In this part, we analyze Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha, Ghulam Nabi Azad’s claim that Muslims of Bharat have shown little inclination towards Islamist terror which is sweeping across the world, and that the alleged ‘Rising Intolerance’ fueled by comments of Hindu leaders is partly responsible for the current unrest in Kashmir.
During a discussion in Rajya Sabha on the topic ‘Recent incidence of violence and turmoil in Kashmir valley resulting in huge loss of lives and property’, Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad from the Congress party laid the blame for current unrest in Kashmir on the Central Government and ruling PDP-BJP coalition in J&K, the alleged ‘Rising Intolerance’ in the country over the last 2 years, and the ‘communal’ debates held on some national TV channels including Muslim critics of Islamism. We will provide a point by point rebuttal to each of his allegations in this three part series.
A group of villagers, led by one Harun Sheikh, in West Bengal’s Malda district allegedly stripped a 33-year-old woman, thrashed her and chopped two fingers off her left hand after her cow ate grains from Sheikh’s fields.
Now is the time when there is a growing need for what could be called Vedic Ambassadors, those who can represent and show the benefits of what the Vedic culture has to offer. In this age, when there is a concern for preserving, protecting, and disseminating Vedic culture and its vast knowledge on all aspects of life, there is a great need for those who follow Sanatana Dharma or Hindu Dharma to be Vedic Ambassadors, or those who can fairly and accurately represent the Dharma. As we see society entering various states of confusion and anxiety over the circumstances that are happening all around the planet, the need for deeper spiritual understanding is obvious. Thus, there is a calling for Vedic Ambassadors who can assist in this way. But how can we be Vedic Ambassadors? What are the requirements?
There has been a spurt of opinion pieces, op-eds, columns, blogs in recent days in Bharat’s mass media expressing ‘pain’ over the situation in Kashmir, subtly eulogizing the slain terrorist Burhan Wani, projecting the Government’s response to violent protests as ‘lethal’, and presenting a referendum as the only feasible solution to the Kashmir situation.
One such ill-informed piece appeared as a blog on Times Of India’s online platform, by the self-professed socialite, model, ‘journalist’, and ‘one of India’s most popular writers’ Shobhaa De. Titled ‘Burhan Wani is dead but he’ll live on till we find out what Kashmir really wants‘, the piece ends with the below line –
“Let’s see if the present government has the guts to go ahead with a referendum to resolve the Kashmir crisis once and for all”
Appalled by the lack of knowledge of the on-ground situation, a Kashmiri Hindu has replied to Shobhaa De’s blog with the below YouTube video –
Large number of people had come to celebrate Bastille Day in Nice on 14th July, France’s biggest public holiday, which was cruelly ruined by a jihadi attack when Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel, a 31-year old Tunisia with French residency permit, drove a truck through crowds killing at least 84 people and leaving over 100 injured, many critically.
(This article is the final part of a 4-part series. Read Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3)
In earlier parts of this series, we saw that Colonialism has adopted many forms, morphed itself under various disguises and has been gnawing away at the vitals of the Civilization and Knowledge Systems of Bharat. The colonial past has somehow managed to influence and even dictate our present. Bharat, a sovereign country, does not enjoy that sense of real freedom in society, economic development or education or even the arts.
Waari is a holy pilgrimage in Maharashtra that consists of lakhs of devotees walking about 250 km over several days. Waari is undertaken in the Hindu month of Aashaadh (around June-July) and devotees walk with Sant Tukaram Maharaj Palkhi (palanquin) from Dehu and Sant Dnyaneshwar Maharaj Palkhi from Alandi to Pandharpur, where they offer their respects to Bhagwan Vitthala (also known as Vithoba or Panduranga, an avatar of Bhagwan Vishnu).
The participants in the Waari are called ‘Waarakaris’. In over 700 years of waari tradition, no stampede or chaos has ever taken place. Other groups also walk from southern states like Karnataka, Andhara Pradesh etc. The waarkaris are mainly agriculturists and many of them are poor. A chain of lakhs of men, women and children walking for miles with non-stop chants of Gyaanbaa-Tukaaraam on their lips, is an incredible spectacle.
The newsweekly India Today has put an inappropriate image of Baba Ramdev doing a yoga asana on its cover page. The magazine chose an unusual photo of Baba Ramdev for its cover story titled ” “Power Yogi – How Baba Ramdev discovered commerce and turned spirituality on its head to emerge as a political, economic and cultural superbrand.”
.@yogrishiramdev on this week’s India Today magazine cover. Here’s behind the scenes story https://t.co/7g7Rk3R5QSpic.twitter.com/CXTdLR84fH
— India Today (@IndiaToday) July 14, 2016
Such tactics of paying back-handed compliments to Hindu religious/cultural icons are common place in the left-liberal mainstream media of Bharat. While India Today’s Doon-educated Chief Editor Aroon Purie will claim that their article just describes the incredible success story of Baba Ramdev’s Patanjali Ayurved group which has disrupted the FMCG sector and earned revenues of around 5,000 crore in the last financial year, the completely inappropriate cover photo leaves a bad taste in the mouth.
As if on cue, Indian Express, HuffingtonPost India and the left-liberal propaganda site Scroll.in quickly published strikingly similar stories celebrating how Adarsh Liberals on twitter had a field day over the ‘India Today’ cover image –
‘India Today’ Puts Ramdev’s Behind On Cover, And Twitter Can’t Even…
It’s a weapon of mass disgustion’: Twitter trolls India Today’s cover image of the yoga guru Ramdev
Twitterati’s having so much fun with Baba Ramdev’s latest mag cover picture
Baba Ramdev has long been an object of ridicule for mainstream media (both news and entertainment). Even the brutal midnight crackdown by UPA-2 on sleeping anti-corruption protesters led by Baba Ramdev, in which an old woman Rajbala died, was largely trivialized while stories about Ramdev’s alleged escape in women’s dress made headlines.
The immense contribution that Baba Ramdev has made to revive the ancient Hindu sciences of Yoga and Ayurveda is lost on the Star-Bucks guzzling, ‘Game of Thrones’ watching, Formula-1 cheering deracinated urban yuppie that can be found in most metros. And this is the target audience for our English language media; so it comes as no surprise that mocking Baba Ramdev makes good business sense for them. Ideologically too, our media is trained to bring down any person who might promote pride in Hindu identity – this is classic sepoy behavior which acts as a front for new age colonial forces. And the same media houses hail communal Islamist politicians like Badruddin Ajmal as the ‘perfume baron’.
The repeated portrayal of Yoga as a ‘strange, exotic practice of contorting the body‘ and portraying leading Yoga gurus like Baba Ramdev as weird mavericks is a clear attempt at dissuading urban youth from adopting healthier Dharmic lifestyles. The contribution of Baba Ramdev to improving public health in Bharat and the potential his teachings have to lower public health costs is what objective journalism should ideally focus on. But there are many connected-to-roots twitterati who now understand the games a section of media plays in denigrating and mocking Hindu wisdom. This is what they had to say –
@rahulkanwal @IndiaToday its lousy, understand you have done this to put down Baba Ramdev…
— Rajesh (@rajeshr1975) July 15, 2016
Dear @IndianExpress, try doing this with spiritual leaders of other religions & see what they do to you!! #Shame pic.twitter.com/WBUGtWWVEW
— Priti Gandhi (@MrsGandhi) July 15, 2016
This is @IndianExpress as cheap as @IndiaToday .. Standard of Journalism in India .. pic.twitter.com/Yvs6ZEPZNg
— नंदिता ठाकुर (@nanditathhakur) July 15, 2016
.@Rudrasiva this is an asana, not a pose. Q is about the mindset that made @aroonpurie choose this from among many Yogasanas @yogrishiramdev
— विनोद शर्मा (@vinod_sharma) July 14, 2016
As Amarnath Yatra struggles to continue amidst suspensions and resumptions because of violent Kashmir ‘protests’, yatris who have returned to their homes are narrating their horrible experiences. Hindi / local media has covered their experiences in detail; many of the yatris suffered serious threats and great inconvenience just because the local Muslim population was angry about the dead terrorist Burhan Wani and decided to take out their anger on travelling yatris.
Quoting and translating what a yatri named Vinod told Dainik Bhaskar, ” We were returning from Amarnath when young boys started pelting stones on our vehicle and broke all the window panes. They asked the people to get down from the bus. Then they blamed that we (the yatris) had killed their leader and that blood will be avenged by blood. We felt that our end may be near. They released us one by one after asking us to say ‘ Pakistan zindabad, Bharat murdabad’. We had to do anti national sloganeering to save our lives. I felt as if I am stuck in some other country”.
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