Threatened to convert to Islam for promoting Hindu-Muslim unity and harmony

Amongst today's news in the Indian Express is an article about how a Hindu professor who wrote articles about Hindu's and Muslims staying together in harmony has been threatened and asked to convert to islam in 6 months and start offering namaaz 5 times a days, failing which he would be given the punishment meant for infidels (here infidels means non muslims/ those who dont beleive in islam).

So, in a Hindu majority country, a hindu writes about Hindu's staying harmoniously with Muslims and is threatened to convert to Islam or be punished.

Are these the actions of a subjugated minority?

In fact, if this is how the 15% minority can threaten the 80% Hindu majority, imagine what they can do when their numbers reach 30-40%?

And if they cross 50%, get ready for a Hindu genocide the way we have witnessed in Pakistan and Bangladesh.

This should be a reality check for all those who still delude themselves about muslims and hindus living peacefully.

If someone doesnt want to live peacefully with you and in fact threatens to convert/ kill you because you have spoken about wanting to stay peacefully with them, we need to re-evaluate how much peace we want and whether our tolerance is reciprocated or if it is considered cowardice


The link to the article is:
http://indianexpress.com/article/india/kerala-writer-professor-get-threats-for-backing-harmony-husain-painting-4761818/

USA rolls out scheme for expedited immigration clearance for Indians

Amongst the news today was an article on how the USA has included India in a scheme whereunder low risk travellers (who need to be pre-approved) from India will avail of expedited clearance.
While the number of beneficiaries under this scheme might not be very high, this is a noteworthy step and a milestone for the Indian government because the scheme covers only 10 other countries (considering furthermore that this comes at a time when the USA is tightening rules for immigrants and visitors from numerous other countries).

It is a testimonial to the extent to which India's stock globally has gone up, all thanks for the leadership and vision of the BJP government under the capable leadership of Shri Narendra Modi.

What a sea change in attitudes from a few years back when Shri Modi was refused visa's in Western countries because anti India and anti Hindu forces used the bogey of Gujarat riots to malign Modi ji/ BJP/ the Hindu religion and India  under the guide of human/ religious rights (never mind that leaders of states like Bangladesh, Pakistan, Saudi, other Middle Eastern countries etc - which have carried large scale progroms against minorities in their own countries and have a terrible record when it comes to minority and women's rights - are all treated as state guests and no protests are ever carried out against them).

Reminds me of the hindi song - jhukti hai duniya, jhukane wala chahiye.

The link to the article is -
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/us/us-rolls-out-expedited-entry-for-low-risk-indian-travellers/articleshow/59434212.cms 

What comes first for minorities - Religion or Country ?

Apropos Narendra Modi’s recent visit to Israel, a lot of people are critical and have expressed their desire to prioritise Palestine instead. These guys comprise of muslims, communists and self-proclaimed liberals - all of whom openly favour Palestine, a country which has always supported Pakistan over India in various international forums (and these guys also bitterly loath Israel in spite of the fact that Israel has always assisted India in overcoming the challenges of terrorism and radicalisation).

These guys are proving beyond doubt that for them religion matters more than the interests of India (so they identify themselves with their co-religionists in countries which are thousands of miles away, even to the extent of harming India’s security interests).

And a question to these guys -how come they never felt so strongly about the ethnic cleansing of Hindu pandits in Kashmir (where muslims indulged in mass murders, rapes and other forms of violence and subjugation)?

Hindu’s need to identify such traitors within, whose loyalty is towards their religion/ ideology than to India, more so because these people possess voting rights and have a say in the formation of the Indian government (and hence can exercise a detrimental influence on India's foreign and defence policy - which then manifests itself into minority appeasement practised by pseudo secular political parties) but whose heart beats for countries other than India.

As long as muslims are in a minority, they will harp about secularism, freedom for all religions, tolerance etc, but the moment they form the majority, it will mean the forcible imposition of their own religion and a complete lack of freedom or respect for followers of other religions.

The scenario is not as fat fetched as it sounds. Just look at the dire plight of Hindu’s, Christians, Sikhs and Buddhists in Pakistan and Bangladesh to understand (and accept) the harsh reality.

Stretching laws as much as possible for minorities

Today's TOI had an article on how the SC has granted the Maharashtra govt yet another 'last chance' to remove encroachments at the Haji Ali dargah.

Have you ever noticed how muslim trusts and mosques are usually not touched at all or given ample time to resolve issues when it comes to encroachments (even on public land) or illegal constructions, whereas if the encroachers or illegal constructions are Hindu, then the law is followed strictly, both in letter and in spirit, ad that too post haste, with nary a thought to the religious sentiments of the peaceful, tolerant and peace loving majority.

The obvious reason is that muslims resort to rioting and violence and complain of muslim subjugation and islamophobia in such cases, even if they are legally in the wrong. Hindu's, on the other hand, rarely protest in such matters (and even when they do, it is branded as communalism and fascism by our mainstream media and pseudo secular parties like congress, bsp, sp, rjd, tmc, jdu, cpi etc).

For those who want to verify the authenticity of the news, the link is:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/sc-gives-last-chance-to-maharashtra-to-remove-haji-ali-encroachments/articleshow/59426748.cms

Double standards followed by muslims on secularism and tolerance of other religions

At the Oscar awards yesterday, Mahershala Ali became the first muslim to win an Oscar award. Amongst those who congratulated him was Pakistan's top diplomat, Maleeha Lodhi, for whom the sense of kinship with a fellow muslim made this a matter of pride.
However what followed was an excellent demonstration of muslim intolerance of other religions and rejection of the principle of equality of religions; particularly when they form the majority. It turned out that Ali was a Ahmadi muslim, who are considered heretics by sunni muslims (in Pakistan and now increasingly the world over) and have been declared non-muslims under Pakistan law.
The reaction from fanatical muslims back home in pakistan was immediate and so great that the Pakistani diplomat immediately deleted the congratulatory tweet.


And these are the same people who accuse other countries/ religions of islamophobia and want secularism and freedom of religion (BUT only as long as they are in a minority).


Something for us to ponder upon (and be careful of when we see these guys in INdia talking of brotherhood and secularism).


The link to the article is:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/pakistan/pakistans-top-diplomat-in-un-deletes-tweet-on-muslim-oscar-winner/articleshow/57378072.cms

Mini pakistan’s in India

It is a barely concealed secret that most cities in India have localities which are very aptly described as mini Pakistan (for obvious reasons). These area’s are mostly ghettos where the minority community’s writ runs large and they actually behave as if they are in a muslim majority country governed by the sharia law.

These areas are typically hotbeds of crime and terrorist activities. Terrorists and their aides often use these mini pakistan’s as their base before operations or as a safe hideout after carrying out terrorist activities.

Notorious examples are Mumbra, Mira Road, and the muslim dominated areas of South Mumbai (mohammad ali road, pydhonie, naqgpada etc).

Now, while these areas have always been mini-pakistans, what is concerning is the alarming rate at which such mini pakistan’s are mushrooming all over the country.

This is an inevitable consequence of the rapidly rising muslim population (at a rate far faster than that of any other community) and the worrying proclivity of the community to harbour a false sense of grievance and become radicalised (education, freedom of religion, discrimination and standard of living has nothing to do with it; we have in 2016 seen numerous cases of Bangladeshi’s working in Singapore becoming self-radicalised and plotting terrorist attacks in Singapore and Bangladesh. This when Singapore affords them a very good standard of living , respect and dignity of labour, extremely fair treatment  – things which their own muslim majority country cannot even dream of and also in sharp contrast with the horrible treatment that their fellow muslims in arab countries mete out to foreign labourers.

This rise in the number of mini pakistan’s hit me hard when I noticed certain changes in the stretch of road from Sion station to BKC. These changes start off innocuously or as part of religious festivities, which are expected to taper out in a few days or weeks but instead keep on growing until one fine day you suddenly realise how much things have changed. One such thing is the number of green flags, a few of which were put in the days preceding ramadam and id. As id approached, the number of flags and banners slowly started increasing, getting bigger and appeared in prominent places. What people perhaps expected was that these flags would be taken down after id. IT came as a nasty shock however to see that not only were these flags and banners not taken down, but in fact their numbers have started increasing at a alarming rate, such that now - in January 2017 – the area is awash in a sea of green flags and urdu posters and banners. The placement of the banners, flags and posters is extremely provocative, as if issuing a challenge to the Hindu majority (boards of gausia masjid are put above Shree Ganesh Nagar, that too 3 lanes before where the masjid is actually situated).

The courts which are normally quite proactive when it comes to even minor infringements by the peaceful and tolerant majority is surprisingly silent and turning a blind eye to the spread of mini pakistans.

There is a limit to the tolerance of hindus and it wont be long before we see a repeat of the riots in Hyderabad 2 years back which started when muslims refused to take off green flags even 2 months after id.

It is time for hindu’s to start recognising these devious designs and counter those, physically, judicially and electorally. If allowed to continue unabated and unchallenged, our silence and tolerance will be misconstrued as cowardice and we will be subjected to more such challenges and humiliations.

Hindu’s need to immediately unite electorally and start backing the BJP en masse, which will counter the minority appeasement and vote bank politics played by communal parties like the Congress, SP, BSP, NCP, TMC etc. Otherwise our very existence will be in danger, the moment the population of the peaceful minority touches 30-40%. And the day they become a majority, we will face annihilation.

The thought is not far-fetched or alarmist; it is a sad reality which has been played out in Pakistan, Bangladesh and even in Indian states like Kashmir.

Something to ponder over and act upon.

Dalit and OBC students beaten by SFI at University of Hyderabad - and no media outrage

There is an article in todays online edition of Indian express, about Dalit and OBC students of the University of Hyderabad being beaten by members of SFI (the student wing of the communist parties).
What is shocking is the complete lack of media coverage and the continuous live media coverage about atrocities on lower castes which usually is a typical feature of any incident where the culprits are even remotely related to (or even just suspected to be) right wing organisations.


Typical double standards from our presstitutes, sold media and the terrorist defenders who pass themselves off as journalists.


The link to the article is below:
http://indianexpress.com/article/cities/hyderabad/university-of-hyderabad-dalit-obc-students-say-sfi-members-beat-them-4520022/

Double standards on offensive comments. Or what construes an offensive comment?

Shri Narendra Modi ji recently made a sarcastic remark about learning from former PM (or puppet) Manmohan Singh the art of taking a shower while wearing a raincoat. All hell broke lose immediately and various paid news media and so called journalists with an agenda immediately claimed that the comment was ill becoming the PM's office and derogatory.


This reminds me of all the previous instances when the opposition called PM Modi insulting names like hitler, dictator, maut ka saudagar, khoon ki dalali etc and no one ever objected to this and instead repeated the same insulting words ad nauseum.
To take further examples - the one and only lallo Prasad yadav once promised to make the roads of Bihar as smooth as hema malini's cheeks and not a single feminist or liberal considered this worth objecting to.


These blatant double standards expose the hidden and malicious agenda of our pseudo seculars and so called liberals, whose sole objective is to resort to any lie or falsehood to tarnish the image of Shri Modi ji, the BJP, the Hindu religion and anything related thereto.
All of this is done with the intent of ensuring that the hindu vote of split while the minority vote is always solidly consolidated behind the Congress and such other minority votebank parties.


We as educated and intelligent Hindu's have to be aware of their nefarious designs and remain solidly committed to the BJP, which is the only truly secular and nationalist party, which has the best interests of the country foremost in mind and can ensure security of Hindus.

How to answer jihadi's who call all moderate hindu's or BJP supporters as bhakt's

In the last 2 or 3 years, there seems to be this trend of labelling anyone who highlights muslim violence and terrorism/ criticises the minority vote bank parties like Congress, SP, BSP, TMC as a 'bhakt' - the assumption being that anyone criticising these things is inherently communal and a 'blind devotee of Narendra Modi' - hence the term 'bhakt'.


The question is that if praising the beneficial social/ foreign/ defence/ economic policies of the BJP or criticising minority violence or minority appeasing policies makes us a bhakt; then what does it make the other person (i.e the person who calls us Bhakts), who go out of their way to defend anti nationals and terrorists and criticise anything that is remotely nationalist in nature (including the army - perhaps the best institution on our country). These guys are then just jihadi's/ terrorists and terrorist sympathisers.


Therefore, I would suggest that the next time anyone accuses us as being a bhakt, state the obvious fact that s/he in turn is nothing but a jihadi/ terrorist/ terrorist sympathiser.


I normally don't encourage name calling but that's the only way to respond to these brainwashed fanatics because using logic to counter their arguments wont work as their minds are so closed that they will never be willing to consider any facts running counter to their flawed ideologies and hence never admit that they were wrong.


As Abraham Lincoln aptly said, "never try to reason prejudice out of a man. It wasn't reasoned into him in the first place and so it cannot be reasoned out of him".

Defending Zakir Naik - the illogical arguments put forth by peacefuls

The sad part about India today is that there is a very wide and open split between religions. Minorities - especially the peaceful ones - are openly against anything that is secular and want stridently demand the religious favouritism that had become the hallmark of all the previous congress governments minority appeasement politics.
These peaceful guys will in public make vague statements condemning terrorism and then immediately present other viewpoints to defend terrorism or raise irrelevant points or make false statements to deliberately confuse issues and make sure that the core problem of Islamic terrorism is swept under the carpet.


The most recent example is the public condemnation of the quack zakir nayak, who had been the guiding figure and motivation for terrorists involved in last weeks terror attack in a Bangladesh café (besides having instigated other indian muslims to join the IS and become terrorists to wage a war against India and other enemies of muslims).
In an effort to deflect from the fact that these terrorists had been followers of zakir nayak, a peaceful indian citizen had posted on facebook drawing comparison between the terrorist following zakir nayak and being a fan of shradha (or sonam) Kapoor and demaning whether the government will ban this actress's movies because the terrorist was her fan.
What this fool does not understand (or more likely doesn't want to understand - since his intent is to fool others and deflect the criticism of zakir nayak) is that the terrorist might have been a fan of sonam Kapoor but that was a personal preference, which did not cause trouble for anyone or cost anyone their lives. With Zakir natak, this terrorist had an ideological connect and it was zakir natak's inflammatory speeches spewing communal hatred against other religions which directly motivated the terrorist to turn to terrorism, pick up arms and hatch a terrorist conspiracy which led to the death of 20 odd people.


Ordinary Indians (hindus) need to beware of such false propaganda and malicious statements which are designed only to hide the fact that muslim terrorists are guided only by their religion, which has inculcated in them a desire to kill non muslims (to ensure the dominance of islam).
We need to continue voting for parties which espouse patriotism and national security and are committed to genuine secularism, like the BJP; and throw out pseudo secular parties like the congress, tmc, bsl, sp etc who are openly pro muslim and play minority appeasement politics simply to get muslim votes.


Let us therefore continue to solidly support the BJP and work against all so called peaceful people who stay in India but do not love India; because if we don't, these peacefuls will show their violent side the moment they become a majority (and then hindus, christians and Sikhs will all face the brutal horrors of ethnic cleansing - that have cause the population of minorities in pakistan and Bangladesh to plummet from 24% in 1947 to 3% currently).

Yet another congress politician caught exposed lying and spreading misinformation

Yet another congress leader, Selja Kumar, has been exposed lying and making false statements to discredit an hindu temple and the BJP government.
This liar had claimed that during a visit to the Dwarkadheesh temple in 2013 (3 years back, when the congress was in power), she was asked her caste. She further made an irrelevant statement just to drag the modi government in the controversy by claiming that this was an extension of the gujrat model.


Her statement was refuted by the government by producing the visitors book of the temple where she had written that she had a good darshan and praised the temple administration for the excellent upkeep and maintenance of the premises.


Upon being further questioned whether she had raised the issue with Narendra Modi, then the Gujrat CM, or with Manmohan Singh, the then PM (whos is also from her own party), the lady refused to answer the question, saying that 'she preferred not to answer the question (perhaps sensing that after being badly exposed while lying, she would have been dragged further into the mess if she had lied further).
How a person can make unsubstantiated allegations of such a serious nature, denigrating a religion, a temple, the ruling party and the PM; and then refuse to answer cross-questions is beyond me.
This however smacks of a typical congress 'manufactured controversy' where just about any falsehood and misinformation is spread and the media fans the anti BJP/ anti Hindu fire.


A few questions to ponder over:
1. If the incident happened 3 years back, why did selja wait for 3 years to raise the issue?
2. Why did she make this claim now, when the BJP is in power, instead of when the incident actually happened, when the congress was in power?
3. Why didn't she raise the issue with the  congress government/ congress PM Manmohan Singh, when it was her own party? Surely with her own party in power, it would have been easier to address the issue.
4. Does this lady have any proof that this incident actually happened? How can we believe that she is not lying, when all the above points indicate that she is lying just to create a controversy and denigrate hindu institutions and show the BJP govt in a bad light (disregarding the fact that the BJP wasn't even in power in 2013, and it was her own party which was ruling) ?
5. If she is telling the truth, why did she refuse to answer questions on whether she raised the issue with the CM or PM? Perhaps because she is afraid of being entangled further in her web of lies.




The most important point for us, the common citizens of India, is how long we will tolerate this party of anti nationals and anti hindus, whose sole aim is to lie and fool their way into grabbing power (besides their usual ploy of minority appeasement and votebank politics).


With so many such examples being exposed of late, we Hindus need to understand the ground realities and see the true face of the congress and other secular parties; and avoid ever voting them (or other self proclaimed secularists) into power.

Another case of prestitution

http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-outlook-apologises-to-rajnath-singh-says-he-never-called-modi-first-hindu-leader-in-800-years-2150610


Yet another case of presstitution and blatant disregard for all journalistic ethics and dropping all pretensions to objectivity - Outlook magazine on Monday night admitted to have 'erroneously' attributed to Home Minister Rajnath Singh Hindu leader remark which created a storm in Lok Sabha,

Muslim groups want minimum marital age scrapped

Yet another example of retrograde religious dogma's being contrary to the spirit of modern law and all principles of civilisation and enlightenment.
Muslim groups have demanded that the minimum age for marriage is against islam and needs to be scrapped, at least for muslims.
This demand was made in 2013 when the minority appeasing congress/ UPA government had firmly been in power for 9 years and their votebank politics had emboldened fanatical minority groups to make such unreasonable demands.


Had the BJP not won the elections, I wonder how much further these outrageous demands wold have gone and worse, the extent to which the congress/ UPA government would have bent over backwards to accommodate them, simply to retain the muslim votebank.


Link to the article - http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/muslim-groups-want-minimum-marital-age-scrapped/1/311127.html

Gender equality un-islamic and women fit only to bear children, says Muslim scholar

A sunni muslim religious scholar from Kerala, India, recently made this statement. According to this guy, gender equality is un-Islamic and that women can never equal men since they are fit only to have children.
The statement was made at a gathering of Muslim Students Federation and surprisingly not a single student objected to the remark or protested against it.
This 'muslim scholar' has demonstrated his regressive and backward mindset and ideology by earlier making statements against reservation for women (which he subsequently retracted as it threatened to snowball into a major controversy) and saying that co-education was a conspiracy to destroy islam.


What can you say about such a person and the religion? Are their thoughts and ideologies in harmony with a modern, civilised and progressive society?


What is worse is that there has been no uproar over this statement in the media or by 'secular' hindus or the so called liberals and self proclaimed intellectuals. Imagine any hindu leader making a statement even a fraction as outrageous as this and think of the furore and denunciations that would have followed, with all the blame being heaped on the BJP and Narendra Modi, besides generalising this and using this as an excuse to deride all hindus and Hinduism.


We need to beware of such regressive elements and the media which overlooks their acts, all in the name of 'secularism'.


Link to the article - http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-kerala-sunni-leader-says-women-only-fit-to-deliver-children-calls-gender-equality-un-islamic-2149865

Lalu Yadav - a distinguished politician ???

I recently had an argument on facebook with a friend, who is from the congress traditional votebank, who took umbrage at my listing a few people, who were rewarded by Lallu Prasad yadav during the previous edition of Jungle Raaj, for composing songs and prayers on Lallu, writing articles praising Lallu, penning his biography etc.
Considering that this friend is a constituent of a votebank, it isn't surprising that he is anti BJP, but what was shocking to see him defend Lallu and address Lallu as 'one of the most distinguished politicians in india'.
I seriously wonder at how intolerant and ideologically fanatical these people are, that they prefer an illiterate, brazenly corrupt, blatantly communal and convicted criminal, whose brand of politics is overtly based on a regressive and dangerous combination of caste and religion. While we can deride the average bihari for voting into power Lallu and his acolytes, it is the support of such highly educated people for Lallu that is shocking, especially that they are so deadset against the BJP, that they will support anyone who is anti BJP.
It is so obvious that people like these prefer the votebank and populist policies of the congress and other pseudo secular parties over the BJP which espouses the cause of inclusive development that you wonder whether they are even worth taking along on the path to development and prosperity. These are the kind of guys who will always vote for the congress no matter what and defend the congress in all social forums; but the moment the BJP comes into power, they will start voicing expectations from the 1.5 year old BJP government which they never asked the congress to fulfil in the last 60 odd years. So, the fact that the congress is not even held accountable for not delivering on expectations (or even trying) in the last 60 years and even though the BJP has initiated steps for good governance, the BJP is straightaway criticised for not doing enough, without even giving the initiatives enough time to deliver results.
It is perhaps best to remind such people that they are better off in India than in neighbouring countries where the plight of their brethren is worse than animals, with minorities being routinely attacked, women regularly abducted, gangraped and forcibly converted to islam, ingoing displays of a complete disregard for and blatant voilition of minority rights etc.
In the end, for our nation to develop, the majority must understand that Indian tolerance and secularism are a legacy of the inherent peace loving hindu nature, and that the hindu spirit of accommodation and working hard is the only way to become achieve economic and social progress. If minorities are patriotic and want to march forward, in tandem, with the majority, they are welcome to do so and enjoy the benefits of development. If however minorities choose to always undermine steps for national security and development, they will be left behind and the blame will be solely theirs.

Lallu's son makes mistakes twice while being sworn in as a minister in charge of 3 portfolios

Lallu has extracted his pound of flesh from nitish kumar by getting one of his (lallu's) sons elected as the Deputy CM and another inducted in the cabinet in charge of 3 ministries.
While the Lallu + nitish + congress' (opportunistic and morally dubious) combine's victory is actually a victory of the regressive and dangerous brand of caste and religion politics over the inclusive developmental and good governance plank that formed the bedrock of the BJP's campaign, and highlights how deeply entrenched casteism, regionalism and selfish interests of small groups is in the psyche of Bihar (at the expense of national issues and sentiments); the selection of family members exposes how these 3 parties look at politics as a heredity profession and provides an indicator of how all 3 are planning to exploit their mandate by enriching and empowering their own families/ caste groups.
A portent of what was to come was served when tej pratap, one of lallu's sons (a 9th grade passout), made not one but two mistakes while being sworn in. He finally got it right in the third try. One of the mistakes tej pratap made was to say 'upekshit (neglected)' instead of 'apekshit (expected)', perhaps understandable given the brand of caste politics Lallu plays in Bihar.
If this is any indicator of things to come, the people of Bihar are looking at another spell of jungle raj and can say good bye to all hopes of economic and social development and good governance (the brunt of which will unfortunately be borne by other states which will see unabated migration from Bihar).
The people of bihar have called this calamity upon themselves and regardless of how much the nation will progress under Narendra Modi ji, Bihar doesn't seem destined to see 'acche din' for quite some time.


Link to the article on lallu's son making mistakes during the swearing in ceremony:
http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-watch-when-lalu-prasad-yadav-s-son-messed-up-his-oath-2147258

Was Tendulkar a selfish player ??

In the last India-South Africa one dayer, where India were steamrolled by the South African juggernaut, Rahane was the one standout player. He was the only batsman to stand up to what is arguably one of the best pace attacks in the world and while he played an excellent innings, what made the innings memorable for me personally was that it brought back memories of my childhood icon, Sachin Tendulkar, a player who my generation grew up watching - in the 1990’s and 2000’s – a period when he played his heart out for the country and was often a one man army, the only one standing between India and yet another humiliating defeat (or improbable victory, depending on how you look at it).


Tendulkar’s greatness lay not in his scores or his strike rate (both of which were phenomenal, especially by the standards of his time) but for what he represented i.e the one ray of hope for the billion denizens of India, on whose shoulders rested the hopes of an entire nation – akin to an ancient gladiator who fought not just for his own life but for the sake of the pride of his whole country – which afforded all of us a brief spell of vicarious pleasure and the feeling of being world beaters while Sachin stood tall at the crease and defied some of the fastest and wiliest bowlers of his era.
Tendulkar’s immense talent and commitment was most often demonstrated in the way he made the impossible seem within our grasp; allowing us success starved Indians a few rare moments of joy and optimism, in the belief that Tendulkar, with his super human cricketing ability, would single-handedly make up for the shortcomings of the rest of the team and deliver the most unlikeliest of victories.
The true measure of Tendulkar’s success was that he actually managed to do this in almost every match and delivered the team right next to victory’s door.


People from my generation or those who followed cricket in the decades of 1990 and 2000 have endearing memories of India going on overseas tours and our bowlers getting walloped and our batsmen coming out to chase scores of 270-280 (the present day equivalent of which would be 330-340).
A frequent setting for such a chase would be in Australia, with the Aussie bowling attack led by some exceptional fast bowlers, aided by excellent fielders (and sledgers) and often umpires as well (the likes of steve randell – who was arrested for paedophilia, Darryl hair, Darryl harper). Chasing under lights, our first couple of batsmen would scratch around for a few before succumbing meekly, at which stage Sachin would walk in (stride is not the right word – it denotes arrogance – while Sachin has always been a humble and self-effacing person) – in front of a baying crowd and a pumped up aussie attack – and immediately restore India’s dominance by playing an array of strokes and running like a hare between the wickets.
The only support left for Tendulkar would be the lower middle order and the match would invariably culminate with the lower order folding up or Sachin falling towards the fag end – and others being unable to close out the game (which is why the term ‘snatching defeat from the jaws of victory’ was quite frequently used by our newspapers in those days).


To understand the magnitude of Tendulkar’s achievements, it is necessary to understand that in those days, scores of 225 were eminently defendable and even 200 defended frequently. 250 was considered a winning score, with 300 being almost unheard of.
There was also the psychological pressure created by very few teams having chased down relatively high scores – thereby giving the impression that the score was unattainable and no one had done it before (while nowadays there have been so many successful chases of high scores that teams aren’t demoralised as they know it has been done quite a few times before).
In the last 10 off years however, a lot of things have changed; primary amongst them being cricket becoming a much higher scoring game, aided by flat pitches and batsmen friendly rules, the emergence of neutral umpires and the retirement of some all-time great bowlers (aussies, saffers, pakis etc). The obvious (and intended) result of these changes was that matches have become high scoring affairs and nowadays even 300+ scores are chased down with monotonous frequency.
Additionally, in earlier times, teams defending scores enjoyed a much higher percentage of wins than did teams chasing, while over the past 8-10 years, there has been a marked improvement in the success ratio of teams chasing – to the extent that a lot of teams nowadays prefer chasing as a matter of strategy - secure in the belief that their batsmen can chase down even scores in excess of 300.


People who have started following cricket in the last 7-8 years are so used to this state of affairs that it is impossible for them to fathom the magnitude of the seemingly unsurmountable difficulties faced by sides of the 1990’s in chasing 270-280.
It is often these people, brought up on a staple diet of 300+ scores, who criticise Tendulkar for not being a match-winner, a player who was selfish and played for personal records and whose centuries never ensured Indian victory. As proof for these malicious and baseless allegations is made the statement that India did not win a lot of matches where Tendulkar did well, implying that Tendulkar’s selfishness and craving for personal glory made him play in a manner contrary to the team’s needs, thereby depriving the team of victory.


Rahane’s innings in this match not only reminded me of Sachin’s one-man efforts in an earlier era but also brought a flash of realisation where I recollected that Tendulkar made all those runs in precisely the same circumstances, in causes which would be considered lost right at the outset by most teams, and yet managed to get India tantalisingly close to the finish line. Hardly anyone else in the team supported him and had some of our batsmen been just average or our bowlers less profligate, we would have won a lot more matches.


People who are unaware of the context of the cricketing standards of those times will find it well nigh impossible to understand the significance of Tendulkar’s contributions or why he was placed on a pedestal and considered to arguably be the best of his era (quite a few considered Lara to be the best).

I hope this article helps them understand the background, and if not actually appreciate and commend, then at least refrain from levelling false accusations of selfishness against Tendulkar.

Talaq through whatsapp

That Whatsapp is a very popular app and one of the most widely used in daily life by most people the world over is well known. People nowadays even use whatsapp for not just personal chats but also for business communication. Besides, whatsapp is also used for networking and by groups of friends (school, college, locality, company etc) to stay in touch.
But just when you thought that people had exhausted all the possible ways in which to use whatsapp, news comes in that a novel use has been found for whatsapp, a use hitherto unimaginable. Whatsapp has proved its versatility by becoming the means of communication for divorcing wives.


To explain the background - muslims in India are governed by their own civil law, which is based on the sharia and is divergent with the otherwise progressive laws enacted in India in recent years. These muslim civil laws not only treat women as second class members of the society but also deny women many rights which are considered basic in most other communities/ religions.
One of these glaring instances of discrimination and regression is the use of the triple talaq, whereunder a muslim man can divorce his wife, without any reason whatsoever or having to explain his decision and completely free from any liability to pay alimony or other form of maintenance - by just uttering the word 'talaq' 3 times.
That is it. Nothing else needed. When you are tired of your wife, you just say talaq thrice and you can then throw her out of your house, wash your hands of all responsibility for her and are free to add to your quota of wives.
To add to the injustice and unreasonableness of it all, this only works for men i.e women cannot divorce their husbands similarly.


A well educated and fairly well to do NRI youth from Kerala divorced his wife of 10 days by using whatsapp without even bothering to come down to India. Talk of convenient divorces and transcending the barriers of physical presence, geographical distances and legal hurdles - all through the wonders of modern technology.
Link - http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-news-india/kerala-nri-man-sends-talaq-shocker-to-wife-on-whatsapp/


I have enumerated below some of the numerous points that are disturbing and unjust about this case:
1. What would you say of a religion which tramples upon women's rights in this way?
2. In a democratic country, where women are accorded equal rights, why is it that the compulsions of minority appeasement politics have allowed the existence of regressive laws which treat women like second class persons who are clearly discriminated against and considered secondary to the men from that religion?
3. What kind of mindset is prevalent amongst the men of this religion, who inspite of being educated, take advantage of such regressive laws to satisfy their carnal lust and destroy the lives of women in this manner?
4. The man also took a hefty dowry, as is the common norm. Minority religious and political leaders have been silent on this aspect as well.
5. The man compared his wife to an apple, saying that after eating an apply, why would a man east the same fruit everyday? How regressive, perverted and sadistic is this? This also highlights the fact that such regressive religious practices make women not only secondary to men, they also drive an attitude where women are looked only as sex objects (compared to fruits which a man like a variety of).


Most disheartening has been the reaction of our media and the common hindus who have completely ignored this issues, instead of supporting the introduction of a common civil code.


I hope the BJP takes up the issue of  common civil code for the betterment of women from all sections of the society and to ensure that women from all religions are accorded minimum rights in front of the law.

What happens when you hurt religious sentiments of muslims

Our secular media has been ad nauseum covering the killing of a muslim man in dadri. The criticism ranged from
1) whether people can be stopped from eating what they want and
2) whether a cow's life is more valuable than he life of a man to
3) the cow being just another animal and not everyone considering it to be holy or their mother.


A few questions and thoughts always bother me whenever I hear these foolish, biased and misleading questions asked with malafide intentions, designed to obfuscate the main issue by introducing irrelevant topics.


A few rejoinders to these questions that I have come up with and I would appreciate if you could continue adding to it:
1. The question is whether people can be similarly stopped from reading what they prefer or watching plays that they like. We had cases of books like Taslima Nasreen's Lajja and Salman Rushdie's Satanic Verses being banned because they were considered unislamic and because muslims resorted to violence and destruction. Was there outrage even a fraction of what we see in the dadri case?
2. The counter question would be whether a mere book or a few pages are worth more than the lives of all those killed over the burning of the kuran. If muslims and our seculars have so far justified the killing of people over the kuran being burnt or torn (even innocent people who were not concerned with it at all or people in a country other than where the case too place), then do they have any moral right to question hindus in this case.
3. If a muslim killing people because the kuran was burnt or torn is justified on the grounds that the kuran is sacred to the muslims, isn't the same reason valid for hindus as well and shouldn't the same consideration be extended to the religious sentiments of hindus?


Considering all the above, why is it that there is outrage over one muslims man being killed and collective silence (and even support and justification) for muslims riots and violence over kuran burnings and mohammed cartoons?


Hindus should understand the entire context of these issues and controversies created by a hypocritical and pseudo secular media and stop being defensive over matters of religion.

Mulayam singhs SP to field Ranveer Sena founder’s son in bihar elections

The TOI (let) has just reported that Mulayam Yadav's Samajwadi Party has fielded the son of the founder of Ranveer Sena, in the forthcoming Bihar elections.


Wonder what happened to all the bombastic talk about being the protectors of lower castes? It seems that mulla mulayam is now doing the same thing that he has been accusing the BJP of doing.




Link - http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/patna/SP-fields-Ranveer-Sena-founders-son-from-Tarari/articleshow/49173553.cms