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The Untruth of an Indian Majority

Rakesh Mani April 23, 2006

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#159 Posted by dost_mittar on April 26, 2006 8:38:05 am
ijaz_gul#148:

Thanks for sharing your thesis. I, too, am looking forward to your response to tahmed32`s querry. In particular, does Kautalya have anything on succession? It seems that the Hindu kingdoms - in North at least - were not very successful in maintaining dynasties; by contrast, the Mughals were able to rule for three centuries even with fatricidal fights for succession.


bharath#155:
What I find significant about this and other reports is that they are from Christian, Parsee or other Human Rights organizations. The Hindus in Pakistan are too weak to even cry when they hurt. Their situation is worse than that of native Americans who, too, have been decimated in their native land but can at least squeak. What a pathetic fate for the children of Kautalya of Rawalpindi!
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#177 Posted by bharath on April 26, 2006 4:52:05 pm
Re: # 159
DOST-MITTAR writes ``The Hindus in Pakistan are too weak to even cry when they hurt. Their situation is worse than that of native Americans who, too, have been decimated in their native land but can at least squeak. What a pathetic fate for the children of Kautalya of Rawalpindi``

There you go. and DOST is no Hindu fanatic.

The author of this article a Tamil Hindu gentleman has written a robust article and uses the phrase ``fascist-controlled Gujarat``. I have never seen a MUSLIM or other ``secular Indians `` condemning what pakistan does in similar robust terms.

Therein lies the irony of ``secularism`` of the sub-continent and the reason behind the emergence of Hindu extremism. This is being described by one Pak arthashastra expert that this is some type of Kautilyan strategy!
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#158 Posted by jang on April 26, 2006 7:14:07 am
#156 by harimau

heh heh..you should be thankful to the DMK massanmuthus that taminadu is not hindi speaking. left to brahmins, it would have been..after all sanskrit is so close to neo-hindi (tatkal reservation e.g.)

you should do a maha-rudra to thank DMK masanumuthus that hindi was repelled. after that poolangi-seva and a good week-long reciting of vishnu-sahastranamam is a minimum display of your gratitude ;-)
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#156 Posted by harimau on April 25, 2006 9:35:04 pm
The triumph of the Brain-Dead in India was the legislation making Hindi the ``National language``.

The ostensible reason was that as the language of the single largest plurality of people, it would enable them to conduct their business with the government.

The idiots who came up with this specious argument conveniently ignored the fact that you need to apply in writing if you are going to deal with the government, or for that matter, with any entity. And of course the greatest number of illiterates are to be found precisely in the so-called Hindi belt. Which meant that the average North Indian would require the services of a ``writer`` to write his petition in Hindi. Well, he could then have employed the writer to write his petition in English!

This was of course lost on the Brain-Dead legislators from North India who outnumbered the rest of India merely because of their pig-like breeding habits. The only happy outcome of this idiotic stand is that North India remains as backward as when the British left India.

Well, we in the South and the West do need chaprasis and cooks and Bihar and UP seem to be capable of supplying a sufficient quantity of them for the rest of India.

Way to go, mufukkas!
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#155 Posted by bharath on April 25, 2006 6:47:46 pm
Anil Kapuriaji,
refer to my post #138 and then read the news item
below. You need text books on Pakistan ideology studies,
your other request here may be misplaced.

Warm regards,



Tuesday April 25, 2006:09 PM
Pak textbooks deride Hindus as astute, sly, or manipulative

Lahore, Apr 25 (ANI): The National Commission for Justice and Peace (NCJP), a Catholic Church body in Pakistan, has said that the country`s media describe India as a `hostile neighbour`, and school textbooks teach the students that Hindus were backward and superstitious who assert their power over the weak, especially the Muslims.

``Government-issued textbooks teach students that Hindus are backward and superstitious, and given a chance, they would assert their power over the weak, especially, Muslims, depriving them of education by pouring molten lead in their ears. Pakistan Studies textbooks are an active site to represent India as a hostile neighbour,`` the report stated.

It added: ``The story of Pakistan`s past is intentionally written to be distinct from, and often in direct contrast with, interpretations of history found in India. From the government-issued textbooks, students are taught that Hindus are backward and superstitious.``

The report further said that students were being taught that Islam brought peace, equality, and justice to the subcontinent, ``to check the sinister ways of Hindus``. ``In Pakistani textbooks, Hindus rarely appears in a sentence without adjective such as politically astute, sly, or manipulative,`` the Daily Times quoted the NCJP report as saying.

The NCJP has come out with the report following an appeal from several minority communities that the media and educational boards were biased against them and that the federal government should take note of this seriously.

Quoting a news article, the report said: ``Textbooks reflect intentional obfuscation. Today`s students, citizens of Pakistan and its future leaders are the victims of these partial truths``.

They cited numerous several other media reports and content in textbooks in this regard, which suggested that the country`s socio-political system was against the minorities` interests and addressed them by derogatory terms.

The NCJP monitored four major national Urdu dailies from August to October 2005 and found extremely provocative news reports, statements and editorials against religious minorities including Christians, Hindus, Ahmadis and even Jews.

The Commission said that a common hate speech method is the use of derogatory terms for minorities. Citing examples, it said that Ahmedis are called `Qadiani` or `Mirzai` while Christians are called `Isai`. Until some years ago, these terms were not even considered derogatory, it added.

According to the paper, MP Bhandara, a parliamentarian belonging to a minority community, wrote a letter of protest to an editor of a national daily last year but it had no effect on the newspaper`s policy. (ANI)

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#150 Posted by tahmed32 on April 25, 2006 3:04:29 pm
ijaz gul #147 That doesnt add too much on what Kautliya wrote and his impact on chandragupta maurya. I humbly await feedback (even if it is to tell me that you dont have any views on them) on my questions in #129. Cheers. :-)
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#149 Posted by bharath on April 25, 2006 11:52:02 am
re#148 >>>>`Checkerboard Diplomacy`. ....
I hope it hurts no one`s ego. least that of Bharath.

No it doesn`t actually!

Other checkerboard diplomacies are being effectively used.
If not effective more will be invented.
A-spot aka Karzai insults
B-spot (u know that well!)
C-spot :decreasing the water flow in Chenab.

You name it.
Cheerios:)
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#148 Posted by ijaz_gul on April 25, 2006 11:42:57 am
Dost,
This is a part of my Thesis.

``Whatever the case, with time, Kautilya has begun to find more universal relevance and acceptance. Like Clausewitz who was dealt an early blow by those who misinterpreted, misquoted and misunderstood him, his treatise has been often called Kautilianism, which signifies ``skill in stratagem, dexterity in intrigue and policy``. The craze in theatre loving Bengalis to watch Dwijendralal Roy`s Chandragupta, the stage play of nineteen thirties and forties, portraying a scheming and cantankerous Brahmin as Kautilya adds to these distortions``.

``Kautilya over the passage of time has come to be associated with the phrase, `My friend`s enemy is my enemy and my enemies enemy is my friend`. In order to solve their equations, it is not uncommon for students of Algebra to relate the friend to the positive and enemy to the negative value. Usually wrongs in politics are aptly related to Kautilyanism; the mother of all evils. Writers on international politics when writing on South Asia make a liberal use of this Kautilyan saying as a fait accompli for `Checkerboard Diplomacy`. Worse, many who have never read a word of his treatise liberally opine that according to Kautilya, two wrongs can be fused into a right, and know by heart this algebraic equation. Little do they realise that by saying so they have embarked on an extremely controversial subject``.

``Michael Handel considered Carl Von Clausewitz to have brought a Copernican Revolution, by his emphasis on centrality of politics in war. Perhaps he was two millennium late, as Kautilya had already done so in his treatise, The Arthashastra``.

``Kautilya has often been compared with Machiavelli. However, this comparison is always limited to the Prince and Discourses. His comparison with `The Art of War` is rather negligible. His only comparison to Clausewitz is a passage by Jawaharlal Nehru in The Discovery of India. Nowhere does any objective comparative study of relevance exist``.

I hope it hurts no one`s ego. least that of Bharath.

Cheerios
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#154 Posted by anil on April 25, 2006 6:17:55 pm
Re: # 148

Ijaz Gul Sahib:

Is it possible to read you M.Sc. thesis on Kautilya`s Arthashastra?

Anil Kapuria
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#147 Posted by ijaz_gul on April 25, 2006 11:42:52 am
Dost,
This is a part of my Thesis.

``Whatever the case, with time, Kautilya has begun to find more universal relevance and acceptance. Like Clausewitz who was dealt an early blow by those who misinterpreted, misquoted and misunderstood him, his treatise has been often called Kautilianism, which signifies ``skill in stratagem, dexterity in intrigue and policy``. The craze in theatre loving Bengalis to watch Dwijendralal Roy`s Chandragupta, the stage play of nineteen thirties and forties, portraying a scheming and cantankerous Brahmin as Kautilya adds to these distortions``.

``Kautilya over the passage of time has come to be associated with the phrase, `My friend`s enemy is my enemy and my enemies enemy is my friend`. In order to solve their equations, it is not uncommon for students of Algebra to relate the friend to the positive and enemy to the negative value. Usually wrongs in politics are aptly related to Kautilyanism; the mother of all evils. Writers on international politics when writing on South Asia make a liberal use of this Kautilyan saying as a fait accompli for `Checkerboard Diplomacy`. Worse, many who have never read a word of his treatise liberally opine that according to Kautilya, two wrongs can be fused into a right, and know by heart this algebraic equation. Little do they realise that by saying so they have embarked on an extremely controversial subject``.

``Michael Handel considered Carl Von Clausewitz to have brought a Copernican Revolution, by his emphasis on centrality of politics in war. Perhaps he was two millennium late, as Kautilya had already done so in his treatise, The Arthashastra``.

``Kautilya has often been compared with Machiavelli. However, this comparison is always limited to the Prince and Discourses. His comparison with `The Art of War` is rather negligible. His only comparison to Clausewitz is a passage by Jawaharlal Nehru in The Discovery of India. Nowhere does any objective comparative study of relevance exist``.

I hope it hurts no one`s ego. least that of Bharath.

Cheerios
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#144 Posted by swarrier on April 25, 2006 10:23:48 am
Rakesh

[[Just because some can speak a little bit, doesn`t make Hindi the national language. It just goes to show that people will learn to speak Hindi if it provides them added economic opportunities. And since money and power have been concentrated in Hindi-speaking areas historically, people have found it essential to learn this language. They don`t do it out of choice.. or even any love for Hindi. ]]

When people make a decision to learn Hindi because of acquiring money and power they do it out of choice. Nobody is coercing them. Coercion is when you are forcibly made to learn Hindi for every job in the private and public sector in all parts of India. The same can be said for any language. I have seen Sikhs and Parsis in Ernakulam speak fluent Malayalam, and Gujaratis in Coimbatore speak impeccable Tamil. If you deem it necessary, you will learn.

Do we need a national language? I don`t know. We need a link language though. Otherise we will have people like Mulayam Singh Yadav who sent K Karunakaran a communication in Hindi. Karunakaran responded by sending a reply in Malayalam. I don`t know if this is true. But I`ve heard it told and I do not find it difficult to believe.

End of digression.
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#152 Posted by anil on April 25, 2006 5:09:49 pm
Re: # 144

India, like Switzerland, does not need a national language.

In my view in another 25 to 50 years, there would be two main languages in India - North Indian ishstyle English, and Southie yestyle English. I have seen the evolution of Hindi over the last 40 years, especially the last 15 years the evolution has been remarkable.

Bollywood, Chennai wood, and ``IT jee ka Mandir`` will take of this fusion, and all other languages will remain regional.

Anil Kapuria
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#151 Posted by anil on April 25, 2006 5:09:41 pm
Re: # 144

India, like Switzerland, does not need a national language.

In my view in another 25 to 50 years, there would be two main languages in India - North Indian ishstyle English, and Southie yestyle English. I have seen the evolution of Hindi over the last 40 years, especially the last 15 years the evolution has been remarkable.

Bollywood, Chennai wood, and ``IT jee ka Mandir`` will take of this fusion, and all other languages will remain regional.

Anil Kapuria
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#146 Posted by rakeshmani on April 25, 2006 11:42:36 am
Re: # 144

True. English is the ``linking`` language of India.
But that still doesn`t make Hindi the national language.

End of digression.

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#143 Posted by masanamuthu on April 25, 2006 9:54:50 am
einsteinwallah:

I`m digressing from the main point of this article.. this is mostly about religion and not language..

How do you define a national language? You cannot define it as the language of native speakers of that language when their number exceeds 50 percent. But it should be properly be defined as the language which would be understood by majority even though many of them are not native speakers of that language. Most of us who have earned a higher degree in any field in India in English medium can speak very good English even though this English may be full of errors. Among educated class English is lingua franka. Among rest, Hindi is lingua franka. Trust me Hindi *is* national language. Locals may be offended if spoken to in Hindi because of their misplaced insistence that every outsider who comes to their region should learn local language. They may feign ignorance of Hindi but most of non-hindi people understand Hindi.

I think you are wrong here.. the statement above (bolded) does not make any sense. `National` language is not needed for a diverse country like India. We need a link language and English serves fine.. And your assumption about ``Hindi`` serving as ``lingua franca`` for uneducated makes no sense.. I think you are talking about the North Indians whose languages closely resemble Hindi. If you look at the census figures of the southern Indian states for the people`s knowledge of Hindi you would be surprised..
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#141 Posted by pmishra2 on April 25, 2006 9:44:38 am
#130 majumdar

Ashoka`s Edicts on Religion (300BC):

[quote]
Beloved-of-the-Gods, King Piyadasi, honors both ascetics and the householders of all religions, and he honors them with gifts and honors of various kinds.[22] But Beloved-of-the-Gods, King Piyadasi, does not value gifts and honors as much as he values this -- that there should be growth in the essentials of all religions.[23] Growth in essentials can be done in different ways, but all of them have as their root restraint in speech, that is, not praising one`s own religion, or condemning the religion of others without good cause. And if there is cause for criticism, it should be done in a mild way. But it is better to honor other religions for this reason. By so doing, one`s own religion benefits, and so do other religions, while doing otherwise harms one`s own religion and the religions of others. Whoever praises his own religion, due to excessive devotion, and condemns others with the thought ``Let me glorify my own religion,`` only harms his own religion. Therefore contact (between religions) is good.[24] One should listen to and respect the doctrines professed by others. Beloved-of-the-Gods, King Piyadasi, desires that all should be well-learned in the good doctrines of other religions.

Those who are content with their own religion should be told this: Beloved-of-the-Gods, King Piyadasi, does not value gifts and honors as much as he values that there should be growth in the essentials of all religions. And to this end many are working -- Dhamma Mahamatras, Mahamatras in charge of the women`s quarters, officers in charge of outlying areas, and other such officers. And the fruit of this is that one`s own religion grows and the Dhamma is illuminated also.

[quote]
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