Open Letter to Prime Minister Vajpayee

dear anand

(why do i remember you as anant? has this been posted by someone on your behalf? anyway...)

i hope this was not sent as a letter to the editor: apart from the length, it makes for terrible reading.

it is not known whether the structure pulled down on dec 6 was THE or even A babri, or any other, masjid. therefore to make it divine by referring it in upper case as Masjid is a little juvenile.

secondly i am astonished that u should refer to india/hindus as a pacifist nation knowing as u surely do what its/their treatment of dalits has been. therefore i`m unsure how we have lost our spiritual/pacifist virginity by detonating nuclear devices.

the bjp has got flak for dec 6. it may and should get more. however, vajpayee`s statement is about the taliban and acts that emanate from a religion that is stuck in the seventh century, and where talk of reform is blasphemy.

as the elected leader of our nation, 150 million of whose members are muslims, he has the right to comment on issues that concern us.

he cannot and should not abdicate that right because of the perceived or alleged hypocrisy of his party.

Picked this up on the net, don`t know how authentic it is.

-Arun

News Report in The Hindu, March 6th. Am unableto locate this on their web edition, so typingit in full:

New Delhi March 5: Police tonight denied rumours that Bajrang Dal members burnt religious books to protest the destruction of ancient statues of Lord Buddha by the Taliban regime in Afghanistan.

Activists of the Bajrang Dal and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad held a demonstration in the Lodhi Road area, where the offices of the United Nations are located, but did not burn any religious scriptures as was reported, they said. The local police station, which has been receiving frantic calls, denied any such incident and termed the reports as ``rumours``. The Bajrang Dal also did not admit to the burning of any religious book. -- UNI

Following response was received directly from Anand


dear friends
what an amazing thing this type of south asian chatline! one is reaching people one doesnt know and im amazed at some of the responses. when i
criticized pakistani``jehad`` i did not mean to criticize the act of fighting for kashmiri independence(im more and more convinced that this is the most just solution although i still believe that non-violence is a morally
superior method and the only method i could whole heartedly endorse). i was criticizing the idea that any ``war`` can ever be ``holy``. what a poor opinion of god that reflects! a vengeful god who asks for blood!
surely human beings who abdicate the responsibility of making moral choices
to a ``superior`` force are escape artists. and of course the belief in jehad,or dharmayuddha or holy war is not the copyright of any single
religion but rather a common failing of most religions that use coercion and fear as their weapon to bind their flock together.

im amused and bemused. one guy thought i was a pakistani in disguise!
another thought ah these indians, they always reveal themselves, no matter
how progressive.

personally i do not need any god to tell me that we are all badly in need of love in this world. love that cuts across class, caste, creed and
nation. i know that sounds corny, but ill say it anyway. love, anand

ylh #76 layman #79

There is a real issue here for Indians. It is all ok for us to say that we have a few psychopaths and nutcases, and that we will never be in the kind of religious trouble (from our viewpoint) that we suspect our neighbor to be facing. But that is too easy.

We must find some effective strategy to make sure that anybody who commits such criminal acts as the burning of religious texts is dealt with swiftly and harshly. We just can not afford to go down that blighted route, no matter what our motivations be.

Given our history, keeping our emotions is a difficult challenge. But it is a challenge that all Indian communities - majority and minorities have to collectively face. None of us can afford to let our extremists roam free. All must begin emphasizing our responsibilities as much as we emphasize our rights if we are to create a society in which everyone can live in peace.

Will that happen? I don`t know. Probably, never fully. But we must always try.

I suggest that we begin by recognizing that fundamentalists of all colors are our common enemies, greater enemies to us all than we can ever be against one another.

Eklavya #85

A Muslim fanatic attained shahaadath and went to heaven.

While searching around for the promised goodies, he caught sight of a Hindu fanatic also scouting the place. Surprised, he asked the Hindu fanatic, I was told if I die in a jihadic battle I would attain heaven, and thats what I did and thats where I am, so how could you be here,too?

The Hindu fanatic said I thought I was waging dharm yudh and that I would be covered in glory and attain moksha, but now they tell me the things I did were very wrong and without excuse and hence I am to be banished to hell and so here I am.

Just then Pat Robertson came by looking a bit harrassed. He said, I know you guys are from the tropics somewhere, but do you mind if I turn down the heat a bit ?

:)

India is a very diverse country and home to many a different faith. Burning the Qu`ran, by members of a political organization, is sadly an affront to the secular nature of the India polity.

The act of buring the Qu`ran, a destestable act, is lamentable in the inaction of the Indians, who care for their country and are more devoted and patriotic, in the latin sense meaning loving the land itself and not its political ideology, and are increasingly being pushed aside by a rising a crest of intolerance and hatred.

If the ordinary German who kept quiet and watched the trains move in the direction of Nordhausen or Bergen Belsen was responsible for the act of abetting the Holocaust, what is the difference in this regard?

A greater shame would be to indulge in inaction and show a moral lethargy, because it will merely be water under the bridge once the flames have engulfed the entire house!

Ciao!

Anand Patwardhan says:

``personally i do not need any god to tell me that we are all badly in need of love in this world. love that cuts across class, caste, creed and nation.``

My God, what an astonishing, original revelation! Good idea, I say. Let`s put Pats on a love boat and have him cruise the world`s oceans spreading his version of love. First harbour at dock: that beacon of tolerance and love, Saudi Arabia. The Land of the Pure can wait for Patwardhan`s love assault.

tantralogician

I do not know who or why anybody is spreading rumours about burning of any holy books by VHP or others in Delhi or elsewhere. I live 2 kilometres from the Lodhi Road PS, which is right next door also to the Hazrat Nizamuddin area. I have taken the trouble to go there and ask all sorts of people, from local cops to Ram Mandir shopkeeper to buffalo meat seller to golf club parking lot and caddy hut boys and fake tyre shopkeeper very close to said parking lot . . . all very egalitarian and multi-religious areas . . . all these are people I know personally. They laughed at me when I asked. Who has time for a statue in Afghanistan when all these people are interested in is the next meal?

There has been some ``for television`` kind of demo . . . and there has been some burning of effigies . . . (effigy burning is part of our brave sub-continental tradition . . .) and that seems to be that.

YLH, please restrain your tendency to go over the top with shrill sounds picked up from nobody else knows where. If holy books had really been burnt, there would have been curfew and enough real noise, not the kind of bleeps we get.

RE: Arun (mac) Gupta # several posts

Here is the viewpoint of another academic that I am cross-posting from a different message board. I rate this as a MUST READ.

-Ali the bug squisher

HINDOO HATRED FOR AFGHANS HAS HISTORICAL ROOTS:

The world has been surprised by the vehemence of the Hindoo reaction to Taleban`s destruction of Buddhist relics in Afghanistan, specially considering that Buddhists were physically wiped out by hindoos from India; a legacy of which the modern day hindoos are extremely proud of.

Hindoo reaction has its roots in history. As another academic pointed out on another message board, millions of hindoos were taken across the Hindu Kush (Hindu Killer) mountains as slaves to be sold in Central Asia and beyond. A large number of these limp wristed bas_tards died on the way to market.

Also, Afghans have a preference for homosexual love, which for them meant forceful anal penetration of the prettiest Brahmin boys in conquered India who were later taken into the harem. The lower level Afghan soldiers would also not hesitate in penetrating the invariably ugly banya boys.

The Afghan brutes would line up the older Brahmins in a conquered village and force them to give head to their horses, mules, donkeys and other beasts of burden. The idea was to freshen up the animals and get them ready for further conquests.

The Brahmin women were of course distributed amongst the un-touchable shudras.

RE # 83 Arun (mac) gupta

Picked this up on the net, don`t know how authentic it is.

-Ali the bug squisher

TALEBAN FAIL TO DESTROY BUDDHA`S STATUE:

Taleban have not been able to destroy the tallest standing Buddha so far, it was reported today. The younger zealots are to be blamed, sources say, since they wasted the whole day and lots of ammunition in aiming at Buddha`s groin which by now has been complete decimated. -UNI

FerozK:

Give me a break - there are loonies everywhere - the VHP are loonies. Since ``hurting the religious sentiments of others`` is punishable by law in India, these loonies may face prosecution although I`m not sure if anybody will go after them. However, it is important to remember that people who write crazy letters to the Frontier Post or burn Qurans are simply pitiable figures indulging in an activity which, under US law, would be covered under freedom of expression.

Keep it in perspective - its not the Indian state doing this and no public property is involved - quite different from Babri Masjid destruction which is and should be criminal under any law, Indian or American.

Comparing a burning of a copy of a book by a few demonstrators, even if it is the Quran, with concentration camps and trains to Bergen Bergen and asking rhetorically ``whats the difference`` shows a complete abandonment of judgement.

RE: baykar patel # 82

[``however, vajpayee`s statement is about the taliban and acts that emanate from a religion that is stuck in the seventh century, and where talk of reform is blasphemy.``]

Boy you are sooo angry at Islam. Farzana no longer works for you, maybe fire another muslim? or better yet, burn the Quran at the next BJP meeting? That will relieve some of the tightness in your chest. Maybe lift your lungi and masturbate after the Quran burning? Ultimate Hindoo satisfaction!

Just in case Chowkies think I`m being soft on VHP, let me calrify that I completely supported the Popes right to visit India and his right to call for conversions by labelling other faiths false and the affirmation of Jesus Christ as the only way. Although I`m not about to become a Christian anytime and resent his calling of other faiths invalid, I defended his right to say what he said based on freedom of expression.

Similarly, if the VHP declares Islam as a false faith and protests by burning their own copies of the Quran, I defend it based on freedom of expression. I consider it rude and offensive but I consider them within their rights to do what they were doing if I had to write law. But since it is illegal under Indian law, the Indian state must take action to establish and maintain the rule of law.

I hope people see the distinction I am making.

re veeresh #89
I`ve been searching for the original news item and have not been able to locate it anywhere except in The Dawn. A reference will be appreciated from those who quoted it.

Sadhana

i dont know what the ``nobody burnt the Quran`` crew is talking about. Here is a link to a photo of the burning -

http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/p/nm/20010306/wl/mdf21501.html

It happened. Its sad but lets not draw far reaching conclusions from individual acts.

By the way, if people would like the Buddhas to transcend the onslaught of the Taliban, here is sweet revenge...

http://www.maitreyaproject.org/home/index.html

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