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[1] From: Women's Centre <womcentr@bom7.vsnl.net.in> Date: Sat Jun 3, 2006 Subject: Re: [indiathinkersnet] `The Da Vinci Code' banned in State Yes, there is a state by state banning of the film 'The Da Vinci Code' going on. Apparently, Tamil Nadu & Andhra Pradesh have decided to ban it; Punjab had already done it; some North-East states are following suit. I am sad that friends like John Dayal, Dolphy D'Souza, who have been outstanding fighters in defence not only of minority rights, but also of communal harmony, should have not only supported the ban, but should have kept on lobbying for it. As if the right of Christians as citizens and citizenesses have been grieveously violated because this film was not banned on demand by the censor board. As I wrote to someone, they have made a medium level thriller & a mediocre film almost memorable. I am even sadder that things have come to such a pass that South Indian states where reform movements against Hinduism as Brahmanism had been the formative principle, should now have to protect secularism through such means. But, one, the sentiments of people like myself are not really moved to condemning a John Dayal or Dolphy D'Souza beyond a point. (Not on this issue). Because people like myself have to be careful these days to ensure that our faith in absolute liberalism in such matters does not end up affecting the lives, and even the right to life of others more emotionally attached to what we may feel is the letter of the faith. They have as much right as any other citizen/ess to make their (their religious community's) presence felt on the state machinary; and on members of other religions who are fellow citizens; and who keep demanding bans, and much worse. And a state that has abysmally failed to tackle the interaction between the secular principles and cultural and religious diversity has to create such issues, if they do not readily present themselves. Those political forces who are not outright partisans of the Indian variety of fascist ideology are today trying to cobble together a secular alliance of Hindu OBCs, Hindu Dalits and religious minorities; so it seems to me. To sustain it, it seems they will do what it takes. Apparently they hope that the nature of this alliance itself will ensure that India stays secular, by and large. Even as the distinct Hinduness of the state remains intact; because the majority of India is steeped in religiosity, of the Hindu variety. Because it is an alliance that contains 'The majority'. Because the absence of caste - based surveys notwithstanding, noone has any doubt that the single largest 'majority' in this country is the Hindu OBC. For it to go the other way, is to lose India to fascism, for the next 50 years. I have more serious bones to pick with John Dayal & Dolphy D'Souza though! In one of his latest articles about the attack on Christians in a Madhya Pradesh village, (which distressed me a lot), John tries to contextualise it as violations of 'Christians', and not simply rapes. In the course of it, he recounts the discriminations against women in India, and talks about 'Foeticide'. Sex-selective abortions of female foetuses is an issue that women's groups campaigned on from 1981- '82 in India; the term 'foeticide' is not a women's liberation activist's term, and for good reason; it belongs to anti-abortionist Christian fundamentalists, who do not hesitate to bomb abortion clinics and kill women and doctors, to establish their fanatical 'respect for life'. There are Catholic groups who refuse to surrender women's right to choose abortion, Catholics for a Free Choice, for example. For others, it is like another 'article of faith'. The Bible says multiply like the sands upon the beach, and so we should not only not allow abortion, we must actually try and multiply. It is another matter that Jesus himself is nowhere reported to have dealt with the issue. But Catholics hardly read the Bible; they should. They will get to know the views of Jesus Christ a lot better than those of the current and past Popes. And I am Christian enough to say, to know the views of Jesus is to be touched by goodness, compassion and above all, by an impossible innocence, forever. Is that not worth a lot more, spiritually speaking, than all the edicts of Vatican or other churches and sects? In that sense, does it make the least difference if Jesus was married or not. Or if he loved a woman romantically or not. Probably not, but what if he did? He shall still be the gentle Jesus, who said quite categorically that his kingdom is not of this world, would he not? (No Royal lineages, not of this world). But, there is a lot that Christians accept from the Old Testament, even though Jesus said, I bring unto you a new Gospel. And before him, and after him, Patriarchy survives, in the Church and in interpretations of the texts. Feminist arguments about the censoring of the Sacred Feminine by the Churches (both Orthodox & Catholic) need not be accepted without a pinch of salt, but some of it is historically true. Those of you who have already read Dan Brown's thriller, should also read the Dan Burstein's book. I found the compilation very interesting. Ammu Abraham ----- Original Message ----- From: Satinath Choudhary <satichou@yahoo.com> To: <atheistsofindia@yahoogroups.com> Sent: Friday, June 02, 2006 3:39 AM Subject: [indiathinkersnet] `The Da Vinci Code' banned in State Dear friends, I think our wiser Christian friends should take the lead in denouncing this kind of ban that appears to be proliferating. Taking a queue from this, organizations like RSS/VHP will protest get all books against Hinduim banned too. This business of not "sentiments" is going too far. How about the religious sentiments of atheists? Anything said in favor of any religion hurts my sentiments too. So the government should ban all religious books! When I get back to Delhi, I would consider filing a PIL against publication of all religious books. They hurt sentiments of atheists. Regards, Satinath ------------------- [2] From: "P. J. Victor Raj" <pjvraj@yahoo.com> Date: Sat Jun 3, 2006 Subject: Analysis: India terror attack aimed at sowing anarchy P. J. Victor Raj has sent you an article from World Peace Herald. P. J. Victor Raj's comments: ----------------------------------------------------------- ANALYSIS: INDIA TERROR ATTACK AIMED AT SOWING ANARCHY By Kushal Jeena United Press International# ----------------------------------------------------------- The attempted terror attack at the headquarters of the ultra-Hindu Rashtray Swayamsevak Sangh was aimed at fanning large-scale communal riots in India to create anarchy and disorder, Indian political analysts said Friday. "The foiled terror attack at RSS headquarters at Nagpur was part of a conspiracy to fan widespread communal riots between majority Hindus and minority Muslims as the RSS, its philosophy and role in fanning communal flames in India are well-known," said Anand K. Sahay, a senior political analyst. Sahay said that despite knowing the RSS' communal history, a democratic polity such as India does not fight fire with fire and gives the responsibility of countering such strikes to the federal and provincial governments. In their gunning down of all three militants involved, Sahay said, the provincial police forces have proved they have the courage and ability to foil such attacks. The foiled attack on the RSS headquarters at Nagpur early Thursday was not unexpected. Security forces reportedly reacted swiftly and gunned down all three militants, whose attempt to fool the police by dressing in police uniform and travelling in a car with a beacon was thwarted when they were challenged at a police barricade. "The terrorists attempted to drive a white ambassador car towards (RSS headquarters) shortly before dawn. When guards at the perimeter of the three-level security cordon flagged down the car, its driver attempted to crash through the barriers," the police said. K.S. Sudershan, chief of the RSS, a pro-Hindu fundamentalist organization that backs India's main Hindu nationalist Bhartiya Janata Party, and other top functionaries were present in the building at the time of the attempted strike. The Indian Intelligence Bureau said all three intruders were Pakistani nationals, but failed to give details of their identities. "We had reason to believe that an operation of this kind was being planned and asked the Nagpur police to be prepared," the IIB said. The attempt came a day after the interior secretaries of India and Pakistan concluded talks vowing to eliminate terrorism. Indian security and intelligence agencies have held the pro-Pakistani terror outfit Lashkar-e-Toiba responsible for Thursday's attempt. Indian agencies arrived at this conclusion because in the past LeT have demonstrated their ability to execute suicide-squad attacks at various sites important from economic, religious or technological points of view. In July last year LeT carried out a similar attack at a Hindu temple at Varanasi. In the same month, operatives of another militant outfit -- Jaish-e-Mohammed -- attempted to storm makeshift temple at the controversial Babri mosque site in northern Ayodhya, using tactics similar to those demonstrated in Nagpur. Warnings given to security personnel thwarted the attempts, however. "The manner in which the three militants planned to execute their attack -- by driving in white ambassador fitted with a red beacon -- seems amateurish and pointed to a trend of copycat attacks noticed from 2003," said Interior Secretary Vinod Kumar Duggal, who has just returned from Islamabad. The Intelligence Bureau last year received information that three LeT suicide squad had been sent to India -- one to attack the Indian Military Academy in Dehradun, another to strike at an Information Technology company in Bangalore and the third to hit the RSS headquarters. The first two groups were eliminated and the third has gone underground. Whether or not it was they who tried to attack the RSS headquarters, India's police and intelligence agencies are investigating it as a possible angle. Ironically, the terror strike was carried out on the day India and Pakistan issued a joint statement after the home secretary-level talks in Islamabad calling for, among other things, the total elimination of terrorism. "Pakistan will probably publicly condemn the latest act. But privately, its posture on terrorism remains deeply disturbing," the Indian Interior Ministry has said. "The existence of training camps for Kashmiri militants in Pak-held Kashmir is well-known, but by giving the LeT a free rein, Pakistan is not merely supporting the alleged Kashmiri freedom struggle, but terrorism across India," Sahay said. Sahay said it is evident from the targets the LeT has selected, which are not only military or economic facilities, but also those that will trigger large-scale communal violence across India. That was the goal of last July's foiled attack on the makeshift temple for Lord Ram at the site of the demolished Babri mosque in Ayodhya. The two major terror outfits active in India, LeT and JeM, have of late successfully expanded their infrastructure in the western and southern parts of the country by enrolling their operatives in madarasas in the riot-affected provinces of Maharashtra and Gujarat. Nagpur, where the attack took place Thursday, is the winter capital of Maharashtra, the financial hub of the country. "The terrorists, particularly from Hyderabad, Maharashtra and Gujarat, have during interrogations pointed out how the Gujarat riots led them to believe that there was an anti-Muslim atmosphere in India," said Ajay Kumar, deputy commissioner of the branch of Delhi police that interrogates captured militants. Intelligence agencies in Pakistan, an Interior Ministry official said, are keeping a close watch on Gujarat under BJP Chief Minister Narendra Modi, who has been held responsible for anti-Muslim riots in 2002 that killed more than 1,000 Muslims. "Every development impacting minorities is watched there and used to incite disgruntled members in the community," Kumar told United Press International. The demolition of an ancient mosque in northern Uttar Pradesh by Hindu zealots and riots in Gujarat have helped militants recruit young Muslims, as they were made to believe that widespread anti-Muslim feeling existed in India. This article was mailed from World Peace Herald (http://www.wpherald.com/storyview.php?StoryID=20060602-124424-3870r) For more great articles, visit us at http://www.wpherald.com/ ----------------- [3] From: "Pradeep Deshpande" <proton54@hathway.com> Date: Mon Jun 5, 2006 Subject: Re: [indiathinkersnet] Hindu Rashtra in Nepal Dear Irfaan, Please send this master piece on 'Nepal inside'to leading national national dailies for wider readership. best wishes, pradeep From: "irfan" <irfansan@hotmail.com> To: <indiathinkersnet@yahoogroups.com> Sent: Friday, June 02, 2006 Subject: [indiathinkersnet] Hindu Rashtra in Nepal Why Nepali Parliament declared Nepal as a Secular State? By Irfan Engineer ------------------ [4] From: SANSAD <sansad@sansad.org> Date: Sat Jun 3, 2006 Subject: Remembering 1984, Assault on the Harminder Sahib Dear friends: It is a very short notice, but we in SANSAD were informed about it only today. June 4 is the anniversary of Indian Government's savage attack on the holiest of the shrines of the Sikh community, the full-scale military operation on the Golden Temple of Amritsar in 1984. That act fundamentally changed the course of history in India. Some youth in the Punjabi community are planning to hold a Candle-light vigil tomorrow: June 3, Saturday, at 7 p.m., at the steps of the Vancouver Art Gallery on Robson Street. We urge our friends in the Vancouver area to come out and join in the vigil. "Operation Blue Star" - the full-scale miliary assault on the Golden Temple - was not just an assulat on the Sikh community, it was an attack on the secular, democratc fabric of India, and it paved the way for the state-sponsored genocidal pogroms that have followed since then. Remembering history is an essential step toward proper understanding of the present, and for shaping the future. hari sharma for SANSAD |
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| << June02, 2006 - [India Thinkers Net]Aligarh riots,ways to,protest etc |
June05, 2006 - [India Thinkers Net]GuruDutta,Parvez,Sukla Sen,Arif,Gope Lalwani responses >> |
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