Bharatiya Pragna - Dr. Th Chowdary

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and so forth. (Although it might help if more Muslim children actively persued, say, English and geometry rather than Urdu and calligraphy). I may even swallow that this sense of alienation is shared by the sane Muslim majority and the far smaller number of Muslim terrorists. But it is frankly ludicrous to say that unemployment excuses terrorism! Once — just once! — I would like to hear the Muslim leadership condemn violence against Hindus without qualifying their statements with mealy-mouthed ‘ifs’ and ‘buts’ and ‘you must understands’. In the light of recent events, I must also criticise the howling minority that has hijacked the cause of the silent Hindu majority. (Some of you will undoubtedly complain that I am doing just what I condemned above, qualifying my statement about Muslim terrorists by seeking to equate it with Hindu agitators. Save your breath, I am not saying that what happened in Mangalore is remotely equivalent to planting bombs in Delhi!) Swami Vivekananda was a better Hindu than any of those idiots who went around trying to burn chapels. True Hindus, he said, did not just ‘tolerate’ the faiths of others, they actually ‘respected’ them. (While the Swami may have used the word ‘toleration’ in his famous address to the Parliament of Religions, he appears to have actively disliked it in later years because it smacks of condescension, rather like an adult ‘tolerating’ bad behaviour in a child.) I have a fair idea of 40 If Hindus are required to respect other religions then it must be a two-way street. And, frankly, there is nothing so utterly disrespectful as proselytisation. what Swami Vivekananda might have said about attacks on churches — and it wouldn’t have been pretty. The current leaders of Hinduism have been less than forthcoming. Hinduism does not have an exact equivalent of the Muslim ulema, but would it have hurt senior acharyas to condemn the attacks on Christians? Not because it is illegal but specifically because such attacks disrespect the philosophical foundations of Hinduism? I cannot leave the Christians out of this, can I? If Hindus are required to respect other religions then it must be a twoway street. And, frankly, there is nothing so utterly disrespectful as proselytisation. One can understand — and respect — conversion. If an individual chooses to change his faith after struggling with his convictions, so be it. But going around asking others to convert, with none-too-subtle overtones of ‘My God is better than your god!’ is not respect but hostility. And that, let us be honest, is the tone adopted by some Christian missionaries in India. Once again, I believe that this is not true of most Indian Christians. This country has had a long history of Christians — Catholic, Protestant, Mar Thoma Syrian Christians — living perfectly amicably without feeling any need to convert their Hindu neighbours. (Although it must be noted that one major exception was during Portuguese rule when the Catholics made converts at the point of the sword). There was a major change more recently, one that became clear when Pope John November & December 2008 Bharatiya Pragna
Paul II unveiled the document ‘Ecclesia in Asia’ when he came here in 1999. The Holy Father said on that occasion, ‘The peoples of Asia need Jesus Christ and his gospel. Asia is thirsting for the living water that Jesus alone can give.’ Can you blame Hindus for worrying after that? Oddly, at the same time the Vatican was fuming about ‘sheep stealing’ in Latin America. That was because Catholics were turning to some Protestant sects like the Evangelicals and the Pentecostals. (By the way, Republican vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin was born a Catholic, but now attends an independent congregation). Is it surprising that Hindus share similar worries? 41 Bharatiya Pragna (A Nationalist Magazine for thinking people) SUBSCRIPTION FORM Subscription form Nobody wants to admit it, but there is now some sort of a competition to convert Hindus between some Christian sects. I am glad that the Catholics of Kerala have publicly proclaimed their dislike of such tactics, but it would be better yet if the Christians of India as a whole proclaimed their disdain for conversions through allurement. Most Hindus, most Muslims, and most Christians in India are essentially peaceable folks who would rub along perfectly well with each other given half a chance. But will they get that option if the headlines are hijacked by extremists with their own agenda? It is time for the silent majority of each faith to speak up — and reclaim their religions. Renewal / New Subscription /Annual Subscription /Life membership -Rs1500/- Name : .................................................................................................................................................................... Occupation : .......................................................................................................................................................... Postal Address : ........................................................................ Pin: .................................................................. .................................................................................................................................................................................. Ph. No : (Res) .............................. (Off) .................................. (Fax) .................................................................. Cell : ............................................ E-mail : ........................................................................................................... I hereby enclose Cheque/Demand Draft payble to Pragna Bharathi at Hyderabad towards my subscription of Bharatiya Pragna. N.B. : For out station cheques please add Rs. 30/- Date : Signature 1-8-107/C, Sivapriya Complex, Chikkadapally Hyderabad-500 020, Tel : +91 9246101884 November & December 2008 Bharatiya Pragna
Page 3 and 4: BHARATIYA PRAGNA Board of Advisors
Page 5 and 6: 3 Chandrayaan-1 Editorial I ndia’
Page 7 and 8: 5 Even the worm turns! Editorial J
Page 9 and 10: lectual life of a nation -that of s
Page 11 and 12: ow. Although a man should do him in
Page 13 and 14: truth to maintain a spirit of absol
Page 15 and 16: What Swami Vivekananda is in the re
Page 17 and 18: 15 the happenings of Nature! Is Nat
Page 19 and 20: 17 150th Birth Year to check their
Page 21 and 22: During 1897-1900, Bose turned his i
Page 23 and 24: JC Bose, demonstrated before the sc
Page 25 and 26: Even as the Hindu Muslim riots are
Page 27 and 28: gate his religion but there is no r
Page 29 and 30: sections of society. There is resen
Page 31 and 32: O ver-familiarity with a problem so
Page 33 and 34: of sustenance and the target. The e
Page 35 and 36: which had disastrous consequences f
Page 37 and 38: 35 senior police officers both at t
Page 39 and 40: T he long-declared dissatisfaction
Page 41: W hatever happened to the ‘silent
Page 45 and 46: it as ‘Rajarajeswaram’ after hi
Page 47 and 48: R ecently, some columnists have adv
Page 49 and 50: I raise this question also because
Page 51 and 52: Before his death, Baji Rao made a w
Page 53 and 54: 51 The Nexus of Isms: The Nexus of
Page 55 and 56: with common enemy which they view a
Page 57 and 58: I t would not be difficult to come
Page 59 and 60: fulfillment of their wishes. Nobody
Page 61 and 62: L et us assume that a ray of light
Page 63 and 64: 61 this, the space has another set
Page 65 and 66: ounded into a gross body and furthe
Page 67 and 68: If the quanta of the light energy b
Page 69 and 70: 67 The pattern of the rainfall dist
Page 71 and 72: Lokopakara (For the Benefit of Peop
Page 73 and 74: Vishvavallabha was compiled by a sc
Page 75 and 76: India’s babus and politicos say t
Page 77 and 78: Book-Review Indus or Sindhu-Sarasva

Bharatiya Pragna - Dr. Th Chowdary

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