AUM.
AN OPEN INVITATION TO ISLAMIST TERRORISTS BY BLOOMBERG
By Chitranjan Sawant
May I advise our American friends to WAKE UP please. It is still not too late to act. Hold a mass protest rally and oppose the coming up of an Islamic Centre just two blocks away from where the Twin Towers stood once upon a time. The symbol of American economy was destroyed by the followers of Osama bin-Laden, the leading terrorist and fugitive from law who is hiding in Pakistan.
Pakistan is a nursery of Islamic terrorism. Their economy has been given oxygen by pouring in US dollars by the Obama Administration. The latter is out and out anti-American and pro-Islamist terror. Their talk of reaching out to the Islamic Arab world is nothing but a facade for promoting Muslims since Obama's father is a practising Muslim.
LOOKING INTO HISTORY
Wherever the Muslim armies went, they carried death and destruction in their wake. Muslim armies burnt down the great university at Nalanda in India where precious books and manuscripts were lost. The Buddhist literature burnt by Muslim invaders is a loss of entire humanity minus the supporters of terrorism.
There was an august temple at the birth place of Maryada Purshottam Shri Ram, a great leader of men who always had the good of human beings at heart. The invading army of Babur, the first Moghul in India who came from Central Asia, under the misguided leadership of Mir Baqi destroyed the Ram Janmabhoomi temple completely and raised a mosque there as a symbol of victory for Islam.
Americans! beware! Time is not far off when descendants of Babur, blided by a violent religion, will claim the proposed Islamic Centre near Ground Zero as a victory of Islam over Christianity. No self-respecting American Christian, Jewish, Hindu, Sikh or followers of other democratic faiths will succumb to the Mayoral pressure and let this non-sense go on. For God's sake, oppose this Satanic move, blessed by Bloomberg, tooth and nail. If the devilish design succeeds, it will sound a death knell to the freedom of thought and expression enshrined in the American constitution.
Americans! Do you want your secular laws to be thrown to winds? Do you want the Islamic laws, called Sharia, to govern some diehard Muslim citizens of America? It will be a ruin of all values you hold sacred. Please do not let this happen.
Yogeshwar Shri Krishna, a great unifier of mankind and a great leader who spread love through playing his flute, is no stranger to you. The temple built in Mathura, India at Krishna's birthplace was razed to ground by a bigoted Muslim king of Delhi named Aurangzeb. He had a mosque built there to glorify the blood-spilling religion called Islam. I am mentioning this to prove from pages of recorded history that it is a tradition with Muslims to destroy the culture and religion of other people and build their own Islamic cultural centres and places of worship, mosques there. The blood-thirsty people are doing precisely the same thing in New York. It would be in order to stop this devilish design as early as possible by harnessing all constitutional means available to citizens of a free and democratic country.
ANSWERABLE TO POSTERITY
American citizens! Please remember that you are answerable not only to yourself but to God and your children and children’s children. When the posterity comes to know that it was on the ashes of dutiful Americans who had perished as Firemen, as police officers as citizens at their desk of duty that an Islamic Centre has been built, what would they think of this generation, their forbears. The young men and women of future would feel ashamed of themselves that their ancestors, that is we –men and women of this generation, were spineless fellows. We did not have the moral courage to stand up and be counted as men and women who did not let the sacrifice of the 3,000 Americans go waste. Let that sad moment not come in the life of our posterity when they feel ashamed of us. We must protest as one man, let the nation arise, awake and stop this nonsensical construction that the liberals support foolishly as the constitutional right of the minorities.
Please remember, you peaceniks, the murderers have no constitutional rights. The Islamist terrorists crashed their planes into the Twin Towers and murdered in cold blood 3000 men and women. Americans! Have moral courage to stop this jugglery of words of letting Muslims buy American property with Arab petro-dollars to destroy the cultural and religious fabric of Christian America. Protect, Preserve and defend the Faith that you and I have been raised. Building of a mosque near Ground Zero is like an Alien invasion that we must defeat with all our might.
WHAT DO WE DO
Protest, Protest and Protest. Take out processions displaying placards opposing the Satanic plans of some misguided citizens to build a mosque over the sad memories of martyrs, the firemen who perished doing their duty. When the Muezzin gives a call to the Islamist terrorists around to assemble and plan to execute another 9/11 in America, will a law abiding citizen respond? Bloomberg has made you burn your boats and you will have no defence in depth. So, the best course of action open to the living Americans is not to let Islamist terrorist movement gain ground in America and the rest of the free world.
Let the free democratic world unite and face this challenge squarely. Please make up your mind NOT to vote for the traitors who are bartering their independence, won by our ancestors, for some worldly gains. Please bring into power those men and women who vouch to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the country and the Great faith we have been professing peacefully .
Islam may mean Submission but the followers practise Aggression. Let us defeat the aggressive designs of traitors to the country by exerting our superior spiritual powers too. The Vedas, most ancient scriptures in the library of Man exhort the Believers to crush the aggressors with VAJRA – a sure shot weapon. At the same time the Vedic Thought exhorts the Believers to bring in equanimity of mind, come rain come shine. Let us chant AUM SHANTIH SHANTIH SHANTIH –PEACE, PEACE PEACE – LET PEACE PREVAIL ALL OVER after the aggressors have been eliminated. AUM.
Friday, August 13, 2010
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
ARYA PILGRIM FROM PESHAWAR
AUM
ARYA PATHIK FROM PESHAWAR COURTED MARTYRDOM
By Brigadier Chitranjan Sawant,VSM
The Vedic world knows him as Pundit Lekh Ram, Arya Musafir. Once he made up his mind that the Vedic Dharm was the first and the last word to guide human behaviour from A to Z, there was no going back on it. He was a man of determination and possessed perseverance. Once the goal was set, he left no stone unturned to reach there. He was a clear headed man who knew how to determine what the aim was and once the aim was set, maintenance of aim was no problem to him. There was no deviation from the aim and it had to be achieved, come what may. Of course, he had to tread on the toes of others but he did not mind it. If others did, he would say – I don’t care. Pt Lekh Ram had a many-faceted personality but the overriding element was principles, precepts and preaching of the Vedas based Dharma as propounded by Maharishi Swami Dayanand Saraswati, the great religious and social reformer of the 19th century India.
DEVELOPMENT OF LEKH RAM : MAN AND MISSION
Born in 1858 in Saidpur in district Jhelum, now in Pakistan, he inherited knowledge of languages and the unparalleled spirit of “Giving” and not Grabbing from the soil and tradition of the village. Just to quote one example, Lala Dewan Chand, the great Arya philanthropist and martyred freedom fighter, Khushiram Ji were also born and brought up in Saidpur. Pt Lekh ram was initially named as Lekh Raj but later in his writings he preferred the name Lekh Ram.
Pt Lekh Ram had had a taste of various sects of Hinduism and teachings of Guru Nanak Dev until he found his moorings in the teachings of the Vedic Dharm after he have had a number of meetings with Swami Dayanand Saraswati at Ajmer on 17 May 1881. Under a false notion, Lekh Ram Ji used to consider himself as Brahm but after a meaningful exchange of views with Swami Dayanand Saraswati, he became a votary of the Vedic Trinity. Now he knew that he was a Jeevatma and Parmatma as well as prakriti were separate and different entities.
This meeting between Rishivar and Punditji was of great significance to the Arya Samaj. The Arya Samaj got a committed writer of Life of Dayanand Saraswati, his life and thought based on interviews with people who had met the great reformer. Pundit Lekh Ram had started his mission of collection of authentic material to write the biography of Rishivar on 11 December 1888, five years after the Rishi’s untimely and sad demise. Pt Lekh Ram took great care that fact and fiction did not intermingle and finally gave the Arya Samaj a biography of its founder that is par excellence. It was a biography based on interviews recorded at the spot where events had taken place. Obviously, Pt Lekh Ram travelled a lot all over the place where Swami Dayanand had gone, lectured, written his memorable treatises and faced worldly problems generated by jealousy, superstitions and miscalculations.
In the scheme of collection of facts and holding interviews, Pt Lekh Ram did not ignore his mission of teaching and preaching tenets of the Vedic Dharm. He did a fine balancing act between writing of biography and delivering of Vedic sermons. The latter was done at his own cost lest the Arya Pratinidhi Sabha, Lahore took it as an infringement of its financial guidelines. Pandit Ji chose to forego the Dakshina for the period he was not collecting facts for the biography and delivering sermons instead.
Another facet of Pandit Ji’s personality emerged during these extensive travels. He became a consummate writer of Travelogues in the Urdu language, possibly the first one. The essays on travel were published under the caption “Safarnama”. Sadly, not much has survived of that unique piece of literature. Here I am reminded of Lord Francis Bacon, the famous essayist of the English language, who wrote a line “Travel makes a man perfect”, and this perfection could be discerned in the travels and writings of Pt Lekh Ram.
Pt Lekh Ram had a close relationship with Peshawar, the capital city of the North-Western Frontier Province NWFP). He was posted there as a sergeant in the Police Dept but did not let his profession interfere with his Vedic Dharm. When things came to a pass, he preferred to resign from the government service rather than let the profession have better of him. As an Arya Samajist he did not let low cast men be looked down upon. Once when he was posted in a police station where the Station House Officer was a Muslim Pathan and an orderly was a Mazahabi Sikh (of low caste), he made it a point to shake hands with him to obliterate casteism. This used to happen much to the chagrin of the Thanedar Saheb who was a great believer in his high caste. Pandit Ji used to do Namaste to others as he believed in the Aryan way of greetings. However, soon the dept and the Vedic missionary parted ways when he hung up his police uniform for good. It may, however, be mentioned that while in the police service he published and edited a weekly named, Dharmopadesh. Later he was the editor of Arya Gazette that carved a niche in the world of journalism. While collecting material for Swami Ji’s biography, he published a timely weekly called Arya Vijay.
Pt Lekh Ram was always available to the new generation for advice and guidance. ‘TEHRIR AND TAQREER’, THAT IS WRITING AND DELIVERING SERMONS MUST NEVER CEASE – that was his counselling to all Arya Samajists. Indeed writing new articles or books meant an intensive study of the subject and thus the preachers who deliver the sermon will be knowledgeable. It should be an ongoing process in this Arya Samaj movement so that the mission of Swami Dayanand Saraswati touches new heights day after day.
Pt Lekh Ram Ji used to do self study and also some writing whenever he got time off the work as a Vedic missionary. One late evening as he was busy writing, oil in the lamp was exhausted. Shops were closed. So he walked along the railway line to the Kothi of Mahatma Munshi Ram as enough light was available in his Dewankhana. Thus he achieved the intended target of writing for that evening. Man with a mission knew how to achieve the aim surmounting problems, both major and minor.
Pt Lekh Ram was the moving spirit behind the Arya Samaj, Peshawar, now in Pakistan. He collected funds to have an impressive building erected as the epicentre of the Ved prachar activities. The impressive Arya Samaj bhawan had a pride of place among religious institutions of Peshawar.
The city of Pathans, both Hindus and Muslims, had influenced the dress code of Pundit Lekh Ram. He would wear a tight pyjama, a shirt, a waist coat and a turban tied in the typical frontier style. While talking of dress code, I must make a mention of an incident in Jullundur. Pt Lekh Ram was staying with Mahatma Munshi Ram and the latter had started wearing a Dhoti by then as a pracharak. One day Pt Lekh Ram told him “Lalaji, you are an energetic man and a tireless worker of the Arya Samaj. It is a loose-fitting wear of the slovenly easterners and does not befit us”. Mahatma Munshi Ram just laughed it away. The writer of these lines is fond of tying a Dhoti as a pracharak, be it a visit to the Rashtrapati Bhawan, a travel to Tibet or addressing a gathering of cadets. My Indian dress earned me a new name, “Dhoti Wale Brigadier Saheb”. I am with Mahatma Munshi Ram on this point and not with Pundit lekh Ram. No disrespect meant to him; I revere him.
Pt Lekh Ram was always there where he was needed most. Whenever he heard that a Hindu or a group of Hindus were about to convert to Islam or Christianity, he would rush to that spot to convince them not to cross over. More often than not he was successful in his mission. It is said that once he was going on a similar mission to a mofussil town but entrained in an express train that did not stop there, so Punditji just leaped out of the train as it slowed a little at the platform. Although he was hurt but he reached his destination on time and his mission of retaining a group of Hindus in the family fold was a great success. The veracity of this story stands confirmed by independent sources of the time.
CLASH WITH QADIANIS
A major part of Pt Lekh Ram’s time and energy was spent in countering the Ahmedias and their Head, Mirza Ghulam Ahmed Qadiani, who were always out to attack the Hindus in general and the Arya Samajists in particular. In retrospect one may say that the Ahmedias who clashed with the Hindus on behalf of the Muslims, were not considered to be true Muslims. In Pakistan the Ahmediyas are listed as non-Muslims. What a shame for the Mirza, who deputed a man to assassinate Pt lekh Ram, to be called a non-Muslim. The Ahmedias are hounded out by Sunnis all over the place. And it was one of them who lived with Pt Lekh Ram and dined with him expressing a wish to be converted a Vedic Dharmi. The drama was staged by that wretched fellow for a few days and one night he surreptitiously plunged his long knife into his abdomen. Pt Lekh Ram became a martyr in the cause of the Vedic Dharm on 6 March1897 at a young age of 39 years. The Mirza unashamedly owned having plotted this heinous crime of murder in cold blood.
Lahore was shocked. The Hindus and Sikha mourned Pt Lekh Ram’s assassination in thousands. The Arya Samajists of all shades displayed a rare sense of unity at the cremation ground in Lahore. Lakshmi Devi Ji, the widow of Pt lekh Ram who had the bliss of marital life for just four years, took a pledge to continue working for the cause that her husband had died for. She donated the entire money of his life insurance to the cause of the Vedic Dharm. She made this sacrifice notwithstanding the advice of many well wishers like Mahatma Munshi Ram to save some money for a rainy day. She was so inspired by the martyrdom and Vedic ideals of her late husband that she wished to donate every paisa that she had and did so. Later, at one of the convocation ceremonies of the Gurukul Kangri, Haridwar , venerable Lakshmi Devi Ji donated all her gold and jewellery for the flagship of the Vedic Shiksha. Her sacrifice and the martyrdom of her husband bore fruits in various activities of the Arya Samaj and the Gurukul. Of the money donated by her, a Foundation for education of brilliant but poor students was established. We are proud to narrate that the first beneficiary of this munificence was a young boy from Saharanpur who was transformed into an illustrious Vedic scholar. The world knows him as Pt Budh Dev Ji Vedalankar, later known as Swami Samarpananand Ji.
Swami Shraddhanand Ji, among others, had paid glowing tribute to the martyred Pt Lekh Ram thus: He was a DHARMVIR AND A KARMVIR. Indeed a fearless fighter for the cause of the Vedic Dharm. He was a true believer in Param Pita Parmatma and the Lord loved him.
Pundit Lekh Ram is a torch bearer removing darkness for others. His martyrdom inspired other Aryas to follow into his footsteps. Swami Shraddhanand, Mahashay Rajpal and many others of the Hyderabad satyagrah attained martyrdom for the cause of the Vedic Dharm. Indeed they walked fearlessly on the path of martyrdom for the Vedic Dharm paved by Maharishi Dayanand Saraswati himself.
UPVAN 609, Sector 29, Noida – 201303. INDIA. Mobile : 0091-9811173590.
Email : upvanom@yahoo.com sawantg.chitranjan@gmail.com
_____________________________________________________________________
ARYA PATHIK FROM PESHAWAR COURTED MARTYRDOM
By Brigadier Chitranjan Sawant,VSM
The Vedic world knows him as Pundit Lekh Ram, Arya Musafir. Once he made up his mind that the Vedic Dharm was the first and the last word to guide human behaviour from A to Z, there was no going back on it. He was a man of determination and possessed perseverance. Once the goal was set, he left no stone unturned to reach there. He was a clear headed man who knew how to determine what the aim was and once the aim was set, maintenance of aim was no problem to him. There was no deviation from the aim and it had to be achieved, come what may. Of course, he had to tread on the toes of others but he did not mind it. If others did, he would say – I don’t care. Pt Lekh Ram had a many-faceted personality but the overriding element was principles, precepts and preaching of the Vedas based Dharma as propounded by Maharishi Swami Dayanand Saraswati, the great religious and social reformer of the 19th century India.
DEVELOPMENT OF LEKH RAM : MAN AND MISSION
Born in 1858 in Saidpur in district Jhelum, now in Pakistan, he inherited knowledge of languages and the unparalleled spirit of “Giving” and not Grabbing from the soil and tradition of the village. Just to quote one example, Lala Dewan Chand, the great Arya philanthropist and martyred freedom fighter, Khushiram Ji were also born and brought up in Saidpur. Pt Lekh ram was initially named as Lekh Raj but later in his writings he preferred the name Lekh Ram.
Pt Lekh Ram had had a taste of various sects of Hinduism and teachings of Guru Nanak Dev until he found his moorings in the teachings of the Vedic Dharm after he have had a number of meetings with Swami Dayanand Saraswati at Ajmer on 17 May 1881. Under a false notion, Lekh Ram Ji used to consider himself as Brahm but after a meaningful exchange of views with Swami Dayanand Saraswati, he became a votary of the Vedic Trinity. Now he knew that he was a Jeevatma and Parmatma as well as prakriti were separate and different entities.
This meeting between Rishivar and Punditji was of great significance to the Arya Samaj. The Arya Samaj got a committed writer of Life of Dayanand Saraswati, his life and thought based on interviews with people who had met the great reformer. Pundit Lekh Ram had started his mission of collection of authentic material to write the biography of Rishivar on 11 December 1888, five years after the Rishi’s untimely and sad demise. Pt Lekh Ram took great care that fact and fiction did not intermingle and finally gave the Arya Samaj a biography of its founder that is par excellence. It was a biography based on interviews recorded at the spot where events had taken place. Obviously, Pt Lekh Ram travelled a lot all over the place where Swami Dayanand had gone, lectured, written his memorable treatises and faced worldly problems generated by jealousy, superstitions and miscalculations.
In the scheme of collection of facts and holding interviews, Pt Lekh Ram did not ignore his mission of teaching and preaching tenets of the Vedic Dharm. He did a fine balancing act between writing of biography and delivering of Vedic sermons. The latter was done at his own cost lest the Arya Pratinidhi Sabha, Lahore took it as an infringement of its financial guidelines. Pandit Ji chose to forego the Dakshina for the period he was not collecting facts for the biography and delivering sermons instead.
Another facet of Pandit Ji’s personality emerged during these extensive travels. He became a consummate writer of Travelogues in the Urdu language, possibly the first one. The essays on travel were published under the caption “Safarnama”. Sadly, not much has survived of that unique piece of literature. Here I am reminded of Lord Francis Bacon, the famous essayist of the English language, who wrote a line “Travel makes a man perfect”, and this perfection could be discerned in the travels and writings of Pt Lekh Ram.
Pt Lekh Ram had a close relationship with Peshawar, the capital city of the North-Western Frontier Province NWFP). He was posted there as a sergeant in the Police Dept but did not let his profession interfere with his Vedic Dharm. When things came to a pass, he preferred to resign from the government service rather than let the profession have better of him. As an Arya Samajist he did not let low cast men be looked down upon. Once when he was posted in a police station where the Station House Officer was a Muslim Pathan and an orderly was a Mazahabi Sikh (of low caste), he made it a point to shake hands with him to obliterate casteism. This used to happen much to the chagrin of the Thanedar Saheb who was a great believer in his high caste. Pandit Ji used to do Namaste to others as he believed in the Aryan way of greetings. However, soon the dept and the Vedic missionary parted ways when he hung up his police uniform for good. It may, however, be mentioned that while in the police service he published and edited a weekly named, Dharmopadesh. Later he was the editor of Arya Gazette that carved a niche in the world of journalism. While collecting material for Swami Ji’s biography, he published a timely weekly called Arya Vijay.
Pt Lekh Ram was always available to the new generation for advice and guidance. ‘TEHRIR AND TAQREER’, THAT IS WRITING AND DELIVERING SERMONS MUST NEVER CEASE – that was his counselling to all Arya Samajists. Indeed writing new articles or books meant an intensive study of the subject and thus the preachers who deliver the sermon will be knowledgeable. It should be an ongoing process in this Arya Samaj movement so that the mission of Swami Dayanand Saraswati touches new heights day after day.
Pt Lekh Ram Ji used to do self study and also some writing whenever he got time off the work as a Vedic missionary. One late evening as he was busy writing, oil in the lamp was exhausted. Shops were closed. So he walked along the railway line to the Kothi of Mahatma Munshi Ram as enough light was available in his Dewankhana. Thus he achieved the intended target of writing for that evening. Man with a mission knew how to achieve the aim surmounting problems, both major and minor.
Pt Lekh Ram was the moving spirit behind the Arya Samaj, Peshawar, now in Pakistan. He collected funds to have an impressive building erected as the epicentre of the Ved prachar activities. The impressive Arya Samaj bhawan had a pride of place among religious institutions of Peshawar.
The city of Pathans, both Hindus and Muslims, had influenced the dress code of Pundit Lekh Ram. He would wear a tight pyjama, a shirt, a waist coat and a turban tied in the typical frontier style. While talking of dress code, I must make a mention of an incident in Jullundur. Pt Lekh Ram was staying with Mahatma Munshi Ram and the latter had started wearing a Dhoti by then as a pracharak. One day Pt Lekh Ram told him “Lalaji, you are an energetic man and a tireless worker of the Arya Samaj. It is a loose-fitting wear of the slovenly easterners and does not befit us”. Mahatma Munshi Ram just laughed it away. The writer of these lines is fond of tying a Dhoti as a pracharak, be it a visit to the Rashtrapati Bhawan, a travel to Tibet or addressing a gathering of cadets. My Indian dress earned me a new name, “Dhoti Wale Brigadier Saheb”. I am with Mahatma Munshi Ram on this point and not with Pundit lekh Ram. No disrespect meant to him; I revere him.
Pt Lekh Ram was always there where he was needed most. Whenever he heard that a Hindu or a group of Hindus were about to convert to Islam or Christianity, he would rush to that spot to convince them not to cross over. More often than not he was successful in his mission. It is said that once he was going on a similar mission to a mofussil town but entrained in an express train that did not stop there, so Punditji just leaped out of the train as it slowed a little at the platform. Although he was hurt but he reached his destination on time and his mission of retaining a group of Hindus in the family fold was a great success. The veracity of this story stands confirmed by independent sources of the time.
CLASH WITH QADIANIS
A major part of Pt Lekh Ram’s time and energy was spent in countering the Ahmedias and their Head, Mirza Ghulam Ahmed Qadiani, who were always out to attack the Hindus in general and the Arya Samajists in particular. In retrospect one may say that the Ahmedias who clashed with the Hindus on behalf of the Muslims, were not considered to be true Muslims. In Pakistan the Ahmediyas are listed as non-Muslims. What a shame for the Mirza, who deputed a man to assassinate Pt lekh Ram, to be called a non-Muslim. The Ahmedias are hounded out by Sunnis all over the place. And it was one of them who lived with Pt Lekh Ram and dined with him expressing a wish to be converted a Vedic Dharmi. The drama was staged by that wretched fellow for a few days and one night he surreptitiously plunged his long knife into his abdomen. Pt Lekh Ram became a martyr in the cause of the Vedic Dharm on 6 March1897 at a young age of 39 years. The Mirza unashamedly owned having plotted this heinous crime of murder in cold blood.
Lahore was shocked. The Hindus and Sikha mourned Pt Lekh Ram’s assassination in thousands. The Arya Samajists of all shades displayed a rare sense of unity at the cremation ground in Lahore. Lakshmi Devi Ji, the widow of Pt lekh Ram who had the bliss of marital life for just four years, took a pledge to continue working for the cause that her husband had died for. She donated the entire money of his life insurance to the cause of the Vedic Dharm. She made this sacrifice notwithstanding the advice of many well wishers like Mahatma Munshi Ram to save some money for a rainy day. She was so inspired by the martyrdom and Vedic ideals of her late husband that she wished to donate every paisa that she had and did so. Later, at one of the convocation ceremonies of the Gurukul Kangri, Haridwar , venerable Lakshmi Devi Ji donated all her gold and jewellery for the flagship of the Vedic Shiksha. Her sacrifice and the martyrdom of her husband bore fruits in various activities of the Arya Samaj and the Gurukul. Of the money donated by her, a Foundation for education of brilliant but poor students was established. We are proud to narrate that the first beneficiary of this munificence was a young boy from Saharanpur who was transformed into an illustrious Vedic scholar. The world knows him as Pt Budh Dev Ji Vedalankar, later known as Swami Samarpananand Ji.
Swami Shraddhanand Ji, among others, had paid glowing tribute to the martyred Pt Lekh Ram thus: He was a DHARMVIR AND A KARMVIR. Indeed a fearless fighter for the cause of the Vedic Dharm. He was a true believer in Param Pita Parmatma and the Lord loved him.
Pundit Lekh Ram is a torch bearer removing darkness for others. His martyrdom inspired other Aryas to follow into his footsteps. Swami Shraddhanand, Mahashay Rajpal and many others of the Hyderabad satyagrah attained martyrdom for the cause of the Vedic Dharm. Indeed they walked fearlessly on the path of martyrdom for the Vedic Dharm paved by Maharishi Dayanand Saraswati himself.
UPVAN 609, Sector 29, Noida – 201303. INDIA. Mobile : 0091-9811173590.
Email : upvanom@yahoo.com sawantg.chitranjan@gmail.com
_____________________________________________________________________
Sunday, July 11, 2010
UNCONGENIAL CLIMATE SUITS UNSOCIALS
AUM
UNCONGENIAL CLIMATE SUITS UNSOCIALS
By Chitranjan Sawant
I heard of the uncongenial climate in the officers’ mess over a drink. It was named Open Officers Mess because wives, girl friends, an acquaintance for just one-night stand, or even one on Hi and Bye terms were permitted to come with an officer escort and enjoy privileges provided by the facility on payment. Quite a congenial climate that suited one and all. The facility was on the premises of a US Army establishment where officers and their spouses from many countries assembled to undergo some training or the other made available by the Department of Defence of the United States of America. The broad nomenclature was the Military Aid Programme under which America extended its influence globally. It worked well. Never mind if some aid receivers were the worst critics of policies of Uncle Sam.
VIETNAM WAR
The phrase uncongenial climate came up in the conversation every now and then when the Vietnam War was discussed. The war was in full swing. Notwithstanding its unpopularity with average Americans, the United States got sucked in more and more as the days passed. The arm-chair politicians clamoured and said “Bring the Boys Home” but the policy makers from the White House to the Pentagon to the Department of States did not know how to handle it. Airports handling MATS (Military Air Transport Service) flights bustled with activities as plane loads of officers and GIs flew out to land at the Saigon airport (now Ho Chi Minh City) in Vietnam. Wives and girl friends who came to see off the departing personnel painted their lips and cheeks red with lipstick wearing lips. After all, they were leaving from places of congenial climate to jungles and hills of uncongenial climate.
The service personnel drew uncongenial climate allowance that was increased from time to time. It was not the wild life, nor the snakes, nor the leeches nor the scorpions that bothered the servicemen so much as the Vietcong or the rebel guerrillas who popped up from nowhere and wreaked havoc on the US Army convoy. The US convoys also passed through hostile civil population areas who pelted stones on personnel and disappeared in lanes nearby. The unsocial elements who sided with the enemy made the climate most uncongenial.
Fragging was a by-product of a war that was as good as lost. Once the top generals and policy planners lose a war in their minds, the soldiers lose it on the ground in no time. All ranks become irritable by nature and sometimes simple arguments turn into violent fist-fights. The more of such incidents occur, the more chances of total defeat are there. These incidents reflect low morale leading to an abject surrender to an enemy that is ill armed but has high morale. No amount of uncongenial allowance will turn tables on the winning enemy. Fragging, that is soldiers killing fellow soldiers, especially own officers were in evidence in Vietnam. It was a result of crisis in command. There were too many top brass giving orders and too few junior ranks to implement orders in areas of uncongenial climate. It is surmised that the US Army lost the Vietnam War because it was killed by the weight of its own brass, read incompetent senior officers who knew not how to handle battle weary GIs. Thus fratricide became the order of the day. Americans lost the Vietnam War and the global climate continued to be uncongenial – that is now military history to be read by up and coming tacticians and strategists all over the world.
HOME COMING WAS SWEET
On fulfilment of my mission I returned home in India from the Continental United States. Home sweet Home is not just a cliché. It is indeed soul -touching. I experienced it. What, however, bothered me was the uncongenial climate in different parts of our lovely Bharat. Many a pessimist made matters worse by speculating that the Republic of India was perhaps breaking up because of lack of decisive leadership. Our so-called leaders at the centre were too weak-kneed to withstand the international pressure in the form of Taliban terrorism, Maoist-Naxals, and restive Kashmiri Muslims prodded by Pakistan. The spate of fake currency pumped in by Pakistan to destabilise India made the climate more uncongenial.
Home-coming that was initially sweet was gradually turning into bitter-bite. Let us take stock of situation in our Kashmir first. Once what Firdaus, the renowned Persian poet had written about the Iranian city, Isfahan and the Moghul Emperors had it engraved in their famous garden in Srinagar, Kashmir. It says “O Firdaus, if there is a Heaven on Earth, it is here, it is here, it is here.”Unfortunately, the golden climate of Kashmir has turned into uncongenial climate of Kashmir. The street urchins turned into stone-pelting mobs have made the city unliveable. The unsocial elements have put a fear psychosis into minds of tourists who now shun Kashmir. The political leaders at the State level and also at the Central government level bungled time and again. Trillions of US dollars equivalent Indian rupees poured into the Kashmir valley went into the pockets of a few families. The common man was led astray by Maulvis and Mullahs in the pay of Pakistan and, therefore, preached sedition. Chief Ministers of Jammu and Kashmir sat with the anti-India crowd who burnt the national flag and separatist Huriyat leaders connived with the Islamist forces in driving out the Hindus from Kashmir valley to Jammu, Delhi and other places forcing them to live a life of refugees in their own country.
STONE PELTING SPECIALISTS
The telephone intercepts of separatist Kashmiri leaders on the pay-roll of Pakistan, were made available to the Media. It clearly shows that they not only organise stone-pelting youth but also pay them as per their performance. There are stone-pelting specialists who charge more money from the Pakistani agents for fomenting trouble in the valley. It is horrendous but true that these separatist leaders also stage-manage killing of commoners by the security forces to foment trouble. Even when village women die of natural causes, the Huriyat leaders make the death as resultant from rape and torture by the security forces. Riots were stage-managed by the pro-Pakistan elements and the cause was shown as rape of Kashmiri women by the security forces. When the doctors said that there was no evidence of rape, the rabble rousers changed it to attempted rape. Even the moderate leaders among separatists knew that the charges were trumped up. However, in the interest of Pakistan Kashmiri separatists let the attempted rape charge continue to agitate minds of masses. Thus it is crystal clear that Pakistan promotes dirty tricks and violence in Kashmir to destabilise India.
NAXALS NOT HOME GROWN
Any political outfit claiming to be India-based would not target passenger trains to kill innocent passengers for no fault of theirs. The police constables being killed in ambush laid by Naxals are poor people. And Naxals profess to protect poor people.
The Naxalite movement has bases in forests, villages and among poor and exploited tribal people. It is partly negligence of governments at various levels to ignore such a massive problem for such a long time. Moreover, there is no coordination between the Central government and the State governments. Thus there is no strategy to tackle the Naxalite problem and the situation is going from bad to worse. The Prime Minister acknowledges Naxalite violence as the biggest threat to the Internal Security but just stops there. No tangible major step has been taken to punish the law breakers and simultaneously wean away the exploited men and women from the violent core group.
NATION ABOVE ALL
All political parties and all governments must put the Nation Above All. If the Government of India fails to hang a criminal sentenced to death by the Supreme Court because the political party in power erroneously jettisons national interest for petty politics of vote bank, take it from me the country is doomed. With a view to saving the sinking ship of the State, all concerned must have only one aim to achieve – Making our country strong and people prosperous. So say NATION ABOVE ALL.
UPVAN 609, Sector 29, NOIDA – 201303, INDIA Mobile : 0091-9811173590.
Email : upvanom@yahoo.com sawantg.chitranjan@gmail.com
UNCONGENIAL CLIMATE SUITS UNSOCIALS
By Chitranjan Sawant
I heard of the uncongenial climate in the officers’ mess over a drink. It was named Open Officers Mess because wives, girl friends, an acquaintance for just one-night stand, or even one on Hi and Bye terms were permitted to come with an officer escort and enjoy privileges provided by the facility on payment. Quite a congenial climate that suited one and all. The facility was on the premises of a US Army establishment where officers and their spouses from many countries assembled to undergo some training or the other made available by the Department of Defence of the United States of America. The broad nomenclature was the Military Aid Programme under which America extended its influence globally. It worked well. Never mind if some aid receivers were the worst critics of policies of Uncle Sam.
VIETNAM WAR
The phrase uncongenial climate came up in the conversation every now and then when the Vietnam War was discussed. The war was in full swing. Notwithstanding its unpopularity with average Americans, the United States got sucked in more and more as the days passed. The arm-chair politicians clamoured and said “Bring the Boys Home” but the policy makers from the White House to the Pentagon to the Department of States did not know how to handle it. Airports handling MATS (Military Air Transport Service) flights bustled with activities as plane loads of officers and GIs flew out to land at the Saigon airport (now Ho Chi Minh City) in Vietnam. Wives and girl friends who came to see off the departing personnel painted their lips and cheeks red with lipstick wearing lips. After all, they were leaving from places of congenial climate to jungles and hills of uncongenial climate.
The service personnel drew uncongenial climate allowance that was increased from time to time. It was not the wild life, nor the snakes, nor the leeches nor the scorpions that bothered the servicemen so much as the Vietcong or the rebel guerrillas who popped up from nowhere and wreaked havoc on the US Army convoy. The US convoys also passed through hostile civil population areas who pelted stones on personnel and disappeared in lanes nearby. The unsocial elements who sided with the enemy made the climate most uncongenial.
Fragging was a by-product of a war that was as good as lost. Once the top generals and policy planners lose a war in their minds, the soldiers lose it on the ground in no time. All ranks become irritable by nature and sometimes simple arguments turn into violent fist-fights. The more of such incidents occur, the more chances of total defeat are there. These incidents reflect low morale leading to an abject surrender to an enemy that is ill armed but has high morale. No amount of uncongenial allowance will turn tables on the winning enemy. Fragging, that is soldiers killing fellow soldiers, especially own officers were in evidence in Vietnam. It was a result of crisis in command. There were too many top brass giving orders and too few junior ranks to implement orders in areas of uncongenial climate. It is surmised that the US Army lost the Vietnam War because it was killed by the weight of its own brass, read incompetent senior officers who knew not how to handle battle weary GIs. Thus fratricide became the order of the day. Americans lost the Vietnam War and the global climate continued to be uncongenial – that is now military history to be read by up and coming tacticians and strategists all over the world.
HOME COMING WAS SWEET
On fulfilment of my mission I returned home in India from the Continental United States. Home sweet Home is not just a cliché. It is indeed soul -touching. I experienced it. What, however, bothered me was the uncongenial climate in different parts of our lovely Bharat. Many a pessimist made matters worse by speculating that the Republic of India was perhaps breaking up because of lack of decisive leadership. Our so-called leaders at the centre were too weak-kneed to withstand the international pressure in the form of Taliban terrorism, Maoist-Naxals, and restive Kashmiri Muslims prodded by Pakistan. The spate of fake currency pumped in by Pakistan to destabilise India made the climate more uncongenial.
Home-coming that was initially sweet was gradually turning into bitter-bite. Let us take stock of situation in our Kashmir first. Once what Firdaus, the renowned Persian poet had written about the Iranian city, Isfahan and the Moghul Emperors had it engraved in their famous garden in Srinagar, Kashmir. It says “O Firdaus, if there is a Heaven on Earth, it is here, it is here, it is here.”Unfortunately, the golden climate of Kashmir has turned into uncongenial climate of Kashmir. The street urchins turned into stone-pelting mobs have made the city unliveable. The unsocial elements have put a fear psychosis into minds of tourists who now shun Kashmir. The political leaders at the State level and also at the Central government level bungled time and again. Trillions of US dollars equivalent Indian rupees poured into the Kashmir valley went into the pockets of a few families. The common man was led astray by Maulvis and Mullahs in the pay of Pakistan and, therefore, preached sedition. Chief Ministers of Jammu and Kashmir sat with the anti-India crowd who burnt the national flag and separatist Huriyat leaders connived with the Islamist forces in driving out the Hindus from Kashmir valley to Jammu, Delhi and other places forcing them to live a life of refugees in their own country.
STONE PELTING SPECIALISTS
The telephone intercepts of separatist Kashmiri leaders on the pay-roll of Pakistan, were made available to the Media. It clearly shows that they not only organise stone-pelting youth but also pay them as per their performance. There are stone-pelting specialists who charge more money from the Pakistani agents for fomenting trouble in the valley. It is horrendous but true that these separatist leaders also stage-manage killing of commoners by the security forces to foment trouble. Even when village women die of natural causes, the Huriyat leaders make the death as resultant from rape and torture by the security forces. Riots were stage-managed by the pro-Pakistan elements and the cause was shown as rape of Kashmiri women by the security forces. When the doctors said that there was no evidence of rape, the rabble rousers changed it to attempted rape. Even the moderate leaders among separatists knew that the charges were trumped up. However, in the interest of Pakistan Kashmiri separatists let the attempted rape charge continue to agitate minds of masses. Thus it is crystal clear that Pakistan promotes dirty tricks and violence in Kashmir to destabilise India.
NAXALS NOT HOME GROWN
Any political outfit claiming to be India-based would not target passenger trains to kill innocent passengers for no fault of theirs. The police constables being killed in ambush laid by Naxals are poor people. And Naxals profess to protect poor people.
The Naxalite movement has bases in forests, villages and among poor and exploited tribal people. It is partly negligence of governments at various levels to ignore such a massive problem for such a long time. Moreover, there is no coordination between the Central government and the State governments. Thus there is no strategy to tackle the Naxalite problem and the situation is going from bad to worse. The Prime Minister acknowledges Naxalite violence as the biggest threat to the Internal Security but just stops there. No tangible major step has been taken to punish the law breakers and simultaneously wean away the exploited men and women from the violent core group.
NATION ABOVE ALL
All political parties and all governments must put the Nation Above All. If the Government of India fails to hang a criminal sentenced to death by the Supreme Court because the political party in power erroneously jettisons national interest for petty politics of vote bank, take it from me the country is doomed. With a view to saving the sinking ship of the State, all concerned must have only one aim to achieve – Making our country strong and people prosperous. So say NATION ABOVE ALL.
UPVAN 609, Sector 29, NOIDA – 201303, INDIA Mobile : 0091-9811173590.
Email : upvanom@yahoo.com sawantg.chitranjan@gmail.com
Friday, July 9, 2010
WALK WALK WALK AND WALK
AUM.
WALK WALK AND WALK
By Chitranjan Sawant
I was a boy scout and an active one. I loved my uniform and dreamed of joining the Indian Army someday to wear the olive greens. The British were still around as masters of our destiny in undivided India and all the high posts were occupied by them or by the families that were counted as pillars of the Raj. My scout master commended my plan of becoming an army officer but said that the British rulers did not appreciate independent minded men and women. A little bird brought me some good news. A British Army Officer was to come to motivate boys in uniform to join the Indian Army on completion of secondary school education. The British paramount power needed young men to promote war efforts and that there were privileges galore for those who helped defeat the Axis powers. German and Japanese armies were on the war winning path then.
MOTIVATION FOR MEN
The British Army Officer, after his introductory remarks, said some golden words that have motivated men like me all along. “Don’t let grass grow under your feet” said he. We were standing on the school quadrangle lawn and the grass was already under our feet. We looked at the grass, looked at him and looked puzzled. The officer understood our predicament. He said that this sentence of the King’s English meant that you have to be up and about all the time. If you succeed in joining the army, you will be required to be on your toes all the time. In other words, do everything at the double. Be on the move all the time. The boys thought that the gentleman had demotivated the audience. Boys are after all boys and want to take things easy.
The talk did me a lot of good. I was motivated to be on the move all the time. I promised to myself that I shall not let grass grow under my feet. To achieve this aim, I had to walk, walk and walk. Walking all these years, even as an Army Officer when a car was at my beck and call, kept me in the pink of health. As an adolescent on the threshold of joining the All Men’s Club, I was highly motivated by the aforesaid British Army Officer to join the Indian Army. I succeeded in achieving the goal and what helped me most was my mental make up to be on my toes always and everytime. Indeed it kept my physical fitness at the optimum level.
MY MORNING WALK
Eversince listening to the motivational talk, I have always been up and about in the wee hours of the morning. Initially I went out on a run, then it was walk and run and as the age advanced I took to morning walks. Ah! What a delightful experience it is to walk in sylvan surroundings with the birds chirping on the trees and in mango season, the nightingale singing its song of joy. At the crack of the dawn, there are not many human being around and in wooded parks of appreciable size even peacocks and peahens come close to humans to compare notes. In Pachmarhi of 1950s, located in central India and boasting to be the sole hill station in Madhya Pradesh, nestling near a waterfall or walking through the thick jungles a morning walker could meet a friendly tiger. The magnificent king of the jungle would just yawn to say Good Morning to the civilized Man and disappear in the thick woods.
I have full freedom of doing anything on my morning walks. There is not a soul around at that hour of the morning whose privacy would be disturbed. No one would threaten to sue me if I sang a song or just danced in my own style. Indeed that was the golden hour to prepare my speech or a lecturette and even practise it before a bush or a tree treating them as captive audience. What a pristine joy did I experience in going through the lecture practice without a single interruption from the audience or the mentor. Of course, mistakes went undetected and became a part of the script until friendly mentor pointed it out.
I love to dress up for my morning walks. I prefer all whites, from top to toe. Wearing spotlessly clean and well pressed white shorts, a white half-sleeve shirt, a pair of white socks and white PT shoes without a speck of dust is a source of unadulterated joy. Of course, a lot of effort goes into coming out of the house so well dressed. Once a neighbour remarked that the way you dress up, it appears you are going up for an Olympic competition. I took it as a compliment.
CHARAIVETI CHARAIVETI
It is a command of the holy book, the Vedas. Move on, Move on – that is indeed a Vedic injunction. If a human being is constantly on the move, he will never suffer from inertia. It is the walk, it is the Pranayam that exercises the mind and the body. The essential organs get oxygenated blood and remain healthy. One does an effort to get ready to go out of the house and it motivates the individual to do both mental and physical exercises. That is the way to remain mentally alert and physically fit.
If the grass has not grown under your feet, it means you are an active fellow. An individual of this nature will advance in age gracefully without suffering from common age-related problems like the Al Zheimer’s or Dementia or pain in the knees. There will be enthusiasm for life and zest in doing a job well. An individual who walks and walks will find some meaningful activity for himself and not remain idle. The devil will not come anywhere near an active person because his or her mind will not be idle and cannot become a devil’s workshop.
Accepting the Vedic word of command we walk, walk and walk.
UPVAN 609, Sector 29, NOIDA 201303 Mobile : 9811173590.
Email : upvanom@yahoo.com
WALK WALK AND WALK
By Chitranjan Sawant
I was a boy scout and an active one. I loved my uniform and dreamed of joining the Indian Army someday to wear the olive greens. The British were still around as masters of our destiny in undivided India and all the high posts were occupied by them or by the families that were counted as pillars of the Raj. My scout master commended my plan of becoming an army officer but said that the British rulers did not appreciate independent minded men and women. A little bird brought me some good news. A British Army Officer was to come to motivate boys in uniform to join the Indian Army on completion of secondary school education. The British paramount power needed young men to promote war efforts and that there were privileges galore for those who helped defeat the Axis powers. German and Japanese armies were on the war winning path then.
MOTIVATION FOR MEN
The British Army Officer, after his introductory remarks, said some golden words that have motivated men like me all along. “Don’t let grass grow under your feet” said he. We were standing on the school quadrangle lawn and the grass was already under our feet. We looked at the grass, looked at him and looked puzzled. The officer understood our predicament. He said that this sentence of the King’s English meant that you have to be up and about all the time. If you succeed in joining the army, you will be required to be on your toes all the time. In other words, do everything at the double. Be on the move all the time. The boys thought that the gentleman had demotivated the audience. Boys are after all boys and want to take things easy.
The talk did me a lot of good. I was motivated to be on the move all the time. I promised to myself that I shall not let grass grow under my feet. To achieve this aim, I had to walk, walk and walk. Walking all these years, even as an Army Officer when a car was at my beck and call, kept me in the pink of health. As an adolescent on the threshold of joining the All Men’s Club, I was highly motivated by the aforesaid British Army Officer to join the Indian Army. I succeeded in achieving the goal and what helped me most was my mental make up to be on my toes always and everytime. Indeed it kept my physical fitness at the optimum level.
MY MORNING WALK
Eversince listening to the motivational talk, I have always been up and about in the wee hours of the morning. Initially I went out on a run, then it was walk and run and as the age advanced I took to morning walks. Ah! What a delightful experience it is to walk in sylvan surroundings with the birds chirping on the trees and in mango season, the nightingale singing its song of joy. At the crack of the dawn, there are not many human being around and in wooded parks of appreciable size even peacocks and peahens come close to humans to compare notes. In Pachmarhi of 1950s, located in central India and boasting to be the sole hill station in Madhya Pradesh, nestling near a waterfall or walking through the thick jungles a morning walker could meet a friendly tiger. The magnificent king of the jungle would just yawn to say Good Morning to the civilized Man and disappear in the thick woods.
I have full freedom of doing anything on my morning walks. There is not a soul around at that hour of the morning whose privacy would be disturbed. No one would threaten to sue me if I sang a song or just danced in my own style. Indeed that was the golden hour to prepare my speech or a lecturette and even practise it before a bush or a tree treating them as captive audience. What a pristine joy did I experience in going through the lecture practice without a single interruption from the audience or the mentor. Of course, mistakes went undetected and became a part of the script until friendly mentor pointed it out.
I love to dress up for my morning walks. I prefer all whites, from top to toe. Wearing spotlessly clean and well pressed white shorts, a white half-sleeve shirt, a pair of white socks and white PT shoes without a speck of dust is a source of unadulterated joy. Of course, a lot of effort goes into coming out of the house so well dressed. Once a neighbour remarked that the way you dress up, it appears you are going up for an Olympic competition. I took it as a compliment.
CHARAIVETI CHARAIVETI
It is a command of the holy book, the Vedas. Move on, Move on – that is indeed a Vedic injunction. If a human being is constantly on the move, he will never suffer from inertia. It is the walk, it is the Pranayam that exercises the mind and the body. The essential organs get oxygenated blood and remain healthy. One does an effort to get ready to go out of the house and it motivates the individual to do both mental and physical exercises. That is the way to remain mentally alert and physically fit.
If the grass has not grown under your feet, it means you are an active fellow. An individual of this nature will advance in age gracefully without suffering from common age-related problems like the Al Zheimer’s or Dementia or pain in the knees. There will be enthusiasm for life and zest in doing a job well. An individual who walks and walks will find some meaningful activity for himself and not remain idle. The devil will not come anywhere near an active person because his or her mind will not be idle and cannot become a devil’s workshop.
Accepting the Vedic word of command we walk, walk and walk.
UPVAN 609, Sector 29, NOIDA 201303 Mobile : 9811173590.
Email : upvanom@yahoo.com
Sunday, July 4, 2010
PROTECT PROGENY; KILL NOT
AUM
PLEASE PROTECT PROGENY; KILL NOT
By Chitranjan Sawant
What a shame! What a pity. Some Muslim males have degenerated into a species lower than animals. Everybody knows that animals protect their progeny. Now everyone knows some misguided males kill their kith and kin under a false belief of protecting family honour.
UK MUSLIM FAMILY IN TURMOIL
Abdul Azad is a 54 year old Muslim whose parents migrated to the UK from Bangladesh. He was born and raised in the UK. So was his wife. So was his son. So was his daughter, Afshan Azad a 22 year old broad minded girl who acted in the Harry Potter films and played the role of Padma Patil, a Hindu girl.
Somewhere down the line, Afshan started dating a Hindu boy and both have been going steady in their relationship. How silly but true it is that many Muslims do not wish their children to make friends with Hindu boys and girls. A Muslim girl going steady with a Hindu boy with the intention of eventually marrying him is to a Muslim zealot like a red rag to a bull.
The bull is raging mad now. How dare Afshan Azad marry a Hindu boy? So Abdul the father and his adult son went to the bed room of Afshan Azad, an adult, and demanded severance of relationship with the Hindu boy and on her refusal to do so, bruised and battered her.Their brutal behaviour was worse than that of beasts of the Amazon jungles. Disgraceful indeed.
The British police swung into action and put both father and son into the jail for assault, battery and criminal intimidation. The next hearing will be on 12 July 10 for committal proceedings to send the case to a Sessions court. Meanwhile the criminal duo is granted bail with a heavy rider to remain under curfew at night and not to contact an unnamed male. It is presumed that the intention of the law enforcing authorities is not to allow the misguided males of the Azad family to pressurise important witnesses or the Hindu boy so that he breaks off the amorous relationship with the concerned Muslim female.
The brother of Afshan Azad has now realised his mistake and laments the adverse publicity that the battering act has brought to them. It is now too little and too late.
CALL FOR CHANGE
How whimsical the primitive males from some countries are that they welcome girls of other faiths to marry Muslim males and convert to Islam but raise hue and cry when a Muslim girl wishes to marry a Hindu or a Christian male and convert to the faith of her husband. if this is not narrow mindedness and religious bigotry , what else is? it is for the liberal leaders and spokespersons of moderate Islam to change the mindset of the zealots who bring a bad name to their faith.
Indeed the Muslim women may like to play a prominent role in this evolutionary change. Unfortunately, they are treated as second class Muslims and have a feeble voice compared to the Muslim males. Never mind if this discrimination against women has been going on for 14 centuries, that is since the inception of Islam. It is time now for the enlightened women like Afshan Azad to raise the banner of revolt for restoration of female rights. Never mind the battering and bruising in the initial stages. Ultimately the victory will be for the Muslim females to exercise their human rights, constitutional rights and hold their heads high against the beastly behaviour of their own blood relations.
We pray to Parmatma, the Lord Almighty that forces of Righteousness ascend the victory stand and bear children as independent as their rebellious and victorious mothers.
______
Email: upvanom@yahoo.com
PLEASE PROTECT PROGENY; KILL NOT
By Chitranjan Sawant
What a shame! What a pity. Some Muslim males have degenerated into a species lower than animals. Everybody knows that animals protect their progeny. Now everyone knows some misguided males kill their kith and kin under a false belief of protecting family honour.
UK MUSLIM FAMILY IN TURMOIL
Abdul Azad is a 54 year old Muslim whose parents migrated to the UK from Bangladesh. He was born and raised in the UK. So was his wife. So was his son. So was his daughter, Afshan Azad a 22 year old broad minded girl who acted in the Harry Potter films and played the role of Padma Patil, a Hindu girl.
Somewhere down the line, Afshan started dating a Hindu boy and both have been going steady in their relationship. How silly but true it is that many Muslims do not wish their children to make friends with Hindu boys and girls. A Muslim girl going steady with a Hindu boy with the intention of eventually marrying him is to a Muslim zealot like a red rag to a bull.
The bull is raging mad now. How dare Afshan Azad marry a Hindu boy? So Abdul the father and his adult son went to the bed room of Afshan Azad, an adult, and demanded severance of relationship with the Hindu boy and on her refusal to do so, bruised and battered her.Their brutal behaviour was worse than that of beasts of the Amazon jungles. Disgraceful indeed.
The British police swung into action and put both father and son into the jail for assault, battery and criminal intimidation. The next hearing will be on 12 July 10 for committal proceedings to send the case to a Sessions court. Meanwhile the criminal duo is granted bail with a heavy rider to remain under curfew at night and not to contact an unnamed male. It is presumed that the intention of the law enforcing authorities is not to allow the misguided males of the Azad family to pressurise important witnesses or the Hindu boy so that he breaks off the amorous relationship with the concerned Muslim female.
The brother of Afshan Azad has now realised his mistake and laments the adverse publicity that the battering act has brought to them. It is now too little and too late.
CALL FOR CHANGE
How whimsical the primitive males from some countries are that they welcome girls of other faiths to marry Muslim males and convert to Islam but raise hue and cry when a Muslim girl wishes to marry a Hindu or a Christian male and convert to the faith of her husband. if this is not narrow mindedness and religious bigotry , what else is? it is for the liberal leaders and spokespersons of moderate Islam to change the mindset of the zealots who bring a bad name to their faith.
Indeed the Muslim women may like to play a prominent role in this evolutionary change. Unfortunately, they are treated as second class Muslims and have a feeble voice compared to the Muslim males. Never mind if this discrimination against women has been going on for 14 centuries, that is since the inception of Islam. It is time now for the enlightened women like Afshan Azad to raise the banner of revolt for restoration of female rights. Never mind the battering and bruising in the initial stages. Ultimately the victory will be for the Muslim females to exercise their human rights, constitutional rights and hold their heads high against the beastly behaviour of their own blood relations.
We pray to Parmatma, the Lord Almighty that forces of Righteousness ascend the victory stand and bear children as independent as their rebellious and victorious mothers.
______
Email: upvanom@yahoo.com
Sunday, June 20, 2010
AMERICANS BUYING RUSSIAN HELICOPTERS FOR AFGHANS
AUM
AMERICANS BUYING RUSSIAN CHOPPERS FOR AFGHANS
By Brigadier Chitranjan Sawant,VSM
Truth is stranger than fiction. But it is gospel truth that the Pentagon of the United States has invested a large sum of money in buying both new and redone Russian helicopters for the fledgling Afghan Air Corps. What happened to the patriotic slogan “Be American Buy American.” The slogan is intact and well set in its place. However, Pragmatic philosophy has carried the day.
WHAT A U-TURN
Indeed it is a U-turn for the US Pentagon. In the 1980s when the Soviet armed forces were in occupation of Afghanistan, the Pentagon had financed and supplied Stinger missiles to the Afghan rebels to shoot down Soviet choppers and low flying fixed wing aircraft. The Stinger missiles were deadly and effective. Now in 2010, the Pentagon has gone in for a big buy of Russian Mi 17 transport helicopters to equip the Afghan Air Corps. The United States will be spending as much as 648 million US dollars to buy new choppers or refurbish their used ones As many as 31 Mi 17 Russian helicopters are being bought this year and ten more would be bought next year. Over a dozen plus choppers would be bought over aperiod of a decade or so. The American trainers are hopeful that by 2016, five years after the date set for beginning a planned withdrawal of the US forces from Afghanistan, the Afghan Air Corps would be ready on its own and run the show in the skies. Their strength and that of the choppers would go up many times.
The US Congress is not happy about the deal with Russians on the military choppers. The Congressmen feel that the Pentagon did not go in depth to analyse the issue and push for buying American helicopters. They also have opined that the Russians realised that there was no competition in the arms bazaar and so they charged exorbitant price even for the refurbished helicopters. The loss of face and loss of money could have been avoided with a little forethought and proper forward planning.
MI 17 SUIT AFGHANS
The Soviet designers had made Mi 17 helicopters for the Afghan skies. This sturdy war horse is best suited for the Afghan skies. It flies on the heights of the Hindu Kush and negotiates the high altitude desert too. Further the recruits for the Afghan Air Corps are by and large illiterate. They have to be taught both native language as well as English from the scratch. Since the language of the cockpit is English the pilots should be conversant with the language. Listening, understanding and speaking English is not an easy job for the Afghan trainees. India too has been contributing quite a lot in the field of education, especially English and Sciences, not forgetting Maths. The officers of the Army Educational Corps of the Indian Army have been doing the teaching job for quite some time. Two officers attained martyrdom in a dastardly attack by the L eT, egged on by the ISI of Pakistan. Nevertheless the job in hand has to be completed, come what may, so say the Indian Army officers. Commendable attitude they have displayed, indeed.
General Mohammad Dawran, Chief of the Afghan Air Corps has said that most of the trained helicopter pilots are in their forties now. It would be difficult for them to switch over from the Russian machine to the American machine at this stage. It is right from the days of the Soviet occupation that the Russian equipment was introduced and found quite effective in that climate and terrain. General Dawran threw his weight behind the No-changers andhis logic was accepted by the American advisors. Hence in 2010 the decision was made to go in for the Russian helicopters. Brigadier Michael Boera of the US Air Force who is in charge of training the Afghan Air Corps supported the view taken by the Afghan officers and their political masters. The US Pentagon went with them, much to the chagrin of the US Congress.
COMBAT ROLE FOR CHOPPERS
As of now the Russian helicopters of the Afghan Air Corps are being used in the support role. They carry supplies and ferry officers and troops to and fro. They do go to the combat zone but only to deliver supplies and carry armed forces personnel. The role of these transport helicopters and their pilots has been well appreciated. Top ranking politicians, including Afghan President Hamid Karzai and top ranking US Army General also are flown by the Afghan pilots. However, no combat role has been chalked out for them so far.
In not too distant future the pilots of the Afghan Air Corps may be given a combat role. It is envisaged that again a Russian built helicopter would foot the bill. The Mi 35 gunships have proved themselves in counter-insurgency warfare in Russia and elsewhere. Chechnya, Ingushetia, Dagestan and other Muslim dominated provinces of the Russian Federation created law and order problems. The central government in Moscow under the leadership of the ironman, Vladimir Putin dealt with Islamist insurgency very effectively. Reportedly the use of Mi 35 helicopter gunships was found to be very effective. In view of their past performance, Mi 35 helicopter gunships may be introduced in Afghanistan too. Of course, Afghan pilots, gunners, navigators and other personnel will have to be trained thoroughly before they are assigned combat roles. That explains why the American trainers have set 2016 as the deadline for the Afghan Air Corps to act independently without the aid and assistance of personnel of the US Air Force.
Many a time an element of doubt crops up about the competence of the Afghan combat pilots to act on their own. A parallel is drawn from the era of the Soviet withdrawal and collapse of the Afghan administrative and defence infra-structure. That was the time whem the Taliban came in and filled the vacuum. They took control of the country under the guidance of their mentor, Pakistan. Is the history likely to repeat itself? One sincerely hopes not. It is the moral duty of the US Administration to ensure that the control of a country like Afghanistan is not handed over to the Taliban and their mentor, Pakistan on a silver platter. It will be the Dharma of the democratic countries in the neighbourhood to come to the active aid of the new administration of Afghanistan to ensure that the Rule of Law prevails.
Email : upvanom@yahoo.com Mobile : 0091-9811173590.
AMERICANS BUYING RUSSIAN CHOPPERS FOR AFGHANS
By Brigadier Chitranjan Sawant,VSM
Truth is stranger than fiction. But it is gospel truth that the Pentagon of the United States has invested a large sum of money in buying both new and redone Russian helicopters for the fledgling Afghan Air Corps. What happened to the patriotic slogan “Be American Buy American.” The slogan is intact and well set in its place. However, Pragmatic philosophy has carried the day.
WHAT A U-TURN
Indeed it is a U-turn for the US Pentagon. In the 1980s when the Soviet armed forces were in occupation of Afghanistan, the Pentagon had financed and supplied Stinger missiles to the Afghan rebels to shoot down Soviet choppers and low flying fixed wing aircraft. The Stinger missiles were deadly and effective. Now in 2010, the Pentagon has gone in for a big buy of Russian Mi 17 transport helicopters to equip the Afghan Air Corps. The United States will be spending as much as 648 million US dollars to buy new choppers or refurbish their used ones As many as 31 Mi 17 Russian helicopters are being bought this year and ten more would be bought next year. Over a dozen plus choppers would be bought over aperiod of a decade or so. The American trainers are hopeful that by 2016, five years after the date set for beginning a planned withdrawal of the US forces from Afghanistan, the Afghan Air Corps would be ready on its own and run the show in the skies. Their strength and that of the choppers would go up many times.
The US Congress is not happy about the deal with Russians on the military choppers. The Congressmen feel that the Pentagon did not go in depth to analyse the issue and push for buying American helicopters. They also have opined that the Russians realised that there was no competition in the arms bazaar and so they charged exorbitant price even for the refurbished helicopters. The loss of face and loss of money could have been avoided with a little forethought and proper forward planning.
MI 17 SUIT AFGHANS
The Soviet designers had made Mi 17 helicopters for the Afghan skies. This sturdy war horse is best suited for the Afghan skies. It flies on the heights of the Hindu Kush and negotiates the high altitude desert too. Further the recruits for the Afghan Air Corps are by and large illiterate. They have to be taught both native language as well as English from the scratch. Since the language of the cockpit is English the pilots should be conversant with the language. Listening, understanding and speaking English is not an easy job for the Afghan trainees. India too has been contributing quite a lot in the field of education, especially English and Sciences, not forgetting Maths. The officers of the Army Educational Corps of the Indian Army have been doing the teaching job for quite some time. Two officers attained martyrdom in a dastardly attack by the L eT, egged on by the ISI of Pakistan. Nevertheless the job in hand has to be completed, come what may, so say the Indian Army officers. Commendable attitude they have displayed, indeed.
General Mohammad Dawran, Chief of the Afghan Air Corps has said that most of the trained helicopter pilots are in their forties now. It would be difficult for them to switch over from the Russian machine to the American machine at this stage. It is right from the days of the Soviet occupation that the Russian equipment was introduced and found quite effective in that climate and terrain. General Dawran threw his weight behind the No-changers andhis logic was accepted by the American advisors. Hence in 2010 the decision was made to go in for the Russian helicopters. Brigadier Michael Boera of the US Air Force who is in charge of training the Afghan Air Corps supported the view taken by the Afghan officers and their political masters. The US Pentagon went with them, much to the chagrin of the US Congress.
COMBAT ROLE FOR CHOPPERS
As of now the Russian helicopters of the Afghan Air Corps are being used in the support role. They carry supplies and ferry officers and troops to and fro. They do go to the combat zone but only to deliver supplies and carry armed forces personnel. The role of these transport helicopters and their pilots has been well appreciated. Top ranking politicians, including Afghan President Hamid Karzai and top ranking US Army General also are flown by the Afghan pilots. However, no combat role has been chalked out for them so far.
In not too distant future the pilots of the Afghan Air Corps may be given a combat role. It is envisaged that again a Russian built helicopter would foot the bill. The Mi 35 gunships have proved themselves in counter-insurgency warfare in Russia and elsewhere. Chechnya, Ingushetia, Dagestan and other Muslim dominated provinces of the Russian Federation created law and order problems. The central government in Moscow under the leadership of the ironman, Vladimir Putin dealt with Islamist insurgency very effectively. Reportedly the use of Mi 35 helicopter gunships was found to be very effective. In view of their past performance, Mi 35 helicopter gunships may be introduced in Afghanistan too. Of course, Afghan pilots, gunners, navigators and other personnel will have to be trained thoroughly before they are assigned combat roles. That explains why the American trainers have set 2016 as the deadline for the Afghan Air Corps to act independently without the aid and assistance of personnel of the US Air Force.
Many a time an element of doubt crops up about the competence of the Afghan combat pilots to act on their own. A parallel is drawn from the era of the Soviet withdrawal and collapse of the Afghan administrative and defence infra-structure. That was the time whem the Taliban came in and filled the vacuum. They took control of the country under the guidance of their mentor, Pakistan. Is the history likely to repeat itself? One sincerely hopes not. It is the moral duty of the US Administration to ensure that the control of a country like Afghanistan is not handed over to the Taliban and their mentor, Pakistan on a silver platter. It will be the Dharma of the democratic countries in the neighbourhood to come to the active aid of the new administration of Afghanistan to ensure that the Rule of Law prevails.
Email : upvanom@yahoo.com Mobile : 0091-9811173590.
Saturday, June 19, 2010
THE THREE MARTYRS
Remembering the three martyrs: Bhagat Singh, Rajguru, Sukhdev
Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev became Martyrs for the cause of independence of Bharat. They did not submit to the diktats of the British Raj. They had moral courage to withstand the atrocities of the police and jailors. We salute them.
An Article by Brigadier Chitranjan Sawant,VSM
MAHATMA GANDHi arrived in Karachi in the month of March, 1931 to participate in the annual Congress session. There was a surprise in store for him. He was not a welcome guest to a large section of vocal people assembled there.
They waved black flags and shouted slogan “ Gandhi Go back”. Unbelievable but true. The vociferous youth were members of the Navajawan Sabha, a forum of the Congress party itself. Lo and behold! The restive youth were led by no less a person than Subhash Bose, a giant among men.
The sad cause they espoused was : non-intervention of Gandhi Ji in getting the death sentence of Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev commuted. The three brave young men who challenged the British Raj and fought for the Independence of their motherland, Bharat, were hanged by the neck by the British Indian government on 23rd March 1931 in the Lahore central jail. Against all rules, the hanging was done in the evening at 7.33 P.M .Their bodies were hurriedly disposed off to avoid peoples’ ire The Three young men became Martyrs for the cause of their motherland.
The Indian nation was in a state of shock on their premature hanging, a day before the appointed date, and after a slipshod funeral on the banks of the Sutluj river at Hussainiwala near Ferozepore. It was a sacrilege and added insult to injury. Instead of condoling their deaths and comforting their families Ghandhi Ji, in his own wisdom, had chosen to proceed to Bombay to see off Lord Irwin, the outgoing Viceroy who had declined to commute the death sentence of the three young freedom fighters. There was general indignation. The black flag demonstration against Gandhi Ji was a manifestation of the pent up anger of the people.
Vedic Influence On Martyrs
An analytical study of the events in the Punjab in the first few decades of the twentieth century points to the influence of the Arya Samaj, founded by Swami Dayanand Saraswati in Bombay in 1875 and in Lahore in 1877. No section of the populace remained untouched by this great historical event, irrespective of the religious faith they subscribed to.
I need not emphasize the obvious historical fact that the foundation of the Arya Samaj in Lahore was laid in the garden of a Muslim gentleman, Doctor Rahim Khan. The Vedic discourses were attended by a cross section of the population comprising Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs. Reverting to our subject of the martyrs, it would be appropriate to mention that Bhagat Singh, a born Sikh, had his sacred thread ceremony, Yajnopavit, done as a child, notwithstanding his caste being a Sandhu Jat, who were not entitled to hold the ceremony.
The Arya Samaj, a reformist movement, had opened the portals of Vedic knowledge and sixteen sanskars to one and all. Bhagat Singh was a beneficiary of the Arya liberalisation, courtesy his grandfather, Arjan Singh and father, Kishen Singh. His one uncle was also hanged as a freedom fighter and another had to leave India for Iran to avoid persecution at the hands of the British overlords.
Sukhdeo, the second martyr, too was from Lyallpur like Bhagat Singh and the family did not remain untouched by the waves of reform powered by the Arya Samaj. Both Sukhdeo and Bhagat Singh had enrolled themselves for studies in the National College, Lahore that had a preponderance of professors, who had received their education and baptism in Nationalism at the Gurukul Kangri, Haridwar, founded by Swami Shraddhanand.
Bhagat Singh was a student of the DAV School, Lahore too for a period of time and the spirit of freedom was indeed instilled in him there too. Vedalankar, Vidyalankar – the two degrees of Gurukul Kangri were in evidence in surfeit among the teaching faculty of both the educational institutions that shaped the personality and instilled patriotism and moral courage among many a greedom fighter, including our national Martyrs, Bhagat Singh and Sukhdeo.
Rajguru’s was a different story. Born in a village near Pune in Maharashtra in a family that comprised Purohits and students of the Vedas, they were appropriately addressed as Rajguru. It was the pursuit of Vedic studies that brought Shivram Rajguru to Varanasi and later to Kanpur to meet revolutionaries of the eminence of Chandra Shekhar Azad.
Bhagat Singh too had made more than one visit to Kanpur with the common intent of freeing the motherland through other ways and means than the one espoused by Gandhi Ji. These young men had no faith and, of course, no patience to follow the path of Ahimsa for achieving independence. Of course, the three had become inseparable comrades-in-arms in the noble cause where bomb – making and killing of foreigners or their lackeys was not a taboo. The revolutionaries from Bengal were a great help and they always came forward unhesitatingly. Many a time Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru had to miss a meal, forego new clothes to save money for the revolutionary cause.
FIGHT TO FINISH
AIM – that indeed is the first principle of war. Our revolutionaries knew this and indeed practised this. They had Independence of India as their sole aim. They did not allow any other thing to come in between that could make them deviate from the AIM. Not even the girls. Delving deep into their contemporary history, a researcher will have no option but to pronounce that celibacy was their creed. They could not but cling to creed unflinchingly. They had great disdain for the institution of marriage until independence was achieved. A mere mention of marriage was to them like a red rag to a bull.
Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru had left their homes and near and dear ones for the cause celebre and would not le marriage derail their noble mission. Notwithstanding their young age, the period when the urge for sex is at its zenith, they never thought of women, leave aside craving for company. This character quality is indeed laudable. It is a beacon light for the youth of the twenty first century where sex is taken as a dynamo to energise all activities. The three Martyrs show us light at the end of the tunnel. Even a blind person will not miss it.
Bhagat Singh and Rajguru came from different ethnic backgrounds but their aim was the same. Bharat Mata Ki Jai – that was their creed and that was their slogan. They had unflinching faith in their mission and knew that they would achieve the AIM – living or dead. In any case, the Vedic philosophy of life had it ingrained in them that the soul never dies, it only changes the bodies. Believers in the Vedic Trinity know it well that Parmatma, jeevatma and Prakriti have separate existences, never born and never die. Why grieve for a change in outer appearance.
This Vedic belief buttressed their determination to fight to finish; fight to win. Bhagat Singh, Sukhdeo and Rajguru had seen the barbarity of the British police officers when they cane charged the Indian procession at the Lahore railway station where they had assembled to show black flag to the Simon Commission as it was anti-Indian.
An old and venerable leader like Lala Lajpat Rai, a doyen among Aryas and Congressmen alike, was not spared the baton. Saunders, a police officer, himself beat Lala Ji resulting in his premature demise within a month. It was then and there that Bhagat Singh, Sukhdeo and Rajguru had vowed to avenge the insult and injury to venerable Lala Lajpat Rai, a great disciple of Swami Dayanand Saraswati. Our revlutionaries fought to finish and achieved their aim.
Chandra Shekhar Azad too had joined them when they made a plan to kill the Superintendent of Police, Scott, who had ordered the lathi charge. He was present at the time of execution of the plan too. Well, under a mistaken identity, Saunders, who was equally guilty of humiliating Indians, was killed by their bullets near the police station in Lahore. It shook the British administration not only in Punjab but in the rest of India too.
Bhagat Singh and Batukeshwar Dutt had the moral and physical courage to bomb the Central Assembly in New Delhi on 8th April 1029 and fire a few shots from the visitors’ gallery when the Public Safety Act was being passed as an ordinance after it was voted out by the Indian members. Our Duo had not intended to kill or injure anyone. By a loud explosion and smoke they wished the deaf government in Delhi to heed to the voice of the Indian masses. Their mission was a success, notwithstanding the sentence of life imprisonment awarded to them. Of course, the case of shooting the police officer in Lahore and trial of the three freedom fighters in Lahore gave a new turn to events as mentioned heretofore.
MEMORIES OF MARTYRS
Bhagat Singh was in the hot seat after Sunders, the British police officer, who was shot dead by the revolutionaries to avenge the death of Punjab Kesari, Lala Lajpat Rai. Lahore was not a safe place for him and his comrades-in-arms. To avoid detection by the British government sleuths, Bhagat Singh had shorn off his long hair and beard. He dressed like a European, was accompanied by a lady, Durga bhabhi (wife of another revolutionary) with a babe in her arms to give the impression of a family leaving Lahore and travelled first class in the train.
They left Lahore undetected. A great escape indeed like that of Neta Ji subhash Chandra Bose later from Calcutta. Rajguru left Lahore like a labourer and Sukhdeo like a daily wage earner. Chandra Shekhar Azad was clever by half and even his friends were amazed how he got away from the prying eyes of the alert spies and police personnel. He too died a Martyr’s death later in Allahabad Alfred park fighting the police like a possessed man.
The three Martyrs were almost of the same age group.Great bonhomie prevailed among them. Notwithstanding heated discussions on political and economic matters they remained bosom friends till they breathed their last at the gallows with a broad grin and smile on their faces. Bhagat Singh was merely 23 years old and so was Sukhdev Thapar; Shivaram Rajguru was only 22 years old when they kissed the noose at the gallows and attained martyrdom.
Every year on 23rd March we remember them for their patriotism and courage. Many men and women go to their Samadhi – the place where they were cremated on the banks of the Sutluj river in Ferozepore to offer flowers. Their lives thrill our youth till today. No wonder more than half a dozen movies have been made and screened by Bollywood handing down their sacred memory to posterity so that the boys and girls of today are prepared to defend the hard won freedom and keep our Bharat mata free from shackles of all kinds.
Let us take a leaf out of the prison diary of Shaheed Bhagat Singh and share his thoughts. He wrote :
“ Social progress depends not upon the ennoblement of the few but on the enrichment of democracy ; universal brotherhood can be achieved only when there is an equality of opportunity – of opportunity in the social, political and individual life.”
Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev became Martyrs for the cause of independence of Bharat. They did not submit to the diktats of the British Raj. They had moral courage to withstand the atrocities of the police and jailors. We salute them.
An Article by Brigadier Chitranjan Sawant,VSM
MAHATMA GANDHi arrived in Karachi in the month of March, 1931 to participate in the annual Congress session. There was a surprise in store for him. He was not a welcome guest to a large section of vocal people assembled there.
They waved black flags and shouted slogan “ Gandhi Go back”. Unbelievable but true. The vociferous youth were members of the Navajawan Sabha, a forum of the Congress party itself. Lo and behold! The restive youth were led by no less a person than Subhash Bose, a giant among men.
The sad cause they espoused was : non-intervention of Gandhi Ji in getting the death sentence of Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev commuted. The three brave young men who challenged the British Raj and fought for the Independence of their motherland, Bharat, were hanged by the neck by the British Indian government on 23rd March 1931 in the Lahore central jail. Against all rules, the hanging was done in the evening at 7.33 P.M .Their bodies were hurriedly disposed off to avoid peoples’ ire The Three young men became Martyrs for the cause of their motherland.
The Indian nation was in a state of shock on their premature hanging, a day before the appointed date, and after a slipshod funeral on the banks of the Sutluj river at Hussainiwala near Ferozepore. It was a sacrilege and added insult to injury. Instead of condoling their deaths and comforting their families Ghandhi Ji, in his own wisdom, had chosen to proceed to Bombay to see off Lord Irwin, the outgoing Viceroy who had declined to commute the death sentence of the three young freedom fighters. There was general indignation. The black flag demonstration against Gandhi Ji was a manifestation of the pent up anger of the people.
Vedic Influence On Martyrs
An analytical study of the events in the Punjab in the first few decades of the twentieth century points to the influence of the Arya Samaj, founded by Swami Dayanand Saraswati in Bombay in 1875 and in Lahore in 1877. No section of the populace remained untouched by this great historical event, irrespective of the religious faith they subscribed to.
I need not emphasize the obvious historical fact that the foundation of the Arya Samaj in Lahore was laid in the garden of a Muslim gentleman, Doctor Rahim Khan. The Vedic discourses were attended by a cross section of the population comprising Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs. Reverting to our subject of the martyrs, it would be appropriate to mention that Bhagat Singh, a born Sikh, had his sacred thread ceremony, Yajnopavit, done as a child, notwithstanding his caste being a Sandhu Jat, who were not entitled to hold the ceremony.
The Arya Samaj, a reformist movement, had opened the portals of Vedic knowledge and sixteen sanskars to one and all. Bhagat Singh was a beneficiary of the Arya liberalisation, courtesy his grandfather, Arjan Singh and father, Kishen Singh. His one uncle was also hanged as a freedom fighter and another had to leave India for Iran to avoid persecution at the hands of the British overlords.
Sukhdeo, the second martyr, too was from Lyallpur like Bhagat Singh and the family did not remain untouched by the waves of reform powered by the Arya Samaj. Both Sukhdeo and Bhagat Singh had enrolled themselves for studies in the National College, Lahore that had a preponderance of professors, who had received their education and baptism in Nationalism at the Gurukul Kangri, Haridwar, founded by Swami Shraddhanand.
Bhagat Singh was a student of the DAV School, Lahore too for a period of time and the spirit of freedom was indeed instilled in him there too. Vedalankar, Vidyalankar – the two degrees of Gurukul Kangri were in evidence in surfeit among the teaching faculty of both the educational institutions that shaped the personality and instilled patriotism and moral courage among many a greedom fighter, including our national Martyrs, Bhagat Singh and Sukhdeo.
Rajguru’s was a different story. Born in a village near Pune in Maharashtra in a family that comprised Purohits and students of the Vedas, they were appropriately addressed as Rajguru. It was the pursuit of Vedic studies that brought Shivram Rajguru to Varanasi and later to Kanpur to meet revolutionaries of the eminence of Chandra Shekhar Azad.
Bhagat Singh too had made more than one visit to Kanpur with the common intent of freeing the motherland through other ways and means than the one espoused by Gandhi Ji. These young men had no faith and, of course, no patience to follow the path of Ahimsa for achieving independence. Of course, the three had become inseparable comrades-in-arms in the noble cause where bomb – making and killing of foreigners or their lackeys was not a taboo. The revolutionaries from Bengal were a great help and they always came forward unhesitatingly. Many a time Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru had to miss a meal, forego new clothes to save money for the revolutionary cause.
FIGHT TO FINISH
AIM – that indeed is the first principle of war. Our revolutionaries knew this and indeed practised this. They had Independence of India as their sole aim. They did not allow any other thing to come in between that could make them deviate from the AIM. Not even the girls. Delving deep into their contemporary history, a researcher will have no option but to pronounce that celibacy was their creed. They could not but cling to creed unflinchingly. They had great disdain for the institution of marriage until independence was achieved. A mere mention of marriage was to them like a red rag to a bull.
Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru had left their homes and near and dear ones for the cause celebre and would not le marriage derail their noble mission. Notwithstanding their young age, the period when the urge for sex is at its zenith, they never thought of women, leave aside craving for company. This character quality is indeed laudable. It is a beacon light for the youth of the twenty first century where sex is taken as a dynamo to energise all activities. The three Martyrs show us light at the end of the tunnel. Even a blind person will not miss it.
Bhagat Singh and Rajguru came from different ethnic backgrounds but their aim was the same. Bharat Mata Ki Jai – that was their creed and that was their slogan. They had unflinching faith in their mission and knew that they would achieve the AIM – living or dead. In any case, the Vedic philosophy of life had it ingrained in them that the soul never dies, it only changes the bodies. Believers in the Vedic Trinity know it well that Parmatma, jeevatma and Prakriti have separate existences, never born and never die. Why grieve for a change in outer appearance.
This Vedic belief buttressed their determination to fight to finish; fight to win. Bhagat Singh, Sukhdeo and Rajguru had seen the barbarity of the British police officers when they cane charged the Indian procession at the Lahore railway station where they had assembled to show black flag to the Simon Commission as it was anti-Indian.
An old and venerable leader like Lala Lajpat Rai, a doyen among Aryas and Congressmen alike, was not spared the baton. Saunders, a police officer, himself beat Lala Ji resulting in his premature demise within a month. It was then and there that Bhagat Singh, Sukhdeo and Rajguru had vowed to avenge the insult and injury to venerable Lala Lajpat Rai, a great disciple of Swami Dayanand Saraswati. Our revlutionaries fought to finish and achieved their aim.
Chandra Shekhar Azad too had joined them when they made a plan to kill the Superintendent of Police, Scott, who had ordered the lathi charge. He was present at the time of execution of the plan too. Well, under a mistaken identity, Saunders, who was equally guilty of humiliating Indians, was killed by their bullets near the police station in Lahore. It shook the British administration not only in Punjab but in the rest of India too.
Bhagat Singh and Batukeshwar Dutt had the moral and physical courage to bomb the Central Assembly in New Delhi on 8th April 1029 and fire a few shots from the visitors’ gallery when the Public Safety Act was being passed as an ordinance after it was voted out by the Indian members. Our Duo had not intended to kill or injure anyone. By a loud explosion and smoke they wished the deaf government in Delhi to heed to the voice of the Indian masses. Their mission was a success, notwithstanding the sentence of life imprisonment awarded to them. Of course, the case of shooting the police officer in Lahore and trial of the three freedom fighters in Lahore gave a new turn to events as mentioned heretofore.
MEMORIES OF MARTYRS
Bhagat Singh was in the hot seat after Sunders, the British police officer, who was shot dead by the revolutionaries to avenge the death of Punjab Kesari, Lala Lajpat Rai. Lahore was not a safe place for him and his comrades-in-arms. To avoid detection by the British government sleuths, Bhagat Singh had shorn off his long hair and beard. He dressed like a European, was accompanied by a lady, Durga bhabhi (wife of another revolutionary) with a babe in her arms to give the impression of a family leaving Lahore and travelled first class in the train.
They left Lahore undetected. A great escape indeed like that of Neta Ji subhash Chandra Bose later from Calcutta. Rajguru left Lahore like a labourer and Sukhdeo like a daily wage earner. Chandra Shekhar Azad was clever by half and even his friends were amazed how he got away from the prying eyes of the alert spies and police personnel. He too died a Martyr’s death later in Allahabad Alfred park fighting the police like a possessed man.
The three Martyrs were almost of the same age group.Great bonhomie prevailed among them. Notwithstanding heated discussions on political and economic matters they remained bosom friends till they breathed their last at the gallows with a broad grin and smile on their faces. Bhagat Singh was merely 23 years old and so was Sukhdev Thapar; Shivaram Rajguru was only 22 years old when they kissed the noose at the gallows and attained martyrdom.
Every year on 23rd March we remember them for their patriotism and courage. Many men and women go to their Samadhi – the place where they were cremated on the banks of the Sutluj river in Ferozepore to offer flowers. Their lives thrill our youth till today. No wonder more than half a dozen movies have been made and screened by Bollywood handing down their sacred memory to posterity so that the boys and girls of today are prepared to defend the hard won freedom and keep our Bharat mata free from shackles of all kinds.
Let us take a leaf out of the prison diary of Shaheed Bhagat Singh and share his thoughts. He wrote :
“ Social progress depends not upon the ennoblement of the few but on the enrichment of democracy ; universal brotherhood can be achieved only when there is an equality of opportunity – of opportunity in the social, political and individual life.”
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