SG OwnBlog

I came across this post by the reknowned author, William Darymple on Pakistan promising to renovate and return 400 temples to the Hindu community . Something of a contrast... Pakistan to restore, hand over 400 Hindu temples https://t.co/ufTdlW3joH via @indiatoday — William Dalrymple (@DalrympleWill) November 12, 2019 That is great. However, there was something problematic about the tweet. Notice the first line - 'Something of a contrast'. The inference is hard to miss. The fact that the Indian Supreme Court had given its verdict recently to return the Ram Janmabhoomi to the Hindus stands (as per William) in direct contrast to Pakistan returning its temples to Hindus. The moral signalling is relevant. Hindu majority India is handing 'Muslim' places of worship to Hindus, while Pakistan being a Muslim majority nation is  transferring Hindu places of worship back to Hindus. Katas Raj Mandir Comples Indian nationalists will take a serious offence at the p

The Ram Mandir verdict was pronounced by the Supreme Court of India yesterday. The judgement was decisive as it clearly asked the state to handover the erstwhile disputed site to the Hindus for the building of a Ram Mandir and the Muslims to be given a 5 acre land for the construction of a Masjid if they need one. Both sides seem to have accepted the judgement so far. Of course, neither side could do much in any case. The judgement was unanimous, all five judges pronounced the verdict in favor of the Ram Mandir and hence the chance of a review petition by any party was unlikely to be entertained by the Court. Besides, the Hindus got what they wanted (mostly) as they have restored ownership to the 2.77 acres of land where the previous Mandir was supposed to have been standing. Wat Chaiwatthanaram, Ayutthaya, Thailand I will not go into archaeological evidence again to justify the verdict. The court has done a decent job in noting the reports that were provided to it by the ASI

I stayed for 3 years in Bangalore. There were places I loved in the city, places that I liked and a few places that I hated. There were also places about which I cannot make up any opinion at all. Among them was the Jumma Masjid on the Dispensary road. This is not to be confused with the more famous Trust by the same name that is close by. The area around is always busy and the commercial street is also close. The markets were always full of customers, shopkeepers sold exotic items. Just a few hundred meters and you could also visit the markets selling lots of stolen goods, though the shopkeepers often deny that and then wink to show that they were bluffing. It is a fun place for a man to be in, a bit scary for many women, except in a crowd. Anyway, I always found the place inviting in a peculiar way, the nearby Salafi mosque preaching the evils of other religions, the stench of the urinals, the cheap stolen goods in the market, the prostitutes on the road, the hustle and bustle

In this Information age, the opinions of people are shaped by the discourse that happens in the media – the newspapers, the internet forums, the videos that are shot, the letters, open letters and counter letters. A vast majority of them are full of half-truths and that is not surprising as every side has skeletons to hide. The problem arises when a gullible population (read Indians) digest these printed words both offline and on as the ultimate Truth without question. Secondary sources and even imaginary accounts becomes Gospels to be used to shut anyone who dares to oppose the mainstream discourse. The Quint has recently published an open letter by a veteran soldier of the Indian Army named Major Gaurav. They apparently waited for a counter to that which was furnished by a Wasim Khan, a ‘Kashmiri’ who now is settled in Mumbai and runs a successful media agency (not surprising). So before we go into braindead blaming attempts, let’s analyze the two pieces one by one and check

Burhan Wani – The man and his mission The death of a young ‘hero’? On the 8 th of July, Burhan Muzaffar Wani died in the Valley of Kashmir. Thousands poured out on the streets to commemorate his services to the movement that he had come to symbolize of late. The relative calm of the region was shattered with curfews, killings and allegations of human rights abuses. His father was proud for the services his son had offered in the name of their faith, convinced that he would go to Heaven. Amidst all this, the romantic ideals of a young boy, just off his teens began to shake up the youth of the entire country, both in and beyond India. There is a lot of unrest in the Kashmir Valley recently, especially in the aftermath of the death, nay execution of Burhan. All of this is not unexpected in any way. In fact, this was foreseen. Even his glorification, his elevation to the status of a martyr in the service of Islam does not come as a surprise to me. Threats to the Indians - In th

I was honestly wondering about the reality or what I perceive it as. And this is what I came across. Of course, I could have ignored it. But since God himself or Himself has decided to come up with a statement, I simply couldn't brush it aside. Ain't no 72 virgins waiting for you, fellas. — God (@TheTweetOfGod) January 9, 2015 This might break some hearts and disappoint young folks who wish to hurry up, literally. Oh, btw, I just uploaded a super cool post on SEO, regarding how to share content better. Do check it out. :D In any case, just when I was about to sign off, I had this clarification - that popped out from the Notification area - I am the Lord thy God, King of the Universe, the omnipotent and omniscient Creator of Space and Time, and I can take a fucking joke. — God (@TheTweetOfGod) January 9, 2015 Have a nice weekend!

Waiting for an appraisal meeting is always difficult. Honestly speaking, I am more excited than scared. Last two years were not all that great, so I hope this time I am in a rather relaxed mood in comparison. Let's see what happens this time. On another note, the world is being shaken up by events that I understand little about. The Charlie Hebdo attacks have thrown many accepted points of view into question. Primary among them is the fact that the attacks have found some considerable support from many moderate voices among the Moslem communities. In any case, these are strange times. Once the mud settles down we can hope to see more clearly.

I have seen various types of people in life. From armchair warriors to snobs etc etc. Religious or ethnic hatred is one of the most common that I have seen. But so far all of those had some political ideology mixed with faith. For example I have mixed with conservative Hindus who did not like Muslims, and fanatical Muslims baying for Hindu/Sikh/Jain/Buddhist blood. But the Hindu was invariably a Hindutvadi or a BJP supporter or something of that sort. The Muslim would also be an Islamist. This time I met a third kind - pure hatred, that does not derive it's strength from any political ideology. This beautiful lady hates Muslims without having any affinity to the Hindutva ideology and not even any to Modi or RSS or the like. I am yet to come to terms with the exceptional exception but I will produce her answers to some of my questions, without any modification. I, of course, don't endorse any of this nor do I insinuate that she is a hate monger. I don't wish to portray he

Recently in India all nutjobs from across the political spectrum are busy painting terrorists with religious brushes. The ultimate motivation for this action is unknown to me. But let's briefly discuss how evil the Hindus have become. In the last few years some of the vilest crimes committed are by Hindus. These are Samjhauta Express Bombing Malegaon blasts version 2008 - apparently terrorists have a certain fixation with this place Mecca Masjid bombing - This mosque is in India and not in Mecca I could not find any major involvement other than these. For an evil militant Hindu civilization, such poor record is disturbing. But anyway - let's examine them one by one. Check out the captions - you are looking at one of Indian media's judgements passed against an individual to increase sales. Note terms - Hindu terror and 'The Believer'. The movie is about a neo Nazi fanatic who likes to attack Jews. Check out the poster here. I did not find any similar

Ajmal Kasab on his tour in Mumbai - Mumbai Terror Attack Islamic terrorism is a reality and anyone denying it is living in denial. It is also a known fact that the terror activities are largely inspired by faith. Of course, when I asked a mufti he said it was entirely due to politics and there may have been some religious justification but that the casus belli was politics. So this quesiton has been posed many times by academics, scholars, intellectuals, right wing lunatics, conservatives, bleeding heart liberals and so on. Everyone has their own point of view. Of course there are plenty of verses that can be used to justify the acts of terrorism. I can say that there is plenty of justification present in other Abrahamic religions. But hey, Jews are not blowing up a bus of school children in Iran. Christian extremists are considered extreme even when they only shout against abortion. But Islamists have been engaging in acts of terror long before 9/11. This post is not a

The man made pyre Once upon a time in the dark days of February..... The evening mist has just settled. A middle aged man wrapped in a grey shawl waits in the station. Beside him is a cup of tea, long since cold. On his right is a Gujarati newspapers loosely folded. On the paper is a big Motorola cellphone. Just about a hundred meters away a couple of house are filled with strangers. Numbering about 30, they remain in silence waiting for a call from a Motorola wireless transmitter. A couple of days ago, news came in that women and children were coming in from kar seva. On route to home, they would have to pass through a small station in rural Gujarat. The group were to take part in a small 'welcoming'. As the middle aged man looked at his watch, the station signboard glistened at the passing lights of some nearby car. It read - Godhra. Substantial preparations were already made for the party. The photographers among them were highly trained and equipped w

I am not a very soft person. When it comes to Islamists and Pakistan, I turn harder(with good reason). But this girl just stands out of all of it. I will write little in this post. Words won't do enough justice to a child like her. We know what happened to her. So I won't go elaborate and repeat what the entire world knows. I just wish to convey a message - I love you. Simple. Go conquer the world. Best Wishes. Thanks, Sarthak Just another Sanatani

In India we often name people according to their profession. Like someone selling aloo or potatoes becomes aloowala meaning potato guy. Same goes for rickshaw wala (a man who drives rickshaws). I was having serious issues due to insufficient speed due to a shared connection . It was not the fault of the people sharing it. When the speed is high, the fair usage limit (read miser speed limit) needs to be high. Unfortunately, the download limit was low and so after exhausting it in a couple of days, the rest of the month we would just be sharing a 512KB connection. That is completely inadequate for my needs. Hence, I was forced to order for a new connection. I called up the local DSL network operator . If you are not familiar with how things work in India - these are small cable operators who buy bandwidth from the ISPs and then themselves rent out small bits at a time. Hence they get them at a bargain. We get them cheaper than other players in the market. The only downside? Suppor

So here I go again. My topic  is Islam in Arab countries. You might think, here I am ranting my ' Islamophobic ' rants here on my blog. You might think, that since I don't like a few things, and I honestly come out in the open saying so, rather than conspiring behind everyone's backs, I no longer have the right to live. Well, maybe, but today this post is going to be something different. I recently watched a number of videos and came across some well meaning individuals and groups that are a beacon of humanity amid the barbarism and stone age mentality of the middle eastern fundamentalists. This post is about those free people who wish to remain just that - free. Islam in Arab countries is perceived to be highly politicized , radical that permits and encourages barbaric practices that are completely opposed to the requirements of basic human rights and dignity. Values that go against the very basic principles of life are promoted with divine sanction. The image is tr