Thursday, April 22, 2010

The Problem called "Highly Progressive Hindus"

The below article clearly elucidates the highly "Progressive" attitudes of some Hindus abroad. Hindus, Progression does not mean ridiculing our past and criticising our ancestors. It is more to do with carrying the gems of your great past and adapting it to the present. The words of Swami Vivekanada look directed at this "Progressive" section of Hindus. He says "A nation that has no history of its own has nothing in this world. Out of the past is built the future. Look back, therefore, as far as you can, drink deep of the eternal fountains that are behind, and after that, look forward, march forward and make India brighter, greater, much higher than she ever was. Our ancestors were great. We must first recall that." Time for some true progression? Enjoy the article...

Once you live in a country driven by highly democratic, laissez-faire principles, these principles become a part of your everyday life... That is why we will hear the average person speak words such as “This is a democratic country”, “I have rights, and I will stand up for them”, and so on.

A Hindu is not exclusive to such words. They also take pride in these principles that they have accustomed to and made their own. However, they fail to stand up to make use of these rights when it comes to defending their religion—because many are unaware of what their religion is all about.

Today, many Hindus have become so progressive and adaptive that they are forgetting to uphold their true Hindu identity. This is not to say that progressive thinkers are to be looked upon negatively. Rather, I am suggesting that people should be both progressive thinkers yet, upholders of their history, values and traditions which may have played a crucial role in who they have now become. We must not forget that the teachings of our parents, on how to live were driven by Hindu principles. Even if parents did not directly affiliate their teachings to Hinduism, due to its modesty as a religion, one must realize the truth and connect who they are, back to their roots. The issue I would like to address is that many Hindu’s tend to not only forget about their roots and religion, but instead they tend to look at other Hindus who are trying to uphold the religion as fanatical, backwards-thinking, outcasts.

If I go around greeting other Hindus with a “Namaste”, they frown upon me or look at me awkwardly with surprise, pausing before saying a “Hello” or a silent “Namaste” back. It is okay that saying Namaste may be awkward for them because it is not what they see every day, but to frown upon one who says “Namaste” is very insulting.

Another issue I have recently had to deal with was when I asked people if they celebrated Christmas and Diwali. Most would say yes to Christmas but many said no to Diwali. I wondered why especially because they labelled themselves as Hindus. Their answers usually were “I am forward thinking and like to adapt to my surroundings so that my children will have a better life here with others”, etc. That is true. I agree that children need to feel at home even at school, but if we just focus on adapting our children then what identity will they have as people when they grow up? Who will they label themselves as? If they label themselves as Hindu’s, how will they defend that they are in actuality Hindus who follow the religion, when they know nothing of it? These are some things that parents are forgetting to think about and, young adults face an identity crisis because they do not know who they are.

So we must stop judging others because they choose to be more Hindu. It is not all about adaptability and accommodations to western society. Our children should also be made to uphold and take pride in their roots. As an advocate for Hinduism, I have chosen to not celebrate western holidays—not because I disregard them or see them as null but only because surprisingly that is the only way I get questioned, “Why do you refrain from celebrating Christmas?” and thus I get an opportunity to make my point—that just as a “Hindu” has chosen to celebrate only Christmas and not Diwali, I as a Hindu have also chosen to celebrate only Diwali—It’s a free rein society. We all have individual rights to freedom.

Source: Chakra News

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Gujarat Godhra Riots - Demythified!

The Godhra riots may have caught global attention but has the truth done so? Gujaratriots.com is an effort to do so. It has very nicely tried to resolve the myths surrounding the Gujarat Issue. The media had tried all their best to magnify the issue.One question for the media from the common man is "Next time you report any news, can we also have information of the sponsors (i.e. those who pay you for the news)? BTW, do you want some sponsorship from the common man to report what actually happened instead of shamelessly and falsely sensationalizing issues?" The following is a piece of information from gujaratriots.com.

Let's start with an interview by Modi to Aaj Tak’s Prabhu Chawla, excerpts of which were published in the weekly India Today, dated 4 November 2002:

“Q- Your opponents call you ‘Jinnah of the Hindus’.
A- I am hearing this for the first time though I still don’t consider you as an enemy.

Q- You are held responsible for the killing of 1,100 innocent people in the riots.
A- In our previous interview, you said 900 people. Now you are saying 1,100. Are you adding all the people killed in other states like Maharashtra and Bengal to Gujarat’s account?

Q- So what is the correct toll?
A- There would have been no riots in Gujarat if there had been no Godhra.

Q-Do you accept that you failed to provide security to the people of the state?
A-98% of Gujarat would not have peace if we had failed to fulfill our duties. We managed to control the riots within 72 hours.

Q-Why don’t you accept that Gujarat is being defamed because of Narendra Modi?
A- If that is true, give the people of Gujarat a chance to pronounce their verdict through elections.”

As we see, the number of people killed in the riots jumped from 900 to 1100 after Narendra Modi’s previous interview, i.e. within 4 months! Now it has jumped from 9,00 to 2,000. May be after 10 years, at this rate it will jump to 10,000! Already it is being said that, “thousands of Muslims were killed in Gujarat” and “3,000 innocent Muslims were butchered in Gujarat”.

Now let's resolve the Myths.

Myth: Whole of Gujarat was burning

Fact: Out of the state’s 18,600 villages, 240 municipal towns, and 25 district headquarters, only 60 places saw riots. If one includes the two big cities of Ahmedabad and Vadodara, by the wildest stretch of imagination, only 2 % of the state can be assumed to have been burning. Only 40 out of the state’s 18,600 villages saw riots.

Myth: The Gujarat police turned a blind eye to the rioting

Fact: Even though the situation was terrible, the police performed its work extremely efficiently. The police force was woefully insufficient. Uday Mahurkar reports for India Today (18 March 2002) On February 28, the police shot dead 10 Hindus in Ahmedabad alone reported The Hindu on Mar 2, 2002.

Myth: Sangh Parivar organisations like VHP organized the riots.

Fact: Out of Gujarat’s 18,600 villages, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) had units in 10,000 villages at the time of the riots of 2002. If it had wanted- it could have easily organized retaliatory riots in many of these 10,000 villages. Instead-only 40 out of the state’s 18,600 villages saw riots. VHP General Secretary Dr Praveen Togadia is a Patel and hails from Saurashtra region of Gujarat- just like Keshubhai Patel. And yet- no riots happened in Saurashtra at all- even in the first 3 days!

Myth: Gujarat became a dangerous place to live in, in 2002

Fact: The opinion poll by the weekly India Today in its issue dated 25 November 2002 asked a question to its respondents-“Do you feel secure living in Gujarat today?” in which more than 68 % people including more than 56 % Muslims felt secure. While commenting on the entire poll, India Today reported, “Voters have rallied solidly behind the chief minister’s aggressive posturing. They have endorsed his view of the riots being a reaction to Godhra. They approve his fulmination against outsiders who have vilified the state. And they contemptuously dismiss all suggestions that Gujarat has become a dangerous place to live in.”

Source: Gujaratriots.com

Sunday, April 11, 2010

"Declare Nepal a Hindu Kingdom"

Temple Project's blog is back after a brief hiatus. We will continue to provide readers quality information about Hinduism, Indian culture, history, etc. This becomes our Dharma. Yes, we strongly believe that "Dharmo rakshathi rakshitaha".

KATHMANDU, Nepal — Once the only Hindu kingdom in the world, Nepal was declared a secular state by its parliament in 2006, and the monarchy was abolished two years later.

Now, with a new constitution due in May, Hindu groups are pressuring the government to reinstate Hinduism as the state religion. Kalidas Dahal recently launched a nine-day prayer meeting to show the government that Hinduism still enjoys public support.

Dahal is backed by the Rastriya Prajatantra Party-Nepal, which supports the monarchy and Hinduism but holds just four of the 601 parliament seats. RPP-Nepal chief Kamal Thapa, who was home-affairs minister under the deposed king, said his party sponsored a petition for a citizens referendum that was signed by more than 2 million of Nepal's 27 million citizens.

In a nation where nearly 75 percent of the people are Hindus, Thapa says Hinduism is needed to preserve Nepal's cultural identity.

Source: http://www.chron.com