Muslims and Buddhists clash in Myanmar and Sri Lanka

By: Parmanand Pandey

The news of clash between Muslims and Buddhists in Myanmar and Sri Lanka seems to be quite strange because it is alleged that Buddhists are leading the attacks and vandalism. If it is so—it is really condemnable and needs to be curbed with iron hands. It is strange in the sense because Muslims across the world are known for picking up the quarrels and taking advantage of the troubled waters. It is all the more surprising because Buddhists are known for their placid, meek and docile behaviour. It is the culture of tolerance and non-violence that is inculcated among them from the cradle and they carry it to their cremation.

Muslims, on the contrary, refuse to gel with any other community. They consider it an onslaught on their religion and refuse to compromise their identity to live with others following the philosophy of co-existence. It may be remembered that many years ago the Kashmiri Hindus had requested the Muslims to observe one day in the year as non-meat eating day on Krishna Janmashtami. This gesture of Muslims could have gone a long way in cementing the ties between both communities. A Muslim clergy (leader) took offence to this appeal and he responded to it by openly slaughtering a cow on the chauraha (the cross road) of Lal Chowk of Srinagar. They (Muslims) defied the appeal of Hindus in other parts of the state also because they thought that paying any heed to the request or entreaty of other religionist is nothing less than an insult to their credo or belief. If this is their belief, it needs no comment because it is self-speaking about their religion and character.

This is the reason that they have become a thorn in flesh of most of democratic countries of the world, be it America, England, Canada, France or Germany.

This religion is a closed religion. It refuses to amend or reform with the passage of time. Muslims think and remain complacent in the sufficiency of Quran as far as the knowledge is concerned. Enquiry and interpretation is anathema to it. This is possibly one of the main reasons why Islamists are at loggerheads with every other religionist around the world. Wherever they are in majority, they consider it their duty as ordained by their religion to convert the minority religionists to their fold by force, fraud, cheating and duress. But wherever they are in minority, they make hue and cry of human rights violation and also of the 'Islam is in danger'. This double edged policy of theirs has made them suspicious in the eyes of the other religionists. Moreover, they say that there is no concept of nationhood in their religion. They owe allegiance to the Islamic brotherhood without caring even two hoots for their neighours, co-linguists and compatriots. They will denounce the science if it infringes even a little bit in their beliefs but never hesitate to use it for aggravating the crisis for others with the help of modern weapons and equipment.

However, all said and done, Muslims must enjoy their freedom to the hilt and any curtailment in their religious rights must be deprecated. At the same time Muslims must also understand that like them others freedom need to be honoured and protected and not to be interfered. Once they understand this spirit, there would hardly be any scope of clash and harassment of any one in the society irrespective of the religion. But Muslims must go for self-introspection and learn to live in peace and harmony with others.

Any Award to Lalu will amount an insult to people

By Parmanand pandey  (25-05-2009)

Lalu Prasad Yadav, when he was the Chief Minister of Bihar used to brag, ‘Jab tak hai somese me aaloo, tab tak rahega Bihar me Lalu (So long the Samosas are made of potatoes, Bihar will be ruled by Lalu). He had many times said that he would rule Bihar for at least twenty five years. When he shifted from Bihar to Delhi after getting his wife saddled as the Chief Minister of the State he boasted number of times inside and outside Parliament that one day he would certainly become the Prime Minster of India.
One may recollect that when Lalu was returned to power in Bihar for the third consecutive time he had pooh-poohed the idea of development in the State. He even ridiculed the theory of modernisation, computerisation and developmental activities of Chandrababu Naidu of Andhra Pradesh who had got drubbings at the assembly elections by saying that if the development had been the criterion of popularity in the people, then Naidu should not have got battered. This was his way of expressing contempt for the development.
Anybody, who talked of making Bihar a vibrant and developed state, was made the butt of jukes by Lalu. He had said many times that only illiterates and poor people vote for him; therefore, there was no need for education and alleviation of poverty from the state. Thus he actively and deliberately perpetuated the poverty and deprivation in Bihar. So much so; he used to gleefully enjoy the humiliation of Biharis, who stepped out their State to earn their livelihood in other states.
A person, who considered himself the product of the movement got himself immersed, head over shoulder, in corruption of every conceivable type, be it fodder scam or asphalt scam or misappropriation of flood relief fund. He sucked Bihar white for his insatiable greed of accumulating wealth. He ran the state of Bihar as his fiefdom without any sense of shame or guilt. Claiming himself to be a socialist he indulged in terrible casteism and rank opportunism in most brazen and arrogant style. He was tried in the court of law in some cases and was even sent to jail more than once but the thick skinned Lalu, as he is, boasted as if the jail going in corruption cases was a badge of honour. While going to jail; the way he handed over the baton of Chief Ministership to his unlettered house wife, Rabri Devi, amounted to heaping insult on the people of the State in particular and the democratic polity of the country in general. In any other democratic country, he would have been languishing in jail and faced the wrath of the public but he, with the support of spineless leaders like Inder Kumar Gujral, whose ascendancy to the post of the Prime Minister ship of India was slur on the country, got his wife sworn in as the Chief Minister of the second largest state of the country. It was the darkest period of the country that a self seeker like Gujral could rise to the level of the Prime Minister of the country without any qualification, struggle or ideology. He, verily, brought disrepute to the exalted post of the Prime Minister ship. It is said, that it was Gujral who suggested Lalu to install his wife as the Chief Minster of Bihar. What a shame!
Now Lalu Prasad Yadav’s bluff and bravado has been exposed in the last Parliamentary elections. The People of Bihar have rejected him lock stock and barrel. Any attempt by him or his corrupt supporters to get him awarded with a ministerial berth at the centre would again be an insult to the people of Bihar. This is the time his corrupt deeds, irregularities in Bihar as well as in the Railway Ministry should be thoroughly enquired into and made public. And he must be tried in fair and objective manner by the court of law. If he is found guilty he should get stern punishment. This will help restore the people’s faith in democracy and neck-deep corrupt politicians like him would, undoubtedly, be deterred from plundering the public money and treat the power as their fiefs. A good lesson indeed!

MF Hussain's Act is Disgrace to Freedom and Liberty

By Parmanand Pandey  (03-03-2010)

It is really shocking and unfortunate that MF Hussain, a famous painter has, with his own volition; decided to relinquish the Indian citizenship to become the citizen of Qatar, an Islamic country, where freedom of expression is as removed as the sky is from the earth. As a matter of fact, singing, dancing and painting is anti-Islamic and satanic because they supposedly cause deviation from worship. That is why, it is beyond anybody's imagination that a person like MF Hussain, who claims to be the votary of freedom of expression would salivate for the citizenship of a tyrannical and intolerant country. This shows that his advocacy for freedom and speech and expression is not only phoney but a complete trash. He has proved to be a suspect by his conduct.

India, by all means; a country of liberal and tolerant society, has made him what he is. His works have been admired and eulogised not by Muslims but Hindu intellectuals, although his works are of very ordinary and average standards. There are hardly two opinions that most of the Hindu intellectuals have often gone overboard in praising the works of MF Hussain; not because they are good connoisseurs of art but because they suffer from acute inferiority syndrome. The purpose of this piece, however; is not to assess and evaluate the paintings of MF Husain but to nail his lies that he is a secular and strives for freedom. One question has always remained unanswered why does he relish in paining nude only Hindu Gods and Goddesses. Accepted, that imaging of Prophet Mohammed would be a blasphemy but why could he not paint others as he did in the case of Mrs. Indira Gandhi? And if his nude painting of Hindu deities are objected; then Mr. Hussain tries to adopt the specious logic of freedom of expression. Does it not show his mala fides and duplicity? He also cites that example of temples of mediaeval times, where there are plenty of exotic frescoes on the walls but he conveniently forgets that those carvings are not of deities.

Now when he has accepted the citizenship of an Islamic state, his intentions become abundantly clear that it is more to offend and hurt the religious feelings and sensibilities of Hindus than to espouse the cause of art and culture. There are some newspapers, intellectuals and politicians of India, who have become so blind with irrationality that they do not have any sense of shame left in them that they consider this act of MF Hussain as a shame for Indians. In fact, it is the other way round and should be a matter of shame for MF Hussain that he has decided to forego the citizenship of the country of his birth and which has given him so much including the prestigious membership of the Rajya Sabha but now he is unabashedly maligning the same motherland. He has, undoubtedly; let this country down. It is an affront to the civic society. If he had gone to settle in any democratic and civilised country, then it could have mitigated his misdemeanours and misconduct to some extent. But the drama and ruckus that he has created in preference to an Islamic country betrays his hatred and disliking for the culture and values of India. This is shameful indeed and he deserves to be squarely condemned, derided and deprecated in Gandhian way of non-violence. Those who support this reprehensible act of MF Hussain's are no better than senseless and insane people.

SACK JUSTICE KATJU FROM THE PCI

By: Parmanand Pandey

Justice Markanday Katju, most of the times, makes an ass of himself by his totally unconvincing, illogical, partisan and ridiculous statements. Right from the time he has become the Chairman of the Press Council of India he has developed the unquenchable thirst for publicity for right or wrong reasons and that is why he often issues silly statements on almost all subjects under the sun. People are now so fed up with his blabbering that do not hesitate in calling him ‘megalomaniac’ and ‘vagabond’ etc. These epithets, which are attributed to him, are entirely of his own creation.

Go to the Bar of the Supreme Court of India and one will come across with many distinguished lawyers, who would vouchsafe that while on the Bench he was not known for the formidable knowledge of law or elegance of the language of the judgments but for his acid and sarcastic comments, which were invariably uncalled for. Many lawyers used to sit in his court rooms, even if they had no cases listed for hearings, for the free entertainment that used to flow from the Bench of Justice Katju.

His article on Narendra Modi that was published in the Hindu was not only in bad taste but also unbecoming of the person, who holds a high statutory post and was once the judge of the Apex Court of country. When the protests started coming thick and fast from across the country, he tried to slink out by saying that the article was written in his personal capacity and not in the capacity of the Chairman of the Press Council of India. It is nothing but a vain effort to befool the public. I am sure he must be aware of the fact that nobody would have taken notice of his statements and articles if he was not the Chairman of the Press Council of India.

Now his recent statement on Sanjay Datt has come as a rude shock to every law-abiding, well-meaning and conscientious citizen of the country. He appeared to be in the tearing hurry of issuing a statement on Sanjay affair which could create controversy and he might be able to reap the resultant dividend of publicity and for that he would not mind doing anything and everything. He has, needlessly, been advocating for Governor’s mercy to Sanjay Datt and the logic which he advances in his plea is atrocious and bereft of any plausible reasoning.

Surprisingly, he issued his statement for clemency to Sanjay Datt even before the ink of the Apex Court Judgment had dried and well before the same could put on the official web-site of the Supreme Court of India. In his haste to please his masters he forgot to check his facts that under which provisions of the Constitution of India the clemency  in such types of cases could be sought for by any convict from the President of India.

I am sure if he had taken some trouble to go through the judgment of the Supreme Court, he would certainly have come to know that the punishment meted out to Sanjay Datt is fully justified and based on proper interpretation of law and jurisprudence. It may be noted that his confessional statements, which he retracted after many months, would make it as clear as the day-light that he (Sanjay Datt) was guilty on many counts and he is not at all as innocent as his drum beaters are trying to make out. It is good that he has himself said that he would neither file the Review Petition in the Supreme Court nor send any petition before the President of India to be pardoned.

Any clemency, therefore, to Sanjay Datt would prove counter-productive and people would lose all faith in the judicial system as well as in the executive that both work overtime for the rich and resourceful person while poor man is allowed to rot to his fate. It would be, in fact, in the fitness of things that any talk of clemency or pardon for Sanjay Datt should be put to permanent rest and loose talkers like Katju must be snubbed.

In all fairness, Mr. Katju should resign from the post of the Chairman of the Press Council of India and indulge into the politics by joining the party of his grandfather K.N. Katju i.e. the Indian National Congress. However, in case he does not resign, which I am sure he will not, then the government would do service to the country and the people by immediately sacking him.