Ayodyha

Let me begin my thoughts by reaffirming that demolishing Babri Masjid was wrong especially in a secular and democratic nation like India. Those who did it ought to be punished so that such acts are not repeated.

Yesterday the Indian supreme court gave the verdict on the centuries old Ayodhya dispute. The timeline for the dispute is as follows:

- 1528: Babri Masjid built by Mir Baqi, commander of Mughal emperor Babur.

- 1885: Mahant Raghubir Das files plea in Faizabad district court seeking permission to build a canopy outside the disputed structure. Court rejects the plea.
 Click here for the full events.

The final verdict  : Entire Disputed Site Goes to Hindus for Ram Mandir, Muslims to Get 5 Acres of Alternate Land
It is not a fair judgement since one cannot demolish a structure and build another based on hearesays alone. If so, entire India would need to be dug up to right whatever wrongs imagined or otherwise. But I think SC wanted to end this dispute in a peaceful manner and it is indeed a relief to note that the Muslim board has accepted the same though it could be out of compulsion. But it is clear that India needs peace. The animosity between the two communities is not new. Blame it on various invasions and specially partition. Invasion was unavoidable but partition was avoidable. The fate of millions were decided by few men who only wanted power? 

Why did the 1947 partition of India unfold the way it did?

The context of World War II and the transfer of power were critical in shaping the violence. During the war, the British jailed much of the Congress Party in India. In the meantime, more violently inclined nationalist movements flourished, some bearing an imprint of fascism. Indians who fought in the war came home with violent experiences. They and their arms were recruited into new defense groups and paramilitary volunteer bodies attached to these violent movements, such as the RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh) and the Muslim League National Guard. Some Indian politicians in provincial governments began to use such groups for policing as they shifted from being the opposition to being the government.

Although the agreement required no relocation, about 15 million people moved or were forced to move, and between half a million to 2 million died in the ensuing violence.

If one thinks the above did not affect the remaining Indians then one is naive and shall never understand the Ayodhya issue too. I think the two communities continue to test each other. They hide their insecurity and fears and at times erupt in riots. Now with a nationalistic party at the helm it is not getting better. But what if the courts had given a different verdict? There is no guarantee that the government would have been able to quell the unrest. This am sure is one reason the Muslim community is accepting the verdict while hoping to move forward.

Sometimes one hears from the south of India, specially Kerala boasting about religious tolerance as opposed to the north of India. Maybe they should look at the following map to know who was affected the most during the partition if not by the various invasions.

The extent and patterns of ethnic cleansing that led to the collapse of minority population shares in then western India was not anticipated. As late as November 1945, the Commander of the Indian Army, Field Marshal Claude Auchinleck, predicted that the “principal danger areas (for ethnic conflict) are likely to lie in the United Provinces, Bihar and Bengal”, these having also been the principal areas where religious rioting had taken place in the years leading up to Independence (Figure 2a, and Jha and Wilkinson 2012). Yet, the patterns of ethnic cleansing were very different (Figure 2b), and the areas that Auchinleck thought would be most susceptible to violence still enjoy sizeable minority populations to this day.

If Ayodhya is viewed against this backdrop let this verdict take the nation forward since there are many wounds still festering. India is indeed diverse and can never be like another democratic country. But the least one can do is understand the issues involved and stop escalating issues.

Source:
https://news.stanford.edu/2019/03/08/partition-1947-continues-haunt-india-pakistan-stanford-scholar-says/
https://www.news18.com/news/india/ayodhya-case-verdict-live-updates-ram-janmabhoomi-babri-masjid-ayodhya-mandir-news-samachar-supreme-court-uttar-pradesh-2379563.html


https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/chronology-of-events-in-ram-janmabhoomi-babri-masjid-land-dispute-case/articleshow/71980846.cms

https://www.thenewsminute.com/article/ayodhya-verdict-sunni-wakf-board-not-file-review-petition-112032
https://voxdev.org/topic/institutions-political-economy/drawing-line-short-and-long-term-consequences-partitioning-india

Kashmir

If there is heaven on earth they say it is in Kashmir. 

Maybe it is because of this that everyone is fighting for this piece of land. History tells us that Kashmir was once ruled by a king who sought help from newly independent India in order to avoid being invaded by Pakistan. While India tried to win the hearts of Kashmir by giving it a special status and by pouring more money that it has ever given to other states, Pakistan never gave up it’s pursuits. In fact, the first war between India and Pakistan was fought over Kashmir and the next one in 1965 ensured that Pakistan shall be forever under the grips of the military regime. 

(The Indo–Pakistani war of 1965 caused thousands of deaths on both sides with a heavy deployment of armoured vehicles)


India had two options: either give up Kashmir or make Kashmir a part of India in every way. Over the years India tried in every way to make Kashmir a part of India but it has never worked. Pakistan never gave up and has always encouraged militancy among the Kashmir youth. Even today if you converse with a Kashmiri who fights for independence at the end his/her support is for Pakistan.

 In the late 1980s, separatist discourse gained momentum in Kashmir and the military insurgency started spreading in the valley against what is perceived as an Indian occupation. 





Now one may wonder why India should resist this. If Kashmir is ever separated from India it is for everyone to see that Pakistan shall occupy it within no time. Why not says Pakistan. But shall the world ever say that? Look at the both the nations and where they stand after 1947. The same set of people or DNA started building a nation. Where does Pakistan stand now? How good is it’s economy as compared to India?



As of 2019, GDP of India is around of 10 times greater than Pakistan. In nominal terms gap is wider (above 10 times) than ppp terms (below 10 times). India is 5th largest country of the world in nominal method and 3rd largest economy in ppp method. Nominal ranking of Pakistan is 43 and PPP ranking is 25. India's economically largest states Maharashtra has GDP ($334 billion) greater than Pakistan. Margin between these two countries was lowest in 1993 when Nominal GDP of India was 5.43x of Pakistan and highest was in 1973 (13.53x).





Now let us see how minorities have fared in both the countries over the years.


In India, if in 1951 Muslims were 9.8% as compared to 84.1%  of Hindus, in 2011 it is 14.23% as compared to 79.8%.  



It is obvious that the Muslim population in India is not declining whereas in Pakistan the situation is getting worse day by day.



At the time of partition in 1947, almost 23% of Pakistan’s population was [composed] ofnon-Muslim citizens. Today, the proportion of non-Muslims has declined toapproximately 3%. The distinctions among Muslim denominations have also becomefar more accentuated over the years. Muslim groups such as the Shias whoaccount for approximately 20-25% of Pakistan’s Muslim population, Ahmadis whohave been declared non-Muslim by the writ of the state, and non-Muslimminorities such as Christians, Hindus and Sikhs have been the targets ofsuicide bomb attacks on their neighborhoods, had community members converted toIslam against their will, and had their houses of worship attacked and bombedeven while they were inhabited by worshipers.”








How did minorities fare in India over the years politically and economically?

A small list of positions minorities have/are occupying in India.



APJ Abdul Kalam(Muslim- Former President)

Manmohan Singh(Sikh- Former Prime Minister)

Giani Zail Singh(Sikh- Former President)

Zakir Hussain(Muslim- Former President)

Mohammad Hidayatullah (Muslim- Former President and Chief Justice)

Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed (Muslim- Former President)

Mohammad Hamid Ansari (Muslim- Former President)

Sonia Gandhi(Roman Catholic- Former Congress President)

Aziz Mushabber Ahmadi (Muslim- Former Chief Justice)

Altamas Kabir (Muslim- Former Chief Justice)

Jagdish Singh Khehar(Sikh- Former Chief Justice)

S. Y. Quraishi(Muslim- Former Chief Election Commissioner)

Nasim Zaidi(Muslim- Former Chief Election Commissioner)

Sunith Francis Rodrigues(Catholic- Former Army Chief)

Joginder Jaswant Singh(Sikh- Former Army Chief)

Salman Khurshid(Muslim- Former Foreign Minister)

Syed Akbaruddin(India’s current UN representative)

Asif Ibrahim(Muslim- Former Chief of Intelligence Bureau)


These are some of the most important posts of India.


And, the list is unending(Even if I don’t include Actors, Sportsmen, Businessmen and many other notable non-Hindus in India.)






Whereas in Pakistan the national assembly rejects a bill that allows non muslims to become the President or the PM.




Now let us return to the present status of Kashmir.

The Constitution of Jammu and Kashmir was rendered infructuous by The Constitution (Application to Jammu and Kashmir) Order, 2019 (C.O. 272) issued by the president of India on 5 August 2019. Indian President Ram Nath Kovind issued an order under the power of Article 370, overriding the prevailing 1954 Presidential Order and nullifying all the provisions of autonomy granted to the state. The opposition calls this unconstitutional and without any precedence. But it has precedence if you look at Indian history. The state of Goa came into existence thus but even now there are many Goans who want Goa to be an independent state.


The fight for freedom began in the 1940s as India inched closer to independence from British rule. But Goa remained a Portuguese colony until 1961, straining relations between India and Portugal as the former's support for the anti-colonial movement in Goa grew. In 1955, India even imposed an economic blockade on Goa. 



In 1961,the Indian army invaded the state after the Portuguese fired at Indian fishingboats, killing one fisherman.







If you think Goans have given their pursuit for freedom then you are wrong.



Thepetitioners appeal to the current members of the United Nations GeneralAssembly (UNGA) to review the subject matter of this petition with a freshperspective as the conscience keepers of world peace. The UNSC resolutionS/5033 was passed in the 988th meeting on 18.Dec.61 with 7 members out of 11voting in favour of the motion calling for India to withdraw its forces fromGoa to its pre 17.Dec.61 position which was vetoed by USSR, a permanent member.





As for this letter’s claim of genocide, it is utter nonsense.



If Kashmir is looked at from the point of religious majority, let us look at another princely state in India which joined India much later. While Cochin joined in1949, Travancore joined only in 1956. 





Even now my mother who experienced the princely rule states that those times were much better as compared to now. Now I may disagree as much as I can. J



Kashmir too will have its problems in the years to come but am glad that the current step was taken. This will give its inhabitants a chance to experience India just like any other Indian. Without the intervention of Pakistan I believe Kashmir shall prosper and shall truly become an Indian paradise. 

If not, let India give up Kashmir to it's fate. 



The restrictions imposed on tourists intending to visit the Kashmir Valley will be lifted today following a direction from Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik on Monday. On August 2, the state administration had issued a security advisory asking tourists, especially pilgrims taking part in the annual Amarnath yatra, to leave the Kashmir Valley as soon as possible. Back then, the government had said this advisory has been issued due to a "terror threat" in the Kashmir Valley.

An interesting conversation if you have time to read.

Source: 
https://www.resetdoc.org/story/brief-history-india-pakistan-conflict-kashmir/
http://statisticstimes.com/economy/india-vs-pakistan-economy.php
https://www.quora.com/Which-country-is-worse-for-minorities-India-or-Pakistan

https://www.aninews.in/news/world/asia/pak-national-assembly-rejects-bill-non-muslim-cant-be-countrys-pm-or-president20191002194738/

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-42390008https://www.change.org/p/prevent-genocide-of-goan-christians-by-communal-corrupt-illegal-indian-administration-in-goa-former-portuguese-colony-where-goans-are-forced-to-immigrate-from-their-own-motherland-to-other-countries
https://www.thehindu.com/features/kids/Joining-hands/article14410304.ece
https://theconversation.com/kashmir-india-tomorrow-part-3-podcast-transcript-115732
https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/kashmir-tourist-advisory-ends-today-shutdown-political-detentions-continue-1607746-2019-10-10

Panchalimedu.

My Father and me have this daily sojourn early in the morning while I am preparing breakfast plus lunch while he would be on the lookout for the fish vendor or reading newspaper. Of course over the phone. Today he told me needs to write something and I am like.. what? I am the writer out here! Anyway, told him he should write but can he pacify this curious cat? It is nothing special but something that is currently brewing in Kerala. The place is Panchalimedu. 

Panchalimedu is a hill station and view point near Kuttikkanam in Peerumedu tehsil of Idukki district in the Indian state of Kerala.

Now the issue is as follows:

A Hindu outfit led by Antarrashtriya Hindu Parishad (AHP) outfit on Wednesday took out a protest march in Panchalimedu in Kerala's Idukki district claiming encroachment of government land by St Mary's church. The problem started when on June 15, a trident was planted in front of a cross in Panchalimedu -- famous for religious tourism.

Panchalimedu is one of the most frequented tourist spots in the state. The hilltop is known for a temple and 14 holy crosses situated there. A few days ago, members of a Hindu right wing group placed a trident near one of the crosses alleging that the Christian community has been trying to encroach upon government land.

https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/trishul-cross-panchalimedu-1552010-2019-06-19

As I mentioned earlier in my blog, this is a new tourist attraction and while growing up it was not there. Now my father says this place was initially owned by the Kallivayalil family who still owns much land out there. During the excess land law etc. it was given up and the government acquired it. Now older folks may remember the MRA or the Moral Re-Armament movement, an international and spiritual movement developed from American minister Frank Buchman. In India, it had it's office in Pune and still exists but under a different name: Initiatives of Change. Anyway, this movement wanted a center at Peerumade and thought this place was good enough. It was up to my father to check out and also supervise the building of the boundary wall. Those days the American in charge used to stay with my father and they also had regular correspondence. The letters sent by this man was regularly opened up by our intelligence team in India says my father.

As per my father, this place was not frequented by anyone and he could barely drive his jeep out there. (he learned driving in those rugged terrain, which is another story) He had to walk on rocks and boulders and vouches that there were no crosses or Hindu temples. At least nothing that was visible to the human eye. But you could view Sabarimala and far off places from there.

Maybe the church with it's connection to Kallivayalil may have planted those crosses. As usual, this cross planting could have happened during the "Way of Cross" that is important for Catholics during the Lent period.

It is time both the factions stopped this nonsense before the issue gets out of hand. Religion is dividing and killing and those who are in charge only want power and money.

How easy it is to divide..

Yesterday was the 70^th death anniversary of Gandhiji, the father of my nation. It was on January 30^th 1948 that Gandhiji was killed by  Nathuram Godse. Godse must have killled Gandhii because he did not like the idea of ahimsa. Although one associates Indian independence with Gandhiji’s ahimsa, I think this nation was born out of the blood of innocents and it was not only the blood of Gandhiji. This worst bloodshed happened during the partition.

The Indian independence movement must have started with Gandhiji’s idea of ahimsa which led to the Quit India Movement or the Civil Disobedience Movement but it is time we remembered the partition.

An excerpt from Gandhiji’s speech on the Quit India Movement

I believe that in the history of the world, there has not been a more genuinely democratic struggle for freedom than ours. I read Carlyle’s French Revolution while I was in prison, and Pandit Jawaharlal has told me something about the Russian revolution. But it is my conviction that inasmuch as these struggles were fought with the weapon of violence they failed to realize the democratic ideal. In the democracy which I have envisaged, a democracy established by non-violence, there will be equal freedom for all. Everybody will be his own master. It is to join a struggle for such democracy that I invite you today. Once you realize this you will forget the differences between the Hindus and Muslims, and think of yourselves as Indians only, engaged in the common struggle for independence.

Maybe it is out of pain or even shame that the subcontinent fails to acknowledge the bloody partition that gave birth to two nations. It is said that 1–2 million people died during the partition of British India. This should actually make everyone very, very angry since a few leaders took decisions so casually that it led to the killing of so many innocents. This anger should have made everyone pledge that it will never happen again. But tension simmers.. between the two nation and within India.

I think even in our school books we skip or skim through the partition maybe since it was an utter failure of our founding fathers. But this nation should have allotted an entire textbook to this topic to make everyone very angry. Angry enough not to divide the nation again on religious grounds.

Gandhiji was against the whole idea of partition, yet he had to take a bullet.

Why Pakistan and India remain in denial 70 years on from partition

The division of British India was poorly planned and brutally carried out, as fear and revenge attacks led to a bloody sectarian ‘cleansing’

On 3 June 1947, only six weeks before British India was carved up, a group of eight men sat around a table in New Delhi and agreed to partition the south Asian subcontinent.

Photographs taken at that moment reveal the haunted and nervous faces of Jawaharlal Nehru, the Indian National Congress leader soon to become independent India’s first prime minister, Mohammad Ali Jinnah, head of the Muslim League and Pakistan’s first governor-general and Louis Mountbatten,the last British viceroy.

There is still a mystery at the dark heart of partition. Ultimately, it remains a history layered with absence and silences, even while many mourn and talk about their own trauma. Nearly every Punjabi family – Indian and Pakistani – can tell a tale about a relative uprooted in the night, the old friends and servants left behind, the nostalgia for a cherished house now fallen into new hands. Far fewer are willing to discuss the role of their own locality in contributing to the violence. Rarely, oral histories tell of culpability and betrayal; more often, guilt and silences stalk the archive.
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Who were the killers? Why did they kill? Much evidence points not to the crazy and inexplicable actions of mad, uneducated peasants with sticks and stones, but to well-organised and well-motivated groups of young men, who went out – particularly in Punjab – to carry out ethnic cleansing. These men, often recently demobilised from the second world war, had been trained in gangs and militias, were in the pay of shopkeepers and landlords, and had often been well drilled and well equipped. They took on the police and even armed soldiers on some occasions

.

The politics of an assassination: Who killed Gandhi and why?

Historians and scholars have written extensively on “who killed Gandhi and why?” and the answer, obviously, doesn’t end with Godse. What Godse told the court in an attempt to explain why he chose to pump three bullets into Gandhi’s chest at point-blank range provides a glimpse into the politics of the assassination, writes Abhishek Saha

people were whipped up by demonisation of the other, encouraged by the rhetoric of politicians and a feverish media"

India and Pakistan teaches partition or the birth of the two nations differently. But to be fair, I think India is more balanced in its approach. 

If I am right, partition gets an entire chapter only in Class XII of CBSE as follows:

NCERT ClassXII History Part 3: Theme 14 – Understanding Partition 

3. Why and How Did Partition Happen?

3.1 Culminating point of a long history? Some historians, both Indian and Pakistani, suggest that Mohammad Ali Jinnah’s theory that the Hindus and Muslims in colonial India constituted two separate nations can be projected back into medieval history. They emphasise that the events of 1947 were intimately connected to the long history of Hindu-Muslim conflict throughout medieval and modern times. Such an argument does not recognise that the history of conflict between communities has coexisted with a long history of sharing, and of mutual cultural exchange. It also does not take into account the changing circumstances that shape people’s thinking.

I think it is not enough. It needs to be stressed again and again to the future generation that religion can divide brutally. It is up to them to change it. The older ones are tired.

Source:

http://ncert.nic.in/ncerts/l/lehs305.pdf
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/aug/05/partition-70-years-on-india-pakistan-denial
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quit_India_speech
https://www.hindustantimes.com/analysis/the-politics-of-an-assassination-who-killed-gandhi-and-why/story-iUJqKjuw0sP9nAfc5KcOII.html

Further Reading:

www.1947partitionarchive.org/

http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/modern/partition1947_01.shtml

The Greatest Commandment

Majority of the tribe and scribes in the Middle East can identify with the passages from one book or collection of passages; a Christian like me calls it the Old Testament while the rest differently. It is from this book the greatest commandment of all emerges:

“‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment.

And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these”

Religion is once again giving me goose bumps and it sure looks crazy to quote from it at this point. But then as everyone knows, religion can also be a tool to manipulate and to basically make people cooperate by making them feel different from the rest. And over the years men has perfected this art and especially in this age that provides them with sophisticated technology to aid them in this task. Religion gives many the powers to control what they cannot otherwise.


Now how are humans from each religion different?

1. The blood which runs in each is red in color.

2. The anatomy of a human is: a pair of legs, hands, eyes, ears that helps them touch, feel, hear, and basically know the world and its wonders.

3. One laughs when one is happy and cries when sad.

4. Everyone wants to be loved and accepted for what he/she is.

5. Nothing but food suffices when one is hungry and nothing but water when one is thirsty.

6. The minute one ceases to breathe, he/she dies.

I pointed out the similarities since it is a futile to attempt to do otherwise and I am very sure it is a challenge which no expert in this world has successfully undertaken.

And how do differences emerge? This takes us to the commandments that I first quoted and mainly the second one: love your neighbor as yourself. How easy it is to read but how difficult to implement! Hence let me once again quote the following text that I chanced to read from a religious site. Let me refrain from giving the link and also hope that the author forgives me for plagiarizing.

The one common denominator to all of your experiences with difficult people is you. In my case, it is me. People we call “difficult” are really people who we consciously or subconsciously identify as being “different”. Different from who? Different from us, of course!

We implicitly assume we are the standard of reference by which all other persons must be judged. To the extent that someone differs from us in any way, they could become a candidate for our scrupulous examination. They may or may not pass our “test”, based on our standards, and of course, we are the sole judge. Just remember that the other person has reserved a similar right to judge you by their standards, and may have concluded that you are a difficult person to live with.


When we understand that “difficult” means “different”, and we accept that God made us individually with different fingerprints and different DNA peculiarities, we are ready to focus less on the differences between us and more on the similarities that unite us.

Times are difficult but it can be made easy only if we focus on the similarities that human beings share in this world and focus less on the differences that humans have thrust upon themselves under the guise of religion.

Peace is what majority wants but it is this same peace that a few wants to take away for their own selfish wants. 

A secular nation?

We proudly call our nation multi-religious while forgetting the fact that this alone has killed many over the years! Why is that secularism does not work for India but it works for many others? Does the fault lie with our constitution? Or is it the blood of innocents over whom this nation was formed? Even if India did not have to shed much blood fighting for independence, it had to shed much over partition.More than a million they say. Did it all start from there? Will it's ghost never leave this nation?

Let us recall that the majority inherited this nation while the minority trusted the majority enough, to share this nation. Yet, there are a few among the minority as well as the majority who continue to feel insecure enough to fear each other. The politicians continue to fan this insecurity while they build their empire. Let me not blame one party alone since riots have occurred under both the major parties. If there was a 2002 Gujarat riot under BJP, there has been others under the Congress too. I mentioned Gujarat since this is where the nation's conscience stand rooted. From where it refuse to budge. But it is not from where it all started. If one party does it under the secular banner, the other under the Hinduvata banner.

Have a look at the various massacres that took place in India over the years and see the number of precious lives lost. Most of these massacres have been communal in nature.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_massacres_in_India

Communal riots are seldom caused spontaneously and very rarely caused by religious animosity. They are mostly caused due to conflicting political interests, which are often linked to economic interests. 

And in all these riots the police force was reduced to a mute spectator or an active party to the killing. A chronology of riots as reported by Hindustan Times details how police have always been let loose. I believe that before each religious killing or riots, there will be a smoldering time. The small fire from it all starts. Why is that this nation has never been able to douse this fire but does everything to fan it? I also continue to believe that the minute this smoldering starts, killers begin to sharpen their weapons. They have always been ready and yet our police and political party pretend not see them. You and me may never do the act, but there are those who have been trained to do so. Yes, those who are governing the state and the police force are responsible. Yet, over the years we have seen none of them being punished. Why? Are our courts biased too?

Police reforms may help they say. I believe too. The duty of the police is only to serve the people. They should never be a tool for the politicians to play with lives. Make them independent? Other nations are doing it, why not India? How much worse can it get, if it so? A force not governed by each state but as a separate entity. A force whose only duty is to protect the masses. What can go wrong? If there are mistakes, this will be more visible and can be easily punished?

Let the police force be politically neutral. Let them be recruited from a central pool and transferred like the bank employees. Let them be paid well for a start.

2014 LS elections are nearing. Do I have hopes for any positive change. Why should there be? On one side is the so called secular party trying to woo the minorities by all means while on the other side is the party for the majority trying to woo the majority. Will anything change on the ground? Or will both these parties lose and political mongering bring about an even more worse situation?

Let me end this by praying that any party which comes to power in 2014 will concentrate on building more toilets!

You will agree with me once you see the toilet map of our nation.

Oh My God!

Finally finished watching the Hind movie OMG. I did try to watch earlier with Hubby but since I can only understand basic Hindi and when I found him guffawing where I had no clue, I left it halfway. I heard him mentioning the movie to many and finally when a family came over he put this movie to show them. He asked me again to watch it and I agreed on one condition that he shall explain when I couldn’t understand. And thus I finally watched this brilliant movie. 

I know I am late in writing about it and might be repeating what others have already written but yet I cant help writing a few lines. 

For the religious and the atheists it would be hard to accept the entire movie.  A part of it goes entirely against their beliefs but for people like me this movie echoes my own thoughts. In my opinion, the movie should have shown the mindless rituals of all faith and not just Hinduism. But then this movie may not have seen light since the other two faiths are not as tolerant as the Hindu faith! A ban would have been slapped immediately. Maybe it can be cited as the tolerance of the majority but still.

The term salesman is apt for the men of God! They sell God while pocketing the money for their own use.  They interpret God as per their whims. Here in Kuwait, priests are deputed for a year or two and the position is a coveted one! They are paid very well and in addition, they get a good sum by way of allowance and other religious rituals that they perform. On top of that when they are about to leave, they set out on a begging spree and collect from house to house. The recent one left with over a crore of money!  For the majority, such an amount is not possible even if he spends his entire life slogging in this desert!  If any reader  is under misconception, this money is not for the Church since for that we have frequent visits from Bishops and priests. But this money would probably be used to build the typical mallu mansion while this priest would seek a congregation where maximum benefit with minimum effort is required.

The Bible has around 250 verses on money. 

1 Timothy 6:10 
For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. 

"Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon." - Matthew 6:19-21,24 (KJV) 

These salesmen or priests are the guardians of this book and yet they who preach from the same cannot practice! 

As for Hinduism, Lakshmi is the Goddess of wealth so I guess the interpretation of money itself may differ. 

Recently for a Church function the dignitary was a well known liquor baron! So what is the use of these salesmen? Cant God be approached directly? Will he stop you from reaching him? 

In a recent article on Babri Masjid demolition and nation building Subramanian Swamy writes thus: 

Masjids, like churches, are not religious places in the sense a temple is--masjids and churches are places not of, but for worship, i.e., buildings which serve as facilitation centres for namaz and prayer. Namaz can be read anywhere, even on a railway platform. In USA, the VHP buys disused Churches and converts them into temples, and yet no Christian there objects. 

But temples, once it is shown that prana prathista puja was performed to build it, is where God or the deity resides, and therefore a temple belongs to God forever. As Union Law & Justice Minister in 1991, I got our government’s legal team to prove this to the satisfaction of the House of Lords in Britain, to bring back a Nataraja statue taken from a disused Thanjavur temple. 

He says the following too: 

Of course, merely because of this fact about masjids and churches, no one in a democracy can take law into his own hands to demolish these masjids and churches. Nor will the Hindu public wait forever for justice. 

But is it true that a Temple is different from the Church or the Mosque? 

So on twitter I mentioned that a place of worship is special for those who worship in it and that one cannot say that a Temple is different from a Church or a Mosque. I also mentioned that in some churches the altar is considered special and is constructed after special prayers and if the church is need of demolition/renovation it is lowered down as it is. Personally I don’t agree with any of this. To me none of these structures hold any special regard except for it’s historic relevance if any. But that is my personal opinion and I cannot impose it on those who hold a place of worship close to their hearts. 

But suddenly I find that God is indeed concerned with Geography and language too! 

The following tweets came in reply"

special prayers in which language? 

let such worship be done in bethlehem,mecca,madina,jerusalem,gaza strip,rome,itali 

To this I asked if the NRI Hindus board the plane to come to India and worship! Or if all Hindus pray in one language. Is the Hindu God's sphere of influence only in India and does he understand only a language unique to India?( In Christian churches too they use Syriac during liturgy and only the priests understand what he is talking! )

And if this is what religion can do to a person's way of thinking then what is the use of it? 

As for Atheists, they cling on to their faithlessness and cite many valid reasons too. For them like in the movie, there is no Krishna or Jesus or Mohamed to make appearance and make them believe! 

Even Justice Katju has strong words on religion and the divisive ways it works in our country.

When I said that 90% Indians are fools I said an unpleasant truth. The truth is that the minds of 90% Indians are full of casteism, communalism, and superstitions. 

But holding and citing such views is not easy. It can be a lonely journey midst your circle of relations. Majority doesn't want to leave the beaten path and gets angry and agitated when they find a few who does.

Edited to add:


I felt that this post will not be complete if I do not mention Sanal Edamurakku who may soon be arrested because of such salesmen of God!

Delhi police attempt to arrest Sanal Edamaruku

With this dramatic turn of events, Sanal Edamaruku’s persecution has reached a dangerous new level. Exposing the “miracle” of the water-dripping crucifix at the Velankanni church in Mumbai as a plumber’s problem, he incurred Catholic fury beyond all trademark forgiveness. Highly alarming is the fact that the Catholic side has managed to secure considerable support from Indian government agencies.

Is God a myth?

The other day I had an interesting twitter conversation with blogger Arun who in real life is a caring doctor and an atheist. It started off with the following tweet from Arun.

Arun ‏@Charakan  RT“@BobCarmody: @AtheistWorld If prayer worked we would all be rich. We could also all be dead from each others' prayers. Etc etc #fail”

I couldn’t help but send forth the following tweet:

Happy Kitten ‏@Asha_EK  @Charakan but what if you are praying to a discerning God who decides if one is to get rich or should be dead :) 

Therein followed more tweets and the end result was that none moved an inch further away from their own conviction. 

Arun ‏@Charakan  @Asha_EK If t mythical god is discerning & act according to merits wht is t use of praying. All those who pray are then fools -:)

Happy Kitten ‏@Asha_EK@Charakan Well.. prayers are not for God.. it is for your own self....an ack that one is a mere human

Arun ‏@Charakan @Asha_EK gud tht u agree prayers are speaking to urself. But what a stupid way of speaking to one self!How it helps in reminding v r humans?

 Happy Kitten ‏@Asha_EK@Charakan if we were all not human but God we wouldnt be praying but would have been all powerful to do anything.

Arun ‏@Charakan@Asha_EK lol- Asha, first u have to take out this concept about all powerful god myth Then u bcome sane

  Happy Kitten ‏@Asha_EK@Charakan Well.. did I not survive this long without being "sane".. am sure I shall survive a bit more :)

  Arun ‏@Charakan@Asha_EK logically thinking thr can't be an all knowing all powerful creature So y such concepts

Happy Kitten ‏@Asha_EK@Charakan not if you have experienced it personally... for an atheist such experience may be random acts.. I have experienced His care

Arun ‏@Charakan @Asha_EK @arunpillai666 have faith in yourselves No one else is there -:)

Arun ‏@Charakan @arunpillai666 @asha_ek evry 1 deals with their problems themselves. Family friends Including talking to themselves may help.

Happy Kitten ‏@Asha_EK @Charakan @arunpillai666 You say that all those who blv in God are insane..that does not make you sane.

Arun ‏@Charakan @Asha_EK yes brain washing from early childhood is t foremost reason for persistence of this insanity called belief in god @arunpillai666

Arun ‏@Charakan @Asha_EK @arunpillai666 have faith in yourselves No one else is there -:)

Happy Kitten ‏@Asha_EK @Charakan @arunpillai666 when I was a baby/toddler/child,I put my faith in my parents didnt I?I dont find it odd to place my faith n God now

Happy Kitten ‏@Asha_EK @Charakan @arunpillai666 In this mad world I need an infinite reference point which is absolutely good.. Can you give me an alternative?

Arun ‏@Charakan @Asha_EK parents are in front of u in flesh and blood So it is sane unlike t insane belief in mythical god -:) @arunpillai666

Happy Kitten ‏@Asha_EK @Charakan @arunpillai666 these same parents blvd in an unseen God before me.. may parents are not insane..

Arun ‏@Charakan @Asha_EK yes brain washing from early childhood is t foremost reason for persistence of this insanity called belief in god @arunpillai666

Happy Kitten ‏@Asha_EK @Charakan @arunpillai666 You say that all those who blv in God are insane..that does not make you sane.

Happy Kitten ‏@Asha_EK @Charakan @arunpillai666 there are enough arnd us.. senseless killing, raping, looting etc.

Arun ‏@Charakan @Asha_EK all t violence u described are thr in this World for centuries along with God belief Nothing new @arunpillai666

Happy Kitten ‏@Asha_EK @Charakan @arunpillai666 hence I want an alternative.. it is there for sure

Arun ‏@Charakan @Asha_EK Wht evr u enjoy r fruits human civilisation No utopian alternative presented by mythical god available @arunpillai666

Arun ‏@Charakan @Asha_EK violence in this World among Humans is comparatively less now as more & more ppl quit religion & embrace humanism @arunpillai666

Happy Kitten ‏@Asha_EK @Charakan @arunpillai666 maybe many have stopped being "religious" or are staying away from religious institutions.

Happy Kitten ‏@Asha_EK @Charakan @arunpillai666 According to one estimate, atheists make up about 2.3% of the world's population..do they sustain this world?

Arun ‏@Charakan @Asha_EK @arunpillai666 in Western Europe those hu states they r not Theists are 1/3 to 1/2 of population. World is following Europe -:)

@Asha_EK @arunpillai666 ur god beliefs have been sufficiently diluted by Humanism so that u do not follow ur scriptures blindly So non toxic

 Happy Kitten ‏@Asha_EK @Charakan @arunpillai666 hhhaaaaa.... what if my humanism comes from my belief in God? you will not accept it?

Arun ‏@Charakan @Asha_EK tht is because of ur & ur parents humanist culture All religious scriptures threaten ppl to believe @arunpillai666

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Happy Kitten ‏@Asha_EK @Charakan @arunpillai666 how long doc? N evry prsns life cms a tme whn he rels tht hs parnts r not prfct. Lkws one qustns evrthng evn a God

Arun ‏@Charakan @Asha_EK lol Most ppl force kids to pray. Tell if u dont believe or pray te will go to a mythical horrid place called hell @arunpillai666

Happy Kitten ‏@Asha_EK @Charakan @arunpillai666 so how many % of atheists in this world?

Arun ‏@Charakan @Asha_EK Wht evr u enjoy r fruits human civilisation No utopian alternative presented by mythical god available @arunpillai666

Happy Kitten ‏@Asha_EK @Charakan @arunpillai666 Yet many of these giants who left a mark upon this world believed in God.why didnt they treat themselves as Gods?

Arun ‏@Charakan @Asha_EK think u have to get out of this god concept Need de addiction Not ur fault Brain washing of childhood -:) @arunpillai666

Happy Kitten ‏@Asha_EK @Charakan @arunpillai666 :) if my belief in God works for me why should I get out.. it is a good addiction for me

Arun ‏@Charakan @Asha_EK @arunpillai666 no compulsion Only request not to brain wash & instil fear of mythical god in ur kids

Happy Kitten ‏@Asha_EK @Charakan @arunpillai666 If it works for me why not for my kids?

Arun ‏@Charakan@Asha_EK lol Most ppl force kids to pray. Tell if u dont believe or pray te will go to a mythical horrid place called hell @arunpillai666

Happy Kitten ‏@Asha_EK @Charakan @arunpillai666 have never done that myself nor my parents

Arun ‏@Charakan @Asha_EK tht is because of ur & ur parents humanist culture All religious scriptures threaten ppl to believe @arunpillai666

Happy Kitten ‏@Asha_EK @Charakan @arunpillai666 Fear? you have wrong ideas abt God.. someone brainwashed you :)

Arun ‏@Charakan @Asha_EK Wht kind of god myth u believe in? Believe in relg scriptures? @arunpillai666

Arun ‏@Charakan @Asha_EK thr is no need of questioning a mythical creature -:) do u question t pink unicorn? @arunpillai666

Arun ‏@Charakan @Asha_EK Try to get tht god concept out. U will enjoy tht freedom. send t link when u use my tweets. will read & comment @arunpillai666

So do we believe in God because our parents instilled in us the fear of God?

Does belief in God make us better or worse as humans?

Will we be freer if we throw these fetters that binds us to God? More free to do well or to do evil?

What about those atheists turned believers?

What is that draws us to God?

Personally for me God has been real in my life. He was always an unseen force guiding me through the rough times of my life. He is someone to whom I talk daily. Even otherwise when one look at nature and it’s loveliness how many of us cannot but help send a silent note of gratitude to the one who made all this. If His creations are so perfect and beautiful won’t He be the ultimate? Or when we see the good deeds from around us who really inspires them ? There must be some remnant of the “God particle” in each one of us which makes us question His presence itself. Or when we the evil around us dont we want a reference point of goodness? Is this ultimate goodness only a myth?

As for the atheists, their unbelief might have been passed over from their parents or they must be seeing the senselessness of religion and steering far away from it. Organized religion has turned many away from God completely. Look at the recent attack on a helpless girl from Pakistan just because she wanted to study! Was she not shot in the name of God? Can someone believe in such a God? Can a loving God do such senseless acts?

Organized religion has done every evil on this earth in the name of God. If God is good how did it end this way? How did those who learn about him practice ways to do  more evil than good?

Guess these questions shall remain unanswered while many continue to believe in Him while many others shun this concept called GOD.

I hope my readers too would shed more light on this topic. 

Why did they turn towards or away from God ?