[Reader-list] Shameful Torture of 23 Muslims Prisoners on March 26-27 In Sabarmati Jail, Ahamedabad: A Report by Human Rights Activists

Sat Apr 18 22:58:48 IST 2009

Dear Anupam,  dear all,

it is not only Hindutva, which is dangerous for the growth of
democracy, but all the right wing politics, not only the right wing,
but any kind of authoritarian politics, not only authoritarian
politics but anything that under values the basic human rights, which
includes the core existential drives of life. Humanity has suffered
terribly as and when sensibilities of 'the other' were compelled to
experience oppression of this kind or that kind.

 we are suspicious of the other's activities, and we fear that our
beings will be wiped out, if we dont take adequate measures in time.
This has its own history.

The people at the helm of affairs have always encouraged some paranoia
in the minds of the masses for the preparation of  a just war. It goes
without saying that most of wars in the past and the present were
causeless, or trivial at the most.

I still give them ( the ancient/medieval)  some marks for their
reasons for waging wars on other territories, but in the present, when
we have democracies, there is hardly any reason for a war.  People in
America never voted for a war in Iraq, or Vietnam  etc. but the the
system that breeds the possibility  of  war (s) in future are very
much there.  So the Nation States that emerge while enabling their
people to celebrate the concept of democracy are suspect.  Either
there is something wrong with the procedures of implementing results
of voting by masses, or the very concept of Nation State is obsolete,
but refuses to give in to newer form of freedom of life.

This i am saying, because, in essence, democracy is all about people,
and if people dont understand the real purpose of democracy then there
is a paradox.

i guess, we can not extract a true meaning from the word ' democracy'
if we dont feel why the concept emerged as a departure from the system
that Kings or Monarchies or even Military dictators, or communist
czars used to govern the people through a set of Laws.

the present system of domocracy is again pushing forwards, the rule of
the feudal lord, the criminal in disguise, or the inheritor of dynasty

so where are those systems of democracy which were truly supposed to
bring a representative politics for a just governance.  What happens
to our freedom of expression once our elected government comes to
power,

why they bring the same old reasons to install the same old
traditional censorships which was the norm in the past, but has no
justification  for any continuity...

having said all this, one has still reason to celebrate the present
system of democracy, as lesser evil in comparison to earlier systems
of foreign rule or Dictatorship.

with love and regards
is

On Sat, Apr 18, 2009 at 10:15 PM, anupam chakravartty
<c.anupam at gmail.com> wrote:
> I second your opinions Rakesh. there must be a consensus on this. Hindutva
> is against democracy. those who are saying that they are expressing their
> thoughts defending this menace in the name of exercising their democratic
> right are cheating people. RSS sponsored hindutva like other forms of
> violent religious extremism can only destroy democracy. everyone must speak
> up NOW!
>
> On 4/18/09, Rakesh Iyer <rakesh.rnbdj at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> Dear Kshamendra
>>
>> If you want to rate the Modi government on the conceptions of 'Hindutva
>> based governance', it would be better to first know these statements from
>> M.S.Golwalkar about his ideas of what India should be (A Hindu Rashtra
>> indeed) :
>>
>> From the link: http://www.countercurrents.org/comm-guha281106.htm
>>
>> 1) His ideas are summarised in the book Bunch of Thoughts, which draws upon
>> the lectures he delivered over the years (mostly in Hindi) to RSS shakhas
>> across the country. This identifies the Hindus, and they alone, as the
>> privileged community of India. It disparages democracy as alien to the
>> Hindu
>> ethos and extols the code of Manu, whom Golwalkar salutes as "the first,
>> the
>> greatest, and the wisest lawgiver of mankind".
>>
>> 2) Golwalkar writes that the "hostile elements within the country pose a
>> far
>> greater menace to national security than aggressors from outside". He
>> identifies three major "Internal Threats: I: The Muslims; II: The
>> Christians; III: The Communists". A long chapter impugns the patriotism of
>> these groups, speaking darkly of their "future aggressive designs on our
>> country".
>>
>> 3) Thus, on December 6, 1947, Golwalkar convened a meeting of RSS workers
>> in
>> the town of Govardhan, not far from Delhi. The police report on this
>> meeting
>> says it discussed how to "assassinate the leading persons of the Congress
>> in
>> order to terrorise the public and to get their hold over them".
>>
>> 4) Two days later, Golwalkar addressed a crowd of several thousand
>> volunteers at the Rohtak Road Camp in Delhi. The police reporter in
>> attendance wrote that the RSS leader said that "the Sangh will not rest
>> content until it had finished Pakistan. If anyone stood in our way we will
>> have to finish them too, whether it was Nehru Government or any other
>> Government... " Referring to Muslims, he said that no power on earth could
>> keep them in Hindustan. They should have to quit this country... "If they
>> were made to stay here the responsibility would be the Government's and the
>> Hindu community would not be responsible. Mahatma Gandhi could not mislead
>> them any longer. We have the means whereby [our] opponents could be
>> immediately silenced".
>>
>> 5) Golwalkar himself argued that "in this land Hindus have been the owners,
>> Parsis and Jews the guests, and Muslims and Christians the dacoits". He
>> asked, maliciously: "Then do all these have the same right over the
>> country?"
>>
>> 6) The RSS leader, noted Karaka, "thinks in terms of Hindu India and only
>> Hindu India".
>>
>> From the link:
>>
>>
>> http://www.sacw.net/DC/CommunalismCollection/ArticlesArchive/Puniyani6March06.html
>>
>> 1)Golwalkar goes on to assert,"From the standpoint sanctioned by the
>> experience of shrewd nations, the non-Hindu people in Hindustan must either
>> adopt the Hindu culture and language, must learn to respect and revere
>> Hindu
>> religion, must entertain no idea but the glorification of Hindu nation i.e.
>> they must not only give up their attitude of intolerance and ingratitude
>> towards this land and its age long traditions, but must also cultivate the
>> positive attitude of love and devotion instead; in one word, they must
>> cease
>> to be foreigners or may stay in the country wholly subordinated to the
>> Hindu
>> nation, claiming nothing, deserving no privileges, for less any
>> preferential
>> treatment, not even the citizen's rights." (Ibid p.52).
>>
>> Going by account on all this, the Gujarat government has actually done
>> quite
>> well. It has certainly decimated Christians and Muslims, and ensured they
>> have to live in constant fear and certainly as second-class citizens of the
>> country.
>>
>> Hindutva-based governance is pure nonsense. The very word Hindutva was
>> coined first by Savarkar, an atheist. And we who believe in idol-worship
>> now
>> are talking about it. This is totally ridiculous as Savarkar was against
>> any
>> form of idol worship himself. So also is Hindutva devoid of idol worship.
>>
>> Hindutva is a threat to India and its conception. Therefore, it should be
>> banned totally from India.
>>
>> Regards
>>
>> Rakesh
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