: India
‘The Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government has failed to contain terror activities. As a result, they are now unnecessarily demanding a ban on our organisations,’ Uttar Pradesh BJP spokesperson H.N. Dixit told reporters here Monday.
‘The Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government has failed to contain terror activities. As a result, they are now unnecessarily demanding a ban on our organisations,’ Uttar Pradesh BJP spokesperson H.N. Dixit told reporters here Monday.
Lucknow, Oct 6 (IANS) The sole intention of some parties demanding a ban on the Bajrang Dal and Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) was to distract public attention from increasing cases of terrorism, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has alleged.
He referred to Azamgarh, home to the two suspected terrorists killed in the Jamia Nagar shootout last month for their alleged involvement in the Sep 13 serial bombings in Delhi, and said, ‘Chief Minister Mayawati must convene an all-party meet to formulate a strategy to combat terror.’ read
Sunday, October 5, 2008
Fundamentalism in India: License to rape and kill people?
Deccan Herald
| MAIN ARTICLE |
| Parallel streams of anger: One for every taste |
| M J Akbar |
| Who gave any fundamentalist the right to rape and kill innocent people? | |||
Dr Manmohan Singh said, on his return from France, that incidents in Orissa had shamed India before the world. That is important, but far less important than the fact that the violence in Orissa has shamed Indians in India. I measure what Indians do, not by the standards of France, but by the values of modern India, which strengthened the spirit of our freedom movement against western colonialism and were enshrined in that noble document called the Constitution of India. The Bajrang Dal has shamed India before Indians. Nicolas Sarkozy lives by French values, which is perfectly reasonable, for he is a Frenchman. But I am a little underwhelmed by the selective secularism of France, which permits schoolchildren to wear a small cross but will not allow a Sikh child to wear a turban or a Muslim to wear a hijab. One can’t complain: if those are the values of the French, they are entitled to them. If Sarkozy wants to hand out medals to Bangladeshi author Taslima Nasreen (now given safe custody in India by Dr Manmohan Singh) that is his privilege. No one has accused Taslima of being a claimant to the Nobel Prize for Literature, but Sarkozy is entitled to the nuances of his critical faculties. more
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