Supreme Contempt of Supreme Court

A Supreme Court Bench comprising Hon'ble Justices B N Agarwal and P P Naolekar created history yesterday when they imposed a STAY on the proposed Bandh of DMK and its allies in Tamilnadu on 1 October, 2007. I am saying 'they created History' not only because they gave a majestic order defending the ordinary and natural rights of more than 1 billion common and helpless people of India but also because that they came forward to give a public hearing on a Sunday to the Counsel of the AIADMK Gurukrishna Kumar, Subrmonium Prasad and N Jyoti. The Supreme Court also made it clear through the fearsome tone, spirit, and letter of its order rooted in Law, Equity and Natural Justice that they cannot be intimidated by the ever fleeting and fluctuating opinions of different political parties holding briefs for the moment.

Justice B N Agarwal Justice P P Naolekar THE HEROIC SAVIOURS OF THE PEOPLE

The AIADMK in the Special Leave Petition (SLP) contended that the proposed Monday (1 October 2007) Bandh sought to be enforced by the DMK and its allies was unconstitutional and violative of the apex court's directive on the issue. Seldom does the apex court take up for open hearing on any matter on Sundays and holidays unless the issue involved is of grave importance. The petitioner submitted that the Bandh was unwarranted as the matter relating to the Ram Sethu project was already pending before the apex court.

Hon'ble Justice B N Agarwal and Hon'ble Justice P P Naolekar covered themselves with everlasting glory when they stated: �So long as the 1998 Judgement of this Court remains, you cannot call for a Bandh, which has been completely prohibited. Your object is to stop everything to show your might and solidarity. We cannot tolerate this. Public right is superior to party rights.� During the course of this historic hearing on Sunday, the Supreme Court put the following unanswerable questions to A K Ganguly, Counsel for the DMK: a) Your protest is against whom? The Project, the Central Government or against the Supreme Court? b) Why do you want to close all educational institutions and commercial activities? c) Where will you then find the people for your meetings?

The Madras High Court on the Writ Petitions filed by the AIADMK and Dr Subramanian Swamy had held last week that the petitioners had a prima facie case to show that the call given by the DMK and its allies was only for a 'Bandh'. Upholding this finding, the Supreme Court declared: �We are also prime facie of the view that the combined call given by the political parties�the DMK, the Congress, the CPI, the CPI (M), and the PMK�is only for a 'Bandh' and not for a hartal or a strike.

Dead Koyambedu bus-stand on 1-10-2007 (Government Bandh)

If it is a Bandh then it is a breakdown of the Constitutional machinery. Your own resolution says that the programme on 1 October, is intended to ensure complete cessation of all activities, then how can you say it is not a Bandh?� The Bench brushed aside the claims of the State and the DMK that what was essentially intended was a public meeting. The Supreme Court Bench, by an order of Injunction, restrained the respondents from proceeding with the call for a 'Bandh' on October 1, 2007 or on any other date in terms of the 24 September resolution. The Supreme Court Bench, in clear and categorical terms, told Mr Ahmed (the Counsel for the Chief Secretary and the Director General of Police): �Whatever the political parties had called for, you have permitted them by issuing certain directions on 27 September, 2007. By doing so, you (The State) have failed in your Constitutional Duty to protect the rights of citizens. If it comes within the realm of a Bandh, it has to be stopped. There is a breakdown of the constitutional machinery if you (State) don't do that to stop the Bandh.

Defying Supreme Court order on 1-10-2007 (Pls see the 'Bandh' notice on the bus)

There cannot be any doubt that the fundamental rights of the people as a whole cannot be subservient to the claim of fundamental right of an individual or any section of the people. � We have come to this stage in the country that everything has to be monitored, hammered or directed by courts. Even orders of the Supreme Court are not observed, what to talk of the High Courts. Ninety-nine per cent of the High Court orders are not complied. In our country, we have come to a stage where everything has to be dealt with an iron hand. Nothing moves even after our orders. We have to issue contempt and monitor. Things have come to this stage. When even Orders of the Supreme Court are not complied with, what to talk of the High Courts where 99 per cent of the orders are not obeyed. Do not play with fire. If you do (go ahead with the bandh), it is illegal as per law laid down by the Supreme Court.�

In spite of the clear orders of the Supreme Court, it has been reported that the DMK party and its partners are not allowing shops and commercial establishments to be kept open from this morning (1October 2007). Government-owned buses are not plying. Koyambedu Bus Terminus wears a deserted look. Common people are complaining that the Government of Tamilnadu is fully supporting the DMK and its allies to defy the orders of the Supreme Court. They are of the view that the Government of Tamilnadu and the DMK Party acting together as two sides of the same coin are guilty of supreme contempt of the Supreme Court of India. This morning I went to the General Hospital in Chennai to study the situation. More than 200 people who had come for emergency treatment complained that they were not able to get any public transport to reach the Hospital because of the attitude of defiance of the Supreme Court Order by the Tamilnadu Government. I then went to the Central Station and found that many passengers were stranded without public transport. The DMK Party and the Tamilnadu Government are guilty of supreme contempt of the Supreme Court of India on the one hand and supreme contempt of the common people of Tamilnadu on the other.

In order to politically defy the ban orders of the Supreme Court of India, Karunanidhi and his allies have declared a 'farcical fast'�ridiculously ludicrous. This view has been effectively voiced by the AIADMK supremo Jayalalitha who has clearly declared that the DPA fast amounts to contempt of the orders of the Supreme Court of India imposing a ban on the Bandh on 1 October, 2007. She has demanded the dismissal of the DMK Government in Tamilnadu for having violated the Constitutional Orders of the Supreme Court of India.

This morning, the Supreme Court has declared: �There is a complete breakdown of constitutional machinery in the State of Tamilnadu�. They have told the UPA Government 'NOT TO SHY AWAY' from the extreme step of dismissing the DMK Government in the larger interest of survival of the 'State' and the Indian Constitution.

I spoke to Smt Chandralekha, State President of the Janata Party. She said that the DMK party and the Tamilnadu Government are acting in chorus to defy the orders of the Hon'ble Supreme Court of India with shameless contempt, in spite of very strict warning given by the Hon'ble Judges of the Supreme Court.

Shame is viewed by the DMK and all its allies as 'superstitious and irrational' and Shamelessness as 'rational and scientific'. Though I am no poet in Tamil, yet in this context.I am reminded of the following roaring words of Mahakavi Bharathi suitably readapted to suit the present situation in Tamilnadu:

The people of Tamilnadu are feeling helpless and wretched. The best tribute I can pay to the DMK, the Congress, the CPI (M), the CPI and the PMK for their exemplary (!) political conduct, worthy of emulation by the succeeding generations, can only be in the words of Edmund Burke (1729-1797): �The poorest being that crawls on earth, contending to save itself from injustice and oppression, is an object respectable in the eyes of God and man. But I cannot conceive any existence under heaven (which in the depths of its wisdom tolerates all sorts of things) that is more truly odious and disgusting than an impotent, helpless creature, without civil wisdom or military skill, without a consciousness of any other qualification for power but his servility to it, bloated with pride and arrogance, calling for battles which he is not to fight, contending for a violent dominion which he can never exercise, and satisfied to be himself mean and miserable, in order to render others contemptible and wretched�.

There is an eternal clash all the time between the Majesty of Law and the Prevarications of Party Politics. This was beautifully brought out by the English Poet W H Auden (1907 � 1973) through the following lines of his great poem:

Law, says the judge as he looks down his nose,

Speaking clearly and most severely,

Law is as I've told you before,

Law is as you know I suppose,

Law is but let me explain it once more,

Law is The Law.

Yet law-abiding scholars write:

Law is neither wrong nor right,

Law is only crimes

Punished by places and by times,

Law is the clothes men wear

Anytime, anywhere,

Law is Good morning and Good night.

And always the loud angry crowd,

Very angry and very loud,

Law is We,

And always the soft idiot softly Me

Others say, Law is our Fate;

Others say, Law is our State;

Others say, others say

Law is no more,

Law has gone away.,.

--- V SUNDARAM
(The writer is a retired IAS officer)

e-mail the writer at vsundaram@newstodaynet.com

http://www.newstodaynet.com/2007sud/oct07/011007.htm

Priyaranjan Das Munshi's Mahatma Gandhi!

It is well known that the Supreme Court had stayed on 30 September, 2007 the Bandh called by the DMK and its allies on 1October, 2007. Despite this, there was a virtual freeze on normal life in Tamilnadu on Monday ( 1 October, 2007). The DPA leaders observed a hunger strike on Monday. Their unions and cadres disrupted most of the public services across the State. When this fact was mentioned before the Supreme Court yesterday (1October 2007), the Supreme Court severely criticized the DMK Government for its failure to maintain essential services during the day and warned that if it did not comply with its order staying the Bandh, it would not hesitate to direct the Central Government to impose President's Rule in Tamilnadu.

The Supreme Court Bench comprising Hon'ble Acting Chief Justice B N Agarwal and Hon'ble Justice P Sathasivam observed: �If there is no compliance with our order, it is a complete breakdown of the constitutional machinery. We will then have to direct the Government to impose President's Rule. If this is the attitude of the DMK Government, the UPA Government should not feel shy of dismissing it and imposing President's Rule�. The Hon'ble Judges posed the following questions:

a) Is this a Government?

b) Is this the Tamilnadu Government?

c) Is this the DMK Government, a strong ally of the UPA Government?

Irrelevant!	Relevant!

No honourable citizen in Tamilnadu or the rest of India was left in doubt about the fact that yesterday's Bandh was organized, controlled, supervised and directed by the DMK party and the Government of Tamilnadu, defying the ban orders of the Supreme Court of India in the most contemptible and condemnable manner. Even after the Supreme Court warned the Tamilnadu Government that it would not hesitate to direct the Centre to impose President's rule if the State fails to comply with its order on Bandh, the 'most laughable' Minister for Information and Broadcasting in the Union Government, pooh poohed the observations of the Supreme Court, wafting no less contempt towards the Supreme Court, when he said: �We would do nothing to 'hurt' the DMK-led Government. We are committed. They (DMK) are part of our Government. We will not disturb the state government remotely, directly or explicitly. Chief Minister M Karunanidhi is one of the stalwarts, not just of the DMK, but of the entire country. The fast is not violating the court order. This is a non-violent response showing respect to Mahatma Gandhi's ideals a day ahead of his birth anniversary.�

Some days ago Karunanidhi had the temerity to accuse in public that Lord Rama is a drunkard and a debauched character. Such a great and patriotic 'Hindu' leader of global stature has been compared with Mahatma Gandhi�the Father Of Our Nation�yesterday by Priyaranjan Das Munshi, the Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting. Shamelessly, he has said that the ideals of Karunanidhi are in keeping with the ideals of Mahatma Gandhi. Let us put his learned comparison, perhaps fully backed by the official might of the Government of India, to ordinary lay man's scrutiny.

a) Mahatma Gandhi was a great devotee of Lord Rama and Lord Krishna. He worshipped the Ramayana and the Bhagavad Gita. Rama Nama and Ram Rajya were for Gandhi synonymous terms. Addressing a prayer meeting in New Delhi on 25 May, 1946, Mahatma Gandhi said: �Rama Nama should come from the heart. In that event, Rama Nama could become an effective remedy against all ailments. A man who believes in Rama Nama would not make a fetish of the body but would regard it as a means of serving God. And for making it into a fit instrument for that purpose, Rama Nama is the sovereign means. To install Rama Nama in the heart requires infinite patience. It might even take ages. But the effort is worthwhile. Rama Nama cannot come from the heart unless one has cultivated the virtues of truth, honesty and purity within and without.�

Karunanidhi has always hated RAMA because his mentor Periyar hated him. He enthusiastically supported Periyar when he put a garland of shoes and chappals on the statue of Lord Rama in the 1950s. Even if this belongs to the past, Karunanidhi in his present official capacity as Chief Minister of Tamilnadu has gone out of his way to revive this glorious Periyar memory and tradition by making the most uncivilized attack on Lord Rama by calling him a drunkard. Perhaps, Priyaranjan Das Munshi (with a full tacit approval of anti-Hindu Sonia Gandhi) is of the view that this anti-Rama ideal of Karunanidhi is on par with the ideals of Mahatma Gandhi! In this context, it will not be out of place to mention the fact that M F Hussain is known for his slandering of Hinduism through his nude paintings of Hindu Gods and Goddesses. M Karunanidhi, the Chief Minister of Tamilnadu, is trying to match the splendid Hindu-hating performance of M F Hussain through his classical Tamil words.

b) Mahatma Gandhi was an 'Apostle of Non-violence'.

Dr. Subramanian Swamy, President of the Janata Party has said: �It is abominable for Priyaranjan Das Munshi to compare Karunanidhi with the Father of Our Nation. Karunanidhi is the anti-thesis�in letter and spirit�of Mahatma Gandhi. Karunanidhi was a primary accused in the murder case relating to the beastly attack on Smt. Indira Gandhi during her visit to Madurai in 1979. Moreover following the indictment by the Jain Commission, the Multi-disciplinary Investigation Team and the CBI initially viewed Karunanidhi as a prime suspect in the murder of Rajiv Gandhi�.

c) When we got our independence on 15 August, 1947, every public office in India was open to Mahatma Gandhi. Yet, Mahatma Gandhi chose to remain in Noakhali District in East Bengal in the larger interest of Hindu-Muslim unity. His was a life of supreme sacrifice. He never chased any public office through unscrupulous political alliances and coalitions.

Perhaps, Priyaranjan Das Munshi is overawed by the supreme sacrifice (!) of Karunanidhi in the same way in which millions of our countrymen came under the spell of Mahatma Gandhi in the days of our struggle for freedom. According to him, the track record of Karunanidhi is in no way less glorious than that of Mahatma Gandhi.

d) Mahatma Gandhi insisted upon the highest standard of personal integrity, simplicity and purity of mind, body, conduct, heart and soul. The whole of India knows that the slavish congressmen today consider Sonia Gandhi as a spiritual representative of Mahatma Gandhi. Perhaps Priyaranjan Das Munshi sincerely believes that Karunanidhi has not only maintained the spiritual political tradition of Mahatma Gandhi but also enriched it in every sense of the word through his long track record of selfless sacrifice, simplicity, integrity, purity and exemplary character. In short, Priyaranjan Das Munshi deserves lasting glory (!) for comparing the deathless idealism of Karunanidhi with the mortal idealism of immortal Mahatma Gandhi. The whole world is fully aware of the grand track record of Karunanidhi in these vague 'superstitious' and 'irrational' areas of immaterial virtue and rectitude.

To quote the words of Tiruvan-miyur Hanuman: �It has always been the habit of INC, i.e. Indian Nehru Congress or Indira Nehru Congress or Italian National Congress to insult Mahatma Gandhi, the father of the nation. The Nehru family, the private proprietor of the Congress party, has inherited unduly and undeservedly the brand name of 'Gandhi' with the sole aim of hoodwinking the people of India. The Congress Party has been practicing the kind of politics which is exactly the opposite of the principles of Mahatma Gandhi. Similarly, the DMK and their allies in Tamilnadu who are alien to the principles of Mahatma Gandhi, have ruined the State with violence, crime and corruption during the last 40 years. The present Chief Minister Karunanidhi was the first to lift prohibition and to bring the State under a drunken madness, treating the earnest request of Rajaji with utmost contempt. Priyaranjan Das Munshi, one among the sycophants and spineless creatures of the Congress Party, has insulted and caused immense damage to the sacred name of Mahatma Gandhi by equating Karunanidhi with the Father of the Nation. Incidentally, the Italian woman who does not know anything about Gandhiji's principles had recently gone to address the UN Assembly on 'non-violence' which is like adding insult to injury. Mahatma Gandhi must be turning in his grave at Rajghat on his birthday.�

Today is the birthday of Mahatma Gandhi. Most of the effete Congressmen clinging to the seals of any stupid public office may not be aware of the great tribute that Albert Einstein (1879-1955) paid to Mahatma Gandhi in 1944: �Mahatma Gandhi confronted the brutality of Western Europe with the simplicity and dignity of an ordinary human being. For centuries to come men will scarce believe that such a man in flesh and blood ever walked on this earth�. Historians of the future, I believe, will look upon this century not as the Atomic Age, but as the Age of Gandhi.

--- V SUNDARAM
(The writer is a retired IAS officer)

e-mail the writer at vsundaram@newstodaynet.com

Hindu judge not allowed to celebrate Diwali in Pak

Islamabad, Nov 10 (ANI): The only Hindu judge and one of the senior-most judges of the Pakistan Supreme Court, Justice Rana Bhagwandas, was not allowed to celebrate Diwali, the festival of lights, with his family.

Justice Bhagwandas, who refused to take oath under the Provisional Constitutional Ordinance (PCO), spent the day alone under house arrest and solitary confinement.

"I used to celebrate Diwali every year in Karachi with my family, relatives and associates. This year I am not even allowed to celebrate it with my brother or community in Islamabad," the Daily Times quote him, as saying.

On Thursday, the government offered him a mobile squad to escort him on Friday if he wanted to move about in the city, but the city magistrate rejected his request, and asked him to go out of the city, Justice Bhagwandas said.

"I had no plan to leave the city. I just wanted to visit some friends and my brother's family in Islamabad and worship with them but they (the government) did not allow me," he said.

Justice Bhagwandas, who is under house arrest for over a week, said his morale is still high. (ANI)

http://in.news.yahoo.com/071110/139/6n22b.html

Genocide of Hindus - White paper on Kashmir

Genocide of Hindus After the Independence of India, the one community in India which suffered for its commitment to patriotism and Indian unity, was the minority community of the Hindus in the Jammu and Kashmir State. The Hindus constantly faced the accusation of the Muslims that they had conspired with the Government of India to secure the accession of the State to India against the will of the Muslims. They suffered the charge that in l947, they had, with the help of the Hindu ruler of the State, Maharaja Hari Singh and in connivance with the leaders of the National Conference, treacherously sabotaged the Muslim endeavour to achieve the integration of the Muslims of Jammu and Kashmir with the Muslim homeland of Pakistan. They were also indicted for having opposed the Muslim resistance against the accession of the State to India. They bore the brunt of the Muslim precedence, the National Conference established in the State and after the National Conference broke up in 1953, they were proclaimed the enemies of the Muslim movement, the Plebiscite Front led in the State. Even after the Plebiscite Front was wound up in 1975, the condemnation to which the Hindus were subjected, did not end. They continued to be charged of being the arch enemies of the Muslim nation of Kashmir, a threat to the Muslim religion and its political solidarity and the motive force behind all secular processes in the State which obstructed the Muslim struggle for Pakistan. In fact, they faced the first crucifixion for their loyalty to their country. The first shots fired by the militants were received by the Hindus. Among the accusations piled upon the Hindus in Kashmir, the following were the prominent: that they misled the leadership of the Muslim Conference in 1939, and ensured the Muslim Conference leaders to accept secularism as the basis of the Muslim struggle against the Dogra rule, that they supported the accession of the State to India and actively worked to consolidate the Indian hold over the Muslims in the State; that they subotaged the secessionist movement aimed to disengage the State from India; that they supported the merger of the State in the constitutional organisation of India; that they were severely opposed to the Muslim precedence; and that they did not accept the primacy of Islam and obstructed the Muslimisation of the society and Government of the State. The accusations were not unfounded. The Hindus in Kashmir fought for Indian unity and freedom from foreign rule, shoulder to shoulder with the people in the Indian States. The first ever held Conference of the Indian States People, convened in 1927, was presided over by a firebrand Kashmiri Pandit, Shankar Lal Kaul, who had left Kashmir after having been removed from the State services on the advice of the British Resident. Kaul demanded the right of the States People to repudiate the princely order and called for a united struggle of the people in the Indian States and the British Provinces against the British rule. A decade after, the All- India States Peoples Conference, in its session at Ludhiana, reiterated the demand Kaul had made for the repudiation of the Paramountacy and the end of the princely rule in the Indian States. Pandit Dwatika Nath Kachroo, a veteran Kashmiri Pandit freedom fighter and a close associate of Jawahar Lal Nehru, served the States Peoples movement, asthe Secretary General of the States Peoples Conference, during the most formative years of its development. He was arrested in Kashmir along with Nehru in the 'Quit Kashmir' movement. Later, Kachru represented the All-India States Peoples Conference in the historic meeting of the Working Committee ofthe National Conference held in October 1947, in which the Conference decided unanimously to support the accession of the State to India. The Hindus of Kashmir extended their support to the Indian national movement right from its revolutionary days and demonstrated their fraternal solidarity with the people of India in the Civil Disobedience, which followed the Rawlatt legislation in 1919, the Khilafat Movement in 1921, and the Salt Satyagraha in 1931. Many of them, including Pandit Kashyap Bandhu, joined the revolutionary underground in India which actually shook the roots of the British empire. The Muslims of Kashmir inspired by Pan-Islamism, which prevaded the Muslim outlook in India till the British left, adopted an attitude of active opposition to the Indian struggle. The Muslims in the State never lost sight of the identity of their interests with the British and spared no efforts to help them to undo the Dogras and provide them support in their endeavour to smother the liberation movement in India. They strongly opposed the State-Subject movement led by the Kashmiri Hindus, which was mainly aimed to forestall any attempt the British made to acquire land in the State. Infact, the Muslims in their Memorial, submitted to Maharaja Hari Singh in the aftermath of the Muslim agitation of 1931, blamed the State Government of having connived with the Hindus in organising demonstrations in the State in support of the Congress movement, which, they alleged, went against their loyality to the British empire. In truth, it was the Hindu community in Kashmir which by its exhibition of tolerance and forebearance and a long campaign of education in secular values, laid the foundations of a secular, non-partisan and non- communal movement in the State. The declaration of the National Demand, which was issued by Hmdus and Muslim leaders of Kashmir in 1938, and which in the later days, formed the basic groundwork of the movement for self-government in the State, uas drafted by the Kashmiri, Hindu leaders. The Decleration of National Demand became the basis of the emergence of the National Conference in 1939. The Muslim Conference, which spearheaded the Muslim agitation against the Dogra rule in the State, was converted into a secular organisation,the National Conference in l939,with active collaboration and support of the Hindus in Kashmir. The Hindus joined the ranks of the National Conference on the terms which the Muslim leaders laid down. The Muslim leaders who did not join the National Conference broke away to continue their struggle for the Muslims and aligned themselves with the Muslim League movement for Pakistan. They accused the Hindus of Kashmir, particularly the Kashmiri Pandits, of having divided the Muslims of the State on the instigation of the Congress and other Hindu leaders of India. This accusation was never washed away. The ideologues of the Muslim terrorism repeated the indictment. The Hindus allowed the escheat of their landed estates, the confiscation of their properly, and their exclusion from the administration of the State and accepted political change which sought its legitimacy in the primacy of Islam, to provide the Government of India support in the United Nations, where the Indian representatives were seeking hard to prove more Muslim than the Muslim nation of Pakistan to justify the accession of the State to India. The Kashmiri Pandits went as far as to applaud the long harrangues delivered by Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah in the Security Council, which in substance, embodied the Muslim claims to the nationhood of Kashmir on the basis of the Muslim religious injunction. The Hindus bore the first impact of the upheaval which followed the dismissal of Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah in 1953, and in fact, they took to the streets in support of the second Interim Government, demonstrating their solidarity with the Government of India. For twenty-two years, they fought with dogged resolution, the movement for plebiscite, which Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah and the Plebiscite Front led. After the Accord in 1975, they found themselves arraigned against the Pan-Islamic fundamentalism which assumed the leadership of the secessionist movement in the State after the Plebiscite Front was dissolved. The secessionist forces charged them of obstructing the liberation of the Muslims in the State and the State Government charged them of acting on the behest of the Indian Government, to spread Hindu communalism in the State. The National Conference leaders charged the Kashmiri Hindus of acting as the agents of India. The Muslim wrath fell upon them, when widespread anti-Hindu riots broke out all over the south of Kashmir in 1986. The Kashmiri Hindus earned the heaviest Muslim censure for their avowed opposition to the exclusion of the State from the constitutional organisation of India. They were openly branded the enemies of the Muslim identity of the State. Indeed, the Hindus all over the State, including the Sikhs and the Buddhists, did not approve of the exclusion of the State from the constitutional organisation of India. They implored with Nehru and the other Indian leaders not to allow the isolation of the State from the mainstream of the Indian political life. While a widespread agitation against the exclusion of the State from the constitutional organisation of India was launched by the Hindus in Jammu, the Hindus in Kashmir sent several communications to the Government of India, pointing out the dangers in excluding the State from the Indian political organisation and the damage that would be done to the evolution of integrated and secular political institutions in the State. The National Conference, the Plebiscite Front and the other Muslim organisations denounced the Hindus as the fifth column of Hindu communalists of India, who sought to end the Muslim identity of the State. In the province of Jammu, the Muslim leaders of the National Conference cracked under the pressure of the dominant Hindu majority and frightened by the Hindu backlash offered to separate the Hindu majority districts of the province from the rest of the State. The Hindus of Jammu rejected the dismemberment of the State on communal lines and re-emphasised their demand for the integration of the State in the secular political organisation of India. In Kashmir, however, they reduced the Hindus, particularly the Kashmiri Pandits, to a subject population, outcaste and branded them enemies of the cause of the Muslims and their religious identity. Impoverished by their exclusion from the economic organisation of the State and their elimination from all the political processes, the Hindus lost their initiative and became the hostages to what was later called "the Muslim identity of Jammu and Kashmir". They were subject to religious persecution, their temples were desecrated; many of their temples disappeared completely, among them the famous temple of Vishnu located in the flank of Jama Masjid in Srinagar. As the secessionist forces gained the upper hand, pressure was mounted upon them and thousands of them abandoned their homes. No wonder that during the last four decades about two lakh of Kashmiri Hindus quietly migrated to the other pans of the country. The blitzkrieg assault, the terrorists delivered upon the Hindus in the Valley in JanuaIy 1990, was the last blow, dealt out to them to uproot them completely and put an end to the last measure of resistance they still offered to Muslim communalism.

Hindu Kush means Hindu Slaughter

By Shrinandan Vyas

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All the Encyclopedias and National Geographic agree that Hindu Kush region is a place of Hindu genocide (similar to Dakau and Auschwitz). All the references are given. Please feel free to verify them.

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ABSTRACT

All Standard reference books agree that the name 'Hindu Kush' of the mountain range in Eastern Afganistan means 'Hindu Slaughter' or 'Hindu Killer'. History also reveals that until 1000 A.D. the area of Hindu Kush was a full part of Hindu cradle. More likely, the mountain range was deliberately named as 'Hindu Slaughter' by the Moslem conquerors, as a lesson to the future generations of Indians. However Indians in general, and Hindus in particular are completely oblivious to this tragic genocide. This article also looks into the reasons behind this ignorance.

21 References - (Mainly Encyclopedia Britannica & other reference books, National Geographic Magazines and standard history books).

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INTRODUCTION

The Hindu Kush is a mountain system nearly 1000 miles long and 200 miles wide, running northeast to southwest, and dividing the Amu Darya River Valley and Indus River Valley. It stretches from the Pamir Plateau near Gilgit, to Iran. The Hindu Kush ranges mainly run thru Afganistan and Pakistan. It has over two dozen summits of more than 23,000 ft in height. Below the snowy peaks the mountains of Hindu Kush appear bare, stony and poor in vegetation. Historically, the passes across the Hindu Kush have been of great military significance, providing access to the northern plains of India. The Khyber Pass constitutes an important strategic gateway and offers a comparatively easy route to the plains of Punjab. Most foreign invaders, starting from Alexander the Great in 327 BC, to Timur Lane in 1398 AD, and from Mahmud of Ghazni, in 1001 AD, to Nader Shah in 1739 AD attacked Hindustan via the Khyber Pass and other passes in the Hindu Kush (1,2,3). The Greek chroniclers of Alexander the Great called Hindu Kush as Parapamisos or Paropanisos (4). The Hindu name of the Hindu Kush mountains was 'Paariyaatra Parvat'(5).

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EARLY HISTORY OF HINDU KUSH REGION (UP TO 1000 AD)

History of Hindu Kush and Punjab shows that two major kingdoms of Gandhaar & Vaahic Pradesh (Balkh of Bactria) had their borders extending far beyond the Hindu Kush. Legend has it that the kingdom of Gandhaar was established by Taksha, grandson of Bharat of Ayodhya (6). Gandhaar's borders extended from Takshashila to Tashkent (corruption of 'Taksha Khand') in the present day Uzbekistan. In the later period, Mahabharat relates Gaandhaari as a princess of Gandhaar and her brother, Shakuni as a prince and later as Gandhaar's ruler.

In the well documented history, Emperor Chandragupt Maurya took charge of Vaahic Pradesh around 325 BC and then took over Magadh. Emperor Ashok's stone tablets with inscriptions in Greek and Aramaic are still found at Qandahar (corruption of Gandhaar?) and Laghman in eastern Afganistan(3). One such stone tablet, is shown in the PBS TV series 'Legacy with Mark Woods' in episode 3 titled 'India: The Spiritual Empire'. After the fall of Mauryan empire, Gandhaar was ruled by Greeks. However some of these Greek rulers had converted to Buddhism, such as Menander, known to Indian historians as Milinda, while some other Greeks became followers of Vishnav sects (Hinduism)(7). Recent excavations in Bactria have revealed a golden hoard which has among other things a figurine of a Greek goddess with a Hindu mark on its forehead (Bindi) showing the confluence of Hindu-Greek art (8). Later Shaka and KushaaN ruled Gandhaar and Vaahic Pradesh. KushaaN emperor Kanishka's empire stretched from Mathura to the Aral Sea (beyond the present day Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Krygzystan)(9).

Kanishaka was a Buddhist and under KushaaN influence Buddhism flourished in Gandhaar. Two giant sandstone Buddhas carved into the cliffs of Bamian (west of Kabul) date from the Kushan period. The larger Buddha (although defaced in later centuries by Moslem invaders) is about 175 ft tall (10,11). The Kushan empire declined by 450 AD. The Chinese traveller Hsuan-Tsang (Xuan-zang) travelled thru the region in 7 th century AD and visited many Buddhist religious centers (3) including Hadda, Ghazni, Qonduz, Bamian (3,10,11), Shotorak and Bagram. From the 5 th thru 9 th cenury AD Persian Sasanians and Hepthalites ruled Gandhaar. During their rule Gandhaar region was again influenced by Hinduism. The Hindu kings (Shahiya) were concentrated in the Kabul and Ghazni areas. The last Hindu Shahiya king of Kabul, Bhimapal was killed in 1026 AD. The heroic efforts of the Hindu Shahiya Kings to defend the northwestern gates of India against the invaders are described by even al-Biruni, the court historian of Mahmud of Ghazni (12). Some excavated sites of the period include a major Hindu Shahiya temple north of Kabul and a chapel that contains both Buddhist and Hindu images, indicating that there was a mingling of two religions (3).

Islamic invasions on Afganistan started in 642 AD, but over the next several centuries their effect was marginal and lasted only a short time after each raid. Cities surrendered only to rise in revolt and the hastily converted returned to their old religion (Hinduism or Buddhism) once the Moslem armies had passed (3).

THUS TILL THE YEAR 1000 AD AFGANISTAN WAS A FULL PART OF HINDU CRADLE.

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HINDU KUSH AND THE HINDU GENOCIDE

Now Afganistan is a Moslem country. Logically, this means either one or more of the following must have happened:

a) original residents of Hindu Kush converted to Islam, or
b) they were slaughtered and the conquerors took over, or
c) they were driven out.

Encyclopedia Britannica (3) already informs us above about the resistance to conversion and frequent revolt against to the Moslem conqueror's rule from 8 th thru 11 th Century AD. The name 'Hindu Kush' itself tells us about the fate of the original residents of Gandhaar and Vaahic Pradesh during the later period of Moslem conquests, because HINDU KUSH in Persian MEANS HINDU SLAUGHTER (13) (as per Koenraad Elst in his book 'Ayodhya and After'). Let us look into what other standard references say about Hindu Kush.

Persian-English dictionary (14) indicates that the word 'Kush' is derived from the verb Kushtar - to slaughter or carnage. Kush is probably also related to the verb Koshtan meaning to kill. In Urdu, the word Khud-kushi means act of killing oneself (khud - self, Kushi- act of killing). Encyclopedia Americana comments on the Hindu Kush as follows: The name Hindu Kush means literally 'Kills the Hindu', a reminder of the days when (Hindu) SLAVES from Indian subcontinent died in harsh Afgan mountains while being transported to Moslem courts of Central Asia (15). The National Geographic Article 'West of Khyber Pass' informs that 'Generations of raiders brought captive Hindus past these peaks of perpetual snow. Such bitter journeys gave the range its name Hindu Kush - "Killer of Hindus"'(10). The World Book Encyclopedia informs that the name Kush, .. means Death ..(16). While Encyclopedia Britannica says 'The name Hindu Kush first appears in 1333 AD in the writings of Ibn Battutah, the medieval Berber traveller, who said the name meant 'Hindu Killer', a meaning still given by Afgan mountain dwellers who are traditional enemies of Indian plainsmen (i.e. Hindus)(2). However, later the Encyclopedia Britannica gives a negationist twist by adding that 'more likely the name is a corruption of Hindu-Koh meaning Hindu mountains'. This is unlikely, since the term Koh is used in its proper, uncorrupted form for the western portion of Hindu Kush, viz. Koh-i-Baba, for the region Swat Kohistan, and in the names of the three peaks of this range, viz. Koh-i-Langer, Koh-i-Bandakor, and Koh-i-Mondi. Thus to say that corruption of term Koh to Kush occurred only in case of Hindu Kush is merely an effort to fit in a deviant observation to a theory already proposed. In science, a theory is rejected if it does not agree with the observations, and not the other way around. Hence the latter negationist statement in the Encyclopedia Britannica must be rejected.

IT IS SIGNIFICANT THAT ONE OF THE FEW PLACE NAMES ON EARTH THAT REMINDS US NOT OF THE VICTORY OF THE WINNERS BUT RATHER THE SLAUGHTER OF THE LOSERS, CONCERNS A GENOCIDE OF HINDUS BY THE MOSLEMS (13).

Unlike the Jewish holocaust, the exact toll of the Hindu genocide suggested by the name Hindu Kush is not available. However the number is easily likely to be in millions. Few known historical figures can be used to justify this estimate. Encyclopedia Britannica informs that in December 1398 AD, Timur Lane ordered the execution of at least 50,000 captives before the battle for Delhi, .. and after the battle those inhabitants (of Delhi) not killed were removed (as slaves) (17), while other reference says that the number of captives butchered by Timur Lane's army was about 100,000 (18). Later on Encyclopedia Britannica mentions that the (secular?) Mughal emperor Akbar 'ordered the massacre of about 30,000 (captured) Rajput Hindus on February 24, 1568 AD, after the battle for Chitod' (19). Another reference indicates that this massacre of 30,000 Hindu peasants at Chitod is recorded by Abul Fazl, Akbar's court historian himself (20). These two 'one day' massacres are sufficient to provide a reference point for estimating the scale of Hindu genocide. The Afgan historian Khondamir records that during one of the many repeated invasions on the city of Herat in western Afganistan, 1,500,000 residents perished (11).

Since some of the Moslem conquerors took Indian plainsmen as slaves, a question comes : whatever happened to this slave population? The startling answer comes from New York Times (May-June 1993 issues). The Gypsies are wandering peoples in Europe. They have been persecuted in almost every country. Nazis killed 300,000 gypsies in the gas chambers. These Gypsies have been wandering around Central Asia and Europe since around the 12 th Century AD. Until now their country of origin could not be identified. Also their Language has had very little in common with the other European languages. Recent studies however show that their language is similar to Punjabi and to a lesser degree to Sanskrit. Thus the Gypsies most likely originated from the greater Punjab. The time frame of Gypsy wanderings also coincides early Islamic conquests hence most likely their ancestors were driven out of their homes in Punjab and taken as slaves over the Hindu Kush.

The theory of Gypsie origins in India was first proposed over two centuries ago. It is only recently theta linguistic and other proofs have been verified. Even the Gypsie leadership now accepts India as the country of their origin.

Thus it is evident that the mountain range was named as Hindu Kush as a reminder to the future Hindu generations of the slaughter and slavery of Hindus during the Moslem conquests.

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DELIBERATE IGNORANCE ABOUT HINDU KUSH

If the name Hindu Kush relates such a horrible genocide of Hindus, why are Hindus ignorant about it? and why the Government of India does not teach them about Hindu Kush? The history and geography curriculums in Indian Schools barely even mention Hindu Kush. The horrors of the Jewish holocaust are taught not only in schools in Israel and USA, but also in Germany. Because both Germany and Israel consider the Jewish holocaust a 'dark chapter' in the history. The Indian Government instead of giving details of this 'dark chapter' in Indian history is busy in whitewash of Moslem atrocities and the Hindu holocaust. In 1982, the National Council of Educational Research and Training issued a directive for the rewriting of school texts. Among other things it stipulated that: 'Characterization of the medieval period as a time of conflict between Hindus and Moslems is forbidden'. Thus denial of history or Negationism has become India's official 'educational' policy (21).

Often the official governmental historians brush aside questions such as those that Hindu Kush raises. They argue that the British version is the product of their 'divide and rule' policy' hence their version is not necessarily true. However it must be remembered that the earliest reference of the name Hindu Kush and its literal meaning 'Hindu Killer' comes from Ibn Battutah in 1333 AD, and at that time British were nowhere on the Indian scene. Secondly, if the name indeed was a misnomer then the Afgans should have protested against such a barbaric name and the last 660 plus years should have been adequate for a change of name to a more 'civil' name. There has been no effort for such a change of name by the Afgans. On the contrary, when the Islamic fundamentalist regime of the Mujahadeens came to power in 1992, tens of thousands of Hindus and Sikhs from Kabul, became refugees, and had to pay steep ransom to enter into Pakistan without a visa.

In the last 46 years the Indian Government also has not even once demanded that the Afgan Government change such an insulting and barbaric name. But in July 1993, the Government of India asked the visiting Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra to change its name because the word Jerusalem in its name is offensive to Moslem Fundamentalists.

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CONCLUSION

It is evident that Hindus from ancient India's (Hindustan's) border states such as Gandhaar and Vaahic Pradesh were massacred or taken as slaves by the Moslem invaders who named the region as Hindu Kush (or Hindu Slaughter,or Hindu Killer) to teach a lesson to the future Hindu generations of India. Unfortunately Hindus are not aware of this tragic history. The Indian government does not want the true history of Hindu Moslem conflicts during the medieval ages to be taught in schools. This policy of negationism is the cause behind the ignorance of Hindus about the Hindu Kush and the Hindu genocide.

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COMMENTS & FUTURE WORK

Although in this article Hindu Kush has been referred to as Hindu slaughter, it is quite possible that it was really a Hindu and Buddhist slaughter. Since prior to Moslem invasions influence of Buddhism in Gandhaar and Vaahic Pradesh was considerable. Also as the huge 175 ft stone Buddhas of Bamian show, Buddhists were idol worshipers par excellence. Hence for Moslem invaders the Buddhists idol worshipers were equally deserving of punishment. It is also likely that Buddhism was considered an integral part of the Hindu pantheon and hence was not identified separately.

This article barely scratches the surface of the Hindu genocide, the true depth of which is as yet unknown. Readers are encouraged to find out the truth for themselves . Only when many readers search for the truth, the real magnitude of the Hindu genocide will be discovered.

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REFERENCES

1. Encyclopedia Britannica, 15 th Ed, Vol.5, p.935, 1987
2. Encyclopedia Britannica, 15 th Ed, Vol.14, pp.238-240, 1987
3. Encyclopedia Britannica, 15 th Ed, Vol.13, pp.35-36, 1987
4. The Invasion of India by Alexander the Great (as described by Arrian, Q.Curtius, Diodoros, Plutarch & Justin), By J.W.McCrindle, Methuen & Co., London, p.38, 1969
5. Six Glorious Epochs of Indian History, by Veer Savarkar, Savarkar Prakashan, Bombay, 2nd Ed, p.206, 1985
6. Chanakya - a TV series by Doordarshan, India
7. Encyclopedia Britannica, 15 th Ed, Vol.21, pp.36-41, 1987
8. V.Sarianidi, National Geographic Magazine, Vol.177, No.3, p.57, March 1990
9. Hammond Historical Atlas of the World, pp. H4 & H10, 1993
10. W.O.Douglas, National Geographic Magazine, vol.114, No.1, pp.13-23, July 1958
11. T.J.Abercrombie, National Geographic Magazine, Vol.134, No.3, pp.318-325, Sept.1968
12. An Advanced History of India, by R.C.Majumdar, H.C.Raychaudhuri, K.Datta, 2nd Ed., MacMillan and Co, London, pp.182-83, 1965
13. Ayodhya and After, By Koenraad Elst, Voice of India Publication, p.278, 1991
14. A Practical Dictionary of the Persian Language, by J.A.Boyle, Luzac & Co., p.129, 1949
15. Encyclopedia Americana, Vol.14, p.206, 1993
16. The World Book Encyclopedia, Vol.19, p.237, 1990
17. Encyclopedia Britannica, 15 th Ed, Vol.21, pp. 54-55, 1987
18. An Advanced History of India, by R.C.Majumdar, H.C.Raychaudhuri, K.Datta, 2nd Ed., MacMillan and Co, London, pp.336-37, 1965
19. Encyclopedia Britannica, 15 th Ed, Vol.21, p.65, 1987
20. The Cambridge History of India, Vol.IV - The Mughul Period, by W.Haig & R.Burn, S.Chand & Co., New Delhi, pp. 98-99, 1963
21. Negationism in India, by Koenraad Elst, Voice of India Publ, 2nd Ed, pp.57-58, 1993

Dubai Hindus Detained for Immersing Ganesha Deity

Around 45 Indians were briefly detained by police for performing an Deity immersion ceremony on Jumeirah Beach in Dubai, reports said on Tuesday. The group was detained in the last week of September while they were immersing an idol during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival after police received a complaint, The 7Days tabloid said. "It was after midnight and I was passing by the area when I saw the police surrounding the place. They brought two big buses and took the Indian group away," an eyewitness told the paper. "There were both men and women, as well as some old people and children in the area, and they were carrying small statues in their hands," he said.

The paper, quoting police sources, said the worshippers were taken to the police station for questioning but were later released without charge. Prominent Lawyer Abdul Hameed Al-Kumaity said there was no law in the UAE which prevented such religious gatherings. "Everybody in this country can practice his religion and can maintain their traditions. The law gives the absolute right for any resident to practice their beliefs as long as it's appropriate and doesn't affect society," he told the paper. "It seems that the police were suspicious of this strange ceremony and they obviously didn't know that it's just a tradition," he said.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Indians_Abroad/Indians_detained_for_immersing_Ganesh_idol/articleshow/2444588.cms

Dallas Conference Explores Key Hindu Issues

What happens when 200 men and women, all sharing a profound love of Hindu dharma, meet for three days in East Texas, site of John Kennedy's assassination deep in the Bible Belt? The fifth annual Human Empowerment Conference (HEC) concluded here today. The 200 spiritual and community leaders, scholars, academicians and activists attended the intense, three-day conclave, examining some of the most pressing issues facing the Hindu community today. Sponsored by the Sanatana Dharma Foundation of Dallas, (click here), the conference's name comes from the Vedic dictate, Krunvanto Vishwam Aryam, "Ennoble all humanity."

Hinduism Today magazine and Hindu Press International editors, Paramacharya Palaniswami and Sannyasin Arumugaswami, flew in from Hawaii for the event and filed this report. The conference had dozens of parallel sessions, so the report covers the ones they were actually present for, while giving only an brief mention of the rest.

The sessions began midday on October 12 with a welcome address from Kashi Viswanathan, president of the Sanatana Dharma Foundation, followed by overviews of the ten major sessions:

1. Hindu Americans--An Inquest: Challenges and Prospects for Generation Next

2. Traditional Knowledge and Integral Healthcare System

3. Chronology in Indian History: Identifying Characteristics of the Indic Civilization

4. Pacifism as a Civilizational Dogma

5. Hindu Dharma and Media

6. Dharmic Youth Leadership

7. Organizational Networking and Leadership Development

8. Religious Freedom in India

9. Kerala Awareness Workshop

10. Education for Resurgence of Indic Consciousness.

The major presentations of the first afternoon included the California textbook controversy given by Paramacharya Palaniswami of Hinduism Today (click here for a short version of this presentation). This was a broad overview of the contentious adoption of sixth grade social study texts in California in which Hindus fought for parity so that Hinduism was presented in the same positive manner as the other religions. It was followed by a presentation of the educational initiatives of the India-based Shruti Foundation given by Ms. Shruti, a remarkable attempt to inculcate pride in Indic genius, particularly Hindu methodologies of integral living, education, scientific thought, societal organization, ethics and work dynamics. She pointed out that following India's independence, the communist parties sought and were given control of the education system in the early 1950s. The long-term consequence of this control is that academia in India is, even to this day, permeated with Marxist philosophy which is extremely antagonistic toward any religion, and Hinduism in particular. One aspect of this communist domination is what she terms "Sanskritphobia," with a diminishing of Sanskrit studies which she regards as a major reason for the decline of Hinduism. In January, 2008, her foundation will hold a major conference in Delhi as part of their efforts to rebuild pride and the knowledge base that was India's in the past.

The evening sessions were focused around the life's work of Sita Ram Goel, one of the great Hindu thinkers and activists of the 20th century. The main lecture of the evening was by Dr. Valerie Tarico, a Seattle psychologist specially invited by the organizers to speak on Christian fundamentalism and evangelism. Her talk was riveting, as she herself came from a family of evangelists and early in life was a "true believer." She explained that it is these evangelists, the fundamentalists of Christianity, who are trying to convert the people of India. They are driven in their attempts by a belief in the Great Commission, the idea in the New Testament that Christians are obliged to preach and convert all the peoples of the world.

Dr. Tarico did a scathing analysis of evangelical beliefs, beginning with the monotheism/Trinity of God conundrum and ending with their belief in Biblical inerrancy, that every single word of the Bible is true, even the most horrible punishments and genocide ordered by God. "These beliefs are not rational, not coherent," she boldly asserted.

She warned Hindus that evangelicals have the power of American innovation behind them, marketing their product, Christian fundamentalism, with all the savvy of the most sophisticated Western corporation. She said Hindus should regard the belief system of these fundamentalists as a force as deadly as drugs. In her conclusion, Dr. Tarico urged Hindus to "be more evangelical about what you do and know, especially your religious pluralism." "Right now, Hinduism is thought of as an antiquated bunch of people who think statues are God. But I think Hinduism offers a path, a power to sow the seeds of wisdom that we need. You need to evangelize the ideal of dharma to counteract the existing stereotypes of Hindu belief."

There was an intermission for fundraising by the organizers, which in a kinetic ten minutes succeeded in raising pledges of over ,000, matched by an anonymous patron to bring it to ,000.

Sannyasin Arumugaswami, managing editor of Hinduism Today, followed with a presentation on "Proselytization and Religious Freedom" (click here for a video version) which complemented Dr. Tarico's lecture with specifics on the methods of the evangelists.

Next came Dr. David Frawley's address on "The Need for Pluralism in Religion." In explaining that Hindus from India often do not understand Christianity in the West because, "The Christianity found in India is much more backward than that found in the West."

The final talk of the evening was "Hinduphobia" by Rajiv Malhotra. His wide-ranging and provocative discourse began with the thesis that the California sixth grade social studies textbooks deliberately hide the positive aspects of Hinduism, such as yoga, vegetarianism, music, etc., in order to "demonize the culture." The whole of South Asian studies today in the West, he stated, were divisive, emphasizing, and in some cases, creating, division between Dalits and brahmins, Dravidians and Aryans, women and men, minorities and Hindus. "India's problems are not seen as historical, or economic, but the result of a flawed culture, a flawed DNA." He explained how his analysis found three specialties in Hinduism: caste, minorities and women, all of them negative. He complained about the tendency toward deconstruction by scholars who claim "India is not even a nation state at all." Those same scholars turn this same strategy against Hinduism by claiming it is a product of 19th century British scholars and not a religion at all. "India is the only major civilization whose study has been controlled from the outside," he lamented, and compared the situation to that of China, whose government has sponsored hundreds of Confucian institutions which are the main force in scholastic investigation of China.

Malhotra pointed out that "to fight for our rights is the American way," and encouraged Hindus to become more active in supporting positive study on India and countering pervasive foreign interpretations. "Once we were knowledge producers and exporters throughout Asia," he said, "now we are consumers of knowledge about ourselves."

The Hinduism Today team in attendance made presentations on conversion to Hinduism with special attention to the situation of mixed religious marriages between a Hindu and a non-Hindu. The point made was that in such marriages the children tend to grow up with no religion at all, unless the non-Hindu spouse agrees to convert to Hinduism, or at least to raise the children as Hindus. Too many couples, it was pointed out, leave the choice of religion to the child, which usually results in the child's choosing "none of the above." Intermarriage is a common issue for all religions, with 40% of Catholics and Jewish children marrying outside the faith (both of which actively discourage intermarriage). The children of those marriages commonly growing up without religion.

A second presentation by Hinduism Today was in the session on pacifism, the primary point being that the dharmic ideal of ahimsa does not mean the individual Hindu or the Hindu state should be pacifist. It is our duty to actively assure protection of the home and the country. Participants in the session were deeply concerned about what they consider a pacifist attitude in the conduct of Indian foreign and domestic policy, which has result in the country's being threatened by internal rebellions and external threats along her borders. The ideal of individual nonviolence was affirmed by most present, while acknowledging that force may be necessary to defend the homeland, and such force is not outside of dharma.

Palaniswami offered a graphically-rich presentation on "Religion and the Media," explaining the pragmatic realities of how the media works and how Hindus can best interact with it. (Click here for a video of an earlier presentation given in Montreal, Canada). Hindus were encouraged to understand the media, what it considers news, what its biases and pressures are, so as to be able to work with the media and not fight it. A proven and proactive approach is getting to know the religion editor of the local newspaper, slowly creating strong relationships and making inroads with the media. This can be amplified by a constant, low key, benign presence of Hinduism in the local media. A fascinating aspect of this presentation showed the covers of Time magazine from the 1930s (Gandhi) to the present day, and how they reflected the good, the bad and the ugly of Western attitude toward India.

Dr. Ramdas Lamb of the University of Hawaii followed with a presentation on media and academia. He explained that the professors of religion in the West are either Christians or Marxists. "If you say something positive about Hinduism, you are immediately marginalized and branded 'Hindutva.' The academic is as biased as the media." He explained how academia is driven by funding, and how an academic study that would put Hinduism in a positive light will simply not get funds, whereas one taking a critical Marxist approach will. Because of this, he added, a lot of young Hindu scholars either abandon Indology, get co-opted by the secular and Marxist academics or, as he put it, "go into the closest," ie, hide their Hindu personal life. As a result, he noted that hardly five percent of the people who teach Hinduism in the West are practicing Hindus -- a situation completely different than that of Jewish, Catholic, Black or woman's studies, where nearly everyone is part of the tradition or community they study. Dr. Lamb, who is openly Hindu, pleaded with the community to fund scholarships and university chairs in Hindu studies. Asked if there is any school in America where a practicing Hindu can get a PhD in Hinduism, he offered, "No, but at my school you can get a master's."

On Saturday, the general session centerpiece was a brilliant talk by Rajiv Malhotra, founder of the Infinity Foundation, who unveiled his "U-Turn Theory," the phenomenon whereby Western academics or scientists study something from India, and ultimately claim it as their own. For example, there have been recent studies on the effect of breathing techniques and meditation upon health and well-being. These techniques were developed centuries ago by India's gifted yogis. But what happens today is that a Western scientist studies such techniques in laboratories, determine they work, publish a report and receive personal fame and glory (and money) as if he had discovered the technique in the first place. The true genius, the yogi who perfected the practice, is unnamed and unknown. "It is like the referee holding the stopwatch at the Olympic 100 meter dash receiving the gold medal because he timed the winning runner," quipped Malhotra. He went on to inventory a massive list of such "discoveries," from techniques of yoga and meditation to ayurveda. The catalog of inventions, processes, techniques and wisdom insights that have been appropriated from India was impressive, even startling.

As with all conferences, much of the real action took place in crowded halls, fueled by animated discussions between (and often during!) the general and parallel sessions. Over all, the conference seemed to fulfill its mandate which is described as:

"The intersection between academicians, scholars and activists represents a unique and potent combination that is probably the most important distinguishing characteristic of the HEC conference. It is not merely a place where ideas are shared, written into papers and published into a magazine. Nor is it a convention of any specific activist organization, which celebrates its internal victories and deliberates its challenges. The confluence of 'Thought Leadership' and 'Activism Orientation' allows for the germination of new ideas, their fructification into real world projects and eventually into a measurable impact on the community at large." That's what happened in the Lone Star State, land of the Cotton Bowl.

Source :: http://hinduismtoday.com