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.This web is dedicated to the spirit of India , liberty of speech and liberty to live. This web has the information on Fascism , Human Rights , Peace & Nonviolence and Civic Liberties We are committed :
Our good intentions are not of much use if we fail to take responsibility for the pain we inflict on others through our lack of awareness AT THE TURN OF THE CENTURY India's progress seems stalled by the prevalent ambience of fear and terror along with a nostalgia for happier and more secure times. An atmosphere of intolerance is being systematically created in a country, which has been known over the millennia for its tolerant ethos and respect for the other's point of view. This intolerance expresses itself in almost every walk of life and is striking at the very roots of democracy. As is well known, democracy is not only a system of governance but also a way of life. What is disheartening is that the threat is continuously being reinforced by a Sustained campaign of hatred by the fundamentalist and fascist forces. A centralized and chauvinistic Hinduism - Hindutva - has been brought to the fore front in today by the fundamentalist and fascist forces, a group of political organizations called the "Sangh Parivar ". They have and still are distorting religion to build a fascist regime by spreading misinformation, false propaganda and distrust for each other in the hearts of the common citizens . It is necessary to undertake serious academic studies. Myths
are integral to communal propaganda. There are scores of them disseminated
through both traditional and modern
network of communication at the command of communal organizations.
This guide picks up some of these myths and presents facts to counter
them. The myths chosen are Appeasement
of minorities , Population
of minorities , Hindutva
, The Partition,
Personal Law
, Secularism
, Myths
of Ancient History
(a- Aryans were the original
inhabitants, b- The Indus Script is Vedic script)
and Myth of
Hindu tolerance Given the present situation of uncertainty and insecurity, if serious attempts are not made to counter the campaign of communal hatred, the very unity, integrity and progress of the country is at stake. The question is whether we will remain passive onlookers or take steps to ensure harmony and progress among the people. A cobra is a cobra whether it is of Indian origin or of African origin. Its poison will kill anyone who is bitter by the snake. The poison of communalism is more disastrous because it kills the innocent public indiscriminately whether they are Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs or Christian, men, women or children. The victims are in no way connected with the communalists. It should be the primary concern of those who are really the patriots of this country and are interested in preserving the integrity of this country as a secular state. The ever growing internal threat of communalism is for more serious than the threat from outside. Unless we curb this trend with an iron hand, the nation is sure to go to the dogs. Where are we to find the origin of communalism? It lies in the tradition and the culture of this country. The Vedic religion could not brook the growth of Buddhism and Jainism, the religions which preached love, peace and non-preached violence. The Hindu fundamentalists harassed and oppressed these religions and succeeded in driving Buddhism out of this country and reducing Jainism to a negligible minority. History tells us that eight thousand Jains were paled to death in Madurai by the Saivites, a fanatic section of the Hindus. Once the Brahmins ensconced themselves firmly during the Gupta regime, their hegemony became unquestionable until the arrival of Moslems in this country. During the Moghul period the Hindus had to bide their time to strike again Hinduism could not establish a Hindu empire with its tiny rebel Shivaji. During the rule of the all powerful British Raj that followed they could not do anything but to remain in hibernation. When the struggle for India’s
Independence raised its hopeful head the Hindu fundamentalists had a heyday
under the Hindu stalwarts like Gokhale, Aurobindu and others. They converted
India into a Hindu goddess Bharat matha (Mother India) and hailed her with the
chanting of “Vande Matharam” (Mother, we worship thee) and “Jai Hind”
(Victory to the land of the Hindus). The minority communities had conveniently
been forgetten. When Gandhi, a staunch Hindu, became the Father of the Nation,
the dream of the fundamentalists was shattered to pieces by his anti - Hindu
slogans like “Hindu, Muslim Bai Bai” (Hindus and Muslims are Brothers) and
“Eshwara Allah Tere naam” (Eshwara and Allah are Thy name, O God!). They
felt that Gandhi’s stance to eradicate untouchability was against Hindu
Dharma. Their voice could not work against the “colossal charisma” Gandhi
enjoyed among the Indians. Then the Hindu fundamentalists adopted the easy way
of eliminating him with a bullet-shot. Nehru’s secular approach in free India was another stumbling block to the Hindu fundamentalists. As long as the Congress was committed to secularism the Hindu fundamentalists could not establish their Hindu Raj. Once the Congress weakened the Hindu fundamentalists could have a golden opportunity to realize their long cherished dream of establishing a Hindu Raj. The Bharatiya Janata Party the political organization of all Hindu fundamentalists has been building up its vicious and poisonous influence slowly but steadily all these years. Its ‘Rath Yatras’ and ‘kar sevas’ were nothing but their stratagems to infuse into the minds of the Indians the poison of the communalism. The demolition of Babri Masjid was an open declaration of their intent and purpose. It is but a law that every action will have an equal and opposite reaction. The recent coimbatore serial bomb blasts are nothing but the echo of the demolition of Babri Masjid in Ayodhya. With all its dastardly stratagems of finding strange and alien bed-follows on the eve of election, cajoling and compromising , bribing and betraying the BJP has succeeded in increasing its numerical strength in the crucial 1998 election.
It is high time that all secular forces in India buried their hatchets of internal differences and rose up to the occasion to form a formidable coalition Front to fight and keep communalism out to save the country from its headlong fall and ruin. One has to adopt a multidimensional approach to combat the communal menace. While it is necessary to fight it politically and through an intensive campaign, it is also necessary to undertake serious research about various controversies generated by communal forces. It is therefore necessary to undertake serious academic studies and link-up with activists engaged in countering the communal campaign. It was this concern over growing communalism and the need for redefining the concept of secularism for a cohesive society that mobilized us to set up this web.By seeking to bring along these ideals into reality we works towards promoting communal harmony and containing the communal menace that has already taken deep seated roots in our society, if we succeed.Then every day would dawn with new hopes instead of
fears.
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"If you stick a knife nine inches into my back and pull it out three inches, that is not progress. Even if you pull it all the way out, that is not progress. Progress is healing the wound. ." --El Hajj Malik El Shabazz (Malcolm X) "Justice will only be achieved when those who are not injured by crime feel as indignant as those who are." - King Solomon "At the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India
will awake "I do not expect India of my dreams to
develop one religion, i.e., to be wholly Hindu or wholly Christian or
wholly Mussalman, but I want it to be wholly tolerant, with its religions
working side by side with one another.'' |
FIRST THEY CAME FOR THE JEWS, AND I DID NOT SPEAK OUT It may well be that the greatest tragedy of this
period of social transition is not the glaring noisiness of the so-called
bad people, but the appalling silence of the so-called good people. "You
can kill individuals, but not the ideas,Great Empires crumbled, but the lofty ideas, India is, the cradle of the human race, the birthplace of human speech, the mother of history, the grandmother of legend, and the great grand mother of tradition. Our most valuable and most instructive materials in the history of man are treasured up in India only. -------- Mark Twain “We the people of India, having
solemnly resolved to constitute India into a Sovereign Socialist Secular -The Constitution of India: 'The Preamble' -
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Each historical time has had its own temper. But one factor
has been common throughout history to the attainment of progress and greatness.
Historians of culture describe this one factor variously as syncretism,
openness, pluralism, and a spirit of tolerance. Where ideas do not clash,
diverse influences, knowledge, viewpoints, and cultures do not converge,
civilization does not thrive and greatness eludes. The rightist environment of
religious chauvinism and intolerance is deeply harmful to India's future.
T 