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The revolutionary contents of the Vedas
Western attitude towards Vedic literature    

A P J (Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul) Kalam ( 1931 -  )  Noted Scientist and President of India. India who reads the Bhagavad Gita and the Koran. He said, India should seek to become like the perfect nation defined in Thirukkural, the ancient Tamil discourse. 

He described the Veda as, 

"They are the oldest classics and the most precious treasures of India. The soul of Bharatiya sanskriti dwells in the Vedas. The entire world admits the importance of the Vedas."

(source: Vedas, soul of India - By Dina Nath Mishra - dailypioneer.com).

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The Western world has known about the revolutionary contents of the Vedas for almost two centuries, but rare is the Western Indology expert who considers the texts a reasonable documentation of human civilization. Even Indian scholars have been trained to feel apologetic or disdainful about what has come to be viewed as the Vedas’ gross exaggerations and fantasies concerning the ancients. A L Basham, who wrote the popular classic The Wonder that Was India, is one of many. 

For a quick glimpse at what unsung surprises may lie in the Vedas, let us consider these renditions from the Yajur-veda and Atharva-veda, for instance. Here are the possibilities of verses when in the hands of a sympathetic Sanskrit translator: 

" O disciple, a student in the science of government, sail in oceans in steamers, fly in the air in airplanes, know God the creator through the Vedas, control thy breath through yoga, through astronomy know the functions of day and night, know all the Vedas, Rig, Yajur, Sama and Atharva, by means of their constituent parts."

" Through astronomy, geography, and geology, go thou to all the different countries of the world under the sun. Mayest thou attain through good preaching to statesmanship and artisanship, through medical science obtain knowledge of all medicinal plants, through hydrostatics learn the different uses of water, through electricity understand the working of ever lustrous lightening. Carry out my instructions willingly." (Yajur-veda 6.21).   

Vedic rishis.

The first 19^th century European scholars to encounter the Vedas often brimmed with awe and admiration. Even Indian scholars have been trained to feel apologetic or disdainful about what has come to be viewed as the Vedas’ gross exaggerations and fantasies concerning the ancients.

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" O royal skilled engineer, construct sea-boats, propelled on water by our experts, and airplanes, moving and flying upward, after the clouds that reside in the mid-region, that fly as the boats move on the sea, that fly high over and below the watery clouds. Be thou, thereby, prosperous in this world created by the Omnipresent God, and flier in both air and lightning."  (Yajur-veda 10.19). 

" The atomic energy fissions the ninety-nine elements, covering its path by the bombardments of neutrons without let or hindrance. Desirous of stalking the head, ie. The chief part of the swift power, hidden in the mass of molecular adjustments of the elements, this atomic energy approaches it in the very act of fissioning it by the above-noted bombardment. Herein, verily the scientists know the similar hidden striking force of the rays of the sun working in the orbit of the moon." (Atharva-veda 20.41.1-3). 

Sanskritists will fight over translations. Needless to say, rare is the Western scholar who will let these verses speak in this way. To calmly admit that the Yajur and Atharva-veda speak of electricity, nuclear energy, and aircraft is to violate every bias and preconception that forms the edifice of our Western creed.  

The Western attitude toward Vedic literature, however, was not always so insensitive and dismissive. The first 19^th century European scholars to encounter the Vedas often brimmed with awe and admiration. Whether these original European savants of India understood the full ramifications of the Vedic world view is, of course, doubtful. But certainly they were deeply moved by the philosophical wisdom, breadth, and eloquence of Vedic knowledge. The prime concern of Europe with India, however, was commerce.

(source: Searching for Vedic India - By Devamitra Swami  p. 155 - 157).  For more refer to chapters on Vimanas, Advanced Concepts, Hindu Cosmology and Hindu Culture1).

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US tells India, drop dead – by Kanchan Gupta
F-16s for Pak

A friend, usually upbeat about India-US relations, sent me an angry mail over the weekend after President George Bush called up Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the evening of March 25 to inform him that the US had decided to supply F-16 fighter jets to Pakistan and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, in an interview to The Washington Post, "dismissed concerns" about the fallout of the American decision. The mail reads:

"lovely Easter gift to India from the US.

moral: proliferate nukes, threaten US interests everywhere, be terror hub, and get rewarded for it. this has been north Korea's experience, china's experience, Saudi Arabia's experience, and Pakistan's experience.

Suck up to the us, desperately crave its goodwill, allow its odious conversion machine to dictate terms to you, and get slapped on the face. this is India's experience.

Simple solution for India: proliferate nuke and missile technology to anybody who wants it, especially Taiwan and Japan. this will immediately get American respect, much as Pokhran-II did."

The issues that arise from USA's decision to strengthen Pakistan's strike power, I feel, are much larger than merely seeking or getting "American respect." A nation whose civilizational history stretches back to 5,000 years, that is more than Americans can count without a Texas Instruments TI-83, and whose billion-plus population is not dependent on American wheat surplus of the PL 480 variety, can do without "American respect." Thank you very much, but America is welcome to stuff its "respect" in a hot dog.

India Slams U.S. Move to Sell F-16 to Pakistan - 

"The reasons for which Pakistan is provided with this level of weapons are not much justified," Defense Minister Pranab Mukherjee told reporters Monday. "The reason is that it will help Pakistan to fight against terrorism and the Taliban. But this type of equipment is not required to fight against terrorists. This equipment is required for a full-fledged war."

(source: US tells India, drop dead – by Kanchan Gupta and  India Slams U.S. Move to Sell F-16 to Pakistan - yahoo.com).

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Former Air Force colonel Kirby Knox is a born-again Hindu 

As a former colonel in the U.S. Air Force, Kirby Knox is accustomed to giving orders as much as following them. These days, however, he's willingly surrendering to a guru as part of his spiritual practice.  

Knox, a 53-year-old physician who received his medical training while in the military, is a devotee of Ammachi, a Hindu holy woman revered as the "Hugging Saint" because of her practice of transmitting blessings in the form of hugs to millions of people around the world. Knox, who practices acupuncture and other alternative therapies in Richmond and San Leandro, has been fascinated by Eastern religious ideas and practices since his days as a cadet at the U.S. Air Force Academy.

What was your attitude about the church as you got older?  

I didn't understand how someone from a different country -- like, say, in the heart of Africa -- who was not raised a Christian would be consigned to Hell for not taking Jesus as his personal savior. Then, when I was in high school, I had an English teacher -- he must have been an atheist or something -- who raised a lot of philosophical questions around religion. At some point during that time, I just decided I didn't believe what the Methodist Church was propagating.

How would you describe your spiritual orientation these days?  

I guess you could say I'm a born-again Hindu. My spiritual practices, the services I go to, are all centered in Hinduism -- although it feels kind of funny to say that, given my Christian background. 

Do you have a particular spiritual practice? I do quite a few things. I have a mantra that Amma gave me. I'm supposed to recite it 108 times a day. But I try to do it as much as I can, when I'm shaving or driving my car. I also try to get up once in the middle of the night to pray and meditate for an hour or so.

(source:  Former Air Force colonel Kirby Knox is a born-again Hindu - sfgate.com).  

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Secularism In India - India’s burden of bad ideas ?

Secularism today ranks foremost among India’s burden of bad ideas, a term coined by Prof. Shiva Bajpai to debunk the ill-founded Aryan Invasion Theory, which held academics in thrall for a century before being flung into the dustbin of history. The term secular entered India’s political vocabulary as a device to disarm the Hindu majority and inhibit _expression of resentment against minority-appeasing policies of successive Governments.

Given the shoddy motives of its promoters, it is surprising that the term secular has come to acquire such a powerful hold over the elite. Secularism is not a lofty ideal, like liberty or equality. It owes its birth to Christianity’s inability to maintain peace between warring Christian sects, especially as the State itself sponsored pogroms against different denominations. Wearied of prolonged intra-religious warfare, France invented secularism to ensure State neutrality in matters of faith, and separation of Church and State. 

Secularism was thus born as an extra-religious answer to the intolerance of both Church and State.

Hindu civilization has never, even when under murderous assault, indulged in pogroms on grounds of faith. Hence, unlike western concepts of democracy and equality, which find resonance in Indian hearts, secularism cuts no ice with the masses. India has traditionally vested spiritual authority in the guru and political power in the king, and given the latter the duty to protect dharma.

India has traditionally vested spiritual authority in the guru and political power in the king, and given the latter the duty to protect dharma.

(For more refer to chapter on Greater India: Suvarnabhumi and Sacred Angkor).

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Dharma is not religion in the sense that monotheistic creeds are. Dharma is a generic term for all native spiritual experience and includes the specific dharmas of specific groups (desachara, lokachara), which the king is duty bound to uphold and protect. Since dharma was never identified with a specific doctrine, the State was never doctrinaire. However, the State was always dharmic (non-secular, non-communal), because dharma is all-encompassing and embraces all without discrimination. The duty of the State (king) in Hindu thought is best exemplified by the concept of Rajdharma, which is a sacred duty for which the ruler can sacrifice anything. Stories of the travails of Raja Harish Chandra and the sufferings of Shri Rama reflect how seriously the monarch is expected to take his responsibilities and fulfill commitments.

Dharma is thus not co-terminus with religion; the closest Indian word for religion is pantha. Secularism in India, as noted jurist Dr. L. M. Singhvi insisted when translating the modified Preamble of the Constitution into Hindi, is pantha-nirpeksha (non-discrimination towards individual faiths). So, while ‘secular’ is the opposite of ‘religion’ and ‘communal,’ dharma is neither secular in the sense of being anti-religious nor communal in the sense of favouring a particular sect.

This brings us to the peculiar practice of secularism in modern India. While the proper definition of secularism should be pantha-nirpeksha, as noted previously, the media and politicians speak of dharma nirpeksha or neutral in the matter of religion. This is antithetical to Hindu civilizational experience which demands that the State respect and uphold dharma; but this is only part of the problem.

The real difficulty is that even dharma nirpeksha is not implemented honestly. Dharma nirpeksha means the State should be aloof from all religions or treat all equally. The Indian Government however, has not been religiously neutral since independence itself. Despite the terrible sufferings of Hindus before and during Partition, Mr. Jawaharlal Nehru created the false bogey of “majority communalism” to create and consolidate a Muslim votebank for Congress. The first blow was struck with the refusal to implement a uniform civil code, even though this was both desirable and possible at the time of framing the constitution.

(source: Secularism In India - By Sandhya Jain - organiser.org). Refer to Who Killed Our Culture? We Did - By Youki Kudoh - time.com  May 3 1999.

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Hindu temple razed by religious police in Saudi Arabia
Will Indian 'bleeding heart' Secularist advise banning the visit of all Saudi Government officials to India?

Riyadh: Saudi religious police have destroyed a clandestine makeshift Hindu temple in an old district of Riyadh and deported three worshippers found there, a newspaper reported today (March 26, 2005).

Members of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, or muttawa or Islamic religious police, stumbled across a room converted into a temple while raiding a number of flats suspected of being used to manufacture alcohol and distribute pornographic videos, pan-Arab Al-Hayat said.

"They were surprised to find that one room had been converted into a Hindu temple," it said.

A caretaker who was found in the worshipping area ignored the religious police orders to stop performing his religious rituals, the paper added.

He was deported along with two other men who arrived on the scene to worship. All forms of non-Muslim worship are banned in ultra-conservative Saudi Arabia, which is home to Islam's holiest shrines.

The US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), an advisory panel, last month urged the US Government to impose sanctions on Saudi Arabia, as well as Vietnam and Eritrea, for violating religious rights.

Last year, the US State Department for the first time named ally Saudi Arabia, as well as Eritrea and Vietnam, "countries of particular concern" in its annual report on religious freedom. A list previously included China, Iran, Myanmar, North Korea and Sudan.

(source: Hindu temple razed by religious police in Saudi Arabia - indiainfo.com and Religious police destroy Hindu temple - Washington Times). Refer to My People, Uprooted: "A Saga of the Hindus of Eastern Bengal"  - By Tathagata Roy

India In The Dock

The United States has stuck to its guns expressing inability to revise its decision on Modi visas. Time to celebrate for all those secular-minded countrymen who deposed against their country before foreign commissions on religious freedom, for scholars who thrive on distorting history, for foreign-funded campus pedagogs, for proselytizers, for terrorists and in short for all those who wish an egg on India's face. They have succeeded in besmirching India's image as a secular country where, despite Akshardhams and Coimbatores, the minorities flourish and prosper....

Delighted they all must be that a country with debatable human rights record has humbled a billion people. Thanks are no less due to those English newspapers for which famine and hunger can wait but not the call of secularism.

For all its sins of the past, including the 1984 Sikh massacre, the Congress has seen it fit to rise above partisan politics and protest the US diplomatic aberration.

But why blame the Americans when Indians themselves did India in. All those award-hungry human rights activists, rabid communal organizations representing the Indian minorities, intellectuals hiding their Indian identity behind South Asian masks and media persons with strange loyalties to the fiction of a global community saw nothing treacherous in appearing before foreign tribunals pillorying their country even as they are aware that their activities have weaned the minorities permanently away from the mainstream. They did the greatest damage to what they fondly call the country's secular fabric.

The American logic does not stand a minute's scrutiny. They depended on lies spread by the media and the NGOs. Even as the
cars of the Godhra Express and bodies trapped inside were burning, the country's English newspapers unleashed a media genocide of the majority community spreading unabashed lies about what happened in Gujarat. Wealthy NGOs flew fact-finding teams into Gujarat to deserve the generosity of their donors. Editors left their air-conditioned workstations to visit trouble-torn spots in Gujarat to find evidence that matched their findings. Anti-democratic forces traveled all the way to the United States to appear before the State Department's International Commission for Religious Freedom. All of them forgot that there is a well-documented history of communal riots in the country, much of it in the 40 years of Nehru-Gandhi rule.

The Federation of Indian American Christian Organizations of North America (FIACONA) has said that it is "pleased" at the US government's decision of denying a visa to Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi. It was easy to activate Pitts since he had first hand knowledge of Gujarat. He had been there on a private visit last year and never stopped talking about the persecution of Christians and Muslims. P. D. John who leads the Federation of Indian American Christian Organizations of North America (FIACONA) was walking the halls of the US Congress, reminding young staffers of Gujarat 2002 and the arson in the Dangs.

(source: India In The Dock - By Dasu Krishnamoorty - saag.org). For more refer to Lies catch up with Arundhati Roy - outlookindia.com and And Suddenly, We Care... (For more refer to US in Iraq: ‘not in our name’ - By Angana Chatterji - dailytimes.com).

Refer to Bible thumpers: Americans are being increasingly stereotyped as stupid - By Arvind Kumar - indiareacts.com).

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'Indians are bastards anyway' - said President Richard NIxon

"Indians are "a slippery, treacherous people", said Republican President Richard Nixon.(1913 - 1994).  

"The Indians are bastards anyway. They are the most aggressive goddamn people around," echoed his assistant for national security affairs, Henry Kissinger. The setting: a White House meeting on July 16, 1971, during the run-up to the India-Pakistan war which ultimately led to the birth of Bangladesh, erstwhile East Pakistan.

The US State Department recently declassified some of the Nixon White House tapes and secret documents that bring to light the way in which the Nixon administration went about the Bangladesh saga, reflecting the potential of mindsets and personal equations taking precedence over ground realities in White House decisionmaking.

In 1971, some 3 million people are estimated to have been killed in the genocide unleashed by Pakistan's military government on East Pakistan, leading to a rush of refugees into India, drawing India into a swift and decisive war that eventually forced Pakistan's hand. But all along, the Nixon administration sided with the military establishment of Pakistan over democratic India because of Nixon's "special relationship" with Pakistan's handsome military dictator, General Yahya Khan, and his uncontrolled revulsion at the "old witch" Indira Gandhi, India's then prime minister.

Despite the avowed goal of containing war, the US administration, in its zeal to put India in a spot, even went to the extent of pleading with the Chinese to initiate troop movements toward the Indian border in coordination with Pakistan, and assured it support in case the Soviet Union jumped into the fray. Near the end of the war, in a highly secret meeting on December 10, 1971, Kissinger pitched the idea to Chinese ambassador to the UN, Huang Ha. The declassified documents reveal that China took a couple of days to think about it and finally said it was not game, much to Kissinger's disappointment.

Even as the refugee situation was escalating, the Nixon administration kept playing politics. Sample this conversation at the White House a day after George Harrison and his soul mate, Indian sitar player Ravi Shankar, held the "Concert for Bangladesh" to raise money for the refugees. "So who is the Beatle giving the money to - is it the goddamn Indians?" asks Nixon. "Yes," says Kissinger, adding that Pakistan had also been given $150,000 in food aid, but the major problem "is the goddamn distribution". Nixon butts in: "We have to keep India away."

(source: 'Indians are bastards anyway' - By Debasish Roy Chowdhury - AsiaTimes.com).


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Chinese Premier quotes Upanishad  

"May he protect us both together; may he nourish us both together; may we work conjointly with great energy, may our study be vigorous and effective; May we not hate any; let there be peace, let there be peace, let there be peace!’’

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao on Monday announced that he will visit India soon with a three-point agenda, including enhancing bilateral ties to strategic levels and to seek a ‘‘fair’’ resolution to the vexed boundary issue on the basis of ‘‘mutual accommodation and accommodation of reality’’.

Speaking at his annual customary press conference at the end of the 10-day session of the National People’s Congress (NPC), Wen stressed China and India were not rivals but friends, and both countries shall work together to tap the potential of bilateral cooperation and find a ‘‘fair, reasonable and mutually acceptable plan’’ to solve their border disputes, Wen said amid rare applause from over 700 reporters at the Great Hall of the People. 

‘‘I hope you can send my message back to the great Indian people, that we’re not competitors, we are friends,’’ said Wen when asked to comment on bilateral relations, ahead of the 55th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between India and China on April 1. Stating that China and India will celebrate next month the 55th anniversary of the establishment of their diplomatic ties, Wen expressed the hope that the anniversary would ‘‘become a new starting point for Sino-Indian friendly cooperation’’.

(source: Chinese Premier quotes Upanishad  - indianexpress.com). 

(For more refer to chapter on Greater India: Suvarnabhumi and Sacred Angkor).

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New dimensions of secularism in India

Why did the Karnataka Chief Minister and other seculars proudly participate in the mass proselytising event of Benny Hinn, who abused Hindus and Hindu Gods? How is it that E. Ahmed of the Muslim League is ‘secular’ and L.K Advani of the BJP ‘communal’? Why is the Kanchi Matham being hounded while the raid on the Islamic religious school at Nadwa to catch ISI insurgents was called off and Central ministers sent to apologise to Ali Mian for the raid? How is it that ‘secular’ intellectuals are asking for the release of the Godhra accused and none of them is bothered about Vijayendra Saraswathi in jail?

For ‘secular’ India, secularism is not divorced between the state and religion. For them secularism is exclusively for the benefit of the minorities. Extend it, secularism means pampering the minorities. Go further, it includes being allergic to the majority. That is, unless one explicitly appeases the minorities and is overtly allergic to Hindus, one is not ‘secular’ enough. How did secularism acquire these new dimensions? Simple: it became a tool of politics. Politics is all about uniting the supporters and dividing the opponents. In Indian politics, uniting a minority for votes is ‘secular’. It is ‘secular’ to divide the majority into this or that caste for votes. Consequently, uniting the majority is anti-‘secular’. And organising the majority is fundamentalist. In contrast, protecting organised minority is a ‘secular’ duty. This is the high point of ‘secular’ India. A novice in Christian history would know that secularism originated in Christendom as a rule of separation of the Christian church and the Christian state. But how come what started off as an issue of Christian church versus the Christian state has become an issue of majority versus minority?

With Martin Luther’s revolt against the ‘Catholic Church’ arrived the ‘Protestant Church’. This weakened the Papacy and eventually broke up the Holy Roman Empire. The broken pieces of the Empire, by permutation and combination, became the modern nation-states in Europe. But these separated nation states also owed allegiance to Christ and Bible. These developments were all intra-Christian, within Christendom. No other religion was in the picture. The Church had ensured that no indigenous faith survived after Christianity took charge of Europe. Till this point no one had heard of secularism. It was only when the national Christian churches clashed with the national Christian states for primacy that a formula had to be worked out. That formula was that the Christian State would prevail in worldly issues that were considered to be ‘secular’ in Christian theology. In the Abrahamic world all matters pertaining to the ‘other world’ were sacred, and the worldly issues ‘secular’. This was how secularism was born. It separated what Christianity regarded as ‘sacred’ from what it classified as ‘secular’. But the common denominator was the Christian theology and what it certified as sacred and ‘secular’. In the European model, the Christian state was not actually creed-neutral. It was neutrality between the Christian state and the Christian church within Christianity. Secularism mandated that the Christian church would not interfere in matters of the Christian state.

Secularism as understood in India protects the organised minorities. It leaves the unorganised Hindu majority completely unprotected and undefended.

(For more refer to chapter on Greater India: Suvarnabhumi and Sacred Angkor).

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It was the advent of democracy, not secularism, which gave the survival space non-Christian faiths in Christendom. The Christian states ruled by Christian monarchs began clashing with the people when the people began demanding more rights. This is where individualism began conflicting with monarchies. The clashes triggered movements for democracy. It was democracy that really shaped the institution of secularism as later understood in the modern West. Still, secularism in the West was an all-Christian affair. It was an intra-Christian discipline. The state stood neutral between the Christian church and Christians, whether faithfuls or heretics. But democracy offered space for atheists and agnostics. Added to that was emigration from the rest of the world which turned the Christian West multi-religious and multi-racial. 

But here in India, while the minorities are organised around their book and their prophets, the majority faith, the Hindu faith, is totally unorganised. In fact, it is not organisable at all. With 33 crore Gods to be propitiated one can understand how impossible it is to organise Hinduism. So we have organised minorities on the one hand and unorganised — why un-organisable — majority on the other. With the result secularism as understood in India protects the organised minorities. It leaves the unorganised majority completely unprotected and undefended. Vote bank politics made it worse. Since the minorities are organised they become readymade vote banks, mere ballot papers. But the Hindu majority does not behave or vote as majority. This is so even on issues of faith as the divergent faiths and Gods within Hinduism makes it difficult for them to unite like the minorities. ‘Secular’ India denies to the majority the rights it reserves for the majority. So secularism in essence treats the ‘secular’ state as a majoritarian institution. In Christendom, the majority is Christian any way. And they are also organised additionally.

But, ‘secular’ India will not allow the Hindus to unite. It will snuff out any attempt to organise the Hindus, label those who attempt it as communalists and fundamentalists. But, unless Hindus get organised, ‘secular’ India will not allow Hinduism to survive. Then, will ‘secular’ India not do to Hinduism what Christianity did to Roman paganism? The Encyclopedia of Britannica says that Rome did not know how to handle Christianity that negated all other faiths. The inability of Roman Pagans to handle an intolerant faith, as the encyclopedia repeatedly refers to Christianity, caused the collapse of the Roman Paganism. ‘Secular’ India’s intolerance to Hindus is similar. The Hindus have to handle ‘secular’ India like the minorities do. That is, the Hindus have to get organised and create a majoritarian regime. This is a rule of survival for them. And for the survival of a faith-neutral state itself! The question is, will they do it in spite of ‘secular’ India’s hostility?

(source: New dimensions of secularism - newindpress.com). Also refer to India is now 6% Christian - World Christian Database. Refer to VINDICATED BY TIME: The Niyogi Committee Report  On Christian Missionary Activities - Christianity Missionary Activities Enquiry Committee 1956 and The Sunshine of Secularism. Also refer to How various parts of the world was converted to Christianity. Refer to Communismwatch and cpmterror.

Refer to Psuedo-secularism and Bible thumpers: Americans are being increasingly stereotyped as stupid - By Arvind Kumar - indiareacts.com). Refer to Who Killed Our Culture? We Did - By Youki Kudoh - time.com  May 3 1999.

For more on Christian Fundamentalism Agenda in USA, refer to:

A conflict between science and God - By Martin Kettle - Guardian and Quotes from The American Taliban and Christian Fundamentalists to Push Bible as Classroom "Knowledge" and Bush, the Neocons and Evangelical Christian Fiction: America "Left Behind" - By Hugh Urban and The Christian Right, Dominionism, and Theocracy - publiceye.org. and Dinosaurs, evangelicals and the state - By Justin Webb - BBC. and Cornell President Says "Intelligent Design" Religion, Not Science and American Fundamentalists.  Also refer to Battlefield Earth - By Bill Moyers and The Godly Must Be Crazy - By Glen Scherer and Rapture or Rupture? - By Bryan Zepp Jamieson. Refer to The Republican War on Science - By Chris Mooney and Resurgence Of Religious Right Among Top Concerns - totallyjewish.com.  More evangelicals turning up in elite circles, schools - By Laurie Goodstein and David D. Kirkpatrick - The New York Times/May 22, 2005. The Crusaders:
Christian evangelicals are plotting to remake America in their own image - By Bob Moser - rollingstone.com and Dominionist. Refer to As America declines, the Bible thumpers take hold - By Ramesh Rao - indiareacts.com.  Refer to Christian Supremacy: Pushing the Dhimmitude of Non-Christians in America .

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It is the largest Vina in the world and its Extinction draws Near
To Save a Soulful art form

Pandit Hindraj Divekar, one of the last surviving Rudra vina masters, talks about its history, its music and its plight

The rudra vina is considered the father-mother of all stringed instruments. Believed to have been used by the rishis for contemplation, no other instrument but the human voice can match the Rudra vina's deep, subtly nuanced, sustainable spiritual tones. Sadly, its incredible sound is on the verge of extinction.  

Believed to have been used by the rishis for contemplation, no other instrument but the human voice can match the Rudra vina's deep, subtly nuanced, sustainable spiritual tones. Sadly, its incredible sound is on the verge of extinction. 

***

References are made to the vina in our scriptures that are over four thousand years old. It has existed since pre-Vedic times. It is said that Lord Siva created this world by dancing for Parvati to the music of the Rudra vina. Rishis and hermits played this instrument in remote Himalayan caves. Over time in North India it was called "Beena " and then "Been." Its musicians are known as "Beenkars." During the middle ages, the Rudra vina flourished under the patronage of the Hindu Maharajas and Mogul rulers. But the music was hidden from the masses, experienced only by royalty and the wealthy. With the advent of British rule, the centuries of elite patronage of India's great cultural arts came to an end. Today Indian musicians must find new ways to survive. After independence and with the global distribution of audio technologies, there has been a resurgence and worldwide interest in Indian classical music. Unfortunately, many ancient instruments that fell into disuse remain hidden from the world. The Rudra vina is the most prominent among them.

(source: To Save a Soulful art form - By Rajiv Malik - hinduismtoday.com).

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Wiping Stereotypes Of India off the Books - "Karma, Cows and Caste."

Fairfax County businesswoman Sandhya Kumar teaches her three daughters about other countries, cultures and religions. She wants them to take pride in their Indian heritage and Hindu faith -- and to respect and understand other views.

"I thought the American children will think India is some Third World country with pagan beliefs and backward thinking, not a forward-thinking country," Kumar said.

She and dozens of other Indian American parents launched a campaign to change the way their history is taught in Fairfax, the nation's 12th-largest school system. Their lobbying has prompted school officials to rethink presentations of India and Hinduism in classrooms and has sparked efforts to develop a more sophisticated and thoughtful
curriculum.

Balaji Hebbar, a George Washington University religion professor who was one of three scholars hired by Fairfax County to review the books cited by the group of Indian parents, said he and his colleagues found few factual errors. But he said the lessons boiled down a complex culture to "karma, cows and caste."

"It's as if I were making a picture book of the United States, and I took pictures of the bad parts of D.C., the run-down parts of New York City and the smoke stacks of Cleveland and left out the Golden Gate Bridge and the Statue of Liberty," Hebbar said. "I would be telling the truth, but I would only be telling half the truth."

Hebbar and the other scholars, Ariel Glucklich, a Georgetown University theology professor, and Robert DeCaroli, an art professor at George Mason University, said caste sometimes was overemphasized. Glucklich said he thinks the presentation in many of the books "completely removes the kids' ability to imagine . . . why anybody in his right mind would want to be Hindu."

(source: Wiping Stereotypes Of India off the Books - By Maria Glod - Washington Post  Sunday, April 17, 2005). For more refer to Hindu Education Foundation. For more on textbook bias refer to chapter on Aryan Invasion Theory. Refer to Bible thumpers: Americans are being increasingly stereotyped as stupid - By Arvind Kumar - indiareacts.com).

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The World of Myth - By Ramesh Rao 

The Epic of Ramayana.

The World Mythology textbooks they used include the Ramayana as myth but did not include any stories from the Bible or Koran.

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Many of the “World Mythology” textbooks do not include Muslim and Christian stories. Reviewers on the Amazon web site, for example, include comments like these: “The title is something of a misnomer. This is a fine collection of ancient myths found throughout world history. However, it is intellectually dishonest because the author fails to recognize some of the most powerful myths in human history -- namely those found in the Bible and Koran”. You will not find the names of Adam and Eve, or Jesus or Mary, or Mohammed or Allah in these textbooks, whereas Rama, Krishna, Indra, Buddha all make multiple appearances, including pictures of Benares!

Some Indian-Americans don’t see much merit in complaining about these matters or correcting what is egregiously wrong in American school text books or classroom practices. For them, Hinduism is a “mish mash” of cultural practices accrued over millennia.  

Most of these beliefs and practices is plain obscurantist nonsense, they proclaim. By conflating the obscurantist aspects of Hinduism with the world of Hindu knowledge and culture, they ignore the explicit practice of religious supremacy and academic discrimination in their own neighborhood. By labeling these concerns as merely that of the “Hindu Right” or of the “RSS” Indian-American activists and academics are collaborating in the decimation of local culture and religious practices in India.

(source: The World of Myth - By Ramesh Rao - india-forum.com). Watch History of Ayodhya - videogoogle.com.

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Pax- Americana - US Government meddling in Indian affairs?
State Dept Rights rap for India but praises 'rewriting' textbooks

While lauding the Centre for “rewriting school textbooks” and “addressing the aftermath of the Gujarat riots”, the 293-page report, titled “Supporting Human Rights and Democracy,” reiterated concern over the situation in Gujarat.

“Following its electoral victory in May, the government began to address a number of human rights concerns that have arisen in recent years. For example, it moved quickly to rewrite school textbooks... in order to stress the contributions of the Muslim, Sikh, Buddhist and Christian minority communities,” it said. However, it said, the rewriting of the textbooks has not been completed, and alleged that Gujarat government has not recalled its old textbooks or announced plans for their replacement.

(source: State Dept praises 'rewriting' textbooks - thestatesman.net). Also refer to America's Imperial Ambitions - By John G  Ikenberry and chapter on European Imperialism and First Indologists.

Refer to Hindus and Sikhs Protest Curriculum Changes in Calif. Textbooks - "Hinduism is not treated with the same respect as Christianity or Judaism," Dr. Mihir Meghani, president of the Hindu American Foundation, told the board. Unlike in those faiths, "the sacred scriptures of Hinduism are referred to as legends or myths."

Globodada's double standards

US Administration has equated the BJP-led NDA Government's policy decisions with violation of human rights and repeated its trenchant criticism of Mr Modi. "Following its electoral victory in May, the (UPA) Government began to address a number of human rights concerns that have arisen in recent years," the report says, adding, "For example, it moved quickly to rewrite school textbooks (which the previous Government had rewritten to promote the BJP's Hindu nationalist propaganda) in order to stress the contributions of the Muslim, Sikh, Buddhist and Christian minority communities."

Halebid temple architecture.

The report maintains a studied silence on the Godhra massacre in which Hindus were burned alive. 

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"With a Muslim President, Sikh Prime Minister, and Christian head of the governing parliamentary party, India's leadership is representative of its religious diversity", though this has not prevented "religiously motivated violence against Christians and Muslims".  

The report maintains a studied silence on the Godhra massacre in which Hindus were burned alive.

Unmindful of detention of thousands of 'suspects' without trial or formal charges in 'detention facilities' at Kabul, Baghdad and Guantanamo Bay, the report talks of "extra-judicial killings, custodial deaths, excessive use of force by security forces, torture, poor prison conditions, and extended pretrial detention." It then goes on to praise the repealing of POTA but regrets that it has been replaced with the "amended Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act to incorporate a number of POTA's anti-terrorism provisions" and criticises "POTA-like legislation such as the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (that) remained in force in many states, leading to serious human rights violations." 

(source: Globodada's double standards - By Kanchan Gupta - dailypioneer.com March 31 2005).

Letter to Editor

American State Department is confused. If I motivate Indians to revive best of ancient Hindu values and reject all limitations and stupidity of foreign imported idea then the same sate Department will say India is lacking freedom of religion. The selfish conversion based domination of specific religious agenda or propaganda based conflict producing agents deviated us from higher self-realization and conscious evolution. The Hindu philosophy of self-realization and conscious evolution is still far more relevant for individual liberty and spiritual democracy than stupid American concept dogma based religious freedom.

(source: American State Department is confused - thestatesman.net). Refer to Bible thumpers: Americans are being increasingly stereotyped as stupid - By Arvind Kumar - indiareacts.com).

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