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Posted on 2011/2/14 17:34:53 ( 2962
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[HPI note: This is not a summary,
but the full report from our correspondent; you will not find this article
elsewhere on the web.]
NEW DELHI, January 11th, 2011 (By Rajiv Malik, HPI Correspondent):
'It is a book intended to be an eye opener, a warning to us,' said jurist
and former Law Minister of India, Shri Ram Jethamalani, while formally
releasing the book 'Breaking India : Western Interventions in Dravidian and
Dalit Faultlines.' The book is jointly authored by Rajiv Malhotra, head of
Infinity Foundation and Aravindan Neelakandan, a popular science writer in
Tamil.
Shri Ram Jethamalani continued, 'We have internal enemies enough but there
are external enemies outside our borders who are collaborating with their
dummies , agents and proxies inside our borders. And they are trying to
achieve the result which is to weaken India, break its unity, break its
integration and ultimately to jeopardize our freedom, our sovereignty and
perhaps our culture.'
Or in other words: 'Why West Controls The Discourse On India ?' asks Rajiv
Malhotra, the author of the book.
The book release function was held in New Delhi's Vivekananda International
Foundation on Wednesday, February 9th, 2011. It was followed by a
discussion on the book by Shri S. Gurumurthy, Public Intellectual ; Vice
Admiral [Retd] Raman Puri and Dr. Upendra Baxi , Emeritus Professor of Law,
University of Warwick.
In his keynote address, Shri Ram Jethamalani also stated, 'The authors have
found out that there are three external dangers from which India is exposed
in a very big way. The Islamic radicals which are operating from a
neighboring country, perhaps from other countries too. Then there are
Maoists and others who are being supported by Chinese. The third category
is of the persons who are trying to create a new race of Dravidians and
also taking in account the large number of what we call the dalits. They are
trying to instigate a feeling of separatism and thereby further weaken this
country.'
He went on to say, 'Sanskrit language in the past united the bonds between
the north and the south of India. But today a move is on to remove Sanskrit
words from the Tamil language, to make Tamil a separate language altogether
not belonging to the group of languages which were sourced from Sanskrit.
There are religious groups who are carrying on this false propaganda and
this must be understood.'
In his presentation Shri S. Gurumurthy said, ' This work is long overdue.
There have been a lot of efforts to expose the kind of machinations that
are going on to pervert our nationalism, pervert our past, pervert our
great heroes, pervert even our spiritual personalities like Thiruvalluvar.
Questioning whether Thiruvalluvar was a Christian ? And the entire Saiva
Siddhanta is being perverted as a by-product of Christianity. You can
understand the extent of damage that this kind of perversion can cause in a
society where there are no organized efforts to counter these things. We
are not an organized society, that is our strength. We are not an organized
society, that is our weakness. Organized societies collapse and collapse
very easily. Societies which are not organized, like us, they do not
collapse, they decay.'
He also added that the book is an intellectually sound documentation of the
current state of affairs in the country and opens up a debate in the
country. It is however, not trying to propagate any ideology [against Christianity].
The book focuses on Tamil Nadu and captures the various developments in the
state; making it what it is today. The rapid conversion of poor dalits to
Christianity by distorting the various Hindu teachings and facts is a
current phenomena.
Vice Admiral [Retd] Raman Puri, in his speech said, 'De-sanskritisation of
India is not new and has been happening since the time of the British Raj.
We Indians are a victim to it. It is thereby important to stop this
de-culturalisation and work towards restoring Indian culture, its values
and it's very fabric which is under threat.' He finally said, 'Their
[foreign countries] business is to keep us weak by annihilating our culture
and our business is to keep it strong.'
Dr. Upendra Baxi warned the reader of the book that it is important to read
and understand this book in the right light. He said that 'India has been
suffering from three S's. Subordination [under British rule], subversion
[of Indian culture , that is happening currently] and surveillance [under the
strict watch of the West]. Given the Indian political context , the book is
under the danger of being misread and thereby lead to the breaking of
India. He pointed out that it is important that the book should neither be
aligned to right wing ideology or left wing ideology, for here lies the
threat of being misinterpreted. Instead he saw the book as a collection of
'unpleasant facts' that have been a part of the country for quite some
time. Dr. Baxi ended his speech on a poignant note by raising a question as
to how Mohan Das [Mohan Das Karamchand Gandhi] would have reacted to this
book. This however , Dr. Baxi left open ended for every one to ponder.
In his speech author of the book Rajiv Malhotra pointed out that the book
focused on the role of US and European churches, academics, think tanks,
foundations, government and human rights groups in fostering separation of
the identities of Dravidian and Dalit communities from the rest of India.
The book, according to him was the result of five years of research which
tracked the money trails that start out claiming to be for 'education',
'human rights', 'empowerment training' and 'leadership training', but end
up programs designed to produce angry youths who feel disenfranchised from
Indian identity.
Malhotra further stated that the book highlighted 'how the discourse on
India at various levels is being increasingly controlled by the
institutions in the West which in turn serve its geo-political ambitions.
So, why has India failed to create its own institutions that are the
equivalent of the Ford Foundation, Fullbright Foundation, Rockfeller
Foundation etc. ?'
Raising some other pertinent questions he said, 'Why are there no Indian
university based International Relations programs with deep-rooted links to
the External Affairs Ministry and various cultural, historical and
ideological think tanks ? Why are the most prestigious journals, university
degrees and conferences on India Studies, in sharp contrast to the way
China Studies worldwide is under the control of Chinese dominated
discourse, based in the West and mostly under the control of western
institutions ?'
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Posted on 2011/2/14 17:34:52 (
1421 reads )
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On
the return trip home, gazing through 240,000 miles of space toward the
stars and the planet from which I had come, I suddenly experienced the
universe as intelligent, loving, harmonious.
Edgar Mitchell, Apollo 14 astronaut, who walked on
the Moon in 1971
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Posted on 2011/2/12 17:18:39 (
1565 reads )
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INDIA,
February 9, 2011: Statues of Deities created for immersion will no more
be made out of plaster of Paris, the Aurangabad bench of the Bombay high
court has ruled. In a landmark verdict on Tuesday, the bench imposed a
permanent ban on use of the material in statues, spreading cheer among
environmentalists. The bench said henceforth all statues must be made
using soil, paper, natural colors and other environment-friendly
material.
The judgment came on a public interest petition (PIL) filed by Narendra
Dabholkar, president of the Maharashtra Andhshraddha Nirmulan Samiti,
in 2005. It came up for hearing after six years. The environment
ministry of the Union government, the central pollution board and
Maharashtra Pollution Control Board had already submitted their
guidelines on pollution before the court.
In his PIL, Dabholkar had submitted that the use of plaster of Paris
and chemical-laced colors were polluting wells, rivers and even sea
water. Calcium sulphate hemihydrate, mixed in a nominal quantity with
water to be used in the statues, is dangerous to the environment as the
chemical does not easily decompose in water.
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Posted on 2011/2/12 17:18:38 (
2769 reads )
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NEW
DELHI, INDIA, February 7, 2011: India's tradition of one giant extended
family living under the same roof is breaking down, with 90 per cent of
people in the capital now living in western-style nuclear families. The
large 'joint family' of brothers living together with children,
daughters-in-law and grandchildren is splitting up, according to a
government survey in New Delhi.
The findings reflect a revolution in family life and the growing
independence of the country's emerging middle class. More young
professionals are moving away to new jobs and new lives in India's
booming cities, and the survey found that only 10 per cent of the
capital's population now lived in large family groups. The study showed
only 8.4 per cent of homes housed two related married couples, and just
1.7 per cent had three related couples or more living together.
The breakdown of traditional patterns mirrors that of postwar Britain,
but the impact is likely to be more keenly felt, as the 'Hindu
Undivided Family' is recognized in law and is the basic unit of many of
the country's leading business conglomerates.
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Posted on 2011/2/12 17:18:38 (
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ALLAHABAD,
INDIA, February 2, 2011: More than 3.5 Million pilgrims and devotees
from different walks of life took a holy dip at Sangam on the occasion
of the Magh Mela here on Tuesday. Devotees mainly from Maharashtra and
Gujarat took the holy dip in wee hours of Tuesday.
Ratna, a student from Satara (Maharashtra) says that along with her,
parents and neighbors had arrived here to take bath at the confluence
of Ganga, Yamuna and mythical Saraswati.
The Magh Mela is also known as mini Kumbh Mela and is held in Magh
month, following the traditional Hindu calendar of North India.
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Posted on 2011/2/12 17:18:37 (
1429 reads )
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[HPI
note: The first paragraph of this article was missing on the last
edition of HPI.]
KAUAI, HAWAII, February 9, 2011: Hinduism Today is planning an article
on the nine Hindu sacred sites that are designated UNESCO World
Heritage Sites ( http://whc.unesco.org/
). These include: Hampi, Pattadakal, Kajuraho, Ajanta, Ellora,
Elephanta, Sun Temple, 'Great Living Chola Temples' [e.g. Thanjavore
'Big Temple'], and Mahabalipuram [all the ancient temples in the area].
We are looking for people who have visited these sites to provide us
their first-hand personal observations and comments to be included in
our article. Send by email to hpinews@hindu.org
We have many wonderful photos of the sites, but could also use more.
The object of this article is to convey the remarkable heritage of
India reflected in these ancient sites.
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Posted on 2011/2/12 17:18:36 (
1586 reads )
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The
finest emotion of which we are capable is the mystic emotion. Herein
lies the germ of all art and all true science. Anyone to whom this
feeling is alien, who is no longer capable of wonderment and lives in a
state of fear is a dead man. To know that what is impenetrable for us
really exists and manifests itself as the highest wisdom and the most
radiant beauty, whose gross forms alone are intelligible to our poor
faculties his knowledge, this feeling ... that is the core of the true
religious sentiment. In this sense, and in this sense alone, I rank
myself among profoundly religious men.
Albert Einstein (1879-1955)
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Posted on 2011/2/9 17:29:53 (
1672 reads )
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WASHINGTON,
DC, USA, January 26, 2011 (Press Release): First it was the Washington
Post. Then the New York Times. And now HAF's Take Back Yoga campaign
was featured on CNN on Sunday morning.
View it online here. In addition to the coverage of HAF's campaign
on CNN, the clip also includes extensive footage of the weekly Sunday
morning yoga classes offered at the Ganesh Temple here in New York
City, along with an interview with the temple's president, Dr. Uma
Mysorekar.
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Posted on 2011/2/9 17:29:53 (
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CAMBODIA,
February 8, 2011: 'Very serious' damage has been caused to four gopuras
(towered gateways found at the entrances to temples) of landmark Preah
Vihear Shiva temple, according to a Cambodian Government communication.
Known as Preah Vihear in Cambodia and Khao Phra Viharn in Thailand,
this remote temple at the border between Thailand and Cambodia, which
had reportedly not been clearly demarcated, has been a source of
tension for generations. The two nations have been disputing the
territory where the temple stands.
[HPI note: The source did not state clearly what caused the gopuras to
collapse, but no use of heavy artillery has been reported in recent
times around the temple.]
Preah Vihear was said to even predate Cambodia's Angkor Wat temple
complex by about 100 years and its stunning setting made it finest of
all the ruins left from the mighty Khmer civilization. An outstanding
masterpiece of Khmer architecture mostly created by Suryavarman I and
Suryavarman II, it was a unique architectural complex of a series of
sanctuaries and was said to be exceptional for the quality of its
architecture and carved stone ornamentation.
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Posted on 2011/2/9 17:29:52 (
1420 reads )
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WASHINGTON,
DC, USA, February 2, 2011: A federal appeals court decided to require a
state judge in Ohio to remove a Ten Commandments display from his courtroom,
says Americans United for Separation of Church and State.
The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled today that James DeWeese, a
judge of the Richland County Court of Common Pleas, ran afoul of the
Constitution when he put up a display entitled 'Philosophies of Law in
Conflict' that contrasted the 'Moral Absolutes' of the Ten Commandments
with the 'Moral Relatives' of humanism.
'Judge DeWeese was improperly promoting his personal religious beliefs
in his courtroom, and I'm glad the appeals court put a stop to it,'
said the Rev. Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Americans United,
which filed a friend-of-the-court brief in the case. Added Lynn, 'Our
courts are supposed to provide equal justice for all, not promote
religious law. Judges should never send the message that some religious
traditions have a preferred place in the courtroom.'
The case goes back to 2000, when DeWeese hung a poster of the Ten
Commandments opposite a poster of the Bill of Rights, presenting each
as 'the rule of law.' The American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio sued
and won. In response, DeWeese created the new display. The ACLU sued
over that as well.
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Posted on 2011/2/21 17:18:53 (
1820 reads )
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TRINIDAD/TOBAGO,
February 2011: (by Paras Ramoutar) Trinidad and Tobago's pioneering
Hindu Prachar Kendra, located in Central Trinidad, has dedicated the
Year 2011 in devotion to Lord Rama, the hero of the Ramayana. Titled,
Shri Rama Saadhanna, it will host 27 sessions of spiritual practice in
an attempt to reignite the teaching, message and life of Lord Rama.
The Kendra was founded by Shri RaviJi (who) over 40 years ago, spent
over a decade in spiritual, social and religious service across India.
Geeta Vhani, spiritual leader, said that Shri Rama Saadhanaa will take
the form of spiritual sessions of mantras, poojas and rigid spiritual
discipline.
'Participants will find a fraternity of fellow devotees for mutual
support and enlightenment as it will afford personal cleansing,
personal peace, stability, repentance, family well-being and personal
development. It is also an opportunity to learn ancient scriptures and
it is a worthy opportunity for all of us to tune ourselves internally,
to ignite the spirituality in all of us, and move towards a global
environment of peace, law and order,' she said.
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Posted on 2011/2/21 17:18:52 (
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KAUAI,
HAWAII, February 20, 2011: Hinduism Today is working on a story on the
temples and monasteries of Goa, with a specific focus on the Shri
Gaudapadacharya Math, Gokarna Mutt and Kavel Muth. However we have not
direct contact with any of these institutions and need someone who can
introduce us to them. Ideally, this well-connected Hindu would be
located in Goa and could directly assist our reporter in his visits.
But anyone any where else in the world will do, if they can provide us
with the required information and recommendation.
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Posted on 2011/2/21 17:18:50 (
1497 reads )
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What
is the secret of the true life? To remain still in the midst of
activity and to be vibrantly awake while in meditation.
Dada Sadhu Vaswani
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Posted on 2011/2/21 17:18:50 (
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UNITED
KINGDOM, February 10, 2011: A drug derived from the curry spice
turmeric may be able to help the body repair some of the damage caused
in the immediate aftermath of a stroke. Researchers at Cedars-Sinai
Medical Center in Los Angeles are preparing to embark on human trials
after promising results in rabbits. The Stroke Association said it was
the 'first significant research' suggesting that the compound could aid
stroke patients.
Turmeric has been used for centuries as part of traditional Indian
Ayurvedic medicine, and many laboratory studies suggest one of its
components, curcumin, might have various beneficial properties.
However, curcumin cannot pass the 'blood brain barrier' which protects
the brain from potentially toxic molecules. The US researchers, who
reported their results to a stroke conference, modified curcumin to
come up with a new version, CNB-001, which could pass the blood brain
barrier.
Dr. Sharlin Ahmed, from The Stroke Association, said that turmeric was
known to have health benefits. She said: 'There is a great need for new
treatments which can protect brain cells after a stroke and improve
recovery.' 'This is the first significant research to show that
turmeric could be beneficial to stroke patients by encouraging new
cells to grow and preventing cell death after a stroke. 'The results
look promising, however it is still very early days and human trials
need to be undertaken.'
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Posted on 2011/2/20 19:18:15 (
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TIRUPATI,
INDIA, February 11, 2011: India's richest Hindu temple on Friday
deposited 2,590 lbs. gold with the State Bank of India (SBI) to convert
the 'dead assets' into income earning sources.
Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD), which manages the temple's
affairs, had last year deposited 2.370 lb of gold with the SBI. TTD
officials said the move would not only convert the 'idle gold' into a
perennial source of income but would also provide security to its
assets. A bank official said TTD was the highest depositor of gold
among religious institutions in the country.
SBI along with HDFC and Punjab National Bank also inaugurated secured
payment gateway facility by integrating with TTD online for accepting
e-Hundi donations, which became operational from Friday. With this
facility the donors can now use their debit, credit, Visa or Master
cards to make donations.
Following objections from various quarters, the TTD Specified Authority
has given up its proposal of handing over the monuments of temple of
Lord Venkateshwara and other temples to the Archeological Survey of
India (ASI) for structural maintenance. 'We are giving the proposal a
review and also pursuing other alternative solution to see that the
temples, which are the identity of our rich heritage and culture, were
protected forever for benefit of future generations,' said TTD Chairman
J. Satyanarayana.
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Posted on 2011/2/20 19:18:14 (
1424 reads )
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JAMMU,
INDIA, February 18, 2011:The annual pilgrimage to the Amarnath cave
shrine in Jammu and Kashmir that attracts more than half a million
pilgrims each year, will be held from June 29 to Aug 13, the Shri
Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB) said Friday.
The shrine board that met in New Delhi under the chairmanship of
Governor N.N. Vohra took into account the climate, security needs and
the rush of pilgrims before deciding on the dates of the pilgrimage,
SASB said in a statement issued here.
Pilgrims come to worship a stalagmite of snow in the cave shrine, that
is believed to be an embodiment of Hindu God Shiva. It is situated at a
height of 13,500 feet above sea level in the Himalayas in south
Kashmir.
The duration of the pilgrimage has been a matter of contest between the
Hindu groups and the locals. Since 2006, the pilgrimage period was
increased to 60 days, much to the annoyance of the local political
groups, separatists and mainstream alike. The Peoples Democratic Party
and the hardline Hurriyat faction led by Syed Ali Geelani favor a
pilgrimage no more than 15 days long.
The board, in the statement, noted that the annual schedule of the
'Yatra' or pilgrimage in the past 15 years had varied from 15 to 60
days and that about 85 percent of the pilgrims complete the yatra
within 30 days of the commencement date.
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