Wednesday, 24 October 2012
Bollywood Celebrates Durga Pooja
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| Rupali Ganguly at the North Bombay Sarbojanin Durga Puja |
Bollywood Celebrates Durga Pooja
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| Shaan also picks up the mic at the North Bombay Sarbojanin Durga Puja |
Bollywood Celebrates Durga Pooja
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| Rani Mukerji gets blessing from Mother Durga for Talaash |
Bollywood celebrates Durga Puja
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| Saapna Mukerjee with Amitabh and Jaya Bachchan |
Bollywood celebrates Durga Puja
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| Rani Mukerji's parents Krishna and Ram Mukerji
Photo, Courtesy: Mid-day
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Hajjis Shahid Afridi and Aamir Khan meet in Mecca
Pakistan cricketer Shahid Afridi and Bollywood actor Aamir Khan struck up a friendship when they met at Mecca in Saudi Arabia during their Hajj pilgrimage.
Pakistan cricketer Shahid Afridi and Bollywood actor Aamir Khan struck up a friendship when they met at Mecca in Saudi Arabia during their Hajj pilgrimage.
The all-rounder uploaded pictures of the meeting on his social networking site and it became an instant hit.
The duo also met Maulana Tariq Jamil, one of Pakistan’s most influential clerics, in Mecca. Pakistani former singer Junaid Jamshed and Shahid Afridi's brother were also believed to have been present.
Aamir, who left Mumbai for the holy Hajj pilgrimage along with his mother Zeenat Hussain on October 19 is on a 14-day pilgrimage. Aamir is expected to return to India from the pilgrimage on November 3. Apart from visiting Mecca, Aamir will aslo visit the city of Medina, burial place of the Prophet Muhammad.
Afridi left for Saudi Arabia on Sunday after playing the first cricket match between Pakistan All Star XI and International World XI. The dashing all-rounder led Pakistan XI while former Sri Lankan captain Sanath Jayasuriya led the International XI.
Courtesy: Mid-day
Teacher rapes student, friend films act
A teacher raped a student in Uttar Pradesh, while one of her friends filmed the act and the two were using the MMS to blackmail her.
A teacher raped a student in Uttar Pradesh, while one of her friends filmed the act and the two were using the MMS to blackmail her.
A girl was arrested Monday in eastern Uttar Pradesh's Deoria district for filming one of her friends being raped by a male teacher, police said.
The shocking incident took place at Ichauna village in Selampur of Deoria district.
The victim lodged a complaint with the police saying that she was raped by a teacher two days back in connivance with one of her own friends and that the two were blackmailing her with an MMS that was filmed during the rape.
The victim told police that she is a class XII student and that a friend of hers took her to an isolated place where the 'shiksha mitra' (teacher on contract) raped her.
She told her family about the incident after which she was taken to the local police station where a case was lodged and action to arrest the duo taken.
While the girl who filmed the rape has been arrested by the police, the teacher is at large and the police is looking for him. The accused has been identified as Nanhe, a local resident.
Superintendent of Police (SP) Deoria LR Kumar said that the victim has been sent for medical examination and the MMS that was filmed during the rape has been seized.
"We are on the lookout for the accused and will soon arrest him," he added.
The victim lodged a complaint with the police saying that she was raped by a teacher two days back in connivance with one of her own friends and that the two were blackmailing her with an MMS that was filmed during the rape.
The victim told police that she is a class XII student and that a friend of hers took her to an isolated place where the 'shiksha mitra' (teacher on contract) raped her.
She told her family about the incident after which she was taken to the local police station where a case was lodged and action to arrest the duo taken.
While the girl who filmed the rape has been arrested by the police, the teacher is at large and the police is looking for him. The accused has been identified as Nanhe, a local resident.
Superintendent of Police (SP) Deoria LR Kumar said that the victim has been sent for medical examination and the MMS that was filmed during the rape has been seized.
"We are on the lookout for the accused and will soon arrest him," he added.
Tuesday, 23 October 2012
Durga Puja: Rituals, revelry with a spurt of fanfare
People from all walks of life and age groups thronged colourful pandals
(marquees) to soak in the festivities and celebrate Durga Puja in Delhi,
Kolkata and other parts of India .Celebrities from varied fields, including actors, politicians and sportspersons, joined the festivities with commoners in Kolkata.
Former India cricket captain Sourav Ganguly offered prayers at a pandal in Kolkata's Behala neighbourhood. President Pranab Mukherjee conducted all the rituals at his ancestral home in Birbhum district.
According to Hindu mythology, the festivities and prayers begin with the symbolic arrival of the goddess on earth on the sixth day of the first quarter of the moon and ends on Dashami or the 10th day, which is celebrated across the country as Dussehra.
Traditionally, every pandal has an idol of Goddess Durga depicting her as slaying the demon Mahishasur. She is shown astride a lion and wielding weapons.
There was an added sense of festivity in the air in West Bengal with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee offering a 10-day holiday to state government officials for the festival, till the Laxmi Puja on October 29.
With over 2,000 puja pandals spread across Delhi, revelers had fun hopping from one marquee to another and appreciating the efforts put in by the organisers to showcase innovative and imaginative themes.
Pandals have nostalgia, an air of reminiscence and an aura around them. The huge gathering of people of all age groups, the chatting, the discussion, the gossips that go on among friends while sitting on the puja ground has a special feel.
This year, pandals across Delhi have adopted innovative and, of course, colourful themes to mark the “annual visit of Goddess Durga to her maternal homeâ€.
Puja committees across the city have chosen themes like London Olympics, Swami Vivekananda’s birth anniversary and save the girl child. A pandal in Mayur Vihar area of East Delhi even has a Bengali Film Festival organised to keep the devotees entertained.
Long queues of devotes could be seen at almost all the pandals as cameras and mobile phones incessantly clicked to capture the moments. Pandals also have stalls of various joints doing brisk business.
Gorge yourself on sinful delights this Durga Puja
From the multifarious Bengali cuisine to the Oriental to the Continental, the world is your oyster when it comes to food this Durga puja - an opportunity for people here to gorge on spicy, sinful delights.
Durga Puja, one of the biggest annual festivals in eastern India, marks the victory of good over evil, with the slaying of demon Mahishasura by Goddess Durga. The five-day festival starts Oct 20 and the subsequent four days - Saptami, Ashtami, Navami and Dashami - translate into frenzied pandal-hopping in new clothes, meeting friends and family and stuffing oneself to the brim.
Time to turn Navratri fasting into feasting
Cookies, vegetarian 'mock duck', Parsi 'malai kulfi' and much more- chefs have put together interesting recipes for those observing the nine-day Navratri fast.
They have also brought "mouth-watering twists" to the traditional menu promising to turn the fast into a feast. Navratri starts Oct 16 and ends Oct 24.
Fancy journeying to exotic locales? Go pandal hopping in Kolkata this Puja!
Sojourn to an exotic Goan beach, participate in a Chinese Dragon Festival, blow vuvuzelas at Johannesburg's Soccer City Stadium - the community Durga Puja organisers in Kolkata are pulling out all stops to take revellers on a magical tour during the Oct. 20-24 festival.
From the abstract to the exotic, innovative marquees have been lined up to usher in the socio-religious carnival and dazzle pandal hoppers with their creativity and imagination during the five-day puja.
Durga Puja rituals, revelry continue in Kolkata
The second day of Durga Puja, known as Mahasaptami, saw a huge rush of people to 'pandals' (marquees) in West Bengal to offer morning prayers and join in the revelry on Sunday.
Mahasaptami is marked by the 'pran pratistha" ritual, where the deity is symbolically endowed with life. The 'Kola Bou', a tender banana plant symbolising a bride, is given a river bath amidst drum beats, wrapped in a sari and placed next to the idol of Ganesha.
Durga Puja celebrated in Indonesia
Bengalis in Indonesia, which has the world's largest Muslim population, are celebrating Durga Puja with great fervour and enthusiasm this year.People from all walks of life have joined in the celebrations.
Inaugurating the celebrations, Indian Ambassador Gurjit Singh appreciated the Jakarta Bengali Association for keeping their traditions and cultural heritage alive in Indonesia.
Durga Puja: Belurmath's unique puja now live on Internet
Devotees all over the world will now be able to watch the unique Durga Puja of Belurmath, where a young girl is worshipped along with the Goddess, as the Ramakrishna Mission has decided to stream it live on Internet.
With eight hi-tech cameras covering diverse angles and a running English and Bengali commentary, all ceremonies, rituals and celebrations will be streamed live on the website www.belurmath.tv from Saturday, a monk-in-charge of the website department said.
Courtesy: India Today
Monday, 22 October 2012
Mamata Banerjee and the Bong joke
Didi should introspect why Jairam Ramesh would have never mocked any other political leader
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| If at all, Bengalis should be furious about how their leader, with her intemperate comments and irrational antics, has given a Union minister the gumption to add a snide remark to a letter releasing funds that are the state’s by rights. |
Jairam Ramesh mocks Mamata Banerjee in an official letter. Didi should
introspect why he would never do so with any other political leader.
On 19 October, Union rural development minister Ramesh released Rs.601.2 crore of NREGA (National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) funds to West Bengal. A routine matter, except that Ramesh added a sting in the tail to his covering letter to chief minister Mamata Banerjee. The last line read: “Incidentally, may I add, this reflects how sensitive the so-called ‘brain-dead government in Delhi’ is to the needs of the people of West Bengal.”
This was a reference to what Banerjee had said in an interview to a Bengali daily a few days earlier. Predicting that the United Progressive Alliance government would not last more than six months, she had said: “The UPA government is a brain-dead government now. A brain-dead patient can be kept on ventilator. Everyone knows the patient has died, but no one wants to pull the plug.” Jairam was also gently pointing out the fact that in 2012-13, the Centre had released about Rs.1,000 crore more to the state under NREGA than it did in 2011-12.
It doesn’t take very much to get Mamata angry, and this was an act of deliberate needling. An enraged Banerjee put up the letter on her Facebook page with a note that read: “You would be shocked to see the attitude of the central government towards the state of West Bengal…Good and effective governance deserves a clear delineation of governmental activity and political activity… releasing funds for the central schemes is not a matter of charity… (That line) is clearly vindictive, unethical and unconstitutional. I am really stunned to see that a Union minister can write a distasteful statement like this to a state government. This creates a bad precedence and adds stigma to healthy democratic fibre of our country.”
The Bengali public has responded enthusiastically to her post. Within 48 hours, nearly 5,000 people had “liked” the post (though I am unclear what that indicates: I have seen people “liking” posts by parents who have recently lost their child), and close to 2,000 people had commented. A quick glance through the comments reveals that Bengali pride has been hurt. Ramesh has been called a “megalomaniac” and “a bogash (sic) person” among other things. Several particularly outraged FBers have asked Didi to throw the money right back on Ramesh’s face. Now that suggestion is too “bogash” even for Didi to take seriously. But it indicates the complete disconnect with reality that has sadly become the hallmark of a particular type of Bengali.
Obviously, Ramesh is having a good laugh. This is exactly the sort of reaction he wanted. To him, this whole thing is another good Bong joke. This is sad. For Bengal and Bengalis.
While Ramesh’s jibe cannot be condoned officially—after all, it’s a letter on a government of India letterhead—it’s high time Mamata’s supporters realized that she has become a bit of a laugh. It’s totally unclear what her ideology is other than to look for a fight. Since the defeat of the Left Front, she has had to find a new enemy and it obviously had to be the Centre. So we have been subjected to this ridiculous Punch and Judy show for months now. Judy went hysterical about everything from the Railway Budget to the presidential candidate to the diesel price hike, while Punch nodded politely. When she flounced out of the alliance, Punch tried very hard to hide his glee but didn’t fully succeed. Judy, in the meantime, jailed amateur cartoonists, saw conspiracy theories in rape cases, and renamed water tanks. Industrialists who were considering investing in West Bengal are possibly queuing up at their favourite places of worship and thanking the Lord that they were saved in time.
And Mamata should be the last person to talk about “clear delineation of governmental activity and political activity”. Firstly, this fine line was obliterated in India many years ago, and I suspect Mamata never knew about the line anyway, till whoever writes her Facebook posts mentioned it. The ministry that was the first to delete that line for all time to come was the railways ministry, which Mamata ran for many years.
Yes, Bengalis should be furious. But they should be furious about how their leader, with her intemperate comments and irrational antics, has given a Union minister the gumption to add this snide remark to a letter releasing funds that are the state’s by rights. Would a minister ever do that to a Nitish Kumar or a Jayalalithaa? Would anyone have dared to write this to a Jyoti Basu or a Buddhadeb Bhattacharya (Disclaimer: I think Basu ruined West Bengal. I am only referring to the dignity with which he carried himself)? The letter tells us more about the space Mamata has managed to trap herself in, rather than about Ramesh.
Though nowhere close to Santa-Banta, Bong jokes have always been popular. It’s sad for all Bengalis that Mamata Banerjee is becoming one.
On 19 October, Union rural development minister Ramesh released Rs.601.2 crore of NREGA (National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) funds to West Bengal. A routine matter, except that Ramesh added a sting in the tail to his covering letter to chief minister Mamata Banerjee. The last line read: “Incidentally, may I add, this reflects how sensitive the so-called ‘brain-dead government in Delhi’ is to the needs of the people of West Bengal.”
This was a reference to what Banerjee had said in an interview to a Bengali daily a few days earlier. Predicting that the United Progressive Alliance government would not last more than six months, she had said: “The UPA government is a brain-dead government now. A brain-dead patient can be kept on ventilator. Everyone knows the patient has died, but no one wants to pull the plug.” Jairam was also gently pointing out the fact that in 2012-13, the Centre had released about Rs.1,000 crore more to the state under NREGA than it did in 2011-12.
It doesn’t take very much to get Mamata angry, and this was an act of deliberate needling. An enraged Banerjee put up the letter on her Facebook page with a note that read: “You would be shocked to see the attitude of the central government towards the state of West Bengal…Good and effective governance deserves a clear delineation of governmental activity and political activity… releasing funds for the central schemes is not a matter of charity… (That line) is clearly vindictive, unethical and unconstitutional. I am really stunned to see that a Union minister can write a distasteful statement like this to a state government. This creates a bad precedence and adds stigma to healthy democratic fibre of our country.”
The Bengali public has responded enthusiastically to her post. Within 48 hours, nearly 5,000 people had “liked” the post (though I am unclear what that indicates: I have seen people “liking” posts by parents who have recently lost their child), and close to 2,000 people had commented. A quick glance through the comments reveals that Bengali pride has been hurt. Ramesh has been called a “megalomaniac” and “a bogash (sic) person” among other things. Several particularly outraged FBers have asked Didi to throw the money right back on Ramesh’s face. Now that suggestion is too “bogash” even for Didi to take seriously. But it indicates the complete disconnect with reality that has sadly become the hallmark of a particular type of Bengali.
Obviously, Ramesh is having a good laugh. This is exactly the sort of reaction he wanted. To him, this whole thing is another good Bong joke. This is sad. For Bengal and Bengalis.
While Ramesh’s jibe cannot be condoned officially—after all, it’s a letter on a government of India letterhead—it’s high time Mamata’s supporters realized that she has become a bit of a laugh. It’s totally unclear what her ideology is other than to look for a fight. Since the defeat of the Left Front, she has had to find a new enemy and it obviously had to be the Centre. So we have been subjected to this ridiculous Punch and Judy show for months now. Judy went hysterical about everything from the Railway Budget to the presidential candidate to the diesel price hike, while Punch nodded politely. When she flounced out of the alliance, Punch tried very hard to hide his glee but didn’t fully succeed. Judy, in the meantime, jailed amateur cartoonists, saw conspiracy theories in rape cases, and renamed water tanks. Industrialists who were considering investing in West Bengal are possibly queuing up at their favourite places of worship and thanking the Lord that they were saved in time.
And Mamata should be the last person to talk about “clear delineation of governmental activity and political activity”. Firstly, this fine line was obliterated in India many years ago, and I suspect Mamata never knew about the line anyway, till whoever writes her Facebook posts mentioned it. The ministry that was the first to delete that line for all time to come was the railways ministry, which Mamata ran for many years.
Yes, Bengalis should be furious. But they should be furious about how their leader, with her intemperate comments and irrational antics, has given a Union minister the gumption to add this snide remark to a letter releasing funds that are the state’s by rights. Would a minister ever do that to a Nitish Kumar or a Jayalalithaa? Would anyone have dared to write this to a Jyoti Basu or a Buddhadeb Bhattacharya (Disclaimer: I think Basu ruined West Bengal. I am only referring to the dignity with which he carried himself)? The letter tells us more about the space Mamata has managed to trap herself in, rather than about Ramesh.
Though nowhere close to Santa-Banta, Bong jokes have always been popular. It’s sad for all Bengalis that Mamata Banerjee is becoming one.
Courtesy: Live Mint
Wednesday, 17 October 2012
Crazy World: Oldest dad is father yet again at 96
52-year-old wife recently gave birth to the couple's second child
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| 96-year-old Ramajit Raghav |
Within a gap of two years, Ramajit is a father again. He became a father for the first time when his wife, who is 52 now, gave birth to the couple's first child, a son, in November 2010.
On October 5, the couple were blesses with another son. Both mother and son are said to be doing well.
The father has credited his virility to a daily dose of milk, almonds and ghee.
The couple live on the outskirts of a small north Indian town called Kharkoda in Sonipat district of Haryana state, 40 kilometres from Delhi, reports The Times of India.
The Haryana government’s old-age pension records put his age as 96.
Crediting his health to his physical activity and diet, Raghav told the newspaper that his daily diet included three litres of fresh cow’s milk, half a kilo each of almonds and ghee, or clarified butter commonly used in south Asian countries.
Courtesy: Emirates24x7
The Haryana government’s old-age pension records put his age as 96.
Crediting his health to his physical activity and diet, Raghav told the newspaper that his daily diet included three litres of fresh cow’s milk, half a kilo each of almonds and ghee, or clarified butter commonly used in south Asian countries.
Courtesy: Emirates24x7
Saifeena Wedding: Fact versus fiction with Nawab and Begum of Pataudi undercover. The Bollywood power couple have enjoyed clowning around with the media and fans as the Saifeena marriage melodrama continues
~~By Bindu Suresh Rai
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| Newly-wedded Bollywood personalities Saif Ali Khan (L) and Kareena Kapoor pose for the media outside Khan's residence in Mumbai. |
While fans continue to lap up the stories breaking every few seconds in the Saif Ali Khan-Kareena Kapoor wedding circus, the media itself is left scratching its head following trails of breadcrumbs that lead to dead ends and implausible stories.
In the past four days, three different marriage ceremonies are said to occur in three different cities on the same day!
The couple, which has been dating for five years, refused to even once confirm a wedding date when directly quizzed, forcing Saif’s mother Sharmila Tagore to let the cat out of the bag that October 16 is indeed the day of the big Kahuna.
Fact vs Fiction
If you aren’t on the VVIP list of Pataudis or Kapoors, chances are you have no clue what is actually happening in the three-ring circus.
However, the one confirmed update of Tuesday is, the couple is now officially Mr and Mrs Saif Ali Khan, with Mumbai marriage registrar, Surekha Ramesh, confirming the same to Indian news agency, PTI.
The came the reports that threw everyone in a spin: one story stated earlier, the duo was set to fly directly to Pataudi Palace on October 16 for a special nikaah ceremony to take place the following day.
The story went for a toss when the couple and their starry friends and family members showed up at the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel for another related ceremony the same day in Mumbai!
Conflict continued with ‘insiders’ saying the Tuesday evening ceremony in Mumbai is the nikaah, while other sources were being quoted as saying ‘Saifeena’ will in actuality exchange vows on October 16 as Kareena’s mother Babita is half Christian, while the nikaah will occur in Pataudi Palace on October 17.
Phew!
Where in the world are Saifeena next?
So even as confusion mounts on whether there are two, three or five wedding ceremonies, the wedding party will next be torn between Pataudi and Delhi, with the latest story to emerge is that the royal family of Pataudi will host an intimate dinner at the palace with 36 handpicked family members attend the celebrations on October 17.
NDTV also reported on the dinner, adding that invited guests belong to Saif’s extended family all the way from London, Islamabad, Kolkata and Mumbai, who added: “The celebration is a close-knit affair as both the families are sceptical because of security reasons which Sharmila Tagore had admitted to, during her visit to Bhopal earlier in August.”
Meanwhile, in an interview with AFP, Kareena’s uncle Rishi Kapoor said: “The wedding is taking place Tuesday and then we will have a reception in Delhi later on. It is a very joyous moment for our family.”
The reception in Delhi is expected to be held on October 18, with a colonial mansion in the Indian capital’s posh Aurangzeb Lane neighbourhood as being thrown around by some sources, while others mentioned several five-star hotels near a helipad that has been booked.
The couple are then supposed to swing by Saif’s ancestral Pataudi Palace yet again until October 21 to perform official duties.
What’s so funny?
Earlier this year, Saifeena had led everyone on a merry chase even then with throwing about nuggets of wedding venues, which ranged from London to Pataudi Palace to Maldives and Las Vegas.
Some insiders say that it was Saif’s twisted sense of humour that started this entire trail of fool’s work, while others hint at a more painful truth that is Kareena’s sisterly concern towards Karisma, who is going through a terrible patch in her life with reports filtering in that her husband Sanjay Kapur is openly dating Priya Chatwal.
This guarded wedding affair was Kareena’s way to protect her sister from the media.
Meanwhile, Saif’s family is still in mourning with the death of his father, Mansour Pataudi, thus making this wedding an intimate family and friends affair of 60-odd people.
While the truth may never come out, until then the newly married couple continues to clown around.
Fact vs Fiction
If you aren’t on the VVIP list of Pataudis or Kapoors, chances are you have no clue what is actually happening in the three-ring circus.
However, the one confirmed update of Tuesday is, the couple is now officially Mr and Mrs Saif Ali Khan, with Mumbai marriage registrar, Surekha Ramesh, confirming the same to Indian news agency, PTI.
The came the reports that threw everyone in a spin: one story stated earlier, the duo was set to fly directly to Pataudi Palace on October 16 for a special nikaah ceremony to take place the following day.
The story went for a toss when the couple and their starry friends and family members showed up at the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel for another related ceremony the same day in Mumbai!
Conflict continued with ‘insiders’ saying the Tuesday evening ceremony in Mumbai is the nikaah, while other sources were being quoted as saying ‘Saifeena’ will in actuality exchange vows on October 16 as Kareena’s mother Babita is half Christian, while the nikaah will occur in Pataudi Palace on October 17.
Phew!
Where in the world are Saifeena next?
So even as confusion mounts on whether there are two, three or five wedding ceremonies, the wedding party will next be torn between Pataudi and Delhi, with the latest story to emerge is that the royal family of Pataudi will host an intimate dinner at the palace with 36 handpicked family members attend the celebrations on October 17.
NDTV also reported on the dinner, adding that invited guests belong to Saif’s extended family all the way from London, Islamabad, Kolkata and Mumbai, who added: “The celebration is a close-knit affair as both the families are sceptical because of security reasons which Sharmila Tagore had admitted to, during her visit to Bhopal earlier in August.”
Meanwhile, in an interview with AFP, Kareena’s uncle Rishi Kapoor said: “The wedding is taking place Tuesday and then we will have a reception in Delhi later on. It is a very joyous moment for our family.”
The reception in Delhi is expected to be held on October 18, with a colonial mansion in the Indian capital’s posh Aurangzeb Lane neighbourhood as being thrown around by some sources, while others mentioned several five-star hotels near a helipad that has been booked.
The couple are then supposed to swing by Saif’s ancestral Pataudi Palace yet again until October 21 to perform official duties.
What’s so funny?
Earlier this year, Saifeena had led everyone on a merry chase even then with throwing about nuggets of wedding venues, which ranged from London to Pataudi Palace to Maldives and Las Vegas.
Some insiders say that it was Saif’s twisted sense of humour that started this entire trail of fool’s work, while others hint at a more painful truth that is Kareena’s sisterly concern towards Karisma, who is going through a terrible patch in her life with reports filtering in that her husband Sanjay Kapur is openly dating Priya Chatwal.
This guarded wedding affair was Kareena’s way to protect her sister from the media.
Meanwhile, Saif’s family is still in mourning with the death of his father, Mansour Pataudi, thus making this wedding an intimate family and friends affair of 60-odd people.
While the truth may never come out, until then the newly married couple continues to clown around.
Courtesy: Emirates 24x7
Afghan girl beheaded for refusing prostitution
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| The Police has arrested four people |
Mah Gul, 20, was beheaded after her mother-in-law attempted to make her sleep with a man in her house in Herat province last week, provincial police chief Abdul Ghafar Sayedzada told AFP.
"We have arrested her mother-in-law, father-in-law, her husband and the man who killed her," he said.
Gul was married to her husband four months ago and her mother-in-law had tried to force her into prostitution several times in the past, Sayedzada said.
The suspect, Najibullah, was paraded by police at a press conference where he said the mother-in-law lured him into killing Gul by telling him that she was a prostitute.
"It was around 2:00 am when Gul's husband left for his bakery. I came down and with the help of her mother-in-law killed her with a knife," he said.
The murder comes against a backdrop of a world outcry over the shooting by Taliban Islamists of a 14-year-old Pakistani girl, Malala Yousafzai, who had become a voice against the suppression of women's rights.
While Yousafzai's case has made world headlines, people using social media in Afghanistan have made the point that oppression and violence against women are commonplace in Afghanistan.
Abdul Qader Rahimi, the regional director of the government-backed human rights commission in western Afghanistan, said violence against women had dramatically increased in the region recently.
"There is no doubt violence against women has increased. So far this year we have registered 100 cases of violence against women in the western region," he said, adding that many cases go unreported.
"But at least in Gul's case, we are glad the murderer has been arrested and brought to justice," he said.
Last year, in a case that made international headlines, police rescued a teenage girl, Sahar Gul, who was beaten and locked up in a toilet for five months after she defied her in-laws who tried to force her into prostitution.
Courtesy: The Times of India
Monday, 15 October 2012
Experts fear a “Talibanization” of Afghan justice
~~By Abdul Bari Hakim
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| "The discrimination of women starts in families and goes all the way to the justice system and to the top leaders of government.” |
The lashing of a teenage girl in Afghanistan for having an “illegal
relationship” has caused an uproar inside and outside the country.
Experts fear a “Talibanization” of the Afghan justice system.
On September 16, three mullahs in the southern Afghan province of Ghazni sentenced 16-year-old Sabera to 100 lashes for having an “illegal relationship” with a boy. On Monday, September 24, hundreds of students and rights activists took to the streets to protest so-called “desert trials” such as the one which tried Sabera, which take place without due process of law and are held by the Taliban and local clerics.
The protesters demanded the government take measures to stop such unlawful trials and punishment. A day later, Afghan authorities reported the arrest of five people connected to Sabera’s lashing. Authorities said they were investigating the case.
Sabera’s sister Shafiqa was among the demonstrators. She had watched the sentence being carried out.
“At first, no one had the courage to carry out the lashings,” she told Deutsche Welle. “When a local police chief said he would take responsibility, that’s when one of his officials went forward and carried out the order.”
Expecting justice?
Shafiqa said she tried to get the legal authorities involved in her case but that they had not been cooperative. “Basically they said, ‘what do you expect if you want justice?’”
Parastu Yari, one of the demonstrators in Kabul, said the justice system should get involved in such cases. “We want the organizers of arbitrary trials to be brought before a court of law. The government must become active and prohibit these kinds of acts.”
Shahgul Rezai, an MP from Ghazni province, where the trial took place, joined the protesters in Kabul to show her solidarity with the teenage girl. She also agreed to commission a parliamentary delegation to investigate Sabera’s case.
Equal rights?
Amnesty International welcomed the decision of the Afghan parliament to investigate the incident. At the same time, the rights organization criticized the country’s government and its legal authorities for not taking any action in such cases in the past. The impunity for violence against women was widespread in Afghanistan, Huria Musadiq of Amnesty International told DW – despite the fact that the Afghan constitution guaranteed equal rights to men and women. In reality, she said, women faced much discrimination.
Referring to a 2011 report by the UN Mission in Afghanistan, Musadiq said very few judges and prosecutors in Afghanistan even had any knowledge of equal rights laws: “The discrimination of women starts in families and goes all the way to the justice system and to the top leaders of government.”
Preparing for the worst?
For many, it was quite a surprise that Sabera was subjected to this form of parallel justice in an area like Jaghori District, where the Taliban is not active and has no followers, and which is generally seen as forward-thinking. The government, for the most part, has control over security and administration in the region.
Afghan expert Musadiq fears the incident could be an indication of a “re-Talibanization” of Afghan justice.
“We are observing a self-imposed censorship and the withdrawal of women from the public sphere,” he told DW. “An incident like the one in Jaghori could be an indication that the people there fear the return of the Taliban and are simply preparing themselves by demonstrating that they follow shariah law.”
On September 16, three mullahs in the southern Afghan province of Ghazni sentenced 16-year-old Sabera to 100 lashes for having an “illegal relationship” with a boy. On Monday, September 24, hundreds of students and rights activists took to the streets to protest so-called “desert trials” such as the one which tried Sabera, which take place without due process of law and are held by the Taliban and local clerics.
The protesters demanded the government take measures to stop such unlawful trials and punishment. A day later, Afghan authorities reported the arrest of five people connected to Sabera’s lashing. Authorities said they were investigating the case.
Sabera’s sister Shafiqa was among the demonstrators. She had watched the sentence being carried out.
“At first, no one had the courage to carry out the lashings,” she told Deutsche Welle. “When a local police chief said he would take responsibility, that’s when one of his officials went forward and carried out the order.”
Expecting justice?
Shafiqa said she tried to get the legal authorities involved in her case but that they had not been cooperative. “Basically they said, ‘what do you expect if you want justice?’”
Parastu Yari, one of the demonstrators in Kabul, said the justice system should get involved in such cases. “We want the organizers of arbitrary trials to be brought before a court of law. The government must become active and prohibit these kinds of acts.”
Shahgul Rezai, an MP from Ghazni province, where the trial took place, joined the protesters in Kabul to show her solidarity with the teenage girl. She also agreed to commission a parliamentary delegation to investigate Sabera’s case.
Equal rights?
Amnesty International welcomed the decision of the Afghan parliament to investigate the incident. At the same time, the rights organization criticized the country’s government and its legal authorities for not taking any action in such cases in the past. The impunity for violence against women was widespread in Afghanistan, Huria Musadiq of Amnesty International told DW – despite the fact that the Afghan constitution guaranteed equal rights to men and women. In reality, she said, women faced much discrimination.
Referring to a 2011 report by the UN Mission in Afghanistan, Musadiq said very few judges and prosecutors in Afghanistan even had any knowledge of equal rights laws: “The discrimination of women starts in families and goes all the way to the justice system and to the top leaders of government.”
Preparing for the worst?
For many, it was quite a surprise that Sabera was subjected to this form of parallel justice in an area like Jaghori District, where the Taliban is not active and has no followers, and which is generally seen as forward-thinking. The government, for the most part, has control over security and administration in the region.
Afghan expert Musadiq fears the incident could be an indication of a “re-Talibanization” of Afghan justice.
“We are observing a self-imposed censorship and the withdrawal of women from the public sphere,” he told DW. “An incident like the one in Jaghori could be an indication that the people there fear the return of the Taliban and are simply preparing themselves by demonstrating that they follow shariah law.”
Courtesy: Kabul Court
Wednesday, 10 October 2012
Why number of Hindus in Pakistan is declining?
Recently on Pakistan TV, a poor Hindu boy from Pakistan was shown changing his religion to Islam under a mullah’s guidance. After the conversion, the studio audience congratulated him and shouted out suggestions for his new Muslim name before he was renamed Mohammad Abdullah. This conversion sent a clear signal that other religions don’t enjoy the same status in Pakistan as Islam does and it is a country where minorities are treated as second-class citizens in many ways and there is lack of tolerance towards religious minorities.
I think this is a sheer mockery of the two great religions and epitome of unjust and unethical practises. The forced conversions and abductions of non-Muslims living in Pakistan is not new to anyone. The Pakistani media always make big hue and cry about alleged atrocities carried out in Indian Kashmir and the Gujrat riots but never discuss anything about the pathetic condition of Hindus in Pakistan.
In 1951, Hindus constituted 22 percentage of the Pakistani population, today, the share of Hindus are down to 1.7 percent in Pakistan. This decline of the Hindu population over half a century is stark evidence of the effects of the discriminatory nature and anti-Hindu policies of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.
The increasing Islamisation and Talibanisation of Pakistan and antagonism against India have been some of the major factors behind the persecution of Hindus in Pakistan. Such Islamisation include the blasphemy laws, which make it dangerous for religious minorities to express themselves freely and engage freely in religious and cultural activities.
The promulgation of Sharia, Quranic law has also increased the marginalisation of Hindus and other minorities. Following the Babri Mosque riots in India, riots and attacks on Hindus in retaliation has only increased; Hindus in Pakistan are routinely affected by communal incidents in India and violent developments on the Kashmir conflict between the two nations.
According to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan 2010 reports, at least 25 Hindu girls are abducted in Pakistan every month and converted to Islam. Earlier this year, Rinkle Kumari, a 19 year old Hindi girl was kidnapped and forced to convert from Hinduism to Islam and marry a Muslim boy. Her case was appealed all the way up to the Supreme Court of Pakistan and generated widespread attention in the media.
I think this is a sheer mockery of the two great religions and epitome of unjust and unethical practises. The forced conversions and abductions of non-Muslims living in Pakistan is not new to anyone. The Pakistani media always make big hue and cry about alleged atrocities carried out in Indian Kashmir and the Gujrat riots but never discuss anything about the pathetic condition of Hindus in Pakistan.
In 1951, Hindus constituted 22 percentage of the Pakistani population, today, the share of Hindus are down to 1.7 percent in Pakistan. This decline of the Hindu population over half a century is stark evidence of the effects of the discriminatory nature and anti-Hindu policies of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.
The increasing Islamisation and Talibanisation of Pakistan and antagonism against India have been some of the major factors behind the persecution of Hindus in Pakistan. Such Islamisation include the blasphemy laws, which make it dangerous for religious minorities to express themselves freely and engage freely in religious and cultural activities.
According to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan 2010 reports, at least 25 Hindu girls are abducted in Pakistan every month and converted to Islam. Earlier this year, Rinkle Kumari, a 19 year old Hindi girl was kidnapped and forced to convert from Hinduism to Islam and marry a Muslim boy. Her case was appealed all the way up to the Supreme Court of Pakistan and generated widespread attention in the media.
Source: Abhisays.com
Sunday, 30 September 2012
Probe into SpeakAsia affairs hits legal hurdle
Debate over whether Serious Fraud Investigation Office has powers to probe a firm registered outside India
Press Trust of India / New Delhi Sep 30, 2012.
Debate over whether Serious Fraud Investigation Office has powers to probe a firm registered outside India
Press Trust of India / New Delhi Sep 30, 2012.
The Serious Fraud Investigation Office's probe into the alleged scam at
multi-level online marketing entity SpeakAsia has hit a legal hurdle on
whether the agency has powers to investigate a company registered
outside India.
Regarding probe into SpeakAsia, which is registered in Singapore, SFIO is now awaiting advice from the Corporate Affairs as well as the Law Ministries.
Officials close to the development said the SFIO has sought clarification on whether it has the powers to probe irregularities of a company, which is registered overseas, but has operations in India as well.
The agency is awaiting clarity before proceeding further on the case, they added.
In the wake of an alleged scam at SpeakAsia, which came to light early last year, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) had ordered an SFIO investigation into the issue.
SFIO, under the MCA, was set up for investigations into corporate frauds under the provisions of the Companies Act 1956.
Going by its website, SpeakAsia is not registered as a company in India as it is not a permanent establishment (PE) here. The members, who register with SpeakAsia after paying an annual fee, are required to conduct online surveys for various clients.
According to experts, under the existing Companies Act, there is no clarity on whether Indian authorities have powers to probe an overseas entity having operations in the country.
However, this issue has been addressed in the new Companies Bill 2011, which is expected to be taken up during the next Parliament session.
In the new Companies Bill, clause 228 provide powers for authorities to look into affairs of overseas companies having operations in India.
As per the Bill, "This is a new clause and seeks to provide that the provisions relating inspection or investigation under Chapter XIV shall also apply mutatis mutandis to inspection or investigation of foreign companies".
Chapter XIV is related to inspection, inquiry and investigation of companies.
Earlier this month, SFIO in a reply to a Right to Information (RTI) query said the SpeakAsia case is pending investigation and has been referred to the Ministry of Corporate Affairs/Ministry of Law and Justice on a legal issue. However, specific details were not disclosed.
Meanwhile, Moily recently said the final draft of the Companies Bill 2011 is now before the Cabinet and is likely to be discussed in the next Parliament session.
Regarding probe into SpeakAsia, which is registered in Singapore, SFIO is now awaiting advice from the Corporate Affairs as well as the Law Ministries.
Officials close to the development said the SFIO has sought clarification on whether it has the powers to probe irregularities of a company, which is registered overseas, but has operations in India as well.
The agency is awaiting clarity before proceeding further on the case, they added.
In the wake of an alleged scam at SpeakAsia, which came to light early last year, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) had ordered an SFIO investigation into the issue.
SFIO, under the MCA, was set up for investigations into corporate frauds under the provisions of the Companies Act 1956.
Going by its website, SpeakAsia is not registered as a company in India as it is not a permanent establishment (PE) here. The members, who register with SpeakAsia after paying an annual fee, are required to conduct online surveys for various clients.
According to experts, under the existing Companies Act, there is no clarity on whether Indian authorities have powers to probe an overseas entity having operations in the country.
However, this issue has been addressed in the new Companies Bill 2011, which is expected to be taken up during the next Parliament session.
In the new Companies Bill, clause 228 provide powers for authorities to look into affairs of overseas companies having operations in India.
As per the Bill, "This is a new clause and seeks to provide that the provisions relating inspection or investigation under Chapter XIV shall also apply mutatis mutandis to inspection or investigation of foreign companies".
Chapter XIV is related to inspection, inquiry and investigation of companies.
Earlier this month, SFIO in a reply to a Right to Information (RTI) query said the SpeakAsia case is pending investigation and has been referred to the Ministry of Corporate Affairs/Ministry of Law and Justice on a legal issue. However, specific details were not disclosed.
Meanwhile, Moily recently said the final draft of the Companies Bill 2011 is now before the Cabinet and is likely to be discussed in the next Parliament session.
Source: Business Standard
Protesters torch Buddhist temples, homes in Bangladesh
Reuters | Sep 30, 2012
Reuters | Sep 30, 2012
COX'S BAZAR, Bangladesh: Hundreds of Muslims in Bangladesh burned at least four Buddhist temples and 15 homes of Buddhists on Sunday after complaining that a Buddhist man had insulted Islam, police and residents said.
Members of the Buddhist minority in the Cox's Bazar area in the southeast of the country said unidentified people were bent on upsetting peaceful relations between Muslims and Buddhists.
Muslims took to the streets in the area late on Saturday to protest against what they said was a photograph posted on Facebook that insulted Islam.
The protesters said the picture had been posted by a Buddhist and they marched to Buddhist villages and set fire to temples and houses.
Police said they had deployed extra security forces and banned gatherings in Buddhist-dominated areas.
"We brought the situation under control before dawn and imposed restrictions on public gatherings," said Salim Mohammad Jahangir, Cox's Bazaar district police superintendent.
Many people in predominantly Muslim Bangladesh have been angered in recent days by a film made in California that mocks the Prophet Mohammad.
Muslims in Bangladesh and beyond have also been outraged by violence over the border in Myanmar where members of the majority Buddhist community clashed with minority Muslims this year.
Police had escorted the man accused of posting the insulting photograph and his mother to safety, Jahangir said.
Sohel Sarwar Kajal, the Muslim head of the council in the area where the arson took place, said he was trying to restore communal peace.
"We are doing everything possible to quell tension and restore peace between the communities," he told reporters.
Members of the Buddhist minority in the Cox's Bazar area in the southeast of the country said unidentified people were bent on upsetting peaceful relations between Muslims and Buddhists.
Muslims took to the streets in the area late on Saturday to protest against what they said was a photograph posted on Facebook that insulted Islam.
The protesters said the picture had been posted by a Buddhist and they marched to Buddhist villages and set fire to temples and houses.
Police said they had deployed extra security forces and banned gatherings in Buddhist-dominated areas.
"We brought the situation under control before dawn and imposed restrictions on public gatherings," said Salim Mohammad Jahangir, Cox's Bazaar district police superintendent.
Many people in predominantly Muslim Bangladesh have been angered in recent days by a film made in California that mocks the Prophet Mohammad.
Muslims in Bangladesh and beyond have also been outraged by violence over the border in Myanmar where members of the majority Buddhist community clashed with minority Muslims this year.
Police had escorted the man accused of posting the insulting photograph and his mother to safety, Jahangir said.
Sohel Sarwar Kajal, the Muslim head of the council in the area where the arson took place, said he was trying to restore communal peace.
"We are doing everything possible to quell tension and restore peace between the communities," he told reporters.
Courtesy: The Times of India
Saturday, 1 September 2012
Meet the nurse who's plagued by 100 orgasms a day!
A nurse is agonized by a medical condition that gives her up to 100 orgasms a day
A nurse is agonized by a medical condition that gives her up to 100 orgasms a day
August 28, 2012: London: Kim Ramsey, 44, feels constantly aroused and the slightest movement can trigger a climax.
Trains, driving and even housework start the reaction.
The orgasms leave her in pain, exhausted and unable to have a normal relationship.
“Other women wonder how to have an orgasm - I wonder how to stop mine,” a major newspaper quoted her as saying.
Kim was diagnosed with incurable Persistent Genital Arousal Disorder.
Doctors blame spinal cysts caused when she fell down stairs ten years ago.
Kim, from Hitchin, Herts, but now living in Montclair, New Jersey, US, first had problems after sex with a new boyfriend in 2008.
I had constant orgasms for four days. I thought I was going mad. It also happened with a new partner and I even tried sitting on frozen peas,” Kim said.
The orgasms leave her in pain, exhausted and unable to have a normal relationship.
“Other women wonder how to have an orgasm - I wonder how to stop mine,” a major newspaper quoted her as saying.
Kim was diagnosed with incurable Persistent Genital Arousal Disorder.
Doctors blame spinal cysts caused when she fell down stairs ten years ago.
Kim, from Hitchin, Herts, but now living in Montclair, New Jersey, US, first had problems after sex with a new boyfriend in 2008.
I had constant orgasms for four days. I thought I was going mad. It also happened with a new partner and I even tried sitting on frozen peas,” Kim said.
Courtesy: Mid-Day
Religion no bar for this mandal
A Ganpati mandal in Mumbai has around 50 Muslim workers helping with festival preparations, who even worked throughout the month of Ramzan
~~Chetna Yerunkar
Sepember 01, 2012: With just 18 days remaining for the Ganpati festival, every mandal in the city is going all out to be better than the rest before the Lord makes his arrival. The Fort Vibhag Sarvajanik Ganeshotsav Mandal at Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus has even transcended the boundaries of religion, with about 50 Muslim labourers working at the pandal for the last two months.
Even though they do not celebrate the festival themselves, the Muslim labourers play a major role in the mandal’s success. The labourers work under the art director, Anand Sawant, who has been relying on them for the past three years. While around 80 labourers are employed for the construction of the pandal, 50 alone are members of the Muslim community.
The mandal will be placing their idol for 11 days in a replica of the Laxmi Niwas palace. The height of the pandal is more than 45 feet, and it has an entrance gate spanning 40 feet. The total area covered by the pandal is 160 square feet, which the mandal claims is one of the most spacious in the city.
The construction of this set began on July 15, and will be completed at an estimated cost of about Rs 60 lakh.
One of the labourers working at the pandal, Abu Ahmad, said, “I have been associated with this mandal for a long time and have been a involved in making the 12 Jyotirlingas as well. For us, the work is more important than anything else. We are never discriminated against here and we had a pleasant Ramzan here with the mandal’s members. We have bonded with this mandal and will continue to be here even next year.”
President of this mandal, Ravindra Surve said, “There are some workers who have been associated with our mandal for a long time, but this year the need for workers was more and hence they (the muslim labourers) were hired. They have been working with us for the whole of Ramzan and because of them, we held Iftaars for the whole month — they would break their fast in the pandal itself.”
Even though they do not celebrate the festival themselves, the Muslim labourers play a major role in the mandal’s success. The labourers work under the art director, Anand Sawant, who has been relying on them for the past three years. While around 80 labourers are employed for the construction of the pandal, 50 alone are members of the Muslim community.
The mandal will be placing their idol for 11 days in a replica of the Laxmi Niwas palace. The height of the pandal is more than 45 feet, and it has an entrance gate spanning 40 feet. The total area covered by the pandal is 160 square feet, which the mandal claims is one of the most spacious in the city.
The construction of this set began on July 15, and will be completed at an estimated cost of about Rs 60 lakh.
One of the labourers working at the pandal, Abu Ahmad, said, “I have been associated with this mandal for a long time and have been a involved in making the 12 Jyotirlingas as well. For us, the work is more important than anything else. We are never discriminated against here and we had a pleasant Ramzan here with the mandal’s members. We have bonded with this mandal and will continue to be here even next year.”
President of this mandal, Ravindra Surve said, “There are some workers who have been associated with our mandal for a long time, but this year the need for workers was more and hence they (the muslim labourers) were hired. They have been working with us for the whole of Ramzan and because of them, we held Iftaars for the whole month — they would break their fast in the pandal itself.”
Courtesy: Mid-day
Monday, 7 May 2012
India's God Laws Fail the Test of Reason
~~by Praveen Swami
Early in March, little drops of water began to drip from the feet of the statue of Jesus nailed to the cross on the church of Our Lady of Velankanni, down on to Mumbai's unlovely Irla Road. Hundreds began to flock to the church to collect the holy water in little plastic bottles, hoping the tears of the son of god would sanctify their homes and heal their beloved.
Sanal Edamaruku, the eminent rationalist thinker, arrived at the church a fortnight after the miracle began drawing crowds. It took him less than half an hour to discover the source of the divine tears: a filthy puddle formed by a blocked drain, from where water was being pushed up through a phenomenon all high-school physics students are familiar with, called capillary action.
For his discovery, Mr. Edamaruku now faces the prospect of three years in prison — and the absolute certainty that he will spend several more years hopping between lawyers' offices and courtrooms. In the wake of Mr. Edamaruku's miracle-busting Mumbai visit, three police stations in the capital received complaints against him for inciting religious hatred. First information reports were filed, and investigations initiated with exemplary — if unusual — alacrity.
Real courage:
Mr. Edamaruku isn't the kind to be frightened. It takes real courage, in a piety-obsessed society, to expose the chicanery of Satya Sai Baba and packs of lesser miracle-peddlers who prey on the insecurities of the desperate and gullible. These actions have brought threats in their wake — but never from the state.
India's Constitution obliges all citizens to develop “scientific temper, humanism and the spirit of inquiry and reform”. India's laws, though, are being used to persecute a man who has devoted his life to doing precisely that.
Like dozens of other intellectuals and artists, Mr. Edamaraku is a victim of India's god laws — colonial-era legislation obliging the state to punish those who offend the faith of others. Section 295 of the Indian Penal Code criminalises the actions of “whoever destroys, damages or defiles any place of worship, or any object held sacred by any class of persons”. Its sibling, Section 295A, outlaws “deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings of any class”. Section 153B goes further, proscribing “any act which is prejudicial to the maintenance of harmony between different religious, racial, language or regional groups or castes or communities”. Alarmingly, given the sweeping generalities in which these laws are written, truth is not an admissible defence.
In the decades since independence, these laws have been regularly used to hound intellectuals and artists who questioned religious beliefs. In 1993, the New Delhi-based progressive cultural organisation, Sahmat, organised an exhibition demonstrating that there were multiple versions of the Ramayana in Indian culture. Panels in the exhibition recorded that in one Buddhist tradition, Sita was Ram's sister; in a Jain version, she was the daughter of Ravan. Even though the exhibits drew on historian Romila Thapar's authoritative work, criminal cases were filed against Sahmat for offending the sentiments of traditionalist Hindus.
Punjab has seen a rash of god-related cases, mainly involving Dalit-led heterodoxies challenging the high traditions of the Akal Takht. In 2007, police filed cases against Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, the head of the syncretic Saccha Sauda sect, for his purportedly blasphemous use of Sikh iconography. Earlier, in 2001, similar charges were brought against Piara Singh Bhaniarawala, after he released the Bhavsagar Granth, a religious text suffused with miracle stories.
Islamic chauvinists have shown the same enthusiasm for the secular state's god laws as their Sikh and Hindu counterparts. Earlier this year, FIRs were filed against four writers who read out passages from Salman Rushdie's The Satanic Verses — a book that is wholly legal in India. Fear of Islamic neo-fundamentalists is pervasive, shaping cultural discourse even when its outcomes are not as dramatic as Mr. Rushdie's case. In 1995, writer Khalid Alvi reissued Angaarey — a path-breaking collection of Urdu short works banned in 1933 for its attacks on god. The collection's most-incendiary passages were censored out. India's feisty media didn't even murmur in protest after the magazine India Today was proscribed by Jammu and Kashmir in 2006 for carrying a cartoon with an image of the Kaaba as one among a metaphorical pack of political cards.
Even religious belief, ironically enough, can invite prosecution by the pious. Last year, the Kannada movie actress, Jayamala, was summoned before a Kerala court, along with astrologer P. Unnikrishna and his assistant Reghupathy, to face police charges that she had violated a taboo against women in the menstruating age from entering the Sabrimala temple.
For the most part, judges have shied away from condoning criticism of the pious, perhaps fearful of being held responsible for public disorder. In 1958, the Supreme Court heard litigation that grew out of the radical politician, E.V. Ramaswamy Naicker's decision to break a clay idol of Ganesha. Lower courts had held, in essence, that the idol was not a sanctified object. The Supreme Court differed, urging the lower judiciary “to pay due regard to the feelings and religious emotions of different classes of persons with different beliefs, irrespective … of whether they are rational or otherwise”.
‘Insult to religion':
Earlier, in 1957, the Supreme Court placed some limits on 295A saying it “does not penalise any and every act of insult to or attempt to insult the religion”. Instead, it “only punishes the aggravated form of insult to religion perpetrated with deliberate and malicious intention” (emphasis added). The court shied away, though, from the key question, of what an insult to religion actually was.
Hearing an appeal against the Uttar Pradesh government's decision to confiscate Naicker's contentious Ramayana, the Supreme Court again ducked this issue. In 1976, it simply said “the law fixes the mind of the Administration to the obligation to reflect on the need to restrict and to state the grounds which ignite its action”. “That is about all”, the judges concluded.
That hasn't, however, been all. In 1998, the Supreme Court upheld Karnataka's decision to ban P.V. Narayanna's Dharmakaarana, an award-winning re-reading of the Hindu saint, Basaveshwara. In 2007, the Bombay High Court similarly allowed Maharashtra to ban R.L. Bhasin's Islam, an aggressive attack on the faith. There have been several other similar cases. In some, the works involved were scurrilous, even inflammatory — but the principles established by courts have allowed State governments to stamp out critical works of scholarship and art.
Dangers ahead:
Indians have grappled with these issues since at least 1924, when Arya Samaj activist Mahashe Rajpal published the pamphlet that led the state to enact several of the god laws. Rangila Rasul — in Urdu, ‘the colourful prophet' —was a frank, anti-Islam polemic. Lower courts condemned Rajpal to prison. In the Lahore High Court, though, Justice Dalip Singh argued that public outrage could not be the basis for legal proscription: “if the fact that Musalmans resent attacks on the Prophet was to be the measure [of legal sanction]”, he reasoned, “then an historical work in which the life of the prophet was considered and judgment passed on his character by a serious historian might [also] come within the definition”.
In 1927, when pre-independence India's central legislative assembly debated the Rangila Rasul affair, some endorsed Justice Singh's message. M.R. Jayakar likened religious fanaticism to a form of mental illness, and suggested that those who suffer from it be segregated “from the rest of the community”. This eminently sane suggestion wasn't, however, the consensus: the god laws were expanded to expressly punish works like Rangila Rasul.
Perhaps Indians can congratulate themselves that the god laws have not been used to persecute and kill religious dissenters, as the ever-expanding blasphemy laws which sprang up in Pakistan. Mr. Edamaruku's case ought to make clear, though, just where things are inexorably headed. If Indians wish to avoid the fate of the dystopia to the country's west, its citizens desperately need to accept the right of critics to attack, even insult, what they hold dear.
In 864 CE, the great physician, Abu Bakr Muhammad Ibn Zakaria al-Razi, wrote: “The miracles of the prophets are imposters or belong to the domain of pious legend. The teachings of religions are contrary to the one truth: the proof of this is that they contradict one another. It is tradition and lazy custom that have led men to trust their religious leaders. Religions are the sole cause of the wars which ravage humanity; they are hostile to philosophical speculation and to scientific research. The alleged holy scriptures are books without values”.
Following a rich scholarly life, and a tenure as director of the hospital in Baghdad patronised by the caliph Abu al-Qasim Abd 'Allah, al-Razi died quietly at his home in Rey, surrounded by his students. In modern India, his thoughts would have led him to a somewhat less pleasant end.
Sanal Edamaruku, the eminent rationalist thinker, arrived at the church a fortnight after the miracle began drawing crowds. It took him less than half an hour to discover the source of the divine tears: a filthy puddle formed by a blocked drain, from where water was being pushed up through a phenomenon all high-school physics students are familiar with, called capillary action.
For his discovery, Mr. Edamaruku now faces the prospect of three years in prison — and the absolute certainty that he will spend several more years hopping between lawyers' offices and courtrooms. In the wake of Mr. Edamaruku's miracle-busting Mumbai visit, three police stations in the capital received complaints against him for inciting religious hatred. First information reports were filed, and investigations initiated with exemplary — if unusual — alacrity.
Real courage:
Mr. Edamaruku isn't the kind to be frightened. It takes real courage, in a piety-obsessed society, to expose the chicanery of Satya Sai Baba and packs of lesser miracle-peddlers who prey on the insecurities of the desperate and gullible. These actions have brought threats in their wake — but never from the state.
India's Constitution obliges all citizens to develop “scientific temper, humanism and the spirit of inquiry and reform”. India's laws, though, are being used to persecute a man who has devoted his life to doing precisely that.
Like dozens of other intellectuals and artists, Mr. Edamaraku is a victim of India's god laws — colonial-era legislation obliging the state to punish those who offend the faith of others. Section 295 of the Indian Penal Code criminalises the actions of “whoever destroys, damages or defiles any place of worship, or any object held sacred by any class of persons”. Its sibling, Section 295A, outlaws “deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings of any class”. Section 153B goes further, proscribing “any act which is prejudicial to the maintenance of harmony between different religious, racial, language or regional groups or castes or communities”. Alarmingly, given the sweeping generalities in which these laws are written, truth is not an admissible defence.
In the decades since independence, these laws have been regularly used to hound intellectuals and artists who questioned religious beliefs. In 1993, the New Delhi-based progressive cultural organisation, Sahmat, organised an exhibition demonstrating that there were multiple versions of the Ramayana in Indian culture. Panels in the exhibition recorded that in one Buddhist tradition, Sita was Ram's sister; in a Jain version, she was the daughter of Ravan. Even though the exhibits drew on historian Romila Thapar's authoritative work, criminal cases were filed against Sahmat for offending the sentiments of traditionalist Hindus.
Punjab has seen a rash of god-related cases, mainly involving Dalit-led heterodoxies challenging the high traditions of the Akal Takht. In 2007, police filed cases against Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, the head of the syncretic Saccha Sauda sect, for his purportedly blasphemous use of Sikh iconography. Earlier, in 2001, similar charges were brought against Piara Singh Bhaniarawala, after he released the Bhavsagar Granth, a religious text suffused with miracle stories.
Islamic chauvinists have shown the same enthusiasm for the secular state's god laws as their Sikh and Hindu counterparts. Earlier this year, FIRs were filed against four writers who read out passages from Salman Rushdie's The Satanic Verses — a book that is wholly legal in India. Fear of Islamic neo-fundamentalists is pervasive, shaping cultural discourse even when its outcomes are not as dramatic as Mr. Rushdie's case. In 1995, writer Khalid Alvi reissued Angaarey — a path-breaking collection of Urdu short works banned in 1933 for its attacks on god. The collection's most-incendiary passages were censored out. India's feisty media didn't even murmur in protest after the magazine India Today was proscribed by Jammu and Kashmir in 2006 for carrying a cartoon with an image of the Kaaba as one among a metaphorical pack of political cards.
Even religious belief, ironically enough, can invite prosecution by the pious. Last year, the Kannada movie actress, Jayamala, was summoned before a Kerala court, along with astrologer P. Unnikrishna and his assistant Reghupathy, to face police charges that she had violated a taboo against women in the menstruating age from entering the Sabrimala temple.
For the most part, judges have shied away from condoning criticism of the pious, perhaps fearful of being held responsible for public disorder. In 1958, the Supreme Court heard litigation that grew out of the radical politician, E.V. Ramaswamy Naicker's decision to break a clay idol of Ganesha. Lower courts had held, in essence, that the idol was not a sanctified object. The Supreme Court differed, urging the lower judiciary “to pay due regard to the feelings and religious emotions of different classes of persons with different beliefs, irrespective … of whether they are rational or otherwise”.
‘Insult to religion':
Earlier, in 1957, the Supreme Court placed some limits on 295A saying it “does not penalise any and every act of insult to or attempt to insult the religion”. Instead, it “only punishes the aggravated form of insult to religion perpetrated with deliberate and malicious intention” (emphasis added). The court shied away, though, from the key question, of what an insult to religion actually was.
Hearing an appeal against the Uttar Pradesh government's decision to confiscate Naicker's contentious Ramayana, the Supreme Court again ducked this issue. In 1976, it simply said “the law fixes the mind of the Administration to the obligation to reflect on the need to restrict and to state the grounds which ignite its action”. “That is about all”, the judges concluded.
That hasn't, however, been all. In 1998, the Supreme Court upheld Karnataka's decision to ban P.V. Narayanna's Dharmakaarana, an award-winning re-reading of the Hindu saint, Basaveshwara. In 2007, the Bombay High Court similarly allowed Maharashtra to ban R.L. Bhasin's Islam, an aggressive attack on the faith. There have been several other similar cases. In some, the works involved were scurrilous, even inflammatory — but the principles established by courts have allowed State governments to stamp out critical works of scholarship and art.
Dangers ahead:
Indians have grappled with these issues since at least 1924, when Arya Samaj activist Mahashe Rajpal published the pamphlet that led the state to enact several of the god laws. Rangila Rasul — in Urdu, ‘the colourful prophet' —was a frank, anti-Islam polemic. Lower courts condemned Rajpal to prison. In the Lahore High Court, though, Justice Dalip Singh argued that public outrage could not be the basis for legal proscription: “if the fact that Musalmans resent attacks on the Prophet was to be the measure [of legal sanction]”, he reasoned, “then an historical work in which the life of the prophet was considered and judgment passed on his character by a serious historian might [also] come within the definition”.
In 1927, when pre-independence India's central legislative assembly debated the Rangila Rasul affair, some endorsed Justice Singh's message. M.R. Jayakar likened religious fanaticism to a form of mental illness, and suggested that those who suffer from it be segregated “from the rest of the community”. This eminently sane suggestion wasn't, however, the consensus: the god laws were expanded to expressly punish works like Rangila Rasul.
Perhaps Indians can congratulate themselves that the god laws have not been used to persecute and kill religious dissenters, as the ever-expanding blasphemy laws which sprang up in Pakistan. Mr. Edamaruku's case ought to make clear, though, just where things are inexorably headed. If Indians wish to avoid the fate of the dystopia to the country's west, its citizens desperately need to accept the right of critics to attack, even insult, what they hold dear.
In 864 CE, the great physician, Abu Bakr Muhammad Ibn Zakaria al-Razi, wrote: “The miracles of the prophets are imposters or belong to the domain of pious legend. The teachings of religions are contrary to the one truth: the proof of this is that they contradict one another. It is tradition and lazy custom that have led men to trust their religious leaders. Religions are the sole cause of the wars which ravage humanity; they are hostile to philosophical speculation and to scientific research. The alleged holy scriptures are books without values”.
Following a rich scholarly life, and a tenure as director of the hospital in Baghdad patronised by the caliph Abu al-Qasim Abd 'Allah, al-Razi died quietly at his home in Rey, surrounded by his students. In modern India, his thoughts would have led him to a somewhat less pleasant end.
Courtesy: The Hindu
Wednesday, 7 March 2012
Bin Laden was not buried at sea, leaked email reveal sent to the U.S. for cremation
FnF Desk , Mar 07, 2012
NY: The fate of Osama bin Laden's remains have been called into question after emails leaked from an intelligence analysis firm say the body of the terror leader was actually sent to the U.S. for cremation.
According to the emails, the Al Qaeda boss was shot and killed during the famous Navy SEAL Team Six raid on his compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, was transported back to the U.S. and cremated.
According to the Daily Mail report, the emails were allegedly obtained by the hacker group Anonymous from Stratfor, an organisation dealing with analysis of intelligence and geopolitical analysis. It's also known as the 'Shadow CIA'.
Last week, Anonymous announced that it had gotten access to 2.7million of the firm’s confidential correspondences, and said they could provide 'the smoking gun for a number of crimes'.
The hackers said Stratfor, based in Austin, Texas, were 'clueless' when it came to database security.
After bin Laden was killed in the famous raid in Pakistan on May 2 2011, the Obama administration said his body was buried at sea off the USS Carl Vinson - in accordance with Islamic tradition.
But in a particular set of emails given to WikiLeaks, the firm’s vice president for intelligence, Fred Burton, says he doubts the official White House version of what happened to bin Laden's body.
Stratfor’s vice-president for intelligence, Fred Burton, says the body was 'bound for Dover, [Delaware] on [a] CIA plane' and 'onward to the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology in Bethesda [Maryland]'.
The claims are sure to stoke conspiracy theorists, especially since the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology that Burton refers to closed its doors on September 15, 2011, four months after bin Laden's death.
In another email, Burton said: 'If body dumped at sea, which I doubt, the touch is very Adolph Eichman like. The Tribe did the same thing with the Nazi's ashes'.
'Eichmann was seen alive for many months on trial before being sentenced to death and executed. No one wanted a monument to him so they cremated him.'
Stratfor CEO George Friedman responded: ‘But i dont know anyone who claimed he wasnt eicjhman [sic]. No comparison with suddenly burying him at sea without any chance to view him which i doubt happened [sic]'.
In a February 27 statement, Stratfor said: In December, thieves compromised Stratfor's data systems and stole a large number of company emails, along with other private information of Stratfor readers, subscribers and employees. Those stolen emails apparently will be published by Wikileaks. This is a deplorable, unfortunate - and illegal - breach of privacy.
'Some of the emails may be forged or altered to include inaccuracies; some may be authentic. We will not validate either. Nor will we explain the thinking that went into them. Having had our property stolen, we will not be victimized twice by submitting to questioning about them.'
Stratfor, which is not affiliated with the U.S. government, would not comment further.
The emails were revealed as it was reported that a members of LulzSec an offshoot of Anonymous, were arrested by the FBI.
An agency official told Fox News that the arrests were 'devastating' blow to the organisation, saying: 'We’re chopping off the head of LulzSec.'
The 'Adolph Eichman' referred to by Burton was a Nazi lieutenant and a major architect of the Holocaust. After World War II ended in 1945, he was caught by U.S. forces, and he slipped through America's fingers when he gave them a phony name.
He wound up in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where he lived for years until he was captured by the Israeli spy agency the Mossad in 1960.
War crimes and crimes against humanity were among the charges he faced when he was found guilty in an Israeli court in 1962. He was hanged, cremated, and his ashes were later spread over the Mediterranean Sea.
According to the emails, the Al Qaeda boss was shot and killed during the famous Navy SEAL Team Six raid on his compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, was transported back to the U.S. and cremated.
According to the Daily Mail report, the emails were allegedly obtained by the hacker group Anonymous from Stratfor, an organisation dealing with analysis of intelligence and geopolitical analysis. It's also known as the 'Shadow CIA'.
Last week, Anonymous announced that it had gotten access to 2.7million of the firm’s confidential correspondences, and said they could provide 'the smoking gun for a number of crimes'.
The hackers said Stratfor, based in Austin, Texas, were 'clueless' when it came to database security.
After bin Laden was killed in the famous raid in Pakistan on May 2 2011, the Obama administration said his body was buried at sea off the USS Carl Vinson - in accordance with Islamic tradition.
But in a particular set of emails given to WikiLeaks, the firm’s vice president for intelligence, Fred Burton, says he doubts the official White House version of what happened to bin Laden's body.
Stratfor’s vice-president for intelligence, Fred Burton, says the body was 'bound for Dover, [Delaware] on [a] CIA plane' and 'onward to the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology in Bethesda [Maryland]'.
The claims are sure to stoke conspiracy theorists, especially since the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology that Burton refers to closed its doors on September 15, 2011, four months after bin Laden's death.
In another email, Burton said: 'If body dumped at sea, which I doubt, the touch is very Adolph Eichman like. The Tribe did the same thing with the Nazi's ashes'.
'Eichmann was seen alive for many months on trial before being sentenced to death and executed. No one wanted a monument to him so they cremated him.'
Stratfor CEO George Friedman responded: ‘But i dont know anyone who claimed he wasnt eicjhman [sic]. No comparison with suddenly burying him at sea without any chance to view him which i doubt happened [sic]'.
In a February 27 statement, Stratfor said: In December, thieves compromised Stratfor's data systems and stole a large number of company emails, along with other private information of Stratfor readers, subscribers and employees. Those stolen emails apparently will be published by Wikileaks. This is a deplorable, unfortunate - and illegal - breach of privacy.
'Some of the emails may be forged or altered to include inaccuracies; some may be authentic. We will not validate either. Nor will we explain the thinking that went into them. Having had our property stolen, we will not be victimized twice by submitting to questioning about them.'
Stratfor, which is not affiliated with the U.S. government, would not comment further.
The emails were revealed as it was reported that a members of LulzSec an offshoot of Anonymous, were arrested by the FBI.
An agency official told Fox News that the arrests were 'devastating' blow to the organisation, saying: 'We’re chopping off the head of LulzSec.'
The 'Adolph Eichman' referred to by Burton was a Nazi lieutenant and a major architect of the Holocaust. After World War II ended in 1945, he was caught by U.S. forces, and he slipped through America's fingers when he gave them a phony name.
He wound up in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where he lived for years until he was captured by the Israeli spy agency the Mossad in 1960.
War crimes and crimes against humanity were among the charges he faced when he was found guilty in an Israeli court in 1962. He was hanged, cremated, and his ashes were later spread over the Mediterranean Sea.
Courtesy: FacenFacts
Saturday, 3 March 2012
The Vedas and Upanishads
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Some Vedic hymns and poems address philosophic themes, such as the henotheism that is key to much Hindu theology. Henotheism is the idea that one God takes many different forms, and that although individuals may worship several different gods and goddesses, they really revere but one Supreme Being.
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| The Taittiriya Upanishad |
(i) The Rig-Veda: Its traditional date goes back to 3000 BC, something which the German scholar Max Mueller accepted. As a body of writing, the Rig-Veda (the wisdom of verses) is nothing short of remarkable. It contains 1028 hymns (10,589 verses which are divided into ten mandalas or book-sections) dedicated to thirty-three different gods. The most often addressed gods were nature gods like Indra (rain god; king of heavens), Agni (fire god), Rudra (storm god; the 'howler'), Soma (the draught of immortality, an alcoholic brew).
(ii) The Sama-Veda: The Sama-Veda or the wisdom of chants is basically a collection of samans or chants, derived from the eighth and ninth books of the Rig-Veda. These were meant for the priests who officiated at the rituals of the soma ceremonies. There are painstaking instructions in Sama-Veda about how particular hymns must be sung; to put great emphasis upon sounds of the words of the mantras and the effect they could have on the environment and the person who pronounced them.
(iii) The Yajur-Veda: The Yajur-Veda or the wisdom of sacrifices lays down various sacred invocations (yajurs) which were chanted by a particular sect of priests called adhvaryu. They performed the sacrificial rites. The Veda also outlines various chants which should be sung to pray and pay respects to the various instruments which are involved in the sacrifice.
(iv) The Atharva-Veda: The Atharva-Veda (the wisdom of the Atharvans) is called so because the families of the atharvan sect of the Brahmins have traditionally been credited with the composition of the Vedas. It is a compilation of hymns but lacks the awesome grandeur which makes the Rig-Veda such a breathtaking spiritual experience.
Upanishads:
The term Upanishad ('upa' near; 'ni' down; 'sad' to sit) means sitting down near; this implies the students sitting down near their Guru to learn the big secret. In the splendid isolation of their forest abodes, the philosophers who composed the Upanishads contemplated upon the various mysteries of life and its creation – whether common, or metaphysical. The answers were however not open to all, but only for select students. The reason for this was simple: not everyone can handle knowledge.
The composition of the Upanishads marks a significant and stride forward in the direction of knowing the mystery of earth's creation and one comes tantalizingly close to the answers. Through episodes, commentaries, stories, traditions and dialogue, the Upanishads unfold the fascinating tale of creation, life, the essence of life and of that beyond to the seeker of truth.
There is no exact date for the composition of the Upanishads. They continued to be composed over a long period, the core being over 7th -5th centuries BC. The Upanishads were originally called Vedanta, which literally means the conclusion to the Vedas.
In the Upanishads, views about Brahman (the Absolute, or God) and atman (one's true self) were proposed.
There are 18 principal Upanishads viz:
Brhad-aranyaka Upanishad:
The Brhad-aranyaka Upanishad is widely accepted to be the most important of all Upanishads. It has three khandas or parts. The madhu khanda contemplates on the relationship between the individual and the Universal self. The muni khanda or yajnavalkya is a debate which goes on to give the philosophical backing to the earlier teaching. The khila khanda tackles various rituals of worship and meditation.
Chandogya Upanishad:
This Upanishad is a part of the Sama-Veda (see The Vedas). The name comes from the singer of the songs (samans) who is called Chandoga. The initial chapters of the Upanishad, discuss the ritual of sacrifice. The others debate the origin and profundity of the concept of Om, among other things.
Aitareya Upanishad:
This one forms part of the Rig-Veda. The purpose is to make the reader understand the deeper meaning of sacrifice and to take him away from the outer trappings of the actual act.
Taittriya Upanishad:
A part of the Yajur-Veda, this Upanishad is divided into three sections or vallis. The siksa valli deals with the phonetics of the chants, while the others, brahmananda valli and bhrgu valli deal with self-realization.
Isa Upanishad:
Also called the Isavasya Upanishad, this book deals with the union of God, the world, being and becoming. The stress is on the Absolute in relation with the world (paramesvara). The gist of the teachings is that a person's worldly and otherworldly goals need not necessarily be opposed to each other.
Kena Upanishad:
The name of this Upanishad comes from the first word kena, or by whom. It has two sections of prose and two of poetry. The verses deal with the supreme spirit or the absolute principle (brahmaana) and the prose talks of ishvara (god). The moral of the story is that the knowledge of ishvara reveals the way to self-realization.
Katha Upanishad:
Also called the Kathakopanishad, this Upanishad uses a story (katha) involving a young Brahmin boy called Nachiketa to reveal the truths of this world and the other beyond the veil.
Prashna Upanishad:
Prashna literally means question, and this book is part of the Athrava-Veda. It addresses questions pertaining to the ultimate cause, the power of Om, relation of the supreme to the constituents of the world.
Mundaka Upanishad:
This book also belongs to the Atharva-Veda. The name is derived from 'mund' or to shave, meaning that anyone who understands the Upanishads is s(h)aved from ignorance. This book inscribes the importance of knowing the supreme brahmaana, only by which knowledge can one attain self-realization.
Mandukya Upanishad:
The Mandukya is an exquisite treatise which expounds on the principle of Om and its metaphysical significance in various states of being, waking, dream and the dreamless sleep. The subtlest and most profound of the Upanishads, it is said that this alone will lead one to the path of enlightenment.
Svetasvatara Upanishad:
The name of this Upanishad is after its teacher. It comments on the unity of the souls and the world in one all-encompassing reality. The concept of there being one god is also talked about here. It is dedicated to Rudra, the storm god.
Kausitaki Brahmana Upanishad:
The Upanishad has come down to us in bits here and pieces there. The core of the text is dedicated to illustrating the fact that the path to release is through knowledge.
Maitri Upanishad:
This is a comparatively later Upanishad as it has references to the Trinity of Hindu Gods (Shiva, Vishnu and Brahma) which is a later development, and plus references to the world being illusory in character reflects Buddhist influence.
Subala Upanishad:
Belonging to the Yajur-Veda, this Upanishad puts down a dialogue between the sage Subala and Brahma the creator of the Hindu Trinity of Gods. It discusses the universe and the absolute.
Jabala Upanishad:
Belonging to the Athrava-Veda this Upanishad addresses some questions pertaining to renunciation.
Paingala Upanishad:
The Paingala is again a dialog, this between Yajnavalkya, the sage mentioned the Brhad-aranyaka's muni khanda and Paingala, a student of his. It discusses meditation and its effects.
Kaivalya Upanishad:
This Upanishad delves into the state of kaivalya or being alone.
Vajrasucika Upanishad:
Belonging to the Sama-Veda the Vajrasucika reflects on the nature of the supreme being.
The core of the teachings of the Upanishads is summed up in three words: tat tvam as… you are that.
Courtesy: diehardindian.com
Photo Courtesy: crystallinks.com
Photo Courtesy: Yajur Veda Australasia--Resources
Photo Courtesy: crystallinks.com
Photo Courtesy: Yajur Veda Australasia--Resources
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