Salvaging Mother India

Even the most optimistic of Indians have started asking the question “Is it possible to salvage Mother India?” Despite the fact that it is the oldest continuing civilization in the whole world, India remains home to more than 25% of the world’s poor. It has one of the most corrupt ruling systems in the whole world. It has immense material wealth and highest caliber human resources in the entire world. Yet a substantial section of its population does not have access to good food, clothing and shelter. Children are under nourished. It produces much more food than what its people require, yet a good number of its citizens still go to bed without food. It has unlimited employment potential; yet is forced to have one of the largest overseas populations in almost slavery conditions abroad.

Earlier we used to blame the foreign rule for all our problems. India was under foreign rule for almost ten centuries, first imposed by Genghis Khan and then by the British. But for almost a century now, we are ruling ourselves. In almost all aspects of life, we are fully self sufficient and we need no external help whatsoever. Yet we are struggling in almost all facets of life. If we cannot guarantee the basic minimum of food, shelter, clothing, health, education and employment to all our citizens, what is the point in claiming to be the world’s greatest democracy? We have chosen a ruling system by the people, for the people and of the people. But more than half our people are always unhappy.

Who is to blame for all these? Now we can only blame ourselves for all our problems. We have opted for democratic rule, but we continue to elect corrupt and inefficient people to rule us. Merit does not come into our minds when we cast our votes. We get carried away by the surname, wealth, religion, caste and colour of the candidates. Those who have proven their merit at lower levels of government never get elected to state and national levels. Anti-national and unpatriotic leaders are repeatedly elected to power for irrelevant and undefined reasons like secularism. Indian ethos has always been secular and it will always remain so. There is no need for any political party to proclaim that they are more secular than others.

India is becoming the world’s youngest nation within a few more years. And very soon we are getting one more opportunity to cast our votes to elect our rulers. If we can cast aside the unwanted bogeys of secularism and communalism, and vote for meritorious candidates we can make a marked beginning in turning the tide. It is possible to bring in a paradigm shift in Mother India within one decade if we can make a beginning now. Vote only for those who can govern the nation and have proven track record. If we waste our votes again, the question of salvaging Mother India will continue to haunt us forever.

Corruption, Conversion and Subversion

Atleast half the citizens of the great Indian nation are involved in one of these three – Corruption or Conversion or Subversion. It is a matter of great concern and shame that the land of Mahatma Gandhi could achieve such a dubious status within half a century of its liberation from the British rule. Prevalence of the three evils in our society makes it difficult to believe that this great nation had once given births to the likes of Lord Budha and Guru Nanak, and Lord Krishna and Lord Rama in the ancient times. We can find solace only by blaming it all on the invaders, conquerors and colonial powers which brought in their filthy ideologies into this pristine nation of Hindu Sanatana Dharma. Situation is so bad in India today that the existence of India as one nation will be called into question again and again in the days to come. Formidable forces are at work in building up conditions similar to 1947 or even worse once again. And the ill designed version of democracy in India where any worthless family member can be sanctified by way of an election is making it easy for the growth of such evil forces.

Corruption

Corruption in India is not only in terms of bribes and money. The curse of corruption has spread into almost all aspects of our lives. There is corruption in values, relations, elections, governance, food, medicines and even in matters of defending the nation. If one needs a simple certificate from any office, one needs either the right contacts or pay the right amount and then wait for the officer to do his duty for which he is paid the salary from the tax payers’ pocket. Thus we are repeatedly punished for getting the officer to do his official ‘dharma’. One of the highly meaningful Sanskrit words (with no equivalent in English) that represent an entire school of ancient philosophy of successful human sustenance is Dharma. It was attributed so much importance in ancient Bharath that even our entire religious ideology came to be known as Sanatana Dharma. Indian nation is deteriorating because its citizens are moving away from Dharma.

It is unrealistic to suggest that ancient India was full of dharma and dharma alone. Even in puranas we had pantheons of Gods and Asuras in almost equal number at all times. These Asuras are nothing but people (equally powerful as Gods) who had a distinct liking for indulging in adharmic activities. And this was equally applicable across all sections (all castes) in the society – we had adharmic Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vysias and Sudras. Remember that the worst Asura ie. Ravan was a Brahmin. But we always had the presence and protection of Gods to ensure the prevalence of dharma and thereby protect the society and nation. It is this unbreakable protective shield of dharma that is missing now. Instead of self attained Gods, we have ‘elected’ Gods now. And virtually all of them have turned ‘asuric’ or become indifferent or willing Sikhandis when it comes to the welfare of our nation. There is hardly anyone in any of our elected bodies who can become a role model for those who want to enter Indian politics.

Conversion

Quite in line with the rapid growth of corruption, the cancer of religious conversion is also spreading throughout our nation. After its earlier aggressive phases during Mughal and colonial rules, the menace of religious conversion is peaking once again in the Southern and Eastern parts of the country. If the monies for conversion activities are coming from Europe and USA, the human resources are sourced mainly from the southern state of Kerala. There is a formidable section of ‘crossers’ in Kerala who have spent their generations in converting vulnerable sections of the country into Christianity. Their expertise in the field of religious conversion is being called upon once again to target mainly the other neighboring southern and eastern states. It is a very good industry with high returns and political conditions are also very much in their favour.

As part of their ‘intellectual’ efforts to justify this heinous action, several Indian descendents of Max Muller and Monier have been active in recent past to establish the historic authenticity of the myth of Saint Thomas’ visit to India. Though it has been out rightly rejected by Vatican, the Mullers and Moniers desperately want this historical fig leaf to hide their evil intentions. Another related attempt is to establish the existence of an ancient port called Muziris in the present city of Kodungalore in Kerala. It does need not much research in history or logic to establish that nobody by the name of Saint Thomas ever visited any part of India in the first century AD and the so-called Muziris port is the present port city of Sur in Oman. Ever since the advent of the new religions in the Arabian peninsula, violent persecution of one section or another was a regular affair and someone by the name of Thomas (Knaya Thoma) might have come over as a fugitive or refugee into the all-accepting lands of Bharath. If he was a welcome refugee then, his unworthy descendents have become disloyal to the land that protected their forefathers from persecution.

Subversion

As if the cancer of religious conversion is not enough, the ulcer of subversion is also troubling and targeting Bharat Mata now. Again it does not need much research to establish that the ulcer is due to an earlier unclean surgery. Islamic Republic of Pakistan will never allow the Indian Republic to be successful and they will do everything possible to keep us down. Following the spurt of wealth in Middle East from Oil and Gas discoveries, the economic well being of worldwide Muslims have improved and their dreams of an Arabian Imperialism as a revengeful antidote for the Crusades has become a reality now. Pakistan is a direct beneficiary of this new found wealth and vigour, and they will multiply their anti-India efforts many fold in the days to come. India can never avoid bomb blasts that are taking place at regular intervals until and unless it can raise the nationalist fervor of all its citizens once again to pre-1947 levels.

Though Gulf countries are willing to spend a substantial part of their easy-gotten money to bring the whole world under their foot, they do not have the human resources and intelligence to do it. Countries like Pakistan have become very important in such a situation. Gulf countries are knowingly providing an arena for close interaction between Indians and Pakistanis so that their agenda can be pushed very easily. It is the classic case of the wily fox setting the two lambs to fight and waiting for its turn to eat both of them. The only difference in this case is that one of the lambs is not purely a lamb, but the unwanted offspring of an earlier interaction between the grand father of the fox and an unfortunate sheep. The illegitimate lamb is more than willing to die for his uncle but wants the other pristine lamb also to die before that.

The state of Indian nation is deteriorating in all aspects at all levels barring a few. If corruption is eating into our bone marrows, the twin evils of conversion and subversion are pricking our national conscience many times daily. In spite of being one of the most liberal nations in the world (with almost complete freedom that one can imagine) and with a very lose judicial punishment system for even treason, if some sections can still legitimize their anti-national activities quoting lack of social justice and opportunities, it is time to think of tough measures to establish the rule of majority as it exists in all modern nations worldwide. It is time for us to realize that any country that is under minority rule or being dictated by the minorities is intrinsically unstable and unsustainable.

Kerala Pandits

Kashmiri Pandits and Palestinians share many unfortunate commonalities. Yet whenever the civilized world deliberates on human atrocities, the former community is entirely forgotten. The reasons are obvious and there is very little that Indians can do about it. Bloodshed and bombs are the only proven methods to catch world’s attention and Pandits, being Indians, are inherently incapable of excelling in that option. Second and third generation of Kashmiri migrants are languishing in refugee camps spread over India for reasons unknown to them. Indians have an uncanny knack for suffering and Pandits seem to possess more of it. There may be many more similar refugees in different parts of the world, but the case of Kashmiri Pandits is something unique and worthy of study by others. All that is required is to note that India’s first Prime Minister, who could have done literally anything in India, was a Kashmiri Pandit himself!

What happened to the Pandits in Kashmir did not take place in one month or one year or even one decade. It was a long process which provided enough warning signals and opportunities for remedial action. But the so-called community leaders saved their skins (also their immediate family) and collective conscience of the community became numb when it was supposed to be alert. Action was most wanted when the first signs of trans-border loyalty started showing and the community failed miserably in doing anything. Wishing for divine interventions and unsolicited help from others have not solved the problems of any community anywhere in the world. In critical times, action and even thoughts of each and every individual in a society can contribute to their ultimate victory and survival. Recognising and accepting the reality of dangerous signals is the first requirement for avoiding any catastrophe in the future. Unfortunately this is exactly what is lacking in the case of the many more Pandits in the making. The case of Kerala Hindus, especially the so-called higher castes, is a typical one.

Demographic Disaster

Kerala’s Hindu community is dwindling on account of four major factors – Family Planning, Religious Conversion, Family Suicides and Migration. One of the main factors that resulted in the famous Kerala Model of 1980s was the decreasing denominator trend namely population growth. While all political parties and leaders are claiming credit for Kerala Model, the fact remains that such a decline was solely due to the strict adherence of Hindu community to the Family Planning program advocated by the governments in power. A few of the progressive elements in the other two religious communities might have done the same, but a majority of the minority communities ignored the nation’s need with complete impunity. The net result is the shrinking of majority community from almost 70% to about 55% now. Organisations of the two organized religious communities used the situation to create a demographic advantage by ‘educating’ their masses to shun Family Planning. It would be a great eye-opener if someone can conduct a thorough study on this.

As if one weapon was not enough, organized religious conversion was the other deadly weapon in the rivals’ arsenal to tilt the numbers in their favour. Milkpowder conversion by the missionaries and the newly revealed Love Jihad are nothing but deadly weapons that continue to take its toll in Kerala society. Now it is almost a certainty that in any inter-religious marriage in Kerala, the loser is always the Hindu community. If not the spouse, the organized communities will ensure that atleast the children are converted. And once they are in, there is no question of going back for fear of life or loss of limbs. The situation has become even worse in recent times due to the increasing number of family suicides and migration of Hindu families to other districts and states when they are surrounded by the might of organized communities. The number of electoral constituencies is fast growing in the so-called minority districts and decreasing where there is majority. The impact on government and governance is obvious in the days to come.

Political Hypocrisy

Hallmark of petty politicians is arch hypocrisy and current Kerala politics is infested with such a variety. The words secularism and communalism have lost their meaning completely. Each individual politician has his own meaning and interpretation for the two and that too varies with situation and times. Division of India on communal lines affected the north of India mostly and people there still retain some spirit of true secularism and realize the horror of communalism. But it is not so in Kerala. The future Pandits of Kerala are now in a self-destructive mode being lectured on secularism by political parties like Muslim Leagues and Kerala Congress. Some of their leaders have even written books on what is true secularism (sic). Just like Family Planning, the charlatans have quietly discovered the next platform to deceive the lotus-eating majority. While the foolish lot will watch the debates and seminars on top of the platform, focused and determined work will be done underneath to subvert the entire edifice.

In the reality of today, liquid money is the root cause of everything good and bad. Things have started going bad in Kerala ever since a cunning few from the minority communities identified their goldmines in the Gulf and the West. What they have promised their sponsors abroad can be easily guessed, and containers of money are flowing into the state for consolidation of vote banks to capture power democratically. And once it is achieved, it is known to all about what will follow. The trap of political correctness has mimed the few sincere politicians who are anyway considered ‘misfit’ in contemporary politics. Erstwhile imperialists in the West and new aspirants in the form of Arab imperialism are eagerly waiting to land in the shores of God’s Own Country à la Vasco-De-Gama in 1498AD. If it was East India Company then, it will be outright communal corporations that will penetrate the whole of India through Kerala this time. For any close Kerala watcher, the minority grip on politics, government, police, judiciary, business etc., is so very evident and any relief is not easy.

But Kerala Hindus are fast asleep and their snoring is growing day by day. Communities that produced the likes of Adi Sankara, Sree Narayana, Chattampi Swamikal, Mata Amritanadamayi are clueless and lost in direction. Leaders of their prominent community organizations have fallen for slush money and now they spent more time proving their secular credentials in front of minority leaders than in their organizations. While some of the ‘secular’ leaders refuse to light even ceremonial lamps, the petty majority leaders are waiting in front of their palaces and majlises for an appointment. We can only pity the Kerala Pandits who have reposed their faith on Communism to save them from the impending disaster. Remember that the ‘greatest’ communist EMS was a Kerala Pandit and he did exactly what Nehru did to his own people. With his landmark land reforms act, he not only destroyed his own folks but made the poaching communities richer by excluding commercial crops from its purview. Kerala’s Hindus, like Kashmiri Pandits, will end up in refugee camps sooner or later if they cannot secure their position. It is now or never.

Suicidal Secularism

Rulers of any state would like to keep many things undefined. It is one of the proven ways to perpetuate their reign by offering different interpretations at different times for the same provisions even in a written document. When written and approved in 1950, Indian Constitution was one of the best written documents with all its provisions and omissions well deliberated and concluded. But almost all the subsequent amendments have made it ambiguous and dangerous to the majority in the country. Perhaps no other democratic country had so many amendments to its written constitution in the first fifty years of existence. Dirty minds and short-sightedness of some of our so-called national leaders are reflected in the attempted and achieved amendments to Indian constitution. But for a vigilant few in Indian parliament much more damage would have been done by now.

If the religious divide of India in 1947 and the Aryan Migration Theory (AMT) can be ‘credited’ to the cunning Christian mind of the looting British in retreat, the onus of all subsequent drama of distorting our constitution lies squarely with our own political leaders. Complete neglect of Sanskrit and a virtual ban of any governmental involvement in anything related to study of Hindu scriptures was the much highlighted achievement of the first governments in India immediately after liberation from the British. The policy thrust still continues - anything and everything related to Hindu must be discouraged and discriminated against. The guiding principle of almost all successive governments in Liberated India remains the same – that any encouragement for Hinduism or studying its scriptures will only result in bringing back ‘untouchability’, ‘sati system’ and loss of scientific temper of the society. It was the pet theory of the architect of our nation and its damage (perhaps unintended) has been devastating.

Deliberately Undefined

One of the most damaging features that has been manipulated into the round hole of our constitution is the square peg of undefined secularism. A simple search for the word on the net would yield its most common definition as “the assertion that governmental practices or institutions should exist separately from religion and/or religious beliefs”. Now close your eyes and search with your independent conscience whether any of our ‘governmental practices or institutions’ follow this principle. Almost all our major temples are under government control, we have several wakf boards and all the government policies are segregated religion-wise or community-wise or caste-wise. Even after 60 years of existence we have made no attempt to evolve a common civil code or even common education system irrespective of the religious beliefs. Yet the dirty politicians would prefer to have the word in our constitution so that all their sectarian and vote-bank politics can carry on without any hindrance.

The real history of India is well known to everyone by now. Even after one thousand years of various onslaughts it is still illuminating the world with ancient wisdom and continues to be perhaps the only guiding light towards a better world. But the plurality of its culture accommodating all religions and all types of people is a stark reality. It cannot be ignored or wished away by anyone whatever be their arguments. The simple reason is that we are dealing with human lives and not inanimate materials which can be rooted out and shifted elsewhere. But at the same time, the identity of India as a sovereign nation cannot be compromised at all. To reflect this in all Indians, the primary requirement is a declaration that our nationality comes first followed by our regional or religious backgrounds. The undefined Secularism that is making a mockery of our ‘Indianess’ is the biggest hurdle in this process. India needs to encourage a common system of social laws and education that is cent percent enforceable on all Indians.

Dangerously Ambiguous

Indians are always proud to announce that Indian Secularism is qualitatively different from its Western counterpart. While the State must insulate itself and ignore religions in the West, it is equal respect for all religions in the Indian context. It sounds perfectly logical to have such noble and lofty attitude towards religions in the land of Santana Dharma. Religions are so much intrinsically involved in our daily lives that ignoring them for carrying out just some of our official duties alone does not sound practical and logical. Equality for all religions is a perfect concept and it should be so irrespective of the number of followers each one of them has. But it is this graciousness of the majority community that is paving the way for its own destruction.

India’s peculiar brand of secularism stands out on one aspect – that all religions enjoy the same status but followers of some are ‘more equal’ than others. That is the only way we can explain the special privileges enjoyed by the so-called minorities. Proponents of vote-bank politics who vehemently argue for perpetuation of these rights must accept the simple logic that a minority set can exist only if there is a majority set in any system. In the context of Indian nation, who is such a majority? None according to the supporters of Indian brand secularism and Hindus according to its opponents. But when everyone knows that Hindu religion itself is divided into so many sub-sets and so also the Muslims and Christians, what is the logic of justifying special privileges for some of the sets. This ambiguity can go away only when the term secularism is defined in Indian constitution.

In the absence of such a clear and unambiguous definition for secularism in Indian constitution the social status of Hindus will continue to decline. All sorts of organised groups under the guise of minorities will continue to enjoy special privileges for their educational institutions, religious schools and personal laws. Their own organizations are garnering millions and now the shortsighted vote-mongers in the government are spending millions of money for their development. The majority who will languish without the protection of any such privileges or even basic rights will whither away in not so distant future. ‘Indianess’ of India is being systematically destroyed by the deliberate negligence of our own elected leaders. We must define very specifically what is secularism in Indian context or do away with that suicidal synonym once for all. And that needs to be done immediately if India is to survive as one single democratic entity forever.

Full Stop Conversion

It is quite ironic that one of the most vocal opponents of religious conversion in India was none other than Mahatma Gandhi and yet we do not have any effective law or system to prevent the illogical and immoral process of religious conversion. Foreign and local missionaries are still having a good time in India harvesting souls to increase their numbers. Scores of old and new factions of Christianity are vying with one another in getting more numbers into their fold. All patriotic Indians were stunned when a few years ago the then Pope, who is also the Head of State of another sovereign nation like India, declared during his visit to this country that they will target Indian sub-continent in the 21st century for organized harvest of souls. There was no official protest for this blatant violation of India’s sovereignty from any of India’s leaders or officials.

The same status continues even today. When the so-called Hindu Nationalistic party was in power at the centre we expected enactment of laws to put a full stop to the evil of religious conversion. But nothing happened. Many of our leaders are conveniently forgetting that we the people of India voluntarily opted for secularism and democracy with universal franchise in 1947. So it is of utmost importance that demography is maintained at the same level at all times. Otherwise both secularism and democracy will fail in no time. Religious conversion will alter the power equations in a democratic setup and this will destroy the concept of secularism that we proudly advocate. We should remember that Indian secularism is not merely keeping religion divorced from the State but giving equal respects for all religions. And that can be practiced only if all religions are given a level playground.

Uneven Playground

In a democratic and secular setup of more than one billion people and dozens of religions and religious factions, if a few of them are converting people and others are not doing so, the end results are obvious. Organised religions and religious factions will soon start bargaining with the political parties for favours, most often undue and unreasonable. When it is not succeeding, they will start creating political parties of their own. Political parties are the only vehicle to political power in a democracy and the organized religions know this more than anyone else. The degeneration of a secular democracy to a theocratic monarchy is not very difficult and we have seen this happening many times in the past. The least that should be done to protect our secularism is to introduce very tough hurdles to organized conversion of peoples’ faith.

Architects of Indian constitution had a lot of foresight into the potential challenges to our secular democracy from the various religious organizations. The simple fact that the term ‘minorities’ is not defined in Indian constitution is proof enough for this. It can be (and should be) a variable based on different parameters and can vary from state to state. But now we have come to a sorry state where some of the organized communities have anointed themselves as minorities forever and everywhere. Their agenda is only to enjoy the special privileges that are supposedly there in the constitution. But whatever be the special privileges in the constitution, it is definitely not for unhindered conversion of people’s religion. Religion is a very personal affair and must remain so if it is to be a meaningful exploration to reach God.

Targeting Adivasis

One of the poorest and impoverished groups of people who have borne the brunt of organized religious conversion is the Adivasis of India. They too are descendents of the original inhabitants of our nation but they have been very reluctant and slow in adapting to change with the times. Like the tribes in Africa they have their own version of customs, rituals and even Gods. These highly unorganized sections of Indian society are easy prey for the organized predators like Christian missionaries and ultra-left Communists. Not used to the deceptiveness of modern men and their organized isms, the Adivasis are lured en masse’ into believing that there is only one God and one religion. Their inborn innocence is manipulated by modern techniques of the conversion machinery to believe that they have been in hell all the while and Christianity is the only way to God.

The standard answer from any Christian missionary when caught red handed indulging in organized religious conversion is that they are only spreading the ‘suvisesham’ – good news. But they should be spreading the news (good or bad) to only those who want to hear it. In India, especially among the Adivasis, they are forcing the unwanted news into unwilling ears. It is time for Vatican and the whole world to understand one thing. If evangelization was the answer to all our problems, the African continent would have already become a paradise on earth. The Pope himself had admitted that they had targeted African continent in previous centuries. But what is its present condition? From cradle of mankind it has become the cradle of poverty, bloodshed and AIDS. As the enlightened ones among say now – “When missionaries came, they had Bible and we had land, and now we have Bible and they have taken our land”.

Religions are playing an excessively dangerous role in the lives of humans now. The organized ones are more determined than ever in globalization of their own religions. Each of them wants to convert every human into their religion and capture power in this world. Though alleviation of misery and salvation of souls are the declared objective of all religions, the real target of organized ones is power. All that the clergy and agents of God require is enjoinment of their power over the lives of followers. The whole organizational setup is meant only for that purpose. In countries like India where plurality, inclusion, religious freedom and freedom from religions are the very basis of our culture, these organized religions are like cancer and ulcer in our society. In the tri-polar world that is emerging, India is best advised to align itself with the American block but with the sole condition that any encouragement for religious conversion in India would be absolute taboo.