Bharat Mata under siege in Poonch
7/20/2006 10:58:19 PM
By Balbir K. Punj
The Poonch district administration has imposed a ban on raising the slogan "Bharat Mata ki Jai" (Victory to Mother India) during the Budha Amarnath Yatra. Raising the slogan could lead the pilgrim to jail, even if he evades the reprisal of Muslim fundamentalists. Many Hindu and allied nationalistic organisations are vehemently protesting the ban. But I can discover distinct reasons why this ban should have a shock value for the nation.
First, it would scandalise our illusion that Islamic terrorism is restricted to Kashmir Valley in J&K. The situation in Jammu portends to be equally bleak. Second, it is another example of how we are appeasing "de-nationalising" elements to preserve a farcical "secularism." In the past, more than one reigning CMs of Karnataka left no stone unturned to prevent people from hoisting the national flag on a public ground in Hubli on the pretext that it was Wakf property. The UPA government refused to indict M.F. Husain for his obscene portrayal of "Bharat Mata" (Mother India), although resolutions were adopted against the Danish cartoons depicting Prophet Muhammad.
Budha Amarnath (Aged Amarnath) is an ancient Shiva temple situated against a picturesque natural backdrop, at the height of about 4,500 ft, in a place called Raj Mandi, 25 kilometres from Poonch town in Jammu region. The Amarnath Yatra, it is said, is incomplete without a pilgrimage to Budha Amarnath. But the pilgrims’ turnout at Budha Amarnath diminished over the last several years due to terrorist threats. Of late, Bajrang Dal, the youth wing of Vishwa Hindu Parishad, has revived the yatra. Last year, some 10,000 pilgrims visited Budha Amarnath between August 5 and 13. This, although nothing to match the four-lakh turnout at the snow cave of Amarnath, was a significant figure. The Bajrang Dal which took up the challenge of the Islamic terrorists, turned the religious pilgrimage into a nationalist rally. It was received with enthusiasm by the local Hindu population and paramilitary forces that provided the protective cover. The exodus of over four-lakh Hindus (Kashmiri Pandits) from the valley is fairly well-known, although equally underplayed by the "secularists." Less known is the fact that gods were the first to be forced out by the Islamic fundamentalists as they began their campaign to oust the Pandits. According to a report prepared by the Panun Kashmir Movement 10 years ago, 127 temples, besides 16,000 Pandit houses, were destroyed by Islamic fundamentalists between 1986 and 1992. According to it, 32 temples were destroyed in Kashmir within 48 hours of the destruction of the Babri structure on December 6, 1992 (J&K Militants have damaged 127 temples, Times of India, February 20, 1996).
But the slow exodus of Hindus from some districts of Jammu region is one of the best kept secrets. In Poonch district their population fell from 11% to 8% between 1981 and 2001. In Rajouri district it fell from 41.66% to 39.73%, while in Doda it has been a marginal fall from 42.69% to 42.02%. Jammu district is 93% and Doda district is 74% Hindu. The massacre of 22 Hindus in Kulhund village of Doda district that shocked the nation last April hints that Islamic terrorism is making deep inroads in Jammu. A Hindu pilgrimage in J&K, be it the Amarnath Yatra or a yatra to Raghunath temple, is a bugbear for Islamic fundamentalists. Their logic is simple: anything Hindu is Indian and needs to be discouraged. The Kashmiri Pandits were expelled because they supported the free flow of the Indian Constitution in the Valley.
It has been the truth for one millennium, that in parts of India where demographic, political and cultural strengths of Hindus had diminished, partition had taken place. From present day Afghanistan, Sindh, West Punjab, East Bengal, this withdrawal has continued. It is a truth that the "secular" establishment would hate to admit. But then they are abetting its repeat. Is Poonch not part of India (even Pakistan doesn’t dispute it, it disputes only the Valley)? Then if "Bharat Mata Ki Jai" is banned in Poonch, a Muslim majority district, the government itself sends out a wrong message about the loyalty of Muslims. The decision on "Bharat Mata ki Jai" has not come from the government in Srinagar. The district commissioner of Poonch, Pramod Jain, is seemingly behind it.
In 1953, Jan Sangh founder Dr Shyama Prasad Mookerjee had laid down his life seeking complete the integration of Kashmir Valley. He was deeply inspired by Praja Parishad’s call "Ek desh mein do nishan/Ek desh mein do vidhan/Ek desh mein do pradhan/Nahin chalengey, nahin chalengey (Two symbols, two Constitutions, two heads of state in one country are not acceptable)." Nehru had pandered to Sheikh Abdullah who aimed at carving out a "Sheikhdom" independent of India and Pakistan, but tried to suppress the nationalist Praja Parishad. Those interested in the subject should read My Years With Nehru, the memoirs of B.N. Mallick, the former IB director chosen by Nehru to execute this devious agenda. The results of Nehru’s blunders are evident to us. We are still repeating the Nehruvian blunders.
HRD minister Arjun Singh, who made a pilgrimage to Osama bin Laden’s country, Saudi Arabia, and cleared a plan to set up a Saudi Arabian cultural centre at Jamia with UGC money, recently said during a Cabinet meeting after the Mumbai blasts, that Hindutva groups fake terrorist attacks and routinely blame them on Muslims. It shows to what level "secularism" has plummeted. Osama bin Laden at least has the honesty and guts to call for Islamic domination of the world, but our "secularists" are a sad picture of degeneration.
If the know-all Arjun Singh knew it better than the home ministry, that Hindutva groups fake terrorist attacks and blame them on Muslims "routinely," then it was criminal and communal to be silent about it until Mumbai happened. On the contrary, the UPA government was pressing forth with a complete ban on SIMI for days before Mumbai occurred. Maharashtra is ruled by a "secular" government, and it has not experienced any riot in the recent past unlike in Gujarat. There is no "secular" logic to explain the blasts. Of course, what can explain the blast is our "secular" degeneration. SIMI, along with LeT, is the universal suspect after the Mumbai blasts. Not even the most hardcore "secularist" can deny this basic fact.
With "secularists" like these, who needs enemies?
By Balbir K. Punj
The Poonch district administration has imposed a ban on raising the slogan "Bharat Mata ki Jai" (Victory to Mother India) during the Budha Amarnath Yatra. Raising the slogan could lead the pilgrim to jail, even if he evades the reprisal of Muslim fundamentalists. Many Hindu and allied nationalistic organisations are vehemently protesting the ban. But I can discover distinct reasons why this ban should have a shock value for the nation.
First, it would scandalise our illusion that Islamic terrorism is restricted to Kashmir Valley in J&K. The situation in Jammu portends to be equally bleak. Second, it is another example of how we are appeasing "de-nationalising" elements to preserve a farcical "secularism." In the past, more than one reigning CMs of Karnataka left no stone unturned to prevent people from hoisting the national flag on a public ground in Hubli on the pretext that it was Wakf property. The UPA government refused to indict M.F. Husain for his obscene portrayal of "Bharat Mata" (Mother India), although resolutions were adopted against the Danish cartoons depicting Prophet Muhammad.
Budha Amarnath (Aged Amarnath) is an ancient Shiva temple situated against a picturesque natural backdrop, at the height of about 4,500 ft, in a place called Raj Mandi, 25 kilometres from Poonch town in Jammu region. The Amarnath Yatra, it is said, is incomplete without a pilgrimage to Budha Amarnath. But the pilgrims’ turnout at Budha Amarnath diminished over the last several years due to terrorist threats. Of late, Bajrang Dal, the youth wing of Vishwa Hindu Parishad, has revived the yatra. Last year, some 10,000 pilgrims visited Budha Amarnath between August 5 and 13. This, although nothing to match the four-lakh turnout at the snow cave of Amarnath, was a significant figure. The Bajrang Dal which took up the challenge of the Islamic terrorists, turned the religious pilgrimage into a nationalist rally. It was received with enthusiasm by the local Hindu population and paramilitary forces that provided the protective cover. The exodus of over four-lakh Hindus (Kashmiri Pandits) from the valley is fairly well-known, although equally underplayed by the "secularists." Less known is the fact that gods were the first to be forced out by the Islamic fundamentalists as they began their campaign to oust the Pandits. According to a report prepared by the Panun Kashmir Movement 10 years ago, 127 temples, besides 16,000 Pandit houses, were destroyed by Islamic fundamentalists between 1986 and 1992. According to it, 32 temples were destroyed in Kashmir within 48 hours of the destruction of the Babri structure on December 6, 1992 (J&K Militants have damaged 127 temples, Times of India, February 20, 1996).
But the slow exodus of Hindus from some districts of Jammu region is one of the best kept secrets. In Poonch district their population fell from 11% to 8% between 1981 and 2001. In Rajouri district it fell from 41.66% to 39.73%, while in Doda it has been a marginal fall from 42.69% to 42.02%. Jammu district is 93% and Doda district is 74% Hindu. The massacre of 22 Hindus in Kulhund village of Doda district that shocked the nation last April hints that Islamic terrorism is making deep inroads in Jammu. A Hindu pilgrimage in J&K, be it the Amarnath Yatra or a yatra to Raghunath temple, is a bugbear for Islamic fundamentalists. Their logic is simple: anything Hindu is Indian and needs to be discouraged. The Kashmiri Pandits were expelled because they supported the free flow of the Indian Constitution in the Valley.
It has been the truth for one millennium, that in parts of India where demographic, political and cultural strengths of Hindus had diminished, partition had taken place. From present day Afghanistan, Sindh, West Punjab, East Bengal, this withdrawal has continued. It is a truth that the "secular" establishment would hate to admit. But then they are abetting its repeat. Is Poonch not part of India (even Pakistan doesn’t dispute it, it disputes only the Valley)? Then if "Bharat Mata Ki Jai" is banned in Poonch, a Muslim majority district, the government itself sends out a wrong message about the loyalty of Muslims. The decision on "Bharat Mata ki Jai" has not come from the government in Srinagar. The district commissioner of Poonch, Pramod Jain, is seemingly behind it.
In 1953, Jan Sangh founder Dr Shyama Prasad Mookerjee had laid down his life seeking complete the integration of Kashmir Valley. He was deeply inspired by Praja Parishad’s call "Ek desh mein do nishan/Ek desh mein do vidhan/Ek desh mein do pradhan/Nahin chalengey, nahin chalengey (Two symbols, two Constitutions, two heads of state in one country are not acceptable)." Nehru had pandered to Sheikh Abdullah who aimed at carving out a "Sheikhdom" independent of India and Pakistan, but tried to suppress the nationalist Praja Parishad. Those interested in the subject should read My Years With Nehru, the memoirs of B.N. Mallick, the former IB director chosen by Nehru to execute this devious agenda. The results of Nehru’s blunders are evident to us. We are still repeating the Nehruvian blunders.
HRD minister Arjun Singh, who made a pilgrimage to Osama bin Laden’s country, Saudi Arabia, and cleared a plan to set up a Saudi Arabian cultural centre at Jamia with UGC money, recently said during a Cabinet meeting after the Mumbai blasts, that Hindutva groups fake terrorist attacks and routinely blame them on Muslims. It shows to what level "secularism" has plummeted. Osama bin Laden at least has the honesty and guts to call for Islamic domination of the world, but our "secularists" are a sad picture of degeneration.
If the know-all Arjun Singh knew it better than the home ministry, that Hindutva groups fake terrorist attacks and blame them on Muslims "routinely," then it was criminal and communal to be silent about it until Mumbai happened. On the contrary, the UPA government was pressing forth with a complete ban on SIMI for days before Mumbai occurred. Maharashtra is ruled by a "secular" government, and it has not experienced any riot in the recent past unlike in Gujarat. There is no "secular" logic to explain the blasts. Of course, what can explain the blast is our "secular" degeneration. SIMI, along with LeT, is the universal suspect after the Mumbai blasts. Not even the most hardcore "secularist" can deny this basic fact.
With "secularists" like these, who needs enemies?
Labels: Hindutva, Islamic Terrorism
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home