Tribune News Service

New Delhi, August 30

The Taliban has said Afghan Hindus and Sikhs are allowed to travel outside the country but a prominent Sikh leader in Kabul said the authorities should fulfil their commitment by allowing them to attend religious ceremonies in India connected with the 400th anniversary of Guru Tegh Bahadurs Prakash Parv.

Gurnam Singh, chairman of the Kabul-based Parwan Committee, told local media that about 150 Hindus and Sikhs were to leave for India but they were not allowed to fly.

A few days ago, due to our transfer to India, a plane came and we waited for 14 hours but we were not allowed to enter the airport, he said while pointing out that they can still attend some of the functions if allowed to travel as there are seven days left.

But so far the authorities have neither said yes nor reject their request.

Asked why so many are travelling this time, Singh said this is because of the landmark 400th birth anniversary.

Taliban spokespersonZabihullah Mujahid told Afghan media that there were no obstacles to their trip to India. There is no obstacle to the travel of Hindus and Sikhs, and they can go to Kabul airport and travel to India to travel and attend religious ceremonies, he added.

Referring to the security of the Hindus and Sikhs, he said that the Taliban had no problem with them as also with other minorities.

Excerpt from:

Afghan Sikhs, Hindus to be allowed to travel: Taliban - The Tribune

BJP national General Secretary C T Ravi on Tuesday said the Constitution of India and women will remain safe as long as Hindus remain the majority in the country.

Until Hindus are in majority in this country there will be the constitution written by Dr B R Ambedkar. Until Hindus are in majority there will be equal opportunity, once Hindus become minority what happened to Gandara (Afghanistan) will happen here too, Ravi said.

Speaking to reporters in Kalaburagi, he said, those who want to protect Ambedkars constitution should not forget this truth.

Secularism and religious tolerance is our (Hindu) core belief. Until people with tolerance are in majority there will be secularism, there will be protection for women. Once people with tolerance become a minority, an Afghanistan like situation will get created..Once they (non-Hindus) become majority they speak about Shariyat, not Ambedkars constitution, he added.

Further, the MLA from Chikmagalur urged the Congress to do politics objectively and stop appeasement politics.

Appeasement politics may lead to creation of more Pakistans, you may come to power temporarily, but it will lead to creation of more Pakistans. If you dont want that to happen, do politics objectively and with a country first policy, he said.

Ravi said, It is unfortunate that the Congress today has forgotten the country-first policy, they have become blind and are unable to differentiate between patriotism and terrorism, and thats the reason they try to equate RSS with Taliban.

We (BJP) will not indulge in appeasement politics, our only mantra is sabka saath sabka vikaas sabka vishwas sabka prayas, on the basis of this mantra we will give priority to development, with commitment towards Hindutva, he added.

Read more here:

C T Ravi: Constitution, women will remain safe as long as Hindus in majority - The Indian Express

Members of the Taliban, Al Qaeda and Isis have one thing in common: religious fanaticism. Its what motivates them to attack and slaughter anyone they consider to be infidels. Heaven awaits those who, like suicide bombers, willingly sacrifice their lives for the cause.

Afghan minorities who identify as Christians, Sikhs or Hindus have always practiced their religion under the threat of persecution. Afghan Christians have especially been targeted because they are mostly converts from Islam, and no person is reviled more by an Islamist than an apostate.

As long as the America military kept the Taliban at bay in Afghanistan, religious minorities managed to survive. Now that the Taliban has conquered virtually all of the country, these minorities know that they face persecution; a fate that has included flogging, beheadings, amputations and public executions by immolation or crucifixion.

Christians are desperate to leave Afghanistan, but who will help them? The U.S. State Department has been scrambling to save not only Americans, but also Afghans who have helped the occupiers. Visas have been issued to translators, journalists, academics, embassy workers and other U.S. allies at risk of persecution by the Taliban.

At the airport, State Department officials have given a P-2 designation to high priority evacuees, and over 100,000 have been safely flown out of Kabul. Unfortunately, Christians and other religious minorities are not high priority.

When it became clear that Christians did not qualify for evacuation by the U.S. government, the call for help went out to non-governmental organizations. Among those who have responded to the call is conservative radio talk show host Glen Beck of The Nazarene Fund, a non-profit group that has raised more than $28 million to evacuate Christians from Afghanistan.

Another is Nadine Maenza of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom. She reports that her organization has had to run operations against our own government to get people into the airport.

In an interview on Fox News, Beck said that in spite of difficulties, his organization had 20 planes flying in and out of Kabul, and had managed to evacuate 5,100 Christians. It hasnt been easy, Beck added.

At one point, he had 500 Afghan Christians inside the airport and ready to board when they were ordered back outside the gates by officials. They may have been among those who were killed in the suicide bombing. Beck blamed the State Department.

The Biden Administration has been urged to broaden its P-2 designation to include religious minorities. As of this writing they have yet to face the consequences of Bidens decision to pull all American troops out of Kabul on Aug. 31.

Let us pray for the Christians, Sikhs, Hindus and all those left behind.

Milots Musings is written by Claude Milot, a resident of Perquimans County.

Thadd White is Group Editor of the Bertie Ledger-Advance, Chowan Herald, Perquimans Weekly, The Enterprise & Eastern North Carolina Living. He can be reached via email at twhite@ncweeklies.com.

The rest is here:

Christians, Sikhs, and Hindus... | Editorial Columnists | dailyadvance.com - The Daily Advance

Hindu Society Harare (HSH) in Zimbabwe will reportedly organize Rath Yatra (chariot procession) through Harare streets on September five.

As part of Nand Mahotsav festivities, this procession will start from Ridgeview Shree Omkar Mandir (temple) on Anson Road after Kesar Snan rituals and end in Shree Omkar Mandir on Cameron Street; where bhajans, thaal, arti, prasad will be held.

Participants need to show the guard their vaccination card at the point of entry, per the announcement.

Meanwhile, distinguished Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada (USA) today, applauded efforts of the organizers and community to realize various wonderful festivals throughout the year, exhibiting the richness of Hinduism.

Zed, who is President of Universal Society of Hinduism, further said that it was important to pass on Hindu spirituality, concepts and traditions to coming generations amidst so many distractions in the consumerist society. Zed stressed that instead of running after materialism; we should focus on inner search and realization of self and work towards achieving moksh (liberation), which was the goal of Hinduism.

The original Ratha Yatra is held on a grand scale in Puri (Odisha, India), where the presiding deities of Shree MandiraJagannatha, Balabhadra and Subhadrawith celestial wheel Sudarsana are driven on the chariots to about two miles north Gundicha temple in an elaborate ritual procession, where the huge colorfully decorated chariots are drawn by thousands of devotees. After a stay for seven days, the deities return to their abode in Shree Mandira. A glimpse of Lord Jagannatha on the chariot is considered to be highly auspicious and even a touch of the chariot is believed to yield benefits equivalent to several pious deeds. Many poets have written its glories.

Rajan Zed points out that ancient Hindu text Katha Upanishad talks about the concept of chariot, where soul is said to be the deity, body is the chariot, and intellect the charioteer. Skanda Purana glorifies Ratha Yatras sanctity.

Two Hindu temples in Harare, run by HSH, which had reportedly been closed for months due to COVID-19, have recently reopened; but entry is restricted for community members who have had both doses of COVID 19 vaccination.

Cameron Street Shree Omkar Mandir celebrated 90th anniversary in February 2019, while 25th anniversary of Ridgeview Shree Omkar Mandir was observed in 2017. HSH intends to publish a written record of the hundred years of communitys existence in Zimbabwe.

In the pre-COVID-19 times, HSH reportedly had been conducting various bhajan events, twice-weekly yoga classes, Hindi lessons, cultural/social activities; organized daily aarti at both the temples with Havan on Sundays; and offered funeral assistance for bereaved families; etc.; besides running Mahila Mandal, Shishu Mandal and Yuvak Mandal. HSH has also been running various schoolsWestridge High School, Westridge Primary School, Gujarati School.

Hinduism is the oldest and third largest religion of the world with about 1.2 billion adherents.

See the original post:

Hindus to hold chariot-procession in Harare - NewsPatrolling

Justice Shekhar Kumar Yadav of the Allahabad High Court, who made headlines earlier this week for saying that cow should be declared as India's national animal, has said in the same order that scientists believe that cow is the only animal that inhales and exhales oxygen.

In an order dismissing the bail plea of a man accused of cow slaughter, Justice Yadav also said that 'Panchgavya' prepared using cow's milk, curd, ghee, urine and dung helps in treating several incurable diseases.

The petitioner, Javed from Sambhal district, allegedly stole and killed the cow of one Khilendra Singh along with his associates.

In its judgement on Wednesday, the court noted that this is not the first time that the petitioner has committed cow slaughter and if he is released on bail, he will commit the same offence again.

"According to Hinduism, 33 categories of gods and goddesses reside in a cow... Lord Krishna got all his knowledge from cow's feet," the court order said.

"Jesus Christ has said that killing a cow or a bull is tantamount to killing a man. Bal Gangadhar Tilak had said that you can kill me but do not hurt a cow. Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya had advocated total prohibition of cow slaughter.

"Lord Buddha describes cows as the friend of man, whereas Jains have called cow heaven," it said.

Scientists believe that the cow is the only animal that inhales and exhales oxygen, it added.

Claims made in the past on the cow being the only animal that exhales oxygen have generally been contradicted by the scientific community.

"At the time of framing of the Indian Constitution, several members of the Constituent Assembly had spoken about the inclusion of cow protection as a fundamental right.

"Hindus have been worshipping cows for centuries. Non-Hindus also understand this and this is the reason why non-Hindu leaders strongly opposed cow slaughter during the Mughal period out of respect for Hindu sentiments," the court order further said.

"The majority of the country's Muslim leadership has always been in favour of a nationwide ban on cow slaughter. Khwaja Hasan Nizami had started a movement and he wrote a book, 'Tark-e-Gao Kushi', in which he had written about not killing cows. Emperors Akbar, Humayun and Babur had appealed for not killing cows in their sultanate," it said.

"Maulana Mahmood Madani of Jamiat-e-Ulema-e-Hind has demanded the introduction of a central law to ban cow slaughter in India. In view of all these circumstances, there is a need to declare the cow as the national animal and include cow protection as a fundamental right of Hindus," the court said.

Read more here:

Scientists believe cow only animal that inhales, exhales oxygen: Allahabad HC - The Hindu

The honourable deputy chief minister of Gujarat has unleashed an interesting formulation.

In a speech at an event organised by that well-known defender of the Constitution, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, he has shamed civil society busybodies into realising that democracy and secularism in India exist only because ours is a Hindu majority nation. He has cautioned that if Hindus were to be reduced to a minority, or indeed if the Muslim population were just to increase, such talk would disappear and nothing would remain.

The question that the minister needs to answer is this: why, then, is there so much concern about the future of the constitution and of secularism when India is such a preponderantly Hindu majority nation?

After all, India did not become a Hindu majority nation only over the last seven years.

Given that obvious fact, why did the future of the constitution and of secularism not bother so many Indians prior to the life of the current regime?

In other words, what explains the fact that today it is not only self-appointed citizen-watchdogs academics, public intellectuals, journalists, voluntary organisations, et al but also judges of various courts who find themselves obliged to address the issue of secular-constitutional verities and of patently coloured arraignments and prosecutions with increasing frequency?

Indeed, why should an honourable justice of the Supreme Court the other day have spoken pointedly of the need for citizens to speak truth to power, noting that totalitarian governments tend to rely on falsehoods which must be constantly exposed. Just to cite one such anxious admonition among many in recent days of our national life.

The answer to the denominational argument advanced by the deputy chief minister of Gujarat is really both simple and distressingly obvious: India is no longer just a Hindu majority nation but a Hindutva-driven one.

And the two, alas, are not the same kettle of fish just as Sufism and Wahabism are not the same either, much as the right-wing would like us to believe that they are.

Being Hindu is only a given fact of demography, one that is internally differentiated by diverse social groups (which the honourable prime minister flaunted at the time of his recent cabinet expansion).

Also read: This Photo Tells You All You Need to Know About Modis New Cabinet

Hindutva, conversely, is a culturally weaponised Hinduism that does not mean just to rest in a time-honoured co-existence with non-Hindu Indians, under the aegis of the constitution, but to obtain a racially and religiously dominant state as envisaged by their slogan of Hindi, Hindu, Hindustan.

That this project is clearly seen by many, including honourable judges of the courts, as inimical to the letter and spirit of the constitution given by we the people to ourselves without regard to any preferential rights to any one denomination (save such provisions that protect the rights of minorities of diverse definition) tells us why it is not enough to plead the good Hindu cause as self-evidently as the deputy chief minister seeks to do.

Repercussions

It is clear that a Hindu majority is not the same thing as Hindutva majoritarianism. That is the thankful reason why a majority of Hindus still refuse to vote for the ruling BJP.

Had the two been one and the same, the party ought to have polled more heavily than the 37% that it did in the 2019 parliamentary elections.

That this political shift from a Hindu majority to a Hindutva majoritarian nation, if allowed to carry on, bids fair to thwart Indias celebrated salad-bowl pluralism with grave consequences becomes apparent with each day that passes.

Take the fraught state of Jammu and Kashmir.

A Kashmiri woman holds a girl as they watch a protest after a gun battle between suspected militants and Indian security forces in Srinagar September 17, 2020. Photo: Reuters/Danish Ismail/Files

It is an everyday lauded fact that the unique cultural strength of the state has for centuries resided in what is called its Sufi-Rishi spirituality a beloved reality that this writer has been fortunate to experience during the 20 years he resided in the Valley.

Recall that the late Sheikh Mohammed Abdullah had this to say to the Muslim League when invited to throw the Kashmiri lot with the Muslim dominion of Pakistan: What can a sufi Kashmir have to do with a theocratic Pakistan?.

A matrix that explains why, when Muslim co-religionists invaded the state in 1947, in the absence yet of either the Accession or an Indian army, Muslim Kashmiris, a preponderant majority, took under their wing minuscule Pandits and other Kashmiri Hindus, and stood rock-like to deny the invader his wish.

And, do note that I speak as witness to that history, even if only as a six-year-old child.

Sadly, if anything, the Jammu province was not to demonstrate a fraternalism of the same invaluable and ideologically principled kind.

Also read: Asian Age Kills Karan Thapar Column After Mention of 1947 Violence Against Jammu Muslims

Not for nothing was Gandhi to observe that the only light he saw in the darkness of those days was in Kashmir.

Why has it then been the case that forces inimical to Sufi Islam have been gathering momentum in that unfortunate part of India? Might it not be the case that Kashmiris view the possibility of a theocratic India with the same disquiet that turned them away from allegiance to the idea of Pakistan? This was an eventuality that Sheikh Abdullah had both envisioned and agonised about.

Is it not an irony, therefore, that the powers-that-be have lately realised the need to once again project and give fillip to Kashmiri Sufism?That this is another canny move is suggested by the fact that the need for inaugurating a corresponding Sufi-Bhakti culture in the mainland is nowhere on the cards.

Consider that Sufism in the first place emerged as a spiritually-grounded protest movement against the gumption and excess of rule way back towards the 13th century.

In one word, what did the Sufis teach? That, as in the body of the Greek concept of agape, Gods love for all human beings and all things created is infinite and non-discriminatory; that to be Sufi is to seek communion with that love through abjuration of material ambitions and rejection of autocratic power, meditation, a simple and lived piety, a celebratory veneration of saints at their mazars, and the music of trance. All of this issues from a willing surrender to Gods non-sectarian immanence.

All of which is celebrated in the poetry of Kashmiri mystics from Lal Ded and Sheikh Nooruddin well into our day.

Also read: The Familiar Stench of the Forced Loyalty Slogan, the Demands for Segregation

But, here is the catch:

Can such a project in Kashmir flourish alongside an aggressive Hindutva on the mainland?

Even scions of the ruling BJP acknowledge off and on, even if as a politic gesture, the extraordinary acumen of youthful Kashmiris.

The question that begs itself, then, is how may such Kashmiri youth be expected to embrace, especially on official diktat, a renewed Sufism in the teeth of what they see transpiring on the mainland with sickening continuance?

Representative image of a rioting mob. Photo: Reuters

Were one to recount the story here only from the time of the northeast Delhi riots, the enumeration would still be gruesome: genocidal slogans at Jantar Mantar, the most recent lynchings at Indore and Ujjain, racially exclusionary declamations at Dwarka and neighbourhoods in Moradabad, Meerut, etc., would hardly be inducements to Kashmiri youth to follow Sufism while Hindutva does its work unimpeded.

Also read: UP Govt to Rename Sultanpur Kush Bhavanpur, Says Civic Body Chairperson

And what may they be expected to think of the daily news of name-changes of cities, towns, monuments, etc. including now the proposed transmogrification of Aligarh into Harigarh all informed by one single sectarian purpose?

This clearly is not what Hinduism was until seven years ago.

Not to speak of the imperial way in which promises made to Kashmiris at the time of Accession were junked overnight without as much as a democratic-constitutional say-so, and humiliated into becoming sundered and stunted Union Territories, governed by a nominated head?

Invited to go Sufi again, they do not see an Amir Khusro, a Meera, a Tuka Ram, a Narsi Mehta, a Kabir, a Nanak, a Bule Shah, a Baba Farid, the sufi Bauls of Bengal, the minstrels of the heartland, and the many other Hindu scions of the Bhakti movement and tradition being foregrounded in the mainland as they are invited to foreground the Sufis in Kashmir

They only hear the political war-cry of Jai Shri Ram being pressed into the service of denominational homogenisation.

In that war-cry they recognise maryada purushottam Ram not as one of whom Indian Muslim poets have written with devotion and veneration but a Shatriya warrior out for conquest.

Where else may then non-sectarian and democratic citizens go for redress but to the solemn covenant the Republic once made with all Indians?

Put simply, unless we learn to do unto others as we would like others to do unto us, fake laments and corny projects bereft of soul and substance in the genius of governance have few prospects of being either persuasive or implementable.

Lastly, why does one smell a rather irritated pique in the way the deputy chief minister makes mention of the constitution and secularism? Is that tone itself perhaps a give-away?

Badri Raina taught at Delhi University.

The rest is here:

Hindus Are the Majority. And Yet the Future of the Constitution Has Become Cause for Concern. - The Wire

Vinod Kumar, President, Hindu Council of New Zealand

Venkat Raman Auckland, September 5, 2021

The Hindu Council of New Zealand strongly condemns the terrorist act by a lone perpetrator inspired by ISIS extremist ideologies in Auckland, President Vinod Kumar said.

The following is his statement:

On behalf of the entire Hindu community in New Zealand, we express our deep shock at the horrendous act that affected the lives of innocent individuals in our country.

We offer Aroha and well wishes for the speedy recovery to those who are in medical care as a result of the violent attack.

On the afternoon of Friday, September 3, 2021, at a time when Aucklanders were also doing everything possible to help eliminate Covid-19 from the community, the extremist ideology disrupted many lives.

Value for people

As an organisation that values the contribution of individual communities and societies that help in making a stronger New Zealand, we strongly condemn this act of terror that unfolded.

Extremist ideologies have no place in our lives, in our communities and in our New Zealand that we all work tirelessly to strengthen.

We call upon all community leaders to stand in solidarity with the government of the day, with the New Zealand Police and the laws of the land to reject any ideologies that dont encourage social cohesion.

Salutation to people

We stand in solidarity with the New Zealand Police and thank them for acting as swiftly as they did to prevent this from becoming a greater tragedy. The courageous staff of Countdown and those who came to the assistance of the injured, your actions are commendable.

Hindu Council of New Zealand, together with the Hindu community of New Zealand stands with the families of the victims and with all New Zealand to reject hatred, terrorism and the perpetuation of any form of discrimination.

We want to ensure that the values of compassion, pluralism, acceptance and unity that New Zealand has always been proud of is strengthened and ingrained further into the fabric of the country.

At this time, we would like to offer a Vedic prayer:

Sarve Bhavantu Sukhinah, Sarve Santu ni Ramayah

Sarve Bhadrani Pashyantu, Ma Kaschit Dukha Bhag Bhavet

Aum Shanti, Shanti, Shanti

May all be happy, may all be healthy

May all see what is uplifting, may no one suffer in any way

May there be peace, peace, peace

Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh New Zealand Inc

The Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh New Zealand joins Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and all fellow New Zealanders in strongly condemning the violent attack on Friday, September 3, 2021 at a supermarket in New Lynn Mall, Auckland, President Shrikant Bhave said.

We commend the Police who acted swiftly to minimise the harm by neutralising the attacker.

Seven shoppers were injured, some of them seriously and are in the hospital in critical condition. This act of terror is against humanity and there is no place for such acts in New Zealand. We pray for the speedy recovery of the victims.

Our prayers are also with victims, their whanau of the victims and those who witnessed this horrible attack.

In this time of grief and need, HSS NZ Inc joins others and extend their heartfelt support to the families who are affected by this terrible incident.

As New Zealanders, let us all stand together as a proud nation of many migrant communities, sharing the common values of love, compassion, co-existence in harmony & let no act of terrorism divide us. It is time to be more vigilant that no divisive forces allow us to succumb to these threats and join hands to fight against these forces.

See original here:

Hindus denounce extremist ideologies and hatred - indiannewslink.co.nz - Indian NewsLink

Hindus are urging Odessa National Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre (Ukraine) to withdraw La Bayadre ballet; scheduled for September 26; which they feel seriously trivializes Eastern religious and other traditions.

Distinguished Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada (USA) today, said that a renowned institution like Odessa National Theatre should not be in the business of callously promoting appropriation of traditions, elements and concepts of others; and ridiculing entire communities.

Zed, who is President of Universal Society of Hinduism, indicated that this deeply problematic ballet was just a blatant belittling of a rich civilization and exhibited 19th-century orientalist attitudes. He also urged Odessa National Theatre to apologize for such an inappropriate selection.

Odessa National Theatre, which claims to be one of the five most beautiful theaters in the world, should have shown some maturity before selecting a ballet like La Bayadre (The Temple Dancer) displaying Western caricaturing of Eastern heritage and abetting ethnic stereotyping, Rajan Zed noted.

It was highly irresponsible for an establishment like Odessa National Theatre to choose such a ballet which had been blamed for patronizing flawed mishmash of orientalist stereotypes, dehumanizing cultural portrayal and misrepresentation, offensive and degrading elements, needless appropriation of cultural motifs, essentialism, shallow exoticism, caricaturing, etc. Odessa National Theatre could do better than this to serve its diverse stakeholders; Zed stated.

Rajan Zed suggested Odessa National Theatre Managing Director Nadezhda Babich and Ballet Troup Head Harry Sevoyan to re-evaluate Odessa National Theatre systems and procedures and send its executives for cultural sensitivity training so that such an inappropriate stuff did not slip through in the future.

Moreover; Odessa National Theatre partners like Plaske Cargo, MTB Bank, Boctok Bank, etc., should seriously rethink about their relationship with Odessa National Theatre if it continued with ballets like La Bayadre, which trivialized traditions of others; Zed added.

Like many others, Hindus also consider ballet as one of the revered art forms which offers richness and depth. But we are well into 21st century now, and outdated La Bayadre, which was first presented in St. Petersburg (Russia) in 1877, is long overdue for permanent retirement from the world stage; Rajan Zed points out.

Tickets to La Bayadre, a two hours 30 minutes ballet in three acts, in Odessa National Theatre cost up to 510 each. Igor Shavruk, Igor hernetski, Vitaly Kovalchuk are the conductors. People wearing shorts, sleeveless T-shirts, flip-flops are not allowed in the hall; website of Odessa National Theatre, first opera house built in Ukraine, states.

View post:

Hindus urge Odessa National Theatre to drop culturally insensitive ballet La Bayadre - NewsPatrolling

The Shiv Sena on Monday criticised lyricist Javed Akhtar for equating the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) with the Taliban, saying that such a comparison is disrespectful to Hindu culture. In its mouthpiece Saamana, the party, which is headed by Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray, also called upon those making such comparisons to introspect.

Also Read | Must apologise with folded hands or else: BJP leader warns Javed Akhtar over RSS-Taliban remarks

These days, some people are comparing anyone with the Taliban as it is the biggest threat to the society and mankind. Pakistan and China, which are not democracies, are backing the Taliban in Afghanistan because human rights do not have any place in these two countries. However, we are a democratic nation where an individuals freedom is respected. Hence, it is erroneous to compare the RSS with the Taliban. India is tremendously tolerant in every way, a Sena editorial in Saamana said.

Hindutva is a culture for organisations such as the RSS and VHP, the editorial said. It added, RSS and VHP want that the rights of the Hindus should not be suppressed. Moreover, they have never imposed any restrictions on womens rights. The situation in Afghanistan, however, is gut-wrenching. People fled from their country out of fear, and womens rights are being suppressed.

The paper described Akhtar as someone who is known for his outspoken statements and has also attacked extremist views of the Muslim society. However, comparing the Sangh with the Taliban is not acceptable. Most people in our country are secular and will not accept the Talibans ideology. India is proudly secular despite Hindus being the majority community, it said.

Speaking to NDTV last Friday, Akhtar had compared the RSS and VHP to the Taliban. Just like the Taliban desire an Islamic State, there are those here who want a Hindu Rashtra. They have the same mindset, be it Muslims, Christians, Hindus or Jews. What the Taliban is doing is barbaric, of course, but those supporting the RSS, VHP and Bajrang Dal are the same. However, India will never become a Talibani country because majority of the people in our country are extremely tolerant and decent, the former parliamentarian had remarked.

Akhtars remarks didnt go down well with several people, including Ram Kadam of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the ideological mentor of which is the RSS. Kadam, a BJP MLA, has warned Akhtars films will not be allowed to release in Maharashtra till he issues an apology. A Mumbai-based lawyer, too, has filed a police complaint against the lyricist.

(With agency inputs)

Here is the original post:

'Comparing RSS with Taliban is disrespectful to Hindu culture': Shiv Sena on Javed Akhtar - Hindustan Times

Representational Image.

Five people have been booked in Uttar Pradeshs Raebareli district for allegedly torching the house of a Muslim family that converted to Hinduism in September.

Police superintendent Shlok Kumar said the preliminary probe suggests that Dev Prakash, the convert, and Mohammad Tahir, the main accused, also had a dispute over a piece of land. We are probing the case from all angles. Tahir and his brother have been detained and are being questioned, he said. Kumar added a first information report has been filed and the accused have been booked for mischief by fire or explosive substance and rioting.

Police said the family managed to escape even as the house was gutted and that security forces have been deployed in the area.

Also read |UP:Dalit family claims beaten up by village strongmen for using hand pump, leaves home

Mohammed Anwar converted to Hinduism last year along with his three children and renamed himself, Dev Prakash.

Police said Prakash is a single-parent as his first wife died and his three subsequent marriages did not work.

In his police complaint, Prakash alleged that former village head Tahir and his associates were upset over his conversion.

He added he saw Tahir and his brother, Rehan, setting the house on fire.

Read more from the original source:

5 booked for torching house of family that converted to Hinduism in UPs Raebareli - Hindustan Times