Hindutva-ization/Gujarat-ization(or whatever it means) of my India..

Edited to add :This is not a post about Manglore pub attack.

Yeah,I am adding more to those endless posts on ‘Holy people preserving Indian culture’ floating around in blogoshpere.My friends have already put it in best words,that I have hardly anything better to say.I support you in the fight of individual freedom.Lets not make our nation another Saudi or Afghan..

Amrutha has a post on the topic,but the link she provided seemed disturbing.The author of that article justifies this incident as,‘The Rama Sainiks have done a good job in saving Hindu girls.  I am not saying this.  The masses in Mangalore stand by these so-called hooligans because they want to protect their women from the clutches of the oh-so-peaceful Islamic jehadis ” I was wondering when and how did islam or jiahdist or terrorism come in the frame..Reading more on the thread,I stumbled upon articles in OutlookIndia and IndiaToday,which persuaded me to have a look into the matter,from their viewpoint.Sharing some thoughts.

The incident of pub attack is not simply about moral policing or about political drama.See a few communal stirrings that the state (Karnataka ) has witnessed, especially in the coastal districts, after the BJP came to power last May.

•  June 9, 2008: Temple affairs minister Krishnaiah Shetty issues circular to 34,000 temples to perform special puja for newly sworn-in CM. Order later modified after protests.
• August 10, 2008: Karnataka Rakshana Vedike attacks a group of 35 people allegedly holding a ‘rave party’ at Manchanabele Dam
• August 14, 2008: State-owned Mahabaleshwara Temple in Gokarna transferred to Ramachandrapur Math, known for its save-the-cow campaigns
• August 29, 2008: The Public Instruction Department issues notices to all Christian institutions in the state to shut down to protest the violence against Christians in Orissa. Notice precursor to statewide attacks on churches.
• September 14, 2008: With Mangalore as the epicentre, Sangh parivar activists attack Christian prayer halls and churches across state. More churches attacked three days later.
• October 16, 2008: The largest-selling Kannada newspaper claims on its front page that conversions have gone up alarmingly after Sonia Gandhi-Congress came to power. Debates the issue on its Op-Ed page for over a month.
•  October 30, 2008: Bajrang Dal activists attack two undertrials in Mangalore district sub jail; sixth such attack after its chief Mahendra Kumar’s arrest on September 20.
• December 12, 2008: Aggressive posturing at Baba Budangiri by parivar leaders and Hindu pontiffs
• December 27, 2008: Hoysala Sene attacks Fuga bar in Bangalore, alleges illegal activities
• December 28, 2008: Bajrang Dal activists attack a bus ferrying students on a study tour to Mysore, saying girls and boys from different religions can’t travel together
• January 6, 2009: B.V. Seetharam, editor of Mangalore-based newspaper Karavali Ale, who followed a strong anti-parivar editorial line, handcuffed and arrested in alleged extortion case. Prior to his arrest, parivar elements vandalise paper’s office.
• January 7, 2009: Laddoos distributed in some schools across the state on Vaikunta Ekadashi. Congress demands biriyani should be distributed on Ramzan.
• January 19, 2009: An arrested dacoit reportedly confesses links with radical Hindu groups and admits to carrying out the Hubli district court bombing before the May assembly elections
• January 25, 2009: Sri Rama Sene activists attack pub in Mangalore and molest and beat up women
• January 25, 2009: Bajrang Dal activists attack a private party in Mangalore
• January 28, 2009: Muzrai department orders temples to perform special puja to ward off “ill-effects” of the solar eclipse [source]

Coming back to the recent incident of pub attack,BJP has distanced itself from Muthalik.But Outlook reports that in August 2007, when Yediyurappa was deputy CM in the H.D. Kumaraswamy cabinet, as many as 51 cases were withdrawn against parivar men, of which Mutalik is the first accused in many of these cases while VHP leader Praveen Togadia figures prominently in others.

Earlier,these guys were back of cows..They wanted the Centre to declare cow as a national animal and ban its slaughter. In March 2005, the outfit paraded naked a Muslim father and son in Adi Udupi in front of 500-600 people for allegedly “illegally trading in cows”.

However, the most common reason by far for a communal flare-up relates to the ‘mingling’ of youngsters from different communities. G. Rajashekar, co-author of The Dark Faces of Communalism, a book on communalism in Karnataka, says that according to data he has collected between May 2008 and now, there have been “14 recorded incidents of violence against Hindu girls for having been seen with either a Muslim or a Christian boy”. Prof Phaniraj, a rights activist teaching at a Manipal engineering college, says: “Since 1998, the frequency of communal incidents in the Dakshina Kannada area has increased.

The invariable plot for violence, he adds, is about a boy from a Muslim or Christian community ‘found being friendly’ with a Hindu girl, which leads to the self-styled protectors of the Hindu faith ‘intervening’ to ‘free’ the girl. Except intervening here means thrashing the boy. “We should remember that there was a sustained campaign against the Muslim community in Gujarat before Godhra happened,” says Phaniraj. Just prior to the Surathkal riots in 1998, a lot of pamphlets warning young Hindu women against going with Muslim boys were circulated.

The man who instigated the pub attack, Prasad Attavar, had in 2007 assaulted a Muslim boy at the Ideal Ice-cream Parlour in the heart of Mangalore for talking to a Hindu girl. More ghastly, however, was the 2005 incident in a Puttur cinema when two men (one Muslim) and two Hindu women working in an areca processing factory had gone to see a movie. Around 150 Bajrang Dal activists barged in, dragged the four out and assaulted them before handing them over to the police. As recently as six months ago, a Muslim and Hindu couple living together were forced to return to their native Gadag by parivar activists. “Intrusion into private spaces has become common,” says Phaniraj.

Besides the coastal districts, there has been an uneasy calm at other flashpoints like Baba Budangiri since 2004, where the Sangh parivar is hell-bent on converting the Sufi shrine with a rich tradition of religious syncretism into an exclusive Hindu pilgrimage centre. BJP leader H.N. Ananth Kumar had vowed to make it the ‘Ayodhya of Karnataka’. The Hubli Idgah Maidan issue had cropped up temporarily in September 2004 when Uma Bharati courted arrest and lost her chief ministership, but there has been little noise since then. The silence is eerie, however, and with a BJP government in power, pregnant. [source]

 

My dear friends,this incident is not about culture,but about religion..Its for you and me to decide on what  lessons do we learn from this incident.

 

 

p.s:

On January 17, 2008, while addressing a rally in Udupi, Muthalik said: “It’s time for blasts. Malegaon is just a trailer. Every house should have a person like Pragya Singh. Every housewife will carry bombs now.”[Watch video ]..

Mangalore’s on-the-rampage Ram Sene is drawn from the ranks of the Bajrang Dal and the Shiv Sena : http://tehelka.com/story_main41.asp?filename=Ne070209the_devoutly.asp

 

Its awards time again…and some thoughts on hijab/veil

Its award time again and I have been awarded with some great thoughts of appreciation.E-life has blessed me with some great friends and widen horizons of reading and understanding.I am glad and thankful to all for making me a part of your e-life

 

Thank you Manjug and Smitha..Indeed,as award is a note of appreciation and the feel of having been remembered is great .Manju has passed me the Shield..Honestly speaking i was flattered by her words..

I am pleased to pass this award on to a blogger friend whom I greatly admire for her honesty, empathy for others, and for her perseverance in researching the historical background of political situations, Nimmy. Please accept this as a token of my friendship.

Smitha has awarded me the Versatile Blogger award..She says

Nimmy – She blogs, she cooks, she gardens – and from the look of it – she’s good at all of it!

 

Woo hoo,thanks Smitha,I am honoured to be appreciated as an all-rounder

Both Manju and Smitha have awarded me ‘I love your blog’ and ‘Lovely Blogger’ awards..Thanks a lot..I find myself obsessed with adding on awards to my sidebar..Do pass again

I Pass all these four awards to my friends who made my e-life a beautiful one-with all their varient thoughts,informations and feelings I thank all my readers for being the integral part of my blog and please do continue to share your thoughts..

I pass this award to IHM, Nita, Shail, Cris, Vimal, Dev, Charakan, Amit, Chirag, Pinku, Solilo, Salil, Reema, Kanagu, Alice, Reshmi, Praddep,1conoclast,@lankrita,Sandeep and Poonam.I am sorry if i missed anybody in my dear-list..Will update when my brain recalls your name

 Also,I would like to award this the shield to Aam Insaan who is a regular reader and who shares lot of thoughts,but doesn’t have a blog.

Please accept the award as a not of friendship and appreciation..

 

The other day,we discussed on Hijab/veil.Ziggy has shared some thoughts,which are exactly similar to my view on this subject.I am pasting his comment here so that you all would read.

Everyone MUST have the right to chose how or what the want to wear. Just like women MUST have a choice of wearing a Hijab, Women MUST also have a choice NOT to wear it, and no stigma attached either way.Veil or Naqab in my opinion is going to far, but everyone must be free to decide for themselves.

No where in the Qur’an the word ‘Hijab’ is used for any part of clothing. The word used is ‘Khimar’ meaning cover, and it is used as in to cover your chest. “And tell the believing women to lower their gaze and be modest, and to display of their adornment only that which is apparent, and to draw their veils(Khimar) over their bosoms” No where the word head or hair is used.

The precise word ‘Hijab’ has been used in the Qur’an a few times but never in correlation with clothing, it is used as a barrier. Al-Hijab = Barrier Khimar = Cover

Another verse in the Qur’an says; O’Children of Adam, We have bestowed upon you clothing to conceal your private parts and as adornment. But the clothing of righteousness [TAQWA] is the best. This is from the signs(revelations) of Allah that they may remember. (Al-Araf, 7:26) The above clearly distinguishes the superiority of Righteousness. Taqwa(Consciousness, Righteousness) far supersedes a mere piece of cloth.

No where in Islam it says Hijab is mandatory. Today Hijab is cultural and used as ‘Control’. There is no doubt about it and I say this with 100% certainty and I challenge anyone . . . that in overwhelming majority of cases Hijab is imposed. Take any country; Afghanistan, Iran, Malaysia, Iraq, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Egypt . . . . women are forced, pressured and coerced.

Why is there no focus on Men’s modesty? Why should men not cover themselves, why should men not cover their head, why should men not hide their handsomeness just for their wives? Why should women carry men’s Burdens. No one has the right to impose their views on others!!

Why has all Islam been squeezed into a mere piece of cloth? Why has Islam been completely pinned to a mere piece of cloth. So suddenly you put on a piece of cloth and you become a symbol of Piety? So women who don’t wear Hijab are not Pious, or religious, or good Muslims, or modest!! What does a piece of cloth got to do with modesty or Piety? Hijab is NOT the Pinnacle of Islam or a symbol of Piety.

Is there nothing else in the Qur’an that is even slightly important that Hijab, or nothing in the Qur’an that by far supersedes this absurd fixation on Hijab. So a piece of cloth takes presedence over and is more important than; Salah(Prayers), Zakat(Alms, compulsory in Islam), Fasting, backbiting, jealousy, charity, Sadaqa(a form of Charity), greed, oppression, human rights, treatment of women, anger, envy, family, forgiveness, promises, usury, revenge, stealing, superstition, love, peace, unity, brotherhood . . . . . . . . . . .

Good day to all

 

p.s:I will take an hour to link to all my friends..I am little busy now and will link soon later.Sorry.

What have you done so far,as to wipe out the menace of terrorism?

Nobody wants to speak about terrorism until and unless a blast occurs. Once there happens such a sad incident, we all get back to attacking mode. We slam the government, we slam the religion, and we slam each other until we are bored. Again we find bliss in escapism until the cycle repeats. Maybe it’s high time that we recognize that killing those individuals will not help us for getting rid of the menace. If it had been so, there should have been peace established long before..

 

To me, the process of banning organizations or detain individuals makes no much difference as in concern the bigger frame. Rather than just applying corticosteroids that deludes us to feel that wound has been healed, maybe we should look and act beyond the peripheral and go deep into the psyche of the people who join these terror groups. The scenario may seem simple, but to my understanding, there are complex links between the causes of terrorism and the role various actors play in promoting and combating them. Rather than just a group of people committing a crime, recent incidents tells us more of involvement from various strata ,may it be from the bureaucratic level or by those major players of our civil society and above all, the criminal elements.

 

I may not be wrong when I try to list down the reasons for the support of the killer ideology as related to exclusion, injustice, alienation,helplessness,despair,ignorance and prejudice. Terrorist leaders feed on there factors and exploit them whenever they find a sympathetic audience and thus gather support for their outfits. In today’s global village, injustice in one corner can easily be used to raise support in another part of the world. That maybe the reason why we see lot of people raising their voice against the plight of Gaza-ians and Darfur-ians,even when Kashmiri Pundits of their own land are under the same plight. It may not be that they don’t care about Pundits,but lines of correlation are drawn between one’s despair and people of Gaza or Iraq.They feed on what is being fed. To a hungry cow, it doesn’t matter whether Ram or Muhammed or Jacob is feeding him. If his needs are met, he will be ready to join that side which suits him more.

 

If gunning down these people had helped, we would have been in a state of bliss by now.If it was that easy or simple ,wonder why we are still struggling to deal with them? Unless you kill the idea that gives birth to such elements, the problem will continue to bother you time and time again. What have we(read Government) done in the regard? As of now all that done has alienated people from the main stream resulting in further aggression or feel of discrimination. Am I wrong?

 

To my understanding, the only solution for this menace is to support community-driven development and thereby build the capacity of communities to resist extreme religious and political ideologies-may it be jihadist or the hindutva stuff. Why not encourage interfaith dialogues between religious and community leaders so that there is more of transparency and tolerance. On a more important note it may do wonders of our media is regulated. I needn’t rant as to what is and how is our media delivering as of today. Above all, we should give greater attention to job opportunities and education for youth as to prevent the emergence of fragile segments of population. If people have their own business to mind and are rightly informed-may it be religious or political ideologies- and with the addition of a closely knit community relations, I wonder who on earth will bother to mind others business. Finally, rather than keeping eyes closed and be in bliss, we need to analyze how the concept of ‘Global Village’ affected our nation and look into facts and understand the trend of how the various strata of our society in general are functioning. I doubt if we can say that India is really shining..

 

Good day to all..Do share your thoughts..

p.s:My headline for the psot seems weird, can’t think of anything better ..

Public Display of Affection-How much is too much

Toady, I read an elaborate article and slideshow on Obamas PDA(public Disply of Affection)..Oh well,honestly speaking,I felt so good and happy for them as a wife and husband..The joy,the love,its all visible in their eyes when they look into each others eyes..The way they seem to listen to each other,the way they danced..I just loved it.One cannot fake such emotions on every occasion,so to me,they truly seem to be in love with each other..Good luck to Obamas and me too..lol…

 

This made me think on how much or to which extent in PDA acceptable in India..Lol,I just knew that PDA is banned or unacceptable in India,by the Supreme court of Justice.Well,this is a two year old news and it is my problem that I didn’t read it and hence reacting late..Please bear with me .

So what is wrong with displaying one’s love towards the partner.If you don’t like it,just don’t look at it,isn’t it as simple as that..??I am not talking about those high volatge acts like french kissing and stuff on streets..No sane person would do that.Apart from that,what is wrong in holding hands,or small small hugs doesn’t do any harm,do they?I know that I sound dumb by sayign this because ‘right’ is subjective and people are always keen to push forward the ‘limits’..But we are being too rigid by looking down at people who just hold hands and walk or maybe give a sponatenous kiss or hug..Afterall,it all happens just like that and we can’t just blame them for it.

 

In my class,we had a few ‘couples’ who were deeeeply in love(interstingly,they all married somebody else later in life…aggrrrh) ..For every break we had,these three sets would come on to behind the last row of benches and would start these acts of PDA..Sorry guys,no offence meant,but it was all disguting ..I never(read not often) stared at them to avoid myself getting embarassed,but few times I saw them putting hands into each others dress,the girl playing with guy’s shirts buttons,the guy playing with her hair,hell it was all embarrassing that we all girls would not dare to sit inside the classroom during lunch break.Since I was a chota neta then,all girls asked me to talk to these couples and ask them to keep limits as their acts were gaining popularity within the college and thereby making our class famous(read infamous) It was the most embarassing moment of my life when I asked them(all of them my best friends) to ‘Pls take care because we few fellow beings are sitting here..’..ROFL I can’t believe now that I did this.Nevermind,my point is,the problem with their PDA was that they didn’t know how and where to keep limits and hence their acts of love or care became disgusting in our eyes..

Of course it is not a personal business and hence the name public display of affection.Neverthless,I would have felt great for them if they had just held hands or have an occassional hug or like stuff..But acting like a wife and husband as in a bedroom,doing it in classroom because of lack of space in not at all acceptable.To those who would complain ,I used to tell that  ‘They are in love,so it doesn’t matter’..But how real and how practical was my answer ..I have doubts now.What do you think on ‘How much is too much’??

 

Good day to all..

Dear Readers,what do you think of veil/pardha/hijab?

These days,I am not feeling so well..Also,a cooking bug has infected me and i want to cook something new every now and then.So,I am wandering on the internet like a hippe (err,does that comparison make any sense **scratches head**) I am really sorry to all my dear readers who have commented but I am yet to reply..I have learned lot from you all and I am thankful too you for spending time to read my rants :)

 

 Today,I would like you all to speak about ‘What do you think of hijab/Pardha/veil of muslim women?’..This is a plain question and you are free to say what you have it in your mind..The first and last rule here is to be honest  There is no such thing as ‘Am I right,Am I wrong,What will she think,Am I being prejudiced,Am I judging somebody’ etc etc etc..I ask,because I want to know more and share more..I thought of making this post as a poll or like type,but then again,it would make it difficult for those of you who would like to talk more on this subject..It would be great if you had made a post on this,but even otherwise,it would still be great if you comment here :)

 

 Finally,do make sure to answer one single question ‘ What do you think of those women who don’t wear veil’..Do you think of them as less religious,or rebellious,or stupids??

While you write,have a piece of my healthy Pizza (there isn’t any mozarella cheese and the dough is of wheat flour)  and Cappichino muffins

 

 

 

Good day to all..

 

p.s:

 

Those who copy my pictures will burn in hell