Heritage April 2015 - Heritage Explorer · Heritage Explorer 4 April 2015 Editor Editorial Along...

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Heritage Explorer April 20153

Edited by : Amarendra Brahma,C/o. Heritage Foundation, K.B.Road, Paltan Bazar, Guwahati-781008, Published &Printed by : Narayan Dev Sarma on behalf of Heritage Foundation, K.B.Road, Paltan Bazar, Guwahati-781008,Published at: Heritage Foundation, K.B.Road, Paltan Bazar, Guwahati - 781008 (Assam). e-mail:[email protected], Website: www.heritagefoundation.org.in, Printed at: Arindam Offset & ImagingSystems, Rajgarh, Guwahati - 781003 and Angik Press, GNB Road, Guwahati - 781001 and Saraighat OffsetPress, Bamunimaidan, Guwahati - 781021

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Contents

Or Heritage Foundation.Bank A/c with SBI, Chenikuthi, GuwahatiA/c No. 3400 1979 819

Heri tage ExplorerHer i tage ExplorerHer i tage ExplorerHer i tage ExplorerHer i tage ExplorerA Monthly News BulletinA Monthly News BulletinA Monthly News BulletinA Monthly News BulletinA Monthly News Bulletin

VOL. XIV. NO.4, APRIL 201528 Pages, Size - A4 Demy

A Vedic Alternative to Darwinism P-5

Uniform Civil Code : Bridging Divide: P-7

Chinese provocation: Is India prepared P-9

Vaidic Sammelan hammers for spreadand expansion of Veda P-11

In the Budget, a R100 cr planto tap Chinese market P-12

Government to promote NortheastStudy Center in JNU P-13

ONGC organises cultural heritagefestival in Tripura P-13

PM salutes Arunachal’s patriotism P-14

Rajnath stresses on securityfor north-easterners in Delhi P-14

Modi assures full freedom of faith;meets Christian leaders P-15

Cabinet approves CompulsoryRegistration of Marriage Act P-16

PM bats to transform NE intoan ‘Organic Hub’ P-16

Missionaries and their ‘Holy’ Mission P-17

Mother Teresa – An AggressiveCatholic Missionary P-18

Lord Shiva, First Messenger of Islam—Mufti Muhammad Ilyas Qasmi P-20

Ali-Aye Ligang celebrated P-20

A Short History Of HundredDrums Lijangala Festival P-21

Religious conversions:Seeking equal standards in good faith P-22

Loktak among Earth’s 14 amazingwaterbodies P-23

Muslim Women Must Pressfor Their Rights P-24

Three Indian Americans winIntel Science Talent Search medals P-25

The Cobra and the Crows P-26

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Editor

Editorial

Along with the space voyage to Other Planets of the Solar Family (e.g. Chandrayan of India toMars), there are two additions of importance to the human race living on this planet: one two-seater(now) flying-car, and aero plane on solar fuel.

A company of Slovakia named Aero Mobil has designed a prototype of a vehicle that can run onroads and when needed can take off to sky at a comfortable ease. A prototype of the vehicle ( stillawaits a commercial name) was exhibited in a technology festival in Taxas. According to themanufacturer, it will be available for purchase by 2017. But questions remains about rules andregulations while it is on roads and in air.

Two-seater vehicle runs on standard gasoline (petrol) and can operate on both the high wayand in the air, taking off from a grass or pavement runway of 300 meters or less. It fits into a standardsize parking space and auto lane, has a top flight speed of about 200 kmph and top road speed ofabout 160 kmph. It does not require an airport facility.

So far so good. Technology, in any form, advances so rapidly and convincingly that achievementexpected for the amphibian (land and air) vehicle will not be a far off one.

The other miraculous (for the present time) event is the solar-powered plane. Named ‘SolarImpulse 2’ ,the plane made a voyage round-the-world trip. In its route, incidentally, Varanasi ( ourPM’s parliamentary Constituency)became a point to touch and go (out of 12 scheduled stop avers).The single-seated plane is designed and made by Swiss technocrats is piloted by Bertrand Piccardand Andre Borschberg, both Swiss pilots. They taking turns are flying the aircraft with 17,000 Solarcells on its 72-meter wing span. The aircraft is followed by two other aero plans with 70 supportstaffs. These two planes carry 20,000 gallon of fuel needed for themselves. After halting at MandalayInternational Airport in Myanmar, it takes its journey through Chongqing and Nanjing in Chaina overPacific Ocean to Hawai and then over Atlantic Ocean to reach US mainland. To cover the flight overthe two oceans time required is 5 days and 5 nights at a stretch. The pilots have prepared for theexhaustive long stretches; Borchlerg has been practicing yoga while Piccard uses self-hypnotics tocalm himself.

While the world is thinking and experimenting high for the benefit of the mankin;d, there is, alsoat the bottom of thought the barbarism through ISIS ism in a subcontinent following a Faith meansfor Peace and within our country ( we don’t know better of other countries) on all time pull-back,draw-down policy in open or in disguise when ever and wherever a scheme is contemplated for thebenefit the people of the country.

Future will hail the present trend in technology development and will hate the happenings in thename of politics and power gaining tactics of some vested interest.

Another big Leap to The Future

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Questioning the Darwiniantheory of evolution, New Yorkbased freelancer’s a new attemptto link his findings with Vedicperspective has sparkeddeliberations in academiccommunity across the world.

Since time immemorial, theantiquity of the human race hasbeen haunting the minds of thethinking men. In spite of severaltheories and concepts provided bydifferent religions and throughscientific research, the questseeking answer to thisfundamental question continues toignite the curiosity of human mind.In India too, several Hindu textshave proclaimed that humanshave existed on this planet formillions of years.

Michael A Cremo, New Yorkbased freelance researcherdeclares that he has unearthedarchaeological evidence to provethat humans have existed on thisplanet for millions of years.Cremo’s attempt to link his findingswith the Vedic perspective onhuman origins has beeninstrumental for starting seriousdeliberations in the academiccommunity all over the globe. In hispath breaking book, ForbiddenArcheology; the Hidden History ofhuman race, questioning theDrawinian theory of evolution,Cremo expounds an alternativetheory of evolution. He asserts thatthe crucial archaeologicalevidence was ignored by the socalled scientific community simplybecause it contradicted theestablished ‘Theory of Evolution’.To the question, if we did notevolve from apes, from where did

A Vedic Alternative to Darwinism

we come from, Cremo, supportingthe ancient wisdom of the Vedicseers says, “We did not evolvefrom matter; instead we evolved,or came down, from the realm ofpure consciousness, spirit.”Basing his arguments on modernscience and the world’s greatwisdom traditions, including theVedic philosophy of ancient India,in his book ‘Human Devolution,’written as a sequel to ForbiddenArcheology, Cremo asserts thathumans are a combination ofmatter, mind and consciousness(spirit). The book shows how a

subtle mind element and aconscious self that can exist apartfrom the body have beensystematically eliminated frommain stream science.

M. Cremo identifies himself asa Vedic creationist and analternative archeologist and arguesthat humans have lived on theearth for billions of years. Afterattending George WashingtonUniversity from 1966 to 1968, heserved in the United States Navy.In 1973 on receiving a copy ofBhagavad Gita, Cremo decided to

devote his life to Krishna. Attractedby the teachings of the Gita, hebecame a member of theInternational Society for KrishnaConsciousness (ISKCON) andthe Bhaktivedanta Institute. He haswritten several books and articlesabout Hindu spirituality under thename Drutakarmâ dâsa. He hasalso been a contributing editor tothe magazine Back to Godheadand a bhakti yoga teacher.

After his first visit in 1979, hehas visited India several times.Onmany occasions, he hasaddressed at universities andscientific institutions, such as theIndian Institute of Science,Bangalore, IIT Chennai, IITMumbai, Benaras HinduUniversity, University of Kolkata,University of Kerala, etc.

Excerpts from an exclusiveemail interview with Kerala basedsenior journalist PradeepKrishnan.

P.K: Tell us about your journeyfrom Michael A Cremo toDrutakarmadasa?

M.C: I liked the ‘Bhagavad Gitaas it is’. After that I visited one ofthe ISKCON centers and wassurprised to see American youngpeople living an the teachings ofthe Gita. That really impressed me.After some time, I decided to livein an ISKCON centre, practicingbhakti yoga, the yoga of devotionto Lord Krishna. I had the chanceto hear some lectures byBhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupadawhen he was visiting an ISKCONcenter in America and I becamehis initiated disciple in 1976 andreceived from him the name

Michael A Cremo

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Drutakarma Dasa.

P.K - What are your views onthe Vedas, the ancient texts ofIndia? It is often alleged that theyonly contain a bundle of rituals andsuperstitions?

M.C. - Veda means knowledge.There exist different kinds ofknowledge, the highest beingknowledge of the true nature of theself. Of course, there are severalschools of Vedic thought. I confessto being a follower of the Vaishnavaschool of thought, which holds thatthe true nature of the self is eternalservant of the Supreme Self, God.The teachings are scientific, in thesense that they give proceduresby which the truth of the teachingscan be personally verified andexperienced.

P.K. - Your book ‘ForbiddenArcheology’ has attracted attentionfrom some mainstream scholarsas it touches the ancient wisdomof Vedic masters of India. However,some describe it aspseudoscience. What are yourcomments?

M.C. - Among the Vedicliteratures are the historicalwritings, which are collectivelycalled the Puranas. The Puranaspresent an account of humanantiquity different from thatcurrently accepted by mostarcheologists. Today, mostarcheologists believe that the firsthumans like us appeared less than200,000 years ago, having evolvedfrom more primitive apelike humanancestors. But the Puranascontain accounts of humansexisting many millions of yearsago, going back to the verybeginnings of life on earth. All overIndia, one can find places whereevents in human history took place

in different yugas, millions of yearsago. It is true that one will not findsuch archeological evidence in thecurrent textbooks. I decided,however, to look beyond thetextbooks. I spent eight yearsresearching the original scientificreports by archeologists andgeologists, from the time of Darwinto the present. When I did that Ifound many reports of discoveriesof human bones, humanfootprints, and human artifactsmillions of years old. These reportsare not mentioned in the currenttextbooks, because of what I calla process of knowledge filtrationthat operates in the world ofscience. I collected these reportsof archeological evidence forextreme human antiquity,consistent with the Vedic histories,in my book Forbidden Archeology,and its abridged edition The HiddenHistory of the Human Race. I havepresented many papers aboutthese things at major internationalscientific conferences. Some ofthese papers have been appearedin peer reviewed scientificpublications. I have also spokenabout this topic at scientificinstitutions and universities aroundthe world. .

P.K. - Your book ‘HumanDevolution’ seeks to offer Vedicalternative to Darwin’s theory. Tellus briefly about the book.

M.C. - The archeologicalevidence shown in my bookForbidden Archeology contradictsthe Darwinian theory of humanorigins. So my readers naturallyasked, “What are you proposingas an alternative?” To answer thatquestion I wrote HumanDevolution: a Vedic Alterna-tive toDarwin’s Theory. Most of theDarwinist scientists believe that we

are machines made of matter,machines made of molecules.They believe that ourconsciousness is produced bychemicals in the brain. Butaccording to the Vedas we are notjust machines made of matter. TheVedas say “aham brahmasmi,” Iam spirit, pure consciousness.This consciousness is notproduced by matter. It existsindependently from matter. In mybook I review the scientificevidence for this. But althoughconsciousness is by natureindependent from matter, it cancome into association with matter.That is our current condition. Soas conscious beings, we do notevol---ve from matter, as manyscientists now believe. Instead, wedevolve, or come down, from thelevel of pure consciousness. Butthe process can be reversed, andconsciousness can be restored toits original pure state, free from itscontact with matter. That is theactual purpose of human life.

P.K. - What are your views onBhagavad Gita?

M.C. - I see the Bhagavad Gitaas summarising the essentialspiritual teachings of the Vedas. Ifind it significant that it is presentedas a dialogue between Arjuna andLord Krishna. In the course of thedialogue, Arjuna presents manyquestions and doubts, to whichLord Krishna replies. Manyphilosophical positions areexamined before the finalconclusion is reached. So I liked itvery much that the teachings of theGita were presented in the text notas some dogmas, but as someconclusions reached afterthorough intellectual discussion.

P.K. - Your views onContd. to Page 19

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The debate emerges aroundUniform Civil Code (UCC) in theApex Court of the country whilehearing the Public InterestLitigation (PIL) filed by ClarencePais, a former President of theCatholic Association of DakshinaKannada in Karnataka. Howevercourt rejected the PIL seekingrecognition for Christian courts.This not the first time that the ApexCourt rejected PIL regardingpersonal laws based uponreligious lines.

In its landmarkjudgment SupremeCourt bench headed byJustice CK Prasad andPinaki Chandra Ghosesaid Sharia courts run byclerics have no legalityand that their fatwas arenot obligatory on anyone.Recently, JusticeMarkandey Katju wrote—”I am fully in support of UCC” and“one of the reasons for thebackwardness of Muslims is thelack of modernization of theirpersonal law”.

Justice Vikramjit Senremarked during the hearing on aPIL filed by Pais seekingrecognition for Christian courtsset up under its personal law, hesaid, “It is a secular country but Idon’t know how long it will remainso.” The Indian Express reports:“The bench was hearing a PIL byadvocate Clarence Pais, whowanted the apex court to put itsstamp of approval on the decreesof divorce and other suchdecrees issued by anecclesiastical court or tribunal. Anecclesiastical court, set up under

Uniform Civil Code : Bridging Divide- Hitesh Rangra

courts for dealing with civicaffairs?

Even today the Goa Civil Code,also known as Goa Family Lawwhich is a set of civil laws governsthe entire population includingMuslims of this Indian State. Letus not forget the fact thataccording to the 2001 census, outof a total population of 1, 343, 998people of Goa, 65.7 per cent wereHindus, 26.6 per cent wereChristians, 6.8 per cent were

Muslims, 0.07 per centwere Sikhs, 0.05 per centwere Buddhists, 0.06 percent were Jains and0.026 per cent belongedto other religiouscommunities.

Our liberal friends citemultiple examples whyIndia needs to be asecular country; yesindeed I agree to the core

idea that India should be secularcountry in the accordance withour ancient ethos rather thanEuropean thought process. In theancient time king observed RajDharma and consider each andevery living soul equal. In today’scontext political leaders shouldfollow Raj Dharma; but more thanour political leaders ourintellectuals need to follow the“Sastrath”. Though Dharma isvery vast topic but somehow Ibrought its mention here becauseSastrath (discussion) is thecentral point in our Philosophy.Our ancient sages createdhumogenous knowledge systemby Sastrath.

So let us come back to the

the Canon Law, is an institutionfor Catholic Christians.”

The Apex Court rejected theargument and recommended thatreligion shouldn’t be allowed todeal with civil issues. The benchsaid that “This cannot beaccepted; otherwise every religionwill say it has a right to decidevarious issues as a matter of itspersonal law. We don’t agree withthis at all. It has to be done thougha decree of a court”. However it

should be noted that petitionerhad filed the PIL on the pretext thatif marriages can be dissolved byMuslims in accordance to theMohammedan law, Christiansshould be allowed to do the same.

Although the PIL had beenreject but we must inquire thatwhy Christians seeking therecognition of Christian courtsunder personal law that too citingthe example of Muslim Personallaw. Can we allow personal lawfor every religious body in thecountry? Can setting up courts forpersonal laws are in theaccordance with the true Secularnature of the constitution? Are wenot setting the wrong precedencein the country where everyonewanted to created separate

While policy makers are working hard torevive Indian economy in order to fulfill the

promise of egalitarian development; civilsociety must look into one of the age old

issue of “Uniform Civil Code” to builddemocratic society . The need of the hour isUniform Civil Code without which we can’t

achieve the goal of development for all andappeasement for none.

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debate on“Uniform CivilCode”. Thebiggest roadblocks of UCCare Muslim

ghettos, Political Vote Bank andintellectuals who shape upMinority (it must be noted thatIndian minority definition don’teven close to UNO minoritydefinition) mindset. Empirical datasuggests that at least the thoughtprocess of Muslim leadership isagainst the UCC which isconstantly reinforced byintellectual backing of other twogroups (Political Vote bank andIntellectuals).

We must create anenvironment to debate the validityof personal laws andsubsequently move towardsUCC. Let us not forget that fatherof constitution was in favour ofUniform Civil Code. Dr BRAmbedkar said, “I personally donot understand why religionshould be given this vast,expansive jurisdiction, so as tocover the whole of life and toprevent the legislature fromencroaching upon that field. Afterall, what are we having this libertyfor? We arehaving thisliberty in orderto reform oursocial system,which is so fullof inequialitie,discriminationand otherthings, whichconflict with ourfundamentalrights”

RamashrayU p a d h y a y awrote after his

long speech in favour of theUniform Civil Code, the motionthat, “Article 35, stand part of theConstitution” was adopted andadded to the Constitution asArticle 44. Giving final shape tothis Article, Dr Ambedkarmaintained that DirectivePrinciples were binding for thefunctioning of the democracy. Thesense of the argument was toachieve social democracy for along lasting political democracy.

When the Fundamental RightsSub Committee decided to makethe Uniform Civil Code a DirectivePrinciple, Amrit Kaur along withtwo other members wrote, “Oneof the factors that have kept Indiaback from advancing tonationhood has been theexistence of personal laws basedon religion which keep the nationdivided into watertightcompartments in many aspectsof life.”(Shiva Rao, The Framingof India’s Constitution: SelectDocuments II).

Gora wrote in his article“UNIFORM CIVIL CODE IN INDIA:Situation of 2013”and the plight ofMuslim women. He wrote, “Let ustake a look into the case of Imrana– 28 years old woman and the

mother of five children. On June6 2005, Imrana was raped by her69 year old father-in-law AliMohammad. Soon after she wasraped, a local Muslim Panchayat(council of elders) asked her totreat her husband Nur Ilahi as herson and declared their marriagenull and void! Can any law of theland justify this?”

In the end I must say that evenMuslim countries have reformedtheir Muslim laws more than Indiathen time had come when weneed to work upon UCC. Eventhough we witnessed to astupendous growth of the countryin the context of world economy,our social growth has beencrippled by interference of religionin the matter of customary andpersonal laws. We are growingeconomically but our socialgrowth halted due to risingdemands for personal lawsbased upon religious association.We can’t afford to grant personallaws to every religious communityin a secular country. Laws shouldbe subjective in application ratherthan selective. Article 25 of TheConstitution of India gives us rightto profess our religion; we mustnot confuse it with personal issues

like marriage,inheritance etc.UCC willenforce thesense ofoneness andhelp in then a t i o n a li n t e g r a t i o nwhich isunderdevelopedstill in India.

(The writer is apolitical commentator andsocial media analyst)

(OrganiserFebruary 22, 2015)

Gora also mentioned some important facts about thepersonal laws of various countries. He notes-

Many Islamic countries have codified and reformed Muslimpersonal law to check its misuse. Muslim countries like Egypt,Turkey and even Pakist an have reformed their laws.

By 1961 Pakistan, a Muslim country had actually reformedits Muslim Law more than India had and this remains true today .There is no reason why India should continue with vastlydiscriminatory personal laws.

In fact, the reforms meted out in T unisia and T urkey helpedabolish Polygamy . Polygamy has also been either banned orseverely restricted in Syria, Egypt, T urkey , Morocco, Iran andeven in Pakistan.

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The Chinese intrusion intoDepsang Bulge in East Ladakh,approximately 19 km inside ourperception of the Line of ActualControl (LAC), very recently hasraised temperatures both militarilyand politically on either side. Aseries of border personnelmeetings between the militariesof the two sides have not beenable to resolve the issue so farand till date the standoff continues.It would not be incorrect topresume that this latestprovocation from the Chinese sidehas been undertaken with the tacitapproval of the highest levels inthe Chinese hierarchy. As wegrapple with the current situation,it has reignited introspection as toour level of preparedness shouldthings go from bad to worse.

Fifty years have elapsed sincethe Chinese aggression tookplace in 1962. A number of articleshave appeared in the mediacovering that period as well as theevents preceding it. While thereare many reasons for the IndianArmy’s debacle and these havebeen discussed threadbare in thepast 50 years, there is no doubtabout the valour, courage andheroism of the Indian soldier evenin the most adversecircumstances which obtainedthen. Given the right training,equipment and battlefield support,he is better than the best in theworld. With that as the take-away,we need to ensure that such asetback is never ever repeated.For a realistic assessment, firstand foremost, there is need forclarity on some basic issues.

Chinese provocation: Is India prep ared ?

- Gen (Retd.) Deepak Kapoor

Many an analyst havediscounted the very possibility ofa future Sino-Indian conflict on thegrounds that both countries standto gain from a co-operativeengagement, that trade betweenthe two countries is increasingexponentially over time, that thereis enough space for both to growsimultaneously and that both arespeaking in the same voice atglobal forums on issues like globalwarming, climate change, globaleconomy, trade barriers etc. It isfurther suggested that Chinaalready being at the global level,has more important issues likeTaiwan, South China Sea andfinally Pacific Ocean dominanceto worry about in consonance withits stature, therefore it would notlike to get involved in a skirmishwith India. While it is good to beoptimistic, we should not veer toofar away from pragmatism andreality especially where issues ofnational security are concerned.The possibility of a standoff likethe present one on the LAC flaringup into a bigger confrontation cannever be ruled out.

There is no getting away fromthe fact that China hasassiduously tried to create animpression that India does notfigure in its scheme of things andthat India’s rise and growth overthe past decade has littlesignificance which in no waythreatens China.

In an analysis carried out byCarnegie Endowment forInternational Peace in January2013 titled “Crux of Asia: China,India and the Emerging Global

Order”, Ashley J. Tellis and SeanMirski highlight that “Differencesin the Chinese and Indianpositions sometimes arise fromthe two countries’ competingvisions but more often from theirunderlying geopolitical rivalry,which appears to be sufficientlydeep-rooted so as to prevent thetwo states from realising anynatural accommodation. To besure, both sides bend overbackward to conceal theirdifferences in public, and bothhave often struggled to reachsome accommodation that mightpermit occasional practicalcooperation. But the differencesin national power andperformance between the twocountries, the seeming disdainwith which China treats India, andthe deep fears that India harborsabout China’s policies andintentions lead to a never-endingcontest for securing strategicadvantages.” While cooperationand healthy competition iswelcome and desirable, theseeds of confrontation areinherent between the two nationsengaged in competition, both atthe regional and global level.

Considering the fact that Indiais one of the few countries withwhich China has not resolved itslong-standing boundary issue andthat it has had a prolongedmutually beneficial ongoingrelationship with Pakistan, thepossibility of a confrontationbetween the two can never beruled out. From a national securityperspective, it would, therefore,be prudent to be prepared for a

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threat to our territorial integrity.The last thing that India wouldwant is a repeat of 1962!

A second issue that needsclarity is whether we expect to besubjected to an all out, full-fledgedwar or a limited border war.Development of massiveinfrastructure in Tibet,modernisation of PLA Army, Navyand Air force, growth of SecondArtillery and a fourfold increase inChinese defence budget since2000 gives it the option ofindulging in an all out war.However, given the regional andglobal realities, Chineseconsciousness of its image as anemerging global power and thelikely Chinese rationale of goingto war being the Sino-Indianboundary issue, the possibility ofa limited war appears muchstronger.

Thirdly, we need to introspectthat while we may from time totime upgrade our operationalreadiness to meet the Chinesechallenge, the Chinese continueto remain far ahead and we areinvariably struggling to catch up.This is inevitable considering thekind of military spending China isindulging in. For the Financial year2012 -13, the official Chinesemilitary budget was $106.4 billion,second highest in the world. Asper Stockholm International PeaceResearch Institute (SIPRI)estimates, the actual expenditureis likely to be approximately oneand a half times this figure.

As opposed to this, the Indiandefence budget stood at ameagre $38 billion approximately.

In the current financial year, theofficial Chinese military budget is$115 billion approximately. In thespan of last two decades, we

have seen the PLA grow from anobsolete force which was given abloody nose by the Vietnameseinto a formidable, modernised andwell equipped military backed byan array of force multipliers. In thesame period, the Indian militaryhas been strenuously fightingcounter insurgency battles both inJ&K and the northeast and itsequipment profile is nearingobsolescence. The danger is thatthis gap between the two is likelyto keep increasing with passageof time, if past trends are anyindication. Some major correctivesteps are, therefore, necessaryby us before it gets too late.

To begin with, it is crucial thatwe spend at least three per centof our GDP on defence.

Yearly shortfalls on thisaccount can never be made upby onetime infusion at the time ofa crisis. Even during the Kargilconflict, General VP Malik, thethen Army Chief was constrainedto say ‘we will fight with what wehave’ in the light of the shortagesexisting. We need to have amilitary which is consistentlyready to face challenges to thecountry. National security, toensure unhindered growth, iscrucial.

With the limited resourcesavailable, we need to priortise ourspending in such a manner thatimmediate threats are taken careof before we move on to otherlarger goals. It must also beappreciated that in the ultimateanalysis, victory or defeat ismeasured in terms of real estategained or lost. Thus, in case of alimited war with China, it isimportant that the Army and theAir force who have to fight that warare allocated larger resources to

begin with.

The infrastructure on our sideof the Line of Actual Control (LAC)between China and India has yetto be developed fully, despite ourbest efforts so far. This is likely toprove a handicap in fighting asuccessful defensive battle. Ourown environmental restrictionsand prolonged land acquisitionprocedures need to be fine-tunedto hasten infrastructuraldevelopment. Sixty five years afterindependence, we are stilldependent on one single, tenuousroad axis in a number of crucialsectors.

Secondly, Border RoadsOrganisation, which is the primeagency responsible for creatinginfrastructure in areas close tothe LAC, is neither well equippedand staffed nor well organised andfunded to deliver the desiredresults. Its functioning needs to bethoroughly reviewed and adequatefunding provided to it to completeimportant infrastructure projectsin a time bound manner.

The possibility that in case ofa conflict with China, Pakistan willnot hesitate to fish in troubledwaters and start something of itsown on our Western border alsocannot be ruled out. Therefore,India has to be prepared to defenditself on both fronts and mustaccordingly develop itscapabilities.

With a regime change in Chinahaving taken place, it would beworth India’s while to work for amutually acceptable settlement ofthe vexatious boundary issue. Aresolution of this crucial issuewould reduce the possibility ofhostilities between the twocountries. Further, it would avoid

Contd. to Page 12

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SILCHAR, Feb 1: The threeday National Vaidic Seminarorganized by Vaidic Samiti Silcharin collaboration with MaharishiSandipani Rashtriya VedavidyaPratisthan (MSRVP), Ujjain underthe Ministry of HRD, Governmentof India, raised in unison forspread and expansion of Sanskritand Veda–knowledge. Deliveringthe key–note address at theinaugural session of the seminarbeginning from today in theauditorium of Gandhi Bhawan,Roop Kishore Shastri, secretaryof the MSRVP, said Sanskrit hasto be spread not only in ourcountry but also abroad. Theconcept of ‘BasudaivakKutumbakam’ has given India thestatus of a spiritual power andleadership.

Among all the north–easternstates, Assam, he pointed out,has its own importance in respectof culture, history, knowledge, artand architecture and the impacthas been felt on the country as awhole. Though 25 states in thecountry have Veda Vidyalayas,Assam has the maximum, anindex of the people’s mind to keepalive the great tradition andheritage of the past, Shastri noted.

It is regrettable that in the valleyof Barak, there is not a singleVeda Vidyalaya. He called uponpeople to establish as manyVaidic Vidyalayas as they likehere. It is because of our Vaidicknowledge that “We Indians aremorally on the front”. The problemhowever is how to spread Veda.The only way to overcome thehurdle is to go for establishmentof Veda Vidyalayas. There is noconstraint of funds. Any

Vaidic Sammelan hammers for spread and exp ansion of V eda

organization or group willing toset up such classic school canget on the spot sanction, heassured.

Roop Kishore Shastri in hisencouraging message said withfirm determination anddecisiveness, ‘We have toproceed further and students forstudy of Veda have to be drawnfrom all classes’. He made it cleareveryone has the right to studyVeda. There is no question ofclass distinction. This has been

clearly mentioned in the Rig Veda.He also described as myth thatwomen have no right to studyVeda as it was in the past. Today,things have changed. Women areon the forefront in all fields.

Kishore Shastri said presentlythere are six Kanya VedaVidyalayas in the country. Onecannot but be impressed by theVeda–patha of children. Herevealed the Government of Indiais ready to provide all sorts ofincentives for Veda Vidyalayas. Inorder to create the right ambiencefor Veda Vidyalayas, the message

of Veda has to be taken downdeep among the common people.

The inaugural session begunwith introduction of scholars,saints and sages by Prof.Swapna Devi, preceded by thereception of the dignitaries on thedais. It was quite refreshing toennoble the event by lighting oflamp, Veda–mantras andrecitations as well asManglacharanam andSwadeshamantrah by Dr.Sukhamay Bhattacharya,president Vaidic Samiti, thatconcluded with welcome speechof Sushil Ranjan Das, presidentreception committee. Dr.Brindaban Bihari DasKathiyababa, president, WorldNimbarka Parishad, laid stress onthe spread of the message andideals of Swami Vivekananda,Vaidic–chintan and Vaidic–charcha.

The state government has totake initiative for Veda studies.How ancient India was rich inculture and tradition could well beunderstood from the fact that thestate library of Germany has in itstreasure trove of books manymanuscripts of Vaidic Age. Themain thrust of the three dayseminar is to focus on the theme‘Veda is the root of all Dharmas’.Others who took part in thedeliberations included SwamiTattwavidananda Maharaj, SwamiSatyasthananda Maharaj, SwamiMrinmayanandaji Maharaj amongothers who spoke about theimperative need of Vedic culturein the country to bring back thelost glory and honour.

(The Sentinel 02.02.2015)

‘We have to proceed furtherand students for study of

Veda have to be drawn fromall classes’. He made it clear

everyone has the right tostudy V eda. There is no

question of classdistinction. This has been

clearly mentioned in the RigVeda. He also described asmyth that women have no

right to study V eda as it wasin the p ast. Today, things

have changed. Women areon the forefront in all fields.

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As part of its strategy to tap thelarge but difficult China market,the government is planning to setup a company to acquire land inCLMV (Cambodia, Laos,Myanmar and Vietnam) countriesand create an ecosystem forinvestment by Indian enterprisesin these countries.

“The company will essentiallybe a project development SpecialPurpose Vehicle (SPV). Thefinance ministry is likely to setaside a grant of up to Rs 100crore in Union Budget 2015-16,”a senior government official toldThe Indian Express.

“Suppose, for instance,Myanmar is inviting proposals toset up Special Economic Zones(SEZs). The SPV will investmoney to buy land and develop itinto an SEZ. It will then allocateplots to Indian producers andthereby recover costs. The ideais to facilitate manufacturing sothat Indian firms create their ownvalue chains,” the official said.

“The SPV will be in the natureof a PPP (public privatepartnership) initiative. A few large,private sector companies have

In the Budget, a R100 cr plan to t ap Chinese market

evinced interest in contributing tothe paid up capital of the SPV.EXIM Bank and IL&FS too haveagreed to partner,” the officialsaid.

Similarly, Vietnam offers greatadvantages for India, especially incatering to demand from China.Vietnam enjoys a free tradeagreement with China. “It is partof the TPP (Trans-PacificPartnership), a 21st century tradeagreement, being negotiated by12 countries including China, US,Australia, Japan and Vietnam.Vietnam has separate tradeagreements with Australia andNew Zealand too. If we create amanufacturing ecosystem forIndian companies in Vietnam, theycan tap China and other TPPcountries as well,” the officialsaid.

Indian companies inagriculture, pharmaceutical andtextiles sectors were keen toexploit the value chain advantageusing Vietnam as a base, officialssaid. “They can export semi-finished products from their Indianunits to their factories in Vietnamand complete the manufacturing.

Vietnam opens the doors to theworld,” they added.

India suffers a large tradedeficit with China. In 2013-14, thetrade deficit topped $40 billion andis projected to only increase inthe coming years. Despitesustained engagement withvarious Chinese authorities togain access to markets in sectorsincluding textiles, agriculture andpharmaceuticals, India has notbeen able to make any significantheadway.

Recently, the department ofcommerce took a delegation of bigtextiles manufacturers such asWelspun to Vietnam to exploreinvestment opportunities. “Someof these countries, wary of China,are also keen to see investmentfrom emerging markets like India.Like Vietnam, Myanmar is keen toget Indian companies. But Indiancompanies are keen on buildingscale and want to cater to theglobal market. So, thegovernment will facilitate this,” anofficial said.

(http://indianexpress.com/article/business/budget/in-the-budget-a-

r100-cr-plan-to-tap-chinese-market/)

the threat of a two front war, improve bilateral relations with China and enhance cooperation between thetwo countries on regional and global issues.

Finally, India has been consistent in following an independent foreign policy which suits our interestsbest. We have consciously stayed away from being part of any alignments. However, in the event of acontinuously bellicose and confrontationist Chinese attitude, India should keep its options open foralignments both at the regional and global levels to meet the challenges of a hostile environment. Diplomaticalignments would be an additional hedge against avoiding a repeat of 1962.

The author is former Chief of the Army Staff of the Indian Army.

(http://www.indiastrategic.in/topstories1899_Chinese_provocation_Is_India_prepared.htm)

Contd. from Page 10

Chinese provocation: Is India prep ared ?

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Delhi March 3, 2015:Government of India has decidedto promote Northeast StudyCentre in Jawaharlal NehruUniversity (JNU) as a part of itsinitiative to obtain a betterunderstanding of the peculiarcharacteristics of the regionthrough institutionalized researchbased on evidence and data.Union Minister of State(Independent Charge) of theMinistry of Development ofNortheastern Region (DoNER),MoS PMO, Personnel, PublicGrievances, Pensions, AtomicEnergy and Space, Dr. JitendraSingh said here today, during aninteractive seminar held at JNUfocusing on the areas andconcerns of students fromNortheast. Vice Chancellor JNUProf. S.K. Sopory and othersenior faculty members werealso present on the occasion.

Dr. Jitendra Singh said, thepicture is not as pessimistic as itis sometimes made out to be. Inthis context he referred to thefigures and stated that manypeople are not aware of the factthat out of a total strength of over8000 students in JNU, around 500

Government to promote Northeast Study Center in JNU

belong to Northeast, whichaccounts for nearly around 6% ofthe total student population in thecampus. On an average, therecould be 60 students each fromeach of the eight NortheasternStates studying in JNU. Thisnumber is quite remarkable whencompared to the students in JNUfrom other peripheral States likeJammu & Kashmir or HimachalPradesh.

Dr. Jitendra Singh said, thestudents had an advantage ofserving as active ambassadorsof Northeast in India because atthis age, they are endowed withenergy, activism and urge toperform. He advised them thatafter having completed theirstudies in JNU, they should preferto go back to Northeast and enrichtheir native State with theknowledge and academicempowerment obtained fromhere.

Dr. Jitendra Singh said, it is forthe young members of thecommunity, and particularlystudents, to make an extra effortto highlight all the good work andgood contribution being made bythe Northeast community living in

the Union Capital, so that themedia is compelled to projectNortheast only for good reasonsand never otherwise.

Referring to Prime Minister’sspecial focus at Northeast, Dr.Jitendra Singh mentioned, theallocation of Rs.2,362 Cr. madein the current budget presented inthe Parliament on February 28,2015 and the announcement tosetup a Film Production Instituteand an AIIMS both of which will goa long way in providingemployment as well as bettervocational avenues foryoungsters in the Northeastwithout having to move out toother cities in the country.

Dr. Jitendra Singh called uponthe student community fromNortheast to feel free tocommunicate with him and saidthat after setting-up two hostelsin the JNU and the Delhi UniversitySouth Campus respectively,DoNER Ministry will work onidentifying other places also forsimilar hostels.

(http://www.business-standard.com/article/government-press-release/

government-to-promote-northeast-study-center-in-jnu-115030300940_1.html)

Agartala, Mar. 3, 2015: The Oiland Natural Gas Company hasorganised a two-day culturalheritage festival in Tripura topromote the tribal culture of thestate. All 19 tribes of the stateparticipated in the festivities.

Various traditional dances ofindigenous tribes like the Reang,Chakma, Garo, Jamatia, Kaloi,Lusai and Kuki are performedduring the festival

ONGC organises cultural herit age festival in T ripura“We want to bring the rich

culture which is prevailing in thevillage of Tripura and spread itamong the new generation of theurban class so that it can bepreserved and inculcated amongthem,” said ONGC Tripura assetmanager VP Mahawar.

“This programme will help tosave our cultural heritage and themother tongue of the indigenouspeople. Moreover the indigenous

dress and ornaments also play avital role in our customs andculture,” said Bishwadev Kaloi, avisitor.

A fashion show of traditionalcostume was also organised toshow the indigenous dresses ofthe tribal community.

(https://in.news.yahoo.com/ongc-organises-cultural-heritage-festival-

tripura-151645053.html)

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Itanagar Feb 21, 2015: ThePrime Minister, Narendra Modi onFriday heaped praises on thepeople of Arunachal Pradesh forguarding the easternmost frontierof the country with sincerity andzeal.

“Arunachal is the only state inthe country where people greeteach other with ‘Jai Hind’. Thisspeaks of their patriotic nature.The tradition created by the peoplehere is an inspiration for the entirecountry,” the PM said, whileaddressing the 29th statehoodday celebrations at the IndiraGandhi Park here.

Clad in a traditional Nyishiattire, comprising byopa (headgear), pomo (jacket) and zilang(Apatani shawl), Modi exhorted thepeople to keep the tradition alive.

I salute the people of this statefor exhibiting their patriotic nature,”he said. He added that India wouldshine only if Arunachal grows.“Arunachal will be a growth enginefor the entire country with itsimmense natural resources.Bright days are not far away forthe state,” he said.

Wishing the people on theoccasion, the PM said, “Peoplewill witness more progress of thestate in the next five years thanthey could have perceived in the

New Delhi February 16, 2015: Home Minister Rajnath Singh onMonday said the people belongingto the north-eastern region of thecountry and living in Delhi shouldbe provided full security.

PM salutes Arunachal’ s patriotism

last 28 years.”

Praising the climate andpristine environment of the state,the PM said people here worshipnature and don’t tolerate herexploitation for Arunachal stillremains a virgin place.

“Yesterday (Thursday), I wasin Rajasthan, the westernmostpart of the country and today(Friday), I am in the easternmoststate.... I feel proud to inform youthat yesterday I gave away theKrishi Karman CommendationAward to Arunachal Pradesh forrecord food grain production,which is very encouraging for thefarming community,” he added.

Promising to createopportunities for the poorersections, he said, “Delhi is readyto serve you every moment.”

The Centre was contemplatingto convert the northeast into the‘Organic Hub’ of the country toboost agriculture and horticultureproductions, considering itssuitable agro-climatic conditions.It has proposed to establish sixnew agriculture universities in theregion, the PM said.

“My government is planning tolaunch 18 new FM channels forthe region for which auction willbe conducted soon... Besides,proposals have been made to

improve 2G, 3G and 4Gconnectivity in the region, whichhas been neglected for manyyears,” the PM said to athunderous applause. “There isno dearth of funds, but therespective state governments ofthe region should ensure judiciousutilization of central funds,” hesaid.

He added that he has directedall his ministers to visit the NEstates twice a month to overseethe development initiativesundertaken by the governmentand look into the problems facedthe people of the region.

“The Centre is pro-activetowards the northeast and willinitiate all measures to bring theregion’s development on a parwith other developed parts of thecountry,” he said. He added thatthe NDA government at the Centrehas proposed specialscholarships for 1,200 NEstudents so that they cancontribute towards thedevelopment of the nation.

Terming connectivity as themajor bottleneck for development,Modi said several infrastructureprojects are in the pipeline whichwould change the face of theregion soon.

(http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/guwahati/PM-salutes-Arunachals-

patriotism/articleshow/46317118.cms)

Rajnath Singh Stresses on Security for North-Easterners in Delhi

Speaking at Delhi Police‘68th Raising Day function here,the minister said “the people ofthe north-eastern region living inthe city and elsewhere in thecountry should be providedsecurity”.

“The people from the north-eastern region should not feelalienated in the national capital,”he added.

(http://zeenews.india.com/news/delhi/rajnath-stresses-on-security-for-north-

easterners-in-delhi_1547455.html)

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New Delhi, Feb 17 : Comingout unequivocally for the first timeagainst recent attacks onchurches and controversialutterances by right-wing fringeelements, Prime MinisterNarendra Modi Tuesday said hisgovernment will ensure completefreedom of faith and will not allowany religious group to incite hatredagainst others “overtly orcovertly”.

Addressing Christian leadersat a function here, the primeminister reached out to them,saying he strongly condemnedviolence against any religion.

“My government will ensurethat there is complete freedom offaith and that everyone has theundeniable right to retain or adoptthe religion of his or her choicewithout coercion or undueinfluence. My government will notallow any religious group,belonging to the majority or theminority, to incite hatred againstothers, overtly or covertly,” hesaid.

“Mine will be a government thatgives equal respect to allreligions,” Modi said, breaking hislong silence on the subject.

“We cannot accept violenceagainst any religion on any pretextand I strongly condemn suchviolence. My government will act

Modi assures full freedom of faith; meet s Christian leaders

strongly in this regard,” he added.

Modi has been facing flak fornot speaking out strongly againstsaffron fringe elements of hisBharatiya Janata Party-ledgovernment who have kicked upa controversy by peddling theHindutva agenda and by theircomments on “ghar wapsi”, orreturn to the Hindu faith.

Addressing a function to markthe ‘National Celebration of theElevation to Sainthood ofKuriakose Elias Chavara and

Mother Euphrasia’, he said hisgovernment stands by “everyword” of the Universal Declarationand of freedom of religion or belief.

“India is the land of Buddha andGandhi. Equal respect for allreligions must be in the DNA ofevery Indian. We cannot acceptviolence against any religion onany pretext and I stronglycondemn such violence. Mygovernment will act strongly in thisregard,” Modi said.

He also appealed to allreligious groups “to act withrestraint, mutual respect, and

tolerance in the true spirit of thisancient nation which is manifestin our Constitution and is in linewith the Hague Declaration”.

Christian leaders immediatelywelcomed Modi’s remarks andhoped they would translate intoaction.

Father Savarimuthu Sankar, ofthe Catholic Church, told IANS:“The general feeling is thateveryone is happy that finally hehas spoken. Although it’s latebecause we wanted him to speakbefore Christmas last year. Wehope his words are translated intoaction.”

In the most recent attack, theHoly Child Auxilium school insouth Delhi was ransacked byunidentified people Feb 13. It wasthe sixth incident of attack onchurches and a school in Delhiover a period of two months.

Modi had summoned PoliceCommissioner B.S. Bassi askinghim to speed up investigation inthe incidents of vandalism andbring the guilty to book.

Following the attacks,Christian leaders claimed thattheir community was beingsubjected to intentional attacksand attempts were being made toinstil fear among them.

The BJP also faced its firstelectoral debacle after its winningspree in the general elections lastyear when it fared miserably in theFeb 7 Delhi assembly elections,despite Modi being one of themain campaigners.

(http://www.newkerala.com/news/2015/fullnews-20643.html)

“My government will ensurethat there is complete

freedom of faith and thateveryone has the

undeniable right to retain oradopt the religion of his or

her choice without coercionor undue influence. My

government will not allowany religious group,

belonging to the majority orthe minority , to incite hatred

against others, overtly orcovertly ,” he said.

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Itanagar, 20 Feb. Reiteratinghis government’s commitment fordevelopment of North East, PrimeMinister Narendra Modi todayannounced several projects forthe region saying that the DoNERministry has already mooted aprospective plan for regionspecific ‘Make in NE ’ inaccordance to his ‘Make in India’initiative.

Addressing a mammothgathering on the occasion of 29thStatehood Day celebration atIndira Gandhi Park here, Modi saidthat the Centre wascontemplating to convert NorthEast into an ‘Organic Hub’ of thecountry to boost agri and hortiproduction keeping in view itssuitable agro-climatic conditionand has proposed for

Shillong, March 3, 2015 :Meghalaya cabinet todayapproved the amendments of theMeghalaya CompulsoryRegistration of Marriage Act, 2012and its rules for introduction in theforthcoming Assembly sessionslated for next week.

The decision came a day aftera social activist Michael Syiemthreatened to launch an indefinitehunger strike to protest againstgovernment’s delay in framing therules for the implementation of themarriage Act in the state.

“We have approved theproposed amendments of theMeghalaya CompulsoryRegistration of Marriage Act 2012and amendment and also the

Cabinet approves Compulsory Registration of Marriage Act

PM bats to transform NE into an ‘Organic Hub’

Meghalaya CompulsoryRegistration of Marriage Rules2015,” Chief Minister MukulSangma told reporters.

“The same will be introducedin the floor of House during theupcoming budget session of theState Assembly,” he said.

According to the chief minister,the rules of the Act will besubsequently notified post assentof the proposed amendment ofthe Act by the Governor.

Stating that there are certainminor amendments that wereproposed by the departmentconcerned, he said that theseamendments related to certainthings on the nomenclature of theprincipal act adding in addition it

is also related to corroborate thepeople who are required to becaptured in the Act with completeclarity.

The Act envisages compulsoryregistration of all marriagesbetween people belonging to anycaste, tribe or religion contractedas per the customs, practices ortraditions in the state.

A 55 year-old Syiem yesterdayannounced his decision to stagean indefinite hunger strike afterthe cabinet did not take up thematter.

(http://www.business-standard.com/article/pti-stories/

cabinet-approves-compulsory-registration-of-marriage-act-

115030301357_1.html)

establishment of six newagriculture universities in theregion.

“My government is planning tolaunch 18 new FM channels forthe region for which auction willbe conducted soon… Besides,proposals have been made toimprove the 2G, 3G and 4Gconnectivity in the region whichremained neglected for manyyears,” the PM said to thethunderous applause of thepeople.

“There is no dearth of fund…but the respective stategovernments of the region shouldensure judicious utilization of allcentral funds,” he said and addedthat he had directed all hisministers to visit the north eaststates twice in a month to

oversee the developmentinitiatives undertaken besides tostudy the problems of the region.

“The Centre is pro-active toNorth East and will initiate allmeasures to bring the region’sdevelopment at par with otherdeveloped parts of the country,”he said adding, the NDAgovernment at the Centre hasproposed special scholarship for1200 students from the region sothat they could contribute todevelopment of the nation.

Terming connectivity as themajor bottleneck for development,the Prime Minister said thatseveral infrastructure projectsare in the pipeline which wouldchange the face of the regionsoon. (The Sentinel 21.02.2015)

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Last year the scholars fromUniversity of Montreal and Ottawa(Canada) did a research work onthe life of Mother Teresa andpresented a report, whichdebunked the myth so far heldregarding her personality. Thereport was flashed in mass media.According to the report the waysof Mother Teresa of helping thedestitute and distressed weredubious; she was glorified throughmedia campaign. Seeing thechurches getting empty, Vaticanintended to glorify her, so that thepeople could be attracted back tothe religion. It also says that it wasthe miracle of medicine, and notthat of Mother Teresa, that curedthe diseases. This report and thefacts given below are needed tobe considered to understand thetenor of what RSS Sarsangha-chalak Mohan Bhagwat had saidregarding Mother Teresa.

With the advent of British rulein India, Missionaries entered Indiathrough education and spread allover the places through so-calledservice among poor andbackwards in particular. Theyhobnobbed with the then Britishgovt. and had entire tribal belt ofnorth-east India to be declaredprohibited for everybody otherthan they themselves, only so thatthe evangelisation of local Hinduvanvasis could freely be carriedout with no hint to anybody. It isbecause of this we see the regionoverwhelmingly populated withChristians today.

In rest of India they did thesame by spreading the network ofschools and colleges. Theseinstitutions emerged as a hub ofanti-Hindu preaching in favor of

Missionaries and their ‘Holy’ Mission- Er. Rajesh Pathak

Christianity. So optimisticMacaulay, founder of Englisheducation in India, could not resisthimself from saying that —”Withthe little western education Bengalwill no longer have idol-worshippers.” The foundation ofEnglish education was laid around1813 AD with the colleges likeBishop College and Dough Collegeof Calcutta, and Wilson Collegeand S.P.G. college of Trichinapalli.

Initiated with the arrival of Britishthe mission has now assumed toowide a dimension. Takingconversion for a war, they startedthe ‘Project Joshua’ in 2002, withthe purpose of carving out suchregions inside the country wherethe writ of Church prevails. A deepstudy about which caste resides inwhich part of the country; what itsweaknesses are; and, most of all,how the weaknesses could beexploited in the interest ofChristianity has been a vital partof this Project. From whoseinspiration this is initiated is noneother than Jim Towey, who wasonce the legal advisor of motherTeresa. Church-plantingmovement’, ‘Mission India’ andmany such other organisations arethere which are doing the samework under pseudo names; people

know not of them that’s a differentmatter.

Operated from America,‘Mission India’ collects thedonations and sends it for ‘holy’mission in India. But, how holy isthe mission could be understoodjust by looking into what is writtenin its booklet-”More than one billionpeople in India are inmisery….they need help…andthey are getting attracted in greatnumbers towards Christ. Thisnation of sub-nationalities providesan opportunity to bring good newsto these millions of people whohave remained inaccessible sofar.”

Unethical acts such as these ofmissionaries could not escapefrom the eyes of Gandhiji. And,despite being a supporter ofsecularism freedom of preaching,he had to say “The way theChristian missionaries areindulged in their activities ofreligious conversion these days,they will be given no chance ofdoing so in free India. They areinflicting harm to entire India. Thisis a tragedy for the mankind tohave the thing like missionarypreaching. So long as youmissionary people consider non-Christians and Indians as thepeople lost in the darkness ofignorance, there will be no placefor you in free India.” (MahatmaGandhi-Christian Missions, TherePlace in India, page 151 and 220].

(The writer is a seniorcolumnist)

(http://organiser.org//Encyc/2015/2/28/Missionaries-and-

their%E2%80%98Holy%E2%80%99-Mission-%EF%BB%BF.aspx)

”More than one billionpeople in India are inmisery….they need

help…and they are gettingattracted in great numberstowards Christ. This nation

of sub-nationalities providesan opportunity to bring good

news to these millions ofpeople who have remained

inaccessible so far .”

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Mother Teresa was at the topamong first few high-rankingChristian missionaries whoexpressed their anguish in the longletters addressed to Morarji Desai– then Prime Minister and to thePresident of Bharatvarsh againstFreedom of Religion Billintroduced in Parliament by OmPrakash Tyagi in 1978. She alsowrote letters against Freedom ofReligion Bill 1978 introduced inArunachal Assembly by ShriGegong Apang – then ChiefMinister of Arunachal Pradesh.Because of this bill, no Christianmissionary was allowed to enterinto Arunachal Pradesh. With aview to defy this rule and displaythe rabid missionary might, MotherTeresa accompanied with Bishopof Dibrugarh and a host of otherlady and gent missionaries tried tosneak into the state but she wasstopped by the police as per theState Government’s order. She feltinsulted and humiliated. She wasfurious and rushed to Delhi tocomplain to Prime Minister MorarjiDesai against State Government ofArunachal Pradesh. She wasvomiting fire against thoseresponsible for the introduction ofFreedom of Religion Bill andagainst those who blocked herentry into Arunachal Pradesh.Morarji Desai reportedly asked thepurpose of her visit to sensitivestate - Arunachal Pradesh whichChina wants to swallow. She wasoffended further because she didnot expect Prime Minister toquestion the integrity of amissionary of her fame who had“sacrificed” her life in the serviceof Biblical sheep – the victimswhom the missionaries hanker toharvest, whom the missionaries

Mother Teresa – An Aggressive Catholic Missionary- Jagdamba Mall

yearn to trap. On hearing MotherTeresa for long, Morarji Desai said– “When Arunachal Pradesh doesnot want your services, why are youinsisting?” To this, the so calledMother said –”People of ArunachalPradesh cannot be left orphan,they cannot be deprived of God’smessage (Christianity). Theycannot be deprived off ourservices.” To this, Morarji Desaisaid – “Service and Conversioncannot go together. If people ofArunachal Pradesh do not wantyour services you should notinsist”. The “annoyed” Mother leftPMO in disgust and wrote an openletter to Morarji Desai which reads– “No man, no law, no Governmenthas the right to prevent me norforce me nor anyone if I choose toembrace the religion that gives mepeace, joy, love.” She hadmentioned in that letter that shewas told that Gandhiji had said –“If Christians would live their livesaccording to the teachings ofJesus Christ there would be noHindu left in India”. She ridiculedHindu Dharma and said – “Youcannot give what you do not have”.

She said, “This new move thatis being brought in Parliamentunder the cover of Freedom ofReligion Bill is false. There is nofreedom if a person is not free tochoose according to his or herconscience. Our people ofArunachal Pradesh are so muchdisturbed. All these years ourpeople have lived together inpeace. Now religion is used as adeadly weapon to destroy the lovethey had for each other, justbecause some are Christians,some are Hindus and some areTribals. Are you not afraid of God?Who are we to prevent our people

to find this God who made them –who loves them to whom they haveto return?” The so called Motherdid not stop here. She was nothumble in her submission. Rather,she was commanding PrimeMinister. She wrote – “Mr. Desai,you are so close to meeting Godface to face. (It means you havebecome old). I wonder whatanswer you will give for allowing thedestruction of life of innocentunborn child and destroying thefreedom to serve God (meanswinning over the vulnerable poorpeople to Christianity) according toone’s choice and belief. After thehour of death I believe we will bejudged according to the words ofJesus”. She said further – “Turningto another sad point I wish toinform you that I have been tryingto get into Arunachal Pradesh forsome time now but so far I havenot succeeded and yetRamKrishna Mission members areentering freely. We are in 87 placesin India. Why are we not with ourpoor in Arunachal?” Morarji Bhaiwrote back – “If Charity andPhilanthropy are not connectedwith any ulterior motive, they arebeneficial. But Charity andConversion cannot go together.Religion prospers only whenCharity and philanthropy areundertaken without any motive”.Morarji Bhai wrote further – “Thebill you have mentioned does notaffect adversely the propagation ofreligion. In fact, the bill is anattempt to see that the poor andilliterate may enjoy religiousfreedom without fear. We have tobe particularly vigilant about theScheduled Tribes whoseprotection is not only guaranteedby the laws of the land but is also

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enshrined in the constitution. It isour duty to preserve every aspectof their way of life along with theirreligion and ways of worship. Nogroup belonging to any creedshould interfere with their religionand rituals. Other organisationsare also engaged in thephilanthropic work which you claim.But the work can be helpful onlywhen it is done without any ulteriormotive. It is my opinion that youshould revise your attitude to O.P.Tyagi’s Bill in the light of what Ihave stated”. The Bishop ofDibrugarh reportedlystated, “Weneed not enter into ArunachalPradesh to serve our sheep. Weshall serve our people inArunachal Pradesh by working inbordering areas in Assam.”Thereafter, Church concentratedtheir activity in the Assamareasbordering ArunachalPradesh. Today two Bishops – oneat Miao in extreme east and the

other at Itanagar, are all out forhigh yield of harvest. TheChanglong and Tirap districts ofthe state adjoining Nagaland havebecome harbour and harbinger ofNSCN--IM and NSCN-K – the twoChristian terrorist organisationsfrom Nagaland and the conversionis undertaken at gun point.

In fact there was nothing nobleabout the Nobel awarded to MotherTeresa. It was awarded to her witha sole aim of pushing conversioncrusade spearheaded by the socalled “Mother”. During early 1978till 1980, Mother Teresa movedfreely even in Nagaland andMizoram where the Churchsponsored terrorism was at itspeak. The Christian Missionariesand their masked supporters inand outside Parliament and stateassemblies of Nagaland andMizoram are required to beunclothed and exposed. They area potent promoter of danger to

peace, prosperity, unity, integrityand sovereignty of the country.RSS Chief Shri Mohan Bhagwatjihas rendered a valuable serviceto the nation by exposing MotherTeresa who acted as an umbrellato conspiracies hatched by theChurch. The service projects,hospitals and missionary schoolsare conversion carriers andbreeding centres of Churchsponsored Christian terrorism. Notonly that, the Church acts asshelter place to terrorists in theplaces like Nagaland, Mizoram,Arunachal Pradesh and otherChristian dominated packets ofNorth-East Bharat. The Churchalso acts as a CoordinatingAgency between various terroristgroups and subversiveorganisations. Let there be a highlevel Enquiry Committee to reportabout anti-national activities ofChurch at national level. Soonerthe better.

vegetarianism?

M.C. - I follow a spiritual vegetarian diet. When I accepted initiation from my guru, I promised never to eatmeat, fish, or eggs (and also no onions and no garlic). In this way, one avoids the karmic reactions thatcome from killing animals. But there is some karmic reaction even for those who consume only vegetarianthings. So from Bhagavad Gita, I learned that a truly spiritual person eats only food that has been offeredfirst to God. That is called prasada, the mercy of God, and it is free of karma. I have been following this dietfor forty years now. I think it is good from the point of view of spirituality, health, ethics, and the environment.

World over Hindu philosophy is gaining wider acceptance. However, in India, teaching/ studying Hinduphilosophy and its sacred texts are considered anti-secular.

The secular states all over the world have not been able to stop crime, political corruption, unemployment,recessions, depressions, war, social conflict, environmental degradation and so many other problems. Andof course there are the larger problems of birth, death, old age, and disease that confront everyone, even inthe secular state. A true understanding of the Vedic teachings offers us not only the chance to elevateconsciousness beyond the cycle of birth and death but also the chance to live in this world in the best waypossible, even from the secular point of view.

P.K. - We have been continuously destroying our planet earth by our actions? What is the solution?

M.C. -I addressed questions like this in a book that I wrote with Mukunda Goswani, titled Divine Nature:A Spiritual Perspective on the Environmental Crisis. The key is to understand that nature is God’s energy. InBhagavad Gita, Lord Krishna says, he is the source of everything and that matter, in its various forms, isone of his divine energies. So we should take care of them. (Organiser March 1, 2015)

Contd. from Page 6

Vedic Alternative to Darwinism

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Mufti Muhammad Ilyas of thenewly-formed Muslim bodyJamaat Ulama-e-Hind onFebruary 19 said Lord Shiva wasthe “first prophet of Islam” andMuslims are “followers ofSanatan Dharma (Hinduism)”.

Ilyas was in Ajodhya onFebruary 19 to invite the localSadhus and Mahants to acommunal harmony seminar-National Qaumi Ekta Conference,which was held in Balrampur onFebruary 27 .

He said that Muslims shouldhave no reservation in acceptingthat Lord Shiva and GoddessParvati are their creators. “Weare all Indians and children of LordShiva and Goddess Parvati andthere should be no reservationsin accepting the truth,” he said.

Ilyas also said, “He is not

Ali-Aye Ligang, the main andonly festival of Mising tribe,celebrated by the people of thecommunity living in Itanagar withmuch funfare and traditionalgaiety with a two day programmeat Solung Mopin ground, Itanagar. Ali-Aye Ligang is an agriculture-based festival of the Misingcelebrated on the first Wednesdayof ‘Fagun’ (between January andFebruary) month every year. Theliterary meaning of Ali-Aye Ligangstands for first sowing of rootsand fruits in which ‘Ali’ stands forseeds, ‘Aye’ for fruits and ‘Ligang’for sowing. Various culturalprogrammes, songs and dancecompetitions, including “OinitomA:nunitom, Kaban,Gumragsonam, AterSonam,

Lord Shiva, First Messenger of Islam —Muf ti Muhammad Ilyas Qasmi

Ali-A ye Ligang celebrated- NilaKanta Kardong

opposed to the RSS idea ofdeclaring India a Hindu nation. Allreligion are preaching the samemessage. We are Indians first andour message is to spread peace,harmony and brotherhood. Thecitizens of China are calledChinese and in Japan are calledJapanese, similarly we are calledHindustani”. We are not againstdeclaring India a Hindu Nation, headded.

Meanwhile, the VHP haswelcomed the approach and saidit is in the interest of nation.“Although we disagree withIlyasi’s statement that Lord Shivawas a prophet as he is a God, butwe welcome the cleric’sstatements. Rising abovereligions, he has tried to unitepeople and take them away from

self-centredness. Why a hue andcry is being raised when he (thecleric) is talking about all Indiansare Hindus. The arguments hehas given to establish his pointsare extremely logical, Those whooppose ‘Vande Matram’, hoistPakistani flags in India, disrespectAmar Jawan Jyoti (a warmemorial dedicated to soldiers) inMumbai and raise voice againstBatla House encounter and theexecution of Afzal Guru have noright to question Ilyasi,” VHPspokesperson Vinod Bansal toldFirstpost.

While Muslim intellectualsrubbished Ilyasi’s statements ashis personal views, howeverBharatiya Janata Party hastermed it his personal comments.

(Organiser March 1, 2015)

MibuDaknam, etc. wereorganized to mark the occasion.Former, Chairman of ArunachalPradesh Public ServiceCommissioner, Ex-President,AVP, Ex-President, IFCSAP Ex-Vice PresidentJanajati Faith andCultural Protection Forum ShriNabamAtum attended the festivalas a Chief Guest, advised thepeople of the community, who arealso descendants of Abo Tani, topreserve their rich culture andtradition saying that festivalsprovide opportunities to learnfrom each other about theirculture, traditions in a better wayand help to create a sense ofoneness among variouscommunities for keeping theirculture alive. Secretary, Rural

Devopment and Panchayat RajShri TahangTaggu also attendedthe festival as a Guest of Honourand wished the people a grandand meaningful Ali-Aye Ligangcelebration. The grand festivalalso graced by IGP ShriNabinPayengand galaxy of thesenior dignitaries.

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After creation of MeghalayaState, few enlightened and cultureconscious people of Tura becamequite concerned about the fastchanges that were taking place inthe cultural aspects of Garo life dueto outside influences. They felt thatif changes continue at such a rapidpace, the Garo indigenous cultureincluding dances, songs, music,etc., will completely vanish in notime. It was under this atmosphereof fear and apprehension thatbrought them together to deviseways and means of preserving andpromoting their original culture. Asmall committee was formedconsisting of intellectuals andculture-loving people who decidedto form “The Hundred DrumsWangala Festival’ on modern lines.Thus was born the Hundred DrumsWangala Festival in 1976 with itsheadquarters at Asanang. Its mainobjectives are to preserve andpromote Garo traditional songs,music, dances and games byholding annual festivals and byorganizing seminars and impartingtraining in Garo folk culture andother cultures and by having amuseum and a Library. It was withthese aims and objects that theHundred Drums Wangala Festivalwas registered in 1990 under theMeghalaya Societies Act. 1990,Vide Regn. No. SRJWFO/365/90 of1990.

The first Hundred DrumsWangala Festival was organised onthe 6th and 7th, Dec. 1976 atAsanang with Shri B.K. Nehru, thethen Governor of Meghalaya as theChief Guest and Capt. W.A.Sangma as the Guest of Honour,along with other state Ministers anddignitaries. The public from all over

A SHORT HISTORY OF HUNDRED DRUMS WANGALA FESTIVAL- Dr. M. S. Sangma

the hills and the plains gathered bythousands to witness the first everthrilling Wangala Festival. The firstprize was bagged by Tosekgrevillage for its best performance inthe dance competition. The secondfestival was held in 1977 in whichSM E. Barch, Minister ofAgriculture, Meghalaya, was theChief Guest and was attended bya host of other Ministers anddignitaries. First prize was won oncea gain by Tosekgre village for itsover-all best performances in dancecompetition. The festival wasorganized for the third time in 1978with Shri S.K. Marak, EducationMinister, Meghalaya as the ChiefGuest and the first prize wasbagged by Miapara village. In 1979,the function was graced as theChief Guest, by the then Governorof Meghalaya, SM M, Dighe and thefirst prize for the best danceperformances was won byBaghmara and by Rengsangrevillage in the following year. Thegreatest number of first prizes werewon by Sadolpara village winningsometimes for three consecutiveyears. Cash prizes of Rs. 1000/-,Rs. 800/- and Rs. 600/- only weregiven to 1st, 2nd and 3rd positionsrespectively.

In a span of 25 years, that is,from 1976 to 2001, the festival wasorganized every year except in1998 with utmost rejoicing andgaiety. All these functions weregraced, as the Chief Guests by theGovernors of the State, ChiefMinisters like Shri S.C. Marak.Central Minister and Speaker of LokSabha. Shri. P.A. Sangma, the lastin 2000 A.D. being Shri M.M. Jacob,the Governor of Meghalava. It wasalso attended by other Ministers,

MLAs. MDCs and other dignitaries.The function used to attract notonly the tourists from within thecountry but even from outside.Besides, people of all walks of life,far and near used to throng towitness and enjoy the mostspectacular cultural show of GaroHills. Except one each atWilliamnagar, Chandmari and TuraStadium, all the other functionswere held at Asanang. Out of M.P.scheme, Shri P.A. Sangmadonated Rs. 10,00000/- onlytowards the building of onepermanent building. Thus a newbuilding has come up though notcomplete to accommodate theparticipants.

The first Chairman of theHundred Drums Wangala Festivalwas Shri Sandford K Marak, thenEducation Minister of Meghalayawho held whelm of affairs till 1982.He was succeeded by ShriHelsingforce A. Marak, whocontinued as the Chairman till1993. Thereafter, the post was heldby Slid Leander K. Marak whocontinues till date, with the fullsupport of the Executive Committeemembers and the General Body.The first .Vice-Chairman was ShriEmithson W. Marak who served inthe same capacity from 1976 to1993. The next Vice-Chairman washis own son-law, Shri K.K. Sangmawho continues till today.

The first Secretary of theFestival was Shri Hubert K,Sangma who very ably continuedtill when it was taken over by ShriPrabhir Raksam. BDO, in 1979. He‘was followed by Shri Kitker K.Sangma, Special Education Officerin 1980 and then by Shri Vicent

Contd. to Page 23

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Of late, the issue of religiousconversions has taken centre-stage, with emotions running high.Christians argue that had theirefforts at harvesting souls throughconversions been strong andwidespread, they would not be just2.3% of the population. Muslimsclaim they do not indulge inorganized conversion efforts andthe growth in their proportion of theIndian population, from under 10%in 1951 to nearly 14%, has beenthrough a higher birth rate. Hindus,reduced in proportion from over84% in 1951 to 80%, state that theirnon-proselytizing culture works totheir disadvantage, so they haveevery right to ghar-wapsiprogrammes. Perhaps it’s time todump the emotions and take arational look at the issue.

In all honesty, while there maybe material gains from religiousconversions, spiritually, it is almostalways negative. Why? Becausetrue spiritual growth happens withinternal focus, when you attemptto seek truth within yourself. Notwhen you try to prove the “otherreligion” as false. But this is acomplex topic, one that has beenexplored by the spiritually adept formillennia. It’s not something thatcan be explained in a briefnewspaper article.

So let’s move away from thespiritual aspect of conversions andturn to material benefits.Undoubtedly, from thisperspective, there can be bothpositive and negative results.

Besides the obvious efforts offaith-based groups in educationand health, what are the othermaterial positives? Subject anygroup to competition, where they

Religious conversions: Seeking equal st andards in good faith

lose their own flock to others, andwhat do you think will happen?Obviously, reforms! Efforts will bemade to make themselves moreattractive to their own followers,perhaps even to others. Let’selucidate this through the biggestpresent-day social problems inthree religious groups: the caste-system among Hindus, the childsex-abuse scandal amongWestern Catholics, and extremeviolence among Arab Muslims. Thevictims of these social problemsare primarily their own members.Those being oppressed by thepresent Hindu caste system — acorruption of ancient Vedic thought— are also Hindu. The tens ofthousands of Western children(maybe hundreds of thousands,as some reports suggest) rapedby Catholic priests, wereChristian. Studies prove that a vastmajority dying from violencecommitted by Islamists &Jihadists in the Arab world areMuslim.

Genetic research suggeststhat the rigid, birthbased castesystem emerged about 2,000years ago. It appeared very difficultto get rid of. But in the last 60 years,Hindus have made dramaticimprovements in this sphere,though I admit that there is still along way to go. What is the reasonfor this? There could be many, butit cannot be denied that one of thekey factors driving current reformsis the fear of losing oppressedHindus to other faiths. Socompetition has forced positivechange.

The Roman Catholic Church,for many decades, simply deniedthe sex-abuse epidemic. But as

the church started losing followersin record numbers in Europe andthe US (primarily to Atheists &Unaffiliated, but also to otherfaiths), they were forced to confrontthis problem. No less than PopeFrancis admitted that there weremany paedophiles among theclergy. The first step towardssolving a problem is accepting thatthere is one. I’m sure the churchwill work towards resolving thisburning issue.

In most of the Arab world,conversion out of Islam is legallybanned and punishable by death.So it is not possible for other faithsto offer competition. But if theArabs would open their hearts andminds to Islamic interpretationsfrom liberal Muslims of India andIndonesia, I’m sure they’d be ableto significantly control theirproblem of horrific violence.

Materially then, it appearsreligious conversions could offersome benefits. But there areproblems as well. Often,conversions also lead toresentment, social chaos andviolence. We have seen this,particularly in the Middle Ages,where Europeans, Arabs, Mongolsand Turks killed millions in thenames of their faiths. How do wecontrol this?

Like in any industry (and let’sbe honest, religious conversion isan industry now), there should berules. First, funding for religiousconversions should be scrutinizedas per legal parameters and allorganizations must file accountsin India. Second, there should beparity i.e. either every religiousgroup should be legally allowed to

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proselytise without any oppositionfrom the state/media/elite voices,or nobody should be allowed toproselytise. Third, some troublingagencies should be proscribed inIndia. For example, no rationalpeople would want Saudi Arabs tospread their version of Islam; mostintelligence reports suggest thatthe Saudis fund and encouragereligious violence, most of whichis directed against those theybelieve are ‘impure Muslims’. Ithink Indian Muslims, who areamong the most liberal andpluralistic Muslims anywhere,should be encouraged to spreadtheir syncretic interpretations

throughout the world. Groups likethe American Evangelists shouldalso be proscribed in India. Theirversion of Christianity is hate-filled,nothing like the peaceful versionwe know from Indian Christians.You only have to visitwww.joshuaproject.net to see thepernicious beliefs of theseAmerican Evangelists e.g. the 10/40 Window countries (Between10oN and 40oN; India is included)are called the ‘Strongholds ofSatan’. I can’t imagine IndianChristians agreeing with thisdescription of India. Lastly,obviously, any violence or calls toviolence have to be strictly banned.

Sangma, MCS, and then Shri B.P.Dhar, EDO, He was succeeded byMs. Lutherine R. Sangma, MCS,who very ably steered theorganisational meetings and theFestivals from 1989 to 1992, whenit was taken over by Shri Hubert B.Marak, MCS, from 1993 to 1995,and then by Shri B. P. Dhar againin 1996. The last and the presentincumbent is Shri Prabhat Ch.Sangma who piloted theorganisation under the guidance of

its able Chairman and theenthusiastic members of theExecutive Committee.

Looking back at the last twentyfive years of its existence, we mayvouch that the Hundred DrumsWangala Festival has done somejustice in fulfil l ing few of itsObjectives, at least in encouragingthe dancers to learn to dance ingreat technical skill and rhythm tothe tune of drums accompanied by

indigenous musical instrumentsand led by a leader called“Grikgipa” shouting shouts of prideand challenge. For all theseencouring successes, theorganisers wish to thank theGovernment of Meghalaya, M.P.MLAs, MDCs and others whosupported the Organisations eitherin cash or in kind.

Long live Hundred DrumsWangala Festival

Once we place these controls,we should encourage all faiths tosolicit conversions openly. Wemay benefit from it, at leastmaterially.

Having said that, in my heart, Istill feel that it’s spiritually better tocelebrate our own faith and alsoseek to reform, from within, anycorruptions that have crept in;rather than wasting time trying toprove other religions wrong, forthat leads one away from spiritualgrowth.

(http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/sunday-times/all-that-matters/Religious-

conversions-Seeking-equal-standards-in-good-faith/articleshow/46570017.cms)

A SHORT HISTORY OF HUNDRED ...Contd. from Page 21

IMPHAL, March 12 – Manipur’sLoktak lake is the sole waterbodyin India that has been listedamong 14 most amazingwaterbodies on Earth in BBC’sStrange and Beautiful list in itswebsite.

The amazing waterbodies onthe earth include a spring thatbubbles like champagne to a lakethat changes colour.

Loktak Lake in India “isspeckled by phumdis: large,

circular masses of intertwinedvegetation, soil and other organicmatter. The largest phumdicovers over 40 sq km.”

“Rich in biodiversity, the lake ishome to threatened animals likeIndian pythons and hoolockgibbons,” says the BBC site. “Italso supplies water to ahydropower project.”

The other most beautifulwaterbodies in this planet Earthinclude multi-coloured Grand

Prismatic Spring of USA,Canada’s Lake Manicougan whichcovers an area of 2,000 sq kmand Spotted Lake, Plitvice Lakesof Croatia, Pamukkale TravertineTerraces of Turkey, Boiling Lakeof Dominica, Blood Falls ofAntarctica, Lake Retba ofSenegal, Kelimutu Crater Lakesof Indonesia, Champagne Pool ofNew Zealand, Cano Cristales ofColombia and Salar de Uyuni ofBolivia.

Lokt ak among Earth’ s 14 amazing waterbodiesSobhapati Samom

Contd. from Page 22 Religious conversions

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When her parents asked herto wear a “burqa” (veil) whileattending classes at the JamiaMillia Islamia in Delhi, Rubinarefused to comply with thedemand. She was barred fromgoing to the university and satat home washing dishes.

Barely 16, Safia, a brilliantClass 10 student, was on thewarpath against her parentswho had fixed her marriage witha man almost triple her age.Safia, who aspired to be adoctor, had no option but todiscontinue her studies despitebeing a topper in her school.

Fauzia, a graduatef r o m D e l h i U n i v e r s i t y ’ supmarket Lady Shri RamCollege, joined a computerprogramming course. Herparents asked her to marry notthe boy of her choice and shecommitted suicide.

These three examples arejust the tip of the iceberg asabject illiteracy for variousreasons among Muslim womenlies at the root of the endemicbackwardness of thecommunity at large. After thedebilitating trauma of the sub-continent’s vivisection, Muslimsstruck to the traditional forms ofeducation in a futile bid to retainthe very vitals of their religion,drawing flak from religion aswell as secular world. That’swhy we don’t have many FatimaBiwis, Najma Heptullahs,Shabana Azmis and - well, the

Muslim W omen Must Press for Their Right s

list is too small!

Even in the new millennium,the haplessness of IndianMuslim women continues at thesame rate. In most of the rusticareas and even in the urbansettlements the rate of literacyamong Muslim women is as lowas 90 per cent.

Muslim women in India arealso handicapped owing to thedictates of Muslim PersonalLaw that is not scriptural innature and the conservativeulema have further complicatedthe issues by interpreting themin a very orthodox manner.

The inherent weakness ofneglecting one half of thecommunity has, over the years,taken its toll on the Muslimcommunity. Today, there areonly a few girls in the communitywho are educated ones. Muslimgirls’ lot is reduced to that of aprisoner without paroleaccording to Fehmida Riyaz, aglobally acclaimed Pakistanipoetess.

One has heard Muslim mencasting the decree of talaq onmatters like the favourite dish,the colour of the suit worn bywomen or simply sharing theresponsibility to look after asmall child. Talaq-e-Bidat is theone that is ordained in onesitting. Talaq-e-Sharia is the onethat aims at spacing the entireprocess over a period of threemonths so that frayed temperson both the sides are cooled

down resulting in therejuvenation of matrimonial linkagain. It is Talaq-e-Bidat thathas been the real culprit behindbreaking of many families.

Prophet Mohammedabhorred divorce. Even aMuslim woman can seekdivorce from her husband, butnevertheless, such cases are farand few. If her husband refusesto grant her divorce, she can goto a law court and obtain adecree in her favour. This mayseem to place her at adisadvantage in comparison toher husband, and it may beasserted that this implies theinequality of rights, as betweenhusband and wife.

The bane of Muslim womenis that time and again, they aredragged in one controversy oranother. Be it the debate ofMuslim women to be allowed topray inside the mosques or theShah Bano imbroglio or thecase of the young Ameenasbeing “exported” to the ArabSheikhs, the politicians as wellas the clerics try to eke outpolitical mileage out of it. Noone is worried about theirdwindling literacy figures andthe problem of their uplift. TheMuslim fundamentaliststhroughout the world and moreprominently in Muslimdominated states are trying tomake Muslim women facelessand nameless.

Quite interestingly, rights of

- Firoz Bakht Ahmed

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women in Islam are umpteen aswe see in the notable reformseffected out by ProphetMohammed, who restrictedunlimited plurality in the matterof wives, discouraged divorce,forbade female infanticide anddisposal of widows as part ofthe deceased man’spossessions. Moreover, heestablished a law of inheritancefor women, secured to wives theright to mehr (dower), enjoined

kind treatment towards femaleslaves and at the same timepromised religious favours as areward to those who helped tosupport widows and orphans.The Prophet abhorred theannouncement of divorce. It isthe Muslim men who are notfollowing their prophet’sdictates.

It is high time that Islamiclaws were interpreted and

Washington March 12, 2015:Three Indian-Americans whowon medals in the Intel ScienceTalent Search2015, America’soldest and most prestigiouspre-college science and mathcompet i t ion, metPresident Barack Obama atthe White House with otherfinalists.

They were among the 40high school seniors, 13 of themof Indian origin, who were inWashington for the finals of thecontest to f ind the mostpromising young US innovatorscreating the technologies andsolut ions that wi l l makepeople’s lives better.

The f inal is ts took homeawards totalling more than $1million with Noah Golowich,Andrew Jin and MichaelHofmann Winer each receivingfirst-place awards of $150,000in the compet i t ion run bySociety for Science and thePublic.

In addition to the top awards,three second-place winnersreceived awards of $75,000 andthree th i rd-place winners

Three Indian Americans win Intel Science T alent Search medals

received awards of $35,000.

Indian-American Saranesh(Saran) Thanika Prembabu, 17,of San Ramon, California, wonthe Second Place Medal ofDistinction for Innovation.

Saran studied how varyingthe layers of lead titanate andstront ium ruthenate innanocrystal superlattices canaffect their e lectr ical andmagnetic propert ies, whichcould be harnessed for a varietyof electrical and computingapplications.

Shashwat Kishore, 18, ofWest Chester, Pennsylvania,won the Third Place Medal ofDistinction for Basic Research.

Kishore’s math projectfocused on represent ingabstract a lgebras usingmatrices. His work developed anew relationship between thesematrices and topology.

Anvi ta Gupta, 17, ofScottsdale, Arizona, also wonthe Third Place Medal ofDistinction for Global Good.

Gupta used machine learning

to “teach” a computer to identifypotent ial drugs for cancer,tuberculosis and Ebola.Preclinical trials are alreadyunderway in China on thetuberculosis drugs that sheidentified.

“A sol id foundat ion inscience, technology,engineering and math createsthe critical talent corporationsand startups need to drive theirbusiness and contr ibute toeconomic development,” saidRenee James, president ofIntel Corporation.

“These students serve asshining examples of theincredible work beingaccomplished in STEM fieldsby young people, and we areproud to recognize and rewardthese stel lar youngresearchers,” said MayaAjmera, president and CEO ofSociety for Science and thePubl ic and alumna of theScience Talent Search.

(http://zeenews.india.com/news/sci-tech/three-indian-americans-win-

intel-science-talent-search-medals_1560229.html)

understood in the rightperspective and progressiveorder to do away withdiscrimination based ondistinction by the present dayulema. Prophet Mohammedmade no distinction betweenmen and women when it cameto their rights.

(http://www.business-standard.com/article/news-ians/muslim-women-must-

press-for-their-rights-comment-special-to-ians-march-8-is-international-women-

s-day-115030800058_1.html)

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There was a big banyan tree,where two crows - husband andwife, had prepared a nice nestand made it their home. In thehollow of the same tree, lived ablack cobra.

The crows had a problembecause the black cobra wouldclimb up the tree and eat thenewborns, whenever the femalecrow hatched her eggs. Theycould do nothing to save them.

The crows went to a jackal,who lived in a nearby banyantree, to seek his advice. Theynarrated everything to him andrequested his advice for themto get rid of their problem.

They said, "O Friend, It hasbecome dangerous to live here.Please tell us how we canprotect our children from beingeaten up by the wicked blackcobra."

The jackal replied, "Pleasedon't give up. Even powerfulenemies can be overcome withthe use of wit."

The Cobra and the Crows

On hearing this, the crowsrequested, "O Friend, please tellus how we can overcome anddestroy this wicked cobra."

The jackal told them a plan,"Fly into the capital of thekingdom, not far from here. Visitthe house of someone who iswealthy and careless at thesame time. Notice if somethingof value is lying around. If youfind so, pick it up when theservants are watching you."

He continued, "You will needto fly slowly so that the servantscan follow you. Return back toyour tree and drop it in the hollowof the tree where the cobralives. When the servants reach,they will kill the cobra when theysee it."

The crows decided to followthe jackal's advice and flew offimmediately according to hisplan.

As they flew above thecapital, the female crow noticedwealthy women swimming in alake. They had left gold andpearl necklaces on the banks ofthe lake, which were guarded byroyal servants.

At once the female crowswooped down, and picked upa big necklace in her beak, andstarted flying slowly.

When the royal servantsnoticed her, they picked upsticks and stones, and startedthrowing at her, and ran to chaseher.

As planned, she dropped thenecklace in front of the hollow ofthe tree, where the black cobrawas asleep. She sat on one ofthe branches for the royalservants to notice.

When the royal servantsarrived, the black cobra cameout of the hollow of the tree tosee what all the noise wasabout. The black cobraconfronted the king's servantswith swelling hood, but theservants attacked the cobrawith sticks and stones torecover the necklace.

They killed the wicked cobra,and returned with the necklace.And the crows, having gotten ridof the cobra, lived happily.

The wise indeed say:

Even a very powerful enemycan be destroyed throughdeceit.

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