Islam apeasement and divided Hindus- ENEMY OF THEMSELVES

The new NDA government in 2014 announced 100Cr grant for madrassas, among other schemes

 

Written byRohini Verma

 

India is a Hindu majority nation but Muslims are the second larget majority at around 30 Crore in population. There are various schemes dedicated to Muslims by central and state governments. Any party bringing this schemes gets a massive vote bank swing vital for their survival in elections. Any party that wishes to roll back such biased schemes fear a secular backlash.

We will take a stock of these schemes. But here the important point is that many of these schemes are run not of the basis of income group of the Muslims. These schemes are devised on religious grounds, so even if you are a rich Muslim, you can get the benefits of the various schemes.
Kerala and Gujarat have emerged as the top two states in India where poverty among Muslims in both rural and urban areas declined drastically in the last 8 years, according to the National Sample Survey (NSS) statistics. For over six decades, successive Central Governments and various State Governments have passed a whopping number of Bills and schemes that favour minorities at the expense of the majority. In wake of the recommendations made by the Sachar Commission report for the economic upliftment of the Muslims in India, both central and state government have launched several schemes for their welfare. Let us have a look at some of these schemes:

1. Schemes in Andhra Pradesh:

Tatkal financial support scheme: This scheme is to help poor Muslims who are in need of petty loans. Under this scheme a loan up to Rs. 20,000/- will be given to an individual. The object of this scheme is to give focused attention on target group that is Muslims. In this scheme 2000 Minority unprivileged women beneficiaries shall be benefited with State Government Subsidy amounting to Rs.300.00 Lakhs during the year 2015-16.
Small loan scheme: This is another scheme for minorities under which they can get financial assistance up to Rs.20,000/. Under Small Loan scheme 6000 Minorities will be benefited with State Government Subsidy amounting to Rs. 900.00 lakhs during the year 2015-16.
Adarana scheme: This is meant to improve the working conditions of the Minority artisans in the State. Govt. of Andhra Pradesh has initiated minority artisans assistance Scheme for people working in the fields of tailoring, embroidery, weaving, goldsmith, blacksmith, carpentry, wooden carving, cycles & scooter mechanism etc. “ADARANA” essentially focuses on providing loan with bank linkage for procurement of hand tools, hand held powered tools and small equipment. Under Adarana Scheme 9,823 Minority Artisans will be benefited with State Government Subsidy amounting to Rs. 1050.00 lakhs during the year 2015-16.
Dukan-Makan Scheme: It is intended to provide Pucca House with work place along with working capital for running own business. Under Dukan-Makan Scheme 1,000 Minority beneficiaries shall be benefited of which 500 from Urban and 500 from Rural areas with State Government Subsidy amounting to Rs. 818.00 lakhs during the year 2015-16.

2. Schemes in Bihar

In Bihar there is a scheme for students studying in minority institutions and Madrasas. Students from class 1 to 10^th can get scholarships. For students from class 6^th to 10^th there is provision of paying them 350 rs. per month. For students staying in hostels, they will be paid 6000 rs annually.
Interest free loan to Muslims: Chief Minister of Bihar Nitish Kumar has presented a proposal of Interest free loan scheme of Rs 400 crores venture Capital Fund for the benefit of the Muslims as they are not participating in the conventional schemes based on interest due to their faith constrains. Bihari Muslims who are living in or out of Bihar, including NRIs who want to establish industries in Bihar can avail this interest free loan.
Education Loan:
With effect from the year 2007-2008, Bihar state government introduced the scheme of Educational Loans with the objective to facilitate job oriented education amongst the minorities. The scheme envisages maximum loan of Rs. 2,50,000/- @ Rs. 50,000/- per year for persuing professional and technical courses. It carries 3% simple interest per annum which is refundable in five years after completion of the course.
Micro Financing Scheme:
Under this scheme loan @ interest of 3% per annum at a maximum of Rs. 25,000/- is provided to minorities to help them in starting small business / shops.

3. Schemes in Uttar Pradesh

The state of U.P. has been at forefront to lure Muslims. In 2013 the CM Akhilesh Yadav announced 20% reservation to Muslims in public welfare schemes. In an another attempt to lure Muslims, the Akhilesh Yadav government decided that at least two Muslim constables will be posted in the every police station of the state. This move will bring more government employment to the Muslim youth. The government's argument is that such a move will help the minority community approach the police without any fear.
Money for education/marriage:
Earlier the UP government had started the "Meri Beti, Uska Kal" programme for Muslim female children. Apart from this Muslims are to be given preference in government contracts and public housing schemes.
In 2012 the U.P. government launched its ambitious scheme from Rampur in which Class X pass Muslim girls would be given money for either further education or marriage. For the scheme the government earmarked Rs 250 crore in the Supplementary Budget. Over 15,000 girls would get cheques for the scheme.
The U.P. government spent whopping Rs. 500 crores for developing graveyards and erecting boundary walls around them. The state government identified 85773 graveyards and 238 cremation grounds that need to be developed and fenced.
Free laptop distribution scheme:
Free laptop distribution scheme of Uttar Pradesh Government was the scheme of the Government of Uttar Pradesh headed by Akhilesh Singh Yadav.Under the scheme 1.5 million laptops to Class 12-pass students of the state were distributed. The laptops, which operate in Hindi, English and Urdu, were acquired from HP for the world's largest programme of its kind. The beneficiaries included students passing high school and intermediate examination conducted by Uttar Pradesh Secondary Education Board, Poorva Madhyama and Madhyama of Sanskrit Education Board, Munshi/Maulvi and Alim of Madrasa Board.

4. Schemes in Kerala:

As a part of implementation of Justice Rajindar Sachar Committee Report, and consequent to Paloli Muhammed Kutty Committee report a Minority Cell was constituted by Kerala Government in April 2008. This department monitors the activities of the minority cells attached to the all District collectorates in Kerala. These cells are constituted for co-ordinating the Minority Welfare activities in each district.
Scholarships for Muslim girls:
There are schemes for the distribution of scholarship and hostel stipend to Muslim girls. This scheme is fully meant for Muslim girls. The Scholarships and hostel stipents are given for muslim girls studying for Graduation, Post Graduation and Professional Courses in Government and Aided Educational Institutions. Kerala State Madrassa Teachers Welfare fund also has been set up.
Coaching centres for Muslims:
The state government has set up 16 coaching centres in the state for free coaching to Muslim youths for the competitive examinations conducted by the Union Public Service Commission, Kerala Public Service Commission, Banking Service Recruitment Boards, Railway Recruitment Board and other agencies. The coaching is completely free of cost.
There is a scheme for providing free Laptops worth Rs. 25000/- to 1st and 2nd year B. Tech students who are the children of Kerala Madrassa school Teachers Welfare Scheme.
Scheme for divorced women:
Divorced women of minority communities who are not remarried for 5 years and not having earning sons and do not have shelter, they will be rehabilitated by providing houses/residential complexes. There is also a scheme for introducing pre- marital counselling among the Muslim communities in line with that Christian communities

5. Schemes in M.P.:

Computerizing 15 thousand Wakf properties:
M.P. is the first state in the country to computerise 15 thousand Wakf properties. The Board maintains total 14 thousand 702 Wakf properties including mosques, burial grounds, dargahs etc. With government’s help income of the Board is increasing constantly. As many as 3014 cases have been registered under Sections 54 and 55 of the Wakf Act to free Wakf properties from encroachments. In 306 of these cases, orders have been issued by concerning SDM for action under section 55 after hearing over one thousand cases. Work is underway to develop 16 Wakf properties. Special efforts are being made to develop Wakf properties available at Bhopal, Indore, Gwalior and Jabalpur as commercial Wakf properties. Madhya Pradesh is the first state in the country where the State Government provides Rs. 80 lakh annual grant to Wakf Board.
Minorities’ scholarships:
Madhya Pradesh tops in distribution of minorities scholarships. A target of 81 thousand 75 students was set for distribution of pre-matric, post-matric and merit-cum-means scholarships in Madhya Pradesh for the year 2010-11 against which scholarships were distributed to one lakh 47 thousand 908 students. The Central Government has set a target to distribute scholarships to one lakh 85 thousand 800 students in Madhya Pradesh.
Work of Haj House:
Two centres have been made in Madhya Pradesh for Haj pilgrims at Bhopal and Indore. Work of Haj House has been taken at both these places. A Rs. one lakh award scheme has also been launched for inviting better suggestions about construction of Haj House at Bhopal.
Job-oriented Training Scheme:
The State Government has launched Minorities Job-oriented Training Scheme to train minority community youths at countries’ selected private institutions at government’s expenses. Under the scheme, free of cost coaching of PET/PMT, PSC, UPSC, information technology and skill development is being imparted to minority community youths.
Mukhyamantri Swa-rozgar Yojna:
Mukhyamantri Swa-rozgar Yojna has been launched by Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan for making available employment to unemployed youths belonging to minority communities. Under the scheme, the needy people can be provided assistance worth upto Rs. 10 lakh.
Free of cost facility for lodging and study:
Arrangements have been made at training centre at Bhopal for free of cost lodging and study of both boy and girl students belonging to minority communities. Similarly, one 100-seat and three 50-seat post-matric girls’ hostel for minorities are being constructed.
The M.P. government has initiated the unique step of honouring students of minority community by giving away awards instituted in the names of great minority community leaders. The awards include:
Shaheed Ashfaque Ullah Khan Award – social service.
Shaheed Captain Hameed Award – respect to all religions
Dr. Abul Kalam Azad Award – Urdu literature

6. Muslim welfare in Tamil Nadu:

The Government has placed the highest emphasis on formulation and implementation of several welfare schemes for Muslims to improve their educational, social and economic status. Implementation of the policy of reservation in admission to educational institutions and employment has led to improved standard of living among minorities. There is financial assistance for Jerusalem pilgrimage, supply of iron boxes and sewing machines for their economic development, sanction of pension to ulemas and facilitation of Hajj pilgrimage are some of the schemes implemented by the Tamil Nadu government. It is interesting to note that hostels meant for minorities provide Mutton twice in a month during the first and third week and Chicken is provided twice in a month during the second and fourth week for all hostel boarders.
Few schemes of the central government:
Apart from this, in 2014 the central government launched a Rs 617-crore special education scheme to improve literacy and impart skill training to young Muslims. The scheme has been rolled out in 410 educationally backward districts in the country although it will focus its action more in the 88 districts where Muslims account for at least 20% of the total population.
The UPA government in 2014 launched schemes to focus on improving education and employability of Muslim youths in minority-concentrated districts. India has nearly 110 so-called minority-concentrated districts, areas where Muslims account for at least 20% of the total population. One of the schemes will focus on improving the education and skills of Muslim girls, and the other will focus on socio-economic upliftment of all Muslims above 15 years. The first scheme would cost the HRD ministry at least Rs.978 crore, and the second will be rolled out at an investment of about Rs.600 crore. The two schemes are expected to benefit at least 1.9 million Muslims. The government approved 277 model schools (special secondary schools in the line of central schools) in Muslim-dominated localities.
Free Coaching and Allied Scheme for Minority Communities Students:
The scheme aims to empower the minority communities. The scheme aims to make them employable in industries, services society, by assisting them as well as those institutions working for them.
There has been Computerization of Records of State Wakf Boards.
The Waqf properties are spread out all over the country. Computerization of the records of the State Waqf Boards is aimed at streamlining record keeping, introducing transparency, and to computerize the various functions/processes of the Waqf Boards.
Nai Roshni
This is a scheme for empowerment of women belonging to minority communities. The scheme will be implemented throughout the country with special focus on districts, blocks and towns/cities having a substantial minority population. It is proposed to cover 2 (two) lakh minority women during entire 12th Five Year Plan Period with 40,000 women in each financial year.
There are separate schemes for strengthening of State Waqf Boards, educational loans and employment generation, etc. But after going through the major schemes of states and central government, one question rises that why majority community is left behind in this process of development. Why Hindus do not get any financial help for their religious pilgrimages? The important point is that India is running more schemes for Muslims than Muslim nations like Pakistan and Bangladesh. The development of the nation can not be complete without taking all communities onboard. Minorities are appeased and used as vote banks. There is a need to take a fresh look at the development agenda of the nation, which can bring prosperity to all irrespective of caste or religion.
www.shankhnaad.net

Increasing attacks on Hindus in India

The Shamli train incident which sent chilling reminders of Godhra

 

Written byRohini Verma                 

India is a Hindu majority nation but Hindus have come under attacks on several occasions in different states. This is a tragedy that the whole media covers only stories involving minorities.

In the news of attacks on minorities, Hindus are blamed. There is no coverage or analysis of attacks on the places of worship of Hinduism. Political parties take advantage of such incidents to garner support and votes from the minorities in elections. But no political party or media channel or news paper takes a stand for Hindus. The U.S. President Obama visited India and gave a sermon to protect minorities. So, the international image of our country is that minorities are not protected in India.
Hinduism faces attacks on temples, thefts, vandalism and land grab with respect to temples. How many times we come across news of attacks on temples? Or loot of temples? Or killings of Hindus? This is the time to introspect. This is the time to listen to the problems of majority community.
Let us look at the numbers:
According to a research, between 01 October 2014 and 31 March 2015, there were 145 incidents of attacks on temples in India. There has been a spread of attacks on Hindu temples across India. The states where maximum number of attacks took place are Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Kerala, Telangana and Karnataka. South India and West Bengal have witnessed the worst attacks on temples. Temples are targeted more frequently that Churches. There are so many attacks on the Hindu temples that it is not possible to cover all the news in one article.
Media coverage:
According to a research, On an average, the English media reported about 46.25 news articles per incident of attack on Christian places of worship whereas it reported a mere 2.02 news articles per incident of attack on Hindu places of worship. The given figures show that media is not religion- neutral. The same ratio also shows that the English media is unfair in its coverage.

1. Attack on people celebrating swearing in of PM Modi:

After some BJP supporters celebrated Narendra Modi's oath-taking ceremony, they were attacked by Trinamool supporters in North 24- Parganas, West Bengal. This attack injured 22 BJP men. The Trinamool supporters had threatened them in advance not to celebrate. All the attackers were Muslims as the names suggest - Aklhtar Mollah, Majid Mollah, Karbullah etc.

2. Killing by cow smugglers:

On 15.05.2014, in North 24 Parganas Bangladeshi cow smugglers attacked and killed Nirmal Ghosh, a constable of Rail Police. His elder brother Paran Ghosh was injured when he tried to save his brother.

3. Communal Clash in Nadia Dist, West Bengal:

Under Kaliganj police station in Juranpur and Naoda villages, serious communal clash occurred on May 5, 2015. A Hindu religious procession was attacked in front of a mosque in Juranpur village. Reportedly 4 Hindus were killed. Villagers could not move injured Hindus to any hospital as all the roads are reportedly blocked by Muslims. This led to high number of causalities among Hindus. The incident took place after a Hindu convoy was on its way back from Dharmaraj Mela at Jamalpur in Purbasthali to their village. As they passed by a mosque in Juranpur village, they were attacked by a group of men, reportedly Muslims.

4. Violence in Shamli:

Kandhla town in Shamli district witnessed communal tensions from May 2 to May 5, 2015. People resorted to violence in protest against the alleged assault of 5 Muslim men in a train. The crowds blocked road and rail transport and also roughed up policemen who tried to stop them. According to reports, almost 16 police personnel were injured by the Muslim mob. The Samajwadi Party MLA from Kairana, Nahid Hasan along with other locals, blocked rail and road transport to protest against the incident. The crowd even set a few vehicles parked in the station on fire. The social media and local Whatsapp groups were abuzz with messages claiming a Muslim conspiracy to perform “another Godhra” in Shamli. The crowd threw stones at trains at Kandhla after which the Railway Police had to resort to lathi charge. In past too there have been many incidents of attacking the Hindus:
Targeting Hindu women and rapes:
In many Muslim dominated cities like Bhopal and Meerut Hindu women are dragged into cars and are raped. They are returned after two three days when these poor females are totally worn out. In most of the cases people do not report to police to avoid more trouble. When a nun is raped the whole media stands out for covering such a news but when it comes to Hindu girls strangely, no media is interested even in reporting such an incident.

5. On 28.05.2014, 11 year old Hindu girl was gang raped by Motahar Seikh, Bapan Seikh and Pande Seikh, all residents of Bahadidanga village.
6. On 16.05.2014, one Hindu housewife aged 25 years was kidnapped and raped for 5 days by Sabid Ali, Usuf Ali and Pochu Mohammad in the house of Mir Mohammad.
7. On 20.05.2014. in Dattapara village, North 24 Parganas a newlywed Hindu woman was raped by Baharuddin & Saiful. Her husband works in Dubai. Now he is reluctant to accept her back. The incident took place when she was at her widowed mother’s house.
8. On 29.04.2014, in North 24 Parganas there was a gang rape of a 15 year old SC Hindu girl. The accused were Osman Mollah and his 5 other goons. Before raping her, the Muslim miscreants looted Rs.20,000 cash, gold ornaments, 2 water pumps and other expensive items.
9. Hindus deprived of last rites in West Bengal:

In this Hindu majority nation, Hindu organizations are seen with deep rooted suspicions. They are some times called “Hindu militants”. In West Bengal the Hindus are denied their rights of cremation in a 200 yrs old Shamshan Ghat solely possessed and owned by the Hindus. Muslims of the state are trying to grab the land of Arjunpur Hindu cremation place step by step.

1. Attack on Funeral Party:

On 10.05.2014 in Murshidabad local Muslims attacked a Funeral Party from Hajarpur village with bombs and gunfire. Bikash Pal and Kesto Pal were injured. The party had to flee abandoning the half-cremated body of late Biren Pal to save their lives. The Muslims want to encroach the Hindu burning ghat at the Arjunpur village. Muslims threw the half burnt body in the Ganges.
Police did not make even a single arrest in the case. Police issued an instruction to Hindus to give information about any death in the locality so that Police may accompany with the dead body for safe cremation at Arjunpur Shamshan ghat. In other incidents of cremations, Muslims pelted stones on Hindus and Police could do nothing. Now the Hindus cremate bodies in other far away places.

1. Attack on Basanti Puja festival:

On 09.04.2014, in Dhalaghat village, South Dinajpur, Muslims attacked the Basanti Puja festival. They also broke the Basanti deity by kicking it. Muslims ransacked the Puja pandal, fractured Dilip Murmu’s head, injured many persons, and molested women. All victims were Hindus belonging to the ST. Notorious Anikul Islam, Sadikul Islam and Minarul Islam led the rampaging mob. There are hundreds of such cases to breaking the idols but all cases are not reported.

2. On 29.03.2014 in Dist. South 24 Parganas, a renowned businessman and leading personality of Hindu society Kartick Methia was brutally murdered by Muslim goons of Md. Raja Seikh. Kartick Methia was leading local Hindus to resist the effort of illegal construction of a mosque on a Hindu ground named “Raasmath”.

3. The issue of marrying Hindu girls:

A very serious problem all across the country is Muslims marrying Hindu girls. In many cases when the girls refused to marry, they were attacked with blades and acid attacks. In many cities girls are directly abducted and forced in to marriage. According to an estimate the TMC government has been paying more than 30,000 imams in the state Rs. 2500 per month and over 15,000 muezzins Rs. 1500. Burning crores of tax payers’ money mostly collected from Hindus.

4. Durgapuja procession attack:

In 2013, in Dist – Birbhum of West Bengal, armed Muslims provoked by loudspeakers of the local mosque attacked Durgapuja immersion procession.

5. Cow slaughter:

 
In 2013 in a provocative move, about 5-6 Muslim families slaughtered five cows for the first time in the presence of the BDO and Police. Hindus protested. In retaliation Shajahan Seikh’s goons ransacked Hindu shops at Rampur Bazar and beat up Hindus.
 

6. Attack on temple in Agra:

In April this year, a 50-year-old temple was attacked by unknown youth. The temple was situated at Syedpara area in Lohamandi police station area of Agra. In this attack valuable ornaments of Goddess Durga and Parvati were stolen. The idols including the Shiv Ling were damaged. The damaged idols were taken into custody and replicas of them were ordered to be placed in the temple. The culprits are still to be nabbed.

7. Attack on Shiv Ratri:

In another incident in March 2013, two Shiva temples were attacked on Shiv Ratri and the idols of the temples were damaged. This attack also took place in Agra. Again, in Sita Nagar, a Shiva temple was attacked, where the idols were broken and thrown into the Yamuna river. Even in this case no arrests were made.

8. Attack on priests in Chennai:

This year two temple priests were attacked in Chennai. Their poonal (sacred thread) was cut. Police arrested six men in connection with the attacks. Some aged priests were beaten and thrown on roads for being associated with Hindu temples.

9. Amarnath pilgrimage massacre:

In this massacre, around 30 -40 Hindu pilgrims were killed by Kashmiri separatist militants. The pilgrims were on their way to Amarnath cave temple on annual pilgrimage. Militants struck again killing 27 labourers hailing from UP, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh in two separate attacks at Mirbazar-Qazigund and Sandoo-Acchabal in Anantnag district. Another group of militants struck in Sandoo-Acchabal where they shot dead seven brick-kiln labourers after segregating them from women and children. Such selective killings of Hindus have not got their deserved space in media coverage.

1. 2001 Kishtwar massacre:

2001 Kishtwar massacre was the killing of 17 Hindu villagers in village Ladder near Kishtwar in Doda District of Jammu and Kashmir by militants of Lashkar-e-Taiba on 3 August 2001. A group of 10 militants swooped on the village and dragged 20 males belonging to the Hindu community out of their houses. They were taken to the adjacent rocky mountain belt and shot dead. Similar treatment was awarded to Kashmiri Pandits in the valley. They were threatened from the loudspeakers of the local mosques. They were ordered to leave the valley or face the consequences. Selective killings of Hindus and slaughtering of cows belonging to Hindus forced Kashmiri Pandits to leave the valley. Issue of Kashmiri Pandits is such a big issue that it needs a separate article on this issue.

1. 2013 Canning riots:

In 2013 Canning riots of West Bengal again Hindus were targeted. Muslim mobs burned down more than 200 Hindu houses in the villages of Naliakhali, Herobhanga, Gopalpur and Goladogra villages in Canning police station area. Around 24 Hindu-owned shops were looted after a Muslim cleric was killed by unidentified assailants.

2. State sponsored riots against Hindus in West Bengal:

In Jan. 2015, Muslims vandalized Hindu areas and businesses in West Bengal with the help of a State Minister Giyasuddin Molla. Hindus were under attack from organized Muslim mobs in Usthi Bazar, Kuleshwar, Deyarak, Nainan, Deaula, Gholar more, Bholerhat, Mandir Bazar, Hatugunj,and other adjacent areas. Muslims were instigated to join the rioting through Masjid loudspeakers. Hindu shops were looted, ransacked, and gutted.
On many occasions, Hindu festivals and poojas are attacked by Muslims of the state. In 2013, a Durgapuja immersion procession was attacked by armed Muslims provoked by loudspeakers of the local mosque.

3. Acid attacks on Hindus in M.P.:

In April this year, at least 25 people suffered heavy injuries including 10 of severe acid burns at Jawad town in Madhya Pradesh’s Neemuch district when some Jihadi miscreants pelted stones and threw acid bulbs at a Hindu religious procession being taken out on the occasion of Hanuman Jayanti. The incident happened when the procession reached Khurra Chowk Mosque where Muslim miscreants targeted the Hindu people in procession from different sides. Heavy violence flared up, with Muslim mob setting fire to residential buildings, vehicles and the shops which left many people, including police personnel, injured.

4. Cow stealing:

In an incident on 30.03.2014 in Dist. Malda a Muslim thief was caught red handed while stealing a cow from a Hindu house. But a Muslim mob of 200 led by local Congress leader Zakir Hossein attacked the village Sihipur inhabited by SC Hindus. More than 40 Hindus were injured, women were molested, money and valuables were looted by the Muslim mob. There are many such cases when Muslims steal cows and smuggle them to Bangladesh for slaughter.

5. Clashes in Lucknow:

On May 30, 2015, tension prevailed in Lucknow after Hindus and Muslims clashed with each other. Heavy police force was deployed at the spot. Police said a function on bhajans was being held at a Hanuman temple in the area where the organisers also distributed sherbet to devotees. Initially, the quarrel started when local Muslims objected to the use of loudspeaker at the temple at the time of azaan for Friday prayers. Later there was a fight due to left over glasses. The two groups were soon joined by others from their communities and both sides reportedly opened fire.
 

6. Looting of temples:

In Barabanki, in Feb. 2015, Hindu temple was looted. Three 'ashtdhatu' and five brass idols worth crores of rupees were stolen from a 200-year-old temple. Similarly, in 2014 the 17th century priceless idols of Lord Raghunath along with four other idols were stolen from a temple in Kullu. About 10 kg of silver ornaments and 1 kg gold ornaments were also missing.
In March this year, three people came in the grab of devotees and robbed 11 panchaloha idols from Papagni temple in Chikkaballapur.
In Jan. 2015, miscreants stole 'ashtadhatu' idols of Lord Ram and Sita worth Rupees one crore from a temple in Katihar district of Bihar. The idols were around 90 years old.
In 2014, two antique idols of Goddess Saraswati and Durga were stolen from Karnataka’s Nageswar Temple. The idols were stolen from the 800-year-old temple.
In April this year, six brass idols and a spear were stolen from the 1,000-year-old Adhi Ratneswarar temple at Tiruvadanai in Ramanathapuram district of Tamil Nadu. But no arrests have been made in this case.
There are thousands of such cases of loot in Hindu temples. But rarely, we have come across any concrete action taken by the police. When any church is attacked it makes front page headlines in all papers. Ask yourself about how many looted Hindu temples do you know? No body knows about any investigation in these cases. Such is the pathetic state of affairs when it comes to “Hindus of Hindustan.”
www.shankhnaad.net

Global voices against Halal

Global voices against Halal

We all have heard of the word “Halal”, do we know what goes in to the process of Halal?
Halal is the Arabic word for “lawful” or “permitted”. Halal is the word that is used in reference to foods and drinks that are permissible for Muslims to eat or drink under Islamic Shariah law. In regard to halal, there is also a term ‘Haram’ that signifies the food that can not be eaten by Muslims. Such food includes pork meat, blood, alcoholic drinks etc. and most importantly the animals which are not killed by the process of Halal. Halal guidelines also forbid consumption of some carcass parts like the testicles and bladder. So Muslims eat only that food which comes from a supplier that uses halal practices. Specifically, the slaughter must be performed by a Muslim who, during the process, will recite a dedication, known as tasmiya or shahada. (invoking the name of Allah) and then saying three times "Allahu akbar" (Allah is the greatest and the only God). Animals must be alive and healthy at the time of slaughter and must face Mecca. Then, the animal must be slaughtered with a sharp knife by cutting the throat, windpipe and the blood vessels in the neck, without cutting the spinal cord. Lastly, the blood from the veins must be drained. This is considered a very inhumane and painful process because the animal dies a very slow and painful death. Since the rules dictate (among other things) that the animal must be alive and conscious at the moment its throat is slit.

‘In the Holy Quran, it says that the animal should listen to the prayers of Allah. If it’s unconscious, then it won’t be able to do that.’

Here is a live report of such a slaughter:
“The slaughter according to Islamic law - the throat cut with a rough sawing action.The cut half severs the head but doesn’t kill the animal.The animal slides on the ground, got onto its knees, regained its feet with its throat gaping and blood pouring from its throat. And then it ended up charging towards me with its throat cut. It was just appalling. To stop it getting up again, the slaughterman slashes the tendon on its rear leg. This steer is vocalising a lot at this point. The tongue is coming out, so clearly distressed. You can see from his eye that he's distressed. These are all behaviours that are indicative of fear, anxiety, distress. Lamb after lamb has its throat sliced open while fully conscious. They make pitiful bleating and gurgling sounds as they choke on their own blood. It’s a chilling sound that, once heard, stays with you for days.”

Quranic verses regarding halal foods include: 2:173, 5:5, and 6:118-119, 121. I don’t think any other religion describes topics like the method of killing of animals, that too in so ghastly manner. The requirement to invoke Allah's name is a must for slaughter of any animal in halal. Kosher meats, which are consumed by Jews, are permitted to be eaten by Muslims because there is a similarity between their method of slaughter and halal meat.

On particular festivals, the ritual involves binding the animal, typically around the muzzle or legs, and slitting the throat. The animal will eventually bleed out in a painful and gruesome display. Many times the animal is beaten, sometimes to death, before the blood is drained. Halal slaughter during the month of Eid is performed as a public ritual, often in the open streets of Muslim communities. Blood from the countless sacrifices pools in the public squares and is tracked around by spectators.

The rising  global objections to Halal

In western countries there is a requirement of stunning an animal before slaughter , in India the killing of animal is done in a swift blow called “Jhatka ‘ where instant beheading, with one single strike reduces the pain for the animal. Globally, halal food has been criticized by animal rights activists.
BRITAIN
The British Veterinary Association (BVA) says that “all animals should be effectively stunned before slaughter to improve the welfare of these animals” and killing animals without stunning them causes “unnecessary suffering”. But citizens are now concerned that the inhumane halal method might be increasingly being practised in Britain. The latest census suggests there are at least 2.7 million Muslims in the UK, with a spending power estimated in the region of £20bn.
Muslims think that the practice of pre-stunning is contrary to the specifications of zabiha and prefer to eat halal meat that has not been pre-stunned. Additionally these Muslims came together and campaigned for the traditional halal method.
Muslim authorities like Halal Food Authority (HFA), a non-profit organisation that monitors adherence to halal principles in the UK, on the other hand example insist that stunning cannot be used to kill an animal. This has lead many slaughterhouses to move to halal processes so they do not lose Muslim customers.
This means, not only might the Islamic halal method being used on the animals , the unsuspecting citizens might even be consuming halal meat.
The Halal Food Authority, now estimates that a staggering 25% of the entire UK meat market is halal. But Muslims are about 5% of the UK population, therefore there is as much as 5 times more halal meat than Muslims.

In Feb. 2015 a horrific footage was secretly filmed in an abattoir in North Yorkshire that raised anger among animal rights activists. This gruesome video showed sheep being hacked and tortured to death. The film showed the Muslim workers kicking sheep in the face and hurling them into solid structures. Not using pre stunning method, the rising halal slaughter and increasing animal cruelty being caught at these halal slaughterhouses have angered the animal rights groups.

People are now also demanding clear labelling of food as unsuspecting population is being fed halal food. The British government meanwhile has no intention of banning religious slaughter, may be due to the large Muslim population living there. This Muslim appeasement is a tool to secure Muslim votes in elections.

EUROPE
Stunning of livestock has been mandatory in the EU since 1979, but member states can grant exemptions for religious slaughter. Some countries, including Denmark, have decided to ban non-stunning slaughter altogether. Concern about slaughtering, without prior stunning, has resulted in the religious slaughter of animals being banned in Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland.

AUSTRALIA
In Australia, the national standard for meat production requires that all animals must be effectively stunned (unconscious) prior to slaughter. The vast majority of halal slaughter in Australia complies with this standard,. But there are a small number of abattoirs in Australia that have been granted permission from the relevant State or Territory food authority to conduct religious slaughter without prior stunning – for either Halal or Kosher (Jewish slaughter) purposes.
Australians are also rising against export of live meat after some Gazans were filmed doing cruelty to the cattle.

Concerns of Social observers in Australia

Along with a strong request on ban of live animals export to Islamic countries. Not only food but a large number of products including creams and soaps , chocolate etc. are now being certified as halal ie a check to see if any of these contain prohibited products like alcohol for example . This leads to a demand of certification on all consumer non durables as halal. This halal certification is Raking up $20 to $30 million a year in Australia alone.



The anti halal campaigners in Australia insist that certification pushes up prices and this money goes to fund ISLAMIC Charities which have link to terror groups like Hamas. Besides these the Halal sytsem also gives rise to some not-so-obvious problems.

1. Jobs reserved exclusively for Muslims
Sharia requires that the animals should be killed by Muslims only which leads to employment generation for Muslims in the west. So, even if you are not educated enough, if you are a Muslim, one safe career opportunity is exists for you –  of a slaughterman.

2. Infidels paying zakat : Zakat is a small percentage of earnings that Muslims put aside for donating to their Mosque for charity. Recent findings reveal a large fraction of this global money goes towards funding terrorist activities . Now, even in those countries where Muslims population is low in percentage, unsuspecting governments fall privy to the demands of Muslims organizations for halaal certification on all foods, this certification is obviously provided by a Muslim body only.They charge a fees and check the products of a company for halal compliance. Thus the companies end up paying a huge total to these organizations (or in case the government funds this body then the local citizens end up funding these bodies) who allegedly use these funds for zakat and terrorist activities. This is equivalent to taxing non Muslims to pay for Muslim schools

Such concerns now being openly raised in Sri Lanka and Australia among other countries.

3. Impose sharia on unsuspecting people by making them eat halal food ( along with paying zakat ). Even in India the local hot dog stands proudly claim to carry halal food, whereas halal food is strictly forbidden under Hindu law.

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Indian Subcontinent

SRI LANKA
Bodu Sena is a a Sinhalese Buddhist nationalist monastic organisation based in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Which wants to do away entirely with Halal certification in their country claiming on similar allegation that this is used to funding terrorism , enforce ‘Muslim ritualistic food ‘ on rest of the population with the ultimate aim of imposing Sharia in Sri Lanka
INDIA
More and more international brands in India are now suspected to be selling halal food KFC, you may find the Halal logo on their counters if you are observant enough . Moreover India recently introduced a halal cosmetic range





After going through all these facts, one gets a feeling that no religion should be allowed to dictate such painful and merciless killing of animals. Can’t the festivals be enjoyed without giving painful deaths to poor animals?
Many deeply religious souls in the West too eat meat because it is sanctioned in their holy books.
However, India is a Hindu majority nation and Hinduism teaches compassion for all living beings. Various animals forms are worshipped by Hindus who're the closest thing to paganism in the modern world.
Respecting all forms of life is integral to Sanatan Dharma. Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism agree in their support of non-violence and a vegan lifestyle.
Jains follow dietary codes regulating even the types of plants they eat. Hinduism too believes that vegetarianism promotes a healthy spiritual life.
It is high time for the animal rights activists and humanitarians take a stand against such killings of poor animals and put an end to this inhuman practice being carried out in name of religion
www.shankhnaad.net

Missionary not mother Teresa--CONVERSION IN NAME OF HELP.

"..if conversion is done in name of service, then that service gets devalued": RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat.

24Feb 15

The statement that kicked a storm
and ended up busting the decades old myth about Nobel Laureate Mother Teresa.
A thorough research by Canadian academics (Serge Larivee and Genevieve Chenard from the University of Montreal`s department of psychoeducation, and Carole Senechal of the University of Ottawa`s faculty of education ) says Mother Teresa was a product of well articulated hype.

They've published their research and findings about the life of Teresa after scrutinising her rather dubious way of 'caring for the sick', her questionable political contacts, her suspicious management of the enormous sums of money she received, and her overly dogmatic views regarding ... abortion, contraception, and divorce. 
So how was the Mother Teresa myth manufactured from missionary Agnes Gonxha? Let's look at the major contributors.

• Mass Media

It started with her meeting in London in 1968 with the BBC's Malcom Muggeridge, an anti-abortion journalist. In 1969, his eulogistic film about the missionary was what catapulted her to superstardom.  Research reveals Teresa housed the poor and sick in shoddy conditions, despite her access to a massive fortune. The powerful western media at the time told the world that Indians, particularly the Hindus, don't care for their helpless people and hence a foreign Christian saint has to perform that job. Media sold the poverty of India to the first world and capitalised on the stereotypes, further reinforcing them.

The rich 'first world' has a guilty conscience due to their dark imperialist past as well as their affluent wasteful indulgences in the present. Donating to church missions in third world countries is their pass to alleviating that guilty conscience. And what better candidate than a 'saintly' woman who seemed like an activist for "the sick, the dying and the poorest of the poor."
People do not like to admit that they have been gulled or conned, so a vested interest in the myth was permitted to arise, and a cunning media never bothered to ask any follow-up questions. Many volunteers who went to Calcutta came back abruptly - disillusioned by the bigotry and 'poverty-loving' practices of the "Missionaries of Charity," but thanks to the media apathy, they had no audience for their story.
• ChurchDays of Imperialism were the golden days for church. The explorers would find a territory, what followed were traders, the armies and with them - the church. Land, power, wealth and souls for the God - everyone was happy. However, with the demise of Imperialism, Church had to devise new means to convert Asians and Africans into Christianity. The Vatican saw 'Saint Teresa' as a perfect PR ploy to revitalise the Church and inspire the faithful especially at a time when churches are empty and the Roman authority was on a steep decline. Pain and suffering, according to her, was a a ticket to St. Peters. Missionary Teresa saw beauty in the suffering of downtrodden and was far more willing to pray for them than provide practical medical care.  Perhaps she had no idea what effect her religious bigotry had on the poor and sick people under her care.


In her own words, ''..There is something beautiful in seeing the poor accept their lot, to suffer it like Christ's passion. The world gains much from their suffering,''

The western missionaries would convert the native population and converted population in turn would serve the church worldwide.  Truth is, but for imported Indian priests and nuns many European churches would have to close doors because Europeans seminaries are unable to fill their vacancies with Europeans.
According to the researchers, Teresa raised almost $100 million before 1980. A good chunk was used for building houses for the missionaries. Just 5 per cent went to the cause. Let's hear that again - just 5 per cent of that went to the poor.
Teresa has been known to be stingy even during national emergencies. During numerous floods in India she offered numerous prayers and medallions of the Virgin Mary but no direct or monetary aid. Saint Teresa was a wealthy proposition for the church by all means.  Which brings us to the money part of it..

• Money No public accounts are made available for Teresa's Missionaries of Charity, but enormous sums are known to have been raised. Million of dollars are pouring into India every day from unknown foreign sources, in white and much more in black, to convert and subvert India. Today, around the world Teresa's charities have attained untouchable status, which helps them fend off any attempts by the authorities to stop their morbid religious experiments on sick and poor people.

Millions of dollars were transferred to the MCO’s various bank accounts, but most of the accounts were kept secret, says researcher Larivee. There is also the question of the missing millions. ''Given the parsimonious management of (Teresa's) works, one may ask where the millions of dollars for the poorest of the poor have gone?'.
There are several testimonies from the leading American and British physicians about the extremely low standard of medicine practised in her small Calcutta clinics. There were no pain killers and the syringes were washed in cold water. She refused to give medicines to the inmates under her care, in the process allowing them to die painful deaths. Clearly there wasn't much of  a medical care or cure despite her charity sitting atop hundreds of millions.

Besides these, on one hand she preached humanity, on the other hand, she had no qualms about accepting the Legion of Honour and a grant from the Duvalier dictatorship in Haiti.
She went to Albania in 1990, at that time the most oppressive of the Balkan Stalinist states, and laid a wreath on the grave of the dictator, Enver Hoxha, while remaining silent on human rights violations.
In 1992, Mother Teresa gave many lucrative endorsements, including a character reference to the court for Charles Keating, the biggest fraud and embezzler in the American history
who stole a total $252 million from mainly small and poor depositors. Hitchens claims that Keating gave $1.25 million in cash to Mother Teresa and allowed her to use his private jet. The court had asked her to return the donation given by Keating but she never replied to the request.

She befriended the rich and powerful and was a defender of Western big business. Though she proclaimed her devotion to the poor and downtrodden, she urged the Indians to forgive Union Carbide for the gas leak in Bhopal which had killed more than 2000 people.

• PoliticsAs late as 1995 (less than 2 years before her death) Teresa sat on a fast demanding reservation for Dalit Christians. When she was criticized for this, she took a somersault befitting any politician by saying that she was unaware of the demands of the fast organizers. Having already lost face, she further lost credibility when the organizers refused to be her scapegoat and contested her claim, and said that she had been informed well in advance that the fast was for demanding reservation for Dalit Christians. When anti conversion laws were brought up by Morarji Government, she was the first one to oppose it. She was against anti-conversion law and She always opposed family planning. She supported Indira Gandhi's Emergency.

✞   Mother Teresa’s popularity was such that she had become untouchable for the population, which had already declared her a saint. It would be pertinent to mention here that she was a hypocrite who kept the sick in pain and in shoddy conditions while each time she herself fell sick she sought the finest medical care. Despite the fact that medical tourists from the West travel to India for treatment, Teresa reckoned India wasn't good enough for her. She was admitted to California's Scripps Clinic and Research Foundation.



She herself, on many occasions, has confessed that she is doing it all for Christianity, which is what Mr. Bhagwat reiterated in his speech causing outrage among those who don't know any better. In Navin Chawla's book, who was an old Congress loyalist, on Mother Teresa,she says in her interview, "..a lot of people confuse me as social worker, I am not a social worker. I am in the service of Jesus and my job is to spread the word of Christianity and bring people to its fold'"

She was just a manufactured miracle. The story of her beatification is a fine example of miracle stories surrounding her. Following her death, the Vatican decided to waive the usual five-year waiting period to open the beatification process. The miracle attributed to Mother Theresa was the healing of a woman, Monica Besra, who had been suffering from intense abdominal pain. The woman testified that she was cured after a medallion blessed by Mother Teresa was placed on her abdomen. Her doctors thought otherwise: the ovarian cyst and the tuberculosis from which she suffered were healed by the drugs they had given her, she never had cancerous cells as advertised by the Church. The Vatican, nevertheless, concluded that it was a miracle.

One must praise and respect any person involved in selfless humanitarian work irrespective of his or her religious belief. But as soon as that work is done with ulterior motive, it no longer remains a saintly deed. It's then no different from any business. She is as much a saint as a shopkeeper who gives you food in return for your money.  Only, the source of money in this case was hundreds of millions in foreign funding as she portrayed India as a poor, starving, and a diseased land to her Western donors who responded by filling her coffers so that she could further the cause of the church.

http://shankhnaad.net

M K Gandhi -A decoded past,ally of British in WW1.

Hard to believe, but true. Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi gave his wholehearted support to the British Raj during the First World War. He even led a massive recruitment drive encouraging towns and villages to send more men to war.
Around 622,000 soldiers, and 470,000 non-combatants, were sent overseas from India, and around one and a half million were recruited during the war years. But not everyone signed up willingly. There were instances where local leaders ‘stopped the water ...of those who were not readily coming forward to join the army and rewarded people who were joining.’ Brutal methods such as ‘stripping people naked and making them stand before their women folk,’ were also used. People were kept in thorny bushes for hours and hours, and unless they said - yes, I’m ready for enlistment, they were not let out.

Those whole agreed voluntarily, were those actually believed they were fighting UK in the World War, which was 1 in 4 Indians !
He was awarded the Kaisar-i-Hind in 1915 by The Lord Hardinge of Penshurst for his support and service to the British Raj.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/…/articlesh…/44124189.cms
http://www.dnaindia.com/…/column-world-war-1-india-s-forgot

POK wants to be included in India-Ghar Vapsi

The breathtakingly beautiful Gilgit Baltistan wants to be a part of India

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Senge Hasnan Sering — activist and president of the Institute for Gilgit Baltistan Studies (IGBS) demanded that India intervene in the violation of human rights in PoK and open the Kargil border to ensure that divided families meet their ancestors in India. The IGBS is headquartered out of Washington D.C. and works for the betterment of the people of Gilgit Baltis...tan located in Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK).

Mr Sering was in the city of Mumbai to deliver lectures at IIT Powai and other educational institutes. Speaking to The Asian Age on Thursday Mr Sering said that if the Indian government did not insist on making the Line of Control (LoC) with Pakistan permanent, the people would be in favour of becoming part of India and not Pakistan.
" We want to be a part of India but the Indian government is considering making the LoC an international border,” said Mr Sering.
Gilgit-Baltistan was ruled by local rulers who converted to Islam from Hinduism and Buddhism in the 14th century.The territory became predominantly Muslim between 15th and 16th century and later during the Mughal Empire due to missionary Sufi saints whose dargahs dot the landscape.
http://www.defencenews.in/defence-news-internal.aspx…

Christian conversion even time of tragedy-Like Mother Teresa

While Nepal is suffering, missionaries are busy selling Jesus

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Mohan Bhagwat stands vindicated. When the RSS Chief, referring to Teresa said "..service is devalued if conversions are done in the name of service or work", the entire media kicked up a furore. Political parties and Christian groups blamed him of inciting religious hatred. The Delhi Catholic Archdiocese claimed that the Christian community was in a state of shock over Bhagw...at's comment. But the recent, unfortunate event of an earthquake in Nepal, proved that what Mr Bhagwat said, is not far from the truth.

News and pictures from Nepal after the massive earthquake has shocked the entire world. People from all over, are finding ways to reach out to those, who are affected by the natural disaster. But amidst all the chaos, tragedies and tears, Christian Missionaries are shamelessly selling Jesus and Christianity. It is more shocking because many of these individuals and organizations are influential and they reach many people via social media and other channels. In a disturbing trend, Christian Missionaries prey on poor vulnerable people during tragedies and look at disasters like this, as an opportunity to convert people.
The true intention of the missionaries stands exposed on social media, and now even the main stream media is forced to report them.
http://www.independent.co.uk/…/nepal-earthquake-us-pastor-t…
http://shankhnaad.net/…/241-how-the-nepal-earthquake-traged…