Political correctness - rabble rousing - current affairs..

[raagadevan]

In India, meat and murder threaten Modi's inclusive agenda

-By Rupam Jain Nair; Reuters: Oct 5, 2015

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/...0RZ08E20151005

Asgari Begum, mother of Akhalaq Saifi, who was killed by a mob, mourns his death inside her house at Bisara village in Uttar Pradesh, India, October 2, 2015.

The murder by a Hindu mob of a Muslim man rumored to have slaughtered a cow has thrown a spotlight on the hardline, polarizing agenda of some followers of Indian Prime Minster Narendra Modi, undermining his promise of development for all.

On a tour of Silicon Valley last month where he was feted by U.S. tech gurus and Indian emigres, Modi won a pledge from Microsoft to provide low-cost Internet for 500,000 villages to back his vision of a globally networked "Digital India".

One such village is Bisara, 50 km (30 miles) from the capital New Delhi, where a crowd of assailants broke into Mohammed Akhlaq's home last Monday night, beat him to death and dragged his body out into the street.

The local member of parliament, Mahesh Sharma, is also Modi's culture minister and has hit the headlines of late with statements that show a different side to their ruling Hindu nationalist party. In one recent speech, Sharma vowed to cleanse public life "polluted" by Western influences.

Visiting Bisara this week to pay his respects to Akhlaq's family, Sharma said the killing could have been an "accident".

"How can the leader call my husband's murder an accident?" Akhlaq's widow Ikraman, who suffered facial injuries, told Reuters at the family home. "I don't think the minister knows the difference between an accident and murder."

Critics say Sharma's comment implicitly condoned Akhlaq's lynching and pandered to fringe Hindu militants who have recently become active in the district.

Eating beef is a taboo for many Hindus, who make up 80 percent of India's population of 1.25 billion people, but not for the country's 175 million Muslims.

BLOOD ON THE WALLS

Communal clashes had never erupted in Bisara, home to 400 landowning Hindu and 35 Muslim families, even when religious riots have broken out in the region. In 2013, 65 people died in sectarian strife around the northern town of Muzaffarnagar.

But an announcement by a Hindu priest over his temple loudspeakers that Akhlaq had butchered a cow and that his wife was cooking beef for dinner brought a sudden end to the village's tradition of tolerance, according to family members and villagers who heard the call.

Within minutes a mob stormed into Akhlaq's house, vandalized the kitchen in search of beef and beat the 56-year-old blacksmith to death with bricks and stones. His body was dragged out in front of his family.

Akhlaq's youngest son, who suffered severe head injuries, is fighting for his life in a hospital intensive care unit after undergoing two brain operations.

His widow says he was killed for a crime he did not commit.

"Even now I can't believe that my Hindu neighbors killed my husband. My neighbors were like my extended family," said Ikraman, who will spend a month in mourning in a room near the bloodstained murder scene.

PREMEDITATED ATTACK?

Local Muslims say Akhlaq's killing was a pre-meditated attack aimed at polarizing the village on religious lines by militant Hindu groups loyal to Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which won power in the May 2014 general election.

Sharma and Modi are both members of an umbrella group, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), that is the BJP's ideological parent. The movement propagates an ideology of Hindutva, or Hindu-ness, which asserts that India is a Hindu nation.

Police have arrested seven Hindu youths over the murder and one paramilitary soldier accused of planning the attack. Investigators are also searching for Hindu activists who spread rumors and online posts stating that Akhlaq had stored 6 kg (13 lbs) of beef in his refrigerator.

The region holds village council elections next week and Bisara has, in the wake of the killing, become a magnet for campaigning politicians. One BJP lawmaker accused of instigating the Muzaffarnagar riots came to Bisara on Sunday and warned of a "befitting reply" if the suspects were prosecuted, according to news reports.

Many Indian states, including the country's largest Uttar Pradesh, where Bisara is situated, have banned cow slaughter for more than two decades.

Modi's party has, in states where it rules, clamped down further on eating beef - even though India is the second largest exporter and fifth biggest consumer in the world. In recent months, government leaders have advocated a national ban on cow slaughter.

BEEF VIGILANTES

Critics say tougher anti-beef laws discriminate against Muslims, Christians and lower-caste Hindus who rely on the cheap meat for protein.

The crackdown has, meanwhile, provided cover for the rise of Hindu vigilante groups.

Such groups attack cattle trucks, track religious conversions in villages and towns, and warn Hindu girls against falling in love with Muslim boys. Modi has expressed no disapproval towards them.

"Those who spread this poison enjoy his (Modi's) patronage," political analyst Pratap Bhanu Mehta wrote in the Indian Express. "This government has set a tone that is threatening, mean-spirited and inimical to freedom."

​Sharma's office said the minister was demanding an independent federal investigation into Akhlaq's murder. ​Calls on Sunday to three officials in Modi's office went unanswered.

At least 16 men from Bisara joined a new militant Hindu outfit called the Samadhan Sena (Solution Army) in August. The group is not formally tied to the RSS but two members told Reuters they would enforce its agenda in every village.

"Akhlaq should not have butchered a cow," said Ajay Singh, a member of the Samadhan Sena in Bisara. "He should not have forgotten that India belongs to Hindus first."

(Editing by Douglas Busvine and Alex Richardson)

[raagadevan]

Indians slam murder of 'rationalist' intellectual

http://www.newsfultoncounty.com/worl...t-intellectual

By Drew Parker on August 31, 2015

– Murder of academic who had angered right-wing Hindu groups sparks anger in India

MUMBAI, India – The killing of an outspoken Indian academic has prompted angry reactions a day after he was shot dead on Sunday.

Malleshappa Madivallapa Kalburgi, who was shot on his own doorstep, was known for views that had angered some right-wing Hindu groups.

Since 1989 he had been the target of death threats over writings that were accused of being blasphemous and calls for his own Lingayat beliefs to be considered separate from Hinduism.

“The assassination is deplorable and condemnable,” author Subhash Gatade, who has written on right-wing groups, told Anadolu Agency on Monday.

“It is a part of larger pattern unfolding in South Asia,” Gatade said, comparing Kalburgi’s murder to the killing of four secular bloggers in Bangladesh this year and the assassination of politician Salman Taseer in Pakistan in 2011.

TV anchor Sagarika Ghose also made the link, tweeting: “Those who gloat about killing of Bangla bloggers: what about killing of rationalists Dabholkar, Pansare, Kalburgi on India’s streets?”

Kalburgi’s killing was the third such murder in the past two years in India, allegedly by right-wing Hindu groups.

In 2013, another intellectual, Narendra Dabholkar, who had campaigned against superstitions, was killed in the western state of Maharashtra.

In February, Govind Pansare, a communist leader and social activist was killed in Maharashtra for holding protests against toll-tax collection.

Kalburgi’s last rites were performed on Monday noon in the south Indian town of Dharwad with television images showing mourners shouting “we want justice.”

[raagadevan]

Don’t let Hindu fanatics dictate India’s future

-AMRIT DHILLON; The Globe and Mail, Oct. 08, 2015 6:00AM EDT

(Amrit Dhillon is a journalist based in New Delhi.)

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe...ticle26709705/

What Indians eat for dinner became a matter of life and death last week. A Hindu mob, hearing rumours that a Muslim family was keeping beef in their fridge, descended on their home in Bisara village, near the capital, and dragged out a man and his son. Using bricks and rods, the attackers killed the father, Mohammed Akhlaq; his 22-year-old son was left with severe brain injuries.

The mob formed after the village priest announced on the temple loudspeaker that the Akhlaqs had slaughtered a cow and kept the meat in their fridge. Hindus worship the cow and most do not kill it (although millions of Hindus do eat beef), but the Akhlaqs are Muslim, for whom beef is not prohibited. And although the slaughter of cows is banned in the state of Uttar Pradesh, where the attack took place, consumption of beef is not. In any event, the family insisted they had not killed a cow and that the meat in the fridge was mutton, not beef.

In a bizarre move, the police have taken the meat to a laboratory for testing to see if it is beef or mutton – a ridiculous act that effectively legitimizes the mob actions; even if it were beef, the mob had no right to murder a man because of his eating habits.

This is the kind of India that right-wing Hindu fanatics want to create – a place where their religious beliefs dictate what Indians wear, what rights women are allowed, what you can eat for dinner, a place where the minorities (mainly Muslims and Christians) know their “place,” which is to cower before the Hindu majority.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s party, the Bharatiya Janata Party, has always been closely affiliated with jingoistic Hindu groups aiming to usher in Hindu rule. Ever since Mr. Modi came to power almost 18 months ago, they have sensed that this is their big opportunity to push their conservative cultural agenda. One crucial aspect of this agenda is to ban beef throughout India, depriving millions – Muslims, Christians and millions of Hindus, too – of their right to eat it.

BJP ministers have made scandalous remarks in public and in Parliament that have been designed to incite hatred of Christians and Muslims. Mr. Modi didn’t condemn the ministers, let alone sack them. He has allowed a climate of fear to be created. Muslims and Christians wonder what they will be targeted for next.

It is time for Mr. Modi to speak out and stand up for tolerance and basic freedoms. He has made a couple of broad remarks indicating that, for him, all Indians are equal, but these comments have been so sweeping as to be meaningless. He needs to address his ministers’ poisonous comments specifically and make clear where he stands. Otherwise, Hindu extremists will, understandably, assume that they have his tacit concurrence and feel emboldened.

Last week, Mr. Modi was in the United States to drum up the foreign investment India needs for development. He is wasting his time if he fails to realize that a country that allows mob killings and medieval witch hunts is not an appealing place for foreign investors.

If he is serious about development, he needs to stamp out ideas that are inimical to development, because being modern involves more than just swanky airports and swish restaurants. It’s also about the mind.

[lord_labakudoss]

Don’t let Hindu fanatics dictate India’s future

-AMRIT DHILLON; The Globe and Mail, Oct. 08, 2015 6:00AM EDT

(Amrit Dhillon is a journalist based in New Delhi.)

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe...ticle26709705/


This is the kind of India that right-wing Hindu fanatics want to create – a place where their religious beliefs dictate what Indians wear, what rights women are allowed, what you can eat for dinner, a place where the minorities (mainly Muslims and Christians) know their “place,” which is to cower before the Hindu majority.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s party, the Bharatiya Janata Party, has always been closely affiliated with jingoistic Hindu groups aiming to usher in Hindu rule. Ever since Mr. Modi came to power almost 18 months ago, they have sensed that this is their big opportunity to push their conservative cultural agenda. One crucial aspect of this agenda is to ban beef throughout India, depriving millions – Muslims, Christians and millions of Hindus, too – of their right to eat it.

...
[/I]

So Modi has started this trend of controlling what's on your plate?

Here is the true story:
http://indianexpress.com/article/exp...o-beef-nation/
Kerala, West Bengal and the North East are the only places where these are completely legal. All other states have at least some kind of restrictions on killing healthy cows. and these laws have been on the books for quite a while now...

[raagadevan]

I will eat beef, who are you to question me: Karnataka CM

http://www.hindustantimes.com/india/...d4oaCP8mJ.html

Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah on Thursday said it was his right to eat beef and nobody can stop him, a statement aimed at Hindu right-wing parties which are campaigning for a complete ban on cow slaughter.

Speaking at a Youth Congress event, Siddaramaiah targeted the BJP and the Sangh Parivar and said, “I will eat beef now. Who are you to question me?”

He added, “I have not eaten beef till now but now I will. It’s my right.”

The lynching of a 55-year-old Muslim man, Mohammad Ikhlaq, by a mob in Bisada village of Uttar Pradesh last month following rumours that he slaughtered a calf brought the issue back into the limelight and triggered a wave of protests against attacks on freedom of choice.

“The killing of a Muslim man in Dadri for eating beef, the murder of Kalburgi, Pansare, Dabholkar the Dalit children in Haryana have thoroughly exposed the communal and casteist agenda of the BJP and the RSS,” Siddaramaiah said.

Siddaramaiah asked Youth Congress leaders to work for communal harmony and uphold the secular values of the party.

Around 40 writers and 12 filmmakers have returned their government awards in protest against the “growing intolerance in the country” and the murders of Kannada writer and Sahitya Akademi Award winner MM Kalburgi and anti-superstition activists Narendra Dabholkar and Govind Pansare.

Over 50 historians , including Romila Thapar, Irfan Habib, KN Pannikar and Mridula Mukherjee, on Thursday came out strongly against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, castigating him for not making any reassuring statement following concerns over the “highly vitiated atmosphere” prevailing in the country.

Eminent scientist PM Bhargava, who is set to return his Padma Bhushan in protest, has called for a ban on the RSS and alleged it is against minorities and Dalits.

[raagadevan]

BJP leader threatens to behead Karnataka CM over beef remark

-Sudipto Mondal; Hindustan Times, Bengaluru - Nov 03, 2015

http://www.hindustantimes.com/india/...iu7QoIBCI.html

A senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader in Karnataka’s Shimoga has threatened to “behead” chief minister Siddaramaiah and “play football” with his severed head over the latter’s statement that he will eat beef.

SN Chanabasappa, BJP district secretary and close aide of former CM BS Yeddyurappa, made the statement at a protest meeting organised by the saffron party on Monday. The agitation was called to condemn Siddaramaiah’s remarks last Thursday on the Dadri lynching incident.

In a statement aimed at Hindu right-wing parties, which are campaigning for a complete ban on cow slaughter, the chief minister had said it was his right to eat beef and nobody can stop him.

Repeating his threat on Tuesday, Channabasappa told Hindustan Times, “If Siddaramaiah has guts, let him come to Shimoga and eat beef. If he thinks we will spare him, he’s wrong. Let him kill a cow and show, we will separate his head from his body and play football with it.”

Channabasappa, a former president of the Shimoga city council, said he doesn’t fear for his own life and challenged the state government to arrest him.

“What is wrong with what I am saying? Who is issuing provocative statements, me or the CM? Action should be taken against Siddaramaiah not me,” he said.

However, when asked if he was serious about killing Siddaramaiah, he said, “I did not say I will kill him. It is just a figure of speech. The people of this land who pray to the cow will do the job if he dares to provoke them.”

The BJP leader also said that it was Siddaramaiah’s duty to uphold the Constitution.

“The Constitution clearly says that cows are holy and need to be protected. By saying he will eat beef, he is insulting the Constitution,” he said.

Shimoga Police registered a case of criminal intimidation against Channabasappa based on a complaint by district Congress president, Prasanna Kumar.

The chief minister also said he has asked the police to look into the BJP leader’s comments and that action will be taken if his statement is true.

“It is a provocative statement... The BJP is known for such things that’s why we are opposing them. These people are known for intolerance. The government will take action against those who make provocative statements and spread intolerance. Nobody can threaten me,” Siddaramaiah told reporters.

The lynching of a 55-year-old Muslim man, Mohammad Ikhlaq, by a mob in Bisada village of Uttar Pradesh last month following rumours that he slaughtered a calf has brought the issue back into the limelight and triggered a wave of protests against attacks on freedom of choice.

Around 40 writers and 12 filmmakers have returned their government awards in protest against the “growing intolerance in the country” and the murders of Kannada writer and Sahitya Akademi Award winner MM Kalburgi and anti-superstition activists Narendra Dabholkar and Govind Pansare.

Over 50 historians and scientists, including Romila Thapar, Irfan Habib, KN Pannikar, Mridula Mukherjee, PM Bhargava and others have come out strongly against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, castigating him for not making any reassuring statement following concerns over the “highly vitiated atmosphere” prevailing in the country.

[irir123]

Sam Harris - as usual - nails it - http://bit.ly/1MQrbSO

I have very good friends from the Jewish and Christian communities - their personal beliefs can range from either the extreme orthodox to the extreme liberal - many of them are either ONLY culturally Jewish/Christian - meaning they celebrate Hanukkah, Chanukkah, Christmas, Easter or Rosh Hashanah - as a cultural thing - more than as a belief..

However, there is one thing that connects them all - a capacity to be rational, understanding, .. value freedom of expression, thinking positively about womens rights etc...

But the Islamic community is simply not doing enough to reform their centuries old barbaric doctrines...

There is absolutely no honest conversation amongst their educated class about why their youth is getting increasingly radicalized..

Unless a renaissance happens from within, their capacity to reform is zero/nil/zilch..

In this scenario, 1000s of refugees from Syria and Iraq - are perceived as potential threats to other countries - in fact one of the suicide bombers in the Paris attack slipped in as a refugee - already 4-5 states in the United States have said 'no' to refugees from Syria -http://abcnews.go.com/US/michigan-alabama-texas-refuse-accept-syrian-refugees-wake/story?id=35231800

http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/68...ttacks-lessons

Meanwhile, Islamic countries in the Middle-east refuse to accept Syrian refugees!

[lord_labakudoss]

Sam Harris - as usual - nails it - http://bit.ly/1MQrbSO

I have very good friends from the Jewish and Christian communities - their personal beliefs can range from either the extreme orthodox to the extreme liberal - many of them are either ONLY culturally Jewish/Christian - meaning they celebrate Hanukkah, Chanukkah, Christmas, Easter or Rosh Hashanah - as a cultural thing - more than as a belief..

However, there is one thing that connects them all - a capacity to be rational, understanding, .. value freedom of expression, thinking positively about womens rights etc...

But the Islamic community is simply not doing enough to reform their centuries old barbaric doctrines...

There is absolutely no honest conversation amongst their educated class about why their youth is getting increasingly radicalized..

Unless a renaissance happens from within, their capacity to reform is zero/nil/zilch..

In this scenario, 1000s of refugees from Syria and Iraq - are perceived as potential threats to other countries - in fact one of the suicide bombers in the Paris attack slipped in as a refugee - already 4-5 states in the United States have said 'no' to refugees from Syria -http://abcnews.go.com/US/michigan-alabama-texas-refuse-accept-syrian-refugees-wake/story?id=35231800

http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/68...ttacks-lessons

Meanwhile, Islamic countries in the Middle-east refuse to accept Syrian refugees!

Whether it is the atheists (Dawkins etc) or social commentators (Harris, Maher), what stands out is the euro-centric blinkers.
There are quite a few 'modern' states that have codified Christian law that is as misogynistic & anti-gay; but they never get mentioned.
There does exist a wide spectrum of muslims - ranging from mystical, highly tolerant ... all the way to the fanatic. It is just that the West has systematically supported the fanatic over the moderate whenever there is a civil war... Notice how the moderate muslims (in India for eg.) never get any mention at all - except as victims...

[irir123]

Whether it is the atheists (Dawkins etc) or social commentators (Harris, Maher), what stands out is the euro-centric blinkers.
There are quite a few 'modern' states that have codified Christian law that is as misogynistic & anti-gay; but they never get mentioned.
There does exist a wide spectrum of muslims - ranging from mystical, highly tolerant ... all the way to the fanatic. It is just that the West has systematically supported the fanatic over the moderate whenever there is a civil war... Notice how the moderate muslims (in India for eg.) never get any mention at all - except as victims...

Valid points - but look at what Sam Harris says - it is not about painting the 1.6 billion muslims black - its about Islam as a set of doctrines not congruent with modern humanistic values which while most Muslims may/do not blindly literally follow, several well-laid out research polls have shown majority of ppl in countries like Nigeria, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan support some very heinous practices that were in vogue centuries ago, but not anymore in a modern society - it is about dogma that has no bearing in todays world - he does not spare Christianity or Judaism either if you have read 'Letters to a Christian Nation' or 'The End of Faith'..

What is Islam in the middle-east today is what Christianity was 500 years ago.. but the two Judeo-Christian religions have moved on, constantly reforming themselves..

Here is a very recent dialog with reformist Maajid Nawaz -

[raagadevan]

So Modi has started this trend of controlling what's on your plate? Here is the true story:
http://indianexpress.com/article/exp...o-beef-nation/
Kerala, West Bengal and the North East are the only places where these are completely legal. All other states have at least some kind of restrictions on killing healthy cows. and these laws have been on the books for quite a while now...

Modi didn't start "this trend of controlling what's on your plate", but the extreme manifestations of intolerance started after Modi became the Prime Minister. The killing of an innocent man by fanatic hooligans (instigated by a temple priest), threat to decapitate the democratically elected Chief Minister of a State in the Democratic Republic of India because he said he might eat beef, and the police (controlled by the Central Government) raid of a canteen in New Delhi owned and operated by the Government of a State in India [http://www.dailymail.co.uk/indiahome...uffalo.htmlare] are some of the manifestations and examples of what appear to be "sanctioned" actions by "kar sevaks" of Modi's party.