Internet Rattles Communal Digvijay

Politics is probably one domain where non-performance can be rewarded with promotions. The distance between Bhopal, capital of MP, and Indore, the main commercial city of MP is just about 190Kms. In the ten years that he was CM of MP, Digivijay Singh, couldn’t get even a decent two-lane road between these two most important cities of MP built. This was a stage post-reforms when infrastructure had become a top priority in most parts of the country. The journey between the two cities then used to take anything from 6 to 7 hours. In neighbouring Gujarat you could cover the distance in 3 hours flat. I do not know the current status of that highway but the former CM of MP is now on the national stage for Congress charged with the task of invoking the fear of RSS and other Hindu organisations under the garb of ‘Saffron Terror’. Pushed out of the limelight by the Anna Hazare campaign DS finally comes with a blog equating corruption to Communalism. This time instead of rabble rousing in the TV media  he has written a post on the Times website: Communalism is as dangerous as corruption. This time the rant is against the Internet warriors or should I say, Internet Hindus. So let’s try and understand his latest rant (quotes in blue). (Thanks to @KittuKrithika who sent in the feed)

If you were expecting him to be discussing both corruption and communalism in his article then you’re going to be disappointed. The word corruption appears only twice in the whole post. Corruption appears once in the title and then again in a repetition of the title towards the end. Such is the deception of the whole piece. Understandable, because not once in many years has DS ever spoken about the rampant corruption in and by the party he belongs to.

The internet technology has now gathered momentum and now made the virtual world, at times more powerful and overpowering than the real one. Obviously, politicians in India so far used to the cut and thrust and real world politics in India also can't ignore the opinion manipulating possibilities of the tools of virtual media. Read carefully what he says – “manipulating possibilities”! Millions of people on the net are out to manipulate opinion? That many views and opinions are circulated on the net are not really his problem it appears. The problem is that there is now alternative media for millions who have found their voice which is usually never heard in the mainstream. There is a mild admission that politicians have probably not managed to manipulate this virtual media as they have been able to do with the paid and servantile mainstream media. If indeed any media holds “manipulating” potential as DS states then the politicians would be the first one to use it to great effect. Unfortunately, he has yet to come to terms with the greater independence of the net.

An empowered middle class enjoying the fruits of economic liberalization has become extremely politically conscious which I feel is quite a healthy sign . But this new found political articulation is sometimes ill-tempered and in several cases extremely partisan and crosses the limits of decent public discourse. There are many great writers on the net. Many are far superior to our regular mainstream journalists. Where ill-temper is concerned there is little chance anyone on earth can use language more foul than some of our politicians. And what is wrong with being partisan? As a Congress member DS is not exactly the greatest symbol of bi-partisan discourse, is he? In all fairness the ones on the internet are actually far more bi-partisan and if there are extreme and unfair views or campaigns the internet users criticise those heavily too. DS may not believe how well self-regulated internet is.

I say this from personal experience. As, I have lately been on the receiving end of the abusive hate mail whenever I have expressed my forthright views on Right Wing Terror. In such situations, the articulate middle class has its right to dissent against the views of politicians, but should be tolerant enough to listen to the views that they may not agree to without being abusive. Forthright views are quite different from malicious campaigns. Calling a protester a ‘thug’ or calling a chief minister ‘maut ka saudagar’ are not exactly forthright views presented in a civil manner. Come to think of it, our politicians have moved a privilege motion against Kiran Bedi and Om Puri for mimicking them and ridiculing them. Even if the duo’s acts were in bad taste they weren’t half as vulgar as the language or actions that politicians employ. Yet, they cannot stomach such minor ridicule.

I have always felt fanatic religious or ethnic fundamentalism is the root cause of global terror. Irrespective of the religion they may profess, the perpetrators of this ideology of fanatic fundamentalism breed hatred and appropriate a self -righteous authority to impose their beliefs on others and then unleash violence against the non-believers. History is full of such examples. This is like Moses talking. It is anybody’s guess which religious groups have sought to impose their beliefs on others through swords and terrorism.

India is a country of tolerance……We can't allow the idea of "Vasudev Kutumbhakam" so closely identified with our history and our culture to be snatched away by these rabid fanatic fundamentalists whether they are Muslims or Hindus. Simply amazing! This is the first time I’ve heard DS using a Hindu phrase to recollect our history. I'd have thought he would have invoked 'Osamaji'! It is simply a tragic realisation for us Indians that we have gone a step too far beyond tolerance. We have gone to the extreme of tolerating the intolerant. That is the cause of so much churning in our society. Imagine, which democracy will tolerate a party that has institutionalised corruption and managed to alienate the majority community for most of the last 65 years. Which democracy will tolerate a foreigner holding the power strings? Which democracy will have PMs being imposed on them rather than through elections?

I have faced the ire equally of both rabid fanatic Hindus and Muslims when I went to Azamgarh and when I went to Barak Valley in Assam. They are the faces of the same coin. They feed on each other in a mutually sustainable way. Some times when I see that within minutes of my statement, even in some remote corner of the country against right wing terror, there is a flood of abusive comments against me. I have doubts on their authenticity. Are they sponsored? Have the perpetrators of hate and terror been able to organize themselves through cells/ groups that run these ‘virtual campaigns' through assumed identities to brow beat any one into silence who dares to expose their acts of violence? Really sweetheart? If I were the TOI I would have asked DS to put up 10 mails/letters from Hindu and Muslim people to support this frivolous statement. If there are any mails it would largely be from Hindus who have been targeted over and over again through DS’s foul comments. When DS stepped up after the 13/7 Mumbai blast and indicated Saffron hand in the blasts cannot be ruled out despite the govt’s position not to speculate, what was the authenticity or reason for such statements? What is the authenticity that dead men had spoken to DS? Sometimes it’s better to ask silly questions to one self rather than throwing them out in the open to unknown commoners.

But I would urge upon all those who believe in universal brotherhood who believe in liberal modern secular India to react with the same zeal against these communal fascists who through wireless technology …..To me communalism is as dangerous as corruption. We don’t have to look too far as we have in our neighborhood the example of almost a failed state of Pakistan….Let us get together and not allow the fascist communal fanatics to capture the mind and thoughts of the people of this great country through the use of the 'virtual world '. First, corruption is within your house DS! And that would be easier to confront than any other problem. Second, the more often you use the term ‘communal fascists’ for some net users it betrays your thorough lack of understanding of the power of the net or wireless technology. The net has all kinds, including the likes of DS. There are communalists, fascists, Nazis, islamists, mujahideens and believe me, even Congress fanatics.

The internet is not the greatest threat to this country. The greatest threat is pretty much the current state of Congress which is thoroughly soaked in corruption, nepotism, and communalism (Remember wikileaks?) Maybe DS should also read the article ‘Communal games of secular Congress’. No wonder the internet has rattled the mainstream media and now it has rattled saffron baiter Digivijay Singh himself. I thought I’d never see this day. Celebrate!

Secularly Communal - Charity Work Doesn't Need Religion

“These very high intellectual persons who wake up every morning...see what they can find to demolish, to undermine, or cast away.” – Winston Churchill. 

Somehow that quote reminds me of the National Advisory Council (NAC). Whenever members of the NAC meet I wonder what sets their agenda. The outcomes have been either more subsidies or proposals on more communal laws. The quote also reminds me of the workings of a divisive media. Much has been written about the Communal Violence Bill and of the ‘Secular’ Indian media. We will get to all of this a bit later. This post loosely connects issues and events.

Read the post ‘Govt. Shouldn’tCensor News, But NBA Will...’ There was this mosque at Jangpura in Delhi. A relatively posh locality in Delhi. This mosque, Noor Masjid, was demolished by the DDA under orders from the High Court.  The mosque was built on encroached DDA land and therefore the court order for demolition. This followed with rioting by muslims in protest. Some newspapers and websites reported the incidents but TV news channels apparently blacked out the whole incident. The blackout was supposedly done through an understanding reached at the National Broadcasters Association (NBA) and supposedly to prevent the violence or riots from spreading. Sounds alright!

Then, there was this case of a Bangalorepastor: Bangalore Mirror, June 17  “A city pastor has been accused by his own wife of being a paedophile and of misappropriating church funds. The charges against K Shantaraju, the 45-year-old pastor of the Bethel Church and Bethel Student Centre in Siddhartha Nagar, Jalahalli West, are being probed by the police after a complaint was filed by his wife Priyalatha at Gangammanagudi police station on Wednesday…" This news was once again blacked out by our secular TV channels. That might hurt secular sentiments. Sounds alright!

Another incident from AP on June 29: Minor girl allegedly raped, killed by pastor (The Hindu): "A minor girl was sexually assaulted and allegedly burnt  to death at Nadendla village in Chilakaluripet mandal. The shocking incident came to light on Wednesday when police began an enquiry into the death of the girl, who was admitted with severe burns in the area hospital on Tuesday night. The police took the accused, Ajay Babu, a pastor at the village into custody. The police said that Ajay had allegedly lured the girl and when she demanded that he marry her, he strangulated and then burnt her to death". Blacked out again by TV channels. I presume communal harmony was the motive. Sounds alright!

Most churches and Christian organisations in the modern world, and in India too, are developed under the concept of charity work. And, of course, to preach the word of God or Jesus Christ. There is nothing wrong in the preaching. But there are those who operate under the principle that the poor or downtrodden will not be uplifted or their diseases may not be healed unless they convert to Christianity. Do you really need religion for charity work? Almost all faiths have charitable work undertaken in the name of their religion but currently the practice of conversion is most prevalent in Christianity. Quite often that sounds like Amway’s get-rich-quick schemes. One can also point to the miracle cures of a Benny Hinn or the many Hindu babas who offer such cures.

So why does the media blow out of proportions crimes by Hindu babas and swamis and yet maintain an eerie silence on crimes by other religious groups? I am no social scientist but simple logic tells me that if Hindus are in majority in India most crimes will likely involve Hindus. Although even that logic is not really sound when you think that our movies have more minority characters as ‘bhais’ or that blacks are stereotyped as more criminal in the USA. But this isn’t about mere crimes. This is about why, if at all, do we need religion to undertake any charity work. There are unconfirmed reports that many missionary workers first asked victims to accept Christianity before being served after the Tsunamis in India. If at all India is really ‘secular’ in the sense that all religions are equal why should conversions not be banned in all the states. Is changing one’s religion a substitute for miserable policies of the government which have consistently failed to uplift the poor? Keeping people in poverty and backwardness is also a recipe for religious confrontation.

John McCain, the Senator who ran for President against Obama, is on record stating that the USA was founded as a Christian nation. Well, that’s how politicians utter untruths and absolute fallacies and that is as pseudo-secular as some Indian political parties are. A closer look at the video below (From Religulous) will explain what the founding fathers of the US really thought about religion and why the US Constitution does not have the word God:

Senator Mark Pryor who features in the video is also an evangelical Christian and there is something truthful he says: “You don’t have to pass an IQ test to be in the senate”. Isn’t that true for our own parliament?

If you go back to your school textbooks or go to a current school textbook you will not find any mention of the various castes and sub-castes of India. So who taught you all this stuff about Kurmis, Gujjars and so on? Certainly not your school! This education has come mostly from politicians and the media who continuously divide the nation on these lines. This motivates the ‘marketing’ effort of various groups for religious undertakings. And if you’re still unclear where castes and identities are concerned here’s something to help you:

Joshua Project (Enlarge pic for better education)

That’s a map of the Joshua Project. It’s a great guide on emerging markets for religious products. Here are some more interesting pages on the growing ambitions of Christian evangelists and some on the media twists:

India Today: Independent churches mushrooming across India attracting foreign funding. Rediff.com Varsha Bhosale - The Balkanisation of India. George W Bush made a statement to the effect that “God wants people to be free and that is part of my foreign policy”! That was in additiional justification of the Iraq war. Not surprisingly since Bush II, the faithful, came into office in 2000 there has been a massive increase in evangelical activities in the US and across the world. Tehelka ran a story "Reaping the harvest" on this phenomenon.  The Indian tribal and backward class market is a clear target as the Joshua Project indicates.

The RSS mouthpiece Organiser carries an article titled “Sonia compromising Indian security, Congress capitulating before foreign powers”. Obviously, the RSS has its own reasons for these articles. However, not every part of this article can be dismissed as religious bias. All of these are indicators that we do not need more religion related bills.

The NAC’s Communal Violence Bill is bound to pit community against community rather than bring about any justice. There is a strong need to ban conversions, carefully limit influence of foreign evangelicals and religious outfits meddling in India. We have enough religious outfits of our own that are capable of creating abundant chaos.

The government itself has an organisation called the ‘National Foundation for Communal Harmony’ (NFCH). Why not pass more bills FOR communal harmony and create more branches of this organisation across the states? The NAC itself must be disbanded. It is the singular failure of the Congress party in bringing about communal harmony. Far from harmony the Congress has consistently indulged in identity politics which has seen the birth of many regional political parties on the ideology of ‘victimhood’. I am no fan of Mayawati but I doubt she has caused as much damage in five years as the Congress has in 60 years in UP. Blaming the RSS, the BJP and others can only do so much.

The Ten Commandments is a much revered scripture or document. If that were the only document ever needed we would be fine. That document still doesn’t mention child rape or child abuse. We have come to discover these crimes without religion. We can be just as sure that we don’t need religion for any charity work. We don’t need communal violence bills, we need governments to completely get out of religion. We need government to get out of the Tirupatis and the Gurvayoors. There can be better mechanisms to control temples without direct government involvement. The media should be talking about these issues but they won’t. Perhaps the same evangelicals with global ambitions also fund much of our media. Indian governments must stop being secularly communal.

PS: Do vote on the communal violence poll at the top-right of this page.

What’s Sanjiv Bhatt Angling For?

In my post ‘My Sore Pak’ an Anonymous commenter remarked: “Now that you have made Modi a kind of a demi-god in your blog, kindly let us know your so called (un)biased views about IPS officer Bhatt's recent events. I wouldn't be surprised if you again put the blame on the media or blamed the congress…….Please dont divert the issues of development here. It is not the government's administration but about morality here, and dont tell me that Modi hasn't yet been proved guilty of his crimes…”

The comment was made in a post that had absolutely nothing to do with Narendra Modi or Sanjiv Bhatt or even the Congress. It was about the killing of Osama Bin Laden. But just like the vast group of Modi-haters and Modi-baiters that abound in the media and political parties any forum is justified to rant against Modi. The last line in the comment is the mantra on which the anti-Modi industry thrives “..don’t tell me Modi hasn’t yet been proved guilty of his crimes”. Well, there are people who are trying and trying very hard to see Modi in jail – guilty or not.

So here’s a report from TheHindu on June 27:  “The case of Gujarat cadre IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt, who recently created a flutter by accusing Chief Minister Narendra Modi of having made “anti-minority” statements on the eve of the 2002 communal riots, has taken another curious turn, with a former colleague filing a police complaint that he was forced to file a false affidavit……”

Then there’s another report in TheHindu today (June 29):  “The (Gujarat) government has decided to recover from Mr. Bhatt Rs.1 lakh as compensation due to a Rajasthan-based advocate, Sumer Singh Rajpurohit, as “directed” by the National Human Rights Commission, for an alleged false case against him in 1996, an official spokesman of the government said here on Tuesday. The amount would be recovered from Mr. Bhatt within a month, the spokesman said…..Mr. Bhatt, who was the Banaskantha District Superintendent of Police in 1996, was claimed to have falsely implicated Mr. Rajpurohit under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (NDPS), allegedly with the motive of getting a rented premises vacated by him……The NHRC also, in its report in September 2010 considered it a case of “serious human rights violation” in view of the fact that the provisions under which Mr. Rajpurohit was falsely implicated could have fetched him 10 years of imprisonment, and ordered the Gujarat government to pay him a compensation of Rs.1 lakh….”

The NHRC’s ruling on Sanjiv Bhatt is a clear indictment on lack of integrity and misuse of powers. It seems more and more obvious that people with dubious integrity and credibility find Narendra Modi a fair game to throw mud at. You can also rest assured that this particular news item will not find much air-play on our TV channels who made a great tamasha of Bhatt’s accusations against Modi. It also depends on which side the media is when reporting this news. The NHRC ruling was also reported by DainikBhaskar in the following terms:

Govt tries to corner Sanjiv Bhatt again: “After allowing an FIR to be filed against Sanjiv Bhatt, the state government in yet another attempt to corner the IPS officer has decided to collect Rs1 lakh from him. The state had paid the amount to the National Human Rights Commission when a Rajasthan-based advocate had filed a case against Bhatt in the NHRC. The state government had coughed up Rs1 lakh to the NHRC in the alleged false case filed against Sumer Singh, a Pali-based advocate……It should be noted that several other cops were associated with the case filed in the NHRC, but so far the state government has decided to collect the money only from Bhatt. This is the second attempt by the state government to corner Bhatt”.

Dainik Bhaskar probably didn’t get the other news that a constable has claimed he was forced to file false affidavits by Sanjiv Bhatt. So in the false narcotics case it’s not the BOSS but the ordinary constables who should also be penalised according to Dainik Bhaskar. Does all this false affidavit and false cases have a familiar ring to it? Oh well, sometime back the SIT looking into the Gujarat riots mentioned some people filing fake affidavits at the instigation of someone. Remember that? Guess where that washing machine of justice ended up?

Long-time Modi-baiter, Teesta Setalvad, also has cases against her where her own colleagues have turned witness against her. She has even sought anticipatory bail twice. Where does she end up? She ends up on the committee to draft the Communal Violence Bill of the National Advisory Council (NAC). Isn’t that brilliant? So then, I do wonder what Sanjiv Bhatt was or is angling for with all his sensational claims against Modi. If it was a position in the NAC, I don’t think they’re hiring right now. They are too busy with secular communalism. They are busy proposing laws that can throw Narenda Modi into jail for good. That should be reassurance for Sanjiv Bhatt.

Freedom Of Speech – Geert Wilders Not Guilty!

Before you read further I would recommend you read the following posts:

Freedom Of Expression: The Geert Wilders case & Why we can neverhave peace with Pakistan

Why Liberal’ Media Is Scared of The Religion Of Peace!

On June 23 Dutch politician Geert Wilders was pronounced not guilty on accusations of hate speeches and hate crimes against Islam and muslims. He  is a politician who spoke out openly against Islamisation of his country and appeasement of muslims. He was accused of "hate speech" crimes for comparing the Koran to Mein Kampf and Islam to Nazism. Mein Kampf is banned in Netherlands and therefore Wilders demanded that the Koran be banned too. The accusations also included the documentary he made, FITNA, which includes graphic images of Islamic terror juxtaposed with verses from the Koran. It is strange that those mullahs who made, and keep making, violence-inciting speeches against non-muslims, were never put on trial but Wilders, who protested, was put on trial.

No religion should be above questioning, debate and even ridicule. Some of it may hurt the sentiments of religious people. That does not mean issuing death threats or killing people. We have seen people being killed for even questioning blasphemy laws.Wilders was even prevented by the UK government in January 2010 from screening his documentary on an invitation by members of the House of Lords. This was later overturned by the courts. Such is the length to which appeasers will go.

The Dutch MP is surely not the first one to question Islam or the verses in the Koran. In 1985 Chandmal Chopra and others filed a case in the Calcutta High Court seeking a ban on the publishing and distribution of the Koran. This is commonly known as The Calcutta Quran Petition. The reasons cited by Chopra were similar to those of Geert Wilders – that the Koran contains hate and violence-inciting verses against members of other communities or non-believers. The Calcutta petition thoroughly exposes the ‘pseudo-secular’ credentials of the Congress, the Communists and the media. The Koran doesn’t need to be banned nor should those who question any religion or religious book be prosecuted. Freedom of thought, speech and expression is more important than any religion.

British PM, David Cameron, is on record for stating ‘multiculturalism’ has failed in the UK. So is German Chancellor Angela Merkel. The reasons are all too well known. The Dutch are known to be a very liberal and tolerant people. But when intolerance and violence visits you because you question faiths it is bound to start a movement against the intolerant. Theo Van Gogh, related to the famous artist Vincent Van Gogh, was brutally murdered on the streets of Amsterdam for making a documentary on the sufferings of muslim women. Our government and media who hyper ventilate on issues of women are too scared to even talk about this subject. The greatest response to the plight of muslim women was the Shah Bano verdict reversal by a constitutional amendment by the Congress. Another clip from Religulous further demonstrates the hypocrisy. (Caution: Some images are graphic)

That is a high price to pay for freedom of thought and speech. Salman Rushdie had an international ‘fatwa’ on his head. Closer home MF Hussain had seen violent protests, threats and court cases. I condemn Hussain’s painting of India as a nude woman with names of states written on the nude body. Hussain was also selective in his pornography and his paintings were not banned in India. If he managed to annoy some Hindus it is more because his own community is incapable of taking the slightest offence or questioning of their religion. But that is as far as I will go. I am even more opposed to a media and a government that is selective in its defence of freedom of speech. In India, freedom of speech in the media and government, where religion is concerned, almost means you can offend Hinduism as much as you want but other religions are untouchable. 

Sonia Gandhi’s NAC has currently proposed a draconian Communal Violence Bill. Well, anyone reading India’s long history may understand that religious violence was brought into this culture by Islam and Christianity and not by Hinduism. They were minorities then too. We cannot alter history but we can attempt to ensure it doesn’t repeat itself. In the meantime, let’s celebrate Geert Wilders’ victory. It’s a victory for all those who stand for democracy and freedom.