The Gita - Modi Untouchable, Let's Get Yeddy!

Robert Oppenheimer, the scientist who headed the Manhattan Project that created the Atomic Bomb, kept the Bhagwad Gita by his side throughout the project. On being asked if this was the first ever atomic explosion he had replied “Yes, in modern times”. His response was interpreted to suggest that such a test may have been already carried out in Vedic times. Following the test he remarked later that he was reminded of Krishna’s words to Arjun to take up the just war: “Now I am become death, the destroyer of the worlds”. In a figurative sense the secularists will use that line against Hindus themselves. And they have willing partners too. You don’t need to do a google search to find the identity of these ‘useful idiots’. They are all around you.

Not surprisingly, many early westerners who trashed Hindu culture eventually embraced the profound spirit and wisdom that the Bhagwad Gita enshrines. Even modern day scientists, like the late astronomer Carl Sagan, have found inspiration, truth and scientific accuracy in the Vedas. Philosophers through the centuries relied on the Gita for inspiration and solace. It is only in modern day India that those who call themselves ‘secular’ find a volcano of joy in trashing Hinduism and dragging this spiritual guide into an avoidable cacophony of controversies. Yes, I am referring to the Karnataka (non)controversy of teaching Gita in schools.

Who else to lead the brigade against the Karnataka government but NDTV, with its secular cheerleader Barkha Dutt? She, who has come to unwittingly represent the worst of Indian news media. Creating a controversy where there was none. All this because some minister’s statements which supported teaching of the Gita in schools. Before you could say ‘Allah’ there were reports all over that a circular has been issued by the Karnataka government to mandate teaching of the Gita in schools. I am yet to see the actual circular or the actual text of it. Christians and Muslims in the public responded with righteous anger but why should the news media fuel the nonsense? Well, don’t be misled by the media’s Gita delusions. The blog Offstumped has pretty much chronicled it neatly and I don’t find the need to repeat. It would be fair to say that in the current context of Indian politics and media ‘Secularism’ means and must involve Hinduism-bashing. It is not an untruth to state that Christianity, Islam, Judaism are foreign religions. India has absorbed these as her own and we should be proud of our culture of absorbing other religions and cultures. But this is not about religion or about the Bhagwad Gita.

The plan is much bigger than that. It’s a secular strategy.

For almost a decade the Congress and other ‘secular’ parties along with media channels like NDTV, CNN-IBN, Star News and many more have tried to demonise Narendra Modi. To destroy him politically. To join this gang of secular brigade there were those from the Scotch circuit and so-called humanitarians and activists. You will lately find some of these humanitarians on the invite list of Ghulam Nabi Fai. They called him a mass murderer, threw fictitious affidavits at him, produced false stories and even outright lies. Didn’t work! They called him fascist, compared him to Hitler, tarnished those who associated with him. Didn’t work! Anyone praising Modi was a lamb ready for slaughter. Remember Amitabh Bachchan? Remember Ghulam Vastanvi? Remember Anna Hazare? Watch out, soon Narayana Murthy who has accepted an assignment in Gujarat will be consigned to the trash bin. Murthy’s career which has been praised and has been an inspiration to many will now be peppered with controversies, accusations of corruption, nepotism and a lot more. The secular dirty tricks department will be activated to throw mud at Murthy. He better watch out. But none in the ‘secular’ spectrum, not even gutter-mouth Digvijay Singh has been able to bring down Narendra Modi. He has simply proved to be untouchable!

So, what do we do now? Ever since the unmasking of Digvijay Singh by a saffron-clad Uma Bharati he has gone colour-blind. He has tried every trick to tarnish the RSS, BJP and through that Hindus themselves. The Congress, Sonia Gandhi, the media collectively failed to poison the minds of Gujaratis against Narendra Modi. NaMo could not be accused of corruption, of nepotism or of non-performance. In contrast, B.S. Yedyurappa, CM of Karnataka presents a much easier target. From the governor Bharadwaj to the Congress to the media there has been a consistent and concerted orchestration of mud-slinging and skulduggery. CNN-IBN has already accused him of corruption in the mining scandal when the Lokayukta has simply asked the CM should be probed for involvement in mining contracts. In contrast you won’t find much noise about Shiela Dikshit’s indictment by the Delhi Lokayukta. Previously the JD (Secular) and Congress connived to bring down the BJP led government in Karnataka. To their utter shock and dismay the people voted the BJP back to power with a clear majority.

Unlike Modi, Yedyurappa has a large family and the temptation to dish out favours will always exist. And, yes, he must be probed and if corruption is established he must be removed. But the manner in which he and his government or ministers are being loudly discussed on TV channels indicate only one thing. He is a safer and easier target when compared to Narendra Modi. And the other threat is that the BJP is increasingly becoming popular in Karnataka if one were to go by the results of the last few by-elections. For the secular brigade that is the serious threat that must be averted at any cost. Even if it takes dragging the Bhagwad Gita into it.

If all that is not enough, target some Hindu activists and leaders in terror cases and equate them with Al-Qaeeda and LeT. Drag the Shakaracharya and file murder cases against him. Enter temples with impunity. Attempt to seize the wealth of temples. You go figure.

To a smaller extent the media has already started raising volumes over the BJP CM of Uttarakhand on mining scandals. But Karnataka is always a bigger catch and therefore higher the temptation to bring down the BJP government there. The Gita controversy should be viewed in the light of that effort and not as a religion issue. Imagine the kind of gains the secular brigade would make if Muslims and Christians are told about the threat that their religion is in danger under a BJP government. And the ever willing NDTV is always there to expand the discourse on the threat to minorities. Tempting, isn’t it? The JD(S), the Congress and the media have only stopped short of saying “Islam is under threat” or “Christianity is under threat”! But make no mistake, that is exactly what they wish to imply.

They aren’t done yet. The job is to manufacture hate and outrage against BJP governments. It’s not finished yet. Await more mud-slinging. Yes, Narendra Modi has proved to be untouchable. Let’s get Yeddy!

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.

Facebook Must Apologise …

There are savages and savages. But this is too savage! In a democracy everyone has the right to bark, even Digvijay Singh. However, that is no reason to heap insult by derogatory pictures worked through photo-shop or whatever. This is the extreme kind of intolerance practiced by RSS, VHP, BJP and all those right wing communal groups as we keep hearing almost every day from DS and even from some in the media. One can appreciate the creativity behind the whole exercise but not its dark malicious motive.

This particular Facebook group has taken it to the very extreme by putting up an obscene and derogatory picture. This deserves condemnation from every quarter and I hope the media will wake up to the crimes being committed on Facebook. I hope the NAC is taking strong notice of this and will treat it for what it is, an insult to a minority group. Take a look at this obscene picture:

No matter how unhappy they are or how strong the provocation this is the kind of response that extremist and fringe loonies come up with. In all fairness I demand an apology from this particular Facebook group and from Facebook as well. I hope the SPCA also takes notice of this inhuman act.

This group and Facebook must apologise to this lovely dog. No one has the right to deface a beautiful animal in this manner. Especially, defacing a dog’s picture with the face of Digvijay Singh is an extreme insult to the animal. So will this Facebook group, the RSS, the VHP, the BJP please respond and issue an apology to this beautiful dog?

The New Congress (I) Movie - 'Shityameva Jayate'

I was just wondering where Digivijay Singh (DS) has disappeared. After finding someone to heap all the abuses on the RSS and Hindu outfits one has yet to see a response from ‘Diggy Shit’ on the apology that Aziz Burney has tendered recently.

Aziz Burney had his 15 minutes of fame with a book called ‘26/11 An RSS Conspiracy’. That was the culmination of many other articles written by him over a few months. And who does he have at the launch party for his book? The Dhimmi Raja, of course.

After peddling untruths in wholesale Digvijay found an able ally to spread his conspiracy theories and lies about 26/11. It is sound philosophy and an even greater marketing principle to do something outrageous and then to apologise rather than not take the risk. One must give that much credit to Aziz Burney. Now that he may have achieved some sales for his book he is willing to change the title. He probably realises that even the most outrageous has to have some scientific basis or logic. Circumstantial evidence may support a scientific one but on its own its not good enough to find someone or some entity guilty of crime.

In defense, Burney claims his theory was based on Hindu outfits being found responsible for Malegaon and other blasts. If nothing else, this reflects childish idiocy on his part to not realise that Malegaon and 26/11 had nothing in common. Sure, the deaths of Hemant Karkare and other officers on the night of 26/11 are yet to be fully explained. That is all the more reason for any sensible journalist, writer or politician to not fling wild charges around.

All the more reason why politicians shouldn’t peddle shit about issues that they do not know the complete truth about. This is what Digvijay Singh is a master at. I have to safely presume that DS has for sometime been the head of the Dirty Tricks Department of the Congress (I) and is sincerely carrying out the assignment handed out to him. Create conspiracy theories, accuse Hindu outfits and thereby hope to endear Muslims to the Congress fold. Someone has to tell this shit-peddler that elections are still far away, so he needs to wait a while before he goes full strength in his calling.

Untruths to the Supreme Court, untruths about 26/11, scam after scam are the greatest achievements of the Congress (I) in its last 6 years in power. While the media went to town with DS’s outrageous statements, barely anyone talked about the apology tendered by Aziz Burney. This was largely left to some small  newspapers and some websites. 

Await the new version "Shityameva Jayate" from the Congress

DS could make a complete film called ‘Shityameva Jayate” with the current Congress cast led by its leading actors Rahul Gandhi, Manmohan Singh, P. Chidambaram etc. and directed by Digvijay Singh. A reader of this blog pointed out to me how the slogan ‘Satyameva Jayate” has become a joke for the Congress and the UPA government. Rightly so.

For Digvijay Singh the new slogan has to be ‘Shityameva Jayate’! And his pupil, Rahul Gandhi is right behind him on this new principle. Wait for the new movie!