What has Islam been expanding for over last 14 centuries? Only to expand Arab Medievalism around the world.
If we look at beginning of 20th century, entire Islamic world was in poverty. Indian Muslims were in wretched conditions and no better than Hindus by mid of 20th century and that also after being in the ruling position for around 300 between 15th century to 18th century.
They destroyed libraries, burnt books, ravaged temples which were sheet of knowledge and killed learned men and captured scientists and philosophers of their time in order to propagate Islam.
In last 1400 Islamic world has not produced even one original idea, one single invention or invented any new technology. They have survived through looting the existing ones from where ever they expanded and destroying the existing one with others.
It is still doing the same and if they have their freewill, they will trade Arabian medieval living to expand Islam
For last 1400 years the entire Muslim world is stuck in this Islamic Paradox Pentagon
The war on Sanatan which started thousand years ago is going on. This is the only un-finished agenda for entire Abrahamic faith.
It started with horse riding barbarians travelling through the deserts and the cold mountains entering this land to loot, plunder, ravage temples, kill people and rape and enslave women. It also continued with medieval Europeans travelling in boats and crossing the rough seas in their pre-historic boats.
In order to completely destroy this civilization, the modern warfare is the warfare of narrative. over last 75 years they have been able to break the foundation of the sanatan world. They have infiltrated the very foundation of this civilization – The knowledge base. They have corrupted the knowledge assets, mis-guided the learned men and created a large section of its people who are anti-sanatan. They have been able to infiltrate deep within and create a large section of anti-sanatani group within the sanatani community. All of this has been successful through the war of narrative, falsification of ancient history and ancient knowledge. Hindus have stopped reading their traditional texts and knowledge at the behest of the same modernist who spend frequent and regular visit to their churches and madarsas and masjids. They profess secularism to the world, however they themselves gyrate their lives around Bible or Qoran.
99% of Hindus do not even read one of their religious books and say they are secular. 100% of Muslim reads Qoran and offers Namaz and says they are not secular every day five times a day.
This war of narratives is the new war and Sanatanis need to come together to fight it otherwise time is ticking before they will be wiped out completely.
Mahua Moitra, the outspoken TMC MP, in her outburst in support of the Movie Kali has raised a lot of libertarian point of view which is being debated in the formal media and social media with sharp antagonism on both the sides; but, she has also raised a point of view which should be noted by the leadership in the RSS and BJP ranks.
She has said that RSS and BJP should not try to force north Indian view of Hinduism. is there such a view?
I do not know the answer to this question, but when I look back at the RSS iconography of of Hindutva, it only reflects Ram, Shiva, Krishna, Kartikeya etc. The Gods are prominent and Goddesses are absent in their articulation, narratives, discourses and explorations. Ram Mandir at Ayodhya has been fought for, but Sita temple at Sitamarhi has been ignored, Krishna Janmabhoomi is in all public discourse but, Radha temple in Dwarka is not spoken about, Shiva is all over, but Parvati is not highlighted enough. In my view, this is one big constituency that RSS and BJP are missing out and that is Women and specially the Eastern parts of India where the popular form of God icon is feminine. Tarapeeth, Kamakhya, Rajrappa are three of the nine shakti peeths of eastern India which has shaped the religious and spiritual world view in this part of the country. They have promoted the shakt tradition and several sub-traditions which includes tantrik and aughar traditions also. These traditions venerate the feminine form of shakti and the praying rituals are very different from the other Vaishnava rituals. BJP and RSS should include them in their narratives of Hindutva to get more inclusive in the eastern part of the country. This is an idea for RSS and BJP to expand and consolidate their social outreach. This will re-inforce the Hindutva ideology and also expand the narrative without Diluting it.
Let us talk about Mahua Moitra’s response in support of the movie Kali. No one can deny that what Mahua said was factually right; but,
given that the movie Kali is created to demean Indian polytheistic tradition, her statement when looked at in the context of her support to the movie makes it derogatory.
सत्यम ब्रूयात प्रियं ब्रूयात न ब्रूयात सत्यम अप्रियम
we have been taught to speak the truth but avoid speaking rude truth (mind you, I do not say Harsh Truth , but I say Rude Truth)
लंबे संघर्ष और आंदोलन के बाद 15 नवंबर, 2000 को बिहार से अलग होकर अपने अस्तित्व में आये झारखंड ने अपनी स्थापना के 21 साल पूरे कर लिये हैं। इस दौरान इसने कई उतार-चढ़ाव देखे। झारखंड अलग राज्य का 21 वर्षों का सफर खट्टी-मीठी यादों से भरा रहा। राजनीतिक अस्थिरता की वजह से इन 21 वर्षों में राज्य के विकास की जो गति होनी चाहिए थी, वह नहीं हो सकी। परन्तु ऐसा भी नहीं है कि इन 21 वर्षों में राज्य का विकास बिल्कुल ही नहीं हुआ, लेकिन प्रचुर खनिज संपदाओं और प्राकृतिक संसाधनों के मामले में सबसे धनी इस प्रदेश के विकास में जो उछाल आनी चाहिए थी, वह नहीं आ सकी।
देश के तत्कालीन प्रधानमंत्री अटल बिहारी वाजपेयी की सरकार ने छोटे राज्यों की परीकल्पना को साकार करते हुए झारखंड सहित छतीसगढ़ और उत्तराखंड अलग राज्य का गठन एकसाथ किया था, लेकिन विकास की दौड़ में ये दोनों राज्य झारखंड से बहुत आगे निकल चुके हैं। इस प्रदेश का दुर्भाग्य यह रहा कि अपनी पार्टी का इकलौता विधायक रहने वाले व्यक्ति के हाथों में झारखंड की सत्ता की चाबी थमा दी गई और उस दौर में झारखंड में भ्रष्टाचार व लूट-खसोट के जो मामले सामने आये, उसने इसे पूरे देश में कलंकित कर दिया। इस पूरे कालखंड में केवल एक बार किसी एक दल को पूर्ण बहुमत मिली और पांच वर्षों तक निर्बाध रूप से वह सरकार चली। परन्तु अधिकाधिक समय तक इस प्रदेश में गंठबंधन की ही सरकारें रहीं और आज भी यहां झामुमो-कांग्रेस-राजद गंठबंधन की ही सरकार चल रही है। यह बात अलग है कि अलग-अलग राजनीतिक विचारधारा की पार्टियों को साथ लेकर अपनी सरकार चला रहे युवा मुख्यमंत्री हेमंत सोरेन इस प्रदेश को विकास के पथ पर आगे ले जाने की कोशिश में लगे हैं। उनका प्रयास इसे विकसित राज्यों की श्रेणी में ले जाने का है। यदि उनके सहयोगी दलों की नीयत और सरकार की नीति ठीक रही तो झारखंड विकास के पथ पर निश्चय ही दौड़ सकता है। हेमंत सरकार ने वैश्विक महामारी कोरोना की रोकथाम और इस दौरान केन्द्र सरकार के साथ कंधे से कंधा मिलाकर प्रदेश को कोरोना-मुक्त बनाने की दिशा में सार्थक पहल कर प्रंशसनीय कार्य किया है। कभी नक्सलियों के लिए सबसे सुरक्षित जगह माना जाने वाला झारखंड लाल आतंक से आज धीरे-धीरे मुक्त हो रहा है। हाल ही में कतिपय दुर्दांत नक्सलियों की गिरफ्तारी और उनके आत्मसमर्पण की घटनाओं को इस सरकार की उपलब्धियों में शामिल किया जा सकता है।
दरअसल, झारखंड अलग राज्य के निर्माण के पीछे भी यही भावना थी कि प्राकृतिक रूप से समृद्ध यह राज्य सबसे गरीब क्षेत्र बनकर न रहे, बल्कि इसे सबल और सशक्त प्रदेश बनाकर समृद्ध राज्यों की पंक्ति में खड़ा किया जा सके। कोशिश यह थी कि राज्य अपने लोगों के विकास की योजनाएं ज्यादा प्रभावी तरीके से लागू कर सके और लोगों की जिन्दगी बेहतर बना सके। क्योंकि, झारखंड के पास जो प्राकृतिक संसाधन, खनिज और विस्तृत औद्योगिक परिवेश उपलब्ध हैं, वह किसी अन्य राज्य के पास नहीं है। हेमंत सरकार की यह भी उपलब्धि मानी जाएगी कि मुख्यमंत्री की पहल पर हाल ही में कई नामी-गिरामी कंपनियों ने राज्य में निवेश के लिए कदम बढ़ाए हैं। जरूरत इस बात की है कि ये योजनाएं समय रहते धरातल पर उतर सकें। क्योंकि, सच्चाई यह भी है कि यहां की एक बड़ी आबादी आज भी भीषण गरीबी और बेरोजगारी की मार झेल रही है। विस्थापन की समस्या आज भी पूर्ववत बनी हुई है। ऐसे में राज्य स्थापना दिवस पर इसे एक सशक्त, विकसित और समृद्ध राज्य बनाने के लिए हमारे नेतृत्व को पूरी ईमानदारी के साथ संकल्प लेने और इस दिशा में आगे बढ़ने की जरूरत है।
I urge AIIA to avoid publishing any articles which are of such poor quality in content and credibility as this one titled “Saffron Terror and Hindutva Ideology” published on 20th October 21. The whole article reeks of prejudice, misinformation and wrong assertions or misquoted references from social media pages.
I do not want to comment on the first paragraph which starts quoting Samuel Huntington. I consider this paragraph (which includes reference to Rohingya Muslims) as the one which is out-of-context to the topic title.
The next paragraph starts with a conclusive statement amounting to sweeping generalization “In recent history, a genocide perpetrated against minorities in India has been overshadowed by crimes against humanity elsewhere in the world”. Where has the author got this conclusion from? Rest of the paragraph is only a rhetoric without any data. Did the author visit any place in India recently and experience anything of this sort?
This paragraph is a genocide of the scientific research methodology.
In the next paragraph the author mentions “The founding members of RSS were besotted with Benito Mussolini’s fascist ideology and aimed to implement his same approach to eliminate religious minorities in India”. Where did this conclusion come from? The referenced page does not have the word Benito or Mussolini? It appears the author has based the arguments on hearsay and; therefore, cites irrelevant references just for the sake of it?
The author goes on to say , “RSS has abandoned the Indian national tricolour in favour of the saffron flag, known as bhagwa dhwaj”. This is false. This is the flag of the organization. RSS has their flag as much as every organization have their flag. The author is suggested to do some research and find out the flags of different political parties in India and in other democratic countries.
The author should be questioned for her intellectual impropriety for making such un-informed conclusions.
In the same paragraph the author mentions, “ According to RSS ideology, all religions in India other than Hinduism are considered foreign religions, and their adherents should either leave the country or convert to Hinduism in order to achieve the Hindu renaissance”. I challenge the author to provide the reference to this conclusion. The author should also suggest what is the process of “conversion to Hinduism” which she is referring to? This is a blatant falsehood that the author is promoting.
The reference to Gujrat Pogrom in 2002 does not mention the point that Modi underwent a judicial and extra-judicial (through media) inquiry on the event for 15 years – and finally – all such inquiry exonerated him of any complicity. The Pogrom was an unfortunate event in Indian history as any of such events that have occurred in the country over centuries.
The author cites a report from Assam and concludes that, “ When minorities, particularly Muslims, are assaulted by saffron terrorists, they are often forced to recite “Jai Shri Ram,” a slogan raised for the glorification of Hindu lord Rama, or else are offered a life-or-death choice: to accept Hinduism as their religion or be killed” This conclusion at the start of the paragraph has no relationship with the reference cited at the end of the paragraph. The Assam event was an anti-encroachment drive by the local administration and reporting that as anti-religion event is a travesty of journalistic ethics.
Citing such reports without understanding the context and portraying that as anti-religious is against any intellectual scholarship.
The author says, “Even places of worship are not safe in today’s India”. She does not mention that Indian has more than 300,000 mosques[i] and 10,000 churches[ii]. This is more than many Islamic and Christian countries in the world. Readers should also note that one of world’s oldest church and oldest mosques is in India because the Indian community has always been multi-faith.[iii] Babri Mosque was a temple which was converted to a mosque. This place been awarded to Hindu community through a legal process spanning 20 years.
In summary, I would urge AIIA to protect its own credibility and credential by allowing such poorly researched and wrong articles to be published on their website.
As for the author, I am happy to have a debate on all the points that she has mentioned.
The monument of Hagia Sophia in Instambul is a mute witness to the rise and fall of sectarian Islamic ideology over last 1000 years. Built in 537 AD as the patriarchal cathedral of the imperial capital of Constantinople, it was the largest Christian church of the eastern Roman Empire and the Eastern Orthodox Church. In 1453 AD, after the Fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Empire, it was ravaged and converted into a mosque. The fall of Ottoman empire in 1918 was the greatest defeat of Islam in last several hundred years and in addition, in 1935, the establishment of Hagia Sophia as museum (in Muslim majority state) was the greatest victory of the idea of secularism in the entire Muslim world. In July 2020, this monument was again converted back in to a mosque – proving the fact that no advancement in culture in Islamic world can keep the idea of secularism and democracy alive for long time.
Afghanistan – a nation determined to remain medieval
Current Afghanistan was part of Indus valley civilization and there were important trading relationship. Taxila was the most important seat of education and cultural development and this was just on the south of Khyber. The Bactrian and Selucid empire co-existed with Buddhists cultural traditions. It was during middle ages that most of the region converted to Islam. The place has always been transit point of northern invaders intending to enter into India through the Khyber pass. Long Moghul rule during the medieval ages froze the Islamic traditions in the country. Anglo-Afghan war during late 18th century hardened the Islamic mono-cultural belief system.
in 20th century several attempts to modernize Afghan society and religion by several rulers both insiders and outsiders failed mistakably – all in the name of Islam. King Amanullah Khan during 1920’s tried to bring in modern reforms, women’s education and proliferation of technology oriented world view. The subsequent tribal revolt in several parts of the country against modernity lead to overthrow of Amanuallh Khan’s regime. Subsequently Nadir Khan and his son Zahir Shah also tried to usher in a gradual reform era and in 1964 more political reforms in terms of constitution based legal system was instituted. In 1973 a full socialist democratic system was instituted and after a series of political coup and back stabbing lead to Soviet invasion in 1979. Ever since the place has been a hotbed of international forces washing their dirty linen in Afghanistan. The hall mark of Afghanistan’s roller coaster ride from high of modernity and socialism to the low of medievalism and Taliban lead sharia ruled polity was declared on 31th August 2021 when Taliban defeated America in a 20 year old one of the most expensive battle.
Above two cases point to a fact that Islam is a monolithic belief system which is fossilized in time and any attempt to reform will destroy it. It should only be preserved in museums and should be kept away from any practical application in society. Any society attempting to import Islam in to their society through immigration or any other means should be aware that they are importing an old cultural fossil which has the potential to disrupt existing social fabric.
Allama Iqbal – Intellect confined in time
Allama Iqbal has been known to be one of the most erudite Muslim scholar of 20th century. A descendent of a Hindu Kashmiri Brahmin who converted to Islam four centuries ago, Muhammad Iqbal completed his Bachelor degree in England and became eligible to practice Law. His early world view was shaped by teachings of Nietzsche, philosophy of Rumi and at the same time he was good friends with Swami Ram Tirtha and would exchange Sanskrit literature and philosophical thoughts from him. His early writings is and excellent thought on Indian nationalism. He went to Germany to pursue his Phd in philosophical thoughts. On his return to India he became one of the greatest scholars and writers in Persian poetry and became very active in Indian political movements.
His views on pan Indian nationalism have been testimony to the fact that one his early compositions (saare jahan se achcha ” सारे जहाँ से अच्छा “) is still sung as a national song in India. His poems in (taraana-e-hind) तराना-ए -हिन्द influenced a generation of nationalist leaders to stand for the concept of Hindustan. His long writing in tasveer-e-dard (तस्वीर-ए -दर्द )only talks about Hindustan and talks about challenges of divided world view.
वतन की फ़िक्र कर नादान मुसीबत आने वाली है तेरी बरबादिओं के मशवरे हैं आसमानों में !“
This was all before he left for Europe to pursue his higher studies to do his BA and then a PhD in Germany. When he returned from Europe, he was metamorphosed in to a pan-islamist. He writes that any political philosophy bereft of spiritual leaning has no soul. In search of the spiritual leanings to his philosophy, he turned to Islam and went deep into it and became one of the strongest supporter of two-nation-theory and advocate of Pakistan. In my opinion when he returned from Europe, he also returned with his bloated ego and aspirations. His wanted to achieve greater leadership in the Indian political movement and in order to create his own space among the tall leaders of that time, he started propounding pan-islamic ideology. If this was not the case, he would not have supported Jinnah who was anything but a religious Muslim. Jinnah did not offer namaz, he had all the anti-islam habits of drinking, away from hizab and did not follow any food discipline as per Islam. He became fearful that in a democratic India, he as Muslim will have no political place. He as not only pan-islamist, but he was anti-democracy and anti-nationalist.
“जम्हूरियत में सर गिनाये जाएंगे, वजन नहीं “
This is when Iqbal turned a proponent of separate Muslim state because he realized that Muslims can not live without power and in Indian democracy they could not have full power to have Islamist rule.
Allama Iqbal believed that for a Muslim, Islam was by itself nationalism as well as patriotism. According to Allama Iqbal, Islam transcended all blood relationships and all territorial attachments. It demanded exclusively loyalty to Allah and not to Sovereign Loyalty to Allah implied in Iqbal’s terms, “loyalty to one’s own ideal self.
In my view, Sir Allama Iqbal was the first modern Jihadi of the world who raised jihad with his pen. There was no one to indoctrinate him, he was a self taught jihadi who raised Gazwa-e-hind with his thoughts and his writings.
Core of the problem is The IDEOLOGY
What is common among all of the above case studies? Islam. The basic tenets of Islam can be summarized in to Five thoughts – I call this Islamic Pentagon Paradox ( IPP)
Inwardness – Everyone outside Islam is Kafir – worthy of conversion or killing
Non-inclusivity – Only Quran is true and any other thought is false
Fossilized concept – Knowledge of entire universe was revealed in Quran, there can not be new knowledge and there can not be new prophet
Universalism of ummah – All Muslims are brother and Islamism has to transcend above nationalism
Jihad for the faith – every Muslim’s goal in life is to spread the faith
I leave this for the Islam scholars to cite relevant texts from Quran.
If the above five are true, then any amount of knowledge and modernization within the ambit of Islam is not possible. Any progressive thought is only possible outside these five tenets and that is impossible.
Reform in Islam is antithesis of Islam itself
When Allama Iqbal attains the height of scholarship and attains the knowledge of best of philosophical thoughts, he still decides to remain within the Islamic Pentagon Paradox and he uses all his intellect to define and defend the Pentagon rather than coming out of this rabbit hole. This is what is happening all across the world today and this is what is making Islam so easy to radicalize Muslims.
भारतीय संस्कृति के इतिहास में कृष्ण जैसा अद्भुत व्यक्तित्व कोई दूसरा है ही नहीं। पूरे जीवन सामान्य पुरुष की तरह रहते हुए उन्होंने इतिहास की धारा बदल दी। आर्यावर्त में अधर्म का समूल नाश कर शुद्ध धर्म की स्थापना की। सबसे बड़ी बात उन्होंने जीवन में कर्म का सिद्धांत दिया। अपने जीवन में षोडश कलाओं को सिद्ध कर जीवन में स्थापित कर दिया।
कृष्ण के नाम से आज समस्त विश्व परिचित है। जनमानस में जो कृष्ण की छवि है, वह उन्हें ईश्वर के रूप में प्रतिष्ठित करती है और उनके ईश्वर होने से अथवा उनमें ईश्वरत्व के होने से इनकार भी नहीं किया जा सकता। क्योंकि, इन कलाओं का आरंभ ही अपने आप में ईश्वर होने की पहचान है। फिर वह तो 16 कलापूर्ण देव पुरुष हैं। यहां पर ‘हैं’ शब्द का प्रयोग इसलिए किया गया है, क्योंकि दिव्य एवं अवतारी पुरुष सदैव मृत्यु से परे होते है। वे आज भी जन-मानस में जीवित ही हैं।
भिन्न-भिन्न स्थानों पर आज भी कृष्ण लीला, श्रीमद् भागवत कथा, रासलीला जैसे कार्यक्रमों का आयोजन किया जाता है और इन कार्यक्रमों के अंतर्गत श्री कृष्ण के जीवन पर तथा उनके कार्यों पर प्रकाश डाला जाता है। किंतु सत्य को न स्वीकार करने की तो जैसे परंपरा ही बन गई है। इसीलिए तो आज तक यह विश्व किसी महापुरुष का अथवा देव पुरुष का सही ढंग से आकलन ही नहीं कर पाया। जो समाज वर्तमान तक कृष्ण को नहीं समझ पाया, वह समाज उनकी उपस्थिति के समय उन्हें कितना जान पाया होगा, इसकी तो कल्पना ही की जा सकती है। सुदामा जीवन पर्यंत नहीं समझ पाए कि जिन्हें वे केवल मित्र ही समझते थे, वह कृष्ण एक दिव्य विभूति हैं और उनके माता-पिता भी तो हमेशा उन्हें अपने पुत्र की दृष्टि से देखते रहे। दुर्योधन ने उन्हें हमेशा अपना शत्रु ही समझा। इसमें कृष्ण का दोष नहीं कहा जा सकता, क्योंकि कृष्ण ने तो अपना संपूर्ण जीवन पूर्णता के साथ ही जिया। कहीं वे ‘माखन चोर’ के रूप में प्रसिद्ध हुए तो कहीं ‘प्रेम’ शब्द को सही रूप से प्रस्तुत करते हुए दिखाई दिए।
कृष्ण के जीवन में राजनीति, संगीत जैसे विषय भी पूर्ण रूप से समाहित हैं और वे अपने जीवन में षोडश कलापूर्ण होकर ‘पुरुषोत्तम’ कहलाए। जहां उन्होंने प्रेम, त्याग और श्रद्धा जैसे दुरूह विषयों को समाज के सामने रखा, वहीं जब समाज में झूठ, असत्य, व्यभिचार और पाखंड का बोलबाला बढ़ गया तो उस समय कृष्ण ने जो युद्ध नीति, रणनीति तथा कुशलता का प्रदर्शन किया, वह अपने आप में आश्चर्यजनक ही था। कुरुक्षेत्र युद्ध के मैदान में जो ज्ञान कृष्ण ने अर्जुन को प्रदान किया, वह अत्यंत ही विशिष्ट तथा समाज की कुरीतियों पर कड़ा प्रहार करने वाला है। कृष्ण ने जो ज्ञान अर्जुन को दिया, वह अपने आप में प्रहारात्मक है और अधर्म का नाश करने वाला है। कृष्ण ने अपने जीवन काल में शुद्धता, पवित्रता एवं सत्यता पर ही अधिक बल दिया। अधर्म, व्यभिचार, असत्य के मार्ग पर चलने वाले प्रत्येक जीव को उन्होंने वध करने योग्य ठहराया, फिर चाहे परिवार का सदस्य ही क्यों ना हो और संपूर्ण महाभारत एक प्रकार से पारिवारिक युद्ध ही तो था।
कृष्ण ने स्वयं अपने मामा कंस का वध कर अपने नाना को कारागार से मुक्त करवाकर उन्हें पुनः मथुरा का राज्य प्रदान किया और निर्लिप्त भाव से रहते हुए धर्म की स्थापना कर सदा ही सुकर्म को बढ़ावा दिया। कृष्ण का यह स्वरूप समाज सहज स्वीकार नहीं कर पाया, क्योंकि इससे उनके बनाए हुए तथाकथित धर्म, आचरण, जो कि स्वार्थ को बढ़ावा देने वाले थे, उन पर सीधा आघात था। समाज की झूठी मर्यादाओं को खंडित करने का साहस कृष्ण के बाद कोई दूसरा पुरुष नहीं कर पाया, क्योंकि जिस मार्ग पर कृष्ण ने चलना सिखाया, वह अत्यंत कंटकाकीर्ण तथा पथरीला मार्ग है और उस पर चलने का साहस वर्तमान तक भी कोई नहीं कर पाया। उन्होंने अपने जीवन में सभी क्षेत्रों को स्पर्श करते हुए वीरता को, कर्मठता को, सत्यता को विशिष्ट स्थान प्रदान किया। कृष्ण ज्ञानार्जन हेतु संदीपन ऋषि के आश्रम में पहुंचे, तब उन्होंने अपना सर्वस्व समर्पण कर ज्ञान अर्जित किया। गुरु सेवा की, साधनाएं कीं और साधना की बारीकियों तथा अध्यात्म के नए आयाम को जन-सामान्य के समक्ष प्रस्तुत किया। यह तो समय की विडंबना और समाज की अपनी ही एक विचारशैली है, जो कृष्ण की उपस्थिति का सही मूल्यांकन नहीं कर पाया।
श्रीमद भगवत गीता में श्रीकृष्ण ने अर्जुन को जिस प्रकार योग विद्या का उपदेश दिया और उसकी एक-एक शंकाओं का समाधान करते हुए उसमें कर्तव्ययुक्त कर्म की भावना से जागृत किया, कृष्ण द्वारा दी गई योगविद्या, जिसमें कर्म योग, ज्ञान योग, क्रिया योग के साथ-साथ सतोगुण, तमोगुण, रजोगुण का जो ज्ञान दिया, उसी के कारण आज गीता भारतीय जन-जीवन का आधारभूत ग्रंथ बन गई है। इसीलिए तो भगवान श्री कृष्ण को योगीराज कहा जाता है। कृष्ण जन्माष्टमी भगवान श्रीकृष्ण का अवतरण दिवस है और भगवान श्रीकृष्ण को षोडश कलापूर्ण व्यक्तित्व माना जाता है। जो व्यक्तित्व 16 कलापूर्ण हो, वह केवल एक व्यक्ति ही नहीं, एक समाज ही नहीं, अपितु युग को परिवर्तित करने की सामर्थ्य प्राप्त कर लेता है और ऐसे व्यक्तित्व के चिंतन, विचार और धारणा से पूरा जन-समुदाय अपने आप में प्रभावित होने लगता है।
भागवत में श्रीकृष्ण को ऐसा अवतारी माना गया है, जो भक्तों के वश में होते हैं। माता देवकी श्रीकृष्ण की स्तुति करते हुए कहती हैं- ‘हे आद्य पुरुष! आपके अंश का अंशांश वह प्रकृति है, उसी के सत्वादि गुण-भाग परमाणु द्वारा इस विश्व की सृष्टि, स्थिति और लय आदि हुआ करते हैं। मैं आपकी शरण में हूं।’ गीता में भी ऐसे भाव मिलते हैं। श्री कृष्ण कहते हैं -‘मैं अपनी माया के एक अंश मात्र से इस जगत् को व्याप्त करके स्थित हूं।’ अथवा -‘हे अर्जुन! इस विश्व में मुझसे परे कुछ भी नहीं है।’ इस तरह गीता तथा भागवत में श्रीकृष्ण को ज्ञान, भक्ति, बल, ऐश्वर्य, वीर्य और तेज- इन षड गुणों से सदैव संयुक्त माना गया है।
भगवान श्री कृष्ण का जीवन अलौकिक लीलाओं से परिपूर्ण आदर्श जीवन के साथ ही, श्रीकृष्ण में मानवता के सभी चरम और परम सद्गुणों का पूर्ण विकास था। वे गान विद्या और नृत्य कला के निपुण के ज्ञाता ही नहीं थे, वरन अपने काल के श्रेष्ठ समाज सुधारक भी थे। महान योगेश्वर तथा आदर्श राजनीतिज्ञ भी थे। उनकी राजनीतिक- कुशलता तथा मानवतावादी पवित्र राजनीतिज्ञता की कहीं कोई उपमा नहीं है। उनमें आदर्श, त्याग, न्याय, सत्य, दया, उदारता, यथार्थ, लोकहित तथा विलक्षण जन कल्याण का पूर्ण विकास है। उसमें कहीं भी व्यक्तिगत स्वार्थ, निम्न महत्वाकांक्षा, अभिमान, द्वेष, अधिकार- मद तथा भोग प्रधानता को स्थान नहीं है।
गीता का सार यही है कि श्रीकृष्ण के दिव्य जन्म-कर्म को तत्वत: समझो। भगवान श्रीकृष्ण की आशा, आकांक्षा, मर्यादा, रुचि, प्रकृति और उपदेशों को पढ़कर, जानकर अपने जीवन में उन्हें उतारने का धैर्य पूर्वक प्रयत्न करना ही तत्वत: उनके दिव्य जन्म-कर्म को समझना है। श्री कृष्ण को भगवान के साथ-साथ जगतगुरु भी कहा गया है और गुरु का तात्पर्य है देने वाला। कृष्ण जन्माष्टमी के अवसर पर केवल भक्ति ही नहीं, पूर्ण विधि-विधान सहित साधना संपन्न कर कृष्ण के जीवन चरित्र और गुणों को अपने भीतर उतारा जाए तो कोई कारण नहीं कि व्यक्ति जीवन में असफल हो। आवश्यकता है केवल दृढ़ निश्चय की, संकल्प की, विश्वास की, श्रद्धा की। इन चारों के साथ साधना करने पर साधना सफल होती ही है। (साभार : निखिल मंत्र विज्ञान)
The platoon fights for his commander. Be any decision – right or wrong – as long as the commander is with the platoon leading the charge, the soldiers never shy away from taking the bullet on their chest and never complain of any decision that the commander may have taken.
Dear Mr Modi, you had said, we are in the midst of a war and the citizens, frontline health workers, policemen all are our soldiers. The fight is on, the soldiers are fighting the battle to the last of their breath; but, you seem to be missing from the scene. Your lieutenants say that you are working 24 hours in the background to make things happen and would rather deliver to the nation than talk. Please understand, your presence at the battle scene brings the dying solider back to life. Let the experts do their job and hold them accountable. You please be with the country and talk to them.
While talking to people across different segments of the country, it is very clear that any good or bad of the country is associated with the prime minister. It is wrong on the part of the advisory coterie of BJP, those who media manage the image of PM, to think that they should shield the image of PM by associating the unfolding disaster to state governments and the local leadership and keep the image of PM intact. Otherwise, why a PM who is so fond of coming on media (not talking to them, but giving monologue), is conspicuous by his absence in this trying time when corpses are floating in the holiest of holy river of the world.
Health of people is a state subject, but not the health of entire country. When the health of entire country is at stake, when we are in the midst of a Pandemic which is global in nature and which has put the entire country’s existence at stake, states can not be asked to manage and control it. The virus does not know any boundary. Until the virus is out there even in the smallest and remotest of the corners of the country, the danger of it engulfing the entire country is real. This needs a national approach. No one will oppose the PM from declaring a national emergency and bringing Army to control major supply and distribution of essential items while you focus all your energies on getting entire country vaccinated in a defined time. This has been done in the past several times when election machinery reaches crores of citizens in a single day. What has happened now? Why this inaction?
Last year, Mr PM, you were seen leading the fight from the front. Lot of people thought that the measures taken were too harsh and could have been better calibrated, however in the end every one was with you and entire country gave you a thumbs-up for taking tough decisions and taking the country out of a potential catastrophe. Even those who were severely impacted were largely happy in the end because most of them found their lives safe and their livelihood returning back. One of the old lady that I spoke to last year had this to say, ” Modiji is an avtaar who has been sent on earth to bring back the ancient glory of Bharat”.
Why are you not seen to be leading the charge? Your minister Mr Javdekar has written a long article in the newspaper explaining all the things that your government has done to manage pandemic. Anyone reading it will make out that all that you have done in this regards is to send letters to state governments, sent central advisory teams to the states and create some working groups. Would you yourself think that that is enough? Do you think a karmyogi like you should become recluse meditating in your room? Arjun’s Gandeev is just a stick if it does not have enough arrows and if Arjun does not know how to use. Your arsenal is full of arms, ammunition, tact and strategies – please come out and stand with the people.
Please remember the lessons from history, most of big empires fell because the emperor was surrounded by favor givers and time seekers. I am sad to say Mr PM that when ever I talk to people, I get the same opinion that you are unblemished with pure intentions, but your advisors are inept. Please come out of the cocoon of your advisors who add no value to you. At this time in our country, do not be in illusion that you can only associated yourself with people’s pleasure and avoid the association with their misery. People are associating both with you because for them there is no one who can assuage them. You cannot shield yourself from taking the blame of the misery and anyone who is suggesting that is misleading you towards your downfall. There are tweets going around by your satraps saying that you are working 24 hours in your office. That is only damaging the credibility that you carry with your people.
Mr PM, you should come out with a plan of action. Let us forget all things that happened till yesterday. You should show action starting from today and show a roadmap towards those actions, clearly fix accountability and make that public so that every one knows their roles and responsibilities clearly. The country should focus on containing the virus at all cost. A national lockdown is an immediate necessity. Let essential service keep running with all COVID safe protocols. The wheels of the country can run in isolation. Let us examine the economic fall out of such lockdown and provide food and essentials for the country. Bring a massive national distribution system in place that should alleviate the immediate pain. In parallel drive massive mass immunization program. Create a roadmap and spruce up the supply chain. Ensure you are able to tap in to global supply chain and invest with whoever has capability to build production capacity for additional vaccine. Target to vaccinate entire population with 6 months with all the might at government’s disposal.
My only advice to my PM is that he should talk to the people more and not less in a time when they need him the most. The country is facing disaster of historical proportion and the worst part is they do not have any hope to look forward to. The leader that they have been looking forward to is not coming in front. No one to put a word of solace and show a ray of hope.
I can relay the to you the sense of despair people have by verbatim quoting the same old lady who considered you Avtaar few months ago. She said just last week, ” Bhagwan Ram also had to do prayashchit for his mistakes. Modiji still remains the hope for the country, but prayashchit is the decided by destiny. The country can wait for another ten years”.
Modiji, let your action be your prayaschit. Come and lead your country and lead to victory over the virus.
Many political pundits may already have noticed that the election results in Bengal last week was not only a simple election; but, it was a watershed turning point in the cultural history of Bengal. Bengal has turned full ideological circle from right to left and then again to right in last 200 years.
Far right nationalist movement of 19th century
When Britishers expanded their power by defeating the clout of Muslim rulers in Bengal, the aristocratic Hindus got a tactically favored slots and they were also quick to realize the importance of new learning coming from west. On the one hand this created a class of Hindu intelligentsia, while on the other hand it also created a wider ability to assert the richness and power of Hindu philosophical traditions. Be it advent of Arya Samaj, Brahma Samaj, Ramkrishna, Vivekanand or social reformers like Ram Mohan Roy. All of this was very forcefully expressed in Bankim Chandra’s novel Anandmath and which was able to take this Hindu nationalism to the masses of Bengal. In summary the nationalism of Bengali Bhadralok was a rise of Hindu nationalism against the oppression of Muslim rulers.
Communist Movement of 20th Century
The first seed of communist thought in India was sown in Bombay ( province) when S.A. Dange set up a small press and a library in 1920 to publish and distribute Marxist literature in the country. During 1920 to 1924 and even during the strict British repression against communists, small groups aligned to communist thought proliferated all through 20s to 40s. It was in 1924 when few of the old comrades started communist party of India ( CPI) in Kanpur. Most part of 20s and 30s of last century, the communists were banned from operations and the members were haunted by the police. It was during the second world war that communists were released. It was this time when British policy of diverting all resources to western front lead to a famine of calamity scale in Bengal and millions died due to hunger. This is the time when Communist party were able to get inroads in to the peasantry and larger masses. This is the time which helped them become a political force in Bengal which culminated in to a full political movement during 60s and finally they came to power in early 70s with Jyoti Basu as the Chief Minister. The rise of communist ideology in Bengal was also a consequence of proliferation of such movements in other parts of the country like Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
Return to the past
Recent elections result reveals that Bengal has already dialed back in time. Bengali intelligentsia has completely shunned the left and centrist ideology and also moved towards a right of centre position. BJP’s nationalist agenda is very clear a vote for right wing ideology. TMC has emerged as a reaction to the leftist and centrist ideology and has tried to create a regional ideology which is somewhere based on regional identity. Part of the reason for emergence of BJP in Bengal has been a reaction against ultra left and centrist ideology which allowed consistent Muslim appeasement and Muslim vote bank politics. Several districts bordering Bangladesh has seen significant change in the religious demography. BJP has been quick to mobilize and galvanize support around these resentments.
TMC will have to do fine-balancing between its Muslim voters and larger Hindu population
The dial has already started moving towards right. The time is ticking. The portraits on the walls have changed from Marx/Lenin, M N Roy to Rabindranath, Vivekananda, Paramhansa and also to Bankimchandra. The aspirations to rekindle the old glory and call for revival of glorious past has been out. Generations of Bengalis have learnt the first alphabet using Iswarchandra Vidyasagar’s Varna parichaya; the same people are now reading the books contemplating about ancient glory. Hindutwa revivalism is on the horizon in Bengal. The land reforms and factory movements are no more relevant. The increasing appeasement of Muslims coupled with politically supported demographic engineering through immigration is creating lot of discontent among the masses. They are trying to find the solution once again in the glorious past and the teachings of Bengal renaissance leaders.
TMC will not be able to stay aloof from this and they will have to adjust to this new reality. The thumping majority achieved due to complete support from Muslims will create its own dilemma for them. Only time will tell where will the equilibrium lie. One thing is certain however, the society is looking forward to some turbulent times ahead.
