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

Navy to alter swastika-shaped barracks

Coronado, (California) : Aerial photos made available on such services as Windows Live and Google Earth in recent years have since revealed the buildings' shape to a wide audience.

The Navy said officials noted the buildings' shape after the groundbreaking in 1967 but decided against changing it at the time because it wasn't obvious from the ground. Aerial photos made available on such services as Windows Live and Google Earth in recent years have since revealed the buildings' shape to a wide audience.

The Navy approved the money to change the walkways, landscaping and rooftop solar panels of the four L-shaped barracks, used by members of the Naval Construction Force at the Navy's amphibious base at Coronado, near San Diego.

"We don't want to be associated with something as symbolic and hateful as a swastika," Scott Sutherland, deputy public affairs officer for Navy Region Southwest, told the Los Angeles Times.

Online commentators remarked widely about the buildings' resemblance to the Nazi symbol.

Dave vonKleist, host of "The Power Hour," a Missouri-based radio talk show, said he wrote to military officials calling for action.

"I'm concerned about symbolism," he said. "This is not the type of message America needs to be sending to the world."

The Navy decided to alter the buildings' shape following requests this year by Anti-Defamation League regional director Morris Casuto and U.S. Rep. Susan Davis.

"I don't ascribe any intentionally evil motives to this," Casuto said of the design. "It just happened. The Navy has been very good about recognizing the problem. The issue is over."

Source : http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20996515/

Seminary as gurukul:church going 'swadeshi' in BJP's bastions

Bhopal : The Catholic Church in Madhya Pradesh is slowly but surely taking a swadeshi hue, an idea RSS chief K S Sudarshan advocated in Nagpur seven years ago.

The process began irrespective of his advice, of course, but the swadeshikaran or Indianisation, has been on for quite some time without attracting much attention in this BJP-ruled state. It has also been happening in neighbouring Chhattisgarh, also ruled by the BJP.

Consider this. The church's seminary in Dewas is called Satchitanand Gurukul, a very Indian name. Here novitiates live with their preceptors in the guru-shishya tradition. Many other Christian institutions are similarly named in Indian style — Christ Premalaya, Purnodaya, Seva Sadan.

When the Archbishop of Bhopal, Leo Cornelio, was installed recently, his feet and that of his predecessor Dr Pascal Topno were washed and they walked on leaves in the Indian tradition.

Bishop Cornelio, on his part, asked guests to give him saplings as gifts, the symbolism having to do as much with his concern for the environment as with the importance Indian culture attaches to trees.

Fr Rajesh of Satchitanand Gurukul says, "The Indian idea of Sat-chit-anand (truth, consciousness, bliss) and the Christian concept of the trinity (the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit) gel in a way. The philosophies of all religions converge at some point. We have also realised that when we adopt Indian names it helps us gain acceptance among locals."

At the seminary, yoga and meditation are very much part of the curriculum. So it is in many churches.

Fr Anand Mutthungal, spokesman of the Catholic Church of Madhya Pradesh & Chhattisgarh, says it's common for Christians to sit on the floor in churches. Earlier, there used to be a huge gap between the altar and the faithful, but no more. Even the size of the altar has been reduced to make people sitting on the floor comfortable.

While some churches carry notices prohibiting footwear during Mass, the faithful take off their shoes and chappals before they enter a church in Bhopal's Jahangirabad locality, where no such notice is on display.

Former member of Madhya Pradesh's State Minority Commission Indira Iyengar says that in tribal areas like Jhabua, the priest comes to the altar for the mass to the accompaniment of dhols and the singing of tribal hymns.

Such Indianisation of the church started decades ago in southern India, but has taken a long time to spread to central India and beyond. Now several Indian and tribal customs and rituals are followed.

In Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, many tribals touch the feet of the pastors and priests, and the wedding ring is replaced by a mala in urban areas.

On the occasion of the Feast of Mother Mary, the idol is draped in a sari. On each of the nine days of the feast, the sari is changed. The festival culminates in a mela.

The priests drape shawls around their bodies, and like Fr Rajesh, no longer take English names. Except for one non-Indian priest in Madhya Pradesh, the rest are all Indians. In fact, five out of 14 bishops in these two central Indian states are tribals.

Dr Topno, who was archbishop for 14 years, is a tribal. But does taking Indian names and adopting local customs insulate the church from the wrath of Hindu organisations? No. In fact, they accuse the Christian organisations of using it as camouflage. VHP leader Nandkishore Dwivedi is not impressed by the name Satchitanand Gurukul. "I don't trust them," he says.

Source : http://www.indianexpress.com/story/231404.html

Why Ram Setu (Sethu) should not be damaged

Ram Setu (Sethu) prevented the tsunami

Spiritual Significance

1. This is a divine bridge.

2. Lord Rama and his vaanar sena had built it 17 lacs 25 thousands years ago.

3. In Puranas, the importance of Setu is explained in great details, especially in Skanda Purana, Vishnu Purana, Agni Purana, and Brahma Purana.

Physical Significance

1. Ram Setu (Sethu) a natural barrier to Tsunami: During the last tsunami, the Ramar Bridge (at a high elevation) from the rest of the shoal accumulations acted as a natural barrier preventing the direct devastation of the entire Bharatam coastline south and southwest of Nagapattanam. - Dr. Murthy, Chief editor of the reputed International Tsunami Journal "Science of Tsunami Hazards"

2. Threat of Tsunami: Many geologists, earth scientists, and oceanographers have commented critically, against the disastrous consequences of constructing SSCP. Amongst these is the impending devastation of Kerala, which will suck in after implementation of SSCP, after next Tsunami hits it.
   Read details: Sethusamudram project and impending Tsunami devastation

3. Many Naval officials are saying that even after the completion of SSCP, the depth of the canal shall be only 12 meters (about 36 feet ), and only small and medium sized vessels shall be able to pass. Large sized vessels and carriers shall not be able to pass.

Social Significance

1. The construction of SSCP is trampling upon the feelings and emotions of millions and millions of Hindus.

2. Besides, this bridge is world's oldest man-made structure. It is much much older than the pyramids of Egypt, and the Great Wall of China.

3. Ram Setu has sentimental, religious and historic value.

4. People have crossed the sea using the Rama-Setu, for many thousand years, until the 15th century.

Better alternative solutions are also available !

According to the specialists, a sea route may be prepared for navigation without damaging Sri Ram Setu, by removing the barren sand heaps near village Mandapam between Rameshwaram and Dhanushkoti railway. This will not only give a shorter route for navigation but also protect the oldest man-made heritage.

Facts about Sethusamudram Ship Canal Project

The Sethusamudram Ship Canal Project (SSCP), which envisages dredging a deep water canal across Adam’s Bridge at India’s southern tip, has been in news for all the wrong reasons.

Yet, without negating the divine implications and without questioning people’s beliefs, there is a need to objectively analyse the project and assess whether it in our national interest.
The project, which would cost the exchequer around Rs 3,500 crores, entails building a 300 metre wide and 12 metre deep channel from Gulf of Mannar across the Adam’s bridge all the way to Bay of Bengal beyond Palk Strait off Point Calimere, a distance of about 44 nautical miles, so that the ships from the West Coast of India can transit to the East Coast through the Palk Bay, rather than going round Sri Lanka.
Full coverage: Ram Sethu controversy | War of words over Ram
The protagonists of the project feel that the canal will save precious fuel and save transit time for the ships, and also develop the Tamil Nadu coast. Many feel that the entire traffic from the Persian Gulf and Red Sea to Malacca Strait will eventually take this route.
But the facts are somewhat different. The channel is being dredged so that the ships with up to 10 metres draught can transit through it. But almost all the tankers and bulk carriers from Persian Gulf or the Red Sea and bound for East or South East Asia are much bigger in size, and will not be able to use the channel due to constraints of draught.
Even for those ships that can transit through the canal, except for traffic from Tuticorin to Chennai, the time gained by most of the merchant ships on account of shorter distance will be more than neutralised due to delays that are inherent in transiting through a narrow channel, where pilotage in all probability will be compulsory. The ships will have to anchor and wait for a pilot (a local expert who navigates the ship through confined waters). Time will be wasted in waiting for pilot, embarking him, disembarking him and also due to speed restrictions mandated in a narrow and shallow channel.
If the traffic increases, then the ships will have to queue up as big ships will find it difficult to cross each other in a narrow channel like this. Any fuel saved will be neutralised by Pilotage charges and other charges likely to be levied on ships transiting through this artificially made canal. It is therefore unlikely that any significant shipping is likely to be diverted through this canal, even after it is ready. This poses serious doubts about the financial viability of the project.
From the security point of view, it must be noted that all big ships during their transit from Adam’s Bridge to Point Calimere will be extremely vulnerable to attacks by LTTE, as the ships on account of surrounding shallow waters will be constrained to move at a slow speed and follow a fixed path, which will pass very close to the waters dominated by the LTTE. This will provide LTTE a strong leverage against India and the flow of traffic through the canal will depend on India’s relations with this terrorist outfit. Strategically, India must aim to bring the countries of South Asia closer and strive for a South Asian Economic Union. But the Sethusamudram Project creates an unnecessary Gulf between India and Sri Lanka, which is uncomfortable with the project as it perceives it to be against Sri Lankan interests. Although it has been circumspect as it does not want to ruffle feathers in India, but Colombo’s displeasure is well known.
Sethu project — A strategic blunder | Indian Marxists and their evil designs
It would make much more sense to go in for a land bridge between Dhanushkoti and Talai Mannar (over the Adam’s Bridge or the proverbial Ram Sethu) so as to achieve better integration of Sri Lankan Economy with Indian economy. This coupled with a reasonable devolution package by the Sri Lankan government could resolve the long festering ethnic turmoil in the island nation. Several studies indicate that a land bridge between India and Sri Lanka would make enormous economic sense and the cost could be recovered in less than a decade.
As an emerging maritime power, India would like to monitor shipping in the Indian Ocean at least in its vicinity, and one of the most significant Sea Line of Communication close to our waters is the one that connects Dondra Head (South of Sri Lanka) to Malacca Strait. Though Indian naval ships would still have the legal right to be in Sri Lankan waters after the construction of Sethusamudram Canal, they would definitely lose the moral right to do so. The environmental impact of the project has not been studied adequately. It is believed that Adam’s bridge prevented Tsunami from affecting Kerala, but what is more significant is that the region has been prone to massive tidal waves and one such wave in the sixties had washed away an entire train from Dhanushkoti Railway Station.
The Gulf of Mannar has been chosen as a biosphere reserve as its waters and its coast are rich in marine life, which contains over 3600 species of plants and animals including 117 species of corals and 17 species of mangroves. The project will definitely have an adverse impact on the marine life even if the shipping lanes do not exactly pass through these waters; mere proximity will pollute the marine environment and destroy the coral reefs.
The local fishermen feel that this will not only ruin the fish breeding grounds but could also bring in deep sea trawlers, thereby threatening their livelihood.
It is therefore essential to dispassionately review the project and not see it through political or religious prisms. As the channel will not allow transit by bigger ships and small craft have always been transiting through Pamban Pass, it may be much more cost effective to dredge the Pamban Pass to allow ships of up to five to six metres to pass through. This may not even cost one per cent of the cost of SSCP, and besides saving exchequer’s money will definitely avoid the adverse environmental, security and strategic implications of this project.

Rama Setu and setusamudram channel conspiracy
Canal versus channel
Channel in mid-ocean is an unprecedented, risky enterprise. Suez and Panama canals are land-based canals. To try to create a mid-ocean channel passage in turbulent waters of Palk Straits is an invitation to disaster, putting nation’s security and coastline integrity at risk.
When 5 alternative alignments are available to create a land-based canal, why has a mid-ocean channel channel passage been chosen as the Setusamudram Channel Project? There is an international conspiracy behind this choice.
This choice will internationalise the waters of Gulf of Mannar and create an international boundary between India and Srilanka, where such a boundary never existed. According to the June 1974 Indira Gandhi – Sirimavo Bandaranaike declaration, these waters were declared as ‘Historic Waters’, meaning, waters territorially shared between the two countries and hence, internal to these two countries. US Navy operational directive of June 23, 2005 sought to change this declaration. The directive refused to declare these as ‘historic waters’ and to operationalise their assertion, sent their naval warships into these waters. This is a serious violation of national sovereignty which has gone unnoticed so far.
Why is America interested in these waters and why the desire to create an international waters channel? Clearly, the choice is to suit the convenience of the US Navy which wants to outsource to India, the coast-guarding of the sealane oil tanker traffic from Straits of Hormuz through Srilanka, through Straits of Malacca to the Westcoast of USA. The geopolitical perspective becomes apparent from the location of the US base in Diego Garcia south of Srilanka, of a very low frequency radio station (which uses ocean waves for transmission) at Trincomalee to listen to the submarine chatter and the US naval units in Singapore.
Justice VR Krishna Iyer’s letter to PM: I beseech you to reconsider the stand taken if any already. This is a matter of political party business or popularity or pro-American yen…the grave issue with which the nation shall defend its survival.
Justice KT Thomas: It is our duty to make in-depth study of all possible repercussions before destroy the natural geological formations. That apart, the religious sentiments of the majority community in India that Lord Rama created such sea wall must he honored and respected.
There is another geopolitical perspective. That relates to the existence of 32% of the world’s reserves of thorium in just three villages south of Rama Setu (details provided below). If these thorium reserves get desiccated and go into the ocean through a future tsunami funneled through the channel passage, India will have to continue to depend upon purchased uranium from NSG countries. The accumulation of thorium placer deposits is emphatically due to the existence of Rama Setu acting as a cyclotron against the clock-wise and counter-clock-wise ocean currents depositing Th-232 on the coastline lands. Thorium is also found in ilmenite sands. Th-232 + a neutron yields U-233 and India is ready with a reactor to produce electricity directly using a thorium-based breeder reactor. Maybe, this causes jealousy among some of the countries of the nuclear club.Thorium deposits in Kerala (Aluva, Chavara), Tamilnadu (Manavalakurichi)

Rama Setu is a tsunami protection wall which saved the coastline of Tamilnadu, Kerala and westcoast during the last devastating tsunami of Dec. 26, 2004.
It is impermissible to damage such a protective structure impairing the integrity and security of the nation.
A serious breach of strategic national security created by the alleged exports of nuclear resources from southern coast of India near Rama Setu by some private parties, in violation of provisions in the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act 1957 and Atomic Energy Act 1962. The judicial complaint lodged by Deputy Director, Geology and Mining, Nagercoil, Kanniyakumari District, Tamilnadu. Thorium and titanium (strategic atomic and space age metals) are found in these placer sands called ilmenite, rutile, garnet, zircon, monazite. Thorium containing coastal sands south of Rama Setu represent 32% of the known reserves of the world. These placer sands also contain the heaviest concentration of upto 4% of thorium unprecendented in any heavy minerals areas anywhere in the world.
There are also reports of loss of stockpiles from the Indian Rare Earths Limited offices.
Another report has appeared on 6 September 2007 and headlined in major newspapers all over the world that there is an imminent of threat of a tsunami more devastating than the tsunami of 26 Dec. 2004. This report appeared in the prestigious scientific journal, Nature. The report states that about 60 to 70 million people of the east coast of India in the Bay of Bengal will be at risk. In view of the seriousness of this scientific report, I request you to immediately suspend all project works along the coastline which should be resumed only after a detailed, multi-disciplinary investigation of this threat to national security and integrity of the nation.
According to the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) website and records, the estimated reserves of thorium in India are 3,60,000 tonnes and represent the energy equivalent of generation of electricity at the rate of 400,000 MW for 387 years and use in thorium-based breeder reactors. Recent report from BARC also indicates that the nation’s nuclear scientists are ready with a thorium-based reactor to generate electricity which can be made operational in the next 7 years, according to the statement of Dr. Baldev Raj of Atomic Energy Commission.
Thorium 232 bombarded by a neutron yields U-233 and can be used in the three-stage nuclear programme chalked out by our atomic scientific community.
Some quizzed questions??
Q. Why NASA published photographs of This Setu or so called adams bridge.
Ans. Actually ,America’s interest is nuclear fuel & it was mapping thorium reserves in world which lead to this place full of thorium ie. 32% of world reserves. Accidentally this photograph was leaked & controversy aroused.

Q. Why is America so much interested in nuclear agreement with India.
Ans. India is in research stage for thorium based reactors & USA wants to stop it because once thorium is used as fuel why will India use uranium which it will have to procure from other countries like Australia, Canada in which USA has its interests. That’s why USA wants to divert attention of India from thorium to uranium but showing, as if though they are doing India a favour by giving special status rather than it is their interests that will be served in long way

Tarun Vijay: On Ram Setu and Sethu Samudram

says about the bridge, 'Exploring space with a camera by NASA's [193] Gemini XI, this photograph from an altitude of 410 miles encompasses all of India, an area of 1,250 000 square miles,' George M Low, then the deputy director, Manned Spacecraft Center, NASA, notes. ' Bombay is on the west coast, directly left of the spacecraft's can-shaped antenna, New Delhi is just below the horizon near the upper left. Adam's Bridge between India and Ceylon, at the right, is clearly visible...' We can see the picture dramatically resembles the description given in Kalidasa's Raghuvamsham . Kalidasa wrote, (sarga 13): 'Rama, while returning from Sri Lanka in Pushpaka Vimaana told Sita: "Behold, Sita, My Setu of mountains dividing this frothy ocean is like the milky way dividing the sky into two parts".'
The Encyclopedia Britannica describes the bridge thus, 'Adam's Bridge also called Rama's Bridge, chain of shoals, between the islands of Mannar, near northwestern Sri Lanka, and Rameswaram, off the southeastern coast of India.'
Apart from such issues of heritage and belief, there are genuine concerns regarding security and the tsunamis' impact increasing in case the Ram Setu is destroyed. If the new channel is created through the present Rama's bridge, international ships would pass through it making a de facto international boundary between India and Sri Lanka, facilitating an increased alien presence, burdening our navy to a great extent.
So far the sea between India and Sri Lanka has been recognised as historic waters, though the United States has been pressurising to have it declared as international waters and said in a naval notification in 2005 that it does not accept the sea between India and Sri Lanka as 'historic'. The US declaration and the role of the Tuticorin Port Trust, the nodal agency to implement the Sethu Samudram Canal Project coupled with the haste with which the project was inaugurated, has given rise to many unanswered questions.
The US Navy operational directive refusing to accept the sea between India and Sri Lanka as 'historic' was made on June 23, 2005. The Prime Minister's Office sent some queries in March 2005 to N K Raghupathy, chief of the Tuticorin Port Trust. He sent answers to the PMO's queries on June 30, 2005 and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh with United Progressive Alliance Chairperson Sonia Gandhi inaugurated the project on July 2, 2005. Why were the queries sent to the TPT and not to an agency which had scientific authority to look into the geological and maritime aspects of the project? Why did the prime minister and the UPA chairperson rush to inaugurate the project without, prima facie, having the time to look into the answers given by the TPT chief? Why was the present route okayed which essentially requires the destruction of the Ram Setu, while other options, closer to Dhanushkodi, which did not touch the Ram Setu were ignored?
Local fishermen, Hindus, Muslims and Christians alike oppose the present route and are demanding alternative channels, which are available. They say the present channel would destroy marine life and corals. This will kill the trade in shankas (shells) that has a turnover in excess of Rs 150 crore (Rs 1.5 billion) per annum. Invaluable thorium deposits would be affected, which are too important for our nuclear fuel requirements.
Professor Tad Murthy, the world renowned tsunami expert, who advised the Government of India on the tsunami warning system and edited the Tsunami Journal for over 20 years, has also warned that the present Setu Samudram route may result in tsunami waves hitting Kerala more fiercely. In a reply to a query regarding the Sethusanmudram's impact, he wrote, 'During the Indian Ocean tsunami of December 26, 2004, the southern part of Kerala was generally spared from a major tsunami, mainly because the tsunami waves from Sumatra region travelling south of the Sri Lankan island, partially diffracted northward and affected the central part of the Kerala coast. Since the tsunami is a long gravity wave (similar to tides and storm surges) during the diffraction process, the rather wide turn it has to take spared the south Kerala coast. On the other hand, deepening the Sethu Canal might provide a more direct route for the tsunami and this could impact south Kerala.'
The issue concerns us all, and should be taken up as Indians, without getting entangled in party lines and political games. The Ram Setu or Adam's Bridge belongs to all humanity, being an important heritage site; hence the government should not allow it to become another issue affecting Hindu sensitivities. Nobody is opposing the Sethu Samudram Project, only a realignment of the route is being asked, as the present one destroys the Ram Setu.

History and Facts About Ram Setu

The ancient holy epic Valmiki Ramayan, there is elaborate description about construction of Setu. Its a great world heritage site India has. The Ram Setu connects the India’s Rameshwaram to Sri Lanka’s Talaimannar. Hindu believe that this ancient bridge was built by Lord Rama, as described in Ramayana.

Apart from Ramayana, the Mahabharata also refers to the continued protection of Nala Setu following Sri Rama’s command. Kalidasa’s Raghuvamsham also refers to the Setu. So does the Skanda Purana(III.1.2.1-114), the Vishnu Purana (IV 4.40-49), the Agni Purana(V-XI), the Brahma Purana (138.1-40).

The core agency, The Geological Survey of India has in its logo, Asetu Himachal, means ….The India from Setu to Himalaya.

The Encyclopedia Britanica defines the bridge thus, “Adam’s Bridge also called Rama’s Bridge, chain of shoals, between the islands of Mannar, near northwestern Sri Lanka and Rameswaram, off the southeastern coast of India”.

Recently NASA satellite images indicates clear picture of a broken bridge under the ocean. The heritage of this Ram Setu and the Story of Lord Rama, both are extremely sacred to Hindus.

The geographically Sethusamudram, is a project to create alternative shorter way for ships to cross the Gulf of Mannar. The project was initiated some 150 years back by a British Commander A D Taylor. In 1955, Govt. of India set up the Sethusamudram Project Committee to assess possibility of the project and about five alternative routes were discussed till 2001. The NDA sanctioned a fund to study the project so as to take final decision on the route but the government lost power.

The official web site of project states that Ships coming from West of India and going to Chennai, Ennore, Vishakapatnama, Haldia and Kolkta have to travel around the Sri Lankan coast resulting in increase of travel distance and time. Therefore, to reduce distances between the east and west coast of India and to improve the navitation within territorial waters of India, a alternate route or channel connecting the Gulf of Mannar and Palk Bay has been envisaged so that the ships moving between the east and west coasts of India need not go around Sri Lanka. The estimated cost of the project is Rs. 2,427 crores.

On the decision to destroy Ramsetu and create an alternative route by Government of India, the Hindus have raised their voice. The Governemnt has changed the metro rail route to protect the Qutub Minar, stops a corridor to protect the Taj Mahal’s surroundings. Even a child knows that a bridge was built by Lord Rama, using floating stones to reach to Lanka to rescue Sita anddestroy the evil regime of Ravana.

The movement started to save Ramsetu at the shores of Rameshwaram on April,2007. Two former judges of Supreme Court, Justice K T Thomas and Justice V R Krishna Iyer, none of them close to the saffron side, have warned the government against destroying the Ram Setu.

Local fishermen, Hindus, Muslims and Christians alike oppose the present route and are demanding alternative channels, which are available. They say the present channel would destroy marine life and corals. This will kill the trade in shankas(Shells) that has a turnover in excess of Rs 150 crore(Rs. 1.5 billion) per annum. Invaluable thorium deposits would be affected, which are too important for our nuclear fuel requirement.

Thus, the issues concern us all, and should be taken up as Indian without getting falling in party lines and political agendas. The Ram Setu or Adam Bridge belongs to all humanity, being an important heritage site; hence the government should not all it to become another issue affecting Hindu sensitivities. Nobody is opposing the Sethu Samudram Project, only a realignment of the route is being asked, as the present one destroys the Rame Setu.

Ram Setu Photos From Satellite and Aeroplane

"Dalits" and "Brahmins" – The Myth and Reality

Dalits have been the creation of politicized mind transforming literary usage to political exploitation. The Christian media has exploited maximum followed by the Muslims. The Indian politicians followed the suit for political gambling and profits. While the exploitation of SC’s is not justified, the exploitation of them under "Dalit" banner is regretted.

Now, the "Brahmins" are also "Dalits" only. They are harassed, beaten, abused, raped and so on. But, they do not publicize or get their sufferings publicized fearing their superficial or imposed dignity. Of course, even now, for standards only, they are expected from Brahmins. Thus, they are getting beatings from all ends. It is easy for everybody to blame, abuse, censure, caricature, even blaspheme "Brahmins", "Brahminism", "Brahmanical religion" and so on from worthless politician to Oxford, Harvard, Cambridge University Professors, and so on. Thus, the Brahmins and SC’s are at the extremities of the social advancement or degradation or sufferings. While many is condemned for such a proposition, the Modern Manus slowly coming to the same condition.

Who cares for poor wretched Brahmins? Has anybody noticed how a poor Brahmin women, ladies or girls suffer because of their poverty? But, generally, they never beg, but do some household work – say cooking, helping in growing children (baby-sitters / child-sitters), Appalam (dried flour-cakes) making, at the worst case utensil-cleaning, dress-washing etc. They are doubly-or trebly discriminated or raised-to-fall-down –

1. They are not employed, because they are Brahmins.

2. Non-Brahmins either ignore them or tried to exploit (because of the contempt in their minds created genuinely or for other reasons).

3. The employers fear that they may not be able to extract work from them like others.

4. Of course, Brahmin employers too exploit them!

In any case, they have to suffer. Sociologists, anthropologists and psychologists found out the schizophrenic attitude and tendencies have been more among the Brahmin community, because they are faced with so much mental stress and strain. The particular type long time mental disorder involving a breakdown in relation between thought, emotion and behaviour leading to faulty perception, inappropriate actions and feelings.

Particularly, the poor Brahmin children are suffered from their childhood days themselves. That too, particularly, the females are the worst sufferers, as they have to face so many torturing words, sights and even physical sufferings. But Brahmin women, ladies and girls rarely complain or come out with facts only fearing "Social prestige". The members of the society immediately say or shout, "Oh, see the Parppathi / Brahmin lady, silently does all", "She looks like a dumb, but does everything" and so on. That is why in the worst cases, such schizoid (emotional aloofness and solitary habits) tendencies may lead to suicidal tendencies. The parents, brothers, sisters and other relatives not only mingle with such affected ones, but also ostracize from the social events and society practically. Just like a rich, elite, sophisticated SC officers do not introduce their mothers, wives, brothers, sisters etc., because they are not so "social" or "modern". But, here the imposed torture has been inexplicable.

Even at work places, Brahmins are disturbed, harassed, troubled, by their colleagues directly and indirectly. Whenever, Brahmins are criticized, they have to keep quite or even support or approve such remarks or comments made. But, such comments and remarks cannot be made when others – specifically, non-Brahmins are involved. Not only this, when professional-jealousy comes in to play, important papers and files disappear. There would be unnecessary delays in sending the typing the papers, sending the papers, etc., or they may have to do themselves to avoid "undesirable consequences"! There would be carrying tales, tell-tales etc., with bosses. Even small mistake would blown into big proportions targeting the honour. If really, he makes a mistake, he is finished!

At the time of family functions, attending such functions and as well as of others, festivals and social events, their suffering would be worst, but they do not or cannot tell. Many times, because they do not have good or respectable dress is not there, they avoid such functions. They keep their children inside the house diverting them to read or write or giving some "divine work" to do. Unfortunately or fortunately, the God-believing nature affect them heavily. They believe God so much in distress, that He – SHE would come and help or clear off all problems. But, nothing happens, so they go to worse than bad and the normal "abnormal" to "tension" to "schizophrenic" to "suicidal" tendencies and conditions have been the consequent mental status affecting physique. "Dalits" may be "the children of God" which the ideologists and politicians oppose, but, the wretched poor Brahmins may be children of poor only! In any case, both get the beatings on either side from other members.

Note: This only a short response. We have conducted specific studies with examples. This is only tip of an iceberg.

The idea is not to support or oppose anybody, as Brahmins have been the "subjects of Comparison.