Messages from Old Boys 37

Msg from Atul
Coming to the article. To sell themselves media does not realize the consequences that it can have on the people involved, this in the name of highlighting crime towards Humanity not with the purpose of actually highlighting but with the purpose of finding more audience thus more revenues. “We are not Holier then Thou” and our media likes to focus on one off incidents by highlighting them to such an extent where the actual incidents get camouflaged and the real issue get side tracked. All these articles are subjective and the rat race by the media only gets murkier.

Don’t you think, Pollution, Environment, heart diseases, etc are bigger threats then all these terrorists or religious fundamentalists put together? That we highlight so much about. Don’t you think this is a bigger killer then anything else?
Msg from Peter Remedios

Very few of us have the intelligence or social position to talk about most issues so I will keep my comments to myself but give you some food for thought by Karan Thapar...Please read and be enlightened !! ...and lets keep Religion out of blogs and message groups !!
Subject: Who's the real Hindu?- Karan Thapar, Hindustan times..

Who's the real Hindu?
Karan Thapar, Hindustan Times
August 30, 2008

Does the VHP have the right to speak for you or I? Do they reflect
our views? Do we endorse their behaviour? They call themselves the
Vishwa Hindu Parishad, but who says they represent all of us? This
Sunday morning, I want to draw a clear line of distinction between
them and everyone else. My hunch is many of you will agree.

Let me start with the question of conversion - an issue that greatly
exercises the VHP. I imagine there are hundreds of millions of
Hindus who are peaceful, tolerant, devoted to their faith, but above
all, happy to live alongside Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists,
Jains and Jews. If any one of us were to change our faith how does
it affect the next man or woman? And even if that happens with
inducements, it can only prove that the forsaken faith had a tenuous
and shallow hold. So why do the VHP and its unruly storm troopers,
the Bajrang Dal, froth at the mouth if you, I or our neighbours
convert? What is it to do with them? Let me put it bluntly, even
crudely.

If I want to sell my soul and trade in my present gods for a new
lot, why shouldn' t I? Even if the act diminishes me in your eyes,
it's my right to do so. So if thousands or even millions of Dalits,
who have been despised and ostracised for generations, choose to
become Christian, Buddhist or Muslim, either to escape the
discrimination of their Hindu faith or because some other has lured
them with food and cash, it' s their right. Arguably you may believe
you should ask them to reconsider, although I would call that
interference, but you certainly have no duty or right to stop them.

In fact, I doubt if you are morally correct in even seeking to place
obstacles in their way. The so-called Freedom of Religion Acts,
which aim to do just that, are, in fact, tantamount to obstruction of
conversion laws and therefore, at the very least, questionable.

However, what' s even worse is how the VHP responds to this matter.
Periodically they resort to violence including outright murder. What
happened to Graham Staines in Orissa was not unique. Last week it
happened again. Apart from the utter and contemptible criminality of
such behaviour, is this how we Hindus wish to behave? Is this how we
want our faith defended? Is this how we want to be seen? I have no
doubt the answer is no. An unequivocal, unchanging and ever-lasting
NO!

The only problem is it can' t be heard. And it needs to be. I
therefore believe the time has come for the silent majority of Hindus?
Both those who ardently practice their faith as well as those who
were born into it but may not be overtly religious or devout? to
speak out. We cannot accept the desecration of churches, the burning
to death of innocent caretakers of orphanages, the storming of
Christian and Muslim hamlets even if these acts are allegedly done in
defence of our faith. Indeed, they do not defend but shame Hinduism.
That's my central point. I' m sorry but when I read that the VHP has
ransacked and killed I' m not just embarrassed, I feel ashamed.
Never of being hindu but of what some Hindus do in our shared faith's
name.

This is why it's incumbent on Naveen Patnaik, Orissa' s Chief
Minister, to take tough, unremitting action against the VHP and its
junior wing, the Bajrang Dal. This is a test not just of his
governance, but of his character. And I know and accept this could
affect his political survival. But when it' s a struggle between
your commitment to your principles and your political convenience is
there room for choice? For ordinary politicians, possibly, but for
the Naveen I know, very definitely not.

So let me end by saying: I' m waiting, Naveen. In fact, I want to
say I' m not alone. There are hundreds of millions of Hindus, like you
and me, waiting silently? but increasingly impatiently. Please act for
all of us.