All-community meet to restore peace in Kandhamal On Oct 2

The meeting, attended by representatives of Hindus, Christians, tribals and Scheduled Castes, decided to hold a district-level peace rally on Gandhi Jayanthi day.

Top officials of the government, including Secretary of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe Development Department, Taradatt, and Kandhamal District Collector Krishan Kumar, attended the meeting. Representatives of various non-governmental organisations were also present. ...more

Nun was gang raped and priest brutally assaulted in Kandhamal

Parvathi Menon  The Hindu   September 30, 2008

FIRs lodged but no arrests by State government; no response from Centre; Sister Nirmala wrote to CM and PM appealing for protection to Christians

The Orissa government has failed to take any action, under the law of the land, against those who committed bestial crimes — the gang rape of a 28-year-old Catholic nun and the brutal attack on a Catholic priest who courageously resisted their attempts to force him to participate in the atrocity.  ...more 

 Sister Nirmala, head of the Mother Teresa's Missionaries writes to  CM and PM

Church in India Under Attack 

We are paying a heavy price for our blind faith in the Congress. 

George Menezes in Hindustan Times

First, the Christian church is fragmented. I use the word ‘Christian’ to include all her denominations. There are thousands of churches all over India and there is no authority to unite and speak on their behalf. Even the well-organised Catholic church consists of three rites and a host of disparate organisations of the laity. Efforts to set up a body for broad consultation within the church have not borne fruit yet.

Second, the community is fragmented. Despite the tremendous activism of the laity, Christian lay organisations are unable to present a single front. They try to upstage each other, ride piggyback on others’ successes and criticise each other publicly.

When the nuns in Gajraula were raped, we called George Fernandes, then the Minister for Railways. The next day he took AICU members in his jeep and visited the nuns to assuage their fears. It did not matter that the Janata Dal was in power. Neither did it matter that he was a Mangalorean and the nuns and AICU leaders were not. Today, the scenario has changed. We are paying a heavy price for our blind faith in the Congress. We have not lobbied with other major parties and we have openly declared our hostility to the BJP.

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Media is Unfair to Azamgarh, a place known for Hindu-Muslim unity

“A news channel is frequently referring to Azamgarh as ‘aatank-garh’ (haven for terrorists). This is ridiculous. For God’s sake, please stop this madness,”frets a visibly upset Zahid, elder brother of Sajid, one of the two boys gunned down in Jamia Nagar. “Azamgarh has never witnessed any communal violence or major crime. Suddenly it is seen as a terror haven,”says Shibli College principal Md Iftikhar Ahmed . 

“Azamgarh was peaceful even during the post-Independence communal riots,” says former MP Santosh Singh.  

MediaWatch: Media is Unfair to Azamgarh, a place known for Hindu-Muslim unity

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It's time for the 'silent majority' to speak up: T V R Shenoy

If Hindus are required to respect other religions then it must be a two-way street. And, frankly, there is nothing so utterly disrespectful as proselytisation.

One can understand -- and respect -- conversion. If an individual chooses to change his faith after struggling with his convictions, so be it. But going around asking others to convert, with none-too-subtle overtones of 'My God is better than your god!' is not respect but hostility. And that, let us be honest, is the tone adopted by some Christian missionaries in India.

Once again, I believe that this is not true of most Indian Christians. This country has had a long history of Christians -- Catholic, Protestant, Mar Thoma Syrian Christians -- living perfectly amicably without feeling any need to convert their Hindu neighbours.

Read it all Sphere: Related Content

Onam 2008

Onam Sermon Gurukul 2008

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 Onam A Story of Aryan – Dravidian conflict.

Gurukul Colege is celebrating Onam on September 26th.2008, for convenience, though Thiruonam has been already celebrated  on September 12th.  There are several stories about Onam:

There is a little tradition of Onam known only in Onattukara, the land of Onam,  areas in and around Mavelikara (land of Maveli or Mahabali). The little tradition is that Maveli has been a Buddhist King of  Onattukara, where even today remnants of Buddhist culture is present.  However, the more  popular tradition is that Mahabali has been  an Asura  (demonized!) King who could not keep the promise he made to Vamana, the incarnation of  Vishnu. He was therefore sent to Patala, the netherworld,  from where he was permitted by Vishnu to visit his former subjects on the day of Thiruonam. in Chingam, the first month of the Malayalam Era.  Only in Thrikkakara, near Kochi, which is the earliest stronghold of Brahminism inKerala, Vamana is worshipped. In Sabarimala, which has Buddhist links, Onam is celebrated with Palapayasam., a popular Onam delicacy  prepared with rice and milk. The word Onam itself might have derived from annam, rice, and oonu or onavakam (Tamil), a rice meal, a feast. In most places it is a secular harvest festival, unrelated to any temple ritual.

 Maha Bali, a mighty prince,  symbolizes Great Sacrifice. He has performed a Great sacrifice for his country and in turn had to sacrifice his own life for the values he held dear. He was an ideal king under whose rule there was utmost peace and justice, without any corruption or discrimination, everyone enjoying freedom.  Kerala Christianity which has also got Buddhist connection refers to the Holy Communion, Qurbana, as Great Scrifice, Bali. The title of the great Chera King who abdicated his throne is  Perumal, an allusion to Greatness.  Cheras, the princes of the  Cheramar tribe who were the indegenous people of Kerala, whose descendents are now known as Kuravas,  most probably contributed Kerala its name. Certainly the story of Onam, the great feast, is a  remembrance  of a life of freedom and plenty.

EnteRajyam Kerala: 

Read more on Onam, more

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Advani for conversion debate but against ban on conversions

Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha L.K. Advani today called for a national debate on religious conversion, even as he rejected the idea of imposing a ban on conversion.Advani said he has discussed the issue with religious leaders and bishops and all have supported the idea of a national debate and inter-religious dialogue.

“However, a campaign against conversion cannot and must not become a campaign against any community,” he said.

“In our country there can be no justification for violence or vandalism in the name of religion,” said the BJP stalwart.

Responding to a query on the demand of Hindu religious leaders for a ban on conversions, Advani said he was against it.

Read it all

Advani for conversion debate but against ban on conversions

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Nagaland unit of BJP: cognitive boundaries between the perpetrators and the minority Christian communities should be negotiated

Politics and Minority: Nagaland unit of BJP: cognitive boundaries between the perpetrators and the minority Christian communities should be negotiated with insight and sensitvity Sphere: Related Content

Television Evangelists attack other religions and display converts as trophy.

An Indian member of NIFCON (the Network for Inter Faith Concerns for the Anglican Communion) reflects:  The Tele-evangelists create fear among non-Christians to convert them to Christianity i.e. with threats such as you will not go to heaven if you do not follow Christ. There are four or five such cable channels in India running 24 hours a day- seeking to present many kinds of extremist material as the Christian message.  The work of the mainline churches in India is undermined by television evangelists who regularly attack other religions and display converts from Hinduism as a kind of trophy. 

 It is a big theological challenge how to be Christians without such theological claims. When one of the churches was attacked during the worship services, some of the attackers specifically told the priest not to preach Christ as the only way; he should preach about other ways too. It is clear that underlying many of these criticisms of Christians is the desire to unite Hindus emotionally and turn their anger into votes.

Read it all

Church in India Under Attack: Television Evangelists attack other religions and display converts as trophy. Sphere: Related Content

Mani Achan's Mother passed away on Sunday 21 September 2008 at Kottayam

Gurukul Community.Com: Mani Achan's Mother  Sphere: Related Content

Church in India Under Attack: Kandhamal refugees go on hunger strike

Mon, 22/09/2008 - 5:29pmRefugees in Kandhamal relief camp on hunger strike

More than 25000 refugees are on a hunger strike demanding justice, peace and normalcy. Thy refused to have breakfast and lunch today and warned that they will not take food till the administration gives them justice. 

link

Kandhamal refugees go on hunger strike 

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Church in India Under Attack: Online petition to the Prime Minister of India against the violence in ORISSA

To sign an online petition to the Prime Minister of India against the violence in ORISSA click or copy this link and VOTE:--http://www.petitiononline.com/mod_perl/signed.cgi?LJ092008&

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Luther Decade

The state churches in Germany, in cooperation with government agencies and institutions, is launching the "Luther Decade" — a celebration of all things Luther, culminating in 2017, the 500th anniversary of the posting of the 95 theses.
Church in the World: Luther Decade Sphere: Related Content

Jabalpur Church set on fire by Dharm Raksha Sena, a new terrorist outfit

New Terrorist Groups are Coming Up Under BJP Rule: besides Bajrang Dal, Shri Ram Sena in Karnataka, Dharm Raksha Sena in MP

Church in India Under Attack:

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: V. S. Acharya, Home Minister, Karnataka, blogs on Mangalore violence

The Minister justifies violence against Christians in  his blog:

The pattern of any violence in Mangalore follows a pattern: some issue- blown out of proportion by interested elements- outrage in some community- logic takes a back seat- arson/ riot/ looting/ damage to public property / attack on police follows...when culprits are arrested- a team of oppostion leaders/ intellectuals parade in the city/ hospitals/ media demanding for CBI enquiry, release of all arrested and resignation of all concerned !

Read : V. S. Acharya, Home Minister, Karnataka, 

Link for other articles on attack on Christians visit:- 

Link 1 

Link 2

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Politics and Minority: Terror in Kandhamal -- 1000 families reconverted

The already ravished, terrorized, emotionally broken dalits and adivasis are being converted from Christianity to Hinduism in a well-planned mannerr.    A villager (Christian) from Baliguda block called and informed today that they have been given a ultimatum by VHP people that they have to keep themselves prepared with two cocoanuts, non-boiled rice (arua chaula) and other items for attending re-conversion (sanskar) ceremony on 15th September 2008. In case they failed to do so, what will happen – only time can tell? 'In the meantime more than 1000 families have been reconverted within 15-days' according to a reporter, who does not want to disclose his identity.

A couple of days back, the leaders of VHP and RSS have announced to wipe out Christians from Kandhamal District shortly. This was reiterated by Sangha leaders on 11th September before press ....>read it all here

Politics and Minority: Terror in Kandhamal: 1000 families reconverted Sphere: Related Content

Ambedkar on Conversion

Why Go For Conversion?

By Dr. B.R. Ambedkar

18 September, 2008
Countercurrents.org


In 1935 at Nasik district, Maharashtra, Dr.Babasaheb Ambedkar had declared his firm resolve to change his religion. He had declared that he was born as a Hindu but will not die as Hindu. About a year later, a massive Mahar conference was held on May 30 and 31, 1936, in Mumbai, to access the impact of that declaration on Mahar masses. In his address to the conference, Dr.Ambedkar expressed his views on conversion in an elaborate, well- prepared and written speech in Marathi. Here is an English translation of that speech by Mr.Vasant Moon, OSD to the committee of Govt. of Maharashtra for publication of Writings & speeches of Dr.B.R.Ambedkar 

Class Struggle

There are two aspects of conversion; social as well as religious; material as well as spiritual. Whatever may be the aspect, or line of thinking, it is necessary to understand the beginning, the nature of Untouchability and how it is practiced. Without this understanding, you will not be able to realize the real meaning underlying my declaration of conversion. In order to have a clear understanding of untouchability and its practice in real life, I want you to recall the stories of the atrocities perpetrated against you. But very few of you might have realized as to why all this happens! What is at the root cause of their tyranny? To me it is very necessary, that we understand it.......continue to read here

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Large Hadron Collider gets new name: 'Halo'

The  Royal Society of Chemistry in London launched a competition to suggest an inspiring name for the 17 mile circumference machine, which is going to smash its first particles next week at the European Organisation for Nuclear Research in Geneva, known by its French acronym Cern.

After sifting more than 2,500 responses, ranging from The Big Banger to Infinite Devil Machine and The Matter Splatterer, it has now selected a winner to rechristen the vast enterprise.

Fed up with "the contrived acronyms that plague the world of science," the RSC says it "picked a suggestion which is simple, memorable, and brings to mind the deserved grandeur of perhaps the most important experiment ever built."

"Halo conjures visions of radiant beauty, power and wisdom. The circle of light reflects the collider's form; it is a crowning achievement of science and engineering. It also gives more than a nod to the experiment's importance to religious debate.

Link The Telegraph.co. UK

Large Hadron Collider gets new name: 'Halo' Sphere: Related Content

Science and Religion: Indian American Mathew L. Thakur wins 2008 Benedict Cassen Prize for Nuclear Medicine

An Indian American doctor, Mathew L. Thakur has been conferred the Society of Nuclear Medicine's 2008 Benedict Cassen Prize, often called the 'Nobel' of nuclear medicine.

Thakur, a pioneer in molecular imaging, an emerging technique that helps detect disease at the molecular or cellular level in the human body and thus helps develop personalised medicine, received the biennial $25,000 award during the Society's 55th annual meeting in New Orleans, Louisiana, recently.

Thakur's career, spanning more than 35 years, has benefited millions of patients worldwide. He has developed widely used radiopharmaceuticals that have improved diagnostic accuracy and patient care, the university said.

He became interested in nuclear medicine and radiopharmaceuticals as an undergraduate at Bombay University, and later as a graduate student at the University of London in the late 1960s.

Indian American Mathew L. Thakur wins 2008 Benedict Cassen Prize for Nuclear Medicine Sphere: Related Content

"Forced Conversion In Gujarat" by Shabnam Hashmi in Countercurrents

Nandapeda is the only village with majority Muslim population in the Dangs district, considered the poorest district in the whole of India.

The government has been pressurizing the Muslims to convert to the Hindu religion or face eviction from their land.

Some of the residents of this village moved the Gujarat High Court against the government's pressure of converting and changing their religion.

The families have been living in the village for over 100 years.

After hearing all parties, Justice Anant Dave admitted the case on September 11, 2008 and ordered to maintain status quo on the disputed land.

On the next day the police captured approximately 80 villagers for transporting cattle into Maharashtra and also apprehended some villagers who were going on motorcycles using the reason of cow slaughter, though there were no cattle in the tempo.

The villagers gathered. There was a clash between the villagers and the police. People were beaten on both the sides. One policeman was also beaten up. Police then opened fire and a number of villagers got bullet injuries. They were taken to Ahwa civil hospitals. The relatives were not allowed to meet them. Police apprehended eight villagers for beating a policeman and though a local lawyer went for their bail, it was not given.

Next day the police came and in the name of combing operation attacked and ransacked the village. Villagers were beaten up brutally including women and children. All men fled to the jungles. The police not only took away all the goods but before going they poured kerosene into the eatable good so that they could not eat anything too.

VHP proposed a rally on 15th.

After a lot of pressure the VHP rally was stopped but they declared a Bandh on 16th.

The VHP gave a deadline to the collector it is heard to get the village vacated.

Today morning (September 17, 2008) the forest department swooped in.

The villagers need urgent help and intervention. 

Read article by Shabnam Hashmi in Countercurrents

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22,000 Christian victims in the relief camps in Orissa: shortage of clothes, milk, toilets

Communists seek better facilities in relief camps

A  three-member fact finding team of Orissa unit of CPI(M) visited Kandhamal.

The team of Jagannath Mishra, Kailsah Sadangi and Judhisthir Sahu said: "There were extreme shortage of clothes among victims especially women, who had to flee their villages with only clothes they had worn," said Sadangi. The state of infants up to the age of six months was pitiable as milk was not being provided at relief material for these newborns.  The physical condition of their mothers was also preventing the infants to get sufficient breast feeding. Mishra said the sanitary condition of the relief camps had deteriorated due to the rains.  Despite all theefforts of the district administration  lack of proper number of toilets at the relief camps surely bring in the fear of gastro epidemic. Most relief camps run in schools which had limited number of toilets. People live in the rooms of the schools or the tents erected in the school field.

More

 22,000 Christian victims in the relief camps in Orissa: shortage of clothes, milk, toilets

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: M. F. Husain - the grand old man of Indian contemporary art turns 93

M. F. Husain, the legendary Indian artist, turns 93 on September 17, 2008. On September 8 he was cleared of all obscenity charges by the Supreme Court of India. It's probably the best birthday present he could have ever received. "The Supreme Court has shown it is actually supreme... What a great gift" said Husain.
"they have understood the dignity of Indian contemporary art," added Husain, who has been in self-imposed exile in Dubai since January 2006 when right-wing groups threatened him with dire consequences.

Artist Anjolie Ela Menon, who met Husain a few months ago in Dubai, says: "He has the energy of a young man and his life is to paint everyday. Which other Indian painter has made 300 paintings of the Mahabharat? Husain is undoubtedly the grand old man of Indian contemporary art and we must get him back here."

Husain's Picture gallery

A

MediaWatch: M.F. Husain's Controversial Paintings Sphere: Related Content

Women Buried Alive in Pak Balochistan

Prominent civil rights activists are demanding that the government act against those responsible for the burial alive of five women in Balochistan, in July, that politicians from the province have defended as an age-old custom. 

On Jul. 14, in the remote village of Babakot, 80 km from Usta Mohammad town in Jafferabad district, three teenage girls and two older women were buried alive, allegedly on the orders of Abdul Sattar Umrani, brother of Sadiq Umrani, a provincial minister belonging to the ruling Pakistan People’s Party (PPP). Women Buried Alive in Pak Balochistan Sphere: Related Content

Terror continues in Kandhamal

 Tension brewed in parts of strife-torn Kandhamal today as nine houses were torched at Toposi and Dibadi while reports of arson trickled in from some places in Raikia.

Five platoons of CRPF, Rapid Action Force and Orissa State Armed Police were deployed in those areas and in other vulnerable pockets to bring the situation under control.

The problem began when CRPF jawans tried to intercept a mob of 500 men, mostly Kandh tribals, on their way to Kurtamgarh gram panchayat to “discuss matters” with the village headman (sarpanch), Sisir Mallik. The headman belonging to the Pana community later converted to Christianity and some persons in the mob held grudges against the sarpanch.

Facing the resistance, the mob launched an attack on the CRPF team with lathis, stones and arms. “Rioters continued to attack the jawans till the latter opened fire,” said DIG (southern range) R.P. Koche.

Two protesters died in the CRPF firing. 

A jawan sustained a bullet injury in his neck and was rushed to the sub-divisional hospital at Baliguda.

 Link

Terror continues in Kandhamal

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Protect Your Computers from Terrorists access - Tips from Dheeraj Sanghi ( IIT Kanpur ), Director of the LNM Institute for Information

Activate a firewall, a barrier built out of software

Disable file and printer sharing

Choose secure connections — 
networks that require a security key

Change default passwords

Turn off computer after use

 Get it all from  The Telegraph, Kolkatta

 Protect Your Computers from Terrorists access - Tips from Dheeraj Sanghi ( IIT Kanpur ), Director of the LNM Institute for Information Technology, Jaipur. Sphere: Related Content

Anglican Church's Apology to Darwin

The Rev. Dr Malcolm Brown, the Church’s director of mission and public affairs of the Archbishops’ Council writes:
"Charles Darwin: 200 years from your birth, the Church of England owes you an apology for misunderstanding you and, by getting our first reaction wrong, encouraging others to misunderstand you still. We try to practise the old virtues of ‘faith seeking understanding’ and hope that makes some amends."

"People, and institutions, make mistakes and Christian people and Churches are no exception. When a big new idea emerges that changes the way people look at the world, it’s easy to feel that every old idea, every certainty, is under attack and then to do battle against the new insights. The Church made that mistake with Galileo’s astronomy and has since realised its mistake. Some Church people did it again in the 1860s with Charles Darwin’s theory of natural selection. So it is important to think again about Darwin’s impact on religious thinking, then and now."

The apology comes 150 years after he propounded his theory and more than 125 years after his death. Charles Darwin, who died in 1882, introduced the theory about evolution by natural selection in his groundbreaking book The Origin of Species, in 1859.

Link

Changemakers: Anglican Church's Apology to Darwin Sphere: Related Content

"Conversion debate" article by V.Venkatesan in the Frontline

Excerpts

The violence in Orissa is the result of prejudice caused by a flawed understanding of the freedom of religion as guaranteed by law.ORISSA was the first State in India to enact a piece of legislation restricting religious conversions. Rajendra Narayan Singh Deo, Ganatantra Parishad (Swatantra Party) leader, was the Chief Minister when the Orissa Freedom of Religion Act, 1967, was passed. This Act  became a model for several States, namely, Madhya Pradesh (1968), Arunachal Pradesh (1978), Gujarat (2003), Chhattisgarh (2003), Rajasthan (2005), Himachal Pradesh (2006), and Tamil Nadu (a law was enacted in 2002, but repealed in 2004)?  

The basic premise of the Orissa Act was debatable. The Act claimed: “Conversion in its very process involves an act of undermining another faith. This process becomes all the more objectionable when this is brought about by recourse to methods like force, fraud, material inducement and exploitation of one’s poverty, simplicity and ignorance.” As the Orissa Act became the model for other States, which provided more scope for abuse by the authorities than what the Orissa Act had envisaged, it deserves a close scrutiny. 

Both the Orissa and Madhya Pradesh Acts were challenged in the respective High Courts. The Orissa High Court declared the Orissa Actultra vires of the Constitution, insofar as it infringed upon the right guaranteed by Article 25.  However, the Madhya Pradesh High Court upheld the Madhya Pradesh Act.

The Supreme Court’s five-Judge Constitution Bench heard the appeals against these two verdicts in Rev. Stainislaus vs. State of Madhya Pradesh and Others (1977) and upheld these Acts. As the Supreme Court’s judgment became a sort of licence for other States to enact similar anti-conversion laws, it needs to be asked whether the judgment was correct. The court considered whether the two Acts were violative of the fundamental right guaranteed under Article 25(1) of the Constitution and whether the State legislatures were competent to enact them.

H.M. Seervai, the eminent author of Constitutional Law of India, whom the Supreme Court often cites in its many judgments as an authority in support of its conclusions, has pointed out in Volume 2 (1993) of his book that it was unfortunate that the legislative history of Article 25 was not brought to the Supreme Court’s attention in this case (page 1287)

Seervai was clear that Chief Justice A.N. Ray’s conclusion in the Stainislaus judgment ran counter to legislative history. He submitted that Chief Justice Ray did not ask the central question that was involved in the appeals before him, namely, whether conversion was a part of the Christian religion. This omission, he said, was indefensible because the judgment of the Orissa High Court delivered on October 24, 1972 (Yulitha Hyde vs. State), was under appeal to the Supreme Court and that judgment had squarely raised the central question whether conversion was a part of the Christian religion.

Seervai was convinced that the “freedom of religion” guaranteed in Article 25(1) is not limited to the religion in which a person is born but includes any religion. Freedom of conscience, he wrote, harmonises with this, for its presence in Article 25(1) shows that our Constitution has adopted “a system which allows free choice of religion”. Therefore, freedom of conscience gives a person freedom to choose or not to choose any one of the many religions that are being propagated.

He elaborated further: “The right to propagate religion gives a meaning to freedom of choice, for choice involves not only knowledge but an act of will. A person cannot choose if he does not know what choices are open to him. To propagate religion is not to impart knowledge and to spread it more widely, but to produce intellectual and moral conviction leading to action, namely, the adoption of that religion. Successful propagation of religion would result in conversion” (italics supplied by Seervai). Seervai concluded his discussion thus: “The Supreme Court’s judgment is clearly wrong, is productive of the greatest public mischief and ought to be overruled.” The huge atmosphere of prejudice against Christians in Orissa and elsewhere is based on a myth that conversion is unconstitutional. The words of Seervai, who passed away on the Republic Day in 1996, are indeed prophetic.  

Read the ull article here

Postpluralist: 

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Asghar Ali Engineer: Ghettoisation of minorities

ANUPAMA KATAKAM's Interview in Frontline

Shabana Azmi made a very valid point. It is true that Muslims cannot find housing in Mumbai. We all know of cases where they have been denied accommodation due to the small-mindedness of the building society. Actor Naseeruddin Shah came on television and rubbished Shabana’s statement. But it is he who is absolutely wrong. This is a huge problem the community is facing.

The Supreme Court made a very unfortunate decision by allowing caste-based housing societies to exist. Under this loophole they keep out minority communities.

Look at Singapore. It is against the law to have a building that houses people of just one community, language or religion. If a building has to be registered, the state checks the profile of buyers and keeps an eye on whom it is rented to. That is how we must now work.

Politics and Minority: Asghar Ali Engineer: Ghettoisation of minorities, Sphere: Related Content

Church in the World: Update by Nirmala Carvalho on Orissa Christians

According to Sajan K George, head of the Bangalore-based Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC), there is a climate of "tension" in the area, so much so that the local government has prohibited any "entry into the district of Kandhamal", and has "delayed the administrative elections".
The Christian activist denounces the drama of the refugees, who are caught between a rock and a hard place: "Many Christians", says Sajan George, "are leaving the relief camps and returning to their villages because of terror of the Hinduvata extremists at the camps; intimidation to reconvert to Hinduism is just one of the many fears of the Christians. However, residents of Rupa village in Raikia area of Kandhamal where one Rasananda Pradhan had been burnt to death during the riots are reluctant to go back, fearing further attack".
According to the leader of the GCIC, the heads of Sangh Parivar - an association of nationalist Hindu groups, including paramilitaries connected to the VHP (Vishwa Hindu Parishad) and to the RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh) - have prepared "a list of at least 140 Christians guilty of the assassination of Swami Laxamananda Saraswat and five of his followers", but without providing "any proof of their involvement". The list has been distributed among the Hindu fundamentalists, who have been asked to "punish the Christians" in case the government "does not provide justice". The threat has contributed to increasing the "panic" within the Christian community, already crushed by the violence in recent weeks and now facing the concrete possibility of new violence.
Meanwhile, the list of violence against Christians in Orissa is growing longer. According to the Global Council of Indian Christians, four more corpses have been found, and Hindu fundamentalists are believed to have attacked six more villages in the area of Kurtamgarh, near Balliguda.
Church in the World: Update by Nirmala Carvalho on Orissa Christians Sphere: Related Content

Barack Obama has raised Four times more money than John McCain from contributions less than $200.

International Issues: Obama raised four times as much as John McCain from contributions less than $200.

Related  Obama accuses McCain camp of lies, phony outrage, swift-boat politics

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Science and Religion: Stem cells from Skin

Teams at Kyoto University and at the University of Wisconsin at Madison in the United States last year discovered how to use skin to produce stem cells -- which can develop into various organs or nerves.

The finding was hailed by the Vatican and US President George W. Bush because it can circumvent an ethical row over conventional stem cell research using human embryos.  

 Stem cells from Skin row Sphere: Related Content

Gurukul Alumnus elected as the Bishop of Orthodox Syrian Church

Gurukul Community.Com: Gurukul Alumnus elected as the Bishop of Orthodox Syrian Church

Rev. Fr. Kuriakose Abraham Thukalan  Gurukul Alumnus Chosen as Metropolitan Designate of Malankara Syrian Church

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Chandrayaan -1 : India's moon mission to launch in October 2008

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Violent religiosity

How Rajesh was killed Sphere: Related Content

Re-conversions in Orissa -- Tehelka Report by Vijay Simha

A Christian rises. He has a coconut in his hand. “I swear that I have become a Hindu today. After today, if I ever become a Christian again, may my dynasty perish,” he says. He breaks the coconut on a stone. The other Christians follow, each one making the same promise. Some murmur, some are loud. A Hindu priest begins to apply vermillion on the foreheads of the Christians-turned-Hindus. One of them protests, but it is too late. There’s a red streak on his forehead as well.

Sudhir Pradhan then takes over. Eyes closed, spine firm, and voice ominous. There is a deep and rhythmic chanting of Om followed by the Gayatri Mantra, a sacred chant of the Hindus. The slogans follow: “Bharat mata ki jai.” “Ganga mata ki jai.” “Gau mata ki jai.” “Sri Ramjanambhoomi ki jai.” They pause for a few moments and the Christians-becoming-Hindus kneel, placing their foreheads on the ground. There’s a final “Jai Shri Ram.” The first stage of reconversion from Christianity to Hinduism is over. The motivation for these Christians to reconvert is life. They want to live in Kandhamal, keep their houses and, maybe, get some regular work. Read more >

LifeLine: Re-conversions in Orissa 

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Satyendra Nath Bose: The Indian behind the boson

Satyendra Nath Bose: The Indian who was left behind

It is Satyendra Nath Bose (1894-1974) after whom the sub-atomic particle 'boson' is named - probably the only noun in the English language named after an Indian (hence never capitalized). Sharon Ann Holgate, a British science writer and broadcaster who made an acclaimed radio documentary on Bose for the BBC some years ago said that Bose was overlooked, perhaps because of institutionalised racism. Of the three main past and present physicists behind the landmark proton-smashing quantum physics experiment in Geneva Wednesday, one has a Nobel Prize, the other is waiting to find out if he has one, and the third never got one. The third man is the Bose of the 'Higgs-boson' experiment - Satyendra Nath Bose. Read >

 Satyendra Nath Bose: The Indian behind the boson

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Moment of Truth: The Large Hydron Collider switched on at CERN

Moment of Truth

Mark Henderson

The cheering began at 8.32, when the first particles were detected snaking around the first three kilometres (1.9 miles) of the 27km (17mile) LHC ring. By 8.55, it was halfway around the track, which will soon be used to smash protons and lead ions against each other at 99.9999991 per cent of the speed of light. At 9.28, only 56 minutes after the start-up, came the champagne moment — the double trace showing that the beam had completed the first of countless trillions of laps that will explain many of the enduring mysteries of the Universe.

Once the clockwise beam was circulating, the anticlockwise stream with which it will ultimately collide was inserted in the afternoon, completing its own tour of duty soon after 2pm. Over the next few days, they will be tuned and “captured” so they fire in neat pulses.

By recreating the environment of the dawn of time, the LHC will detect phenomena that have never before been observed. It should find the Higgs boson, the so-called “God particle” that theory suggests gives matter its mass, but which has never been found. It should also determine whether all particles have a twin, as a theory known as “supersymmetry” suggests, and thus explain the mysterious “dark matter” that pervades the Universe, but which cannot be seen.

The LHC may even find new dimensions, beyond the three of space and one of time with which we are familiar. It promises to unlock great secrets of the cosmos.

The LHC is going to look deeper into matter and go back further in time than we’ve been able to go before. It’s the most powerful microscope ever built and at the same time the most powerful telescope ever built.

The first trial collisions, from which researchers will calibrate their detectors, could start as early as next week. The LHC will then start operating at about 70 per cent of maximum energy, before it is ramped up to full power next year. Discoveries about supersymmetry could come quickly, but the hunt for the Higgs boson will take longer, with few results expected before 2010.  

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