Na Mo unites .... Indian legislators petition US... ?!?!?!?

Every  morning old and poor people gather before the State Secretariat – they come travelling miles – they carry a written petition representing their grievance and seek the Sovereign authority to redress their grievances.. perfect – in a democracy, one needs to present their woes before the appropriate authorities and can expect them to addressed and redressed…. But will somebody stand before the US Embassy or Russian embassy wanting to submit a petition ~ may sound ridiculous – only when they are ordinary citizens….

USA is anathema to many political parties especially the Communists here… to some most global events are consequence of US Imperialism, autocracy, monopolistic hegemony and more…. ‘anti-people attitude’ – we condemn, we condemn…… is the slogan raised in many such platforms. To almost all of them there is another anathema – ‘Narendra Modi’…….

The idea was to cause embarrassment to Narendra Modi in perpetuity. It ended up embarrassing those who tried to ensure that he does not get a US visa instead. The Indian American Muslim Council (IAMC) which campaigned for a letter from Indian lawmakers against Modi and supposedly obtained their signatures, real or cut-and-paste, surely has left a lot of MPs red faced according to this report in First Post.  The controversy around the current letter, bearing signatures of 25 Rajya Sabha members and 40 from the Lok Sabha, first sent to Obama on 26 November, then on 5 December last year and re-sent on Sunday is because of its content. It says: “We wish to respectfully urge you to maintain the current policy of denying Mr Modi a visa to the United States”.

Adding to their discomfiture is a Washington Post story which begins by saying: “It is almost unthinkable that Indian lawmakers would appeal to the United States to take a stand on an internal matter. Most Indian politicians, many of whom still nurse a Cold War-era suspicion of Washington, would bristle at the very thought of it.”

CPM leader and Rajya Sabha member Sitaram Yechury immediately denied  that he signed on any such letter. He appeared to be at discomfort on being publicised as being a co-author of a letter that was addressed to the American President to respectfully urge him to intervene in a domestic political and legal issue. DMK MP KP Ramalingam followed Yechury in issuing a denial. “I have not signed any letter to the US regarding Narendra Modi’s visa. I am not a US Senator. I am a Rajya Sabha MP. Why would I interfere in their things,” he said. But then the man behind the campaign, Mohammed Adeeb, Independent Rajya Sabha member, claims that it was duly signed by Yechury and others. CPI MP Sayeed Aziz, too, claims that the signatures on the letter by Yechury and other leaders are authentic.

Many thanks to Firstpost for this newsitem and here is the one of Washington Post reproduced click here to read the original : Indian legislators petition US

NEW DELHI – It is almost unthinkable that Indian lawmakers would appeal to the United States to take a stand on an internal matter. Most Indian politicians, many of whom still nurse a Cold War-era suspicion of Washington, would bristle at the very thought of it. It couldn’t have been easy, then, for 65 members of India’s parliament to fax a letter to President Obama on Sunday requesting that his government not grant a visa to thecontroversial Hindu nationalist politician Narendra Modi, the chief minister of the state of Gujarat. The lawmakers had sent the same letter last year as well.

Modi is emerging as the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party’s likely candidate for prime minister in the national elections next year. But he has been accused by international human rights groups of looking the other way when Hindu-Muslim religious violence paralyzed his state in 2002. Over 1,000 people died in the riots, most of them Muslims. After widespread criticism, the U.S. denied him a visa to visit in 2005.

Within India, Modi’s political stature has risen since the 2002 Gujarat violence. He’s seen as pro-business and his state hosts the factories of U.S. companies such as Ford and General Motors. At a time when the national government headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is plagued by corruption allegations, Modi’s reputation for administrative efficiency is serving him well. He has not expressed regret for the riots and has said that the charges against him are politically motivated.

Many European nations have renewed ties with him.

Earlier this week, the president of Modi’s party, Rajnath Singh, told reporters in New York that he will urge Washington to reconsider the visa denial. That prompted the group of lawmakers who had earlier written Obama to once again send their letter, which they released to the Indian media on Tuesday.

“We wish to respectfully urge you to maintain the current policy of denying Mr. Modi a visa to the United States,” said the letter, signed by mostly Muslim lawmakers from several parties, including the ruling Congress Party. “Given that legal cases against the culprits including many senior officials in Mr. Modi’s administration are still pending in the court of law, any revoking of the ban at this juncture would be seen as a dismissal of the issues concerning Mr. Modi’s role in the horrific massacres of 2002. It would legitimize Mr. Modi’s human rights violations and seriously impact the nature of US-India relations by sending a message that the United States values economic interests over and above the universal values of human rights and justice.”

The Times Now television news channel ran a primetime debate on Tuesday titled, “Is it appropriate for Indian politicians to drag their fight with Modi to Washington’s court?”

Jay Narayan Vyas, a senior colleague of Modi in the Gujarat government, said it was like “washing dirty linen outside the country.”

“Please maintain national dignity, we are the largest democracy in the world,” said former diplomat Gopalaswami Parthasarathy

On Twitter, it fueled humor.

Sure it appears total contradiction of parties who claim on every platform that US interferes, meddles and forces its way into the affairs of every country… but they plead to the sovereign country going against the very principle that they campaign….

If they had signed without even caring to see to whom the petition was addressed or without reading the contents – the statement itself speak volumes of their action…..

If they had not signed or had their signatures been forged, it would only be appropriate that they institute legal action against those misusing their signature….

Will any of this happen ? 

Priest promises job and cheats 3 women........... !!!

Priest promises jobs to 3 women, cheats them of 2L

Today there is an article in Times of India titled ‘Priest promises jobs to 3 women, cheats them of 2L’  ~ though one can technically defend, this is one misleading caption………… Whosoever be it, anyone committing a mistake must be punished ~ more so, when crimes are committed by people whom the society consider to be pious, good at heart and as serving the society !!!

Sadly, Hinduism is under attack in the media and by many people ~ who throw stones without even caring to know the basics and for people like them, headlines like these are fodder….. this news can and could easily be misinterpreted to mean that some priest of a hindu temple had committed some serious harm……. Now first read the news item before forming any opinion…….

Times News Network : Chennai: A 35-year-old priest, who had cheated three women of several lakhs with promises of jobs in the central government, the state secretariat and under the ‘Amma thittam’, was arrested on Wednesday.

The priest, Ezhilarasan of Peravallur in north Chennai, was introduced to the victims through Rebecca of GKM Colony. She took Ezhilarasan to the houses of the victims in the same area to pray for their wellbeing. Once he came to know of their problems, he promised attractive jobs for them or their family members, claiming that he had a lot of political influence. His first victim was Sudarmathi, who was desperately looking for a job for her brother. He promised the youth a good placement in Southern Railway and took Rs 1.6 lakh and a one-sovereign gold chain from her, a police officer said. He similarly took Rs 60,000 from Saroja, with the promise of a job in a government hospital, and Rs 10,000 from a woman named Latha after telling her he would get her a job in a bank.

Believing him, the victims arranged the money by pledging their gold jewellery or borrowing from private financiers, said an investigating officer. “For a while, the victims did not suspect any foul play as he always sounded confident,” said a senior police officer. They lodged complaints with police only after he neither got them the promised jobs nor repaid the money. Ezhilarasan, who is married with three children, had been staying in Mathur since May. He is also suspected to have cheated job aspirants in other areas like Otteri. More complaints are likely to be lodged against the priest, police said.

Sources reveal that he was not employed in any of the Hindu temples….. English dictionary gives synonyms to the Father / Preacher in a Church as : Chaplain, clergyperson, cleric, curate, divine, ecclesiastic, elder,father confessor, friar,holy man, lama, man of God, man of the cloth, monk, padre, pontiff, preacher, rector,vicar, Bishop, Curate……………….

In Hindu temples the Pujari / Archagar is  commonly referred to as  ‘Priest’ in English media…….in Sanskrit / Hindu, they are Purohit / Pandits………

Rest is left to your imagination and understanding… !!!

HR&CE bans laying of granite in temples.... what happened in Sri Parthasarathi Swami temple ????

A few months back, the decision of  Temple authorities saddened the ardent devotees.   There were  continuing protests at Thiruvallkeni at the puranic Sri Parthasarathi Swami Temple, a divyadesam sung by 3 Azhwars.  The authorities  placed black granite in the inner prakaram over the black stone, which became  a hindrance with devotees finding it too hot to step on and too slippery when it rains.  Not caring for the aesthetic design nor for the time-old traditions, the authorities  erected structure covering the place fully, which prevented the devotees from having darshan of the Sacred Vimana. There  were loud protests and signature campaign, procession and more.

The residents of Triplicanes and the devotees who throng the sacred Temple expressed  their pain and anguish in peaceful democratic protests ~ nothing fell in the ear of authorities.  Janata Party leader Sri Subramaniya Swami too visited the temple lending his support.   As the peaceful efforts failed,  a section of devotees filed a petition before the Hon’ble court.

The authorities stated in the Court that what was constructed was a semi-permanent structure and with the powers that be the petition was dismissed much to the anguish of everyone.

Today it is reported in Dinamalar that HR &CE has banned affixing granite slabs inside the temples under its administration……. Does this not amount tacit acceptance of what they did in Thiruvallikkeni Sri Parthasarathi Swami Temple was wrong ?????

கோவில்களில் வழவழப்பான கிரானைட் பதிக்க தடை

பதிவு செய்த நாள் : ஜூலை 07,2013,00:35 IST

கிரானைட் கற்கள் பதிக்கப்பட்ட, கோவில் உட்பிரகாரத்தில் வலம் வரும் பக்தர்கள், மழை காலங்களில், வழுக்கி விழுவதை தவிர்க்க, கோவில்களில், வழவழப்பான கிரானைட் கற்களை பதிக்க தடை விதிக்கப்பட்டுள்ளது. 

தமிழகம் முழுவதும், இந்து சமய அறநிலையத்துறையின் கட்டுப்பாட்டின் கீழ், 30 ஆயிரத்துக்கும் மேற்பட்ட கோவில்கள் உள்ளன. கோவில்களின் வருமானம் மற்றும் பக்தர்களின் வருகைக்கு ஏற்ப, அடிப்படை வசதி உள்ளிட்டவற்றில், பல மேம்பாட்டு பணி மேற்கொள்ளப்பட்டு வருகிறது.

பெரும்பாலான முதல் நிலை மற்றும் இரண்டாம் நிலை கோவில்களின், தரை தளம் பல ஆண்டு பழமை வாய்ந்தவை. கோவில் நிர்வாகம் சார்பில், அடிக்கடி, பராமரிப்பு பணி மேற்கொள்ளப்படுவது வழக்கம். கிரானைட் வருகைக்கு பிறகு, பெரும்பாலான கோவில் களில், கட்டுமான பணிகளில், அதிகளவு கிரானைட் பயன்படுத்தப்பட்டு வருகிறது. கிரானைட் கற்களை எளிதில் துடைத்து சுத்தம் செய்து விட முடியும் என்பதால், கோவிலின் உட்பிரகாரத்துக்குள் நுழையும் வழித்தடம் முதல், பக்தர்கள் வலம் வரும் உட்பிரகாரம் வரை, அனைத்தும், கிரானைட் மயமாகி வருகிறது. வயதான மற்றும் பெற்றோருடன் கோவிலுக்கு வரும் குழந்தைகள், அடிக்கடி வழவழப்பான கிரானைட் கற்களில் கீழே விழுந்து விடுகின்றனர். குறிப்பாக, மழைக்காலங்களில், உட்பிரகாரத்தில் வலம் வரும்போது, பக்தர்கள் கீழே விழுந்து, கடும் சிரமத்துக்குள்ளாகி வருகின்றனர்.

இந்நிலையில், இந்து சமய அறநிலையத்துறையின் கீழ், கோவில்களுக்கு அதிரடி உத்தரவு ஒன்று பிறப்பிக்கப்பட்டுள்ளது. அதில், "கிரானைட் கற்கள் மீது நடந்து வரும் பக்தர்கள், குறிப்பாக முதியவர்கள், அடிக்கடி கீழே விழுந்து விடுகின்றனர். வரும் காலங்களில், கோவில் கட்டுமான பணிகளில், கோவில் உட்பிரகாரத்தில், வழவழப்பான கிரானைட் கற்களை பதிப்பதற்கு பதிலாக, வழவழப்பு குறைந்த, சொர சொரப்பான கிரானைட் கற்களை பதிக்க வேண்டும்' என, தெரிவிக்கப்பட்டுள்ளது.

http://www.dinamalar.com/news_detail.asp?id=751412