Ram: To keep things contextual, let us go back to the subject matter: Regarding it being unfashionable to care about pilght of Hindus.
Critiquing is one thing. But the subject under discussion is a whole lot more serious. If Hindus are persecuted because of their religious identity or prferences or practices, but their plight is iognored, EVEN by other Hindus, on account of it not being fashionable ( a superficial trait by all considerations) as charged by Sandip; that would cast a deep shadow of doubt about the strength of the HInduness of ALL concerned. Or at least it would seriously DAMAGE the humanity of those other Hindus who would not care about their fellow Hindus' plight. Forget about others. If there is truth to the charge, how can you explain that Ram? Does it mean that the Hindu identity therefore is not necessarily a reliable bond? That one Hindu does not necessarily care about the plight of another Hindu? If so would they care about another fellow human? Or that would or could be different if it were somebody these Hindus might conside more worthy of consideration, because it might win them notice ( fashionable) if they did? For example one of these Hindus may not care about the plight of a fellow Hindu's religious persecution, but may be perfectly willing to raise their voices against the plight of a Muslim or a Buddhist or a Christian or an animist or even an atheist? If they do, whart would that tell us about the intellectual foundations that define what it is being referred to as the Hindu identity? Is it an identity at all? If Sandip's charge has merit, it would bring the quality of the Hindu faith into serious question, wouldn't it? c-da --- Ram Sarangapani <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > C'da > > While I don't know what exactly VP meant by "fashionable", this much is true > through: It is very easy to critique and often ignore Hinduism - Hindus do > it themselves too. Few other religions can critique themselves so freely. > > One reason could be that Hinduism represents a wide spectrum of people. On > the one one end you may have a group whose belief systems are strict, while > on the other you may some North American guru khuwa bamuns. > > Further, Hinduism is a practice full of holes (if one wants to view it that > way) and any passer by can take pot-shots with probably little or no > reprisals. You can draw cartoons of any of the million Hindu Gods, write > against them, and and very little will happen. > > While other religions also have problems in their beliefs, one has to tread > lightly so as not step on toes - lest you lose your head :) > > Lastly, the religion, is mostly very 'personal' - so it may come down to ' > as long as you don't disturb or insult my "singular" practice, I really > don't care what you say'. > > And hence the "fashion" statement by VP > > Just my thoughts. > > > > > On 5/21/07, [EMAIL PROTECTED] <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > > > > >> No one gives a s**t because its not fashionable to side with Hindus > > anywhere - be it >Bangladesh or Fiji. > > > > > > *** Very interesting. Did't realize it is fashion conciousness that drive > > people to care about others. > > > > But if it is the truth, WHY is it FASHIONABLE to ignore Hindus? > > > > There must be some plausible reasons for it. What could those be? > > > > cm > > > > > > > > ---- SANDIP DUTTA <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > No one gives a s**t because its not fashionable to side with Hindus > > anywhere - be it Bangladesh or Fiji. > > > > > > Rgds, > > > SD > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > ----- Original Message ---- > > > From: Pradip Kumar Datta <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED]; > > [EMAIL PROTECTED]; assam@assamnet.org; [EMAIL PROTECTED]; > > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > Sent: Monday, May 21, 2007 2:18:42 PM > > > Subject: [Assam] Covert Genocide Of Hindus In Bangladesh > > > > > > > > > Covert Genocide Of Hindus In Bangladesh > > > Author: Narain Kataria > > > > > > > > > A delegation comprising of Jiten Roy, Ph.D., President, and Bidyut > > Sarkar, General Secretary, respectively, of International Federation of > > Bangladeshi Hindus & Friends, Mohini Sarin, a Human Rights Activist, Dr. > > Narinder Kukar, former National President of the Association of Indians in > > America and N. Kataria, Founder of Indian American Intellectuals Forum, > > called on Deputy Ambassador, Indian Mission, Mr. A. Gopinathan, at New York > > on January 20, and presented to him a memorandum documenting the pitiable > > plight of Hindus who are being subjected to relentless torture, ghastly > > murder, gang rape and forcible conversion to Islam. The memorandum urged the > > Indian Mission at U.N. to take up this matter seriously with the > > Government of India and find a permanent solution to the state sponsored > > campaign aimed at ethnic-cleansing of Hindus in Bangladesh. > > > The memorandum, inter alia, stated that Bangladesh, where 11,000 of its > > 64, 000 madrassas are constantly producing jihadis, "has become a safe haven > > for Islamic terrorists - - including Taliban and Al Qaeda fighters fresh off > > the boat from Afghanistan. " (The Time Asia Magazine Oct. 16, '02; Far > > Eastern Economic Review (April 4,2002); The Wall Street Journal April 2'02); > > Office of the Coordinator for Counterterrorism/ US Department of State, May > > 21, 2002; Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2001: Bangladesh, > > March 2002) Time Asia Magazine, CNNews (Dec. 21, '01) New York Times (Nov. > > 27, '01) etc. In the past one and half years, ever since the ruling > > coalition of "Islamic hardliners" (The Guardian, Oct. 2, '01) assumed power > > with an absolute majority, the Islamic extremists have gained enormous > > strength demonstrating that they are capable of enacting several Balies, if > > not 9/11s. > > > Earlier, using the Babri Mosque incident as a ploy to teach Hindus a > > befitting lesson, Jehadis had killed 15 Hindus, raped 2600 Hindu women, > > razed 3,600 temples and rendered 200,000 Hindus homeless. > > > Militant Islamists have looted, razed and in many cases set ablaze > > dwelling houses, businesses, temples, imposed infidel protection tax, > > gang/mass raped [e.g. nearly 200 Hindu women were mass raped by the > > Muslims in Char Fashion in a single night (The Daily Star, Nov 16, 2001); > > mother and eight-year-old daughter were gang-raped together subjecting the > > helpless father/husband to watch such ghastly scene], brutally tortured, > > murdered, and left with the ultimatum:" Go to India, where you rightly > > belong." Incidents of rape remain generally underreported because of the > > stigma attached to it, yet among the 228 rape cases reported within the day > > of election 225 or 98.68 % of the rape victims were Hindus and the > > perpetrators belonged to the ruling parties (see, e.g., The Daily > > Janakantha, Feb. 17, '02). When the victims of rape approach the police > > station to press charges against the gang of rapists, the commanding > > officers not only refuse to accept their cases but in some cases > > > also persecute the victim by detaining them in the precinct lockup > > (see, e.g., The Daily Janakantha, Feb. 17, '2). > > > As a result of the above-mentioned systematic persecution, Hindu > > population in Bangladesh has decreased from 35% in 1947 to 10% in 2003 > > > Hence, the Hindus of Bangladesh have no other alternative but to demand > > a permanent solution of this problem, by creating a protected region. If the > > Bosnian Muslims. East Timorese Christians, Srilankan Tamils, Iraqi Kurds > > deserve international attention, the Bangladeshi Hindus, 25 million of whose > > people have been driven out of the country and 2.5 million acres of whose > > land confiscated, deserve help find a permanent solution to their problem, > > too. Such a solution can never be achieved unless India intervenes, like it > > did in 1971 > > > Narain Kataria > > > 41-67 Judge Street (5P) > > > Elmhurst, New York 11373 > > > (718) 478-5735 > > > > > > > > > Building a website is a piece of cake. > > > Yahoo! Small Business gives you all the tools to get online. > > > _______________________________________________ > > > assam mailing list > > > assam@assamnet.org > > > http://assamnet.org/mailman/listinfo/assam_assamnet.org > > > > > > > > > > > > > > ____________________________________________________________________________________Be > > a better Heartthrob. Get better relationship answers from someone who knows. > > Yahoo! Answers - Check it out. > > > http://answers.yahoo.com/dir/?link=list&sid=396545433 > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > assam mailing list > > assam@assamnet.org > > http://assamnet.org/mailman/listinfo/assam_assamnet.org > > _______________________________________________ assam mailing list assam@assamnet.org http://assamnet.org/mailman/listinfo/assam_assamnet.org
