AN ETERNAL DRIVE FOR CLEANLINESS
Radicalism vs. Rationality
When I have been asked by
the editorial team of SO0NGSOPTOK: The Writers’ Blog to submit an article only on religious
intolerance & radical extremism, I took their permission to be greedy enough to
look back at my own country , where
Rly Minister , an FCA comes
to International CA Conference
with an appeal for all to adopt n clean
certain stations. I was surprised &
amused. Had Gandhiji been alive today,
could he talk only about cleanliness as
the only means to goodly God??? No, certainly not. Why not?
Cleanliness has a very very wide
paradigm, spreading from
cleansing of ethnic hatred
to cleaning of religious hatred …. ,
religious intolerance, intolerance
against the weaker sections-- minority,
women, rationalists, atheists, hapless
immigrants from across iron
fence…. I shall divide d article into
two parts -- 1st part on Indian
scenario on Religious &
Sexual & clannish cleansing, and the 2nd part on Recent atrocities on atheists in Bangladesh & across Globe.
PART 1
Syt Markandeya Katju has blamed
Gandhiji a British spy & Netaji a German one. While Sri Dange
was called a British spy & even RSS, Mr Gandhi’s
name never came out so. Is it an
overzealous approach to cleanliness , or the speech from an unclean mind? Our
judiciary has no dearth of highlight –seeking people giving sensational
bites. Cleanliness in approach must proceed
from top . The presidents of India
, apart from Dr APJ Abdul
Kalam have mostly been political
candidates & after Pratibha Patil
left , news items started feeding
in wrt her assets , her foreign tours to
benefit her family members etc.
Most of the governors
in UPA & NDA regimes are equally political entities , raising serious doubts over their
credentials & clean
decisions. If PM wants swachhwata , cleanliness has to be targeted at the root .
In social & public life, we
happen to be more concerned
about Pretty Jinta’s tussle with Ness than her efforts in the wins
of her IPL team & the profit she has
earned for it . Because, she is a
lady. In our nation , lowest @ 3% (UP)
to highest @14% ( Kerala) is the land holding by women ; rest all belong to
males , although at least 87:100
is the women’s ratio with men.
Coming to Cleanliness in
International context, it was surprising to note that
US President was so very vocal about India’s
recent religious intolerance.
While we must be ready to
face all criticisms with a very
clean mind , question comes up , Mr
President, is your country clean?
Addressing the White House summit in Washington DC last week on
Countering Violent Extremism, chief of of India's Joint Intelligence Committee
RN Ravi reeled off facts and figures relating to minority welfare schemes and measures undertaken by the government, to underline that the
social, educational and economic empowerment of the smaller communities was
taken due care of.
.
Stating that the government's response to violent extremism was calibrated to
prevent disproportionate use of force, India highlighted how it had never used
"air power" or "area weapon" to combat violent extremism. While GOI has made
a debatable decision &
inappropriate as per many to ban the
interview of Dec16 rape related BBC
documentary, why should only Indian stories be glorified ? Should it be
cleaner for Indian media to make documentaries on so many US / UK rattling
issues ? Shall that be
permitted ? For India,
all procedures must go off, but
for EU, all procedures are
sacrosanct. Cleaner World is
needed by 2016, bereft of all
such anomalies.In UP, less than 3% of agricultural land belongs to women, and
in Kerala, where the percentage is highest among all Indian states, the figure
is no more than 14%.
On the Holi day of 2015 , when I am writing this article,
BBC has arrogantly &
adamantly just gone on air with an interview of the rapists
of Jyothi Singh in 2013. The
rapists that got knee jark reprieve from SC the
verdict of gallows, are firm in belief that nothing wrong did they do. It was a mere
accident that the girl unnecessarily protested ; else, it could have been
a smooth rape as ever…
They also justified that it
was too common for them to grow
up seeing rapes as normal incidents in
the family / vicinity; that a girl
is of definite loose character if she
wanders with her boyfriend /
fiancée in an evening , whether in winter or in summer… and
such loose girls need to be
punished by Khaap or male
guardians . Rape and marriage
between raped & rapist
are 2 of d remedies prescribed by
Panchs.
It may be true that
BBC has erred in such a nascent telecast ; but how long can we conceal the fact that rape clock in New York is different
from rape clock in Delhi & that
Delhi’s society looks down upon the North East
to Aryan girls that have
advanced in life with lots of struggle put in at a place
thousand miles away from home…!!! Any girl
achieving medical, engineering &
finance diploma / degree is a
more eye shore to the hapless hooligans – the loom pens…. Forget
all that, in Bangalore , Delhi ,
Mumbai streets u have n no of living couples from NE
& Punjab & some other states, gone up in fashion. Not in
some fashion exhibits, but in
open streets, in short skirts
& hot pants… and ladies
of higher age brackets emulate
this style from these teens n twenties
… in case anybody gets molested , reaction from women groups would not go for sure in favor of
them….
I am writing this article
also at the time
when , in the short vicinity
of NDFB’s tribal & Bengalee bloodbath
on Immigrant allegation,, there is today
the lynching by another Bengalee
by Nagas on allegation / accusation
of rape.
We , who hail from eastern
border towns of Barpeta, Karimganj, Silchar, Dhubri, Balurghat
or Cooch behar, see thousands
coming in daily for livelihood
& going back to B’desh in the evening.
They draw rickshaws, work as masons &
other labor. I was told, all
refineries of NE
shall stop in want of “Malda
labor”. When ULFA
blood-bathed , before our eyes,
in 2004, so many Bihari
labor & rickshaw –pullers
, Biharis en-masse started
going back, and the vacuum got filled
up by
Bangladeshi migrants. Today,
Assam’s 60% population
are Bengalees & 40% + of Assam are
migrants. And , one
interesting / surprise, around
20—30% of masons building India are migrants from eastern border. NDA GOI needs to come clean with a white paper on this---
what to do with the border
infiltrations & d infiltrators?
On the Holi day of 2015 , when I am writing this article,
For the first time in Indian legal history, the Parliament has begun
proceedings to attempt to impeach a judge over allegations of sexual
harassment. Unfortunately all of
us have served in organizations with lots of values
& goals defined & official policies laid down. In a
co called Vinay Cement, my wife was
badly harassed in his chamber by
COO at factory , while I was away in Kolkata HO. The man was shifted to Kolkata
, but such cos engage in appeasing ministers to topple MDs of
corpns, so naturally they have a no of
senior lady officers at the helm;
also nobody dares talk about Chairman’s keep. In a Holcim gr co I had worked , I saw
both father-son duo enjoying the same lady PA , year after year, in spite of their beautiful
wives in office. And , in both Tata Steel & JSW, so many
people are just scared of the tigress lobby … But despite all
grievance redresser / whistle blower committees, there are
top level men that take ladies to water parks, to 5 star hotels in plant vicinity, to co guest houses
or to empty flats kept for such purposes
. Talk of Govt machinery, PSU tops ,
Beaurocracy, Ministers … all enjoy escort services incl Spanking & BDSM…
There would be no of cases of Divisional managers enjoying
subordinates’ wives during office hours
& seldom rewarding subjects with
promotions…… Some ladies in Taxation , I have seen, want company of
gigolos & industrialists ‘ beautiful male honchos before handing out a
favorable order. And this is in spite of all goals & values
engrossed over d websites in no unspoken
terms . Some vendors are more equal , having access to Tolly Bolly
Kolly Sandal wood beauties…..
When Obama gave his bouncer
speech on religious intolerance so unfit for Gandhi’s & Vivekananda’s India.
Our very own RSS Sudarshans went too angry… but could not counter the fact of repeated attacks on peaceful meetings of Catholics. So they
started targeting Mother & also
GOI issued a clarification to the White House , that sectarian theme is d basic of India even today , that Muslims do not feel alienated in India
the way they do so feel in USA… so this 18 crore of Muslims are part of mainstream in so much so that 17 lac of
their ladies have been imparted leadership training ( $ 500 Mn spent
in their entrepreneurship building
& statistics are great wrt schools , classrooms, hostels,
PHCs & it is built for them,,,&
that Terrorism in India survives on forces outside
of the sovereign ….
There is truth in it, feel
friends, all of you shall agree…. a Muslim in Gujarat also
does not live in fear… the arrogance got subdued after Godhra –Ahmedanbad episode (& now they
support India in a Pak-India match ) ; even in UK , today, a Muslim has to
live in fear of state & in USA you
have the modern gas chamber—the
Guantanamo bay ….
But, is GOI stt fully correct?
Irom Sharmila is on hunger strike for over a decade ,--over repeal of
AFSPA, which no GOI shall do…. Nor the
unbridled power of Army in J&K is curtailed… , &
in Maoist infested territory with
lakhs of tribal not tasting rice once
even in a month, Army assumes supreme
command…. The Runu Guhaneogy torture
tradition of males & innocent
females related to accused, bear
continuing testimony in Muslim &
tribal dominated areas…. We
have still glorified laws of Sedition & POTA… and all these
, in a country , where 3 Khans
are highest nett grosser in Bollywood , having joint turnover of Rs 500 crore +.
To bring in reservation is bad, especially if it is for creamy
layer… but to remove it abruptly may be
a questionable step equally.. Vengeance
cannot run a society , nor a governance. It is imperative that all
the sadhus , sadhvis ( love zihaad n Raamjado wallehs ) should be kept far off
governance mandate. But
unfortunately Niranjan Jyoti, Uma Bharati
& Shakshi Maharaj & Sudarshan –all are part of the governance team only. This cleansing is
too crucial. 2015-2016 budget was too novel n unique n path-breaking. A rly budget from an FCA—it
was unique in approach--
without any politico-electoral
sops, And fin budget 2015 was
one of the first budgets off
unclean mindsets of IASs to unnecessarily pour in loopholes
& confusions in each change.
Swachchhta cess is a classic example of such unclean provision
this time, but lawyer Arun Jaitley has
been able to cut some of their wings. How
beautiful it would have been for Bengal, had Mamta Banerjee been able to rise over non-working culture n politics
of Bengalee mindset & reduce
the leaves n enhance working hours , instead of enhancing leaves & reducing ownership spirit for work n
delivery!!!!
TMC came to power in Bengal
after 35 years of degradation of
Bengalee & Bengal, but what Left Front could not amass in 35 years, thru club n Sharda cultures
& wider usage of Sharda , Rosevalley & myriads of
chit funds, they started looting
Bengal the Yedurappa way & in 3
years wealth amassed has been more than
Left Front’s 30 years’ accumulation. Had
Ratan Tata appeased didi LF way, Singur would not have been a history. Kicking
bellies of food bowl of India could have been successfully perpetrated by the
philanthropic messiah of Indian industry.
In Gujarat, he has demanded
extension of benefits given to Nano to other cars in Tata coffer. Such blackmailing & corporate espionage are dark spots on
cleansing process. What was the
need to acquire only most fertile land
in rice bowl of East India? That too,
why 1000 acres? The philanthropist has
declined to sell any car to Pak, nor encourage cross border contracts. And, for TMC, respected
ex-GS of FICCI , Syt Amit Mitra needs
to clean up his blatant didi appeasing
in order to bring in the rationality needed. The mirror
that started staring at you on d first day shall continue its role,
irrespective of whether v fail to look at it / arrogantly v ignore the reality &
live in a dream world. Didi should clean up her mind n image to get back to the
intelligentsia that supported her coming
but are now far off owing to
irresponsible behaviors of
leaders like Anubrata , Tapas Pal etc…
Why TMC alone? A host of parties in regions are running high
voter support base with an
exceptionally high prime factor of
minority support & to garner this support, militants
are allowed unrestricted entry in the states ,
allegedly even with ploys to murder foreign
head of state …. ! Burdwan blast
prima facie leads to how
tens of such attacks across the
nation can very smoothly be planned
from remote interiors of
Bengal. Why not? Around Siliguri there are corridors leading to
Bhutan & Nepal both , from Bangladesh & ultra groups like
ULFA till date continue enjoying
patronage of such foreign
nations….
In d total gamut of dialectics that is marring d nation--- RSS vs BJP,
transparency & devotion of
beaurocracy, Sujatha Singh’s resignation, the allegation of CBI’s
continuing partiality, the first
thing that India has to adopt is political isolation from governance agenda.
CBI should come clean to run as per
concerned court mandate.
Courts should come clean to act in
public interest. Special package
to Bihar & WB should
come as
a package as per
economic prescription , not as a political overtone. And, it
must not be calculated
by TDP how a
non-NDA state package can be better than
an NDA state package.
If India has to emulate China
, this
isolation is mandatory; even in
any developed nation, development agenda is
kept separate from
politics . Whether a beaurocrat likes it or not, India
has been misguided to a great
extent by beaurocracy , who are d eyes n ears of ministers.
Similar is our stance of Srilanka.
Was RAW behind the change in
regime? Will d new regime be able
to see Tamils in Northern peninsula
as 1st class Srilankan citizens? Clean
white paper is needed from new Srilankan president.
{Mr Tharoor was reading from his new book "India
Shastra", a collection of essays, at the annual Jaipur Literature Festival
or LitFest on Friday."Modi could earn his place in history but we in the
opposition are not yet convinced," the Congress MP said, adding, "But
Modi is a shift in politics from politics of identity to politics of
performance." }
BJP that created a furore in war of words at the
outset on article 370 is now sharing
power in J&K with PDP that thanks Pak & terrorists for peaceful elections in J&K. Is BJP
clean on dropping the demand for art 370 for good? Or,
Ram mandir & Ramrajya
are still BJP agenda?
If not, is not RSS any more the
guiding force of BJP? The
ambience is too vitiated. And, false glorification of ancient
Indians as advanced than the west
shall do no good…. Pramod
Muthaliks that vandalize couples on streets on 14 Feb must realize
that Hindu glorious past cannot do any good…. RSS & Mr rajnath Singh must speak out to the world only realistic stories from Indian history books….
On the education front ,
with all due deference to Smriti Irani
( & her unclean academic
status) , the way she has handled IIT
& DU affairs are palpable. Does BJP want that all the
historians shall be rightist?
Can at any point DU & JNU go
ABVP way from its leftist leaning? More fundamentally, can elite n
intelligentsia of JNU n DU n host of other institutes
turn rightist from the Nehru- Mahalanabis leaning they have acquired so far? No…
despite all her sincerest
efforts n Dr
Sugata Bose at helm of Presidency University Kolkata , the
most glorious of the oldest
Indian institutions , the instt
did not go left way…. Jadavpur
University had to get rid of its Vice-
Chancellor , thru a prolonged
leftist movement… it is clear
that leftism is embedded at the root
of our academics in most of the institutes. Come clean as to whether these sadhus (that r
RSS’s backbones & brand
ambassadors for BJP states
n NDA’s choices for Padma awards)
are concealing black money in their
akharas? What is truth about
Naga Sannyasis &
Sannyasins? Cleanliness is not only about a clean Ganga but cleanliness in awarding
vessel contracts for running cruises ,
awarding contracts for dredging
n DMRO/ ETP sewage
treatment & equally, cleanliness
of RSS’s sister concerns & sangha pracharaks n pracharikas. In broad
day light 16 Avadhuts of
Anandamargis were murdered in left regime on Bijan Setu , Kolkata.
Cleanliness is all about clearing all
off such mysteries . And, also
NDA should officially declare
that joint economy & role of welfare state & HDI
are crucial in a country’s
growth –that pure laissez faire cannot achieve growth stories… that opposed to a pure Gujarat model, growth should emulate a better
HDI state model , eg Kerala
TMC came to
WB power with a promise to clean
off mysteries miring 3 decades of left rule, but engaged in unfortunate activities, thrashing those to
back seats.
Today NDA govt should
publish a white paper on its stands on Ghar wapasis & Love Jihads-- on its stand
in Hindu reincarnation vs Islam domination n subjugation dilemma
, is BJP accepting Muslims & Christians as natural cohabitants of India?
Or, they want to opine like Bhavananda of Anandamath that British has come to rescue the Hindu milieu off Muslim
tyranny …..
{ Yogi Adityanath's Men Telling Hindus To Rape Dead Muslim Women Is
Beyond Shocking .In yet another instance of hate speech, a video has surfaced
where a supporter of BJP leader Yogi Adityanath delivers a speech saying they
should dig out dead bodies of Muslim women and rape them. In a high-pitched
vitriol the unnamed supporter also holds forth statements like Muslims' voting
rights must be taken away and how this is important for the creation of
Hindu rashtra. While on one hand Yogi Adityanath shared the stage and
listened in, on March 2 he said, "Hindus are liberal in nature and
therefore the country is also liberal, and Muslims are safer in India than
anywhere else in the world," at Virat Hindu Samavesh in
Hubballi, Karnataka.}
What is NDA’s stand on Mohanta Adityanath? Simple show- causes are non-yielding….if BJP has d only agenda
of India as spoke Namo, why r they not expelling
these people from party n governance
wherever they r in control ???
It is a mystery that both Mr
Modi & Mr Shah have been given clean
chits by apex court. When sedition
charge of Dr Vinayak Sen is rescinded by d same court, we can be 90%
sure of its impartiality & jurisprudence. Then, what is d reality about Godhra &
Ahmedabad massacres? Who were d
culprits? Why were they not booked or brought to fore? Was it a sabotage stage-managed by RSS –BJP combine with Advaniji at helm? Did not Modiji have sufficient hold to counter
? Do not all of us think that
Modiji’s recent love affairs with Sardar Patel & Gandhiji – the two Gujrarti sons of soil lack
transparency of intentions?
2015 started with a bang
from PM’s Mon Ki Baat… Beti Badhao ,
Beti padhao… ; but despite the bang the tempo did not pick up…
because s80 G benefit
in unavailable to this scheme unlike Swachchhata avijan , which
makes all contributions to
Swachchhata avijan 100% tax free.
But irrespective of all
impetus to purity & navigability of Ganga &
other rivers, n a remote possibility of too cost –intensive linking of rivers …., there is no dearth of
atrocities against women….
In PM’s own state, so many
lady surrogates are oppressed
financially & sexually &
physically , and finally ostracized
socially… and everything cannot
be a business. Premature determination & termination of female
fetus is a heinous crime but flaring as an excellent business in
so many states in a patriarchal society &
women oppressed more by women than by men start accepting
such abortions as normal. And
situation in the area from western UP to
Haryana & western Rajsthan is
so grim at parts that girls are abducted , kidnapped , or bought
from eastern India’s poor milieu
to bear children to all brothers
in a family ( 1 husband & rest,
devars) and if a
widower, the dad in law also
oppresses her. These
chained ladies are no better
than devadasis & sex workers,
rather worse than them being subjugated to slavery unlike the
sex workers. Eldest
Girls in certain MP tribes bear the brunt of
serving as sex workers; girls
in normal North India household
die dowry deaths after unbearable miseries & bonded labor are vital
ingredients of growth in farm
outputs in a vast part of the nation.
These are not religious
oppressions, but the root lies in
ethnic & religious discriminations & hatreds over centuries
that have led to sporadic
protests & up-rises & blood-baths
as exceptions. If we analyze
the root, we shall
find that nobody has ever
dared striking the Khaap system age –old , where
Panch dictates n decides fortunes
of masses mainly belonging to Dalits n mahadalits. If v justv take the case of
Jaats , there are billionaires from them, not paying
a single rupee tax on agro
income 100% tax free.
Why could not Modi govt dare to
come out of political compulsions & mandate taxation
of agro income above Rs 10 lac
??? This is d clan who thought, they only decide the PM of India. Swachh Bharath
should embrace swachhta in all
the above fields….
Just go thru the
chief mentor of ISKCON
[By Bhaktivikasa Swami
The article “Husband as Guru” presents much of what could be
considered common-sense advice for husbands struggling to come to the human
platform. However, some grave faults mar what otherwise might in some contexts
have been valuable suggestions. By predicting “that some men will not agree
with me (although I doubt any woman will disagree)” the author anticipatingly
dismisses any opposition from males as being mere chauvinism. I am currently
imprisoned in a male body, but it is not on such flimsy grounds that I perceive
significant blemishes in what he calls his “illumination.” The author
constructs his thesis on a series of assertions (for instance, that “we have a
higher divorce rate in ISKCON than in the outside society”) for which he
submits no evidence. Presumably the reader is supposed to accept everything he
says just because he says it. However, no serious scholar in any field would
give credence to a series of opinions built on unsubstantiated pronouncements.
Such is the stuff of cultism and propaganda, not intelligent journalism.
Also in short supply are quotations from guru, sadhu, and sastra –
a triad that defines gender issues quite differently to the manner prevalent in
today’s world. But by far the most disturbing element of the article is that
the author contradicts Srila Prabhupada. He poses the question, “Is it the
woman’s fault?” then paraphrases Srila Prabhupada by stating that “a failed
marriage is usually the woman’s fault,” and follows with his own opinion: “if a
woman has a good husband, she will stay loyal.” (Noticeably, the comment of
Srila Prabhupada’s that the author feels compelled to oppose is directly
derived from sastra – Srimad-Bhagavatam 4.4.3 – and concerns Sati’s
disobedience to Lord Siva, whom I hope the author does not adjudge to have been
“unreasonably demanding”). In effect, the author declares that he is right in
this matter, and that Srila Prabhupada and sastra (and maybe Lord Siva also) are
wrong. As if to emphasize his point, he twice states his assertion in exactly
the same words. The underlying theme of the article, that disloyalty in women
is caused by bad husbands, is observably not always true (I will refrain from
providing sad stories here, so as not to add more pain and embarrassment to the
concerned ex-husbands). Surely the main qualification of a husband as guru is
that he himself be a strict follower of his own guru. Only a faithful disciple
is fit to be a guru; to uphold the opposite to one’s guru places one outside
the parampara and renders one disqualified to instruct anyone. To misuse the
status of being a disciple of Srila Prabhupada to instruct others contrary to
Srila Prabhupada’s teachings is clearly a type of cheating and a betrayal of
Srila Prabhupada.
In the following purport, to SB 9.3.10, Srila Prabhupada offers
guidance to wives who feel their husbands to be difficult and incompatible.
Unlike at least one of his seemingly more enlightened disciples, Srila
Prabhupada does not offer grounds for a woman to abandon a husband who she
supposes to be not “good.” Being based on sastra and dispensed by an
indisputably realized acarya, Srila Prabhupada’s advice is certainly more
valuable and authoritative than the “illuminations” of anyone who has the
audacity to contradict him.
— QUOTE —
“This is an indication of the relationship between husband and
wife. A great personality like Cyavana Muni has the temperament of always
wanting to be in a superior position. Such a person cannot submit to anyone.
Therefore, Cyavana Muni had an irritable temperament. His wife, Sukanya, could
understand his attitude, and under the circumstances she treated him
accordingly. If any wife wants to be happy with her husband, she must try to
understand her husband’s temperament and please him. This is victory for a
woman. Even in the dealings of Lord Krsna with His different queens, it has
been seen that although the queens were the daughters of great kings, they
placed themselves before Lord Krsna as His maidservants. However great a woman
may be, she must place herself before her husband in this way; that is to say,
she must be ready to carry out her husband’s orders and please him in all
circumstances. Then her life will be successful. When the wife becomes as
irritable as the husband, their life at home is sure to be disturbed or
ultimately completely broken. In the modern day, the wife is never submissive,
and therefore home life is broken even by slight incidents. Either the wife or
the husband may take advantage of the divorce laws. According to the Vedic law,
however, there is no such thing as divorce laws, and a woman must be trained to
be submissive to the will of her husband. Westerners contend that this is a
slave mentality for the wife, but factually it is not; it is the tactic by
which a woman can conquer the heart of her husband, however irritable or cruel
he may be. In this case we clearly see that although Cyavana Muni was not young
but indeed old enough to be Sukanya’s grandfather and was also very irritable,
Sukanya, the beautiful young daughter of a king, submitted herself to her old
husband and tried to please him in all respects. Thus she was a faithful and
chaste wife.
— END OF QUOTE —
Not all instructions of Srila Prabhupada were meant to be fully
applicable in all times, places, and circumstances, and a responsibility of
astute disciples is to point out exceptions and how to deal with them. Such
guidance can be actually valuable if it is based on guru, sadhu, and sastra,
not on hearsay and personal opinions. Members of ISKCON are duty-bound to
uphold the authority and dignity of Srila Prabhupada, and should be careful to
not even unwittingly position themselves as more knowledgeable, wise, and
expert than he.]
Part 2
Roy was attacked by machete-wielding thugs. In an attack that some
are comparing to the Charlie Hebdo killings, Avijit Roy, a prominent
Bangladeshi-American atheist blogger, was hacked to death on Thursday evening
in Dhaka by two machete-wielding thugs. His wife Rafida Ahmed, who was with him
at the time, was also seriously wonded in the attack. According to AFP
Roy and Ahmed were returning home from a book fair when the attackers forced
the bicycle rickshaw they were riding in to stop. They dragged Roy and Ahmed
from the vehicle and then attacked them with machetes. Roy is reported to have
died on the way to the hospital.
Roy's murder has sparked outrage in Bangladesh not just over the
crime, but over what many see as a larger problem of Islamist violence. His
death prompted a large demonstration in Dhaka. Hundreds of protesters
gathered to demand justice for Roy and denounce his killers.
The protesters carried signs and chanted "we want
justice." The head of the Bangladeshi bloggers' association Imran Sarkar,
said that Roy's murder had "once again proved that there is a culture of
impunity in the country" and that the government must arrest the killers
within 24 hours or "face non-stop protests."Roy's father has
reportedly blamed Jamaat-e-Islami, a popular Islamist party, for
"backing" the militants who murdered his son. In response, the
party's acting secretary general issued an angry release denying any
involvement in Roy's murder, and calling for the authorities to conduct a
"credible and fair" investigation to find the "real
murderers."
Islamists had reportedly threatened Roy before over his outspoken
atheism
Roy described himself on his facebook page as an
"engineer by profession and a writer by passion." He had a
"profound interest," he said, in "freethinking, skepticism,
philosophy, scientific thoughts and human rights of people." He had won
acclaim within the community of Bangladeshi atheists and bloggers for his
writing. Hard line Islamic group have demanded laws prohibiting criticism
of Islam and have called for the execution of atheist bloggers like Roy. Roy's
father told the AFP that Roy had received
threats on email and social media from Islamists who objected to his work. Roy's
work was well known in Bangladesh. He ran his own website, Mukto Mona, until
several years ago, and was the author of ten books. According to The
Independent, his most recent books, Biswasher Virus ("Virus of
Faith") and Obisshahser Dorshon
("The Philosophy of Disbelief"), were controversial but critically
well-received. Although Roy had suspended his work on Mukto Mona several years
ago, today the site's content has been replaced with a single message in
Bengali: "We mourn, but we are not defeated."
In December 2014, Bangladesh News 24 reports, a man named
Shafiur Rahman Farabi had posted a message on a web forum lamenting that it would
not be possible to kill Roy while he was in the United States, but that he
would be murdered when he returned to Bangladesh. "Abhijit Roy lives in
America and so, it is not possible to kill him right now. He will be murdered
when he comes back."The Guardian reports that Farabi was arrested for
making those threats, but that it was not clear whether he was free at the time
of Roy's murder. Protests over Roy's death show the depth of controversy over
atheism and religion in Bangladesh.To understand how Roy's life and murder fit
into the larger issue of religion in public life in Bangladesh, it helps to
look at another atheist blogger who was murdered in a machete attack, in
2013: Ahmed Rajib Haidar. Four students who were members of a little-known
Islamist extremist organization confessed to his killing. Haider had been
a prominent voice in the 2013 Shahbag protest which called for a death
sentence for Islamist politician Abdul Quader Mollah over his role in crimes
against humanity during Bangladesh's 1971 war of independence. The protests
also demanded that Mollah's party, the same Jamaat-e-Islami that Roy's father
blamed for his son's death, be barred from Bangladeshi politics. Haider's death
triggered protests by thousands of secular activists. However, Islamist
groups also increased their campaigns against other atheist bloggers, calling
for them to be executed for blasphemy. The Islamist campaign was partially
successful: the government arrested several prominent atheist
bloggers and blocked a number of atheist websites. Human Rights Watch issued a statement at
the time of the arrests, calling the detained bloggers "political
prisoners" who had been jailed for peacefully expressing their views. This
is the political climate that Roy, and other like him, have operated in
for years. It is one in which secular activists have never stopped pushing for
the right to express their ideas publicly; but also one in which powerful
Islamist groups believe that those secular voices should be silenced — if
necessary, by death.
Young Humanists. Why to blame
Islam alone?
Why to blame Iran alone?
Banned Iranian director Jafar Panahi won Berlin film festival’s Golden Bear for
Taxi, made from behind the bars … or
Contrary to Western women, who "don't care if they are raped on the
roadside," Saudi historian Dr. Saleh Al-Saadoon asks, "What will
become of [a Saudi woman]" who is raped? We are heartbroken today. Saudi
Arabia has carried out the first 50 of 1,000 lashes against a liberal blogger,
Raif Badawi, for "insulting Islam". As Charlie Hebdo has proved this
week, images can be powerful. We believe Raif and the king Abudullah should be
pictured together as often as possible. Please share this link and image. The
world must know his name and the shame of Saudi Arabia…More devastating horror
from religious terrorists. Two-thousand people feared killed yesterday in Baga,
northern Nigeria. Boko Haram militants "burnt down almost the entire
town". Many had already fled after earlier raids, some drowning in Lake
Chad. Many of those who remained now lie in the streets. A senior official says
the town is now "virtually non-existent".A writer in Mauritania
has been sentenced to death for “apostasy”, putting the crime of leaving
Islam on a par with the country’s sentencing for terrorism and
murder. A powerful article in the
Pakistan Tribune, by human rights campaigner Dr Farzana Bari. After recent
events including Christians burnt alive, a 6-year-old girl form the Hazara
community raped and killed, a "blasphemer" shot in prison by his own
guard, assassinations and suicide bombings, Bari comments: "Most of these
crimes against humanity were committed by invoking religion as a pretext… these
incidents of brutality should not be seen and condemned as isolated incidents.
Such violence and vigilantism is the result of the jihadist policy that the
state has followed. A radicalised mindset has been systematically created and
supported in order to pursue political interests within the country and in the
region."
Why not Ireland?
Or Vatican?
Beatification (from Latin beatus, "blessed" and facere,
"to make") is a recognition accorded by the Catholic Church of a dead
person's entrance into Heaven and capacity to intercede on behalf of
individuals who pray in his or her name (intercession of saints). A Catholic
priest and a nun from Kerala were conferred sainthood by Pope Francis at
Vatican on Sunday.
Father Kuriakose Elias Chavara, popularly known as Chavara Achen,
and Sister Euphrasia, popularly known as Evuprasiamma, were in April this year
cleared by the Pope for sainthood.
Pope Francis pronounced them as saints at a special mass at St
Peter's Square at Vatican. The ceremony included a Latin hymn and a
recommendation by a representative of the Congregation for the Saints.
A proposed change to the abortion law to legalise terminations in
fatal foetal abnormality cases has been rejected by the Irish parliament.
The bill was proposed by Independent Socialist Dáil member (TD)
Clare Daly.
She said it was cruel and inhumane that women carrying a child with
a fatal foetal abnormality have to travel to England for an abortion.
The bill was defeated by 104 votes to 20. All Sinn Féin TDs
abstained from the vote. Labor TD Anne Ferris voted against her party's
coalition government on the issue. However, the Northern Ireland Human Rights
Commission is challenging the minister, saying his proposals do not go far
enough. It believes abortion should be the legalized in cases of serious fetal
abnormality, rape and incest. Similar is
our case in India… It is
historical fact that India’s
Hindu rules were
subjected to Muslim aggression from across the border , & even the Aryan Hindus that have ruled India
for thousands of years , have
been invaders … Shakas, Hynas,
Kushanas, all have invaded
& ruled part of India
for some period or other &
become integral part of Indian society. It is
absolutely genuine to glorify
the Hindu rule… but , to do this, RSS
has waged a long
war against various Christian organizations , so many churches & silent protesters in Churches & chapels in capital
/ NCR, & also
across Bengaluru & other parts of India. They
have targeted Christians more than
Muslims now & now
the target is Mother Teressa; Mohan Bhagawat of RSS to
Shivsena mouthpiece Samna & Meenaxi Lekhi of BJP all
are barking together , a sane word came from Arvind
Kejriwal & the muffler man who met Mother prayed for
sparing the noble soul. Conversion, re-conversion, love Jihaad, ghar wapasi….
What Gujarat inferred , what Iran inferred , what Pakistan inferred , are all attuned ,---we are all
insanes when it comes to
rationality… all cleansings are
leading to ethnic cleansing ,
howsoever hatred may
anybody have towards Heir Hitler , the Nazi nationalist Aryan leader….
And today same cleansing
Jews are spawning on
Palestinian Gaza n West Bank.
Religion is an opium , a Drug that is
Religion, which spreads more
hatred than love. I had a very peculiar experience in 1993 in Jamshedpur. As a member of Rationalist Society we went to a
Catholic faith program in Agrico
area. The program was sponsored by
Tinplate… prayer was on &
pool of believers started pouring in to share their experience of gaining sight/ hearing/
legs just on the strength of the prayer
of the Father ….
And there was a little girl who
dared speak out that she was still unable to see… they were
all tribal Christians &
armed with bows & arrows. The
girl was censured as a sinner .
Surprisingly , next day Bible
copies were found burnt … and info was that
ABVP guys did it , but Police was
after Rationalists…
In my later endeavor in
short political spectrum I observed
that hardly any radically leftist party too can call reservation a
reactionary tool to favor well off
OBCs. In fact, in all
political parties in a
democracy, it is the creamy layer
of SC/ ST/ OBC that
gets the maximum mileage of
votes from the clan & so enjoy the
richest dividend. It is for this purpose that even radical leftist
parties do not march forward
to clean of medieval witchcraft , despite knowing fully well the black spot that it creates in a society. Cleansing calls for
the cleansing of such mindset,--- against
a practice of putting a minority candidate in a minority area most politically. When
a pull is needed to ascend to
power, TMC takes the help of the radical part of Muslim society, call
it Jamat, call it Maulavis…. And they support infiltration unabated into
India… just for a vote bank politics…
day in & day out… It is from this audacity that
Fatwas are issued
for Muslims to vote for AAP in Delhi election , which Mr Kejriwal
rejects thru public stt… it would be
very difficult to prove whether he met
Mr Imam Bukhari or not, but all
these create the worst of unclean
precedence, the way Khaap
medieval culture flourishes on
Indian soil & youngsters
slaughtered in the name of upholding goth’s prestige & pride .
[ANINDA GHOSH]
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