Tuesday, April 28, 2009
A Reply to Jean Dreze's ramblings on BJP Manifesto on Times of India
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Jiziya imposed on Sikhs by Pakistani Taliban
Jiziya imposed on Sikhs by Pakistani Taliban
http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?sectionName=HomePage&id=5f3598b0-86cc-47cc-845e-c4f0d2dfa283&Headline=Sikhs+in+Pakistan+pay+Rs+20+mn+to+Taliban
Pakistan’s Sikh community in Orakzai Agency has been forced to pay Rs. 20 millions as Jiziya (religious poll tax on non-Muslims) by the Pakistani Taliban. They have been threatened that, unless they pay Jiziya, their lives and property will be forfeit and no security shall be provided to them.
This is exactly what Islam is. I had thought that such practices have been destroyed by the advent of the 21st century. Unfortunately, these Islamic mullahs seem to have never come out of the medieval ages. Reforms in religion are very important. Religion must be moulded to suit the society’s needs. The Muslim leaders do not believe so and whenever any one of them becomes ‘progressive’, the radicals bring him/her down and re-impose the Shariat.
The Sikh community in Pakistan has faced the reality of an ‘Islamic’ nation. While it is true that many Islamic nations have anti-minority policies, this is the first time that Jiziya has been imposed in a country claiming to be a democratic nation. The current Government of Pakistan has not raised its voice against this extremism which shows that they are partners in the crime or they simply do not care about the non-Muslims.
This episode is a warning bell to the entire world. If we do not heed to it, we may be forced to see a rule similar to that of Aurangzeb where jiziya on non-Muslims and destruction of temples will be the rule of the land.
May India wake up to this reality and protect herself so that such things do not occur in India’s Muslim majority areas. After all, similar incidents are already taking place in India.
May Goddess Bharati lead us to a peaceful future where we may live in pride and without fear.
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Islamic Intolerance in India - Another Example
http://in.news.yahoo.com/139/20090314/808/tnl-procession-sparks-communal-violence.html
A Religious procession sparks communal violence in Nanded, Maharashtra.
A Hindu religious procession consisting of a deity and the devotees was attacked by the Muslims because it passed by a street where a mosque stood. Stones were pelted at the procession from inside the mosque. Note that the procession occurred on the street and that no one entered the mosque. The Muslims seem to believe that wherever a mosque stands, the entire street belongs to them. Can we apply the same rule to Hindu temples? Then almost no Muslim procession can ever occur in most streets of India. Why should we have this double standard?
The most deplorable issue in this case is that the mosque is only about 100 metres from the police station. They had no fear of police stopping them or taking stern action against them. This is because of the vote-bank politics in this country. Somehow, when Muslims indulges in communal violence and hurts or kills Hindus, the ‘secular’ parties do not view it as acts of ‘vulgar communalism’ or ‘intolerant Islam’. They seem to become blind towards these issues. Even when more than 100 people (mostly Hindus and Christians) were killed and thousands were driven out of their homes by the Muslim mobs in Assam, no one seemed to care about it. Even media does not give coverage to such inhuman brutalities.
Why do we see this effort to ‘whitewash’ all the acts of Islamic intolerance in this country? It is time to stop this annoying drama and face the truth. Let us make it clear that such intolerance does not have a place in our nation. This is not Pakistan. This is secular India with a Hindu character.
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Save our Wildlife; Don't kill them
http://dailypioneer.com/161792/Jalpaiguri-villagers-lynch-leopard.html
- - Jalpaiguri villagers lynch leopard (The Pioneer, 10 March 2009)
In another unfortunate incident, the villagers of Jalpaiguri (in West Bengal) have clubbed and lynched in a brutal manner because they saw that as a ‘threat’. Meanwhile, the Meghalaya forest officials are ‘hunting’ for an elephant which went ‘berserk’ and killed four people. The wildlife of India is in a great danger of extinction. The way we are killing our endangered species, we might make all these animals extinct in a decade or so. The ‘justification’ given by the villagers and the government officials (who sometimes order the killing of ‘dangerous animals in human areas’) is that these wild animals enter ‘human inhabited areas’ and as such, these ‘dangers’ have to be executed.
But then aren’t we, humans, trespassing and occupying the areas inhabited by our brothers and sisters (wild animals) of forests? Shall we say that those species, which are threatened by our occupation, have the right to kill (or eliminate) us – ‘dangers to their environment and living conditions’? Shrinking forest cover and deforestation are the major reasons for these occasional ‘wild’ trespassers. Instead of taking measures to stop such things, the government is focussing on even more destroying the ‘natural wealth’ of the nation.
The situation in India right now is explained by the line ‘Throwing the baby out with the bath water’. Let the government and the people get their heads out of the sand and do something constructive to protect the wildlife. Else, I am afraid that our grandchildren will be shown only pictures and videos of the majestic lifestyle of tigers, leopards etc.
Sunday, March 8, 2009
‘Optimist Obama’ takes steps towards absolute destruction
Obama has decided to reach out to the ‘moderate’ elements of Taliban and ask them to ‘reconcile’ with the Afghan government. Can anything be more dangerous and ‘recklessly optimistic’ (that it borders on utter foolishness) than this?
Taliban calls for a ‘global Islamic empire’ in the 21st century. What does he Obama mean by ‘moderate Taliban’? Does he mean that if some ‘Mujahedeen’ are ready to remain satisfied with an ‘Islamic Asian Empire’, they can be called ‘moderates’? The timing of this call is also an invitation for utter disaster. Just now, Taliban has deepened its claws into Pakistan. Swat Valley has come under its control. The government and the army have capitulated to the Taliban extremists in the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) in Pakistan. Obama’s call will be seen as a sign of ‘weakened’ USA. This is certainly not desirable for the humanity as it is another nail in the coffin of ‘freedom of thought and expression’ in the Afghan land. The Taliban extremists will be emboldened to increase their efforts for ‘world domination’ as they will see this capitulation of USA as a ‘gift of Allah’ for the Mujahedeen.
The Democrats of USA seem to have lost their brains regarding how to deal with Islamic extremism. Leaving behind half-baked cakes (unsolved problems) will not serve anyone’s purpose. In fact, such decisions will come to bite US’ arse in future. The threat of Taliban is more acute than that of even the erstwhile Nazi Germany. Nazism was restricted to Germany alone. Taliban is using conservative Islam as its ideological weapon. Muslims form about one-fifth of the world population. As such, if Taliban succeeds, we will be forced to deal with a billion ‘extremists’ (which is a very huge number compared to a few million Nazis). The problem with the politicians of both the West and the East is that they are unwilling to see the reality. They are afraid to accept the imminent huge danger. They seem to think that if they close their eyes to the problem, it will go away. Unfortunately, such childish wishes do not make any difference in this world.
Hamid Karzai, the Afghan President, has welcomed Obama’s call. Karzai is currently facing a huge problem from the popularity of the Taliban. He thinks that if the ‘moderates’ are brought to the side of the Afghan government; he will be able to exercise considerably more authority in the nation. But it seems that he has not considered the effect of having these ‘moderates’ working in the government. Afghanistan will see another Swat Valley sort of government. Is that what Karzai wants? I hope he has not stooped to such an extent that he will give up his ideals for the sake of power.
Any attempt for dialogue with the Islamic extremists will be seen as a sign of ‘enemy’s capitulation/weakness’ by the Jihadists. Obama will do well not to take this extremely ridiculous step in the name of ‘peace’. If goes through with this step, he will become nothing but a modern Chamberlain.
Reference:
Karzai welcomes Obama call to reach out to the Taliban - The Associated Press
url:http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hvWEqwq3CrRvaQCmt21MfoYhjZJQD96PRI0O1