‘ My Diary ’
Wooden Sandals (Kharanv) of Guru Hargobind Sahib
A pair of ‘Kharanv’ (a kind of wooden sandals) of the sixth Guru, Sri Guru Hargobind Sahib Ji Maharaj is seen in these pictures. These ‘Kharanv’ were possessed by descendants of Rai Bular Ji, local ruler and a devotee of Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji. Presently, these holy ‘Kharanv’ are displayed in ‘Sahibzada Baba Ajit Singh Library and Museum’, Gurdwara Sri Paunta Sahib, Himachal Pradesh, India.
I shot these pictures on December 02, 2008.
(Click on images for larger view).
INS Tabar Sank Pirate Ship
(Amrit Pal Singh ‘Amrit’)
In recent times, there has been a flow in piracy incidents off the shore of Somalia. No strict action was taken against them, although the pirates till now have managed to attack 91 vessels, with a few of them still being held captive, since January. It is said that Somali pirates have been paid more than $150m (£101m) in ransoms (Opens in a new window) this year.
The naval forces of the US, UK, Canada, France, Turkey, Germany, Russia and India are present in the Gulf of Aden. This shows how the world’s trading powers observe the piracy as a common danger. However, a strict action was needed.
And the Indian Navy did it.
On November 18, 2008, the Indian navy’s warship, ‘the Tabar’, spotted the pirate vessel while patrolling 285 nautical miles (528km) south-west of Salalah in Oman in evening. The pirates on board were armed with guns and rocket propelled grenade launchers. When Indians commanded the vessel stop for investigation, the pirate ship opened fire on the Tabar. The Indians retaliated and sank the pirate mother ship. A few of the pirates escaped on two speedboats.
Earlier, helicopter-borne Indian marine commandos stopped pirates from boarding and hijacking an Indian merchant vessel.
Now, the government of Somalia has permitted India to enter its territorial waters as part of an effort to check piracy. Indian Navy is expected to dispatch a powerful warship to drive pirates out of the Gulf of Aden. Navies of US and France have already been permitted hot pursuit in Somalian territorial waters which extends upto 12 nautical miles from the coastline.
The action by the Indian Navy is being praised (Opens in a new window).
The Word ‘Hindustan’ and Guru Nanak Ji
(Amrit Pal Singh ‘Amrit’)It is a well-known fact that Guru Nanak Dev Ji used the word ‘Hindustan’ in his holy hymns. These hymns are included in Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji.
These are two lines of two different hymns of Guru Nanak Dev Ji, where the word ‘Hindustan’ has been used: -
Kaaeaa Kaparh Tuk Tuk Hosee Hindustaan Samaalsee Bola.
(The body-fabric will be torn apart into shreds, and then India will remember these words). (Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji, page 723).
And,
Khuraasaan Khasmaana Keeaa Hindustaan Daraaeaa.
(Having acquired Khuraasaan, Baabar terrified Hindustan). (Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji, page 360).
Guru Nanak Dev Ji used the word ‘Hindustan’ for his own country Bharat, generally known as India amongst English readers. Now, Bharat, Hindustan and India, all of these three names are official names of our country.
Now, the question is who for the first time used the word ‘Hindustan’ for India?
A claim has been made that a book Baarhaspatyua Samhita used the term ‘Hindusthanam’: -
Himalyam Samarabhya
Yavadindusarovaram
Tam Deonirmitam Desham
Hindusthanam Prachakshate ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hindustan {Opens in new window}).
However, the book Baarhaspatyua Samhita is considered a controversial one, as it is very hard to prove it an ancient book.
It is a fact that the word ‘Hindustan’ is not found in four vedas, 18 Puranas and main Upnishandas.
My father (late Bhai Avtar Singh Ji) once told me there was an opinion that the word ‘Hindustan’ for the first time was used by Guru Nanak Dev Ji himself, or at least he was the person who popularised the word.
Now, an article has appeared on a Hindi website made similar statement. The headline itself says that Bharat was called Hindustan first by (Guru) Nanak. ( http://khabar.ndtv.com/2008/11/12130721/guru-nanak-hindustan.html {Opens in a new window}).
I hope that someone will investigate the issue and provide us more details about the word ‘Hindustan’.
They Were Innocent…
(Amrit Pal Singh ‘Amrit’)
At last, the Andhra Pradesh government has admitted that 21 Muslim youth were wrongly detained and tortured for the blast investigates at Mecca Masjid, Gokul Chat shop and Lumbini Park in Hyderabad in May and August 2007.
The government admitted this only after the State Minorities Commission released a report in this regard
As per news papers, on 18 May, 2007, 14 persons were killed and over 50 others injured in a bomb explosion in the historic Mecca Masjid and in the subsequent police firings in the nearby areas in Hyderabad. Nine persons lost their lives in the bomb blast and other five were killed in Police firing. (Related News {Opens in a new window})
On August 25, 2007, 42 persons were killed and about 50 injured in two powerful near-simultaneous blasts at Lumbini Park and Gokul Chat shop in Hyderabad. (Related News {Opens in a new window})
The Police acted in its well-known style and took many Muslims into custody.
Ms. Nirmala Deshpande, Member of Parliament, and Ms. Nandita Rao, advocate in New Delhi had made complaints in this regard to the National Commission for Minorities. They submitted detailed reports filed by the Civil Liberties Monitoring Committee and by a fact-finding commission set up the AP State Minorities Commission (Read a report by indianMuslims.info {Opens in a new window}) after which the Commission sent its four-member team to Hyderabad on 4-5 February, 2008.
Many allegations were made against the Police. For example: -
- disregarding established procedures, the police fired indiscriminately into the crowd fleeing the Mecca Masjid after the blasts which resulted in the death of at least six persons
- after the twin blasts on August 25, 2007, the police picked up Muslim youth randomly as suspects. In one instance, a group of young men was apprehended in a grave-yard watching CDs of Jehadi propaganda on a television set with a proper electricity connection!
- the suspects were not allowed to inform relatives of their arrest
- the suspects were bundled into cars without number-plates, blindfolded and illegally detained in farm houses and private lodges for several days where they were subjected to physical and mental torture. They were stripped naked, severely beaten, administered electric shocks on various parts of their body, including the genitals, and deprived of food and water. The police used abusive language about their women folk and their faith and forced them to hail Hindu deities.
- No lawyer was present during interrogation of the suspects.
- Detainees were not produced before a magistrate for remand within 24 hours of their detention. Instead, the time of arrest was shown as later than it actually took place merely to comply with the requirement of remand within 24 hours of arrest.
- The suspects were produced before a magistrate after court hours at his residence. The magistrates never asked them if they had been tortured despite tell-tale marks of recent injuries.
- Some of the suspects had to undergo narco tests whose results have little evidentiary value but which resulted in physical and psychological damage to them. Incidentally, the AP High Court has banned narco tests.
According to the report of National Commission for Minorities’ team: -
First, the police have yet to identify the perpetrators of the three bomb blasts in Hyderabad in 2007. Second, the Commissioner of Police, Hyderabad City, has himself admitted in a letter addressed to the AP State Minorities Commission that during the process of the examination of suspects, the police were unable to gather evidence establishing their complicity in the blasts. The Commissioner did add that the suspects were found to be involved in certain criminal acts and that they were also part of a Jehadi network in Hyderabad.
However, even in this latter comment the Police Commissioner had made no mention of the ISI. On further questioning the police officials agreed to delete this reference. A similar undertaking was given by the Charlapalli jail authorities and Minister Md. Ali Shabbir.
The report recommends:
In view of the seriousness of the allegations against the police, and the less-than satisfactory responses given by them, the NCM team urges the union government to direct the CBI to enquire into all the three incidents of bomb blasts in the city in 2007. As of now, only the Mecca Masjid blast case is being investigated by the CBI.
Now, when those, who were arrested by the Police, are proved innocent, the Andra Pradesh government has announced a compensation worth of Rs 30,000 to each of those youth. This compensation will be paid in the form of an auto-rickshaw.
These Muslims are victimized by the Police, a government department. These Muslim youth along with their families underwent a great physical as well as mental torture. A compensation of Rs 30,000 (and that too will not be given in cash) for all this pain they suffered is but a joke. The government must publicly apologize to these Muslims and immediately give at least Rs 10, 00,000 in cash as compensation. This is the least this government can do for all those who have suffered in the hands of the police. Giving back their lost dignity is another point which needs our attention.
And, this will not be enough. Police officers responsible for these misdeeds should be prosecuted for religious discrimination and physical as well as mental torture.
Only an accountable and independent police force can fight against terror. Otherwise, the police force in present shape is incapable. Under pressure to produce results, it arrests and tortures innocent citizens. This is absolutely unacceptable in a democratic country.
Honesty and trustworthiness of the Police has taken a severe beating. Everything done by police will be suspected by an average citizen and it will open up scope for even real terrorists to get benefit of doubt.
Bajrang Dal runs the risk of being branded terrorist group
http://www.rediff.com/news/2008/oct/06raman.htm?zcc=rl
Bajrang Dal runs the risk of being branded terrorist group
B RamanOctober 06, 2008
There is no other way to describe the wave of jihadi terrorist strikes spreading death and destruction across India since July 2006, and the wave of anti-Christian violence being seen in Orissa and Karnataka since August 2008, except as Indians killing Indians.The wave of jihadi strikes has affected many states — ruled by the Congress, the Bharatiya Janata Party, the Communist Party of India-Marxist and others.
Anger against certain aggressive groups of evangelists indulging in a scurrilous campaign against the Hindu religion and converting the impoverished tribals of central India to Christianity through the allurement of money has been widespread in many states of India, but this anger has been expressed in a civilised manner in most states. Only in the BJP ruled Karnataka and in Orissa ruled by an electoral ally of the BJP has this anger taken an ugly, uncivilised turn in the form of orchestrated attacks on Christians and their places of worship and even the alleged rape of a helpless nun.
Continue Reading: - http://www.rediff.com/news/2008/oct/06raman.htm?zcc=rl
Nanded blast accused spill all in narco test
http://in.rediff.com/news/2008/nov/07nanded-blast-accused-spill-the-truth.htm
Nanded blast accused spill all in narco test
Vicky Nanjappa in Bengaluru November 07, 2008 12:15 IST
Hindu terror is here, if investigating agencies are to be believed. The arrest and subsequent interrogation of Sadhvi Pragya Singh, an Army officer and others for their alleged involvement in the Malegaon blasts of 2008 indicate the growing involvement of rightwing Hindu activists in terror acts.
While ‘Hindu terror acts’ are made out to be a relatively new concept, the fact remains that the first signs of Hindu terror came to the fore as way back as 2006, when a bomb went off while bding assembled in a Hindu activist’s house in Nanded, Maharashtra.
Confessions by those arrested in that incident, during a narco-analysis test, throw light on how some Hindus decided to execute terror strikes, their modus operandi and the source of funding.
Continue Reading: - http://in.rediff.com/news/2008/nov/07nanded-blast-accused-spill-the-truth.htm
Blasts: Sadhvi, 2 others charged with murder
http://in.rediff.com/news/2008/oct/24sadhvi.htm
October 24, 2008 18:27 IST
Last Updated: October 24, 2008 19:30 IST
A young sadhvi suspected to have links with a Hindu right wing group and two other men were slapped with murder charges on Friday after they were arrested for their alleged involvement in the Malegaon blasts in which the police said the deadly RDX was used. Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur along with Shamlal Sahu and Shivnarayan Singh, all hailing from Madhya Pradesh [Images], were produced before a chief judicial magistrate K D Boche in Nashik in Maharashtra which remanded them to police custody till November 3.Public prosecutor Ajay Miisar said the crime committed by the three was a “serious offence” and they were booked under charges of murder, attempt to murder and voluntarily causing grievous hurt under IPC Sections 302, 307 and 326 respectively.
Continue Reading: http://in.rediff.com/news/2008/oct/24sadhvi.htm
Malegaon blast: Hindu extremists picked up from Indore
http://in.rediff.com/news/2008/oct/23malegaon.htm
Malegaon blast: Hindu extremists picked up from Indore
Three persons from Indore were picked up by the Maharashtra police and are being interrogated in Mumbai in connection with the Malegaon bomb blasts amid suspicions that Hindu extremist groups could be involved in the recent explosions in Malegaon and Modasa in Gujarat.
Top police sources said in Indore that in a very secret operation, Maharashtra police had taken three persons — Shyam Lal, Dilip Nahar and Dharmendra Bairagi — into custody from the city in Madhya Pradesh on October 19 in connection with a theft of a motorcycle for assisting in the probe into the explosions.
Continue Reading: http://in.rediff.com/news/2008/oct/23malegaon.htm
When Sikhs bolstered French honour
http://www.tribuneindia.com/2008/20081008/edit.htm#7
When Sikhs bolstered French honour
by Lt Gen (retd) Baljit SinghWhenever the controversy centred around the Sikhs and their turbans resurfaces in France, my memory invariably reaches out to a slice of history from 1915 as recorded in the chronicles of World War I. For 10 turbaned Sikh soldiers using six spare turbans, wriggled and dragged two boxes of mortar bombs and two of machine-gun bullets, under withering German shelling and automatic fire, in the mid-day sun for about 25 minutes, till at last just one box of bombs was eventually delivered to their beleaguered colleagues.
Nine Sikh soldiers perished as they crawled and dragged the cargo through the rain of shells and bullets. The tenth was struck dead as he momentarily stood up to unknot the turban from around the box of bombs to deliver it to his comrades.
There was an eleventh. He was shell-shocked and stood stock-still, his uniform riddled with bullet holes. One Sikh soldier in the nearby trench reflexably reached out and pulled Lieut John Smyth down to the ground. He emerged the sole survivor of the heroic mission.
Continue Reading: - http://www.tribuneindia.com/2008/20081008/edit.htm#7
Advani against ban on religious conversion
http://www.ibnlive.com/news/advani-against-ban-on-religious-conversion/74252-3.html
Bhubaneswar: Bharatiya Janata Party’s prime ministerial candidate for the next Lok Sabha elections Lal Krishna Advani on Wednesday rejected the idea of a ban on religious conversion and said any move against conversions must not become a campaign against any community.
Asked whether conversion should be banned in the country as demanded by various outfits, Advani replied, “No. In a country like India, it should not be legally prohibited, though some countries like Indonesia have banned conversion. Even laws in some countries provide for death penalty for conversion.”
Continue Reading: - http://www.ibnlive.com/news/advani-against-ban-on-religious-conversion/74252-3.html
