Sometimes it feels like RSS is preparing swayamsevaks to play 5 day Test Matches, whereas rest of the world has lost interest in Test Matches and moved on to 20-20. Case in point … Rahul Dravid, who is like a swayamsevak (team builder, non flashy, strong, building block of the team, ready to do whatever is necessary for the team etc. ). Even though he is a great Test Player, he just isn’t the right person for 20-20. Therefore he has been dropped of as Captain of Bangalore IPL Team.

Swapan Dasgupta in The Pionner beautifully points out:

“The agitation in the Kashmir Valley isn’t really about Kashmiri identity or Geelani’s quest for an elusive Kashmiriyat. It is a plain and simple secessionist movement based on the belief that a Muslim-majority region must have a separate Islamic State. It can no longer be detached from the bombings in Gujarat, Maharashtra, UP and Karnataka which are also about Islamist rejection of democracy and nationalism. In different ways, there is a twin assault on the unity and personality of India. The visible face presents itself in the Valley; the invisible enemy bombs our cities elsewhere. But, as the Gujarat Police revealed on Saturday, the impulses driving both currents are exactly the same.”

Although Muslims are safer in this country than in other parts of the world because they have a stake and space in Indian democracy, Indian democracy is unfair to Muslims, says Shabana Azmi, actor and former MP.

Indian democracy unfair to Muslims: Shabana Azmi-India-The Times of India.

I am just disgusted by such thoughts which berate the country that gives shelter to one of the largest population of Muslism in the world. I would request people like Shabana to go live in 33% of the land that was given to Muslims so that they could leave Hindus alone.

However, the darker side of this situation is that politicians will try to take advantage of this modd to provide more reservation for Muslism …

I am afraid one day in India…

We will have reservations for Muslims in every apartment complex

We will have reservations for Muslims in every colony.

We will have reservations for Muslims in every school.

We will have reservations for Muslims in all companies.

We will have reservations for Muslims in buses.

We will have reservations for Muslims in trains.

We will have reservations for Muslims in air planes.

…

Just because we Hindus chose not to wake up and stand up for our country.

PANCHAAMRITAM 125
Pancha is five in Samskritam, Amritam is nectar
Poornima, Kali Yugaabda 5109, Sarvajit  Karthigai 8
(November 24, 2007)

ONE
At present there are around 30 IT shakhas in Bangalore. The RSS holds IT milans on a regular basis and the last one to be held was during the 150th anniversary of the 1857 war on Independence. During such important occasions, the IT wing of the RSS sends out messages through social networking sites to its members, who in turn will have to spread the message around to likeminded persons. The RSS says that it has been working since the past six years on this concept and it is picking up very well now. The members are largely in the age group of 25 and 30. At least half of them are new to the RSS ideology. The RSS says that it is impressed with the response it has got so far and this has prompted them to open up similar shakhas both in Pune and Hyderabad where many IT companies are based.  (Based on a report in www.rediff.com/news – November 12, 2007).

TWO
Adhivakta Parishad is the all Bharat forum of nationalist advocates manned by Swayamsevaks. The Haryana chapter of the Parishad achieved remarkable success in persuading contending parties from going to court by settling their disputes out of court. This may look odd. But it is true. The advocates had the goodness of heart to ensure speedy justice and simultaneously reducing the burden on courts at the cost of their own income. (As told to Team PANCHAAMRITAM)

THREE
Swayamsevaks of RSS serving people is a common sight throughout Bharat. The Jammu-Kashmir state is no exception. The predominantly Buddhist Laddak area in the state presented a peculiar problem. Every woman had to marry 3 or 4 men. Afraid of opposing this custom, the womenfolk married Muslims of the area. In the process, they were converted to Islam. RSS studied this in depth and in 2001 arranged for a meeting of RSS chief Prof. Rajendra Singh and Dalai Lama. After this meeting, Dalai Lama declared that thereafter, Laddaki women and men shall adhere to the Dharma of `one man – one woman’ norm. With that, women converting to Islam fearing multiple marriages came to an end. Also, a large number of converted women returned to their ancestral fold.
From an interview of Shri. Premchand Goel, Akhil Bharatiya Seva Pramukh of RSS in the Deepavali special number of VIJAYABHARATHAM, Tamil weekly, November 9, 2007. Interviewers: Shri. Chokkalingam and Shri. Nagalingam.

FOUR
Swastika, not the Red Cross. That’s the emblem that the Aarogya Bharati, the RSS wing of medical practitioners, is asking its members to use instead of the international symbol. Some members of the organisation, registered in Bhopal, have already started pasting Swastika stickers on their vehicles and in their clinics without inviting much attention. (But, the symbol was promoted in a big way on November 18, 2007 in Nagpur where the organisation — it’s an umbrella of National Medical Organisation (for allopaths), Vishwa Ayurved Parishad and Ayurved Vyas Peeth (for Ayurveda practitioners) and Homeo Samaj (for Homeopathy practitioners) — distributed stickers to all members). “We are not against the Red Cross but Swastika is a symbol of Indian culture,” Aarogya Bharati’s national secretary M S Deshpande told THE INDIAN EXPRESS. The organisation, registered in 2004, wants Rishi Dhanwantari’s anniversary to be celebrated in India as National Health Day — not April 7, the World Health Day, which marks the constitution of the World Health Organisation. Based on a report by Shri Milind Ghatwai in HE INDIAN EXPRESS, November 13, 2007.

FIVE
Samskrita Bharati, known the world over for its 10 day spoken Samskrit shibirams, introduces ever new schemes to enhance the Samskrit fraternity. 18,000 school kids have joined in its latest `Bala Bharati’ course in Tamilnadu. Work among America born youth of Indian origin is catching up.. Sushri Sowmya, one among them, is a Vistarika (full time worker) of Samskrita Bharati in Los Angeles. In October, the all Bharat conference of Samskrita Bharati was held in Meerut (Uttar Pradesh) in which 807 delegates from 553 places participated. Well known Yoga master Shri Ram Devji spoke at the valedictory function in Samskritam. He assured that one page in his YOGA SANDESH magazine (circulation: 5 lakh copies) will be devoted to spoken Samskrit lessons. DESHIYA SAMACHAR, Chennai, November, 2007.

OOOOOOOOOOOO
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Recently at the conclusion of RSS’s OTC (Officer Training Camp) in Nagpur, the formal Indian Air Force chief, Air Chief Marshal A Y Tipnis called RSS a traitor during his ‘valedictory address’.

“Every patriotic Indian should readily agree that we have singularly excellent and inspiring reference point in our Constitution. No matter what our different and often divergent beliefs, persuasions and ideologies, we have collectively committed ourselves to the ideals , values and principles enshrined in it,” said Tipnis who led the IAF’s decisive strikes in the Kargil war.

Reiterating that Constitution was supreme, he exhorted the RSS trainees to work for society without harming interests of anyone and keeping social fabric intact. “Justice and liberty are so paramount that fundamental rights guarantee them to very citizen without distinction of any kind including caste, creed, colour, faith belief and gender,” said Tipnis.

Source: Time of India

My understanding from that speech is that according to Tipnis, RSS doesn’t obey the constitution and its members should follow the Indian constitution. If that is not calling someone unpatriotic or traitor then what is? His speech clearly leaves the impression that he believes RSS to be anti-social, and its method to be against the interest of India.

I blame such blatant misunderstanding of RSS by even the most educated citizens of India to the backward thinking leadership of RSS. Time after time, RSS leadership has comprehensively failed to realize the importance of creating a positive public image of the Sangh Parivar organizations. Despite, the best intentions of numerous swayamsevaks, RSS leaders have been extremely lackluster in their approach in adapting to the new techniques, especially Internet and Mass Media.

Rather they have imbibed a mentality that the best solution to fight problems like liberal media is to run away from problems. Otherwise, what would explain their stands on creating hundreds of institutions to avoid the glare of media.

This is not limited to RSS alone but extends to other organizations, especially VHP.

I would further recommend reading this article ..http://vivekajyoti.blogspot.com/2007/06/we-are-in-suffocating-grip-of-pseudo.html

What do you think?

I think the following letter to editor of Organizer newspaper deserves a round of applause. Similarly, my gratitude for Organizer for publishing it. I would expect such treatment from only a ‘right-wing’ newspaper.

Alluring to convert (Organiser, 15-4-2007); After reading my friend Shri Lokpal Sethi’s report on the Sriganganagar incident, I was left wondering whether Hinduism has become so weak that India should adopt the Saudi Arabian model to protect the majority Hindus from a minuscule, four per cent Christian population. According to Shri Sethi, two evangelists were caught in the act in Sriganganagar—a border district. He says their crime was to “lure” sections of people to Christianity. The evidence includes the fact that they travelled from Punjab to Sriganganagar, that they carried Christian literature and that they were promising better life for the innocent people and jobs if they adopted Christianity. They also had a lot of money. But when has it become anti-national for an Indian citizen alone or in groups to travel from one part of the country to another? Shri Sethi speaks as if carrying one or two mobiles and a laptop is a crime. What was there in the laptop? Caste-wise data. Is this any secret when newspapers are daily giving caste-wise data in every constituency in poll-bound UP? Shri Sethi seems to depend too much on unspecified “intelligence agencies”. However he should be aware of how unreliable these “agencies” are and in how many cases have innocent people been harassed by them. For instance, in the well-known case against Ram Startup, “intelligence agencies” found “incriminating material” against him but in the court it turned out to be nothing more than PIB press releases. The court strongly censured these “agencies”. It is also news to me that setting up educational institutions, as the EMI has done, is a crime and that the state has unrestricted powers to take over such institutions. Rajasthan High Court has rightly invalidated the government takeover. As for offering jobs for conversion, not even a stupid pastor would do that when millions are waiting for jobs because no one can have such resources to fool them. As far as I know about the Constitution, propagating Christian or any other religious literature or even preaching of atheism is not a crime—in fact carrying on any propagation of any religion is a basic right guaranteed to every citizen. So how do the EMI pastors become criminals if their laptop has or if they carry a lot of material on Christianity? Has Government declared Christianity a dangerous movement and proscribed all Christian literature?

—RAJENDRA PRABHU,
New Delhi

I see the danger of Christian Conversion all around us. As I have stated previously, Christians are well organized, motivated, and have the necessary political and financial power. The need of hour is to better communicate the dangers of Christian conversion. The above letter to editor is perfect example of how our reports on Christian conversion are interpreted by general public.

There are lot of people who have misunderstood RSS, mostly because of media representations and also because RSS rarely bothers to explain itself clearly to outsiders. Most basic mis-understanding is what does RSS want to be?I have experienced RSS from closely based on my interaction with the senior leaders. I believe RSS wants to be only a chariator like Krishna and not a warrior like Arjuna. RSS wishes Hindu Society to be the Arjuna of the Mahabharat. It feels that Hindu Society has the necessary abilities to counter anything that stands in its path, but it has been floundered and confused just like Arjuna. Another metaphor is of Hanumna, who has forgotten his strengths and needs to be reminded of it again.

I think RSS can be best described metaphorically through the Krishna and Arjuna idea. Just like Krishna had the power to fight itself, similar to RSS, but Krishna only chose to guide Arjuna. Similarly, RSS wishes to guide the Hindu Society rather than fight its battle. It believes that whole society has to stand on its feet and be strong like Pandavas to fight the necessary evils prevailing all around us. This evil has manifested in society in different forms, whether it is casteism, pseudo-secularism or Christian conversion.

What do you think? Any other metaphors that might describe RSS better?

A nine member team from ABVP, West Bengal, visited the scene of the 14th March 2007 carnage at Nandigram on Saturday 17th March along with a NDA parliamentary delegation. The ABVP team comprised of State President Rabi Ranjan Sen, Vice President Arindam Mukherjee, Organizing Secretary Amitabha Chakraborty, Assistant Secretary Parul Mandal, Mahanagar Bibhag Pramukh Sanjay Das, Kolkata Mahanagar District Sanyojak Abhijit Biswas, Hugly Bibhag Pramukh Pratyush Mandal, Howrah Zilla Pramukh Atanu Ganguly, Kolkata unit treasurer Shyam Jaiswal. The delegation left Kolkata at 8am and reached Nandigram around 11am. On the way they were joined by ABVP Midnapore Bibhag Pramukh Shubhajit Roy and Midnapore District samiti member Bishwanath Das. After leaving Tamluk town, lines of flags of the CPI(M) in some areas signified areas which are under the control of the red party while places which were not under their control flew TMC and BJP flags. The tension was evident on the road after Tamluk as on both sides of the road people had lined up and were waving at and shouting slogans welcoming the NDA delegation, only at one place which was under CPI(M) control, the red party activists had gathered to boo the delegation.

Our first destination was Sonachura village in Nandigram block, which along with Gokulnagar village had born the brunt of the 14th March police and cadre joint operation. There we talked to local people who pointed out the bridge across which the police and cadre had attacked them. Contrary to the official reports, the local people claimed that 150 people were still missing and were among the likely dead though of course we had no means of independently verifying the figures.

The local people we spoke to in Sonachura, mostly women of all ages, were still terrified and they expressed their fear that they would again be attacked during night time. The fear was all the more because many of the males had been forced to leave the village for fear of reprisals. We heard that many of the men who had been in hiding outside have just returned emboldened by the visit of the NDA delegation and ABVP team in that area.

The local people claimed that before the operation, 60 truckloads of police had been brought in though they expressed their doubts that they were real policemen and claimed that many of them were just CPI(M) activists in police uniform. When asked why they thought so they said have you ever seen policemen in full police uniform but with chappals on their feet instead of shoes!

Talking about the carnage several eyewitnesses described how children of all ages ranging from a few months old to teenagers were murdered and dumped into the river and into spots near the culvert approaching Sonachuri which were later filled up with sand. Almost breaking out in tears they said that few month old babies were literally torn by their limbs and thrown into the culvert and how one child had his throat slit and was still alive and crying out when he was dumped. A woman in tears said her neighbours son Bagha Mondol (18) had his throat slit and was similarly dumped. We met a young boy of class nine named Utpal Giri who told us that his brother Swapan Giri was critically injured and admitted to SSKM Hospital in Kolkata. They did not know whether he would survive. Ashtami Pradhan (around 70 years) said that she was hit on the jaw and her teeth were broken. She said that after the `recapture` by the CPI(M) each family in the area were being asked to pay the party a `penalty` of Rs 5,000/-, Rs 3,000/- or Rs2000/- for opposing them, depending on the family`s ability and magnitude of opposition to the CPI(M).

Holding our hands, Ashtami Pradhan and some of the other women said that they were very poor and not able to pay the `penalty`. They also described how during the assault many young women while trying to flee were caught by their saris and blouses and disrobed by the pursuing `policemen`. All of them seemed set in their resolve to continue their opposition and demanded the hanging of Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and Haldia Development Authority (HDA) Chairman and local CPI(M) MP Lakshman Seth who they held as responsible for the carnage.

The team then visited Nandigram Block Hospital where many of the victims of the attack were being treated. It seemed around 45-50 of the victims were in this Hospital and many others had been removed to Tamluk Sadar Hospital (the district HQ) and SSKM Hospital in Kolkata. An injured woman, Tapasi Manna had been hit by a bullet in her chest.

Among the patients admitted we spoke to a young woman Lata Mondol from Gokulnagar village who corroborated an account we had heard from some villagers lined up outside the hospital, that a KG school in Gokulnagar village had been attacked by the police-cadre force. She said that though no firing had taken place inside the school, when the children rushed outside they were fired upon and many of them had been struck by bullets. Even lying on her hospital bed in a severely injured state, Lata Mondol expressed her desire to see Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and Lakshman Seth hanged.

Another young woman patient in Nandigram Hospital, Kabita Das Adhikari from Gokulnagar village said that all six members of her family including her husband were missing (presumably among the dead whose bodies were surreptitiously disposed of). She was sitting up on the bed and crying but she didn’t know when she would be discharged because she said that her hut had been burnt down and with all the family members missing (or killed) she had no one to take her home. She said that she had an elder brother-in-law who did not live in that area and she hoped that maybe he would come and take her back from the hospital someday.

In Tamluk Hospital where the more severely injured patients had been removed and where Governor Gopal Krishna Gandhi had visited the injured the day after the carnage, we spoke to, among others, two patients who had been raped during the operation, falsifying the statement of Left Front MPs who had stated in Parliament that no rape had taken place in the operation. Kajal Majhi from Kalicharanpur and Gauri Pradhan from Gokulnagar, both rape victims, were lying in the Hospital in a severely injured and traumatised condition. Gauri Pradhan, lying curled up on the bed with a vacant look in her eyes and a gamchha partially covering her face to hide her feeling of shame, was barely in a condition to talk.

Kajol Majhi, who is the mother of four children, said that she was chased by the `policemen` into a go-al ghar (cow shed) where she was raped and lost consciousness. When she regained consciousness it was late at night and she found herself being taken care of by a family who had found her in the cow shed and carried her indoors. The next day (Thursday) she had been admitted to Hospital. When asked by us whether it was the police who had raped her she said that they were dressed in police uniform but was not sure whether they were real police or CPI(M) activists dressed like that. Incidentally, the day after our visit and press statement about the NDA delegation and the ABVP team talking to the rape victims, The Telegraph (18/03/07) carried a news report stating that the Midnapore district administration was all set to lodge a formal case of rape, five days after the incident!

Among the severely injured patients with bullet injuries in Tamluk Hospital we spoke to Shankha Gor from Sonachura who had been shot in his head. Shyamali Manna of Garhchakraberia had been hit by a bullet in her leg. In her eyewitness account of the incident Shyamali Manna stated that a lot of school children had been shot at point blank range and thrown into the river.

Anubha Khanra from Sonachura had bullet injuries on her leg and she said that her husband who was critically injured had been admitted to SSKM Hospital in Kolkata after having been shot in his stomach.

Geetanjali Bijoli from Gokulnagar said that she had fallen down while she was running away from the goons and had been mercilessly hit on her head with a lathi.

Incidentally, at least till the time of writing this report five days after the massacre, none of the Left Front functionaries or ministers of the West Bengal government had bothered to visit either the scene of the massacre, or the Nandigram Block Hospital and Tamluk Sadar Hospital. Leave aside the CPI(M), even the Left Front junior partners supposedly horrified over the incident did not send anyone to visit the affected.

After talking to the affected villagers in Sonachura in Nandigram as well as the injured who had been admitted to the two hospitals, the ABVP team found that the villagers were at once afraid and terrified of Lakshman Seth`s reprisal on them but at the same time determined and stubborn in their attitude of not giving their land. The team saw with their own eyes that most of the bullet injuries were in the head, chest and stomach, thus proving false the contention of the state government that the police merely fired in self defence and not to kill. In fact corroborating the villagers’ accounts, the CBI interim findings as on 18/03/07 have clearly indicated the presence of ‘outsiders’ who took part in the so-called operation and have also ruled out the Left Front’s theory that the firing was just in self defence. Home Minister Shivraj Patil’s statement in Parliament based on inputs from the West Bengal government did not mention any presence of Maoists in the area, thus calling the bluff of the CPI(M) on this account too. The arrest of 10 CPI(M) activists along with 22 rifles and stockpiles of ammunition as well as police helmets too catches the state government on the backfoot as it had been repeatedly claiming that the ‘resisters’ had been stockpiling arms. Instead, it shows that it was the CPI(M) who had been stockpiling arms and ammunition and police uniforms.

We found that the villagers were mentally prepared to suffer even more but were resolute in their demand that Lakshman Seth and Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee should be hanged for their crimes. In fact, in all the three places that we visited, two statements kept ringing in our ears because almost everyone we met repeatedly told us the same thing. At every place we were told that young children and babies were torn from their limbs and buried in the sand or thrown into the river and secondly almost everyone we met kept repeating that they would not rest until Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and Lakshman Seth were made to pay for their sins. After visiting Nandigram, the team got a first hand picture of the extent of the brutality of the CPI(M) activists/police under CPI(M) control, and of the ‘new and improved’ (unnototoro) Left Front Government in Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya`s self-declared ‘shantir morudyan’ (oasis of peace).

The way I see it right now is that Christians seems to have all they need to succeed in India. They have experience from converting other countries (Native North Americans, South Americans and Africa). They have a long term plan i.e. high quality English Medium Schools / Colleges. They have the motivation (save us from going to hell), they use latest methods (Internet, Radio, TV etc.), they are well structured (Red Cross, World Vision, Joshua Project etc.), they apparently have political power in India (Large number of Christian chief ministers) and outside India (USA), and above all they have the power of money from other nations (Christian Charities get $1.25 Billion in India … almost 600 Crore Rupees)

On the other hand, India’s experience to such on slaught (Buddhism, Muslims, Britishs) has been to initially loose and then partially restore the old status (By status means our culture, religion and way of life). Indians rarely seem to have long term plan, the best RSS has come up to counter Missionary schools is to create 3rd rate school that no sane middle class family should send their kids to. I myself went to RSS school for 2 years. Indians and especially Hindu organizations are at best pathetic and ignorant about latest tools such as Internet, TV, or Radio. For years, I have heard RSS workers give lectures on the futility of political power, but every time I read about their speeches in newspapers, it seems that their every demand requires a political solution. Be it Terrorism, Christian conversion, Ram Setu Project, Minority Appeasement, or Ram Mandir.

What do you think? Have you seen any concrete or long term plans to save India? Have you ever heard of Hindu organizations planning for next 5, 10 or even 15 years?

Checkout the following websites for Sangh Geets.

Geet Ganga – http://www.geetganga.org : This website has around 170 geets (mostly sangh geets) in 10 major languages including Hindi, Marathi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, and 1 or 2 songs in Bangal, English, Marwari or Sanskrit. Some of the geets even have lyrics, though not most of them. Besides, Sangh songs they have included some filmi songs like Aye Mere Watan Ke Logo, Jaha Daal Daal Per Sone Ki Chidiya …

RSS: http://www.rss.org/New_RSS/Downloads/geet.jsp RSS website has list of 87 songs but only 15-20 songs area available for download.

Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh: http://www.hssus.org/content/view/125/104/ This is a pure Sangh Geet site with around 90 sangh songs. Here all the geets are available on 1 single page with links to some of the lyrics.