Tag Archives: Society

A Country of Hungry And Homeless People Is Not A Great Country

(Amrit Pal Singh ‘Amrit’)

What would you call the head of any family, who does not provide food and shelter to his own family members, but gives large donations to other families?

A part of the population in many countries sleeps hungry. There are many people in these countries that are homeless. The government of a country is similar to the head of a family. The governments of these countries are unable to provide food and shelter to their own citizens. On the other hand, the same governments spend lavishly on less than useful projects. These governments even give large donations to other countries for various reasons, but mostly, it would seem, to earn a reputation among other countries.

There is a popular saying that charity begins at home. When their own citizens are hungry and homeless, giving donations to other countries for political reasons does not make a country great. It makes them hypocritical.

When a part of its population, even if a very small portion, is hungry and homeless, a country can never claim to be ‘a great country’. If those governing the country ignore their own people, they are simply betraying their country.

A country is not merely a geographical entity. People living in a country are an essential part of that country. A government is formed to take care of its own country and its own people. Own country and own people should be the priority of every government. A government ignoring their own people is a failure.

European Leaders Do Not Know How To Deal With Migrant Crisis

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban is absolutely right, when he says, “The reality is that Europe is threatened by a mass inflow of people, many tens of millions of people could come to Europe.”

“Now we talk about hundreds of thousands but next year we will talk about millions and there is no end to this.”

“All of a sudden we will see that we are in minority in our own continent.”

However, it is clear that European leaders have no idea how to deal with escalating migrant crisis…

~ Amrit Pal Singh ‘Amrit’
www.AmritWorld.com

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http://www.tribuneindia.com/news/world/new-refugee-proposals-after-photos-of-drowned-syrian-boy/128647.html

Brussels/ Budapest/Bicske/ Lisbon, September 4

European leaders, shocked by the horrifying image of a drowned Syrian child, rushed out new proposals to address the escalating migrant crisis despite deep divisions in the 28-member bloc. Hungary, however, hardened its stand, with its right-wing prime minister claiming the growing migrant crisis in Europe threatened to make Europeans a minority in their own continent after hundreds spent the night stranded on a train surrounded by police.

The heartbreaking images of three-year-old Aylan Kurdi lying dead in the surf after the boat taking his family to Greece sank brought home the horror of the refugee crisis — the worst of its kind since World War II.

With tensions growing in Europe over how to handle the situation, France and Germany said they had agreed that the EU should now impose binding quotas on the numbers that member states should take in, having failed to reach such a deal in June.

“We agree that… we need binding quotas within the European Union to share the burden. That is the principle of solidarity,” German Chancellor Angela Merkel told reporters during a visit in the Swiss capital.

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker will next week unveil a plan for the relocation of at least 120,000 more refugees to ease the burden on frontline EU nations Greece, Italy and Hungary, a European source said.

EU president Donald Tusk also called on member states to share the resettlement of at least 100,000 refugees — far above the current agreement for 32,000.

In Britain, the Guardian newspaper reported that Prime Minister David Cameron was preparing to respond to growing pressure to accept a bigger share of refugees, by accepting thousands directly from UN camps on the border with Syria.

“Final details of the numbers, funding and planned location are being urgently thrashed out in Whitehall,” the Guardian cited government sources as saying.

Cameron earlier promised the country would fulfil its “moral responsibilities”, after having only accepted 216 Syrian refugees over the past year. He said the numbers allowed would be kept “under review”.

EU foreign ministers are set to meet in Luxembourg on on Friday to discuss the escalating crisis, after pressure for action was heightened by the images of the drowned child.

Kurdi was seen in photos in a red T-shirt, blue shorts and shoes and lying motionless on the seashore before a rescue worker picks up his limp body.

“I was holding my wife’s hand. But my children slipped through my hands. We tried to cling to the small boat, but it was deflating. It was dark and everyone was screaming,” his grieving father Abdullah Kurdi told Turkey’s Dogan news agency of the sinking. — AFP

Hungary’s Orban warns of ‘tens of millions’ of migrants

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said: “The reality is that Europe is threatened by a mass inflow of people, many tens of millions of people could come to Europe.”

Viktor Orban’s regular interview to a public radio came as hundreds of migrants, many of them refugees from the Syrian war, woke after a night on a packed train stranded at a railway station west of Budapest, refusing to go to a nearby camp to process asylum seekers.

“Now we talk about hundreds of thousands but next year we will talk about millions and there is no end to this,” he said.

“All of a sudden we will see that we are in minority in our own continent.”

Shouts of “No camp, freedom!” broke out; Using shaving foam, they wrote on the side of the train: “No camp. No Hungary. Freedom train.”

The migrants had wrestled with police on Thursday, some throwing themselves on the tracks insisting they be allowed to remain on the train bound for a border town near Austria.

The train had left Budapest on Thursday morning after a two-day standoff at the city’s main railway station as police barred entry to some 2,000 migrants. Hungary says they must be registered, as per European Union rules, but many refuse, fearing they will be sent back to Hungary if caught later in western and northern Europe.

Hungary has hit out at Germany, the most popular destination among the migrants, for saying it would accept asylum requests from Syria regardless of where they entered the EU.

Parliament in Budapest is expected to endorse on Friday a raft of measures to effectively seal Hungary’s southern border with Serbia to migrants, creating holding zones on the frontier where migrants will be held while their papers are processed and potentially sent back into Serbia.

“Hungary cannot ignore Schengen rules in its procedures,” said Orban, referring to Europe’s zone of passport-free travel.

“Migrants must cooperate with Hungarian authorities, with the German authorities and if Germany wants to admit Syrians, it should issue permission for them to go into Germany.” Orban said the new measures being debated by Parliament would be implemented from September 15.

“Everyone should be prepared for this: Serbia, Macedonia, the immigrants, the human traffickers. We ourselves will prepare for this, and a different era will start from September 15.”

UK to accept thousands more refugees from Syria: Cameron

Britain will take “thousands more” refugees from Syria, British Prime Minister David Cameron said on Friday.

Cameron said Britain had already accepted around 5,000 Syrians under its existing resettlement schemes, which would continue to take in more refugees.

“Given the scale of the crisis and the suffering of people, today, I can announce that we will do more in providing resettlement for thousands more Syrian refugees,” Cameron told reporters in Lisbon after meeting his Portuguese counterpart.

Britain’s government has faced calls to take in many more refugees after broad media coverage of the image of a dead Syrian toddler washed up on a Turkish beach. — Reuters

Root Cause of Poverty

(Matthys van Raalten)*

I once got to know an owner and director of a Dutch flower company from a village near Aalsmeer, where the largest flower market in the world is.

This man informed me and cautioned me against doing business with Southern Italians. He received many orders for his flowers from Italy, and his rule was, that if the order derived from a place to the south of Rome, he would not accept it. For after lots of bad experience, he had come to the conclusion, that if an Italian company to the north of Rome orders something, they usually properly pay their bills. However if the order came from a company to the south of Rome, in many instances there were problems in getting the invoices paid.

If you look at the economy of Italy, you can also notice the fact, that in the South there is more poverty and the economy in general is not doing very well, and that in the north people are much richer, there is fewer poverty.

There are cultural differences between southern Italy and northern Italy. The difference is not the religion, they are both overwhelmingly Catholic.

The real difference is, that in the North, people are more committed to keeping their agreements. It’s something you can see world wide; the countries where people are more disciplined in keeping among others business agreements, the wealthier they are.
Other people think that corruption and the lack of a well functioning justice system are the main causes of poverty world wide, but I disagree. Not that these things are not relevant at all. But they also stem often from the initial problem of people not keeping their word: a government official who takes bribes breaks his contract with the state, a corrupt judge breaks his oath of impartiality.

* Matthys van Raalten is a conservative political activist from Amsterdam.

Social Welfare in the Netherlands

(Matthys van Raalten)*

European countries are known for their compromise with Socialism: the welfare or “nanny” states they are. It’s just a costly mistake to think that not working should be rewarded and working must be punished with heavy taxation to make that all possible. Let’s have a look how social welfare works in the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

A person can get social welfare in the Netherlands in many ways. The payments are all about the same, about 900 Euro per month for a single person. In addition he or she gets money to help in paying costs of rent and costs of health-care. The additional payments for these are about 150 Euro per month. Health care is almost completely covered for a monthly insurance cost of 100 Euro. Every year, people that do not work also get about 600 Euro to go on a holiday.

What are the costs of living for a single person? I have gone through this experience during the past 7 years. I spend 300 Euro on the rent of a small apartment, 200 Euro monthly on simple meals and a beer once in a while. The insurance for health care: as said above, 100 Euro per month. Then there is the bill for electricity, Internet, water and local taxes. They add up for another 150 Euro per month. I spend almost nothing on clothes, because I buy them wisely, so they stay good for a long time, but let’s say they cost me another 30 Euro per month on average. That means my total monthly costs are: about 780 Euro per month. That means I can save or spend on things that I do not really need: more than 300 Euro per month. Isn’t that pretty absurd??

The social welfare system of my country is thus way too costly. American politicians should tell their Dutch counterparts to make the necessary cuts and spend the money on Defense instead. As other European NATO allies, the Netherlands is not spending enough on its Military… just assuming that the United States will take care of all the security needs of the world for them.

* Matthys van Raalten is a conservative political activist from Amsterdam.

Encourage Marriages Among Pakistani, Afghanistani And Indian Hindus/Sikhs

(Amrit Pal Singh ‘Amrit’)

Many Pakistani and Afghanistani Hindus and Sikhs want to immigrate permanently to India. Many Indians are seen inciting Pakistani as well as Afghanistani Hindus/Sikhs to immigrate to India, though they are incapable to understand ground realities of immigration. Practically, Pakistani and Afghanistani Hindus and Sikhs are finding it difficult to settle permanently in India. That is why many Pakistani Hindus, who came to India, in due course went back to Pakistan. A few others left for western countries.

Thousands of Hindus and Sikhs were migrated from Pakistan to Indian Kashmir in 1947. Even after 67 years, they are not given basic citizenship of State of Jammu and Kashmir. They cannot vote for the state Assembly and local bodies’ elections but they are allowed to vote in Indian Parliament elections.

Those Hindus and Sikhs, who migrated from Mirpur and other areas of Pakistan occupied Kashmir to Indian Kashmir, have not given their due claims of final settlement even after 67 years. It is so easy for some Indian Hindus and Sikhs to incite Pakistani Hindus and Sikhs to migrate to India, but they never talk about these final settlements.

However, I have a suggestion for Indian Hindus and Sikhs, if they want to do something for the betterment of Hindus and Sikhs of Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Hundreds of Pakistani Muslims are married to Indian Muslims. These matrimonial relations across the border are helpful to create pleasant and friendly relations between people of two countries. If there are strong people-to-people relations between two countries, it is beneficial for both the countries.

There are rare cases of cross-border marriages between Indian and Pakistani Hindus. Hindus and Sikhs should encourage matrimonial alliance between Indian, Afghanistani and Pakistani Hindus and Sikhs. By doing so, many Pakistani and Afghanistani Hindu/Sikh girls can easily be immigrated to India. This will be a slow but very effective process. Such marriages will bring Indian, Afghanistani and Pakistani Hindus and Sikhs close to one another. At present, it seems there is lack of coordination between Pakistani, Afghanistani and Indian Hindus/Sikhs.

Such marriages between Indian and Pakistani Hindus/Sikhs will help reduce tension between the two countries, which is generally caused by politicians.

Cross-border marriages between Indian, Afghanistani and Pakistani Hindus/Sikhs are possible in Punjabi, Kashmiri, and Sindhi as well as other cultural sub-communities.

Indian, Afghanistani, and Pakistani Hindus and Sikhs should think over this option.

Holocaust education in the Netherlands

(Matthys van Raalten)*

The Holocaust-lessons their primary goal should be that the youth reflects upon what has caused it. The ever-expanding presence of Muslim-youth will create more and more obstacles to honorably commemorating the event.

What the youth should get from it, is that it was the hatred of Jews, homosexuals, gypsies, evangelical preachers, communists and others that have put the murder machine in motion.

Thus not: criticism of a religion, denunciation of certain sexual behaviors, criticism of a nomadic way of life, criticism of communism or whatever. None of these, but the propagation of hatred against innocent human beings.

The Muslim youth must learn that whoever finds him- or herself on Dutch territory, should show respect for our tradition of speaking honorably about the Holocaust. And that means, that denial, putting the blame for the event on a Zionist conspiracy or disgustingly cheering that it happened can all lead to exclusion from our community: literally.

* Matthys van Raalten is a conservative political activist from Amsterdam.


Social Norms Are Always Changing

(Amrit Pal Singh ‘Amrit’)

Chandu was a high official in Mogul royal court during the rule of King Jahangir in Delhi, India. After the engagement of his daughter with (Guru) Hargobind Sahib Ji, the son of Sri Guru Arjun Dev Ji, the fifth Guru of Sikhs, he (Chandu) used disrespectful words for the Guru. Sikhs there heard these words and felt very humiliated. They asked Guru Ji not to accept this marriage proposal. Guru Arjun Dev Ji did what Sikhs wanted.

The marriage between Chandu’s daughter and (Guru) Hargobind Sahib never took place. As was the norm of the upper caste Hindu society of those days, Chandu’s daughter remained unmarried till death.

It was unacceptable for an upper caste Hindu woman in those days to think of any other man, once her name is associated with a man. Once a woman is engaged with a man, no other man would marry her in case her engagement is broken. Such were the norms.

In those days, it was impossible for a Hindu widow to get remarried. Sikh Gurus encouraged marriages of widows, so that they could start their new lives. It was intentional change in social norms.

In this day and age, we can observe how the Indian traditional society has changed itself. Broken engagements, or even broken marriages are not a taboo anymore for girls, despite the fact that many people still exist who are not pleased with these transforms.

On a social network website, I came across a message in Hindi, which goes like this: –

In previous days, girls used to say, “I first passed B.A. 1, then B.A. 2, and then B.A. Final. Or, I first Passed B.Com 1, then B.com 2, and then B.com Final. Or, I first cleared B.Sc. 1, then B.Sc 2, and then B.Sc. Final.” Now-a-days, a modern girl says, “I first had my engagement (first), then my engagement (second), and then my engagement Final.”

While many socially respected families till today take it very humiliating if their daughter’s engagement is broken, many others do not take much notice of it. Girls are married even three or four times and they are almost accepted in ordinary society.

This news is now old that a film actress in Mumbai had a baby from a foreigner cricketer even without marriage. More and more people are adopting live-in relationships, even if such relationships have not been socially accepted in a big part of India.

However, it seems that social norms are now going further with more changes. In the landmark judgment, the Supreme Court of India framed guidelines for bringing live-in relationship within the expression ‘relationship in the nature of marriage’ for protection of women under the Domestic Violence Act. The Supreme Court says that live-in relationship is neither a crime nor a sin and Parliament should frame law for the protection of women in such relationships and children born out of it.

Freedom

“I am here to share the idea of freedom. My definition of freedom takes account of every right mentioned in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted by the United Nations on December 10, 1948. I also include in this definition the freedom from sectarian blind faith. The rights and freedoms mentioned in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights are the physical aspect of freedom and the freedom from sectarian blind faith is its psychological and academic aspect. The goal of physical as well as psychological and academic freedom can be reached right the way through the mysticism, that is to say the mystical experience of Ultimate Reality or the God Almighty..” – Amrit Pal Singh ‘Amrit’ in ‘I Am Not A Propagandist‘

Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Massacres

Terrorism

Society