Amarnath Yatra: A Holy Journey marred with Terror

Amarnath Yatra is one of the most sacred pilgrimages among Hindus. This year also, the Yatra has started. And so have started the attacks on the devotees. I am not sure, when we mention Amarnath, what comes to our minds first: Lord Shiva or the terror attacks?

Amarnath Yatra 2007: Attacks update:

Yatra Begins:           July 1, 2007.                                      [Link]

Attack # 1:                17 July, 2007. I dead, 19 injured     [Link1] [Link2]

Attach # 2:                21 July, 2007. 10 injured                 [Link1] [Link2]

Government Protects

The Amarnath Yatra has been a constant target for Pakistan sponsored militants. Every year, devotees wait for the Yatra to begin so that they could see the living God Amarnath. And every year, the trained militants wait, so that they could strike and kill the maximum possible. The areas which the Yatra touches are in control of the Indian Army; even then the strikes happen.

I won't compare the Amarnath Yatra with the Haj Pilgrimage, where our secular government subsidizes the travel and facilitates the journey, even to the extent of arranging special flights. On the other hand, the fate of Amarnath pilgrims seems to be in the hands of terrorists. In the year 2000, 30 devotees were brutally killed and many others injured. It seems the devotees to the Amarnath Yatra must pass the test of remaining devoted throughout the attacks and obstacles, and then only they will be blessed!

Enigma

Every year, around 4 lakh devotees reach the Amarnath temple which is reported to be 5000 years old. This is held during 45 day season around the festival of Shravani Mela in July-August, coinciding with the Hindu holy month of Shravan.

The mythology is that this is the cave where Lord Shiva told about the secret of life and eternity to His divine consort Parvati. This place holds a very important value to Hindus.

The cave is situated at a height of 4175 m, about 141 km from Srinagar. Devotees generally take the 45 km pilgrimage on foot from town of Pahalgam onwards and cover the journey in 4 to 5 days. Devotees worship the naturally formed (ice) Shiva lingam. They also get to worship the naturally formed representations of Ganesha and Parvati. The Amarnath cave is high and shallow, and extended up to 40 m.

Putting a Full Stop

A poet named Nikhil Parekh has written "Love versus Terrorism", a collection of anti terror poems. [Link]. Anti terrorism books are also finding good market [Link].  

I haven't heard of any book in our religion, dealing in anti-terrorism. Have you? It proves that terrorism needs to be tackled in any other way than writing about it. Therefore, I stop.

PS: Let us hope and pray that remaining Amarnath Yatra concludes without any trouble.

My views on Presidential Elections – 2007

In a nutshell, my views on presidential elections 2007 are like this:

Ms. Pratibha Patil may be an intellectual and a very mature lady, or may be Shree Bhairon Singh Shekhawat have more experience of handling high and delicate posts. But the first thing that strikes me when I think of these presidential elections is Why election? Why are the elections being held?

In present state of affairs, the public, specially the younger generation is getting disillusioned from the politics and the politicians. Politics has really become a dirty word. The need of the hour is to keep politics and politicians as distant and separate as possible from the day to day life of Indians. Because of this reason, I think that even the posts like BCCI chief should be occupied by non-political people. The post of President of India has long been occupied by aging politicians, and the present generation thinks that this post should not be for rewards, as the ruling UPA (read Congress) is going about it. Keeping non-political persons on this post will pacify the rage that is running in the countrymen against the lot of the politicians.

Also, there is a bigger evil the tendency of the UPA government of not accepting anything that the previous government did. This happened with Dr. Venugopal of AIIMS earlier and this is happening with APJ Abdul Kalam this time. This tendency is not healthy for our democracy.

In my opinion, present President APJ Abdul Kalam has brought dignity to the post of the president. He has lived his vision, inspired millions of students and made us believe that an honest person can reach the highest post in our country without any unethical means.

I still think that APJ Abdul Kalam is the best candidate for the President of India.

Popular Decision may not be the Right one

One of my friends sent this case to me: 

A group of children were playing near two railway tracks, one still in use while the other abandoned. Only one child played on the disused track, the rest on the operational track.

One train is coming, and you are just beside the track interchange. You can make the train change its course towards the abandoned track and save most of the kids. However, that would also mean the lone child playing by the disused track would be sacrificed. Or would you rather let the train go its way?

Let’s take a pause to think what kind of decision we could make…………….

Most people might choose to divert the course of the train, and sacrifice only one child. You might think the same way, I guess. Exactly, I thought the same way initially because to save most of the children at the expense of only one child was rational decision most people would make, morally and emotionally.

But, have you ever thought that the child choosing to play on the disused track had in fact made the right decision to play at a safe place? However, he had to be sacrificed because of his ignorant friends who chose to play where the danger was. This kind of dilemma happens around us everyday. In the office, community, in politics and especially in a democratic society, the minority is often sacrificed for the interest of the majority, no matter how foolish or ignorant the majority are, and how far-sighted and knowledgeable the minority are. The child who chose not to play with the rest on the operational track was sidelined. And in the case he was sacrificed, without any concern who was right and who was wrong.

The great critic Leo Velski Julian who told the story said he would not try to change the course of the train. We should not sacrifice right at the luring of a popular decision. “What’s right isn’t always popular; and what’s popular isn’t always right.”

After reading this piece about making bold right decisions, I thought about another two real life cases: Nathuram Godse killed Mahatma Gandhi and Rajiv Goswami killed himself (although he was saved, he died afterwards because of the injuries).

One important question that comes to me is; who should have died, if it was necessary for one of them to die, in order to solve a problem. Nathuram Godse killed Gandhiji, because he thought him responsible for the massacres of Indians during partition riots. If Gandhiji didn't give his consent for partition of India, there won't be any partition on religious lines, and so no communal riots and no molestations of women. But here again we miss to reach the basic question: who was the creator of this partition? Was it Mahatma Gandhi or was it Muhammad Ali Jinnah? For how many years, either within or out of the Indian National Congress, did Jinnah demand the formation of a separate Muslim state [Link1][Link2]? Was not Jinnah fundamentally responsible for the partition? Any attempt by Gandhiji to stop that communal partition would have resulted in communal riots any way, in order to support their demands of a separate state. Therefore, if Nathuram was real patriot, why didn't he kill that root cause in 1946 instead of sacrificing that Mahatma in 1948?

Similarly, there was a single person vastly responsible for implementing the caste based reservation system in the name of Mandal commission report VP Singh. But the over enthusiastic young man, Rajeev Goswami, took the extreme step and burnt himself. He was not a single case, as in the anti-reservation protests, several other young students all over India attempted this extreme step of suicides in order to force the government to stop implementing Mandal commission's caste based reservations. But why did Rajeev sacrifice himself? It goes without saying that a right sacrifice in this condition should have been the person fundamentally responsible for the condition. After all:

“What’s right isn’t always popular; and what’s popular isn’t always right.”

There is another decision which stands apart: the decision by LTTE to kill India‘s former PM Rajiv Gandhi. It is important to note that the Indo-Sri Lanka Accord, which introduced Indian peacekeeping force in the north Sri Lanka and devastated the LTTE, was signed by Rajiv Gandhi along with Sri Lankan President JR Jayawardene. LTTE incurred huge losses. Whom to blame for this loss? Think from the mind of a terrorist. If they had to kill at least one, whom they would choose to kill? A Sri Lankan President or an Indian former PM? Sri Lankan Presidents may come and go; they will continue fighting the LTTE. But Rajiv Gandhi was more responsible, and killing him would have sent a message to the nearest neighbor India for generations to come. Therefore, while Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated, JR Jayawardene died a natural death at the age of 90 [Link]. This decision of the LTTE has gone down well. No subsequent Indian government has been dare-devil enough to get its hands into the Sri Lankan affairs.

Could we think of any more such right decisions? Of course there are many.

Please note that the interpretation of these cases and the manner of comparison with the case of children playing on the track is my personal opinion. There has been no attempt to glorify the act of killings or suicides which are extreme steps and should be avoided at any cost.

Open letter to MF Hussain

You must be feeling bad because you are out of India for a long time. India is as much your motherland as much she is mine. Therefore, you have equal right to represent it, talk and write about it, paint about it, and respect it.

But to be honest, I am not happy with the way you have painted some of your paintings. Please understand that I am not attempting to dictate you what to paint and what not to, I am just telling you how I feel when you paint about a particular set the Hindu Gods. For example, your paintings include these:

Goddess Durga in sexual union with Tiger

Goddess Lakshmi naked on Shree Ganesh’s head

Naked Saraswati

Naked Shri Parvati

Naked Draupadi.

Naked Lord Hanuman and Goddess Sita sitting on thigh of Ravana

Full Clad Muslim King and naked Hindu Brahmin.

These pictures are available at this website: [Link]. They have got these pictures from a book by Daniel Alan Herwitz and published by California State University. Now this is bad; this was between you Vs Hindus and you involved those Americans also? I have noted that on many of your nude pictures of Hindu Goddesses, you have written 'Durga', 'Saraswati', i.e. the names of the respective Gods. I wonder, have you done this keeping in mind the real purchasers of these paintings? An English diplomat who will purchase your painting and pay in Euros, will definitely like the name of the Goddess there on the painting, so that he can target collecting the whole set of Hindu Goddesses in his drawing room! Do you feel happy about it?

You have recently been selected for Raja Ravi Varma Award by the Kerala government [Link]. There is a protest letter on this website also, which the public can send to CM, and Cultural Minister, Kerala, with CC to Prime Minister of India and the President of India. [Link]. I have sent a protest letter through this website. But a one-to-one letter is always better. Therefore, I am writing to you here.

Shashi Tharoor has called you the Picasso of India [Link]. I am happy that the artists in India are getting their due respect. But why are you outside India? Shashi Tharoor has also lived outside India for a long time. That helps, in losing our roots and thinking ourselves as intellectuals. And why should an intellectual like Mr. Tharoor think like a common man; particularly on this issue?

I would like to tell you about a Muslim guy. On Orkut, there was a forum where people discussed whether you are a human being or an anti-national element. The guy wrote this: "Nude paintings of Gods and respected religious figures will definitely attract criticism from the public. And when a Muslim paints a Hindu God in the nude, it is surely going to hurt a lot of people. Even I, a Muslim, don't support Hussain when he paints Hindu Gods in this way". I thanked that guy from my heart for his honest comments. This spirit of the real Indians makes me proud. And your spirit to paint like this makes me sad. A lot of people have asked you to apologize. You know very well that if you apologize and stop painting Hindu Gods in nude (Is any Hindu God remaining, by the way?), you can return back to India. After all, Indians are so kind hearted. But you may be happy there, as a non resident Indian, and may not want to return back. When you die and meet Allah, you will get to see all the Hindu Gods within the very image of Allah, and they will not look exactly as you have painted them in your paintings; I am sure.

My earliest memory

The days were around the end of 80s, or the beginning of 90s. I don't remember the exact year. There were cricket matches taking place in day-and-night format, in which I had found some interest. Of course India was playing; otherwise a novice like me won't have stuck to the TV.

Those were the days when our fathers asked us to go to bed at 9 PM, and we obeyed without resistance. This happened one such night.

I woke up by the sound of crackers after a few hours of sleep. Crackers reminded me of the cricket match that was on.

"Hurrah, we have won!" I exclaimed.

"No, we lost", my father was awake, and came near my bed.

"Then why are they celebrating?"

"Because we lost against Pakistan", father said.

I was confused. No matter against whom we lost, it was an Indian team that lost. How can people celebrate?

"See, the sound is coming from only one side of the town, from the area where Muslims live. They always celebrate when Indian team loses against Pakistan." Father brought me on real ground.

This particular night was not exceptional, it kept repeating itself, and they kept celebrating Indian team's loss to the Pakistani team. I didn't know the definitions of "patriotism" or "anti-nationalists"; but by that time I had invented my own definition: Any Indian, who celebrates the defeat of Indian national team, can't be Indian in real sense.  

Indian Parliament, National Flag, Mr. Ahluwalia and Citizen Journalists

ASA (As soon as) you stop wondering about the title of this article, please get ready for some serious stuff. In the year 2005, two special bills were passed by the parliament of India, their names explains their application:

- The prevention of insults to national honour (Amendment) Bill, 2005

- The state emblem of India (prohibition of improper use) Bill, 2005.

A part of the synopsis to the debate which preceded passing of these two bills is available on the website of the Rajya Sabha [Link]. The debates in the parliament are often of great source of learning not only for the budding politicians, and citizen journalists in the guise of the 'aam adami'. Here is a small account of the same, with my comments in green font, often containing information that we forget to remember.  

[1] SHRI VIJAY J. DARDA:

"It is strange that national symbol was removed from the helmets of Indian Cricketers.  It is not proper.  Some provision should be made in this regard.."

[2] SHRI S.S.CHANDRAN:

(Spoke in Tamil)

[3] SHRIMATI N.P.DURGA:

"There, is a young patriot, Shri Pingali Venkaiah, who prepared our National Flag. The only difference between the Flag prepared by Shri Pingali Venkaiah and the present Flag is that now we have got the 'Dharma Chakra' in place of 'Charkha'. Gandhiji had also appreciated Shri Pingali Venkaiah, in "The Young India". But what honour have we given to  this great patriot? So, I request, the Government to release, at least, a postal stamp and erect a statue of Shri Pingali Venkaiah in the premises of this great democratic institution"..

[4] PROF. RAM DEO BHANDARY:

"General people normally do not disrespect the National Flag, but certain so called high class people often disrespect the National Flag"

[5] MAULANA OBAIDULLAH KHAN AZMI:

"Our National Flag is a proud for every Indian. A large number of people and defence personnel sacrificed their lives for the sake of National Flag. The National Emblem-Ashok Chakra is a symbol of social justice in India"

[6] SHRI S.S. AHLUWALIA:

"The emblem formed by the State of Mizoram bears the mark of cross which indicates to a particular religion.  This is a clear violation of the Preamble of the Constitution of India alongwith Article 15 and 51 (A), wherein it is clearly mentioned that the State shall not discriminate against any citizen on grounds of religion, caste, race, sex, place of birth or any of them. I do not know if any one amongst you would come forward to protest this development. But, I shall be the first person to protest it.

14 States have formed their emblems with or without seeking permission from the Central Government. In respect of four States, even the records are not available.  Only three States have sought the permission of the Centre.  The Centre does not know what type of these emblems are and whether they conform to the required norms laid down in this regard.

I was surprised to view a telecast on T.V. in which hon’ble Minister of Commerce, Mr. Kamal Nath was briefing to the media persons before leaving for W.T.O. Summit. Our national flag was overturned there. No regretment has been expressed by the Minister so far in this regard.

These are my observations on the comments made by the honorable MPs here:

[1]

The (UPA) Government, in a letter, had asked the BCCI to restrain cricketers from using the National Flag on their cricketing gear since it amounted to showing disrespect. Before that Naveen Jindal, an industrialist and an MP, had initiated the debate in 1994 over the right of the citizens to fly the national flag in their homes, any day of the year. In the year 2002, Mr. Jindal had won a long-drawn legal battle to be able to fly the National Flag at his factory in Raigarh, Chhattisgarh. The Union Government amended the flag code to liberalize the use of the National Flag. Yet, the code did not allow the flag to be used as part of a uniform or dress.

The Hindu reports that the most notable cricketer sporting the National Tri-color on the helmet is Sachin Tendulkar, while Sourav Ganguly, Anil Kumble, Rahul Dravid and Virender Sehwag are among those who have not displayed the National Flag on their gear. Interestingly, Tendulkar has always used the National Flag on the top-inside part of his cricket bag. Sachin says what he shows on his helmet (national flag) is what he keep inside his heart (patriotism). It should be noted that most of the other nations don’t restrict its citizens from displaying the national flag on uniforms or dresses. 

[2]

The member spoke in Tamil, and therefore his speech was not recorded for reference in this document. In my opinion, members should stick to either of the two national languages - Hindi or English, for reaching to the wider audiences.

[3]

Thanks madam, you have made an important point here. But to believe that after releasing a stamp or erecting a statue, the soul of Venkaiyah will "feel good", is hoping for too much. This is a time tested political weapon in the form of public statues: install a statue of a leader, you become a hero for the community to which the leader belonged, then deface it, start a riot in protest, then come down to calm the riots, get 5 lakhs as compensation for the dead, you are again proven yourself a great leader for the communities involved, then do purification of the statue, and then keep repeating the procedure every 5 years.

[4]

'So called' high class people? Does disrespect comes with fat incomes?

[5]

We can notice his explanation of Ashok Chakra as a symbol of 'social justice'! The Dharma Chakra is wheel of life conveys the importance of karma; we have to keep progressing, keep growing, as a nation. And its 24 spokes portray the prevalence of righteousness all 24 hours a day.

[6]

One can't remain without some respect towards the righteousness shown by Mr. Ahluwalia here. He has spoken his mind and heart in a manner which reflects strength of character. Kudos to him. He highlights the misdeeds of ruling politicians in Mizoram, points out to the disregards from states with respect to the present bill, and even targets a minister for negligence. We need more parliamentarians like him.

Indian Parliament, National Flag, Mr. Ahluwalia and Citizen Journalists

As soon as you stop wondering about the title of this article, please get ready for some serious stuff. In the year 2005, two special bills were passed by the parliament of India, their names explains their application:

 

�     The prevention of insults to national honour (Amendment) Bill, 2005

�     The state emblem of India (prohibition of improper use) Bill, 2005.

 

A part of the synopsis to the debate which preceded passing of these two bills is available on the website of the Rajya Sabha [Link]. The debates in the parliament are often of great source of learning not only for the budding politicians, and citizen journalists in the guise of the aam adami. Here is a small account of the same, with my comments in green font, often containing information that we forget to remember.  

 

[1] SHRI VIJAY J. DARDA:

 

It is strange that national symbol was removed from the helmets of Indian Cricketers.  It is not proper.  Some provision should be made in this regard..

 

[2] SHRI S.S.CHANDRAN:

 

(Spoke in Tamil)

 

[3] SHRIMATI N.P.DURGA:

 

There, is a young patriot, Shri Pingali Venkaiah, who prepared our National Flag. The only difference between the Flag prepared by Shri Pingali Venkaiah and the present Flag is that now we have got the Dharma Chakra in place of Charkha.  Gandhiji had also appreciated Shri Pingali Venkaiah, in The Young India. But what honour have we given to  this great patriot?  So, I request, the Government to release, at least, a postal stamp and erect a statue of Shri Pingali Venkaiah in the premises of this great democratic institution..

 

[4] PROF. RAM DEO BHANDARY:

 

General people normally do not disrespect the National Flag, but certain so called high class people often disrespect the National Flag

 

[5] MAULANA OBAIDULLAH KHAN AZMI:

 

Our National Flag is a proud for every Indian. A large number of people and defence personnel sacrificed their lives for the sake of National Flag. The National Emblem-Ashok Chakra is a symbol of social justice in India

 

[6] SHRI S.S. AHLUWALIA:

 

The emblem formed by the State of Mizoram bears the mark of cross which indicates to a particular religion.  This is a clear violation of the Preamble of the Constitution of India alongwith Article 15 and 51 (A), wherein it is clearly mentioned that the State shall not discriminate against any citizen on grounds of religion, caste, race, sex, place of birth or any of them. I do not know if any one amongst you would come forward to protest this development. But, I shall be the first person to protest it.

 

14 States have formed their emblems with or without seeking permission from the Central Government. In respect of four States, even the records are not available.  Only three States have sought the permission of the Centre.  The Centre does not know what type of these emblems are and whether they conform to the required norms laid down in this regard.

 

I was surprised to view a telecast on T.V. in which hon’ble Minister of Commerce, Mr. Kamal Nath was briefing to the media persons before leaving for W.T.O. Summit. Our national flag was overturned there. No regretment has been expressed by the Minister so far in this regard.

 

These are my observations on the comments made by the honorable MPs here:

 

[1]

 

The (UPA) Government, in a letter, had asked the BCCI to restrain cricketers from using the National Flag on their cricketing gear since it amounted to showing disrespect. Before that Naveen Jindal, an industrialist and an MP, had initiated the debate in 1994 over the right of the citizens to fly the national flag in their homes, any day of the year. In the year 2002, Mr. Jindal had won a long-drawn legal battle to be able to fly the National Flag at his factory in Raigarh, Chhattisgarh. The Union Government amended the flag code to liberalize the use of the National Flag. Yet, the code did not allow the flag to be used as part of a uniform or dress.

 

The Hindu reports that the most notable cricketer sporting the National Tri-color on the helmet is Sachin Tendulkar, while Sourav Ganguly, Anil Kumble, Rahul Dravid and Virender Sehwag are among those who have not displayed the National Flag on their gear. Interestingly, Tendulkar has always used the National Flag on the top-inside part of his cricket bag. Sachin says what he shows on his helmet (national flag) is what he keep inside his heart (patriotism). It should be noted that most of the other nations don’t restrict its citizens from displaying the national flag on uniforms or dresses.

 

[2]

 

The member spoke in Tamil, and therefore his speech was not recorded for reference in this document. In my opinion, members should stick to either of the two national languages Hindi or English, for reaching to the wider audiences.

 

[3]

 

Thanks madam, you have made an important point here. But to believe that after releasing a stamp or erecting a statue, the soul of Venkaiyah will feel good, is hoping for too much. This is a time tested political weapon in the form of public statues: install a statue of a leader, you become a hero for the community to which the leader belonged, then deface it, start a riot in protest, then come down to calm the riots, get 5 lakhs as compensation for the dead, you are again proven yourself a great leader for the communities involved, then do purification of the statue, and then keep repeating the procedure every 5 years.

 

[4]

 

So called high class people? Does disrespect comes with fat incomes?

 

[5]

 

We can notice his explanation of Ashok Chakra as a symbol of social justice! The Dharma Chakra is wheel of life conveys the importance of karma; we have to keep progressing, keep growing, as a nation. And its 24 spokes portray the prevalence of righteousness all 24 hours a day.

 

[6]

 

One can't remain without some respect towards the righteousness shown by Mr. Ahluwalia here. He has spoken his mind and heart in a manner which reflects strength of character. Kudos to him. He highlights the misdeeds of ruling politicians in Mizoram, points out to the disregards from states with respect to the present bill, and even targets a minister for negligence. We need more parliamentarians like him.

 

(I have edited this piece since I posted for the first time. This is because some of my statements were too pinching and I thought some of them were disrespectful towards the parliament also.) I am not sure whether this article of mine conforms to the conventional forms of writing an article. This is neither an interview, nor a plain news article. You must have noted that with the advent of the internet, and the popularity of the blogs, people have re-discovered the delights of writing. And the conventional forms of writing, the standards, the tricks of the trade, are all gone. I was reading my text book for a course of journalism last night. It teaches how we should start an article and how should we develop the story. But the conventions get outdated these days by the time they reach the printer! Welcome the millennium Citizen Journalists.