Author: Brown Pundits Archive

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Setting aside the personal tragedies as well as the justified fear about wide-spread Islamophobia it seems the need of the hour is to understand and neutralize the jihadist ideology which is entrapping thousands of youngsters from the West (and elsewhere).
……

 ….
It is our opinion that the governments and the civil society have not really made an effort to understand why these people are so angry and how they are so easily brainwashed. A vaccine is needed…and fast.

….
The only way out (it seems to us) is to somehow make it clear the innate superiority of Western ideas, which has allowed the “Christian” West to dominate over the rest. It is critical that the young angry men be counseled properly (by Western trained imams if required) before the polarization levels become too stark. Our understanding of history is that there was no golden age in the past, human beings never had it so good like the present.
………………….


Here’s a summary of the latest developments:

• Islamic
  militants released a video purporting to show the beheading of a second
  captive American journalist, Steven Sotloff, which ended with a
  chilling warning that a British hostage would be the next to die.
  In the video, entitled A Second Message to America, a masked man is
  shown carrying out the decapitation of Sotloff, whose life had earlier
  been threatened in a film that showed the murder of another American
  journalist, James Foley.
• David
  Cameron condemned the apparent murder as a “despicable act” as he
  prepared to chair a meeting of the government’s emergency committee. The
  video of Sotloff’s killing ended with footage of the British hostage in
  the same style of orange jumpsuit that both Foley and Sotloff were
  wearing, suggesting he was their next intended victim. His family has
  asked the media not to identify him.
• Barack Obama has ordered 350 more troops into Iraq, hours after the release of the latest beheading video.
  The new deployment was intended not for “a combat role”, the White
  House press secretary Josh Earnest said in a statement, but to augment
  security at the Baghdad embassy and associated “support facilities”.
• An
  investigation is under way to establish whether the man dubbed Jihadi
  John is behind the second murder after a British-accented man was shown
  in the video depicting the killing Sotloff. Security
  sources said that although there were similarities between the voice on
  the film that emerged on Tuesday and that depicting the murder of James
  Foley a fortnight ago, the figure is largely hidden in black clothing.
• Journalists have paid tribute to Sotloff who reported on some of the most unstable and dangerous locations in the world. “Steven embodies what it takes to report from combat zones,” said Bill Roggio, managing editor of the Long War Journal.
• Sotloff’s murder and the threat to another hostage dominates the British press. The Daily Mail argues the government is failing to do enough to make Britain feel safe. 

……

Link: http://www.theguardian.com/world/middle-east-live/live/2014/sep/03/isis-threantens-to-kill-british-hostage-next-live-updates

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regards

 ….
What is being proposed is a rule by zero-corrupt technocrats acting in the best interests of the nation (without being harassed by ankle-biting, low-information voters). We wonder why such a common-sense approach has not been acted on before  in Pakistan, and elsewhere, and why there is a lack of durable, successful techno-dictatorships (Chicoms are probably the closest to this ideal).

….

It is notable that Pakistan now (publicly) aspires to follow the example of Bangladesh, when right after Partition-I she imagined herself (with some justification) to be the new Medina in South Asia. 

One more point of interest (for parochial Bongs): a look at the map above and we note the likelihood of Bangla herself experiencing a coup in 2014, along with sister nations Nepal, Burma, Pakistan and Afghanistan. It was a hundred years ago when the freedom fighter from Maharashtra, Gopal Krishna Gokhale noted: “what Bengal thinks today, India thinks tomorrow.” This dictum updated for the C21 may read as “what Bangla thinks today, South Asia (sans India) thinks tomorrow.” We speak in jest, of course.
…….
Pakistan
Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) President Javed Hashmi’s startling claims of a scripted
political crisis being engineered in Pakistan has led to widespread speculation
among analysts that a version of the ‘Bangladesh Model’ may be in the works.

……
“Imran
had told the PTI core committee it won’t be called a martial law,” Hashmi
alleged at a press conference, hinting at a covert form of takeover by the
military establishment, using PTI Chairman Imran Khan and Chief of the Pakistan
Awami Tehreek Tahir-ul-Qadri as their instruments.

…
The
‘Bangladesh Model’, a soft coup, is based on the idea that the political system
must be cleansed of corrupt elements for the welfare of the public, which
perhaps has been left incapacitated to elect honest leaders.

…
The model
works on the premise that the military and judiciary must intervene to help
differentiate the ‘right’ from the ‘wrong’ before it is too late. The model
stipulates that the democracy that follows such a ‘cleansing’ is therefore a
truer form since the people have been rightly ‘guided’ and are now able to make
informed decisions.

…
Technocrats, current and former officials aligned with the military and
judiciary play a vital role in the implementation of the ‘Bangladesh Model’ of
which the strings are pulled from the background and through an interim
government that remains in power for a lengthy period as happened in Bangladesh in 2007.

….
“If Nawaz
Sharif survives, for the rest of his term, he will be a ceremonial prime
minister—the world will not take him seriously,” said Ayesha Siddiqa, an
Islamabad-based analyst told the Wall Street Journal on Saturday. “A
soft coup has already taken place. The question is whether it will
harden.”

Reacting to the drama in Islamabad, the International Crisis Group (ICG) had
also warned last week that the possibilities of a coup were very high and that
such a development “would imperil any progress that has been made in
addressing grievous economic, development and security challenges.”

…
“The
protests rocking Islamabad threaten to upend the constitutional order, set back
rule of law and open the possibility of a soft coup, with the military ruling
through the backdoor,” the ICG said in its statement.

…
According to the PTI president Hashmi, a script for such a move was laid out
well in advance.

“When
Imran laid out the plan, I said to Imran, ‘Khan sahab what are you
doing?'”

“He
said, ‘I am telling you there will be elections in September and everything has
been worked out.'”

..
In January
this year, the Washington Post cited Pakistan as ‘high risk’ on a list of
countries likely to face coup attempts.

……

Link: dawn.com/javed-hashmis-allegations-what-is-the-bangladesh-model

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regards

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This is looking like the beginning of the end. How long is it before Nawaz Sharif departs for Saudi Arabia. This guy is likely to be de-throned for the third time…this has to be a record of some sorts. The closest analogy we can think of is from the fictional depictions of Latin America a few decades back when there would be a musical chair full of supreme rulers which ever way you look.

One thing is for sure, we would not like to tangle with that youngster – the one in the fore-ground with an intense look and a thick stick – down a dark alleyway.

Here is our revenge in a teacup proposal. After the PTI-PAT combo comes to power, can the Sharif brothers return the favor by invading the inner sanctum with their supporters? The country will by then have moved to a permanent chaotic state. The new mind-set is as follows: why bother to co-operate in the national interest, when you can be in opposition and have fun all the time.
…….
Anti-government protesters pushed further into sensitive areas
of the Pakistani capital on Monday, briefly taking over the state
broadcaster and forcing it off air.

……

Link: guardian.com/pakistan-protesters-prime-minister-nawaz-sharif-islamabad

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regards

…
Just say NO to any C21 sequel of Babri the horror movie. The powers that be are of the opinion that beating up on minorities will help win elections. This is from the Gujarat playbook but the success there was more out of a sense of Gujarati asmita than Hindu pride. Already there is evidence (recent by-polls in Uttarkhand, Bihar, and Karnataka) that a backlash is taking shape. Finally, people who live by the sword must be prepared to die by the sword as well…a number of ruling party leaders/workers in UP have been murdered in the past few weeks.

As far as the Valmikis (Dalits) are concerned, the important question is how they survive in difficult conditions not their status as Hindus or Christians or Muslims. Religious status is not helpful for improving social status….otherwise there would be no need for separate Dalit Christian burial grounds and Dalit Muslim Mosques.

Religious conversion is a dangerous game and we are ambivalent about the ways to deal with this “problem.” A
true liberal will be for the freedom to convert (and
re-convert). Also if we were truly disadvantaged we would be happy to take money
from all of them buggers and adopt a new religion every week (that will
teach them).

As an aside, we would love to hear Prof. Kancha I-laiah defending pork eating as a millenium old Dalit tradition and his plans to support the cause of the pig-farmers – the Valmiki community – by launching a national pork festival (just like the beef
festivals he supports with so much enthusiasm).
…………
Another contentious issue is foreign money. We do not like Hindu NRIs or Christian Evangelicals or Wahabi Saudis to fund extremists in India and contribute to social disharmony. Religion is one of the most moneyed businesses in India, if people really want to fight conversion battles they can/should fight with local money.

Finally while we are not enamored of constructing yet one more temple or mosque or church, is it OK to insist that these folks first pay up for a 1000 toilets? And while they will be responsible for maintaining the place of worship, they should also take care of maintenance of the toilets. Call it the Temple-Mosque-Church-Toilet scheme (Yojana).
…………..

For 10 years, 29-year-old Ram Pal was a practising Christian, but
three days ago he converted and become a Hindu. The change in faith,
however, has not tangibly altered his life as the struggle to make ends
meet and the worry about the future of his children continue unabated.

….
Despite converting to Christianity in 2001, seven Valmiki families in
Asroi village were not accorded minority status. Instead, the village
register – maintained by the district administration – continued to
identify them as Scheduled Caste. This continued for over a decade, but
Ram Pal said that over the past few years, this ambiguous identity of
being neither a Christian nor a Dalit was becoming increasingly
difficult.

….
Ram Pal, who like others in his community raises pigs, said, “We
still used our SC identity to get our children admission in schools and
avail to various government schemes. We celebrated Holi and Diwali along
with Christimas. But people were asking questions. If you’re a
Christian, how can you be a Dalit?”

…
Another such Dalit, 44-year-old Ram Chandra, said, “Our children go
to school, on the basis of their SC certificates. But most drop out in
their teens and look for work in Hathras and Aligarh. Now that we’re
Hindu, at least no can doubt that we’re Dalits.”

….
On Wednesday, a church belonging to the 7th Day Adventists that
functioned from a small room in the village was “converted” into a
temple through a “shuddhikaran” (purification) ceremony that saw the
“ghar wapsi” (reconversion) of 72 Dalit Valmikis in the seven families
by various Hindu groups, including the RSS, VHP, Bajrang Dal and Arya
Samaj, said villagers.

….
Ram Pal said that the Dalit community did not want the puja to take
place within the church. “But, they said it was the only way for us to
become Hindus again,” he said.

…
Meanwhile, Khem Chandra, the Sangh pracharak and pramukh of Dharam
Jagaran Vivad in Aligarh asserted that the conversion was a “conscious
choice made by the Dalit Valimiki community”. However, the news of the
appropriation of the church spread tension in the area.

….
Fearing an outbreak of violence, the district administration locked
the room on Thursday. The Shiva poster, which was put up in the place
where a framed-photograph of Jesus Christ used to hang, has been taken
off  “and kept in a safe place.” The belongings of the church – a cupboard, Christmas-lights and a single copy of the Bible – has also been kept in a locker.

….
The Christian community has alleged that such conversions were a part
of an RSS conspiracy, aimed at reaping electoral benefit. Seeking
immediate action against the perpetrators, civil rights activist John
Dayal said, “It is the right of an individual to convert to any religion
of his choice. But such mass conversions imply political, social and
physical coercion and the threat of violence.  I condemn the coercion
and conspiracy of the Sangh Parivar which is using it to polarise the
religious environment in the state with an eye on the elections.”

….
Father  Dominic Emmanuel, community leader and the editor of a
Christian magazine in Delhi said, “With the BJP in power, these groups
have become aggressive.” The village pradhan also pointed out that the BJP, for the first
time, had received an overwhelming majority of the votes in the village.
“Usually, the votes go for RLD. This time the elections was about
Hindus and Muslims and every one voted for Modi. That has been reflected
here,” said Vikas Choudhury, pradhan of Asroi.

….
But, while the RSS and the VHP have been making in-roads into the
village by working with the Dalit-Christian community, villagers said
that it was not simply a matter of faith, but also economics. 
…
“Over the years, the activities of the Church here have receded. We
were promised schools, health care and better lives, but nothing came of
it. We haven’t been accorded minority status and soon, we feared, our
Dalit status would also be taken away from us,” said 54-year-old Guji
Lal, who added that Hindu groups in the past months had been
increasingly active in the village, convincing people to ‘reconvert’ to
Hinduism.

…….

When the
demolition of the Babri Masjid was threatened in 1991, Parliament en acted a
law prohibiting the conversion of any place of worship of one religion into
that of another, the only exception being the Babri Masjid itself. Back then,
the Vishwa Hindu Parishad sought to demolish 3,000 mosques, claiming these were
once temples.
…
This threatened 3,000 more clashes of the Babri Masjid variety,
stoking communal carnage and destroying Indian secularism. The Masjid was
ultimately demolished, but the new law helped prevent the disease spreading to
other places of worship.

The
problem has returned in unexpected fashion in Aligarh. It must be tackled
before it can grow.

In
Aligarh, several dalits were once converted to Christianity by the Seventh Day
Adventists. That organization then built a church for its new converts.
However, 72 of these dalit Christians have been re-converted to Hinduism by the
Dharam Jagran Vibhag (DJV), an RSS branch aiming to stop conversions of Hindus
to other religions, and attempt re-conversion.

The DJV
organized a “shuddhikaran” (cleansing ceremony) to wash away the Christian
“taint” in Aligarh. A Shiv poster was put up in the church, but later removed.
The alarmed Seventh Day Adventists locked up the church.

The danger
is that the DJV and re-converts will seize the church and put up a temple
there. “We have found a place near the chabootra (verandah). That is where we
will set up the temple. I don’t have anything to say for the church. We have
done the shuddhikaran in the building, whether they want to uproot the church
or raze it to the ground is their headache. We will not let another church come
up because there is no Christian left,” said DJV pramukh Rajeshwar Singh, who
came from Uttarakhand for the re-conversion.

Khem
Chandra, a local member of the DJV, added, “We will think about the church
building. It belongs to the missionaries, but the ground on which it stands
belongs to Hindustan. We will not compromise on our dharti (earth). We will
meet the villagers and decide about the temple (coming up).”

Now, our
Constitution and laws clearly permit the conversion and re-conversion of
individuals from and to any religion. The use of financial and other
inducements for conversion is illegal, but voluntary conversion is permitted
freely. The Seventh Day Adventists and the DJV both have a right to convert
people to their respective faiths. 
…
The RSS claims that foreign Christian money
is being used to “buy” converts to Christianity. This has certainly happened in
some countries, leading to the derisive term “rice Christians”. But the
Christians point out that overseas Hindus pour enormous sums into Indian
religious organizations. Besides, Indian temples and organizations have
humungous wealth. If indeed faith can be bought, Hindu organizations have a
distinct financial advantage in India, and can easily outbid Christian ones.

But this
is just a distraction. Financial inducements for conversions are illegal. Only
voluntary conversions are legal.

What is
clearly illegal, however, is the destruction of a place of worship, or its
conversion into a place of worship for another sect or religion. The 72 dalits
in Aligarh can follow any religion they want, but cannot claim ownership of the
church, which belongs to the Seventh Day Adventists.
…
The mere fact that the 72
dalits worshipped in that church does not make it their personal property, to
be disposed of as they like. They can build a temple on any other land, close
or far from the church. But they cannot claim, as DJV leader Khem Chandra has
done, that the church building may belong to the Christians, but the ground
underneath belongs to Hindustan.

Hindustan
does not mean the exclusive land of religious Hindus. Historically, Hindustan
simply meant the land of the people of the Indus valley. The Constitution is
very clear that India is a land of multiple religions where persons of all
faiths are equal, and none can be discriminated against.
……

Link (1): stop-new-babri-movement-against-churches

Link (2): indianexpress.com/didnt-get-minority-status-so-embraced-hinduism

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regards

 …
No no no no, we did not say that….we still hero-worship doctors..for us it is the ultimate noble profession.

But then according to Dr Sandeep Jauhar,  things are very wrong with the medical community in the USA. He speaks as a person from within the belly of the beast, and he claims to speak on behalf of the many outstanding doctors from the Indian American community (and the medical profession as a whole). Who knows if there is any substance in his (devastating) allegations…common people will tend to think that no smoke can result without fire.
…….

People used to talk about “my doctor.” Now,
in a given year, Medicare patients see on average two different primary
care physicians and five specialists working in four separate practices.
For many of us, it is rare to find a primary physician who can remember
us from visit to visit, let alone come to know us in depth or with any
meaning or relevancy.

My patient broke into sobs. ” ‘Nah, I don’t think they’re going to come back.’ That’s what he said to me. Just like that.”

…..

Link (1): wsj.com/usa-ailing-medical-system-a-doctors-perspective

Link (2): A-heartless-profession

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regards

…….
We are in complete agreement with Saba Naqvi Bhaumik (a Shia Muslim married to a Bengali Hindu) that civil marriages will go a long way to help resolve the love-jihad problem….but why not suggest civil marriage for every one? Especially as she (correctly) notes that personal marriage laws “diminish women.”

………..

……..
As SNB explains there are enough morons (to borrow the language of Ram Gopal Varma) like Raqibul Hasan Khan to bring to life (and keep alive) the “love jehad” theory. Fact remains that Muslim boys/girls will be falling in love with Hindu girls/boys. We imagine that the social barriers today are a bit more tightly drawn around muslim girls, hence the Muslim boy-Hindu girl match is more likely…hence all the poisonous confusion.
…………..
This is how a muslim women rights body views the problem with the personal law as applied to marriages:
….
Among other things, the draft law contemplates a complete ban on
the oral, unilateral and triple divorce (talaq) and seeks, instead, use
of ‘talaak-e-ahsan’ method where at least four attempts at
reconciliation are made before the divorce is granted. 
….
The draft law stipulates that a Muslim marriage should be solemnised
only when the bride is at least 18 years old and the groom 21. Further,
there should be “an unambiguous consent” by both, and neither of them
should have a living spouse. Polygamous marriage should be strictly prohibited and marriages
should be compulsorily registered, payment of maintenance to the wife
and children must be made mandatory during the marriage, or in the event
of separation and divorce, it says. 

A minimum ‘mehr’ should be paid to the bride before the marriage
and the amount should not be less than the groom’s annual income, the
draft law says. The BMMA will launch a nation-wide campaign for creating
awareness about the need to codify the Muslim Personal Law and make the
government act towards it, Soman said. 
………. 


The way we see it is the conversion “problem” is essentially an issue of purity. For example in a Brahmin household, a Muslim daughter-in-law may not be permitted to participate in puja ceremonies. Likewise a Hindu daughter-in-law will create a problem for Muslim households. However that is essentially a problem for the pandits and the maulavis to resolve. Simply issue fatwas that all temples (mosques) is open to people of all faiths, creeds and castes.

As we march to the future we have the following three choices: (1) we harmonize in a manner that is considered to be fair by all communities, or (2) we fight and break up (partition) or (3) we fight and the minority groups get assimilated (by the majority). Option II was the easiest one and we have seen two partitions over six decades (both disasters at an epic level). 

Option III is an even more ugly one (and right now we have something like that taking shape in Pakistan where Hindu girls are abducted in plain view) and the Sangh Parivar will be very happy to work towards this goal. Here we should also mention that the separate but equal approach favored by the left-liberals and secularists did not work in the USA and will not work in India. It is also a repulsive notion. 

That leaves us with only Option I as the reasonable way forward.

As we imagine, conservative muslims dislike civil registration of marriage because it is not the way of the Sharia and more importantly, this is a backdoor way to assimilation (with Hindus). The actuality will be that inter-faith couples will further the cause of communal harmony. We are a great believer in inter-caste marriages as well and for the same reasons. The idea of India is an important one to support (and to strengthen) and we cannot let the extremists win. 

…….
If there is a historical profile to be used, it would be upper-caste
men and/or Muslims who controlled lands and would just pick up and
devour women from the lower castes or social strata. It is very likely
that following some cross-rel­igious marriages, the woman is pressurised
to convert. 

The recent case in Ranchi of national-level shooter Tara
Shadeo, who has alleged that she was deceived by one Ranjit Kumar Kohli
into marriage, only to discover that his real name was Raqibul Hasan
Khan, is a sad individual tale with its own particular details. No
responsible organisation in multi-religious India would see it as
conclusive evidence of a trend involving over 144 million Indians.


….
More than an insult to men from a particular denomination, the notion
of love jehad is at its core an insult to all women, who are seen as
nothing more than chattel, led astray sometimes by wicked men with
impure thoughts. But they can apparently be made to see the righteous
path with the help of the VHP/RSS that has launched a “brotherhood”
campaign in western UP where Hindu girls will tie rakhis on Muslim men.
In the land of khap panchayats, brother and sister will presumably live
in innocent harmony till the families decide it is time for wedlock and
child-rearing to keep the caste and community lineage going.


….
Empirical socio-economic data should be collected from areas where
love jehad is supposed to have happened and where it has now allegedly
spread to. That would be Kerala, the Mangalore coast of Karnataka and
now western UP. One can hazard an intelligent guess that in all these
regions the Muslim community would be large in numbers, of which there
would be a prosperous strata. They would have come up economically and
it is also very likely that the more visible signs of this prosperity
would be an increase in the numbers of minarets of madrassas and
mosques.


….
Still, people do live in the same towns and the chemistry of love and
attraction cannot be circumscribed. Girls of one religion will continue
to fall in love with boys from another and vice versa. 

But because the
situation in UP is poised so delicately and the potential for trouble so
great, here’s a suggestion for the Muslim community: clerics, prominent
citizens and elders of the community should advocate a court marriage
in the case of mixed couples. As it is, Muslim personal laws diminish
women’s rights. If a girl from another community is to enter a Muslim
home, a genuine effort should be made to have a more enlightened
approach. 

In the small towns of UP, the community should organise,
reflect and come up with a rational strategy. Clerics too must show that
they can speak for something beyond defending regressive personal laws
and feeding off the fears of a community.
…….

The husband of national champion shooter Tara Shahdeo was arrested in
a joint operation by Jharkhand and Delhi Police on Tuesday night,
sources said. Ranjeet Singh Kohli alias Rakibul Hassan Khan, 30, was arrested from a place near the Delhi-Ghaziabad border.

Last
week, national rifle shooting gold medallist, Tara Sahdeo, had alleged
that she was tortured to change her religion to Islam by a Muslim man
who claimed he was a Hindu and married her. In her police
complaint, Sahdeo claimed she got married in June this year to a person
named Ranjit Kohli. She said the marriage was solemnised as per Hindu
rituals.

However, during the Islamic
holy month of Ramadan, when people invited her husband for Iftar, she
came to know that her husband’s name was Rakibul Hassan. She allegedly
found the name on the invitation cards to the Iftar.

She also alleged that Hassan and 20 other people forced her to change her religion. When she refused, she was allegedly beaten up. Sahdeo
also alleged that she was threatened with dire consequences if she told
anyone about the conversion. She alleges that she was kept under close
vigil but when Hassan went to New Delhi on  August 19, she sent a
message to her family members and was rescued.

…..

Link (1): http://www.outlookindia.com/printarticle.aspx?291813

Link (2): muslim-womens-organisation-seeks-changes-in-personal-law

Link (3): love-jihad-tara-shahdeo-rakibul-hasan-khan-ranjeet-singh-kohli