Voice of India Features Newsletter - 01 November 2009

nov 2nd, 2009

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From: VOI Features <voi.features@vhs-net.com>
Date: Mon, Nov 2, 2009 at 12:41 AM
Subject: Voice of India Features Newsletter - 01 November 2009
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Editorial: Target & Strategy Must be Clear for Peace or War with Maoists The Editorial Team While fighting for peace or waging a war against your enemy, one has to be very sure and clear of one's strategy, objective and target. One can ill afford to grope in the dark or shoot aimlessly. To win peace, one has to be prepared for war. That is true also. A weak nation cannot usher in peace with the weapon of weakness and unclear strategy.Only two days back Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram asked the Naxal-Maoists to lay down their arms before negotiations could start. Read more... Oh, But You Do Get It Wrong! Aditi Banerjee Wendy Doniger (Mircea Eliade Distinguished Professor of the History of Religions in the Divinity School and in the Department of South Asian Languages and Civilizations at the University of Chicago) was recently interviewed in Outlook with reference to her new book, The Hindus: An Alternative History.  In the interview, she (1) falsely and unfairly brands all of her critics as right-wing Hindutva fundamentalists, and (2) grossly mischaracterizes (and misquotes) the text of the Valmiki Ramayana, calling into question her "alternative" version not just of the Ramayana, but also of Hinduism and Hindu history as a whole. Doniger's prominence and clout as a "definitive" authority in the discourse on Indian traditions and history give her views considerable significance. Read more... For 'Secularists' Our Constitution is 'Communal' Amba Charan Vashishtha Are you one among those who demand that the government should secure for the citizens of the country a uniform civil code throughout the territory of India; that Temporary, Transitional and Special Provisions.-Article 370 should not be made permanent but abrogated; or that Government take steps for preserving and improving the breeds, and prohibiting the slaughter of cows and calves? If you are, you are a rank 'communalist' by the logic of our 'secular' politicians. Whoever speaks so is dubbed as a communalist. Can wishing or demanding that the provisions of the Constitution should be solemnly honoured and dutifully implemented, in letter and spirit, be an offence under the law of the land in any civilized country, nay a democracy? Now refresh yourself with the provisions of the Constitution. Article 44 provides: "The State shall endeavour to secure for the citizens a uniform civil code throughout the territory of India". Read more... Courage is the Vehicle of the Gita Aneeta Chakrabarty Tara was the mistress of a crooked cop, yet in contrast to all the morality toting preachers, she took the witness stand and spilled the beans against the thugs who were holding the town to ransom with their nefarious network of drugs and prostitution.  Putlibhai was an illiterate, abused housewife, viciously attacked by her husband during his drunken bouts. However, in contrast to her superior, educated sisters, Publibhai organized the women of the village and burnt down the liquor shops that had destroyed their homes.  Unlike his better situated colleagues, Vivek adopted 7 orphans and gave them much needed care and attention.  And Shera, labeled a drunkard, rescued children forced into bonded labor. Many such men and women, face needles of biting sneers, yet possess an unusual courage to bear unflinchingly the darts from heaven, and rise again and again to fight blazing fires in order to make the world a better place. Read more... Sant Tulsidas and Religion of Akbar Lt. Col. (Retd.) Mahendra Mathur Tulsidas was born during the reign of Akbar to Hulsi and Atmaram Dubey in Rajpur, in Uttar Pradesh in 1532 CE. When he was a child the first word he ever uttered was "Ram" and hence he was called RamBola (literally translated to "he said Ram") by all the villagers. He married a devout and pious woman called Ratnavali. Tulsidas was extremely attached to his wife. One day his wife went to her parents' home to a neighboring town across the river Yamuna. That night, Tulsidas felt very lonely. It was a stormy night and Tulsidas, experiencing an unexplainable longing for his wife, decided that he had to see her right away.It was a dark night and it was raining heavily. Unconcerned, he took a short cut through a Shamshan, crossed the Yamuna by holding on to the tail of a crocodile, climbed the first floor bedroom of his wife with the help of a python (which he took to be a rope) and astonished Ratnavali by his presence. Read more...