Koran sharif the sacred scripture of islamic faith,a religion with many historical attributes recommends tolerance
plularism,pacific mysticism and gentleness.Christianity the earlier religion was known for intolerance,coersiveness,persecution of jews,the followers of judaism(the religion before christianity the holy scripture belonging to this faith is old testament of Bible).In fifteenth century jews were far better off in muslim Baghdad or Alexandria or Palestine of Arab muslims than in christian Paris or Madrid,Berlin(Hitler of Germany who was a christian had murdered 6 million jews)Russia before the Bolshevik revolution.During the killing spree of jews in Europe,they took refuge in one of the muslim localities in the east.’There must be no coercion in matters of religion’is an ayat from Koran,’you follow your raligion i follow my religion’is another line from Koran.
So when did a militant islamic purism as the concept of jihad,originate?There is a battle going on within islam itself.
The islam which is tolerant,gentle and not spread by the sword but by love and kindness,and the islam that is not only
spread by the sword but by a fetish of martyrdom and murder.In recent years this second islam has been sanctioned by the
rulings of fanatical religious scholars for whom islam is locked in a duel to death with the rest of the world and with the impure elements of the muslim world itself.The theological basis for this point of view goes back many hundreds of years to the concept that the ‘umma’the muslim community,sometimes becomes internally corrupted and humiliated by foreign conquest(in current situation this can be read as American and British conquest)and that under those circumstances muslims should be summoned to wage holy war.In this view islam itself needed to be purified,brought back to its fundamentals and the foreigners(America,Britain and Israel under their patronage)thrown out.One very influential figure who espoused this doctrine was the Ayatollah Khomeini of Iran who upon taking power in 1979 popularised the slogan’Death to America’.
There were other figures more famous in the middle east,one of them an intense charismatic palestinian religious scholar
named Abdullah Azzam.Azzam set up a store front office in frontier city of Peshawar in north west Pakistan in 1979 during Soviet invasion of Afghanistan,aimed at recruiting volunteers for an islamic army that would win historic renewal and glory
of islam.He gave a call to muslims all over the world to join him in a new ‘jihad’ or holy war.Azzam talked of his ‘untold love to fight in the path of Allah’.'Jihad and the rifle alone’ and’no negotiations,no conferences and no dialogues’.
Abdullah Azzam was born in west bank which is now an occupied territory,and fleed to Jordan during jews invasion of palestine
arab territories with the help of America and Britain in the 6 day war of 1967.In Jordan he joined the jihad against the forced occupation of Palestine arab land.According to some Azzam was a founder of ‘Hamas’ which is now a ruling outfit in Palestine arab lands,and is fighting the Israeli army to form a palestine nation.Azzam turned to ‘Hamas’ out of disillusionment with the mainstream palestinian movement.Many palestinian arab muslims are disillusioned due to the fact that they allowed jews in their lands with affection,treated them like their brothers,not knowing that these very jews with the help of British and Americans will snatch their land declaring it their own promised land and naming it as their own nation “Israel”and not only that but making the palestinian muslims like slaves in their own land.Seems to be quite a strong reason for’jihad’the holy war.Mainstream palestinian movement under the leadership of Yasser Arafat was secular in nature,not religious,but the ‘jihad’ started by Azzam is religious in nature,which believes in sharia,in martyrdom and that is what lead him to break with the mainstream palestinian movement.
Azzam used to tell stories of how palestinian fighters spent their nights listening to music and playing cards and only few went to daily prayers in the mosque.For sometime Azzam taught at king Abdul Aziz university in Jeddah,a place where religious islamic movement was favoured over the secular nationalist.Osama bin laden was a student in this university.Later both Azzam and Osama founded the office of services for the mujahideen(means’ holy warriors’)in Peshawar,which became a global network recruiting muslims to do jihad against the Soviet Union.Azzam and Osama communicated to their followers and
to recruits the cause by making audio tapes of their lectures and sermons’jihad must not be abandoned until Allah alone is worshipped’which would be heard in mosques all over,’jihad continues until Allah’s word is raised high…jihad is the way of everlasting glory’.
Mosques and islamic centres around the world reverberated to Abdullah Azzam’s call to do jihad in Afghanistan and tens of thousands of volunteers heeded that call for jihad.Several jobless youth saw the employment opportunities in the calls.Except oil rich arab countries most of the muslim countries in Asia or Africa or far east are economically backward,so unemployment of the muslim youth is the biggest problem of the world which has to be addressed sincerely.
What is extraordinary is the large number of figures who came to Peshawar during the Soviet war or shortly after it,later participated in terrorist attacks against the united states and India.
There are two sides to religion:the exotic or outer teachings,the ones we have dealt with about islam in the paragraphs above,in which people of one religion fight with people of other religion as their potential enemies,calling the fight as jihad or holy war.The other is esoteric or inner teachings which deal with the jihad with our inner self and the enemies here are within ourselves named anger,lust,greed,attachment and ego(kaam,krodh,lobh,moh and ahankar)which are to be won over.In islam also this esoteric side of jihad is dealt with in the revelations by prophet Muhammed.The esoteric side deals with exploration of the beyond.Saints and founders of the various religions had themselves traveled to higher realms and taught the method of going within self to their followers,which is self realization or God realization.Throughout the ages,there have always been enlightened souls who revived and imparted the esoteric teachings.Each of them have described the inner journey,while the language in which they spoke differed,the experiences described are the same,
St John has said-
And the light shineth in darkness,and the darkness comprehendeth it not ;
In the old testament it is said-
Thy word is a lamp unto my feet,and a light unto my path ;
Sant Kabir has said-
The tuneful trumpet of thy doorway,sounds in the middle of my forehead;
Prophet Muhammed has said-
The voice of God comes unto my ears as any other sounds ;
Guru Nanak has said-
Within the heavenly light and from it Bani or sound doth proceed,
and it doth attune the soul with the true lord ;
In Hansa Naad upanishad it is written-
Meditation or naad or the sound principle is the royal road to salvation ;
Buddha,in the ‘Tibetan book of the Dead’says
O nobly-born,when thy body and mind were separating,thou must have experienced a glimpse of pure truth,subtle,sparkling,bright,dazzling,glorious and radiantly awsome in appearance like a mirage moving across a landscape in springtime in one continuous stream of vibrations.Be not daunted thereby nor terrified nor awed.That is the radiance of thine own true nature,recognize it.From the midst of that radiance,the natural sound of reality reverberating like a thousand thunders simultaneously sounding welcome.That is the natural sound of thine own real self.
Coming back to jihad of Abdullah Azzam and Osama Bin Laden,for which western christian world is squarely responsible,be it its hatred for jews or later forced settlement of jews in palestine arab muslim land and naming it ‘Israel’,or gulf wars 1 &2.If at all America and Britain were so much sympathetic to the cause of persecuted and tortured jews by their own christian brothers,then they could have given them a piece of land in their own western territories,why to bring them all along in eastern arab muslim lands by the use of force.So the movement of Azzam and Osama in Peshawar was spreading like wildfire.
Two more men who seemd to have played the key roles in bringing jihad to the rest of the world were Ayman Zawahiri and Omer Abdel Rahman.Both had spent years in Egyptian prisons and when freed had made their way to Azzam’s house in Peshawar.Both believed in expanding the concept of jihad to include the causes of the palestinians and of the poor masses in muslim countries ruled over by what they ragarded as apostate Arab and muslim rulers.Zawahiri was a doctor from a distinguished family in Egypt who gave up the easy life to wage religious war-fare.Abdel Rehman was a simple preacher from rural Egypt a blind man who had an avid,loyal,worshipful following among muslims around the world.
‘Muslims are burning with anger at America’Osama Bin Laden said on august 23, 1996.In an interview with CNN he said ‘We declared jihad against the U.S because it is unjust,criminal and tyrannical.It has committed acts that are extremely criminal whether directly or through its support of Israeli occupation’.He announced the American government,military or any American individual would be his target wherever they could be struck.He formed a new international islamic front for jihad against the jews uniting his Al-qaeda with Ayman Zawahiri’s group ‘Egyptian jihad’.Osamas declaration was ,
The ruling to kill the americans and their allies,civilian and military,is an individual duty for every muslim who can do it in any country in which it is possible to do it in order to liberate the Al-Aqsa mosque(in Jerusalem) and the holy mosque(in Mecca)from their grip and in order for their armies to move out of all the lands of islam,defeated and unable to threaten any muslims.
This declaration was called a’fatwa’by Osama Bin Laden.
‘From august 1998 Osama was Enemy no 1′said Sandy Berger,Bill clinton’s national security adviser.
But America could not do anything to Bin laden or his dangerous plans till sept 11 or 9/11 happened,the most horrific day in the history of modern terrorism.
Richard.c.Clarke,white house counter-terrorism chief,put the abovestated happenings this way ‘Democracies don’t prepare well
for things that have never happened before’.
So,these exotic or outer teachings of modern day jihad can bring nuclear holocaust also in near future,which had actually
happened before also in the name of religion,but still we do not seem to be prepared well to avoid it.The solution to avoid this for the entire humanity is to go for esoteric or jihad(holy war)of our inner self to combat the enemies within.We have to fight the five enemies within ourselves,and win over them.That is the real jihad,the holy war.
Philosophical hindus developed an understanding of God as the source and pervader of all appearance who is present in humans as ‘atman’or the’soul’.The advaita philosophy,a school of hindu thought is non-dualist.It states that the appearance of distinctions in the world is an illusion.All things that we see the earth,sun,moon,sky,,birds,animals,people look different but in essence they are one.Advaita understands moksha as the realisation that the individual and God have always been one and moksha is union with God forever.
Advaita vedanta is a philosophy that was systemized in India around 8th century AD by adi Shankara.The essence of the teaching being based upon the material contained in the upanishads.The upanishads are a part of the sacred indian texts called the vedas,written around 1500 BC.There are three groups,as shown below,the three divisions of orthodox hindu philosophy,
1) nyaya
vaisheshika
2)samkhya
yoga
3)purva mimansa
uttara mimansa
Our concern is with the third group in which advaita is dealt with extensively.Mimansa means profound thought and examination of the vedic text.
Purva mimansa is concerned with the earlier parts of the vedas,those sections which talk about the rituals and behaviour,the ‘karma-kand’.It is associated with the philosopher Jamini,a pupil of ‘Vyas rishi (the original complier of vedas).
Uttara mimansa is concerned with the later parts of the vedas,the more philosophical,’gyan-kand’,the upanishads and is commonly known as vedanta-consisting of three main schools,
1)Dvaita-the dualistic philosophy associated with ‘Madhva’.
2)Advaita- non-dualism associated with Shankara
3)Vishisht advaita- qualified non-dualism associated with Ramanuja.
Sources of Teaching- Began with the original scriptures of upanishads.In the past 100 years there has been a resurgence of interest in advaita in the west.Ramkrishna Paramhans(1836-1886) was the most important and responsible teacher for increasing the popularity of advaita in recent times,with missions now operating all over the world.His principal desciple was swami Vivekananda(1863-1902),who toured the world with the aim of uniting all religions,the underlying truth of all of them being realized in advaita.Ramana maharshi(1880-1950)most famous of laterday sages has influenced so many modern writers such as Paul Brunten and Somerset maughm.Nisargdatta maharaj(1879-1981)the uneducated servant and tobacconist in mumbai was one of the most popular and Atmanand Krishna Menon(1883-1959)was one of the most logical preacher of advaitavad.
Original Scriptures-(Upanishads and other granthas)Shruti,Aitareya,Amritbindu,atma,brihadaranyaka,chandogya,isha,kaushitaki,kena,maitri,mandukya,
muktika,mundaka,narada parivrajaka,prashna,sarva sara,shvetashvatara,taittiriya upanishads
smiriti,bhagwat gita,nyaya prasthana,shankara’s brahmasutra bhashya.
Later commentaries and works-
Aparok shambhuti,Astavakra Gita,Atmabodha,Bhaja Govindam,Drrig-drishya-viveka,Pancha dashi,Sadananda’s vedantasara,Sarva vedanta sarvasamagraha,Tattva bodha,Yoga vasishta updesha sahasri,Vivekachudamini,Yoga sutras of Patanjali.
Historical Sages/writers- Gaudapada Patanjali,Sadananda,Shankara,Vidyaranya,vyasa.
Recent sages/writers/teachers- Robert Adams,Sri Aurobindo,Swami Chinmayananda,Jean Klein,Sri Atmananda krishna menon,Jiddu Krishnamurti,Swami krishnananda,nisargadatta maharaj,Swami Nikhilananda,Osho,Hwl Poonja,Ramana maharshi,Ramkrishna Paramhansa,Ranjit maharaj,Swami Satchidanandendra saraswati,Swami shantanand saraswati,Swami sivananda,Swami Vivekananda,Swami Dayananda saraswati,Wei wu wei.
Spiritual path and practice-
Various spiritual practices are advocated by advaitavad in order to prepare the mind for realization of our true nature.Yogas,meditation,mind control,being in the present,satsang shravana,manana and nididhyasna,guru-shishya relationship,all these are explained in sciptures of advaita.The ultimate goal is self realization,that we are not the body but we are soul and that is one with all around.It is described in Mandukya upanishad(verse 7)as follows,
Neither inward-turned nor outward-turned consciousness nor the two together,not an undifferentiated mass of consciousness,neither knowing nor unknowing,invisible,ineffable,intangible,devoid of characteristics,inconceivable,indefinable,its sole essence being the consciousness of its own self,the coming to rest of all relative existense,utterly quiet,peaceful,blissful,without a second this is ‘atman’,the self,this is to be realized.This state in Mandukya upanishad is called’turiya’,which means the fourth state,a state of superconsciousness.The other three states are waking,dream and deep sleep states.turiya is also reffered as ‘egoless state’ or the ‘transcendental state’.the Sat-Chit-Ananda is present as before but in this state it is known to be present.There is no longer any ego-process and the three states,waking,dream and deep sleep are seen to be mere appearances upon the one reality of the self.Should the three states be taken to form one long dream,’turiya’ represents the waking from this dream.Thus it is more withdrawn than deep sleep and more wakeful than the waking state.
Therefore our true state is that fourth one(turiya) which is distinguished from the waking,dream and deep sleep states.We are that only.That is to say’turiya’ is pure knowledge,which is not conscious of any object but not unconscious itself.Only he who has realized it has realized the truth.
What is there more from him who has gained the fourth state or turiya or state of superconsciousness?Practically it is not possible for any one to remain forever in that state. He or she who has realised this state this world is not as before for him.Now he is all,there is nothing distinct from himself,his eyes closed or open,howsoever the things may change,his state remains unchanged.this is the state of ‘self realization’,'God realization’ in advaita-vad.This is the natural eternal state.we are all that ever-true state.
Saguna and Nirguna-
Traditional advaita in upanishads speaks of reality in other ways as in brihadaranyaka upanishad addresses the ‘two forms of reality’.The active principal in manifestation,which we call’Ishvara’ is differentiated from the unmanifest,non acting principal called ‘Parmatman’ which we can call the absolute.The unmanifest advaita reality of ‘Ishvara’or ‘parmatman’is said to be without manifestation or attributes of any kind-nirguna.Guna-the three qualities of sattva,rajas and tamas.The manifest ‘Ishvara’ is said to be with qualities-saguna.
When ‘Parmatman’is said to be the efficient and material cause of the world’s existence it is ‘saguna’.To speak of ‘Ishvara’ as the cause of the world presupposes a duality of world and such dualistic thinking is grounded on ignorance of the true nature of ‘parmatman’and ‘atman’.Although God or Ishvara is characterized in various vedic texts as efficient and material cause of the universe,Adi shankara holds that these texts refer to ‘saguna’(with attributes and forms)and that thinking of ‘parmatman’as ‘saguna’ constitutes only a preliminary view of ‘Ishvara’,a view based on human need to explain the apparent existance of the universe.However in order to understand the true nature of atman and parmatman we must go beyond the preliminary view and understand the truth of oneness or advaita,in non-dualistic terms.At that level of comprehension,it is seen that the entire universe is nothing but a superimposition upon and mere appearance of the underlying truth of all that is.
Nirguna is thus the ‘parmarth’ view and ‘saguna’ is the interim assumption of ‘vyavhara’ made by the ‘jiva’ in his ignorance,prior to the enlightenment or reaching the state of self realization,or turiya,the realization that we are not body but soul,’atman’ and one with ‘parmatman’.For example the wooden table is to be seen as wood,a material that is earth.We need to understand that every thing is made up of earth,water,fire,wind and space.These five elements are known as causes and the products,table,cloth,cup etc all materials are the effect.So the whole universe is merely earth,water,fire,wind and space and nothing else,just a ’cause’ and ‘effect’.
Everything in this world is formed by earth,water,fire,wind and space.Likewise for humans,except humans have an additional quality-consciouness.Therefore a human being is made up of aggregation of earth,water,fire,wind,space and consciousness.Earth is our body,muscle,skin,hair,bones etc,these are all earth.After we die our body decomposes and it is a pile of earth.Water-our tears,blood,sweat and urine are all water.Fire-our body heat,our thermal energy,human digestion is an endothermic process and without heat energy we can not digest our food.Wind-our body needs wind as well,the air that circulates in our body.Space-the whole body is full of spaces.There are skin pores everywhere and all internal organs have spaces.
So all the objects turn out to be forms of something more subtle.The ultimate ‘object’(which is no object at all) is that which is itself formless.This is’nirguna’,'parmatman’.Consciousness in human beings is ‘atman’ which is to be realised,all else is body(earth,water,fire,wind and space) to which if we see through more subtly then it turns in to nothingness.What remains is ‘atman’ and ‘parmatman’ which are again one and not two.This is ‘advaitvad’.
The latin word ‘Religio’means something done with over-anxious or scrupulous attention to detail and from that use it was applied to what we call religion,because of the way people performed sacrifices in those early days.The verb’religare’means to bind things together closely.Religion binds people together in common practices and beliefs.They draw them together in common goal of life.Since religions are the earliest protective systems we know about that enable people to have children and raise them to adulthood.Early worship of gods and goddesses was very important for it provided a shared culture where community approval and disapproval were held in common.Culture and cult both come from the same latin word’cultus’means worship of the ‘gods’or of a supreme authority.Worship and belief in a higher power form the foundation of culture.Culture is protective and religions with their different patterns of belief and practice,are the earliest cultural systems that we know about for the protection of gene replication and the nurture of children.
The question of survival is the reason many religions are so preoccupied with sex and food.The rules say what you can and can not eat.Who you can and can not marry.What kind of sexual behaviours are allowed.
Religions have always been in the process of change and transformation.Religions of Rome(Roman gods) and greece(Greek gods)seem to have disappeared long ago.But ancient religions are rarely dead religions.Much from Greece and Rome continued in christianity and in the renaissance they gave form and inspiration to art,music and literature in the west.Hinduism also is an ancient religion and has gone through changes,like the new religions Islam,Buddhism,Sikhism attracted sizable followings and millions of hindus converted to these later religions because of discriminations,oppressions on caste basis by upper caste hindus.Sikhism attracted hindus during mughal era because of hindu-muslim fightings.The only dead religions are those that can not leave the past and find new life in the present.At the end the questions of truth are paramount.Religions make claims about what this human life is worth and what it may become.They offer choises that have to be made about the opportunity of life.Which of them are true and in what way?
Hinduism is the name given in the 19th century to the coalition of religions in India prevailing in ancient times.It is derived from persian word’hindu’,in sanskrit’sindhu’which means river and refers to those peaple belonging to Indus vally.Indus vally culture is among the oldest and present day muslims,buddhists and sikhs in India are monotheists and don’t consider themselves hindus.so hinduism basically belongs to hindus who are polytheists and worship idols of hindu gods and goddesses.
Historically Hinduism is seen as unfolding through stages.The roots are in Indus valley civilisation which lasted from about 2500 BCE to 1500 BCE,and the religion of aryans,invaders in north west India from 1500 BCE onwards.Aryan religion led in to vedic religion,based on sacrifices and oral sacred texts known as vedas which for hindus contain eternal truth.Vedic religion is characterised by a world of elemental gods and goddesses,for example the trinity of gods Brahma,Vishnu and Mahesh(Shiva).As well as the principal deities and goddesses,Saraswati,Laxmi,Durga,Kali there are many avtaars most important being lord Rama and Krishna.There are numerous other deities that retain important positions in hinduism.These include the elemental such as Surya the Sun god,Agni the fire god,Vayu the wind god.Certain animals,reptiles and even trees are worshipped such as Naga the snake deity,Banyan tree deity,two of the incarnations of god vishnu Narsimha half man and half lion,and Varha the Boar.Three of the most important gods are,hanuman the monkey god,and the two sons of Shiva and Parvati,Ganesh the elephant god,and the youthful Kartikeya.
Devotional cults arose both receiving inspiration from and inspiring the great epic literature such as the Mahabharat,an act of the wars of Bharat,which includes a section called ‘Bhagwat Gita’which is famous for the spiritual poetic dialogue between,Krishna an avtaar of Vishnu and Arjun the warrior,master archer brother of pandavas.It is revered by all hindus and is the heart of hindu faith.The Ramayana,another great epic the tale of lord Rama,his wife Sita and his brother Laxman is equally worshiped by hindus.
All in all Hinduism is a religion in which divine is manifest and approachable in many gods and goddesses,as in ancient religion of Rome,Egypt and Greece,which we can call as polytheism.
Buddhism began historically in north India in 6th century BCE,when a prince called,Siddarth Gautam attained ‘enlightenment’,the ultimate truth by which people are freed from the cycle of rebirth.Buddha means’Enlightened or Awakened’who taught others the way to escape from suffering and cycle of rebirth.The truth of Buddha descipline which involves meditation and spiritual exercise and the teachings of Buddha have according to the followers of Buddhism,always been in existence.
What the Buddha saw is summarised in four noble truths.First all existence is ‘Dukkha’,filled with suffering,second dukkha arises from’tanha’a craving or clinging,a constant effort to find something permanant and stable,in a transient world,third dukkha can cease totally and this is ‘nirvana’,and fourth this can be reached by following the eightfold path.These 8 steps do not have to be followed in order.Each step is described as right-right understanding,right directed thought ,right speech,right action,right livlihood,right effort,right mindfulness,and right concentration.
Buddhism died out in India,perhaps due to the muslim invasions in the 11th century,although there are sections following buddhism who are called ‘Dalits’,considered a low caste by high caste hindus who follow hinduism.
Islam is the religion of allegiance to one God,that began historically with the prophet Muhammed in Arabia in 7th century.It began as the way of life or ‘din’which God intended for his creation from the start.Human rebellion and sin meant that god constantly sent prophets including Moses(moosa in islam),Jesus(Isa in islam)and then Muhammed to summen people back to the proper din.
Within 100 years islam had swept over the known world from the atlantic to the borders of China,India.It has remained a rapidly expanding religion with about a quarter of world population being muslims.They form nearly total majorities in countries in the middle east,Turky,Pakistan,Bangla desh,Indonesia,northern Africa,parts of central asia.There are substantial minorities in the western countries such as France,Germany,Uk and US.In india muslims are about 200 millions,more than the population of Pakistan.
Sikhism was the result of tension between hindus and muslims in 15th century(beginning of mughal empire)in north India.This religion began with the life and teachings of Guru Nanak.Sikh is a punjabi word which means ‘learner’or’student’,in hindi’shishya’In religious sense a sikh is someone who believes in one god,follows Guru who reveals the teachings of God to him.
During the tense period of mughal empire,some saints like Kabir,vaishnavites,sought a love of god beyond religious conflict.Guru Nanak was influenced by these groups and stated,’There is neither hindu nor muslim’which meant that the majority of these religions are not true to their faith and God is greater than the divided opinion of religions.Guru Nanak was moved even more by his own profound experience of God.He believed that God does not become manifest(unlike the avtaars of hindu belief)but his will becomes known through the Gurus.For this reason meditation(nam simran) is of the highest importance for sikhs in conjunction with ‘mul mantra’,which forms part of ‘jap ji saheb’at the beginning of the day.The translation of mul mantra is’God is one,whose name is truth,the imminent creator,without fear,without hostility,immortal in form,unborn,self sustaining,known by the grace of Guru’.
Humans are bound by karma(cycle of birth).God gives them help to move through five stages,from being a wrong doer or ‘man-mukh’to being devoted to the guru or ‘gur-mukh’.The manmukh indulges in five deadly evils’kaam,krodh,lobh,moh and ahankar’and is lost in maya,which means error that gives a higher value to the material things in life than to the spiritual.The final stage is utter bliss or’sach-khand’which is beyond words and beyond rebirth.In ‘Mandukya Upanishad’of hindu philosophy(which is propagated by swamy Ramkrishna Paramhans and later by swamy Vivekanand and being followed by a section of hindus)this state is called ‘turia’or fourth state,the other three states being’Waking’dream’and’deep sleep’.So it becomes crystal clear that Guru Nanak was in tune with advait(non-duality)philosophy of hindu thinkers and monotheism of Islam as well.What he did not like was the clashes of hindu-muslims,both being the creation of the same creator.
Guru Nanak did not regard other religions as worthless,but he did believe that their attention to the detail of ritual and outward observance was a severe impediment to a ralationship with God,who can be found better within.He rejected caste,brahminical authority and islamic rituals also.He said salvation was to be attained through devotion to akal purakh,the eternal, the immortal being.He saw elaborate rituals as pointless.Extreme ascetism and renunciation of the world was similarly rejected.More important was to live a good honest life,helping others,and with loving meditation on the divine reality.Guru Nanak was to found a religion that would begin as peaceful and pacifist but later on due to circumstances the sikhs became a military caste.
Guru Nanak was born in 1469 AD in a small village Talwandi.He was married at the age of 12 and worked as an accountant,but he always showed interest in spiritual quest.At the age of 30 when he was bathing in river Bein,he experienced the call of God and he was commanded”Nanak,i am with you and i bless you and exalt you.Whoever remembers you will receive my blessing”.”Go,rejoice in my name and teach others to do the same.”Nanak began to travel abroad,taught and chanted rhymns(which are compiled in the holy scripture’Guru Granth Saheb’).He designated Lahina,his desciple to be his successor guru(who was known as Guru Angad saheb)and died in 1539 AD.There were total 10 gurus of sikh faith from the founder Guru Nanak(1469 to 1539)to Guru Gobind Singh(1666 to 1708)and the holy scripture,Guru Granth Saheb(A compilation of verses by Gurus,saints and fakirs)became the 11th and final Guru after the death of Guru Gobind Singh.
For days after september11,2001 i wondered if Osama Bin Laden alongwith the rest of the world had watched the real time footage of those fully fueled airliners,hijacked by suicidal pilots and their henchmen,as they rammed in to the pentagon and the twin towers of Manhattan’s WTC.Then less than a fortnight before christmas,a partly inaudible amateur videotape was released by Bush administration.The casset’s contents were literally too good to be true.
In the videotape,Osama Bin Laden accurately listed the nationalities and names of the 19 men suicide squad.Osama confirmed about 4 hijacking teams.He explained their division among the 4 pilots and the Saudi ‘Muscle’ who Osama chuckled,learned the exact nature of their suicide mission only just before boarding the 4 airliners to cow their passengers in to submission with box cutters once the planes were in the air.Osama said he knew 5 days in advance that the operations would take place on september 11 and had a radio tuned in ready to hear the first plane hit the trade centre’s north tower.He recounted that in the planning stage his engineering training had helped him calculate the number of likely deaths from the explosive impact of a fully fueled airliner on the twin tower’s metal structures.He acknowledged his surprise that they collapsed completely.’all that we hoped for’ was the destruction of ’3 or 4 floors’ where the aircraft hit and those adjoining floors above the impact.
Indeed Osama Bin Laden was watching the crashes on television.His spokesman Sulaiman Abu ghaith had turned on a TV set in an adjoining room and seen the first run of the footage of planes hitting the twin towers,tried to tell Osama bin laden about what he saw’but Osama made a gesture with his hands,meaning’I know,I know’.
Al-Qaeda’s daring,patience,dedication,statecraft,stealth and pure luck were as breathtaking as was this most massive intelligence failure of America,the only super power of the world.
The specialist literature long ago concluded that the objective of modern terrorism was to inflict maximum casualties with maximum publicity.In those terms Osama Bin Laden had succeeded beyond his wildest dreams.
Labanese christian terrorism,Israeli terrorism,Islamic terrorism,Arab nationalist terrorism,Iranian and Palestinian terrorism,Hindu terrorism,Sikh terrorism,State sponsored terrorism,to those who ask for a definition of terrorism-as per the U.S code it means-’Premeditated politically motivated violence perpetrated against non-combatant targets by sub-national groups or clandestine agents,usually intended to influence an audience.
Let’s recall that American president Ronald Reagon in 1980s recognised as freedom fighters all those fighting the Soviet Occupation of afghanistan and that included Osama Bin Laden and Afghan Mujahideens.
Afghanistan was America’s first experiment at franchising war,a practice employed again on a grander scale in the conflict to recover Kuwait from Iraqi occupation in 1991.Prize catch was Saudi Arabia,the biggest oil producer of the world.The Al-Saud did payments and provided Osama Bin Laden to America,to fight Soviets who invaded Afghanistan in December 1979.Osama that time was an employee of Bin-Laden group of construction companies owned by his father and George Bush a share holder of the companies.Here was a chance for america to enlist muslims and arabs from all corners of the world,to get even for the defeat in Vietnam from communists in 1975 and the overthrow of Shah of Iran(American imposed Monarch)in 1979.For Saudi Arab also Jihad in Afghanistan was literally a God-given chance to be on the winning side,a rare phenomenon in contemporary muslim history.
Osama Bin Laden formed Al-Qaeda,which in his mind was to be a kind of ready reserve,a standing islamic force prepared to serve at a moment’s notice not just in Afghanistan but many jihads to come.Once Soviets lost and ousted,arab and muslim volunteers turned increasingly anti-American.”No Arab or muslim in the jihad was happy with America,principally because of blind american support for Israel”.
On August 1990 Saddam Hussein invaded and occupied Kuwait.Boiling over with ideas inspired by his Afghan jihad experience,Osama Bin Laden insisted that his Al-qaeda should fight with Sddam Hussein in case Saudi Arabia was invaded by Iraq and no American or western army be allowed to sully the sacred land of the two holy mosques.The kingdom did not need to rely on the Americans to defend itself or to liberate kuwait.The saudi kings were not convinced that Osama and his Al-qaeda would be able to protect them against the huge military power of Sddam Hussein.Osama Bin Laden was angry with saudi monarchy for not accepting his just proposals.
The die was cast on August6,1990 when Dick Cheney flew to Riyadh and read out to king Fahad a message from george Bush”We are prepared to deploy American and other allied forces to defend the kingdom of Saudi Arabia.If you ask us to come we will come,and when you ask us to leave,we will go home.We seek no permanant bases.”King Fahad accepted the President of america’s offer then and there.Osama Bin Laden and younger clerics questioned the King’s call,upper most in their minds were the Prophet Muhammed’s dying words”Let there be no two religions in Arabia”.Osama’s personality from then onwards changed radically”From a butterfly doing good deeds to a bloody revolutionary willing to sacrifice human lives for his islamic cause”.
American military presence in Holy soil of Prophet Muhammed,given the koranic injunctions became the turning point in Osama’s life.Osama Bin Laden the dreaded terrorist was the product of said scenario in Saudi Arabia.But no amount of radical islamist violence inspired by Osama could shake the pentagon’s convictions.After each terrorist attack,be it 19 air force men killed at Al-khobar in june 1996,or the 17 sailors killed in USS cole in Aden(Yemen) in october 2000,the pentagon covered up by excuses and warned that world’s only super power(U.S)could not be pushed out of the region.
After august 20,1998 cruise missile attacks on Osama’s camps in Afghanistan and Khartoum(Sudan)in which Osama survived,Ayman al-Zawahiri his right hand man told a Pakistani reporter”Osama is alive and kicking.Tell the Americans we are not afraid.We survived Soviet bombings for 10 years in Afghanistan and we are ready for more sacrifices.”Soon after 60 American cruise missile attack failures,thousands of muslim volunteers were flocking to Afghanistan for training in Al-Qaeda camps from one end of muslim world to the other end.Osama’s reputation had assumed cult proportions.The Americans with their high tech weapons had missed their targets in Sudan and Afghanistan.The muslims were convinced that Al-lah had intervened to spare Osama Bin Laden’s life.
Thanks to the quadrupling of oil prices in 1970s the gulf was awash with floos(Arabic word for money).Osama first came to the attention of American intelligence as a financier to terrorism.Many countries soft on terrorist financing ignored hawala transactions.In Saudi Arabia foreign workers accounted for $15 billion the kingdom sent abroad every year.Hawalas(a process of money transfer from one country to other country,called Hundi in India and Pakistan) were ideal for terrorists.IMF has estimated that between$500 billion to $1.5 trillion is laundered every year equal to as much as 5% of gross world product.
Beyond America’s pleasure in punishing an enemy they equated with pure evil,it remains far from sure that Osama Bin Laden’s killing would provide any durable relief.Similar hopes had been expressed when American troups captured Saddam Hussein in his home town Tikrit.But resistance to the U.S occupation of Iraq failed to subside because basically it is an opposition to foreign and western occupation.
Beyond perpetuating his legend,Osama Bin Laden had succeeded in isolating America internationally in ways the soviets never managed in their heyday.Even the Bush administration was obliged to accept that its muscular post 9/11 foreign policy and military hegemony had damaged american prestige abroad so thoroughly that it will take us many years of hard focused work to restore America’s international standing.Particular hurtful were disclosures in 2004 of torture and humiliation meted out by Americans to prisoners in Iraq,Guantanamo and Afghanistan.
Smarter policies in dealing with the muslim world are essential to curb terrorism starting with Palestine.Some Arab world experts estimate that as much as 70% of muslim anti-Americanism would disappear if only Washington would help bring about a viable Palestinian state alongside Israel.Many muslims question the existance of Israel in otherwise wholly Arab world.Many Arab and muslim countries don’t even recognize the existance of Israel,and they say that it is not their promised land but a forcible occupation with the help of Britain and America.
The palestine problem remains the single greatest irritant in muslim american relations and an encouragement for Jihadi terrorism..
Secularism as we understand is followed in those countries where the constitution is not based on some particular religion or ideology and it is enshrined in their constitution that all religions or faiths will be respected equally and their followers will be treated without bias.Democratic republics try to follow this concept but time to time differences crop up among the sections following different religions and faiths.Very often majority community tries to suppress the minorities.So what is the solution for this issue?Prophets and saints from ancient times have maintained that there is only one God and one humanity and it was revealed to them by none other than God and those human beings who have faith in these revelations are living peacefully and devoting their time in praying,meditation and ultimately self realization.But there are sections who believe that their religion is superior than other’s religion or their God is superior than other’s God,or there is no God,which is the cause of ethnic clashes allover.
We should first see that which countries in Asia are constitutionally secular and which are not?China although liberal now,follows Mao’s communist ideology which does not believe in God and believes in atheism,so majority of population are atheists and minority is suppressed.Japan,there seem to be no ethnic clashes but constitutionally there are restrictions for some particular religions,which is not secularism.India is constitutionally secular but time to time communal clashes occur and prove that there are sections who do not believe in secularism.All the middle east countries are either kingdoms or dictatorships where secularism is not possible.All the earstwhile USSR constituents,Armenia,Azerbaizan,Georgia,Kazakhstan,Kyrgystan,Russia,Tajikistan,Uzbekistan are not secular and suffering from ethnic clashes.Pakistan,Bangladesh,Afghanistan are again islamic countries where they use a word,islamic secularists,which again is possible only when all the citizens are muslims and follow islam which is not the case,so minority non muslims are suffering atrocities.Singapore,Srilanka,Taiwan,Turki are secular and relatively peaceful countries.Indonesia,Korea,Malyesia,Myanmar,Nepal,Phillipines,Thailand,Vietnam are monotheists or atheists and relatively peaceful. In some countries Armies crush monotheists with force which is nothing but state sponsored terrorism.So one God and one humanity then why they are out for each others blood?
A doctrine that there is only one God is called Monotheism and the one that there is no God is called Atheism.Those who believe in the first are called Monotheists and those who believe in the second are called atheists.In western countries these doctrines are followed to some extent faithfully and the result is that they have prospered economically,socially and ethnically,constitutionally also in following secularism.But when we talk of Asia,monotheism and secularism seem to be a distant dream and probably that is the reason that most of the countries in Asia are called third world countries or developing countries or economically backword countries.Many islamic countries believe in monotheism,they believe that there is only one God(Allah) but they don’t believe in secularism which again becomes the cause for communal violence.If the entire humanity believes that there is only one God then there is no need for any state sponsored secularism,like Rabindranath Tagore dreamt in’Geetanjali’and we should all pray for that paradise on earth,but this seems to be an utopian idea if we see the ground reality.
Violence among monotheists and atheists also has become a common occurance in 21st century.Israel and Palestine,China,Korea,Vietnam are the burning example of this phenomenon.This proves the irresponsible and greedy behaviour of human beings.Human beings behaving humanely or ethically is a prereqisite or stepping stone for spirituality.All the prophets have loved all human beings and taught to behave with other human beings in their holy scriptures.We call ourselves christians,muslims,hindus,jews,buddhists,sikhs,communists and the scriptures and ideologies of all these religions and beliefs teach us to love humanity and worship one God then what are these differences and disturbances all about?Asia can be an economically and socially developed entity if only the human beings living in this sub continent love each other and live peacefully as secularists and monotheists.
Geographically there is no established boundry about this region and the latest criteria for the countries which should be included in Middle East is’Oil and Turmoil’.That means those countries which pump the crude oil and are rich with petro-dollars like,Saudi-Arab,Iran,Iraq,kuwait,Qatar,Bahrain,UAE,Oman and those countries which make headlines for disturbances like Lebanon,Syria,Egypt,Palestine(filistin to arabs and Israel to jews),Afghanistan,Jordan, can be included in Middle East.
This part had been the centre of battles much before the world wars because of Jerusalem,the holy city,which has the distinction of being the place of worship for three faiths,Judaism,Christianity and Islam.History is that all the three prophets,Prophet Moses,Jesus Christ and Prophet Mohammed visited this city and revealed the holy scriptures,holy Bible(old testament),holy Bible(new Testament) and holy Quran respectively to their followers.
During first world war it was most unfortunate that oil had not been found in Europe whose industrial economies so badly needed it.Clearly its abundance beneath territories whose people (arabs) had no idea how to extract,refine,distribute or use it argued strongly for foreign involvement.Petroleum anxieties were therefore publicly denied and rarely made the headlines during worldwar1 and worldwar2.By midcentury(1950)Middle East’s staggering crude oil reserves were fully appreciated.This way arab people’s faith in prophet Mohammed and islam also was appreciated.
Just as the first world war was fought with an eye to oil reserves in Persia(Iran)and Mesopotamia(Iraq)so in the second world war the new reserves in Arabia and the gulf figured hugely.Saudi and other gulf oil reserves were a liquid Goldmine.Proven and probable reserves with 1945 projections(to the extent of 100billion barrels)the Middle East looked to have more oil even than the USA.
In the 20th century Oil was power and no country understood this equation better than USA whose everexpanding economy was in 1945 still supplying 2/3rd of the world demand for oil.If an element of fortune was present in the US acquisition of Middle East oil reserves,nothing could be left to fortune in their defence.Arguably both world wars have been fought over oil and demonstrably both world wars had been won over oil.
Post worldwars the cold war between two super powers USA and Soviet Union was the result of huge oil reserves found in Middle East.Even the Iran-Iraq war for 8 years and the two gulf wars later on in which Saddam Hussain and Iraq were the prime target of George Bush senior and junior were for the control of oil wealth in Middle east.
Another big factor causing disturbance in middle East was the resettlement of jews in Arab territories(palestine) which were under british control that time.Nazi germany under Hitler’s rule was persecuting jews and some 6 million jews were killed and remaining were homeless and running here and there.So Britain took the responsibility of rehabilitating them in palestine,by then an arab muslim territory,with the tacit support of US.Although this was a power game,which was highly objected by arab muslims and became a turning point for endless disturbances,jews were made to believe that palestine was the promised land of their prophets and Jerusalem was their own 4000years old city and their property.At this time US possessed atom bomb while the Soviet union did not.
14-15 May 1948 jews declared Palestine(filistin 0f arab muslims)as their own country and named it’Israel’.Filistin arabs were made homeless and arab muslim owners of huge middle east oil reserves,Saudi arab and all gulf countries were angry but lacking military power of US and Britain,so they made a hue and cry in UN which is a US controlled and financed body,and gave lip-sympathy to palestinian cause.
Jihad has undergone a massive resurgence in the classrooms of a few prominent muslim intellectuals in 20th century,after the British and french colonial rule in Egypt,lebanon,Meccaa-Medina,filistin,syria,jordan,Iraq etc.A new kind of radical islam in the Middle East has cropped up.In Iran,Ayatollah Khomeini(1902-1989)relied on a militant interpretation of jihad,first to energize the anti-imperialist revolution of 1979(against Shah of Iran) and then for 8 year war with Iraq,and to help found the islamic militant group Hezbullah,whose invention of the suicide bomber launched an appaling new era of international terrorism.
In Saudi Arabia,Abdullah yusuf Azzam(1941-89),argued that’Jihad and the rifle alone’ was incumbent on all muslims.’No negotiations,no conferences, and no dialogues’Dr Azzam proclaimed to his students.These views laid the foundation for the Palestinian militant group Hamas,which has since adopted Hezbullah’s tactics against the Israeli occupation.His teachings had an extraordinary impact on one student of his class of Islamic philosophy in King Abdulaziz University,Osama Bin Laden,who called for a worldwide muslim campaign of Jihad against the West.He like Hezbullah and Hamas financed and led an international terror outfit named ‘Al Qaeda’.This campaign climaxed with the attacks on New York and Washington,D.C,twin towers and Pentagon,on September11,2001.
Muslim Brotherhood party of Egypt,Al qaeda,Muqtada-Alsadr of Iraq(Mahdi Army),Iran,Hamas and Hezbullah,Syria all seem to be propagating Jihad of extremist kind.The reason of this extremism is not purely Quranic verses which definitely reccommend for forgiveness and killing women and children is totally forbidden in holy Quran.
So,Middle East remains a crisis ridden place forever.Now in 21st century there is no challenge to US,the only super power of the world after the disintegration of Soviet Union.But Arab muslims feel cheated by US and Britain as long as filistin arab muslims are homeless.Muslims all over the world(one billion+)sympathise with filistinis and see this crisis as a conflict between christians and muslims.What will be the fate of jews in this conflict only God knows because in this whole crisis they are a religious minority surrounded by oil rich arab muslims allaround.
Afghanistan,a failed nation,after the pullout of American and NATO forces in 2014 and Pakistan which is on the brink of a civil war among Pakistan army,Pakistan government and islamic jihadis and Federally Administered Tribal Areas(FATA) will become a threat to India and the whole of central Asia.Afghan taliban alongwith Al-qaeda and Pakistani taliban are at loggerheads with corrupt pak government and are having tacit support of ISI and looking out for the control of nuclear arsenal which are in plenty(about 100 nuclear Bombs).
Pakistan’s record of governing post-independence is pathetic.Out of 64 years,33 years Pak army has ruled over it and that too after throwing out the democratically elected governments.Mohammed Ali Jinnah’s dream nation was a secular democratic republic but there was another section in pakistan who was interested in making it a Islamic nation and Maulana Maududi was its leader.Till today this tussle between secularists and jihadis is going on and India is their common enemy.Today Pakistan is on the brink,socially as well as economically.China and India have made good progress economically during last 20 years but pakistan chose to train jihadis in 100s of camps and using them to spread terror in cities of India.LeT,Jamat-uddawa,Hizbul-Mujahidin and several such outfits have grown in Pak with the tacit support of ISI and during terror attack in Mumbai,their involvement was proved internationally but still pakistan is in a denial mode.Hafiz Saeed,the mastermind behind the Mumbai attacks was released after a few days token house arrest.
Pakistan refers to Kashmir as the reason behind tension between the two countries.But the jihadis trained in tribal areas have killed thousands of pakistanis and they have problems with all non-muslims,shias,ahmedias and so on and so forth.So it seems that jihadis want to control entire Pakistan and impose their sharia over it.They dont trust government,army and they want complete talibanisation.America and India are their enemy.So Pakistan is suffering from an internal war and to blame it on kashmir is just a distraction.Terror and bomb attacks inside Pakistan are much more than in Kashmir or any other Indian city.
Bogey of Kashmir by Pakistan is just diverting the attention from real danger of Afghan taliban,Al-qaeda and pak taliban which are a threat to its internal security as well as a threat to India,China and other countries of central Asia.There is no industrial development in Pakistan from last 60 years and its islamic jihadists have a single point agenda of waging a war against the world.what will happen once American and NATO forces leave Afghanistan is not clear at all.Therefore it is a matter of serious concern for India specially when AfPak taliban and tribals consider India their enemy.These tribals invaded Kashmir during independence and occupied a part of it which is known today as POK(Pak Occupied Kashmir).This is an illegally occupied territory and why India should have allowed this illegal occupation is not clear at all.
wiki-Leaks has released thousands of classified documents on internet which expose ISI’s direct involvement with Afghan taliban,Alqaeda.Pak army’s counterinsurgency measures in Swat valley and constant refusal to enter north vaziristan,the headquarters of Jalaluddin Haqqani and his sons,creates serious doubts about Pak intentions to fight taliban and help America in fighting terror in the region.Pakistan Army is playing a double game of allowing America to kill terrorists and civilians with Drone strikes in exchange of billions of dollars and at the same time help Afghan and pak taliban alongwith al-qaeda to strengthen them in Vaziristan to use them for terror activities against India.
So now the billion dollar question is what will happen to Pakistan when America stops 4billion dollars annual aid and its forces alonwith NATO leave Afghanistan in 2014?To Pak’s geostrategic location,to its vast population,to its vast nuclear arsenal,to its defunct economy,to hundreds of terror camps in vaziristan and its problem ridden Sind and Baluchistan only time will tell.In the name of national security they have only anti-India preparedness and no other economic reforms.Unemployment,lack of funds due to no new revenue earning, no tax reforms,there are chances of total failure and civil war.In that situation the neighbours of Pakistan specially India will have to be watchful and concerned about security threat to its borders.
European Sovereign debt crisis which is commonly known as eurozone crisis is an ongoing financial crisis that has made it difficult or impossible for some countries in the euro area to repay or refinance their government debt without the assistance of third parties.
From late 2009 fears of debt crisis developed among investors as a result of the rising private and government debt levels around the world.In many countries private debts arising from a property bubble were transferred to sovereign debt as a result of banking system bailouts.
The structure of eurozone as a monetary union(one currency) without fiscal union(different tax and public pension rules) contributed to the eurozone crisis.
The crisis did not only introduce adverse economic effects for the worst hit countries but also had a major political impact on the ruling governments in 8 out of 17 eurozone countries leading to power shifts in Greece,Ireland,Italy,Portugal,Spain,Slovenia,Slovakia and Holland.
By the end of 2012 the debt crisis forced five out of 17 eurozone countries i.e-Greece,Ireland,Portugal,Spain and Cyprus to seek help from other nations.
The european bailouts are largely about shifting exposure from banks who otherwise are lined up for losses on the sovereign debt they have piled up,on to european taxpayers and hence there is so much unrest in some european countries.
There is speculation about the breakup of the common european currency euro due to eurozone crisis.We should hope for the best of Europe during its ongoing crisis and trying times.
Does religion and faith in god has to do something with this ongoing eurozone crisis,is also a factor which needs research because it is said that 60% of the youth(girls as well as boys)of europe do not go to church and don’t believe in god.
I had been watching and reading about rapes in moving cars in Delhi so frequently that now i have lost count of them.Latest case is the gang rape of a medical college student in a bus by its driver,his brother,cleaner and 3 others who are all arrested now and being tried in court.There is a public outrage over the incident and demand for a death penalty or castration or chemical castration of all the 6 guilty persons.why this anger by delhi students was not expressed when two manipur post graduate students were raped in a moving car in Delhi and then thrown out of the car mecilessly?Is it so that the girls of north east such as nagaland,manipur,assam etc are not equal to average middle class girls of Delhi.
Another factor which is working against middle class girls in delhi is the animal like status of working class people.Some time back during trial and investigation of Arushi talwar murder it was very much evident.Three nepali workers of dentist parents of Arushi were implicated by group of doctors of delhi, and these innocent workers were given third degree treatment by CBI officers so that they admit murder and the needle of suspicion on the parents of the girl is removed.In delhi household workers are treated like animals and quite often beaten physically.When human beings are treated like animals in capital of India,Delhi, then the reactions of these underdogs should not surprise us.
Third factor which is responsible for recuurrence of sexual assault on females is the male domination of our society and money plays an important role here.Earning money in lesser educated families is the responsibility of male offspring and he need not be educated.So in case of families owning kirana stores,general stores,medical stores,the male children are natural heirs and ownners of family buisiness and become money earners and moneyed persons even before adulthood.The girls in these families are not that fortunate and they have to fend for themselves,so they concentrate on their education and often do better than their brothers in their studies.But their position in their family remains weak due to money factor and even though better educated than their brothers,they are looked down by family and the reason is just because they are girls.they do’nt have the freedom which their brothers enjoy.
A lot of introspection is required in Indian society,apart from protesting against police,government,criminal elements etc.Why still male child is preferred in Delhi and other northern states?Why literacy rate is 50% or lesser in northern states of India?Why dowry is still a dominant practice in Delhi and most of other states in India?These are the issues which were raised by our leaders long back but why we have not been able to eliminate them from Indian society?We have to address these issues to ourselves and find solutions,otherwise Delhi will remain a rape capital of India.
IAC(India Against Corruption) is actually not so much against corruption as much it is against INC(Indian National Congress).Arvind Kejriwal who was running IAC has now become a politician and has launched a party naming it ‘Aam Aadmi Party’.Before this Anna Hazare,Baba Ramdev and Arvind Kejriwal were trying together to bring the present union government down in the name of fighting corruption.Then Baba Ramdev openly started supporting Narendra modi and other BJP leaders and abused congress party for all the corruption in the country.Differences among these threesome came out in the open and RSS and BJP were behind their anti-congress campaign,that also is not a secret now.
Why Arvind Kejriwal’s newly formed party’Aam Aadmi’ is not fighting elections in Gujrat,can he explain this to the common men like us?Does he think that Gujrat is a corruption free state and all the corruption of India prevails in Delhi under the chief ministership of Sheila Dixit.He has never uttered a single word against Narendra modi and Gujrat so far.In the name of attacking BJP he only targets Nitin Gadkari,who is also attacked by his own BJP colleagues Ram Jethmalani,Yashwant Sinha,Shatrughghan sinha,Jaswant singh, so, that does not prove that Arvind Kejriwal is anti-Bjp.His secular credentials are still suspect.
He has still not released the manifesto of his party.But observing him so far it becomes clear that he is least bothered about communalism prevailing in the country as potently as corruption.But in his over enthusiasm for attacking congress party he has completely ignored the communal factor.Will he be happy with a corrupton free communal India comparable to Saudi-Arab or Iran run by a dictator?Bias towards a particular religion and hate towards another religion is corrupt practice according to him or not?He will have to answer all these questions to the common men of India.
Gujrat elections are due in december 2012,so Arvind Kejriwal’s litmus test are these elections which he must fight and prove his mettle.So far what he has done is ‘hit and run’ type tactics.Every now and then he puts some allegation on some minister or some higher up and then he disappears and never pursues the same to bring it to its logical conclusion so that the guilty can be punished.Actually the record of congress party is better than him as far as punishing the guilty is concerned.
Therefore so far Arvind Kejriwal has proved himself to be a damp squib and he has yet to prove his credentials.