Dont get misled in the name of religion...plsssss !!!!!

One of my friends had sent out a mass mail over the last weekend......some stuff which I did not agree to fully & hence wrote back with my comments. Later, I felt, I should put up the whole mail exchange here for everyone to view & comment :

Hi,

Christianity ….One Christ, One Bible Religion…
But the Latin Catholic will not enter Syrian Catholic Church. These two will not enter Marthoma Church. These three will not enter Pentecost Church. These four will not enter Salvation Army Church. These five will no enter Seventh Day Adventist Church. These six will not enter Orthodox Church. These seven will not enter Jacobite church. Like this there are 146 castes in Kerala alone for Christianity, each will never share their churches for fellow Christians! Not very nice..! One Christ, One Bible, One Jehova???

Now Muslims..! One Allah, One Quran, One Nebi....! Great unity?
Among Muslims, Shia and Sunni kill each other in all the Muslim countries. The religious riots in most Muslim countries is always between these two  sects. The Shia will not go to Sunni Mosque. These two will not go to Ahamadiya Mosque.These three will not go to Sufi Mosque. These four will not go to Mujahiddin mosque. Like this it appears there are 13 castes in Muslims.  Killing / bombing/conquering/ massacring/. .. each other !The American attack on Iraq was fully supported by all the Muslim countries surrounding Iraq !
One Allah, One Quran, One Nebi....????

Hindus -
They have 1,280 Religious Books, 10,000 Commentaries, more than one lakh sub-commentaries for these foundation books, innumerable presentations of one God, variety of Aacharyas, thousands of Rishies,  hundreds of languages. Still they all go to All other TEMPLES and they are peaceful and tolerant and seek unity with others by inviting them to worship with them whatever God they wish to pray for!
Hindus never quarreled one another for the last ten thousand years in the name of religion.

My reply :

Hi Mani,
Very well drafted, but not totally correct.
While I am a devout Hindu & take enormous pride at being one, I cannot over look the fact that we Hindus have also fought amongst ourselves in the name of religion.
The Vaishnavas worship Vishnu as the Supreme God; Shaivites worship Shiva as the supreme God; Shaktas worship Shakti or Mother Goddess & Smartas believe in the oneness of five deities, Panchadeva. There have been many clashes between the Vaishnavas & the Shaivites for supremacy.
Another bad impression has been categorising the society into four classes.
Brahmans - teachers, priests etc
Kshatriyas - warriors, kings & nobles etc
Vaishyas - merchants, businessmen, farmers etc
Shudras - labourers, servants, etc.
This classification has been so badly misunderstood & implemented that, the basic fabric of the society has been disrupted over generations & continues to do so, especially in the rural remotes of the country.

We then have the Arya Samaj, which does not believe in Idol worship. Sati Pratha - bride burning, has been another black spot in our culture.
We then have a Hindu calender, which has at least 5-6 deviations across regions.
Incidentally, even the word Hindu, in origin is a Persian word in use from the time of Moghul Empire, referring to any tradition that is native to India as opposed to Islam. The word actually is derived from the Sanskrit word Sindhu ( Indus River).
So while, we emerge from the Sanatan Dharma & follow the teachings of Advaita Vedanta, we need to put the right practices in place & correct ourselves as well.

I would like to believe that each religion, whether Christianity or Islam, has good fundamental teachings, but, its the followers who mould it to their selfish motives & make it look so unacceptable. The Bible or the Quran in their original form do not preach these differences.
I would remain a devout Hindu & pride myself for the same till my last breath, but I would also respect the base of each religion.

I just thought of putting down my personal thoughts in this as a response to your mail. Do give me your opinions !!!!

Loads of Luv,
Biprashish

Ayodhya - Time to take a Decisive & not a Divisive Stand !!!

While the whole country braces itself with mixed emotions, for one of the landmark verdicts in the recent times, The Supreme Court today afternoon, has deferred the Ayodhya verdict now till 28th Sept'10. This verdict on Ayodhya would have to tackle one of the most communally sensitive & razor edged issue - what came first, Ram Temple or Babri Masjid ???

With the Commonwealth Games fiasco keeping the administration at the Centre clueless, sleepless & taut at least for the next three weeks, its probably wise to keep the Ayodhya issue aside in the back burner. However, I am not so sure, what can be achieved by delaying the verdict by just 5 days........
As it is, there is very little chance of any proper & intelligent decision on the subject.

Let us just quickly look at the subject in question :
History says that in 1527, Babar defeated the King of Chittorgarh, Rana Sangram Singh & established the Mughal rule in the region. His general, Mir Baqi came to Ayodhya & in his endeavour to spread Islam, demolished a very popular temple of the Hindus & built a huge mosque. He named it as Babri Masjid after his emperor Babar.
Over centuries, India has been ravaged & looted by various invaders. These invaders, later, have found this land to be rich & bountiful & beautiful....enough to get lured into staying back & settling down, to gradually become one of the sons of the soil!!!!! The Moghuls were no different. They too plundered this land & carried away unfathomable quantities of riches. In their attempt to establish their religious beliefs, they decimated & demolished thousands of temples & built mosques in their place. In this case, for the Hindus, the temple which was representative of  being the Ram Janmabhoomi, is obviously a sensitive issue. There have been several attempts at both ends to establish control on the disputed land, leading to nation wide riots, chaos & political upheaval.
However, in my humble opinion, going back & forth in history is not seemingly solving the issue. While the Hindus have their legitimate right & claim to the shrine,  the Muslims also have their right to reclaim the demolished mosque. A democratic set up calls for equal status.
I am not so sure, even after five days, if the Supreme Court would decide on either side......guess, the Govt at the Centre will ensure that the verdict is delayed as long as possible, allowing time to suppress the public sentiments. Also under the garb of Secularism, they would like to protect the so called minority vote bank!!!!! This however, is a timid & weak option. An option, where, either party can take a tough stand & there is precious little one can do.

Instead of playing the cat & mouse or the blame game, I would expect someone in authority to stand and deliver.
To keep sentiments of both the communities under control, I can think of a very simple solution.
Consider this :
Let the Supreme Court, declare the disputed site as a National Monument & Heritage site. The Central Govt is then directed to bear the expenses to build a temple & a mosque outside the perimeter of the disputed land & allow followers of both communities equal access & protection. For the Hindus, Ram Janmabhoomi is a symbol plus flag bearer of the belief & sentiments for the Values that Lord Sree Ram represented through generations. So a temple signifying that in all aspects should be acceptable. For the Muslims, a mosque built is a huge step towards providing a balming effect towards the demolition of the Babri Masjid. 
Both the communities need to move forward and accept this as a major step towards National & Communal harmony. The Leaders of both the communities need to make strong & decisive impressions on their followers at large to achieve a long term success. Such a stand, in my mind, would certainly have mass appeal & approval.
There would be obvious detractors from both sides, who have narrow individualistic & selfish demands, but we as a Nation need to overbear them & make a decisive & not a divisive statement.

As a Nation, we need to move on & look at more developmental activities which deserve immediate attention. So as a conscientious Indian, I implore with folded hands, Can someone from within the Power Bearers of the Country today come forward & Walk the Talk......once & for all.

I would be happy to start a discussion / debate on this with the objective of reaching a positive conclusion.

Jai Hind !!!!!

Commonwealth Games 2010 - Scam to Sham to Shame !!!

The writing was clear for a few months now, but no one seemed to take any corrective measure. We all lived in the trust that, finally everything will be in order.

Remember the story of four friends : Everybody, Somebody, Anybody & Nobody. There was an important job to be done & Everybody was sure that Somebody would do it. Anybody could have done it, but Nobody did it. Somebody got angry as it was Everybody's job. Everybody thought Anybody could do it, but No body realised that Everybody would'nt do it. It ended with Everybody blaming Somebody, when Nobody did what Anybody could have done.

Over the past few months, almost every day the country would hear TV channels & newspapers screaming at the ensuing scams that were coming out of the hatchet......scams that would put the whole country to shame.....Mr Kalmadi & his cohorts have kept on fleecing unknown sums of money, in every conceivable & inconceivable ways, while CWG preparations kept going downhill......minor & major accidents, missing deadlines, blatant corruption, while the officials keep passing the buck & the blame from one to the other, as we head towards a probable disaster, the ramification & damaging effect of which the Govt or the CWG officials don't seem to fathom.

With just eleven days to go for the start of the event, buildings are leaking, ceilings are collapsing, bridges crashing down. With just hours left for the sports persons from across the world to arrive, the rooms & apartments remain filthily incomplete & shamelessly unlivable. The CWG village looks like a dark blotch.

Mrs Sheila Dikshit, the Delhi CM, sheepishly puts the blame on the rains for the delay in preparations, calling all of this as minor glitches; Lalit Bhanot, OC Secretary General comes up with bizarre explanations, "its not such a big issue which we should be ashamed of....westerners have different standards of hygiene than us !!!!"; BK Chugh, Dir Gen CPWD puts the blame on some walking on the catwalk & displacing tiles!!!; Urban Development Minister, Jaipal Reddy feels that the issues are blown out of proportions, Mike Cooper, CGF Chief, looks red on the face answering the media with a stern "no comments, leave me alone please". The callous attitude of the officials has reached unbelievable proportions.

The man in question, Mr Suresh Kalmadi, the CWG Chief, seems to have gone underground.....someone who had proudly promised that this event would be the best Commonwealth event ever.
While Mr Suresh Kalmadi plots his next shameful move in a shameful hiding over the past two days, top notch participating countries like Canada, UK, Scotland, New Zealand, Australia & others are seriously considering pulling out of the event, due to the shocking & outrageous state of affairs. Delegates across all these nations are clearly miffed & aghast.

70,000 crores INR of Indian exchequer has been officially spent in preparation of this event & we have moved from Scams to Sham to Shame.....People of India are outraged...shocked & embarrassed...... we have become a laughing stock in front of the whole world.......Its a shame, its a mess, its a humiliation, its a national calamity......Who will take this responsibility ????
Mr Kalmadi or Mrs Dikshit or Mt Lalit Bhanot or Mr Jaipal Reddy or Mr MS Gill....who, who, who who???? Can the PM's office step in with a recovery ?? Can we do something to save our face??????

PS : Breaking news - "Suresh Kalmadi tried to hang himself & the ceiling collapsed !!!!".....Can we even laugh????????????????