Morning glory

Wow – same with me but with a slight difference – I give company to my wife who wakes up 5.30 till we part ways around 8 for our respective jobs. and the only spicy flavour i get to smell in this part of the world is of flavoured tobacco+clove laden paan after the tea. Selling Marlboro to Baba 120 crowd calls for completely relaxed mornings – else various furies will get your goat.

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I like early mornings because I can catch those idiot pigeons snoozing atop their eggs (there’s a pigeon couple on a ledge I can see from my window which sits on their eggs together in a nest that’s too cozy for the the both of them, while a third one, god alone knows who he is, sleeps facing them, perched on a grille 2 feet away from the nest). They’re supreme fools, the whole lot. The two Householders, as mum and I call them, been sitting on those eggs since July. We think somebody might have secretly taken the eggs down when they were away, hard boiled them and put them back. I know they did this in an English town where the administration finally got fed up of the burgeoning cleaning expenses because there was pigeon poo everywhere.

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What a load of cobblers.
Gandhi’s son converted to islam BECAUSE HE KNEW THIS WOULD INFLICT MAXIMUM PAIN , hardly an assesment of someone who loved islam.
A vaishnavite GANDHI BELEIVED IN VARNASHRAM (caste system) hardly a pleasing note to ZIA , the hindu low caste convert.and goes against one of the few positive aspect of islam. He patronizingly called SC/ST HARIJAN , but never said a word against THE VILEST SYSTEM IN THE WORLD that is caste system , worse than Racial prejudice of Nazis.No wonder netaji subhas bose called him an OLD PIECE OF SOFA.
Gandhi’s TRADE MARK WAS NON VIOLENCE , again hardly compatible with the life of the FOUNDER OF ISLAM, which REEKS OF VIOLENCE
TWO ASPECT WHERE THERE IS SIMILARITY WITH ISLAM
1. Hate of science and industry (How incredibly ARAB BEDOUIN in outlook, apparently when the arabs conquered north africa , morocco , tunisia etc they found it lush and green. They hated this , neglected it and let it turn to desert FOR THAT MADE THEM FEEL AT HOME(I am not joking , this a fact , anyone trying to challenge will be provided with exact reference)
2.SEX. Gandhi apperently had sex with his wife when his father was dying next room (he mentions this in his autobiography) and married kasturba a child bride. ALSO GANDHI’S WEIRD SEXUAL EXPERIMENTS
like sleeping with two women on his both sides and then TRYING TO CONTROL HIS AROUSAL. he in fact failed once and had an involuntary orgasm(again reference will be provided)

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Author seems conveniently forgetting when Gandhi’s son fell in love with a Muslim woman in South Africa, whose father happened to the employer of Gandhi ji for whose company Gandhi ji was working as a Lawyer, Gandhi fought tooth and nail against his son’s love affair and did not allow him to marry a muslim woman. Most of the authors apparently in an attempt to sell their stuff project Gandhi ji what he was not or hide for what he was actually. If Gandhi had loved Muslim so much, he would have preferred Jinnah instead of Nehru, an action which has led to partition of the country. The truth is that Gandhi ji was a revolutionary in the sense that he left his Caste age old trading ancestral occupation and opted for poliitcs. That way he was a Hindu reformist in higher caste hindus themselves. It is too much to say he lived Islamic life in any manner. Even while working with Muslim Employers in South Afirca as a lawyer, he strictly followed Hinduism, as explained in first few lines above.

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Zia Haq back again, doing the usual rattling!

Why can’t Zia Haq do some research on Islamic world and find a Islamic origin Gandhi who would have lived like M. Gandhi to safeguard the interests of the non-Muslims? There are plenty of non-Muslims who lived on this earth who have fought for rights for Muslims and non-Muslims alike and Gandhi does not have to be the only one!

As a way of life whole democratic world gave (and still giving) Muslims and Non-Muslims (those who are freedom loving) same right until, of course, Osama came into the scene, trying to destroy that trust among various communities.

Mr. Haq, do you read the same book for inspiration which Osama got his inspiration from?

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gandhi neither believed in killing kafirs nor was gandhi a kid lover, so how is he islamic????

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Ok…if Zia is saying Islam preaches non-voilence which Gandhiji followed…what do you say guys.

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Zia…would you ever right against Islamic extremism? Would you talk about Popular Front of India which is new name for SIMI but supported by terrorist parties like Samajwadi Party, Muslim League, etc.. No. Anu guesses why?

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Why doesnt Hindustan Times sends him away. Why do they bear this extremist Zia who would never shed a tear for any Hindu or Sikh or Jain or Buddhist but ready to emphatize with a Muslim even though he did a terrorist act

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This Prof Hasan is writing all poppy ****. Gandhi never ate meat. The Abrahamic religions eat meat like fish taking to water. What Gandhi practised was Rishi Atharvans and Jainism’s premise. Hasan and Haq are like scoundrels taking refuge in Gandhism. I remember very well when I was overseas an Arab scholar telling me ” We Arabs do not have a man like Gandhi to tackle the West” Yes very true. Hasan and Haq have hijacked Gandhi for this cause. Just writing anything will not do. As Eric Ambler put it ” Never tell a lie when you can bullshit your way” Hasan and Haq are the greatest bullshitters. Well if the Islamic world cannot produce a Gandhi , why hijack his name for a Islamic cause? Hasan and Haq can come out of their power pulpits and become the Islamic version of Gandhi. Wear a Arab dress and plead for peace , fast for peace , do a satyagraha for peace. Do they have the guts? Do they have the bile to do a Gandhi?

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MK Gandhi was biggest scamster of modern times, to me he along with Nehru is responsible for all problems India is facing, MK Gandhi colluded with Nehru who in turn ask Stalin of USSR to Kill Netaji Bose (the biggest patriot and most efficient leader India has ever produced) in Siberian Jail, Airport crash theory is false, to me Gandhi is even worse then modern politicians, people may say he did that or this, No he shouldn’t have done anything, he was a manipulator who tried to stole fame for himself by sidelining and killing better people like Bhagat Singh and Subash Bose.

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Gandhi was assaulted mercilessly by a Muslim in s.Africa on Feb-10 1908.Here is the discription of the assault in his own words. WHo will not become a muslim after such a savage assault.

I took severe blows on my left ribs. Even now I find breathing difficult. My upper lip has a cut on one side. I have a bruise above the left eye and a wound on the forehead. In addition, there are minor injuries on my right hand and left knee. I do not remember the manner of the assault, but people say that I fell down unconscious with the first blow which was delivered with a tick. Then my assailants struck me with an iron pipe and a stick, and they also kicked me. Thinking me dead, they stopped. I only remember having been beaten up. I have an impression that, as the blows started, I uttered the words ‘He Rama!’ [Oh God]. Mr. Thambi Naidoo and Mr. Essop Mia intervened. Mr. Woo was hit as a result and injured on the ear. Mr. Essop Mia received a slight injury on a finger. As I came to, I got up with a smile. In my mind there was not the slightest anger or hatred for the assailants.

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According to author allah another name is ram it is true why he died say hey ram not hey allah

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Gandhi once said “Moosalman are bully and Hindus are coward”. This speaks a lot about what he thought of muslims.

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Gandhi’s experiment failed with Islam..Why read below..

http://www.faithfreedom.org/oped/HinduWoman40718.htm

Gandhi’s experiment with Islam and why it failed

by Hindu Woman

When India ’s independence struggle was at its height Gandhi realized that independence cannot come about by the efforts of the Hindus alone. Muslims too must be involved in the struggle. It is important to note that Muslim separation or Hindu involvement in the national movement is not a simple monochromatic affair. There were some Muslims already in the fold and many Hindus who supported the British rule. However Gandhi decided to bring in the Muslim masses and particularly their religious leaders. This led to the Khilafat Movement of 1919-24. Gandhi and led by him the Indian National Congress joined hands with the religious group knows as Jamiat-e-Ulama-e-Hind. This was Gandhi’s experiment with orthodox Islam and it was a spectacular failure.

The demands of the Jamiat were simple. In Turkey the Caliph (the supreme religious ruler who was also the temporal authority) was being repeatedly threatened by the Young Turks who were Republican Nationalists. The power of the British in Turkey had rendered the Ottoman Caliphs subservient to British interests. However since the Caliph was also a religious figure, the Jamiat wanted the power of the Caliph to be restored to the full and all republican movement to be stopped. It claimed that the Caliph was the true ruler of all Muslims everywhere; therefore the Muslims must restore him; in the process they must oppose the British who had weakened the Caliph’s authority is such a manner and allowed secular forces to take over. The Jamiat therefore proposed an alliance with the Congress to fight the British in India . Without realizing the implications Gandhi agreed to join the ‘restore Caliph’ movement. Thus the Jamiat’s entry into Indian national movement had nothing to do with India , but everything to do with a faraway country. Even more importantly it had nothing to do with Hindus, Christians, Parsis or secular Muslims — in short it had no interest in the welfare of Indians as such; the Jamiat cared only for the religion of Islam. That was the first mistake Gandhi made: he believed that the movement would bring Hindus and Muslims closer; but since the primary focus of the movement was on Islam (the independence struggle being a side-dish), such an alliance cannot last. When finally Ataturk by a coup took over Turkish government and secularized it, the movement came to an end. But it did nothing for Hindu-Muslim friendship.

For the sake of Hindu-Muslim alliance Gandhi continued to make compromise after compromise, but ultimately the alliance collapsed. It collapsed because of several reasons and because Gandhi did not think things through. He was not interested in Turkey but according to his own words wanted to buy Muslim friendship. He also believed that the British were truly oppressing the Muslims everywhere. The problem was that Gandhi simply did not understand the mindset of Islamic leaders he was dealing with.

(i) In the first place, the Jamiat presented the image of a Christian war against Muslims in the regions of Ottoman Empire . But this is a misreading based on their religious prejudices. What was happening in the Balkans and Arabia were nationalist movements. The Arab colonies though Muslims were in revolt against the Ottoman rulers because they wanted national states. Secondly the British were in no way opposed to the Ottoman Caliphs. In fact British forces actively tried to prevent Republican Nationalists in Turkey from taking power. The British government had even financed a Khilafat trip to Europe to plead their cause. It was only after World War I when Turkey lost its colonies that the Indian Muslim religious groups turned against British. Up until then they had been very loyal to the British. But Gandhi ignored these facts in his eagerness. The Islamic movements are not anti-British, not anti-Imperialists or pro-nationalists – they are simply supporters of their version of Islam. They are extremists to whom orthodox Islam is everything.

(ii) The Muslim leaders of the Khilafat movement painted a picture of world-wide conspiracy against Muslims. Gandhi was swayed by the eloquence of Mohamed and Shaukat Ali. It is common for Muslims to claim that everyone is unjustly persecuting them and there is a conspiracy against them everywhere. (These claims of victimization can be as ridiculous as “9/11 was carried out by Jews” or “Americans beheaded Paul Johnson to give Islam a bad name”)

(iii) Gandhi ignored voices coming from the Indian Muslim community. There were many Indian Muslims who did not support the Khilafat movement. The more religious held that the Ottoman Sultans were not legitimate Caliphs. In India the acceptance of the Turkish Sultan as the universal Caliph was only from the middle of 19th century and that too due to the propaganda by Urdu press. By accepting the legitimacy of Khilafat movement Gandhi was actually strengthening the hold of an orthodox clergy. There was also a more secularized tradition. Sir Sayed Ahmed Khan had distinguished sharply between the political realm and religious realm declaring the two to be separate. He also said that a Caliph is the Caliph only of his own territory and there is no universal Caliphate. By these reasoning Indian Muslims owed no loyalty to the Turkish Caliph. Neither the first nor the second group, were pro-Hindus. What Gandhi did was to legitimize Islamic identity over other ties and give a boost to the pan-Islamic identity.

(iii) Another mistake Gandhi made is to ignore the sections that would have actually helped him. He ignored the sects of syncretic Islam that had arisen in the Indian subcontinent. Such sects were more willing to live in peace with other religions. A ‘pure’ form of Islam yearning for Dar-ul-Islam puts up with non-Muslims only as long as they [the Muslims] are weak. Gandhi should have encouraged these heretical sects. There were also a growing number of secular Muslims. But Gandhi ignored them in favour of religious mullahs.

(iv) The Muslim clergy did not believe in living peacefully with other religions. The Koran divides the world into Dar-Al-Harb (House of war) and Dar-Al-Islam (house of Islam). The faithful are commanded to fight until the non-Muslims are converted, subjugated or annihilated. Though the Koran also allows treaties with pagans, according to traditionalist interpretations based on Muhammad’s own actions, such a peace is to be kept only as long as Muslims are weak. A strict interpretation of such commandments means there can be no tolerance in Islam for other religions, particularly of non-Abrahamic variety. After the British conquest of India when it was realised that there was no way for any Muslim ruler to gain power, there had been a debate about whether India was Dar Al-Harb or Dar Al-Islam. One school favoured the former since Muslims were no longer sovereigns. During the Khilafat movement the Ali brothers and Maulana Azad declared thatIndia was enemy territory and so favoured migration to Turkey . A group actually set out to go to Turkey under their inspiration. It is obvious therefore such Muslims had no love for India or for their fellow citizens; they cared only for their pure Islam.

(v) It cannot be emphasized enough that Khilafat movement had no real connection with India ’s national movement. It was all about Turkey ; but the Turks themselves have kicked out their Caliph. Yet Indian Muslims were asked to fight for this deposed leader. The reverence was based solely on religious feeling. Though ‘moderate’ Islamic intellectuals like Ashgar Ali Engineer lecture that it was through Khilafat movement that Muslims were brought into the secular fold, there is nothing secular about a movement that tried to replace the secular government by a religious government. Gandhi thus ignored the actual nature of Khilafat agitation. It was only later when many Congressmen began to question the extra-territorial loyalty of Muslims that Gandhi woke up.

(vi) Gandhi viewed Islam through his own spirituality ignoring how the parishioners of Islam actually saw it. For them religion and politics are inseparable. To Gandhi this was not bad since he also believed that religion and politics should not be separable and religion is needed to make politics ethical. He himself was a devout Hindu and declared his allegiance to Hinduism as an essential component of national struggle. But his Hinduism was of a different brand than the Islam practiced by orthodox Muslims. About Hindu sacred texts Gandhi said, “My belief in the Hindu scriptures does not require me to accept every word and every verse as divinely inspired… I decline to be bound by any interpretation, however learned it may be, if it is repugnant to reason or moral sense. … Every word of the printed works passing muster as `Shastras’ is not, in my opinion, a revelation … The interpretation of accepted texts has undergone evolution and is capable of indefinite evolution, even as the human intellect and heart are …. Nothing in the shastras which is manifestly contrary to universal truths and morals can stand… Nothing in the shastras which is capable of being reasoned can stand if it is in conflict with reason.” Such evolutionary Hinduism is a part of Hindu tradition. But no devout Muslim can accept this as true of the Koran or even the Hadith. For them their revealed texts are eternal and immutable; the commandments are not to be rationally scrutinized but simply accepted. Though there is a limited space for interpretation, there is no space for questioning or rejecting the doctrines even if they conflict with reason and morality. That was the essential difference between the way Gandhi practiced his religion and the orthodox Muslims practice theirs.

(vii) It was not that Gandhi was ignorant of Islamic fanaticism. He complained that Muslims are bullies and Hindus are cowards during riots. The Ali brothers had invited the Amir of Afghanistan to invade India . Swami Shraddhananda who was converting Muslims into Hinduism was shot dead by Abdul Rashid. No Muslim condemned the murder; instead Rashid was declared a martyr and was given anamaaz (prayed upon) in the mosques. However Gandhi’s response was the mistaken one of appeasement: the belief that the bully would be transformed if only one shows friendship. So he pardoned every Muslim fanaticism. He said, “I have called Abdul Rashid a brother and I repeat it. I do not even regard him as guilty of Swami’s murder. Guilty indeed are those who excited feeling of hatred against one another”. He did not support the Hindu and Sikh protests against the cruelties of Nizam of Hyderabad. After 1947, he said “Hindus should never be angry against the Muslims even if the latter might make up their minds to undo even their existence.” Also: “They (Hindus) should not be afraid of death. After all, the killers will be none other than our Muslim brothers”. Unfortunately spirituality and brotherhood do not have any impact on Muslim fanatics who by the very tenets of their religion are called upon to regard the non-Muslims as their enemies. No matter how much you give them they are never satisfied until the world is Islamic according to their views.

Needless to say Gandhi’s experiment with Islam failed. The results were disastrous for both Hindus and Muslims. In the first place since the movement understood nothing about the dynamics of Turkish politics and nationalism it was bound to fail – the time of Sultans was over. In 1922 there was violence and Gandhi withdrew his support for the movement. Now let us take a look at the consequences of support to this Islamic movement:-

(a) The Muslim clergy became the centrepiece of Muslim politics in India . Though they had a toehold in politics they were not very powerful. But now they became de facto leaders and the genuinely secular and educated Muslim leaders were sidelined. As usual Congress leaders bent backwards to help fundamentalist Muslim leaders to come to power – a policy they have continued to this day.

(b) Muslims blamed Gandhi for the failure of the restoration of Khalifa.

(c) It led to Mopla riots. The Mopla Muslim community heard rumours that the time for jihad had come and an end must be put to all kaffirs. So they violently attacked the Hindus, killing old and young, raping women, tearing off fetuses from wombs. Finally the British restored peace. This must be the only time during the national movement when British troops were welcomed with open arms by the Indians. It is evidence that religion-addicted Muslims cannot live in peace with non-Muslims for long. That was what Hindus got for taking part in a purely Islamic agitation.

(c) The Khilafat movement made the Muslims more conscious of their Islamic identity. It was this that finally led to the Pakistan movement and partition. Even if the partition was inevitable and the net result had been good for Hindus, a great chance was lost to reform Indian Islam so that it can cope with the modern world. Instead India was divided on the basis of religion and a Muslim minority remained.

(d) Let us see how the orthodox Muslims repaid Gandhi: In 1924, Mohammed Ali to whom Gandhi showed such affection said, : “However pure Mr. Gandhi’s character may be, he must appear to me, from the point of religion, inferior to any Mussalman even though he be without character.” In 1925 he emphasized: “Yes, according to my religion and creed, I do hold an adulterous and a fallen Mussalman to be better than Mr. Gandhi”. That is the true Islamofascist mentality revealed in all its glory.

In this way Gandhi’s experiment with Islam failed. This should serve as an object lesson to all who try to appease the fanatic Muslims. It will not succeed but only lead to greater fanaticism and destruction.

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“Where else have some of the greatest ideas of mankind, such as justice, compassion and righteousness, come from, but religion?” justice as in case of killing infidels..compassion as for loving the kids literally and righteousness when it comes to subjugation of women. all religions are alike that they all are false but yours is far retarded

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Hahaha….Gandhi = peaceful, Muslims = terrorists……no comparision ! Muslims always try to defend their evil deeds by citing stupid logics !

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Such a load of Bxxx…
And, reading this “internationally reputed” tag, I was reminded how our media bhompus used to add same tag to an economist (who in reality was an econ babu) but now do not do anymore. So much for “internationally reputed” xyz…:)

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I think that Gandhiji did not tell about caste system .He saying that All are equal there were not discrimination in caste system.

http://www.prlog.org/12112705-6pm-coupon-codes-may-2013-75-off-entire-categories.html

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If left to muslims these vermins would say indias are muslims and hinduism is nothing but islam. Breeding terrorism, killing and raping innocents, fighting in the name of religion, and defending all crimes as if the whole world is against them and projecting themselves as innocents is the summary of islam.

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I think Gandhi tried his best to keep HIndus and Muslims together and whatever his faults, we need to learn from him.

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“Vasudeva Kutumbakam” is one of the vedanta principle under which people of many religion, caste creed will live under one umbrella called Hinduism. Can we find any other place than India where so many religions came and prospered? It is this Hindu philosophy which influenced Gandhi to fight discrimination in the name of religion.

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rajeevs and indurani bose………..How can we end corruption & exploitation when Hindu values worship the filthy rich?
Every society, every country in the world is governed by its value system. And the values come from our religions. The Western values are governed by its Christian religion, the Muslim values from Islam and in the East particularly China it is the Budhism that set the values.
That is how the West has made tremendous progress not only in science and technology but also in liberal thoughts, literature, philosophy, social sciences etc.
The progress achieved by the West is so evident from the big rush of Indian students to Western universities and later settling down there itself for jobs, cursing India. All rich upper castes love to live and even settle down in the West, particularly the US and say they hate everything Indian.
China replacing Japan: In the East, China is poised to become the world’s No.1 country in a couple of years. It is expected to replace Japan as the No.2 world economy in another year.
All the Eastern countries like Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and even the little Vietnam, completely wrecked in the American bombing raids, are surpassing India in all spheres.
Why every other country in the world is soaring to new heights while the ancient India, the second most populous country in the world (1,200 millions), is languishing and limping?
Values come from religion: There is no mystery in this. The answer lies in our value system. And to repeat, the values come from the religion. Unfortunately our values are set by the religion of Hinduism that governs us. Defenders of Hinduism may quote from a stray sentence here and there to contradict us but there is no Hindu religious institution in India or even outside which does not roll in wealth.
During the remote past of Indus Valley Civilization of the Harappa and Mohenjadaro glory, it was a flouring system which the invading Aryan-Brahminical marauders destroyed.
The oppression let loose by the Brahmins produced the country’s greatest spiritual philosopher, the Budha, who fought the Brahmins and launched the golden period of Indian history.
The Brahmins infiltrated Budhism and fought the Budha’s Dhamma both from within and without and injected their spiritual poison which caused our steep fall and deep decline.
Manu & Chanakya : History records all the barbarous values that were injected into our veins by the Manu Dharma Shastra and Chanakya’s Arthasastra — the two guiding Brahminical spiritual poison that set our values.
Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar, the Father of India, has exhaustively dealt with all these subjects in his voluminous writings and speeches. And hence no need for repetition.
M.K. Gandhi, the humbug who roamed in the guise of a sanyasi, injected all the dangerous Brahminical values into our veins. It is these values that make us think that Gandhi is a Mahatma. As long as the country goes on calling him a Mahatma we will continue to be steeped in the Brahminic poisonous values.
DV family members need no further elaboration.
This has direct bearing on each and every action of our society. The governance of a society right from its President, Prime Minister, Parliament, every wing of the society — political party system, bureaucracy, judiciary, defence, education, textbooks, media, commerce and industry, art and literature, health system, business, sports etc. — all these are governed by the Hindu spiritual poison injected into our blood.
Hindu spiritual values: That is how all of us are feeling helpless, unable to fight back the poisonous values injected into the veins of our forefathers and even to us today. And our children tomorrow.
Why we all feel so helpless because we are governed by a set of values which are governed by the “Hindu spiritualism”.
The most striking feature of this Hindu value system makes us think that wealth brings prestige, position, happiness and recognition. This is the most dangerous value which is killing this country.
Because there is a desperate competition among our people even down to our youth to “somehow” become rich — beg, borrow or steal— even kill. Your parents, teachers, friends, neighbours and even the girl whom you want to marry love the rich, admire the rich. There is a country-wide craze to get rich quick.
India’s rank falling: But how can you become rich in a country which is dirt poor? Enough statistics are before us. If you have the eyes you can see them.
Out of about 200 countries in the world in the UN, India’s rank is about 120. And it is steadily going down. Every small country surrounding the giant India has jumped ahead of us. But we are slipping down and down — hitting the rock bottom.
Yet we go on shamelessly claiming the Security Council seat, posing as “India Shining”. But the fact is India is a failed state. All the biggest cities — where our highest educated Hindus live and call themselves the leaders of all thought and action— are turning into slums. Yes.

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Alisher Burkhanovich Usmanov (Uzbek: Alisher Usmonov, Алишер Бурханович Усмонов) (born 9 September 1953) is an Uzbek-born Russian business magnate. According to the 2011 edition of Forbes magazine, the oligarch Usmanov is Russia’s richest man, with a fortune estimated at $18.1 billion, and the world’s 28th richest person.[1]
According to the December 2012 Bloomberg Billionaires Index, he has an
estimated net worth of $17.3 billion, making him the 39th richest person
in the world.[4] In April 2013, the Sunday Times listed him as the richest person in the UK, ousting Lakshmi Mittal for the number one spot.

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Gandhi’s life was based on teachings of Bhagvat Gita, Even in his darkest moments he would find solace in Gita .To say he lived an Islamic life is untrue.

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rajeev and sumit bose,AURANGZEB: TRUTHS ABOUT A RULER

Hello, I am Brijendra Singh; I have done
my PGDM course from I.I.S.E Business School Lucknow. I am not a student of
history but I like to read history due to my interest. In this article I have
tried to provide some facts related to E
…

mperor Aurangzeb. His image as a person and as a ruler is negative
among the Indian citizens, but I am sure when you will go through this article
your attitude will change towards this ruler.

Aurangzeb Alamgir was the
sixth & the last great mughal emperor of India. He ruled India from 1658 to
1707 AD. He was one of the greatest mughal emperors & lived a very simple
life. He lived on a small quantity of food, he used to write the quran with his
own hand & sell them to earn extra wage. If he wanted, he could have lived a
life of extra-ordinary luxury as the, emperors, kings, nawabs, rajas, maharajas
did in those days.

He was a well-read man; he kept up his love of books
till the end. He wrote beautiful Persian prose. A selection of his letters
(Ruq’at-i-Alamgiri) has long been a standard model of simple but elegant prose.
He understood music well but he gave up this amusement in accordance with
Islamic injunctions.

Emperor Aurangzeb is considered as the greatest of
all the mughal kings. The mughal state reached its height under his leadership.
The state has 29.2% of the world population under its flag (175 million out of
600 million in 1700 AD) & was one of the richest states the world had ever
seen, with a world GDP of 24.5% ($ 90.8 billion out of $ 371 billion in
1700).

Of all the Muslim rulers who ruled vast territories of India from
712 to 1857AD, probably no one has received as much condemnation from western
& Hindu writers as Aurangzeb. He has been castigated as a religious Muslim
who was anti-Hindu, who taxed them, who tried to convert them, who discriminated
them in awarding high administrative positions, & who interfered in their
religious matters. This view has been heavily promoted in the government
approved text books in schools & colleges across post partition India (i.e.,
after 1947). These are fabrications against one of the best rulers of India who
was pious, scholarly, saintly, un-biased, liberal, magnanimous, tolerant,
competent & far sighted.

Fortunately, in recent years quite a few
Hindu historians have come out in the open disputing those allegations. For
e.g., historian Babu Nagendranath Banerjee rejected the accusation of forced
conversion of Hindus by Muslim rulers by stating that if that was their
intention then in India today there would not be nearly four times as many
Hindus compared to Muslims, despite the fact that Muslims had ruled for nearly a
thousand years. Banerjee challenged the Hindu hypothesis that Aurangzeb was
anti-Hindu by reasoning that if the latter was truly guilty of such bigotry, how
could he appoint a Hindu as his military commander -in –chief? Surely, he could
have afforded to appoint a competent Muslim general in that position. Banerjee
further stated: “No one should accuse Aurangzeb of being communal minded. In his
administration the state policy was formulated by Hindus. A number of
non-Muslims including Hindus, Sikhs, Marathas & Jats, were employed by him
in his court. He did not compromise on the fundamentals of Islam, which are
infact the moving spirit of every faith. Historical facts must be interpreted in
their true & objective spirit & not subjectively as expressed by the
Hindu writers.

Dr. BISHAMBHAR NATH PANDE’S VIEW

The late scholar
& historian, Dr.Bishambhar Nath Pande’s research efforts exploded myths on
Aurangzeb’s rule. They also offer an excellent example of what history has to
teach us if only we study it dispassionately. Mr. Pande was ranked among the
very few Indians & very fewer still Hindu historians who tried to be a
little careful when dealing with such history. He knew that this history was
‘originally compiled by European writers’ whose main objective was to produce a
history that would serve their policy of divide & rule.

In his famous
Khuda Bakhsh Annual Lecture (1985) Dr. Pande said: “Thus under a definite policy
the Indian history text books were so falsified & distorted as to give an
impression that the medieval (i.e., Muslim) period of Indian history was full of
atrocities committed by Muslim rulers on their Hindu subjects & the Hindus
had to suffer terrible indignities under Muslim rule and there were no common
factors (between Hindus & Muslims) in social, political & economic
life.”

Therefore, Dr.Pande was extra careful. Whenever he came across a
‘fact’ that looked odd to him, he would try to check & verify rather than
adopt it uncritically. He came across a history text book taught in the
Anglo-Bengali College, Allahabad, which claimed that “three thousand Brahmins
had committed suicide as Tipu wanted to convert them forcibly into the fold of
Islam.” The author was a very famous scholar, Dr.Har Prasad Shastri, head of the
department of Sanskrit at Kolkata University. (Tipu Sultan (1750-99), who ruled
over the South Indian state of Mysore (1782-99), is one of the most heroic
figures in Indian history. He died on the battle field, fighting the
British.)

Was it true? Dr. Pande wrote immediately to the author &
asked him for the source on which he had based this episode in his text-book.
After several reminders, Dr. Shastri replied that he had taken this information
from the Mysore gazetteer. So Dr. Pande requested the Mysore university vice-
chancellor, Sir Brijendra Nath Seal, to verify for him Dr. Shastri’s statement
from the gazetteer. Sir Brijendra referred his letter to Prof. Srikantia who was
then working on a new edition of the gazetteer. Srikantia wrote to say that the
gazetteer mentioned no such incident and, as a historian himself, he was certain
that nothing like this had taken place. Prof. Srikantia added that both the
prime minister & commander-in-chief of Tipu Sultan were themselves Brahmins.
He also enclosed a list of 136 Hindu temples which used to receive annual grants
from the sultan’s treasury.

It inspired that Shastri had lifted this
story from Colonel Miles, History of Mysore, which Miles claimed he had taken
from a Persian manuscript in the personal library of Queen Victoria. When Dr.
Pande checked further, he found that no such manuscript existed in Queen
Victoria’s library.

FALSE HISTORY PROVIDED BY BRITISHERS

British
historian Sir Henry Elliot remarked that Hindus “had not left any account which
could unable us to gauge the traumatic impact the Muslim conquest and rule had
on them?” Since there was none, Elliot went on to produce his own eight-volume
history of India with contributions from British historians (1867). His history
claimed Hindus were slain for disputing with ‘Mohammedans’, generally prohibited
from worshipping and taking out religious processions , their idols were
mutilated , their temples were destroyed , they were forced into conversion
& marriages , & were killed & massacred by drunk Muslim tyrants.
Thus Sir Henry, & scores of other empire scholars, went on to produce a
synthetic Hindu verses Muslim history of India, & their lies became a
history.

Lord Curzon(Governor General of India 1895-99 & Viceroy
1899-1904(d.1925) was told by the secretary of state for India, George Francis
Hamilton , that they should “ so plan the educational textbooks that the
differences between community & community are further strengthened.” Another
Viceroy, Lord Dufferin (1884-88), was advised by the secretary of state in
London that the “division of religious feelings is greatly to our advantage ’’,
& that he expected “some good as a result of your committee of inquiry on
Indian education & on teaching material ’’. “ We have maintained our power
in India by playing – off one part against the other’’, the secretary of state
for India reminded yet another viceroy, Lord Elgin (1862-63), “& we must
continue to do so. Do all you can, therefore to prevent all having a common
feeling?”

MYTH RELATED TO DESTRUCTION OF TEMPLES

Some of the Hindu
historians have accused Aurangzeb of demolishing Hindu temples. How factual is
this accusation against a man, who has been known to be a saintly man, a strict
adherent of Islam? The Qur’an prohibits any Muslim to impose his will on a
non-Muslim by stating that “There is no compulsion in religion.”(Surah
al-Baqarah 2.256). The Surah al-Kafirun clearly states: “To you is your religion
& to me is mine.” It would be totally unbecoming of a learned scholar of
Islam of his caliber, as Aurangzeb was known to be, to do things that are
contrary to the dictates of the Qur’an.

Interestingly, the 1946 edition
of the history textbook Etihash Parichaya (introduction to history) used in
Bengal for the 5th & 6th graders states: “If Aurangzeb had the intention of
demolishing temples to make way for mosques, there would not have been a single
temple standing erect in India. On the contrary, Aurangzeb donated huge estates
for use as temple sites & support thereof in Benaras, Kashmir &
elsewhere. The official documentations for these land grants are still
extant.”

A stone inscription in the historic Balaji or Vishnu temple,
located north of Chitrakut Balaghat, still shows that it was commissioned by the
emperor himself. His administration made handsome donation to temple of
Pandharpur – seat of deity Vitthal. Historian the late D.G Godse has claimed
that trustees of Vitthal temple were more worried about marauding Maratha armies
than the mughal one.

The proof of Aurangzeb’s land grant for famous Hindu
religious sites in Varanasi can easily be verified from the deed records extant
at those sites. The same textbook (Etihash Parichaya) reads: “During the fifty
year reign of Aurangzeb, not a single Hindu was forced to embrace Islam. He did
not interfere with any Hindu religious activities”. Alexander Hamilton, a
British historian, toured India towards the end of Aurangzeb’s fifty year’s
reign & observed that everyone was free to serve & worship god in his
own way.

The Mughal emperor Aurangzeb is the most reviled of all the
Muslim rulers in India. He was supposed to be a great destroyer of temples &
oppressor of Hindus, & a ‘fundamentalist’ too. As chairman of the Allahabad
municipality (1948-53), Dr. Bishambhar Nath Pande had to deal with a land
dispute between two temple priests. One of them had filed in evidence some
firmans (royal orders) to prove that Aurangzeb had, besides cash, gifted the
land in question for the maintenance of his temple. Might they not be fake, Dr.
Pande thought in view of Aurangzeb’s fanatically anti-Hindu image? He showed
them to his friend, Sir Tej Bahadur Sapru, a distinguished lawyer as well a
great scholar of Arabic & Persian. He was also a Brahmin. Sapru examined the
documents & declared they were genuine firmans issued by Aurangzeb. For
Dr.Pande this was a ‘new image of Aurangzeb’, so he wrote to the chief priests
of the various important temples, all over the country, requesting photocopies
of any firman issued by aurangzeb that they may have in their possession. The
response was overwhelming; he received copies of firmans of Aurangzeb from the
great temples of Mahakaleshwara, Ujjain, Balaji temple, Chitrakut, Umanand
temple Gauhati, & the Jain temple of Shatrunjai & other temples &
gurudwaras scattered over northern India. These firmans were issued from 1659 to
1685AD. Though these are only few instances of Aurangzeb generous attitude
towards Hindus & their temples, they are enough to show that what the
historians have written about him was biased & is only one side of the
picture. India is a vast land with thousands of temples scattered all over. If
proper research is made, I am confident; many more instances would come to light
which will show Aurangzeb’s benevolent treatment of
non-Muslims.

Aurangzeb did not indiscriminately destroy Hindu temples, as
he is commonly believed to have done so, & that he directed the destruction
of temples only when faced with insurgency. This was almost certainly the case
with the Keshava Rai temple in the Mathura region, where the Jats rose in
rebellion & yet even this policy of reprisal may have been modified, as
Hindu temples in the Deccan were seldom destroyed. The image of Aurangzeb as an
idol – breaker may not with stand scrutiny, since there is evidence to show
that, like his predecessors, he continued to confer land grants or jagirs (large
parcel of agricultural lands) upon Hindu temples, such as the Someshwar Nath
Mahadev temple Allahabad, Jangum Badi Shiva temple in Varanasi, Umanand temple
in Gauhati & numerous others. He did not harm to the famous Alura temples (a
huge complex of Ancient temples) in his conquest of Deccan.

DEMOLITION OF
KASHI VISHWANATH TEMPLE

Dr. Pande’s research showed that Aurangzeb was as
solicitous of the rights & welfare of his non-Muslim subjects as he was of
his Muslim subjects. Hindu plaintiffs received full justice against their
Muslims respondents &, if guilty, Muslims were given punishment as
necessary.

One of the greatest charges against Aurangzeb is of the
demolition of Vishwanath temple in Varanasi. That was a fact, but Dr. Pande
unraveled the reason for it. “While Aurangzeb was passing near Varanasi on his
way to Bengal, the Hindu Rajas in his retinue requested that if the halt was
made for a day, their Ranis may go to Varanasi, have a dip in the Ganges &
pay their homage to Lord Vishwanath. Aurangzeb readily agreed. “Army pickets
were posted on the five mile route to Varanasi. The Ranis made journey to the
palkis. They took their dip in the Ganges & went to the Vishwanath temple to
pay their homage. After offering puja (worship) all the Ranis returned except
one, the Maharani of Kutch. A thorough search was made of the temple precincts
but the Rani was to be found nowhere.

“When Aurangzeb came to know about
this, he was very much enraged. He sent his senior officers to search for the
Rani. Ultimately they found that statue of Ganesh (the elephant – headed god)
which was fixed in the wall was a moveable one. When the statue was moved, they
saw a flight of stairs that led to the basement. To their horror they found the
missing Rani dishonored & crying deprived of all her ornaments. The basement
was just beneath Lord Vishwanath’s seat.”

The Raja demanded salutary
action, & “Aurangzeb ordered that as the sacred precincts have been
despoiled, Lord Vishwanath may be moved to some other place, the temple be razed
to the ground & the Mahant (head priest) be arrested &
punished.”

EMPLOYMENT FOR NON-MUSLIMS

Aurangzeb has often been
accused of closing the doors of official employment on the Hindus, but a study
of the list of his officers shows this is not so. Actually there were more Hindu
officers under him than under any other Mughal emperor. Though this was
primarily due to a general increase in the number of officers, it shows that
there was no ban on the employment of Hindus.

In his administration the
state policy was formulated by Hindus. Two Hindus held the highest position in
the state treasury. Some prejudiced Muslims even questioned the merit of his
decision to appoint non-Muslims to such high offices. The emperor refuted them
by stating that he had been following the dictates of the Shariah (Islamic law)
which demands appointing right persons in right positions. During Aurangzeb’s
long reign of fifty years, many Hindus, notably Jaswant Singh, Jay Singh, Raja
Rajrup, Kabir Singh, Arghanath Singh, Prem Dev Singh, Dilip Roy & Rasik Lal
Crory, held very high administrative positions. Two of the highest ranked
generals in Aurangzeb’s administration, Jaswant Singh & Jay Singh, were
Hindus. Other notable Hindu generals who commanded a garrison of two to five
thousand soldiers were Raja Vim Singh of Udaypur, Indra Singh, & Achalaji
& Arjuji. One wonders if Aurangzeb was hostile to Hindus, why would he
position all these Hindus to high positions of authority, especially in the
military, who could have mutinied against him & removed him from his
throne?

Most Hindus like Akbar over Aurangzeb for his multi-ethnic court
where Hindus were favored. Historian Shri Sharma states that while Emperor Akbar
had 14 Hindu Mansabdars (high officials) in his court, Aurangzeb actually had
148 Hindu high officials in his court (Ref : Mughal Govn.). But this fact is
somewhat less known.

If Aurangzeb was so ferocious a communalist, why is
it, some historians have asked, that the number of Hindu employed in positions
of eminence under Aurangzeb’s reign rose from 24.5% in the time of his father
Shah Jahan to 33% in the fourth decade of his own rule?

JIZYA AND OTHER
TAXES

Now let us deal with Aurangzeb’s imposition of the Jizya tax which
had drawn severe criticism from many Hindu historians. It is true that Jizya was
lifted during the reign of Akbar & Jahangir & that Aurangzeb later
reinstated this. Before I delve into the subject of Aurangzeb’s Jizya tax, or
taxing the non-Muslims, it is worthwhile to point out that Jizya is nothing more
than a war tax which was collected only from able-bodied young non-Muslim male
citizens living in a Muslim country who did not want to volunteer for the
defence of the country. That is, no such tax was collected from non-Muslims who
volunteered to defend the country. This tax was not collected from women &
neither from immature males nor from disabled or old male citizens. For payment
of such taxes, it became incumbent upon the Muslim Government to protect the
life, property & wealth of its non-Muslim citizens. If for any reason the
Government failed to protect its citizens, especially during a war, the taxable
amount was returned.

It should be pointed out here that zakat (2.5% of
savings) & ushr (10% of agricultural products) were collected from all
Muslims, who owned some wealth (beyond a certain minimum, called nisab). They
also paid sadaqah, fitrah & khums. None of these were collected from any
non-Muslim. As a matter of fact, the per capita collection from Muslims was
several fold that of non-Muslims. Further to Aurangzeb’s credit is his abolition
of a lot of taxes, although this fact is not usually mentioned. In his book
Mughal administration, Sir Jadunath Sarkar, foremost historian on the Mughal
dynasty, mention’s that during Aurangzeb’s reign in power, nearly 65 types of
taxes were abolished, which resulted in a yearly revenue loss of 50 million
rupees from the state treasury.

Other historians stated that when
Aurangzeb abolished 80 types of taxes, no one thanked him for his generosity.
But when he imposed only one (jizya), & not heavy at all, people began to
show their displeasure.

While some Hindu historians are retracting the
lies, the textbooks & historic accounts in western countries have yet to
admit their error & set the record straight.

SOME IMPORTANT POINTS
RELATED TO CHARACTER OF AURANGZEB

Just think a man such, character,
caliber that cares and concern for public can be unjust, cruel. Just imagine a
king such cruel & unjust to the majority could rule a huge country, for
about 50 years, where high majority members serving highest position &
comprising 80% in the military.

He was so pious best character person
noble & just. You cannot find a single one in the present
leaders.

His personal piety however is undeniable. He led an exemplary
simple pious life. He cares for the royal treasury as public treasury & for
public. The present leaders considers public treasury to personal
treasury.

Unlike his predecessors, Aurangzeb did consider the royal
treasury as a trust of the citizens of his empire & did not use it for
personal expenses.

He was Subedar in Deccan & Gujarat. He didn’t
destroy any temple. His period was peaceful & prosperous, called golden
period.

Despite more than two decades he campaign as subedar in Deccan
& Gujarat there is no record of temple destruction in the region. He
continued to confer Jagirs to Hindu temples. His period was golden period &
relatively peaceful, prosperous in his tenure.

He was maligned that he
was against art & music. He was the accomplished musician playing VEENA. The
largest numbers of books on classical Indian music in Persian were written
during Aurangzeb’s reign. He banned all nude dances.

Aurangzeb cruelty as
mere rumors or at best lies invented by Hindu bigotry & British historians
who wanted to weaken India by their divide & rule policy. Bankim Chatterjee,
who served his whole life to British government, was a tool of this conspiracy
and dividing.

He was so concern about duties; he did not miss prayer
during the ongoing war.

He spread his prayer rug & prayed in the
midst of battle ground, brought him much fame. He stopped all bad things, which
today everybody want. Why government banned bar balayien, dances of Rakhi Sawant
& Mallaika. Why sattabazi is illegal?

Today we pay more than 66% of
our income as taxes. The present government is worse than Aurangzeb’s.

He
forbade sati, drinking, gambling, prostitution, devadasies, dancing in brothels,
ashrams & mutts. He put jizya to Dhimmis (non-believers) which around 2.5%
like Muslim pay their Zakat, 2.5% eligible person should pay. The old, women,
children were exempted. Only the young man who didn’t want to serve in the army
should pay the jiziya. Indian parliament still hung the bill of Lok Pal, whereas
Aurangzeb the only ruler who appointed Lok Pal to control corruption in
Judiciary, Finance & other departments.

He appointed Muhattasib (lok
pal) censors to control injustice & atrocities. The Brahmans & higher
caste Hindus now found themselves facing Islamic law courts for the atrocities
on lower castes Hindus.

He was best knowledgeable & brilliant
administrator. He never tolerates injustice. He was a brave soldier & best
commander in the field. He was the only who control Deccan & Bijapur
dynasty. Under his leadership, in particular, he led Mughal forces in the
conquest of the Deccan, seizing first the Golkunda & Bijapur Sultanates,
& then attacking the Maratha chieftains. He annexed all the Maratha
territories. He left Shivaji because he was no threat to his
kingdom.

These are the few evidence of his greatness. The Brahmans &
higher caste were subject to Aurangzeb justice. They maligned & created,
invented, fabricated these & all other baseless stories.

This is all
about emperor Aurangzeb. I am confident that when you will go through all these
facts & figures your perception towards this Mughal emperor will change. Our
medieval history consists of various false stories. Our nation had never seen an
emperor like Aurangzeb. I need your feedback about this article. What should I
do to change the perception of people? I want to know merits, demerits, area of
scope & any suggestion related to this article from your
side.

BRIJENDRA SINGH

[Reply]

Oye Engrich. Chiutiye…. terre ko Auranzeb naam ka DAST lag gaya hai kaya?

[Reply]

agore on vande
matram…………………………………………………………………………..Vande
Mataram! These are the magic words which will open the door of his iron
safe, break through the walls of his strong room, and confound the hearts of
those who are disloyal to its call to say Vande Mataram.” (Rabindranath Tagore
in Glorious Thoughts of Tagore, p.165)

The controversy becomes more complex in the light of Rabindranath Tagore’s
rejection of the song as one that would unite all communities in India. In his
letter to Subhash Chandra Bose (1937), Rabindranath wrote:

“The core of Vande Mataram is a hymn to goddess Durga: this is so plain that
there can be no debate about it. Of course Bankimchandra does show Durga to be
inseparably united with Bengal in the end, but no Mussulman [Muslim] can
be
expected patriotically to worship the ten-handed deity as ‘Swadesh’ [the
nation]. This year many of the special [Durga] Puja numbers of our magazines
have quoted verses from Vande Mataram – proof that the editors take the song to
be a hymn to Durga. The novel Anandamath is a work of literature, and so the
song is appropriate in it. But Parliament is a place of union for all religious
groups, and there the song cannot be appropriate. When Bengali Mussulmans show
signs of stubborn fanaticism, we regard these as intolerable. When we too copy
them and make unreasonable demands, it will be self-defeating.”

In a postscript to this same letter, Rabindranath says:

“Bengali Hindus have become agitated over this
matter, but it does not concern
only Hindus. Since there are strong feelings on both sides, a balanced judgment
is essential. In pursuit of our political aims we want peace, unity and good
will – we do not want the endless tug of war that comes from supporting the
demands of one faction over the other.” [1]

In the last decade, Vande Mataram has been used as a
rallying cry by Hindu
nationalists in India, who have challenged the status of the current national
anthem by Rabindranath

[Reply]

Gandhi had his ills but in the overall equation he was a great man, perhaps greatest man that was known. And you are well aware of that, so you are attempting to glorify the violent faith by highlighting the, at best tenuous commonalities – “…chapters 5.48 and 11.118 of the Quran, which also enjoins People of the Book to work for common good (3.64)…” Yes this is what Gandhi might have said, but you forgot to tell us what the holy book says about the other people-of-the-book in other places and people-not-of-the-book in all the places. Does that also tally with what Gandhi said?

Please do not belittle his legacy by pointing out the limited and questionable overlap his thinking had with Islamic thought. You can find some commonalities among almost any pair of schools of thought – doesn’t mean they are same.

[Reply]

Vande Matram was derived from Bankimchandra Chatterjee’s novel .
The book was highly communal and anti-Muslim. I will refer passages
from him book later. Muslims cannot bow to Hindu goddess Durga in the
name of India.
Rabinder Nath Tagore (Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vande_Mataram) wrote that Vande Matram had a hyme for “Mother Durga” Hindu goddess.
The
controversy becomes more complex in the light of Rabindranath Tagore’s rejection of the song as one that would unite all communities in India. In his letter to Subhas Chandra Bose (1937), Tagore wrote:
“The core of Vande Mataram
is a hymn to goddess Durga: this is so plain that there can be no
debate about it. Of course Bankimchandra does show Durga to be
inseparably united with Bengal in the end, but no Mussulman [Muslim] can
be expected patriotically to worship the ten-handed deity as ‘Swadesh’
[the nation]. This year many of the special [Durga] Puja numbers of our
magazines have quoted verses from Vande Mataram—proof
that the editors take the song to be a hymn to Durga. The
novel Anandamath is a work of literature, and so the song is
appropriate in it. But Parliament is a place of union for all religious
groups, and there the song cannot be appropriate. When Bengali
Mussulmans show signs of stubborn fanaticism, we regard these as
intolerable. When we too copy them and make unreasonable demands, it
will be self-defeating.”
In a postscript to this same letter, Tagore says:
“Bengali
Hindus have become agitated over this matter, but it does not concern
only Hindus. Since there are strong feelings on both sides, a balanced
judgment is essential. In pursuit of our political aims we want peace,
unity and good will—we do not want the endless tug of war that comes
from supporting the demands of one faction over the other.”

Mr.
Mohd. C Jamali was writing that Sikh Panth approved Vande Matram. In
fact his quotation was of from
Rajinder Parasad. He changed the language of actual Rajinder Parasad
quote to suite his argument. Below is actual quote of Rajinder
Parasad. Sikh Panth refused to sing Vande Matram, except only first two
verses, which Muslims and Christians agreed to do too. Also Mr. Jamali
translation was useless. There are plenty of correct translations on
Internet. He did not need Google to produce a useless translation.

Rajendra Prasad, who was presiding the Constituent Assembly on 24 January 1950, made the following statement which was also adopted as the final decision on the
issue:“…The
composition consisting of words and music known as Jana Gana Mana is
the National Anthem of India, subject to such alterations as the
Government may authorise as occasion arises, and the song Vande Mataram,
which has played a historic part in the struggle for Indian freedom,
shall be honored equally with Jana Gana Mana and shall have equal status
with it. (Applause) I hope this will satisfy members. (Constituent Assembly of India, Vol. XII, 24-1-1950)

As
for Bankim chandra Chatterjee’s novel book from which
Vande Matram was derived. Below are quotation from his last chapter.
You will clearly notice hatred against Muslims and a RSS type
mentality. Why should we sing a song from a fanatic communal person?
No doubt because of his hindutva mentality, RSS makes Vande Matram an
issue.

The song ‘Vande Mataram’ occurs in Bankimchandra Chatterjee’s novel Anand Math published in 1882.
In his Autobiography of an Unknown Indian, Nirad C. Chaudhuri has aptly described the atmosphere of the times in which the song was written.1
“The historical romances of Bankim Chatterjee and Ramesh Chandra
Dutt glorified Hindu rebellion against Muslim rule and showed the
Muslims in a correspondingly poor light. Chatterjee was positively and
fiercely anti-Muslim. We were eager readers of these romances and
we readily absorbed their spirit.”

R.C. Majumdar, the historian, has written an objective account of it.2
“During the long and arduous struggle for freedom from 1905 to
1947 ‘Bande Mataram’ was the rallying cry of the patriotic sons of
India, and thousands of them succumbed to the lathi blow of the
British police or mounted the scaffold with ‘Bande Mataram’ on
their lips. The central plot moves round a band of sanyasis, called santanas
or children, who left their hearth and home and dedicated their
lives to the cause of their motherland. They worshipped their
motherland as the Goddess Kali;… This aspect of the Ananda Math and the imagery of Goddess Kali leave no doubt that Bankimchandra’s nationalism was Hindu rather than Indian.
This is made crystal clear from his other writings which contain
passionate outbursts against the subjugation of India by the
Muslims. From that day
set the sun of our glory – that is the refrain of his essays and
novels which not unoften contain adverse, and sometimes even
irreverent, remarks against the Muslims” (emphasis added). As
Majumdar pithily puts it, “Bankimchandra converted patriotism into
religion and religion into patriotism.”
The novel was
not anti-British, either. In the last chapter, we find a
supernatural figure persuading the leader of the sanyasis, Satyananda, to stop fighting. The dialogue that follows is interesting:3

“He: Your task is accomplished. The Muslim power is destroyed.
There is nothing else for you to do. No good can come of needless
slaughter.
“S: The Muslim power has indeed been
destroyed, but the dominion of the Hindu has not yet been
established. The British still hold Calcutta.
“He: Hindu dominion will not be established now. If you remain
at your work, men will be killed to no purpose. Therefore come.

“S: (greatly pained) My lord, if Hindu dominion is not going to be
established, who will rule? Will the Muslim kings return?
“He: No. The English will rule.”
Satyananda protests, but is persuaded to lay down the sword.

“He: Your vow is fulfilled. You have brought fortune to your
Mother. You have set up a British government. Give up your
fighting. Let the people take to their ploughs. Let the earth be
rich with harvest and the people rich with wealth.
“S: (weeping hot tears) I will make my Mother rich with harvest in the blood of her foes.
“He: Who is the foe? There are no foes now. The English are friends as well as rulers. And no one can defeat them in battle. (emphasis added).
“S: If that is so, I will kill myself before the image
of my Mother.
“He: In ignorance? Come and know. There
is a temple of the Mother in the Himalayas. I will show you her
image there.
“So saying, He took Satyananda by the hand.”

Anti-Muslim references are spread all over the work. Jivananda
with sword in hand, at the gate of the temple, exhorts the children
of Kali: “We have often thought to break up this bird’s nest of
Muslim rule, to pull down the city of the renegades and throw it
into the river – to turn this pig-sty to ashes and make Mother
earth free from evil again. Friends, that day has come.”

The use of the song ‘Vande Mataram’ in the novel is not
adventitious, and it is not only communal-minded Muslims who resent
it because of its context and content. M.R.A. Baig’s analysis of
the novel and the song deserve attention. “Written as a story set
in the period of the dissolution of the
Moghul Empire, the hero of the novel, Bhavananda, is planning an
armed rising against the Muslims of Bengal. While busy recruiting,
he meets Mahendra and sings the song ‘Bande Mataram’ or ‘Hail
Mother’. The latter asks him the meaning of the words and
Bhavananda, making a spirited answer, concludes with: ‘Our religion
is gone, our caste is gone, our honour is gone. Can the Hindus preserve
their Hinduism unless these drunken Nereys (a term of contempt for
Muslims) are driven away?’… Mahendra, however, not convinced,
expresses reluctance to join the rebellion. He is, therefore, taken
to the temple of Ananda Math and shown a huge image of four-armed
Vishnu, with two decapitated and bloody heads in front, “Do you
know who she is?” asks the priest in charge, pointing to an image
on the lap of Vishnu, “She is the Mother. We are her children Say
‘Bande Mataram’” He is taken to the image of Kali and
then to that of Durga. On each occasion he is asked to recite
‘Bande Mataram’. In another scene in the novel some people shouted
‘kill, kill the Nereys’. Others shouted ‘Bande Mataram’ ‘Will the
day come when we shall break mosques and build temples on their
sites?
Because
of these issues, President of the Constituent Assembly, Rajendra
Prasad, on January 24, 1950. declared Jana Gana Mana as National anthem,
not Vande Matram.

Suhaib M. Siddiqi, Ph.D.

http://www.ssiddiqi.com/
http://www.linkedin.com/in/smsiddiqii
http://othersideofacoin.blogspot.com/
http://www.deedahwar.net/

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As long as the Muslim population remains around or under 2% in any given country, they will be for the most part be regarded as a peace loving minority, and not as a threat to other citizens. This is the case in: USA — 0.6% Australia — 1.5% Canada — 1.9% China — 1.8% Italy — 1.5% Norway — 1.8% At 2% to 5%, they begin to proselytize from other ethnic minorities and disaffected groups, often with major recruiting from the jails and among gangs.This is happening in: UK — 2.7% Thailand — 4.6% From 5% on, they exercise an inordinate influence in proportion to their percentage of the population. They will push for the introduction of halal food, thereby securing food preparation jobs for Muslims. They will increase pressure on supermarket chains to feature halal on their shelves — along with threats for failure to comply.This is occurring in: France — 8% Philippines — 5% Netherlands — 5.5%. At this point, they will work to get the ruling government to allow them to rule themselves under Sharia, the Islamic Law. When Muslims approach 10% of the population, they tend to increase lawlessness as a means of complaint about their conditions. In Paris, we are already seeing car burnings. Any non Muslim action offends Islam, and results in uprisings and threats, such as in Amsterdam , with opposition to Mohammed cartoons and films about Islam.Such tensions are seen daily, particularly in Muslim sections, in: Guyana — 10% India — 13.4% Israel — 16% Kenya — 10% Russia — 15% After reaching 20%, nations can expect hair trigger rioting, jihad militia formations, sporadic killings, and the burnings of Christian churches and Jewish synagogues, such as in: Ethiopia — 32..8% At 40%, nations experience widespread massacres, chronic terror attacks, and on going militia warfare, such as in: Chad — 53.1% Lebanon — 59.7% From 60%, nations experience unfettered persecution of non believers of all other religions, sporadic genocide, use of Sharia Law as a weapon, and Jizya, the tax placed on infidels, such as in: Albania — 70% Malaysia — 60.4% Qatar — 77.5% Sudan — 70% After 80%, expect daily intimidation and violent jihad, some State run ethnic cleansing, and even some genocide, as these nations drive out the infidels, and move toward 100% Muslim, such as has been experienced and in some ways is on going in: Bangladesh — 83% Egypt — 90% Iran — 98% Iraq — 98.7% Pakistan — 97% Turkey — 99.8% UAE — 96% 100% will usher in the peace of ‘Dar es Salaam’ — the Islamic House of Peace. Here there’s supposed to be peace, because everybody is a Muslim, and the Koran is the only word, such as in: Afghanistan — 100% Saudi Arabia — 100% Somalia — 100% Yemen — 100%. Unfortunately, peace is never achieved, as in these 100% states the most radical Muslims intimidate and spew hatred, and satisfy their blood lust by killing less radical Muslims, for a variety of reasons.

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