Muslim Reservation = Jihad

by Moorthy Muthuswamy PhD
December 20, 2004

Introduction

Objectively, fairly and humanely how much reservation Indian Muslims should get? Answer: ZERO! In fact, Indian Muslims already have a 25% reservation.

Indian Muslims already grabbed 25% of the land for themselves in South Asia and drove out almost all non-Muslims. Hence this constitutes a 25% Muslim reservation! Along with this reservation Muslims are now free (due to their presence in India) to compete for the 75% of the opportunities available to South Asian non-Muslims.

Hindus or other non-Muslims have unfairly lost 25% of the opportunities to Muslims. Additional reservations for Muslims will further reduce opportunities for non-Muslims. In fact, going by the logic of Partition and the subsequent non-Muslim ethnic cleansing from Muslim majority areas to India, all opportunities (100% reservation) in India must be reserved for non-Muslims.

In addition, the jihadi-infested and friendly UPA regime in Delhi has called for 20% reservation for Indian Muslims in paramilitary forces.

All of this is being carried out without any study – just to please the jihadis.

License, arms and training to kill Hindus

The ongoing jihad in India’s only Muslim majority state of Kashmir is no coincidence. All the available evidence points to extremization of most Indian Muslims. The following poll was published in a Muslim-owned newspaper Mid-Day:

“A recent poll revealed that just under 90 per cent of Mumbai’s Muslims, presumably the most progressive in the country, rejected a secular civil code preferring instead Shariah law, favoring polygamy, triple talaq and Islam’s unequal inheritance laws which allow women half as much property as they allow men. The views of most younger and educated Muslims and of women were also the same, in almost the same proportion.”

This shows that most Indian Muslims are outside of the civilized norms of behavior and outlook. Many Muslim security personal are known to engage in jihad and also shield jihdists. This has been the case not just in Kashmir but also in places such as Marad, Kerala

Under these circumstances to hire Indian Muslims as part of the paramilitary forces to provide “security” to Hindu population is nothing less than giving license to kill Hindus. The jihadi undermining of these forces is also highly likely.

Muslim reservation is indeed jihad

With the goal of jihadis is to destroy the economic viability of India and increase Muslim population through high birth-rates and massive infiltration from Bangladesh, it makes sense to reserve jobs for Indian Muslims. These reservations serve two purposes: 1) Deserving Hindus are kept away from jobs and become poor 2) undeserving Indian Muslims (who have shown strong leanings to extremism) get jobs and become more wealthy.

This unfair wealth transfer from Hindus to Indian Muslims through reservation is a must to destroy India. Hence we see the equation: Muslim reservation = jihad!

This on top of subsidies and other modes of wealth transfer are already making Hindus poor. The cannibalistic characteristics of Indian Muslims are beginning to get noticed (How were Srilankan Hindus United?).
UPA Hindus must now decide which side they are on

The policies pursued by the UPA regime have now created apprehension among Hindus and particularly so, among security agencies. With the regimes in power already proven in their inability to protect Hindus – as it happened in Kashmir and other places – now the UPA regime can be arguably seen to promote the interests of jihadists.

With Hindus and others no where else to live other than India, non-Muslim communities will find the need to wage a war to defend themselves. The politicians of the UPA regime who allow unfair transfer of wealth to Muslims at the expense of non-Muslims and who hire potential jihadists as paramilitary police -- will likely find themselves and their families at the cross hairs of disgruntled Indian security forces who might view them as the traitors.

Most non-Muslims have been driven out or were killed in Islamic Pakistan or Bangladesh. It didn’t matter whether they were secular or Marxists. Hence these Hindu politicians must understand that appeasing Islam is a no-win situation. Don’t these politicians have any gratitude toward their Hindu security guards and their families who protect them Islamic terrorists? Is Ms. Sonia Gandhi heartless too?

Appeasing Muslim vote bank has gone far enough. The so-called “secular” Hindu politicians must now decide if they want to be on the side of jihad or with civilization.

Just because the UPA politicians don’t know how to defeat militant Islam doesn’t mean there is no solution. I have come up with a detailed vision of permanently defeating militant Islam within about a year (How can India Defeat Militant Islam?, Islam’s Weakness).

Hindu nationalists must act

Hindu nationalists must fight tooth and nail on the issue of Muslim reservation in jobs, education and in security forces along the lines I have articulated here. If properly articulated I am confident that Hindus can be mobilized.

These issues are not just bread-and-butter issues; they are in fact life-death-issues for non-Muslims and in particular, Hindus of India.

Time has come to tell Indian Muslims that if they insist on reservation they should leave for Pakistan or Bangladesh – the lands reserved just for them and almost devoid of non-Muslims. Their quota of 25% couldn’t be increased any further -- in fact, the logic of 1947 Partition requires 100% reservation for non-Muslim Indians. To say so is not communal -- but a fair, humane and objective thing to do!

Is the RSS/VHP/BJP leadership capable of articulating these thoughts boldly and come to the aid of Hindus?

A Hindu Movement Born

by Moorthy Muthuswamy PhD
February 28, 2005

Introduction

There has been an increasing awareness of genocidal acts of Islam and Muslims in South Asia – directed toward exterminating non-Muslim cultures in this part of the world and extend Islam’s fascist frontiers. This is particularly so among Indians settled in the United States. Such awareness didn’t exist when I started focusing on this topic about seven years ago. Since then a series of publications by me and others have built up this awareness that is now showing signs of becoming a movement.

Lacking an institutionalized backing Hindus in America are frustrated by their inability come together as a community to defend their interests. As I have pointed out, past has shown that “You are only as strong or as weak as your community”.

While many may not realize it, a Hindu movement has been underway to tackle militant Indian Islam right here in America. This paper discusses how an organized and focused movement can be built and take the war to the enemy.

What is at Stake?

Let me first point out what is at stake for Non-Resident Indians (NRI) and their families who don’t even live in India. If India fails and gets destroyed they will be seen as an extension of a failed civilization. This will lead to future generation Indian children disassociating themselves from Indian religion, language and culture. A much weakened or destroyed India could result in the repetition of Fijian, Pakistani or Bangladeshi experiences for Hindus around the world. On the other hand a thriving India will offer opportunities – from religious, cultural, economic to social. It will be a good “brand” to be associated with. A strong India will come to the aid of Hindus everywhere. Finally, we all look impotent in allowing Islam to destroy India. Time has come to permanently crush Islamic fascism!

Upper middle class and rich in India appear to benefit from freedom enshrined under Indian democracy. However, the escalating costs of battling militant Islam within India, subsidies and reservation extracted unfairly by Indian Muslims is taking away land, wealth and opportunities from deserving Hindus. Also, due to these costs India is unable to invest significantly in education, improve infrastructure etc to achieve strong economic growth rates and create more opportunities. Unlike the Hindus in cities, the Hindu poor in villages have not seen their lives improve. Frustrated, increasingly they are embracing naxal ideologies. Hence in the long-run, without a decisive leadership to deal with both fast-growing and extremized Muslims and naxals, India is all set to crumble from within. Upper middle class and even the rich will then loose everything, not just wealth -- like in Muslim majority regions of Pakistan, Bangladesh or Kashmir valley from where Hindus were driven out to India.

At the moment the majority Hindu population is too fragmented due to anti-majority, pro-jihadi left-oriented Indian media’s one-sided view. Hence this confused majority hardly understands the extent of the ongoing jihad directed at them and how to fight back. This Hindu fragmentation in combination with united Muslim pressure on elected regimes has led to extreme marginalizing of majority interests, and promotion of various forms of jihad Indian Muslims have readily embraced. Short-term freedom under the current dysfunctional Indian democracy certainly means eventual long-term annihilation (How can India Defeat Militant Islam?)!

Hindu Movement Building is on!

In a recent exchange between Indian express columnist Tavleen Singh and a jihadi-front represented by Teesta and Javed, most reader comments came from Hindu NRI based in America. This is activism at the very best. Also, the recent mobilizing in America against Association for India’s Development (AID), an organization with links to pro-jihadi communists in India is notable. Nowadays with the advent of Internet, Hindu NRI’s comments are often seen in most Indian newspapers and magazines. What is notable is NRI’s ability to articulate in a knowledgeable fashion and their promotion of Hindu majority’s interests.

Internet has made accessible vital alternate views of mine and many others, making Hindu fight back feasible. It has also created a new opportunity to bring together or “institutionalize” Hindu community in America. Internet has brought Hindus together, in ways, religious and social institutions could not! The movement we are now seeing with American Hindus is almost exclusively internet-based. This movement is inherently de-centralized (a good thing!) and multi-faceted.

India has been ravaged by Islam in the last sixty years or more because of this reason: Inability of Hindus in India to work together to promote their interests. The weakly institutionalized nature of Hinduism too has not helped. The root cause of this lies in a civilization that was under slavery for a thousand years (Slaves, Servants & Rulers). Left alone, current trends indicate that India is certain to be doomed under the onslaught of Islam.

I would put NRI in America as a community that is gaining the attributes of a ruling class. I am proposing here that Hindus based abroad, and particularly in the United States, help Hindus back home build a movement culminating in eradicating genocidal Islamic fascism. As we will see with the advent of Internet this is a doable project, and importantly, it will be an intellectually challenging and an immensely satisfying one. In addition, as I pointed out before, this is actually an investment in the future of NRI children.

At the moment, aided by Indian Muslims and strategized by Pakistanis, Saudi Arabia and many other West Asian Islamic nations are pumping huge amounts of wealth in order to destroy India and extend Islam’s frontiers. This can be only defeated by able NRI community’s efforts and with their wealth acting as a counter weight to help the beleaguered Hindu children of India.

De-legitimize Indian Islam and Indian Muslims

In my earlier analysis titled How were Srilankan Hindus United? I had mentioned “The appropriate way to define Indian Muslims is to describe them as modern-day cannibals living among the civilized who continue to devour the civilized.”

For the sake of completeness I will point out how Indian Muslims have massively marginalized non-Muslims and largely exterminated them and their culture in EVERY area of South Asia where they have power through majority status. They have now reserved almost 25% jobs and other opportunities for themselves at the expense of non-Muslims (Muslim Reservation = Jihad). Conclusively, this points to most Indian Muslims being corrupt, evil, inferior, and genocidal cannibals.

If one person can carry out various forms of jihad, so can a large number of people, with most in the population base supporting this jihad. This scenario has developed among Indian Muslims thanks to corrupt, fraudulent and fascist versions of Islam practiced in India.

Does education or living in America change this Indian Muslim cannibalism? The most prominent Indian Muslim association in America, Indian Muslim council USA (http://www.imc-usa.org) is conducting various forms of jihad on the Indian state and even on the Hindu community in America. The modus operandi of these cannibals is simple: portray Indian Muslims as innocent victims but downplay their acts of violence and jihadism, while unfairly maligning Hindu organizations. This again goes to prove how corrupt, inferior, genocidal Islam practiced in India is.

South Asian Muslims genuinely believe, as followers of Islam, they are superior in everyway – when the reality is exactly the opposite, as borne by various indicators of progress. India’s recent resurgence is almost exclusively due to Hindu community which has openly embraced modernism, while the evidence only indicates Indian Muslims’ deep embrace of medievalism (Dynamics of Proselytizing). In fact, indiscriminate killings of Hindu children, women and men by South Asian Muslims in the last sixty years or more tell us that they do not even think that Hindus deserve to live. This calls for a strategy whereby South Asian Muslims and South Asian Islam must be demeaned and discredited in every way possible to create confusion among the flock and to finally set the stage for using massive force to permanently neutralize their threat.

Indian community in America shouldn’t give any form of representation to Muslims of Indian origin affiliated with jihad sponsoring associations. The onus must be put on Indian Muslims to prove that they want to be part of civilization.

It is legitimate to investigate the origins of Muslim “holy book” given that its tenets are used to impose war on non-Muslims. As agreed even by most Islamic scholars, the Koran was put together in the current format at least one hundred years after the death of Prophet Mohammed. It is said that when the Prophet made “revelations”, notes were taken in leaves and other material. Given the level of the ignorance exhibited by the Arabic tribes at that time it is highly unlikely that they could really appreciate any “revelations” or distinguish “real” ones. Even then, here is an open question: How complete, accurate or well-preserved were these “notes” for over one hundred years? This observation points out that calling this “holy book” as the “word of god” may be the biggest fraud imposed on humanity. This may also imply that the Muslim “law” -- Sharia may have little basis or credibility.

It is also quite appropriate to categorize Indian Muslims as slaves of non-performing and fascist Arab Muslim imperialism. The bottom line is that this proven inferior Arab-originated ideology couldn’t bring progress to most South Asian Muslim children and has perpetuated a never-ending war using them as a tool.

Even an America that is pluralistic and tolerant has seen the hollowness of its Muslim residents. Recently over 40% polled wanted American Muslim rights be restricted. In the long run this spells a bleak future for Islam in America, and once again discredits Islam and Muslims.

Taking on Journalists and Pseudo-seculars

It is no exaggeration to say that left-dominated Indian English language dailies are the gatekeepers of pseudo-secularism – a view that puts the blame on the beleaguered majority even as it is taken advantage of and victimized by a violent and exclusive minority.

It is a must to win over this Hindu pseudo-secular crowd if India is to successfully confront Islam. What is the reason behind their outlook? Among the reasons: the left dominated – pseudo-secular -- humanities faculty in Indian universities under whom the journalists studied. This, in combination with lack of objective analysis in media has led to sustaining utterly false ideas about what Indian Islam and Muslims stand for. Also, humanities, journalism in particular, get at best mediocre students, with the elite preferring to acquire professional degrees. These journalists have little idea of how problems are solved or wealth is created – in short, they have little idea of how a functional democracy works. Their sense of inferiority complex vis-à-vis elite of the society has been taken advantage of by Islamists who falsely portray their community as victims (Journalists: Unwitting Friends of Jihadis?).

In the long-run well-articulated submissions from NRI in the form of opinions or letters to editor should help change the mindset of the editorial boards in India-based newspapers. Even many Indian journalists are seeing these points of views for the first time. Also, the status of NRI as able and intelligent people can only help. Even these pseudo-secular Hindus are afraid of Islam. When they are made to see that Indian Islam and Indian Muslims are endangering the future of their children they will begin to see the light. Another area to work on is to contact the ownership of the newspapers and make them see how national interests and the very future of their children are being undermined by their editorial boards.

Entrenched and adamant pseudo-secular journalists or others need to be discredited by pointing out their “weak” humanities (if that is the case) background, and their possible mediocre high school track record. Almost the entire pro-jihadi gang of Indian pseudo-seculars in the United States – Angana Chatterjee, Vijay Prashad, to name a few – consists of individuals with such a background.

Action Items Going Forward

It is important for the movement to have a vision at hand. This vision should drive the action and strategies at the ground level. For instance, for most South Asian Muslims the vision is an Islamic conquest of South Asia. These communities have proven that they would use every level of barbarism to achieve this vision. This clear and evil vision has made South Asian Muslim communities very effective in advancing their cause.

The underlying vision for Hindus or even non-Muslim Indians is eradication of genocidal Islamic ideology within India’s boundaries. I am fairly confident that this is an achievable goal. I would like to further divide this vision into two stages.

Stage I

Since this movement has to eventually yield results in India, at this stage the goal should be to help Hindu majority in India identify Indian Muslims as the root cause of poverty and wealth-loss, insecurity, naxal insurgency, loss of jobs and opportunities (How were Srilankan Hindus United?). In other words, help most Hindus understand the big picture of Islamization of South Asia, including India at their expense and how to defeat it. To achieve these goals, I suggest the following action areas:

• Any project that weakens Indian Muslims and discredits Indian Islam or strengthens Hindus vis-à-vis Muslims is a good project
  
• Letter writing in India-based news media and in Indian-American news media -- make sure to list your educational credentials and professional standing
  
• Put the blame for naxal insurgency on Indian Muslims
  
• Befriend Indian editors visiting America, conveying the extent cannibalism practiced by Indian Muslims and put the fear of Islam in their minds. Also, use wealth to induce fear of Islam in the minds non-Muslim Indian dignitaries of all hue and suggest to them how India can finally overcome this centuries of bullying by Muslims
  
• Leverage subscriptions in weekly newspapers such as India Abroad to take an anti-jihadi and pro-Hindu stance
  
• Swamp pseudo-secular/jihadi arranged meetings on Kashmir, Gujarat etc with nationalistic fellows and simply impose our own agenda on them
  
• Cajole nationalist relief organizations such as India Development and Relief Fund (IDRF) to focus on rehabilitation of Hindus – the forgotten and oppressed people of South Asia
  
• Websites such as USA: www.Indiacause.com, Canada: www.hccanada.com, can act as information centers for mobilizing activities -- countering the meetings organized by jihadis and their pseudo-secular friends. Nationalists NRI may find attending these meetings and voicing their views a good way of venting their inbuilt anger and be part of a movement
  
• Islamic fascism’s power flows from wealth. In order to neutralize it, non-Muslim Indians need to be nudged toward NOT giving employment or business to Indian Muslims – on the grounds that Indian Muslims are proven bloodthirsty, selfish and ruthless cannibals out to exterminate Hindus and other non-Muslims
  
• There should be an effort for a more unified front involving non-Muslim Indians given their aversion to Islam

Stage II

Extensive campaigning by NRI as noted in Stage I should lead to flowering of a movement within India itself. This should materialize in regimes and leadership with a broad-based support that can act decisively against cannibalism Islam represents in India. An effective regime would undertake the following steps (Islam’s Weakness):

• Declaration of emergency or martial law
  
• Full-fledged military strikes on power centers of genocidal and cannibalistic Islam and liquidation of its hierarchy and core supporters. It has been shown that militant Islam is a one trick pony. Once these power centers are taken out, it has no way of striking back (The Art of War on Terror)
  
• Liquidate naxal leadership by calling them as friends of jihadis. Hindus across the society are simply fearful of Islam
  
• Ban the practitioners of cannibalism from jobs and holding property
  
• Drive out cannibal populations in the border areas and Muslim Bangladeshis to Pakistan or Bangladesh – the natural South Asian homes of cannibals
  
• Deploy religious freedom force (New Ideas for a New War) to liberate Indian Muslims from inferior, fascist and useless cannibalism to Hinduism
  
• With cannibalism gone, time to focus on wealth creation (A New Paradigm: Civilization through Wealth Creation)
  

Hindus in the net of innumerable problems

By Prof. Vijay Kumar Malhotra

The religion-based Census 2001 statistics for entire India were published in the month of September 2004. Different forms of agitations took place on publication of the Census figures. The percentage fall in the Hindu population from 1951-2001 in independent India and the subsequent percentage increase in the Muslim population was not only natural but a necessary cause for concern among the Hindus and nationalists. However, of greater concern and more shocking was the concern expressed by the secularists. For one, they raised a furore over why the Census Commissioner had presented the religion-based Census figures and revealed them at a press conference because of which Hindu leaders and nationalists had got the opportunity to show that there has been a percentage fall in Hindus and a percentage increase in Muslims in the country.

The other issue over which they created a turmoil was that in 1991-2001, the increase in the Muslim population was shown at 36 per cent while in 1991, no population Census was undertaken in Jammu & Kashmir. Even if the figures for the Muslim population in Jammu & Kashmir in the year 2001 are deducted, the increase amounts to 29.3 per cent. As a result, an uproar was raised over this, a ruckus was created, an enquiry committee was constituted and action was initiated against the concerned innocent officers. In this agitation, reality was strangled and effort was made to camouflage this issue of serious concern to the nation.

If, from the population Census for 2001, the complete population figures of Jammu & Kashmir are removed, then in the entire country (with the exception of Jammu & Kashmir), for the period 1991-2001, the Hindu population increased by 19.9 per cent while the Muslim increased by 29.3 cent. In other words, the figures for Muslims increased by 20 per cent in comparison to those for the Hindus. None can deny this fact.

During 1981, no population Census was conducted in Assam and in 1991, none was carried out in Jammu & Kashmir. In the whole country the population Census was conducted only in the years 1961, 1971 and 2001. Hence, a comparative study of these statistics would be more enlightening.

In 1971, the total population of Hindus in the entire country was 45,32,92,086 and in 2001, it reached 82,75,78,868. In these 30 years, the increase in the Hindu population was 82.57 per cent.

Similarly in 1971, the total population of Muslims in the country was 6,14,17,934 and in 2001 it rose to 13,81,88,240. During these 30 years, the Muslim population increased by 125 per cent.

In 1961, the Hindus numbered 36,65,26,866 and in 2001, they were 82,75,78,868. In these 40 years, the Hindu population increased by 125 per cent.

In 1961, the Muslim population stood at 4,69,40,799 to reach 13,81,88,240 in 2001, i.e. it was a 194.4 per cent increase.

In 1951, the population of Hindus was 83.4 pert cent and it fell to 80.5 per cent in 2001. On the other hand, during this same period, the Muslim population increased from 10.7 per cent to reach 13.4 per cent.

In 1951, the Muslim population was 9.93 per cent while the Hindus constituted 84.99 per cent. In other words, the population of Hindus during the last 50 years fell by 4.5 per cent, while the Muslim population rose by 3.5 per cent.

To understand this fully, it is necessary to take a look at the increase in the population of Hindus and Muslims during the period 1991-2001 and which was as follows:

Their argument is that Israel’s population is 60 lakh, but it continues to dominate the neighbouring Arab nations with their population of seven to eight crores.

In practically all the districts of the country, the percentage increase in the population of the Muslims was 1.5 times higher than that of the Hindus.

In 1981, no population Census was undertaken in Assam but in 1951, 1961, 1971, 1991 and 2001 the Census was conducted.

In the past 40 years, the population of Muslims in Assam rose by 7.61 per cent and the Hindu population in comparison decreased to reach 64.9 per cent.

These statistics reveal the calumny of the so-called secularists that the Muslim population in India is not increasing and that it is a scare being spread by Hindu organisations. Since the day these statistics were published, many Opposition and corrupt secular writers and leaders have given the advice not to get unduly perturbed over the continuous fall in the percentage of Hindu population.

There are many other sections giving such advice. One group includes those who have some connection with Muslim or Christian persons or organisations. For them proselytisation is a religious duty. According to their religion, conversion of Hindus into Muslims or Christians is a pious act. Their religious books, their centres of pilgrimage, their religious schools, their religious organisations——all aim at converting followers of other religions to their own. For this purpose, crores of rupees are pumped into India by various Christian and Muslim nations every year to spend on religious conversions. The Muslim rulers for 800 years and Christian rulers for 200 years, based on their power or through cruelty or enticements of cash and privileges, have worked concertedly to convert Hindus to their religion. Even after Independence, this practice continues. It is but natural for these forces to be happy at the fall in the percentage population of Hindus and increase in their own population.

On the other side are those people who have no faith in any religion and who have supporters among the communists. Communism can spread only if the hold of religion slackens and religious beliefs are completely shattered. With this belief, they consider Hindutva as their enemy and if the percentage of Hindus decreases, they consider it foolish to get worried about it.

The third type of persons are those who in this modern era of science and technology do not consider population to be of any significance. Their argument is that Israel’s population is 60 lakh, but it continues to dominate the neighbouring Arab nations with their population of seven to eight crores. China, which earlier used to consider population as of supreme importance, is today seriously engaged in controlling its population. People do not comprehend the difference between the decrease in population and the fall in the population percentage.

But the greatest offenders than them all are the Congress leaders and rulers. Their worry is not that the population of Hindus is declining; what they are concerned about is that the Hindu society should not get disturbed over this issue. Any reaction in the Hindu society can put their secularism in danger and their agenda of Muslim appeasement in peril. They feel that the more the Muslim population increases, the larger will be their vote bank. Why don’t these people with the mentality of Jaichand understand that in India secularism, pluralism, liberalism, equality of religions is possible so far as the Hindu nation is strong? Does any other nation among more than the 60 Muslim-majority nations of the world profess equality of all religions or secularism? All have pronounced themselves as Islamic nations and Islam is their State religion. The rights of the minorities are as good as nil and in some Islamic nations, there are general restrictions on following any other religion other than Islam. We ought to remember that in most Muslim-majority nations, the minorities are getting widely annihilated. The Hindu-majority Afghanistan has largely become Hindu-less. At the time of Partition, the Hindu population in West Pakistan was 23 per cent and today it is less than one per cent. The Kashmir Valley, despite being a part of India, is now virtually Hindu-less. In 1951, the Hindu population in Bangladesh was 30 per cent and now it is 7-8 per cent only.

Both Pakistan and Bangladesh are Muslim nations. The reasons for the decline of the Hindu population over there can be easily gauged and the reasons for that are plausible too. But that in independent India since the last 50 years the percentage of Hindu population is declining is not only surprising, but more shocking than this is that there is no sense of worry or sorrow among the Hindus or the Hindu leaders.

The argument often put forth is that even if the population of Hindus has fallen by 4.5 per cent, it would take at least 300-400 years for the Hindus to become a minority in India. But, we should at first realise that the increase in population occurs in a geometrical progression. Secondly, due to planned conspiracy of Bangladesh and Pakistan, uncontrolled infiltration is proving destructive for us. Thirdly, after all in the life of any nation, what is a period of 300-400 years?

What should remain in our hearts and minds is that prior to the Partition of India, the Muslim population was 22-23 per cent and after getting the nation divided, not one but two Muslim nations were created. In remaining India, the Muslim population will automatically reach 23 per cent in the next 30-40 years. Even now, the demand for creating separate districts for Muslims is being constantly raised.

There are many reasons for the percentage decrease in the Hindu population and the percentage increase in the Muslim population:

* The conspiracy of sustained infiltration from Bangladesh and Pakistan.
* Adoption of population control measures by Hindus and rejection by the Muslims.
* Due to the absence of uniform civil rights, conversion of lakhs of Hindus to Muslims to be able to marry again.
* The practice of conversion of Vanvasis and Dalits through the crores of rupees received from Christian missionaries and international Muslim organisations.

First of all, impose restrictions on the entry of infiltrators into India through strict measures. India is not a dharamshala (home for destitutes) where anyone from the world can come and settle.

India’s every national ought to be registered. Just as it is done in a passport, there should be an identity card with a photograph of every national and the identity cards should be numbered serially. In the event of the national’s death or change of residence or town or state, the relevant information must be duly incorporated. There are such provisions in many nations of the world. In this manner, infiltrators from Pakistan, Bangladesh and other nations of the world will be easily identified, thus facilitating their deportation from the country.

Population control is a national necessity. The ever-increasing population is a severe danger for the economic and social situation in the country. In a country where more that 50 per cent of the people live below the poverty line, where more that 10 crore people are unemployed, where more that 50 per cent are illiterate, where crores of children die on becoming victims of malnutrition, there it becomes necessary to curb the increase in population as a national duty. Thus, it would not be wrong to demand that when the Muslims do not subscribe to population control then why should the Hindus adopt population control measures? Contrary to this, it must be made mandatory for both the Hindus and Muslims to adopt population control measures as practiced today in China. It would be more feasible to impose all kinds of deterrents on having more than two children and lawful restrictions on having more than three children.

Similarly, it is absolutely essential to enforce a uniform civil code on all the citizens in the country, where marrying for the second time when the first wife is alive is unlawful and an offence. At present, under the Hindu law, such a marriage is a legal offence but if the same person declares himself to be a Muslim, he can marry four times.

The government should take up in its hands widespread programmes for providing education, medical treatment and basic living facilities in areas inhabited by Scheduled Castes and Vanvasis. Special efforts should be made to provide employment in these areas. At the same time, the Hindu society too should give an equal position to its underprivileged brothers. The situation where despite being Hindus they are treated as untouchables and as soon as they convert to Islam or Christianity, they become equal to us socially, cannot continue any longer. All religionists should unitedly reject distinctions between higher and lower castes or untouchables on account of their birth and raise their voice against social inequality.

(The author is deputy leader of BJP in Lok Sabha.)

Need for Hindu offensive stressed

February 20, 05
By R.S. Narayanaswami

It was a sight for gods and no wonder, Lord Kapaleeswarar was a witness to the massive gathering of devout Hindus at Chennai on February 6, 2005, in response to a call by Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP).

The huge concourse of people came by all modes of transport from Kanyakumari to Hyderabad.

A call went out from the speakers that the Hindu society was being threatened from all sides and that Hindu consolidation was the need of the hour.

The huge audience responded in chorus to stand united as Hindus to counter the designs of the governments and the fanatics of alien faiths to denigrate and destroy the ancient Hindu culture in their own land.

The occasion was a public meeting, organised at a very short notice after a great many official hurdles, close to the very ancient Kapaleeswarar temple at Mylapore, Chennai. All the three wide roads around the big temple were packed with a sea of humanity estimated at 25,000 people.

That the vast gathering responded at a very short notice was proof of the capacity of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad in lighting for demonstration a just cause and also exhibit public anger over the arrest and incarceration, of the Kanchi Shankaracharyas.

The public meeting was organised as part of the continued struggle spearheaded by the VHP against the implication of the Kanchi Acharyas in a murder case by the Tamil Nadu government.

This is the fifth major successful programme of the VHP conducted in support of the Shankaracharyas.

The meeting started with bhajans and invocation and was addressed by Dr Murli Manohar Joshi, former Union Minister, Swami Visveswara Theertha Swamigal, Acharya Giriraj Kishore, Dr Subramaniam Swami, Janata Party leader, L. Ganesan, Akhil Bharatiya secretary, BJP, Shri H. Raja, BJP MLA, Shri P. Viswanatha Kakkan, advocate, Shri S. Vedantam, international vice president, VHP, and others.

Shankaracharya issue unites all

Launching an attack on the state government, Shri Raja listed the various cases foisted by the state government on many persons. He condemned the statement of the state government before the Human Rights Commission that the Shankara Mutt was no Mutt at all and that it was a graveyard. He called it defamatory and demanded an apology from the Chief Minister.

Dr Murli Manohar Joshi asserted that India had been a Hindu country since times immemorial possessing a great civilisation. “This noble civilisation is an eyesore to the fundamentalists of other faiths and an international conspiracy is being hatched to destroy the Hindu culture and Hindu institutions,” he said. He urged the Hindus to unite and stand up to defeat this conspiracy against Hinduism.

He said that Kanchi seers were revered all over the Hindu world and the silence of the Central Government over the the arrest and incarceration of the Acharyas was really intriguing.

He warned the Hindus that if they failed to unite now, worse things could happen to them in the future.

Shri L. Ganesan said that the state government must be removed for foisting fake cases on the Acharyas. He said that the Dravidian ideology must be eliminated and that Tamil Nadu must rally behind national and nationalist parties.

Smt. Radha Rajan wanted the Superintendent of Police, who is investigating and is himself under suspicion, to be dismissed.

Pejawar Mutt Acharya, Swami Visveswara Theertha Swamigal regretted that Jayalalithaa, who had done some good things for the Hindus in the past, had now taken this anti-Hindu action. “An Acharya who has been working for all sections of Hindu has been put to suffer indignity and humiliation,” he said and urged the Hindus to consolidate and counter all such wrong measures of secular powers. He said that the Hindus must be fearless and united.

Shri S. Vedantam referred to the fear psychosis created by the state government and said people must come out and rally behind the VHP and strengthen it to counter all such repressive measures of secular governments.

Dr S. Subramaniam Swami alleged that a world Christian conspiracy was afoot to destroy the Hindu culture and institutions. The action against Shankara Mutt was part of that conspiracy and alleged Jayalalithaa had acted under pressure from Sonia for her own reasons.

He asserted that the Dravidian movement which was dividing the Hindu society must be eliminated and regretted that the “law bends according to market place and while criminals roam about freely as leaders, the Acharyas are kept in prison.”

Shri Viswanatha Kakkan spoke on the need for Hindu consolidation and praised the efforts of VHP in uniting the Hindus.

Shri Raghavalu, VHP national secretary, speaking in Telugu, asserted that India was one and Hindus would rally behind any movement to counter threats to Hindu Mutts and institutions.

Shri C. Kanagarajan, proposed a vote of thanks.

Earlier, Shri R.S. Narayanaswami, state general secretary, VHP, welcomed the gathering.

The public meeting was a culmination of the five-day vishwa shanti mahayagna organised by the VHP for the honourable release of the Kanchi Acharyas.

Hate campaign against Hindus

Pseudo-secularists are persisting with their relentless tirade against Hindus

By Shyam Khosla
October 10, 2004

The UPA government’s decision last week to set up a national commission to recommend res-ervations in government jobs and educational institutions for religious and linguistic minorities is yet another example of the concept of distorted secularism in vogue in the country. Obviously the ruling alliance has been irked by the Andhra High Court judgement throwing out the state government’s ordinance on reservation of jobs for Muslims and wants to overcome it through legislative measures. Whether or not the government’s proposal will meet with judicial approval, the damage has been done. The decision will deepen the Hindu-Muslim divide and cause acute dissatisfaction among the Hindus. Sections of Hindu society too are economically and educationally backward. Why then resort to reservations on religious grounds? Will this not lead to the demand for a separate electorate on the premise that Muslims don’t get fair representations in elected bodies? There is no guarantee that the followers of distorted version of secularism would not fall for it to consolidate their hold on the Muslim community.

The Congress and the communist parties were against POTA on the false premise that it was largely misused against minorities. No one can deny that POTA, like other laws of the land, was misused by certain state governments but only a rabid communalist can say that only Muslims were targeted. Many who were put behind the bars under POTA were Hindus. While annulling POTA through an ordinance, the Congress-led government issued another ordinance to graft bulk of POTA provisions into the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) of 1967. Legal experts say that amended UAPA is more draconian than POTA proving the charge that Congress-communist combine’s criticism of POTA was more rhetorical than real. One of the provisions of UAPA empowers the government to ban organisation spreading communal hatred. Since in the eyes of the ruling alliance, all minorities are secular, this provision is likely to be used only against Hindu outfits. RSS and VHP have been mentioned in media reports as the potential targets. The Congress refuses to learn any lesson. It ought to know that any attempt to ban the RSS or any other Hindu outfit will generate mass aversion to the ruling alliance. Any attempt to silence nationalist outfits is bound to boomerang on the most communal party of the land- Indian National Congress.

Besides the communists that are born enemies of nationalists and patriots, HRD Minister Arjun Singh is one of the most vicious spreader of hate campaign. After hurting the school education system to no end by his rhetoric of detoxification of textbooks, he indulged in his old hobby- RSS-bashing. He revived the canard that had been buried in the deep sea by more than one judicial authority; namely, it was the RSS that created a situation that led to the Mahatma’s assassination. The Congress suffers from a guilty conscience. It agreed to Partition of the country after having won the election on the promise of keeping the country united. Those who have taken the trouble of going through Nathu Ram Godse’s passionate statement in the Punjab High Court will know why he killed Gandhi. His didn’t share RSS’s thought process and policies and had penned extremely critical articles in his newspaper against the Sangh for not taking to violent means to silence anti-Hindu forces. Arjun Singh knows this and much more. He revived the canard in an obvious bid to prove that he was more loyal than the queen and thereby provoked a confrontation with the Sangh. RSS is loath to involve itself in any confrontation that may divert its attention from its man-making mission but had no option than to wage a legal battle against the aging Congressman. Communists have pushed the party hopping Arjun Singh into a fight with the formidable nationalist organisa-tion that has millions and millions of cadres and supporters. He will regret at leisure for picking up the fight in haste for an hour’s glory at 10, Janpath.

‘Father’ Cedric Prakash, Ahmedabad-based Christian missionary, runs his anti-Hindi tirade under the banner of half a dozen fake banners, including Prashant. He is the man funded by foreign missionaries, that projected Christian-tribal clashes in Dang district of Gujarat-in which fortunately not a single person lost his life-as ‘attacks on churches’ by ‘Hindu fundamentalists’. His canards were accepted as gospel truth by the liberal rabble in India and the Christian West. He had nowhere to hide when his lies were exposed by a scientific and objective study conducted by the Chandigarh-based Panchnad Research Institute. He has now joined communist historians in decrying NCERT books and is making the totally unfounded charge that these books contain 100 ‘blunders’. Let him prove his charge. Hindus, beware of foreign-funded propagandists who are out to defame the Hindu society to pave the way for conversions through fraud and allurements.

Pseudo-secularists and liberal rabble are persisting with their relentless tirade against nationalists in general and Hindus in particular. They never miss half an opportunity to paint Hindus black with the sole purpose of consolidating their hold on the Muslims that have been fed for more than half a century on anti-Hindu sentiments. A massive chunk of Muslims, who stayed back in India after Partition of the country on religious lines, suffered from the guilt of having voted for the Muslim League’s demand for Pakistan. The dawn of Independence offered a grand opportunity to persuade the Muslims to join the national mainstream. However, the Congress that ruled the country without a break between 1947 and 1977 had other ideas. It let the opportunity pass.

It had, and still has, a vested interest in persisting with the communal divide. It took a conscious decision to frighten the Muslim community by focussing on the spectre of ‘communal’ forces that were out to eliminate the minorities. The Congress and other ‘secular’ parties converted the minorities into a committed vote bank by indulging in appeasement of Muslims even while accusing Hindu outfits of “communalism” and anti-Muslim policies. It succeeded in widening the gulf between the two major communities by creating a fear complex among the Muslims. Not surprisingly, the largest religious minority developed a ghetto mentality. Islamists did the rest. Slogans like, “Hans ke liya hai Pakistan, larh ke lenge Hindustan” were coined to put the Muslims against the Hindus and to recruit an army of Jehadis to dominate the kafirs

Sectarian opposition to ‘Vande Mataram’!

The pseudo-seculars in India, their support for anti-Hindu forces and their opposition to Hindu nationalism

By Chinmay Bajekal,

The pseudo-seculars in India have on several occasions displayed their hypocrisy through their support for anti-Hindu forces and their opposition to so-called Hindu nationalism (which in reality is Bharatiya-oriented nationalism). One such astounding example is the controversy made out of Vande mataram.

They accuse the Vande mataram of being a religious song, a song which supports sectarianism, and a song which is an expression of Hindu nationalism and not Indian nationalism.

Is Vande mataram dedicated to a deity?

First we need to get it clear that the song is not dedicated to any Hindu deity. It is a purely nationalist song. It is a song that depicts our Motherland as a ‘divine mother’ who nourishes us and sustains our lives from the time we are born till death. If we ask a person why he worships God, or why he feels grateful to him, the simple answer would be “God made this world”. Similarly in our lives we see that the food we consume, minerals we abstract from the earth and the homes that we build on it, make us as indebted to our Motherland as much we are to God.

It is in this perspective that Vande mataram upholds Mother-India as an object of supreme reverence.

Its significance

India is predominantly a religious country, where religious sentiments run high. Vande mataram here moulds the religious fervour of an Indian into patriotism. It makes an Indian realize that his duties and responsibilities towards his nation have to be carried out with as much steadfast enthusiasm and devotion as he performs his daily prayers or offerings to God.

This exhibits the truly secular nature of Vande mataram. At a time when there is a clash between religious extremists and secular nationalists, here is a song that harmonizes the two extreme sides.

Is it Sectarian?

Vande mataram cannot be regarded as a sectarian song. It does not have sectarianism anywhere in it. Sectarianism is when a path is considered to be the only valid one, or when other paths are denounced. Here none of it happens. Vande mataram simply is an expression of gratitude by a broad minded thinker towards his Motherland which has sustained the lives of countless people throughout history.

Its opposition by sectarians

Singing Vande mataram could never make anyone a sectarian. But refusing to sing it due to the fact that we believe our vision of God alone is right and if we cannot relate to another vision would make us perfect sectarians.

Is it Hindu nationalist?

Before we decide whether the song is an expression of Hindu nationalism or Indian nationalism, it is important to know what makes a clear distinction between the two.

Is Hindu an entity separate from India? Or does India really have an existence or identity separate from Hinduism?

Some argue that Hinduism is not Indianism. But the problem is that in our modern history we have failed to realize that Indianism was labeled as Hinduism by the British. That which we know by the name of Hinduism is indeed Indianism.

In the words of Annie bezant, “Make no mistake, without Hinduism, India has no future. Hinduism is the soil into which India’s roots are stuck and torn out of that she will inevitably wither, as a tree torn out from its place.”

In history we see that several ancient civilizations like the Greek, Egyptian and Persian have perished only because their native cultures were replaced by that of others. Thus it would not be improper to conclude that the way of life and culture of a country constitutes the ‘soul’ of a Nation, whereas the land and people are only its necessary physical attributes.

India’s Hindu culture thus is its soul and very existence. Therefore Vande mataram which is alleged to be a Hindu nationalist song cannot be separated from Indian nationalism. Vande mataram is the same song which was on the lips of our great freedom fighters while they accepted martyrdom. This song which has inspired several patriots in our country in the past to give the supreme sacrifice cannot be insulted by branding it as communalism.

An insult to Vande mataram is an insult to India and her countless heroes.

Muslims for uniform civil code

February 27, 05
National conference of My Hindustan in Jaipur

Singing Vande Mataram with full attention and respect, hundreds of nationalist Muslims, who assembled at a two-day conference held in Jaipur on February 12-13, 2005 by My Hindustan, an organisation representing the nationalist Muslims, resolved to develop consensus on a Common Civil Code (CCC) and also ban cow slaughter. Amidst slogans like Tumhari Id hai, hamari Diwali hai, Meri juban per Hindustan bolata hai and Aatankvad ko Jehad kahne vala Musalaman nahin, the conference concluded on February 13. Hundreds of Muslims from nine states, including Rajasthan, Jammu & Kashmir and Uttar Pradesh, participated in the conference.

The conference was inaugurated by reading out the written speech of Islamic scholar, Maulana Wahiduddin Khan, at Muslim Mushafirkhana, the venue of the conference. Owing to indisposition, Maulana could not attend the conference. In his massage he appealed to the Muslim community to shun their negative attitude towards their Hindu brothers, and try to live together in peace and harmony.

According to a resolution adopted at the conference, Muslims would now themselves initiate action on implementation of a Common Civil Code in the country. It also includes awareness on the issues related to Muslim women. The resolution said that consensus among Muslims pertaining to ban cow slaughter was emerging rapidly. Nationalist Muslims plan to apprise the people of the country on the difference between Jehad and terrorism.

The resolution made it clear that the loyalty of Muslims to the country should not be doubted. The conference unanimously decided to observe Id and Diwali jointly under the banner of My Hindusthan all over the country every year. Similarly, August 15 and January 26 will be celebrated as ‘Mera Vatan Mahan Diwas’ and May 10 as ‘National Unity Day’. At the concluding ceremony the delegates presented a coconut each to the organisers as a compliment. Speaking at the conference, Shri Umer Ilyasi said, “When the hearts are one, having different names does not matter.”

Shri Indresh Kumar, Akhil Bharatiya Sah-Sampark Pramukh of RSS, said that no religion taught fighting against each other. Shri Muzaffar Hussain, senior journalist, said that the efforts for uniting Hindus and Muslims had been going on for the last 56 years, but it was only now for the first time that the wall of differences seemed to be crumbling. He said by developing consensus on several issues, the My Hindustan had moved one step ahead. “The efforts of certain people who do not want this effort to get success, have failed to foil this holy attempt,” he said while referring to the protest launched by certain vested interest opposed to the holding of the conference. Prominent among those who spoke on the occasion included Smt Nafisa Hussain, member, National Commission for Women, Hafiz Manjur Ali Khan, Murza Mohammad Hussain of Bulandshahar, Salim Ansari of Delhi, Jakir Hussain from Jammu and Kashmir, Salabat Khan and Ashok Parnami, Mayor of Jaipur. (FOC)

More secular than thou

Khushwant Singh
February 26, 2005

None of our languages has an exact equivalent for the word ‘secular’. It means something quite different in western democracies which are almost entirely Christian from that in the Indian context. India, though predominantly Hindu, has a sizeable population of Muslims, Christians and Sikhs.

So far I have arrived at only two means of deciding whether a person is secular or not. One, anyone who subscribes to no religious belief is an atheist or an agnostic is per force secular. Their numbers don’t count because most Indians are proud of belonging to one religion or the other.

My second test is even more down to earth and relevant to our present state. When it comes to the nitty-gritty, what determines whether or not a person is secular is his or her attitude towards the minority communities, mostly towards Muslims who matter much more than Christians or Sikhs. I have a further test: anyone who did not condemn L.K. Advani’s Somnath-to-Ayodhya rath yatra and the destruction of the Babri masjid is anti-Muslim and has no right to call himself or herself secular. This may sound somewhat arbitrary but I stand by it.

I also sought further enlightenment. So I went through Mani Shankar Aiyar’s Confessions of A Secular Fundamentalist (Penguin). It is a comprehensive collection of articles embracing different points of view. I will confine myself to a dialogue between Aiyar and Arun Shourie which took place in September 1995 and forms the first chapter of this book. I do so because I regard both Aiyar and Shourie as the brightest, cleanest and most well-read men in their respective parties. Aiyar is a minister in Manmohan Singh’s UPA government; Shourie threw his lot with the mosque-breakers’ party and was a minister in Vajpayee’s BJP-led government. Aiyar is an atheist; Shourie a Hindu who rejects the existence of a compassionate God (he has good reasons to do so), subscribes to the Buddha’s belief in all pervading dukh (sorrow) and visits Sufi dargahs. He has also written books which hurt the sentiments of Dalits, Christians and Muslims. Aiyar chose to confront him on his views on Islam and Indian Muslims.

Aiyar put it to Shourie as bluntly as he could: “Does being a Muslim make it more difficult to be an Indian than being a Hindu makes it to be an Indian?”

Shourie replied: “Adhering to Islam in purity would make it impossible to live in a multi-cultural, multi-religious society and still abide by the tenets of Islam. But for a Hindu…” Aiyar pressed his point further: “If you’re faithful to the edicts of Islam as enshrined in the Koran and the Shariat, you would have difficulty in being a good Indian.”

Shourie answered in the affirmative and went on to define a good Muslim: “If ‘good Muslim’ means brotherhood of man and so on, then there is no difficulty. But if it means, as 1,000 verses in the Koran say, ‘Spread Islam, have nothing to do with these kafirs, kill them, they are untrustworthy, they are unclean’, then? The Hadith is full of this. There are rewards for killing the kafir. If this is a good Muslim, then a multi-religious society in India would become impossible.”

I leave it to the readers to decide which of these two men is really secular.

Generally speaking

The day I read of General J.J. Singh’s appointment as Chief of Army Staff, I got in touch with Manzar Khan, head of the Oxford University Press which has published my two volumes of History & Religion of the Sikhs, to include his name and photograph in the updated version due to be published soon. I acquired the general’s bio-data and photograph. He is the first Sikh to become COAS.

His appointment puts an end to the false propaganda carried on by a few bigots that by not entrusting a Sikh to the highest post in the army, successive governments betrayed an anti-Sikh bias. Two Sikhs have been Air Chief Marshals and Sikhs are more than adequately represented in all the three defence services. It could be maintained that there was more bias in favour of Sikhs than against them.

General Singh has not started well. The language he used — e.g. “I am a ruthless soldier” — is more becoming of a Nihang prone to indulging in braggadocio than the head of a modern army. His orders for everyone working under him to wear combat dress on Fridays is fatuous beyond belief. He has gone further and published his achievements as a marksman and has a plaque put up in his name. He should know better. Soldiers never brag — it is not done, it is not pukka.

Since neither the prime minister nor the president has yet told him to keep his mouth shut and get on with his job, I feel the media should do so. If he goes on like this, he will end up adding to the corpus of Sardarji jokes.

Salvation seekers

Longing to have darshan of a Devi

Striving to have dip in a sacred river

Hundreds of devotees die in a stampede

Often do much mishaps occur!

To achieve their hearts’ desire

Devotees choose a short, narrow path

They want to wash away their sins

With a single holy bath!

A stampede in a mammoth crowd

Can cause havoc, can you deny?

Pilgrims may or may not attain salvation

But will not they all together die?

(Courtesy: G.C. Bhandari, Meerut)

Martial alert

This incident appears to be apocryphal, but I have been assured that it actually took place.

By the time General Zia-ul Haq took over Pakistan, that country’s army officers were more interested in earning money and acquiring property than in fighting.

The general, anxious to establish air superiority over India, was planning to purchase F-16 fighters from the US. Zia, therefore, arranged a presentation on the plane’s capabilities, with all the top brass attending.

The presenter, unfortunately, went into boring, long-winded technical details, with the result that one of the senior generals dozed off. The presentation concluded and Zia turned to the sleeping officer. “Well, general,” he asked, “Do you think we should go in for the F-16?”

Waking up with a start, the general replied, “Sir, if it is a corner plot, buy it.”

(Contributed by Rejeshwari Singh, New Delhi)

Forbes.com: Want to Prosper? Then Be Tolerant

Paul Johnson, 06.21.04, 12:00 AM ET

In economic activities the greatest of virtues is tolerance. All societies flourish mightily when tolerance is the norm, and our age furnishes many examples of this. China began its astounding commercial and industrial takeoff only when Mao Zedong's odiously intolerant form of communism was scrapped in favor of what might be called totalitarian laissez-faire.

India is another example. It is the nature of the Hindu religion to be tolerant and, in its own curious way, permissive. Under the socialist regime of Jawaharlal Nehru and his family successors the state was intolerant, restrictive and grotesquely bureaucratic. That has largely changed (though much bureaucracy remains), and the natural tolerance of the Hindu mind-set has replaced quasi-Marxist rigidity.

In the last fiscal year India's GDP grew an estimated 8%, and in the third quarter, 10%. India's economy for the first time is expanding faster than China's. For years India was the tortoise, China the hare. The race is on, and my money's on India, because freedom--of movement, speech, the media--is always an economic asset.

When left to themselves, Indians (like the Chinese) always prosper as a community. Take the case of Uganda's Indian population, which was expelled by the horrific dictator Idi Amin and received into the tolerant society of Britain. There are now more millionaires in this group than in any other recent immigrant community in Britain. They are a striking example of how far hard work, strong family bonds and a devotion to education can carry a people who have been stripped of all their worldly assets.

Common Denominator
The contrast between China and India--both moving steadily to join the advanced countries of the world--and those countries where Islam is dominant is marked. Whatever its merits may be, Islam is not famed for tolerance. Indeed, of the major world religions it is the least broad-minded and open to argument. With the rise of a new form of fundamentalism in recent decades, its intolerance has been growing--as has the concomitant poverty.

In the past when an Islamic society has been modified by a strong secular influence, economic progress has been possible. Take Iraq. Until 1958 the British-influenced Nuri as-Said regime, which was comparatively tolerant in its outlook, made good use of the country's oil revenues. The Iraq Development Board was doing an excellent job. Had it been allowed to continue, this enlightened form of capitalist state planning would by now have made Iraq one of the richest countries in the world. Alas, the regime was too tolerant of extremists. In 1958 Nuri as-Said and all his colleagues were murdered by an alliance of Baathist officers and religious fanatics. Since then Iraq's oil revenues have been wasted on war and armaments, and its people brutalized almost beyond belief.

The tale in Iran is similar. Under the secular regime of the last Shah the economy was going great guns, but then the Shah wasdriven out by the Ayatollah Khomeini and his zealots. Some Iranians believed the modernizing and industrialization were happening too fast. But at least Iran had been moving forward--incomes had risen and poverty was on the wane. Since the Iranian revolution this great and once highly civilized country has stagnated or gone backward, and all the money generated by its oil has been wasted.

There are many other examples. Algeria once had a flourishing agricultural sector, a significant industrial sector and highly productive oil and gas fields, but it has little to show for all that now. Libya's Muammar Qaddafi may have come to his senses, but a generation of rich oil production has been wasted. Nigeria, where Islam is on the ascent, has also dissipated its oil wealth. Conditions there are less promising today than when Britain was in charge a half-century ago.

Saudi Arabia is another country where intolerance has held back economic advance. No nation has received more cash from its natural resources than has this Sunni Muslim state, with its ferocious tradition of Wahhabi fundamentalism. What's happened to the wealth? Gone with the wind of bigotry. Some of the other oil-rich Gulf states have done a little better, but in none of them do enterprise and free-market capitalism flourish.

As for the less well endowed Islamic states like Pakistan and Bangladesh, it's better to draw a veil over their misery. On the evidence of the second half of the 20th century it would appear that Islamic state control is a formula for continuing poverty, and Islamic fundamentalism a formula for extreme poverty.

The more I study history, the more I deplore the existence of those--be they clerics, bureaucrats or politicians--who think they know what's best for ordinary people and impose it on them. We have a pungent example of this know-all mentality in the EU. The bureaucrats of Brussels have created yet another brand of intolerance that determines by law everything from the shape of bananas to the number of seats in a bus, from apple growing to house plumbing. As a result the German economy is contracting and the French economy is stagnant. There are now more unemployed people in single-currency EU Europe than there have been at any other time since the worst of the 1930s, and many of them will never work again.

Let those of us fortunate enough to live in the U.S. or Britain hang on to our traditions of tolerance at all costs, resisting like fury all those who seek to undermine them with political correctness or any other kind of dogma.

Paul Johnson, eminent British historian and author, Lee Kuan Yew, senior minister of Singapore, and Ernesto Zedillo, Yale Center for the Study of Globalization, former president of Mexico, in addition to Forbes Chairman Caspar W. Weinberger, rotate in writing this column. To see past Current Events columns, visit our Web site at www.forbes.com/currentevents.

Delhi Conference on "Relevance of Hinduism To Understanding India"

Author: Rajiv Malik, HPI Correspondent
Publication: Hindu Press International
Date: February 18, 2005

"It is unfortunate that due to some constitutional anomaly in India the minorities through their educational institutions can teach the children their concepts of one prophet and one text but we are not allowed to impart the liberal teachings of Hinduism or Sanatana Dharma through the schools and colleges run by us." This was stated by Swami Jitatmananda Ji Maharaj, Head of Ramakrishna Mission Ashram, Rajkot, Gujarat, while delivering his keynote address on the subject "Relevance of Hinduism To Understanding India" at a two-day conference held February 4 and 5 in a hotel located on the outskirts of Delhi. The event was attended by a large number of Hindu scholars, intellectuals, politicians and former bureaucrats from all over India. Many speakers and Hindu scholars presented extremely informative and interesting papers touching various dimensions of Hinduism. The conference was jointly organized by Rashtriya Jagriti Sansthan, South Asia Politics Magazine and Konrad Adenauer Foundation.

Speakers at the conference were unanimous that in the proper understanding of India, the influence and relevance of Hinduism could not be ignored. There was also a broad consensus among the participants that the term Sanatan Dharma conveyed most appropriately what was usually meant by Hinduism and was identified with Hinduism. Addressing the gathering, well-known Congress leader and former central minister, Shri Vasant Sathe, said, "Hinduism's correct name is Sanatana Dharma but it is unfortunate that some people understand it as Puratan [backward] Dharma." Shri Sathe who also supported Swami Jitatmananda Ji's views on teaching of Hinduism through the educational institutions, said, "The establishing of permanent religious minorities needs to be condemned, and Hinduism should also be allowed to be taught through the educational institutions in the same way as the institutions belonging to minorities could teach their religions."

In his inaugural address, Shri H. R. Bhardwaj, Union Minister of Law and Justice said, "Hinduism is not a sect, it is a fellowship of faiths. It is all including and embracing. Hinduism has never been cruel. Hinduism believes that noble thoughts should be allowed to come from all the directions."

The inaugural session of this conference was presided over by former union minister and a well-known scholar-statesman Dr. Karan Singh. In his speech Dr. Singh pointed out, "Without some understanding of Hinduism, India would not make sense to anybody. Again, this does not mean that India is or would ever become a Hindu state, but it is largely based on Hindu philosophy and, therefore, some understanding of Hinduism is essential to understand India."

Dr. Singh went on to say, "It is difficult to find such examples anywhere in world history where a country partitioned on the basis of religion does not set up a completely secular polity, but, if anything, a polity which leans towards giving special rights to the minorities."

Francois Gautier, a well-known French author and columnist, in his speech said, "The two main culprits for forgetting of India in Europe are the British colonizers and the Christian missionaries. How could the English, they who had come to civilize the Barbarians, admit that their very culture was derived from these very savages? And how could the missionaries, they who had come to bring the True God to the Pagans, admit that their own religion was influenced by these very heathens?"

Ranbir Singh, Director, NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad, stated, "Ignorance about the subject of Hindu jurisprudence is profound even in India. Our scriptures are an extraordinary legacy of the sages which in matters detail and variety have hardly any parallel in any legal system of the world, ancient or modern. Studies of juridical conceptions in Hindu jurisprudence make startling revelations even for modern thinkers." According to Shri Singh, "The Hindu jurisprudence recognized the doctrine of 'rule of law.' Manu in clear terms declares that the king will administer justice according to law. It is an evidence of a developed character of Hindu jurisprudence."

S.R. Mohnot, executive chairman, Centre for Industrial and Economic Research, New Delhi, had this to say in his address, "It is the irony that those who practice rabid fundamentalism, reinforced by cruel violence, complain most about the tolerant Hinduism. Temples are attacked, killing men, women and children, and responsibility is claimed, as a matter of pride and honor, by groups who claim that they are jehadis."

Hari Jaisingh, senior journalist, in his exposition, stated, "The quest for truth calls for freedom of enquiry and tolerance of different views. This is logical and unique to Hinduism. That is why the Hindu civilization is the richest in thought. No other civilization has permitted the kind of freedom and tolerance that the Hindus have given to themselves."

Shri Abhaya Kashyap, Honorary Director of Rashtriya Jagriti Sansthan, presenting his views at the conference said, "All parties are using Hinduism for political purposes, whether they claim to represent Hindutva or claim to be secular. It is our attempt to de-politicize the issue and develop a non-partisan paradigm whereby Hinduism can be understood as a potent force impacting India's external political and economic image." He further added, "The West finds itself caught between fighting the onslaught of Islamic terrorism on one hand and Chinese economic offensive on the other. India with its Hindu majority can be potentially a powerful moderating force in such circumstances."

WHITHER SECULARISM ?

Shri C.V.Narasimhan

Introduction

1. 'Secularism' and 'Secular forces' have now become catchwords in our politics. Some parties have labelled themselves as 'secular' and project their opposing parties as communal and non-secular. In particular, the Hindutva ideology and culture stressed by the BJP is termed communal by the Congress and Communists who project their brand of socialism as secular. During elections these slogans have an emotional impact on sections of people. The poor and ignorant are carried away by the socialist promises while large sections of the middle and upper classes in the Hindu fold are impressed by the Hindutva call in the context of aggressive postures of non-Hindu groups who had enjoyed patronage under the British raj and the Nehru government after Independence. While electoral battles are fought on emotive issues, people have generally remained unaware of the hard factors that govern the economic well-being and progress of the Nation as a whole. These factors have suffered neglect over the decades. Values and ethics in performance of work in all sectors of community life have been badly eroded. Religion in the past had held people together by certain codes of conduct and practice of Dharma in community life, but the deliberate marginalisation of religion, specially the Hindu faith, in people's lives by the so-called secular government after Independence has badly weakened the role of Hinduism, as a religion and way of life, in shaping the conduct of its aherents and promoting among them the values from our rich heritage and culture.

Denigration of Hindu religion

2. The important role of religion in strengthening the fabric of society has not been appreciated by our people. Many English educated persons among the Hindus themselves consider it a matter of fashion to refer to a pious observance of Hindu religious practices as orthodox and conservative and therefore regressive. Little is done by them to project before their own people the lofty thoughts and perceptions embedded in Hindu philosophy and their universality. The other religions like Islam and Christianity do not suffer this handicap. Further, their clergy are duly structured with a well-defined hierachy who have a strong hold and influence over their respective communities. On the other hand the priestly class in the Hindu fold are relatively ill-informed about the higher levels of thoughts and concepts in their religion, and are ordered about by the community to suit its 'materialist' convenience! Rituals performed by Hindus have become oriented towards individual's material progress and welfare. There is little emphasis on social conduct and behaviour. The ethics flowing from Hindu philosophy have got relegated to the background. All these factors have weakened the structure and cohesion of the Hindu society. Since Hindus constitute more than 80% of India's population, their weakness has made India a soft target for intrusions and trampling by aggressive outsiders over several years. We should all now take a critical look at our'religious' situation and initiate steps to restore religion to its rightful place of dignity and pride to guide the conduct of people for securing the strength, welfare and progress of Indian society as a whole.

Secularism defined

3. Quite many people, specially in present day politics, interpret secularism to imply agnosticism or atheism. This is a wholly distorted view. It is also absurd to extol secularism as a fundamental attribute that should inform all activities in the community. Several activities of the common people in daily life, individually or collectively, are linked with their religious affiliations.determined either by birth or by choice influenced by factors encountered in adult life. Rituals and practices specific to one religion may not always be open to followers of other religions. The society as a whole cannot therefore be viewed as secular in all its activities. It is only the machinery of administration symbolised by the State that can be secular, and has to be secular in a democracy. This is well clarified in the following observations made by Dr.S.Radhakrishnan as early as in 1954 when he was Vice-President.

"When India is said to be a secular State, it does not mean that we as a people reject the reality of an Unseen Spirit or the relevance of religion Ito life or that we exhalt irreligion. It does not mean that secularism itself becomes a positive religion or that the State assumes divine prerogatives. Though faith in the Supreme Spirit is the basic principle of the Indian tradition, our State will not identify itself with or be controlled by any particular religion. This view of religious impartiality has a prophetic role to play within our national life. No group of citizens shall arrogate to itself rights and privileges which it denies to others. No person shall suffer any form of disability or discrimination because of his religion. All alike will be free to share to the fullest degree in the common life. This is the meaning of secularism".

Nehru era

4. In the first two decades after Independence Jawaharlal Nehru's own agnostic view of life dominated the State's disposal of all matters concerning Hinduism as a religion and Hindus as a community. The concept of secularism was taken to extreme lengths. A poignant example could be cited at the Kumbabishekam of Meenakshi temple at Madurai in 1963. It was a major event for Hindus and drew several lakhs of devotees from all over the country. President Radhakrishnan had programmed to be present at the holy celebration but it was cancelled at the last minute, apparently at the instance of Nehru who presumably deemed it offensive to the concept of secularism! It is interesting to note that a few years earlier Nehru himself had participated in an important function at Sarnath connected with some relics of Buddha which had drawn a large number of Buddhists from abroad as well. The point to be noted is that it was Hinduism that suffered most from the ultra secularism of the Nehru era. That has to be set right now.

5. It will also be relevant id recall here the likely 'inner situation' of Nehru in his last days. Michael Edwards has written a critical and objective biography of Nehru which is published as a Pelican book. The following is extracted from it :- "Those close to him at this time (1964) recalled after his death that Nehru was withdrawn, speaking seldom to anyone and radiating an aura of sadhess. He seemed also to be moving even further away from the agnosticism of his middle age. During the years in which he had sought to identify more and more with Indian Tndia, he had^moved closer to religion. His hatred of religious communalism had kept him away from formal faith but had not prevented him from trying to create a personal "syncretism that would satisfy both his desire for traditional roots in the Hindu world and his belief in progressive socialism. Intellectual rationalisation he had found in Vivekananda's ideal of selfless service. With it he had tried to articulate socialism with an Indian voice". Politicians of the day who swear by Nehru will do well to ponder over the above analysis of Nehru's mind as it had evolved towards the close of his life, .They should cry halt to destructive politics and participate in rejuvenating the people of this great country to progress in the modem world retaining their spiritual roots in the religious philosophy of our ancient heritage andculture.

Observation of Rajaji, Alfred Marshall and others

6. The importance of our ancient 'heritage and culture in the present times was succinctly brought out by Rajaji when he said in a public lecture at Mumbai in 1963:- "If there is any honesty in India today, any hospitality, any chastity, any philanthropy, any tenderness to the dumb creatures, any aversion to evil, any love to do good, it is due to whatever remains of the old faith and the old culture".

7. The great economist Alfred Marshall in the opening chapter .of his work 'Principles of Economies' has said: "The two great forming agencies of the world's history have been the religious and the economic. Here and there the' ardour of the military or the artistic spirit has been for^a while predominant, but religious and economic influences have nowhere been displaced from the front rank even for a time and they have nearly always been more important than all others put together".

8. In the book "The New Realities' by Peter F. Drucker, the Management gum of the West, published in 1989, he has made the following significant observations:-'The strong resurgence of religion as an element in public life in the United States, the resurgence of evangelical and pastoral chue6hes;?'is in some measure a reaction against the disappearance of the secular faith in salvatiols by society".

"Management is about human beings. Its task is to make people capable of joint performance, to make their strengths effective and their weaknesses irrelevant".

"Because management deals with the integration of people in a common venture, it is deeply embedded in culture. Therefore, one of the basic challenges managers in a developing country face is to find and identify those parts of their own tradition, history and culture that can be used as management building blocks"

9. John W. Gardner, the celebrated author of the book titled 'Excellence' has said the following in his another book 'The Recovery of Confidence'. "The first step towards the reconstruction of personal and social values is the re-discovery of values in one's own tradition".

10. Dag Hammerskjold, who was a distinguished Secretary-General of the United Nations (1953-61-) and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1961, was a religious believer. At the age of forty nine, he wrote: "The language of religion is a set of formulae which register-a basic spiritual, experience. It must not be regarded as describing in philosophical terms he reality which-is accessible to our senses and which we can analyse with the tools of logic. I was late in understanding what this meant. When I finally reached that point, the beliefs in which I was once brought up and which, in fact, had given my life direction even while my intellect challenged their validity were recognised by me as mine by my free choice".

11. I have quoted at length from these eminent men to highlight the importance of religion in the modern context in promoting a value system to sustain a developing society. A further point to be stressed is that the religion in which one is brought up is best suited to play this role.

Hinduism : The Mother Religion

12. This brings us to the concept of mother-religion on the same line as other similar and familiar concepts of mother-tongue and mother-land. Religion, language and culture are referred to in some Artciles of our Constitution. The language of the community group in which one is born is recognised by all as his mother-tongue. Emotional attachment to one's mother-tongue is accepted as rational and normal. Government also accepts the primacy of the mother-tongue as the medium of instruction, specially at the school level Language, culture and religion of any group of people are all inter-related in the sense that literary and cultural activities reflect in a good measure the background of religious philosophy and attitudes of the people. One cannot talk of preserving the rich heritage and culture of a people without duly recognising the important role of religion in people's lives. Emotional attachment to one's mother-religion should be accepted as rational and in keeping with the natural urge within mankind. Holding religion as irrelevant to a modernising society, 'pushing it to the background and trampling on it by State administration are detrimental to the society. Hinduism has suffered badly by such treatment over the last several decades. The words "Socialist" and "Secular" were added to the Preamble to the Constitution by an Act of 1976 during the Emergency. The word' 'Socialist' has a clearly understood connotation linked with social objectives, but the word 'Secular' cannot be viewed in the same light. In fact, there was no need to have added this word in the Preamble since Articles 15, 16, 25, 26, 27 and 28 were already there, and continue to there, to ensure secular administration. The special amendment to include 'Secular' in the Preamble itself makes one doubt if it was to pave the way for further legislation to ban all organised religious activities in the country. Propagation of Hindu faith alone would be affected by such moves since the other religions would be protected by their minority status under Articles 29 and 30. It is time that Hinduism got freed from such grim possibilities of State interference.

Renascent Hinduism: Swami Vivekananda

13. Resurgence of Hinduism does not mean revival of discriminatory and exploitative practices and social customs which had plagued it in the past centuries under influence from vested interests in the caste system. A renaissance is immediately called for in Hinduism, somewhat similar to the Reformation in Christianity. Swami Vivekananda's exposition of the Vedantic core of Hinduism provides the ideal guiding star for the reformatory movement. His interpretation of Hindu philosophy stressed four important elements, namely -

• essence of religion relates to attitude of mind and not the physical response of the body,
• social service with genuine concern for the poor and hungry should be an integral
part of a religious life, » awareness of the spiritual presence within oneself, and
• sincerity, straight-forwardness and troth in all one's dealings.

These tenets should be brought home to every Hindu for observance in life in the modem context.

Religion and value-oriented education

14. Nowadays there is much talk of value-oriented education. Values cannot be explained and imparted to the young against a blank background. It has to be done in the context of something linked with their daily life. Religions all the world over have provided an excellent context for this purpose. All the philosophy, mythology, social customs and inter-action within the community on festive occasions associated with religion provide a good base for propagating universal values to be observed in life. Religion should therefore be given its due place in our administrative structure and system. The wholly materialist Communist regimes in Russia and China have lately recognised the value of religion in keeping the community together under an emotional bond, and have revived churches, monasteries and other institutions associated with worship. We have a lesson to learn from their experience.

Essentials of Hindu philosophy

15. The essentials of Hindu philosophy as interpreted by modem thinkers are: -

• the existence of a Supreme Spirit as the primordial cause for all that is manifest in the universe,
• the concept of a soul within every being in creation, and the presence of Divinity in the soul,
• the law of Karma which stipulates the inevitability of one having to suffer the consequences of one's own action,
• the spiritual dimension of every life, and
• the primacy of love and compassion in working life to secure harmony in all that is manifest in creation.

The above principles are mostly common to other religions like Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism that have sprung from the Indian soil.

Religious reformation blocked by politics

16. When attempts are now made by well motivated groups of people to revive awareness of the basic concepts flowing from our heritage and culture to reform our way of life and conduct of public affairs, power crazy and self-centred politicians immediately label these efforts as anti-secular and communal This is a diabolic distortion contrived by ruthless Machiavellian groups in politics. This has to be put down by an awakened public.

Spirituality in Hindu philosophy

17. The evolution of mankind has always included the process of a constant inquiry into the ultimate cause of all perceived phenomena. Different religions have appeared at different times in the world to reflect the apparent result of such inquiry by different groups of people. Hindu philosophy is acknowledged as the oldest among the religious philosophies, and is estimated high for the loftiness of its concepts, the sweep of its analysis and the universality of its application. The emphasis it lays on the mind and spirit as distinct from the mere physical body is a remarkable insight into the nature of things. Dr. Abdul Kalam, a Bharat Ratna, who has pioneered our nuclear weaponry research and brought our defence preparedness to a very high degree of efficiency, has noted in his recently published autobiography that 'For me, science has always been the path to spiritual enrichment and self-realization". The book further brings out that the philosophy of his working life has also been influenced by Bhagvad Gita. Hindus are heir to a great philosophy that is now coming to be seen as more universally relevant and meaningful to modem life than ever before. The average Indian's thoughts, culture and behaviour are substantially based on the core of Hindu philosophy. It is the duty of all elders to do all they can to ensure that the younger generation do not miss to imbibe all that is good in this sublime philosophy.

Tamil Nadu situation

18. The situation in Tamil Nadu has some special features. The Dravidian movement was started in the 1930's principally as a social reform movement for the removal of highly discriminatory and degrading social practices that operated against certain depressed classes. It was then appropriately referred to as Self-Respect movement and the allied party was called Justice Party. However, the movement soon got directed towards posts and positions of power in government and public life, and the elimination of disproportionate dominance of Brahmins in that sector. It then became an anti-Brahmin movement and acquired a distinct urban orientation. Since Brahmins were mostly associated with religious practices, specially in urban centres, the movement also acquired a distinct anti-religious dimension. It is however interesting to recall that the idol breaking campaign launched by EVR Periyar was directed against Vinayakar idols only. It is the identity of God Muruga or Goddess Mariamman that is associated width religious perceptions and practices in the rural areas and any desecration of their idols might have led to unpredictable situations. Vinayakar workship was not native to the villages in the south and therefore Vinayakar idol breaking campaign did not affect the rural areas where the innate religious feelings of the people remained undisturbed and continue to remain in good measure even now.

19. In the midst of such urban-centred activities the discriminatory social situation in the paral areas went out of focus. In the fight for participation and leading positions in administration and public life, the DMK and the ADMK were born and later became full-fledged political parties seeking positions of power in government. Since the original objective of social reform at the grass roots got blurred in this process, the discriminatory practices based on castes and sub-castes continued in the villages, leading to violent confrontations and serious disturbances to public peace. It is only now the Dravidian party leaders have woken up to the realities of the pervasive caste situation with all its ramifications and are desperately seeking remedial measures. The time is now ripe for the native but dormant religious feelings among the rural people to be revived and guided to grow on reformed lines towards an egalitarian society, bound by an abiding value system.

HR & CE Act of Tamil Nadu

20. The Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Act of Tamil Nadu enables the State to control the affairs of Hindu temples. Over the years, it has led to undue interference with temple affairs and the conduct of its rituals. This is the lot of Hindu temples only, and not churches and mosques. Article 26 of the Constitution gives freedom to every religious denomination to maintain its religious institutions. The only limitation mentioned in the Article is that the interests of public order, morality and health should not be affected. When these three factors are not at all involved in the running of temples, why should Hindu temples alone be subjected to a highly restrictive and intruding legislation? This matter merits a writ petition to the High Court or Supreme Court to test the vires of the Act and settle the issue.

Action plan

21. The present Situation in the country calls for an action plan to cover the following, among other things:-

(i) Value education programmes in schools should make substantial use of the supportive material available in our own religious literature. This methodology should be duly recognised by the State.

(ii) Parents should be made aware of the spiritual content of Hinduism, as perceived in the renascent view expounded by Swami Vivekananda and other modem philosophers including Dr.Radhakrishnan. Special lectures and discussion sessions for this purpose should be arranged by school authorities. This would secure healthy parental influence at home to foster genuine religious attitudes and feelings among children.

(iii) Managements of schools run by religious organisations and those run by other social service bodies should meet periodically and evolve programmes for strengthening the religious base for value-oriented education.

(iv) People should be made aware of the mischievous tactics adopted by some political groups to overplay the secular card and prevent the revival of our own heritage and culture. This should make people see that such tactics are only a ruse for self-centred groups and cliques to seize and retain power. People should remain vigilant against such tactics and secure the Nation's identity, integrity and progress.

(v) The intelligentsia should not remain silent witnesses to the deliberate and destructive distortion of the religious situation of the people. They should actively participate in educating the people about the relevance of religion in the modern context. Study group meetings, discussions, letters to the press and all such media should be availed for this purpose.

(vi) A lot of literature is now available, which points out the remarkable similarity between the thoughts and perceptions in the core of Hindu philosophy and the concepts and perceptions disclosed by deep research in modem science. There are also well-written books clarifying the rationale of Hinduism to a doubting modern mind. All such books should be listed out and circulated to school authorities for being added to school libraries. Presents to bridal couples at weddings and prizes to students in schools and colleges may invariably include a book or two of this kind.