50,000 Signatures and Counting: Muslims Support BMMA’s Campaign to Abolish Triple Talaq

June 1, 2016

With 50,000 Muslim women and men from across 13 states having already endorsed its demand to “abolish triple talaq” by making it illegal, the Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan (BMMA) has written to the National Commission for Women (NCW) seeking its support for a law banning the “un-Quranic” practice of oral/unilateral divorce.

BMMA, the letter addressed to NCW chairperson, Dr Lalitha Kumaramanglam says, “is confident that you will support the legitimate and democratic demands of Muslim women. We also hope that you will be the ambassador for Muslim womens’ demand for justice at various governmental platforms”. The organisation is simultaneously contacting women’s commissions in different states for their “support and solidarity”.

A press statement issued by BMMA says that alongside its ongoing national campaign for more signatures, it continues to compile more and more cases across India of women victims of the “inhuman practice” of instant divorce.

BMMA’s earlier report, ‘Seeking Justice within Family’, based on a nationwide study found that 92% of Muslim women want an end to this practice which destroys their life and the lives of their children. Coupled with oral divorce, BMMA is also seeking abolishing of the “heinous practice of nikah halala”. (Nikah halala means that once a husband divorces his wife, the two can remarry only if she marries another man, the marriage is consummated and her new husband divorces her).

BMMA has been running a campaign in the past few years to educate Muslim women and men that there is no sanction for instant/oral divorce in the Quran. “In fact the Quranic method requires a 90 day process of dialogue, reconciliation and mediation before divorce takes place”.

Despite the clear Quranic injunction, women continue to be divorced unilaterally, rendered completely helpless as they have no say in the arbitrary process. BMMA bemoans the fact that “Qazis approve this malpractice and support the Muslim men to divorce their wife in this un-Quranic manner. Qazis also encourage nikah halala and even offer themselves as temporary husbands”.

BMMA is demanding a legal prohibition to unilateral divorce – triple talaq and nikah halala. It is also demanding that the mediation process must be made mandatory as per the provisions of the Quran.

“Muslim women are citizens of India and all Constitutional safeguards are applicable to her. The Muslim personal law must be reformed in such a manner that all discriminatory practices are struck down as illegal and Muslim women’s Constitutional and Quranic rights are safeguarded”, BMMA has demanded.

With substantial presence in 13 states across the country, BMMA already has over one lakh members.

नस्ल और जाति के खिलाफ नफरत के ‘मामूली’ औजार

May 31, 2016

फौजी रहे और फिलहाल देश के विदेश राज्यमंत्री वीके सिंह की नजर में सबसे त्रासद और कई बार देश के सामने असुविधाजनक हालत खड़ी करने वाली घटनाएं भी 'मामूली' होती हैं। इसलिए जब दिल्ली में अफ्रीकी नागरिकों पर हमले के मामले पर व्यापक पैमाने पर चिंता जताई जा रही है, तो उन्होंने अपने विचार प्रकट किए कि ये हमले 'मामूली झड़प' थे और इसे महज मीडिया 'बढ़ा-चढ़ा कर' पेश कर रहा है। वीके सिंह के ये खयाल तब भी सबसे सामने हैं जब उनके ही महकमे की कैबिनेट मंत्री सुषमा स्वराज ने इस मामले की त्वरित सुनवाई के आदेश दिए हैं। ये वही वीके सिंह हैं जिन्होंने फरीदाबाद में दलित बच्चों को जिंदा जला दिए जाने की घटना पर कहा था कि 'कोई कुत्ते को पत्थर मारें, तो भी क्या सरकार जिम्मेवार है'।

सवाल है कि किसी अफ्रीकी मूल के व्यक्ति की सरेआम हत्या कर दी जाती है या उन पर बिना वजह के जानलेवा हमले किए जाते हैं, तो ऐसी घटनाएं वीके सिंह की नजर में 'मामूली' क्यों होती हैं? कहीं दो बच्चों को जिंदा जला दिया जाता है और उस घटना पर प्रतिक्रिया जाहिर करने के लिए वीके सिंह को कुत्ते का ही उदाहरण क्यों मिलता है? सामाजिक दुराग्रहों और आपराधिक कुंठाओं के साथ-साथ सीधे-सीधे व्यवस्था की नाकामी से उपजी घटनाओं के मामले में सरकार उन्हें पूरी तरह मासूम क्यों लगती है? आखिर कानून-व्यवस्था से लेकर सामाजिक विकास की कसौटी पर सरकार की जिम्मेदारी उन्हें इतनी 'मामूली' क्यों लगती है? वे फौजी रहे हैं, लेकिन अब वे विदेश राज्यमंत्री हैं। तो क्या उन्हें अपने पद की गरिमा और दायित्व का भी अहसास नहीं है?

दरअसल, वीके सिंह जो भी कहते रहे हैं, वे भारतीय आम जनमानस में घुले आग्रहों-पूर्वाग्रहों का प्रतिनिधित्व करते हैं। क्या यह छिपा हुआ है कि सड़कों पर जैसे ही अफ्रीकी मूल अश्वेत चेहरे देखते ही भारत के परंपरागत पिछड़ी मानसिकता में जीने वाले लोगों के भीतर कौन-से खयाल उमड़ने लगते हैं? अश्वेत लोगों के खिलाफ सीधे-सीधे नफरत के भाव का सिरा कहां से शुरू होता है? आखिर वे कौन-सी वजहें हैं कि अश्वेत समुदाय के लोगों को देखते ही भारत के ज्यादातर लोगों के मन में शायद ही कोई सकारात्मक भाव उभरता है? अश्वेत या काले रंग के लोगों के प्रति ये दुराग्रह किस तरह की सोशल कंडीशनिंग का नतीजा हैं?

सवाल है कि किसी अफ्रीकी मूल के व्यक्ति की सरेआम हत्या कर दी जाती है या उन पर बिना वजह के जानलेवा हमले किए जाते हैं, तो ऐसी घटनाएं वीके सिंह की नजर में 'मामूली' क्यों होती हैं? कहीं दो बच्चों को जिंदा जला दिया जाता है और उस घटना पर प्रतिक्रिया जाहिर करने के लिए वीके सिंह को कुत्ते का ही उदाहरण क्यों मिलता है?

कई बार खुद जनप्रतिनिधि कहे जाने वाले लोगों का व्यवहार ऐसा होता है कि समाज को अपने आग्रहों के साथ और ज्यादा ठोस होने की खुराक मिलती है। दिल्ली में पहली बार जब आम आदमी पार्टी की सरकार बनी थी तब उसके एक मंत्री सोमनाथ भारती और उनके साथियों ने स्थानीय लोगों के साथ मिल कर अफ्रीकी मूल की चार महिलाओं के साथ जैसा अपमानजनक बर्ताव किया था, वह अश्वेत लोगों के प्रति सामाजिक दुराग्रहों का ऐसा ही उदाहरण था।

एक लोकतांत्रिक समाज में सरकारें तमाम ऐसे इंतजाम करती हैं जिनमें सभी नागरिकों के भीतर इंसान के प्रति बराबरी और संवेदनशीलता के भाव का विकास हो। लेकिन किन वजहों से एक मंत्री को अफ्रीकी मूल के लोगों पर किया गया 'नस्लीय हमला' कोई मामूली घटना लगती है? क्या यह सामाजिक सत्ताधारी तबकों के बीच नस्ल और जाति की सामाजिक हैसियत की वजह से अपमान और यातनाओं को एक सहज स्थिति मान लेने का प्रतिनिधि स्वर है?

यों, दुनिया भर में अश्वेत समुदायों के खिलाफ श्वेत माने जाने वाले समुदायों के बीच धारणाओं और व्यवहार का एक त्रासद इतिहास रहा है। लेकिन भारत में यह ज्यादा जटिल हो जाता है। यहां चूंकि पहले ही दलित-वंचित जातियों को उनकी सामाजिक अवस्थिति के अलावा शरीर के रंग से भी चिहि्नत किया जाता रहा है, उसमें जो लोग गौर-वर्ण नहीं हैं, उनके लिए सत्ताधारी तबकों के बीच सिर्फ हेय दृष्टि ही है। जातीय ऊंच-नीच की बुनियाद से तय होने वाले रंगों के प्रति यही आग्रह अश्वेत समुदाय तक पहुंचते-पहुंचते नस्लीय घृणा में तब्दील हो जाता है। समाज के स्तर पर इस भाव और सोच के बने रहने की अपनी वजहे हैं जहां पैदा होने के बाद से ही जाति और रंग को लेकर एक दुराग्रह का भाव पाला-पोसा जाता है। लेकिन विडंबना यह है कि सरकार के स्तर पर भी फौरी प्रशासनिक कदमों के अलावा सामाजिक विकास के पैमाने पर कुछ भी ऐसा नहीं किया जाता है, जिससे साधारण लोगों के बीच इस तरह के भावों से दूरी बनाने की स्थिति बने, माइंडसेट के स्तर पर कोई बदलाव हो।

('चार्वाक' ब्लॉग से)

Ulema warn Indian Muslims to Beware of a ‘False Prophet’ in Their Midst

May 31, 2016

Through half-page advertisements published this morning in all editions across six states of the Urdu daily Rashtriya Sahara, 17 prominent ulema and muftis from different sects have issued a joint statement warning all Muslims to beware of a man named Shakeel bin Hanif and his followers. Hanif, who is ‘Hazrat JI’ to his band of followers, claims to be Jesus and Imam Mahdi whose return to earth at the end of times forms part of the belief of Muslims.

Though Hanif claims to be a devout follower of Islam, according to the statement, he is a fraud and an apostate and so his followers too are apostates. Thus they are “outside the fold of Islam” and Muslims are advised to beware of the “mischief” of this “Dajjal”. Muslims believe Dajjal is an evil figure who will surface close to the Day of Judgment pretending to be Jesus returning to earth.

The joint statement asks Muslims to remain on high alert, immediately inform religious leaders of the activities of any of his followers, severe all relations with them and not allow them to enter their mosques.

The immediate prompt for the ad-blitz is the incident in Delhi two days ago when four followers of Hanif reportedly entered the Hari Masjid in Jamia Nagar to propagate their belief. The Rashtriya Sahara yesterday reported that “caught red-handed” they were handed over to the trustees of Hari Masjid.

The trustees reportedly tried to reason with the young men and later asked them to leave the mosque. As soon as they came out of the mosque the foursome allegedly resorted to stone throwing following which they were apprehended and handed over to the police who have registered an FIR against Hanif’s four followers.

Hailing originally from Darbangha in Bihar, young Hanif moved to Delhi in 1991 after being disowned by his family who refused to subscribe to his claims of being the promised Imam Mahdi and Jesus. He is currently believed to be living underground and propagating his faith among Muslims in Aurangabad in Maharashtra.

While his present contacts are not known, a booklet in Urdu may be accessed online – wherein Hanif rebuts the many allegations against him – provides some interesting details of his background.

Here is ‘Hazrat Ji’ in his own words: “In 1991 I was studying in a college in Darbangha city and staying in a lodge. While the battle between Saddam Hussain and the Allied Forces was in its last stage, around the time of the last namaz of the evening, I received a command from Allah to dedicate my life in the service of Islam. I, therefore, had to abandon my college studies to devote myself to the task assigned to me.”

The joint statement says Muslims and the ulema who have already been fighting the “kufr” of the Ahmeddiyas for a long time have now to join battle against the new “apostates”. The Ahmeddiyas who consider themselves to be Muslims and followers of Islam but according to the other Muslims they are apostates and have had to face severe prosecution in Pakistan.

How Water Inequality Governs Drought-Hit Maharashtra

May 31, 2016

A resident of Pune, Maharashtra’s second-most developed city, uses five times as much water as her counterpart in Latur, the district most ravaged by drought in the south-central Marathwada region.

That’s the extent of water inequality in Maharashtra, India’s most developed state, according to an IndiaSpend analysis of statewide water use, characterised by disproportionate availability and consumption of water across regions, crops and consumers.

The coastal region of Konkan—occupying a tenth of the state’s landmass and home to 14% of its population (except Mumbai)—contains more than half of Maharashtra’s water, according to government data.

The populous, dry and rain-shadow regions of western, central Maharashtra, Marathwada and Vidarbha, retain the other half, clashing with each other and neighbouring states for water.

But the natural imbalance of water does not make drought inevitable. That happens because water has been deliberately routed to areas where it is already plentiful and to farmers who are politically powerful.

Sugarcane—which is grown on 4% of the state’s farms—consumes 70% of water available for irrigation, IndiaSpend reported earlier, although no more than 1.1 million farmers grow the lucrative cash crop. In contrast, about 10 million jowar (sorghum), pulses and oilseeds farmers get no more than 10% of irrigation water.

“The earlier Congress–Nationalist Congress Party-led government was entrenched in sugar politics with 13 of the 30 cabinet ministers owning or controlling sugar factories,” Parineeta Dandekar, associate coordinator of South Asian Network for Dams, Rivers and People, wrotein her analysis of the sugarcane situation in Maharashtra.

Water inequality is a natural phenomenon

There are five river basins in Maharashtra: Krishna, Godavari, Tapi, Narmada and a combined basin of westward flowing rivers in the coastal Konkan region.

Of these, three are agriculturally important—Krishna, Godavari and Tapi. They cover 89% of the state’s area; 0.4% of the state falls under the Narmada river basin.

The Konkan basin drains 10.9% of the land, while containing 55% of the state’s water.

The Krishna basin drains most parts of Western Maharashtra, the prosperous districts of Kolhapur, Pune, Satara, Sangli and Solapur, and some perennially drought-plagued areas, such as eastern swathes of Sangli, Satara and Solapur districts.

The Godavari basin covers the drought-hit regions of Marathwada and Vidarbha.

Source: White Paper on Irrigation, Government of Maharashtra
MCM: Million Cubic Metres

Of the 125 billion cubic metres (BCM) surface water available in Maharashtra’s river basins, most of the 69 BCM in the Konkan region goes unutilised, according to this 2012 Maharashtra government White Paper on Irrigation.

In contrast, the 17 BCM in the Krishna and 34 BCM in the Godavari basins are insufficient for the regions they water.

“In Maharashtra, sugarcane cultivation, which is on (sic) less than 4% of the total cropped area of the state, takes away almost 70% of irrigation water in the state, leading to massive inequity in the use of water within the state,” said the sugarcane price policy report, 2014-15, issued by the Commission on Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP).

The CACP tabulates the share of irrigation water used by major crops in Maharashtra.

Source: Sugarcane Price Policy 2014-15, Commission on Agricultural Costs and Prices

How sugarcane corners irrigation water

Sugarcane is the only crop in Maharashtra which is wholly irrigated. Irrigation water is available for no more than 9% of pulses and 4% of oilseeds.

About 10 million farmers grow jowar, pulses and oilseeds—no more than a tenth of these farms are irrigated, as we said—and these crops use about 2.2 million litres of water per hectare, about 2,000 MCM of water through the year.

Sugarcane’s 1.1 million farmers use 18.7 million litres per hectare and consume 18,000 MCM—nine times that of jowar, oilseeds and pulses—annually across the state.

More developed the city, more the water used

Urban water consumption patterns are heavily tilted towards developed cities.

The city of Latur in Marathwada consumes 60 litres per person daily, while an averageMumbaikar uses around 260 litres a day. The average daily use of water per person in Pune is 352 litres, according to IndiaSpend calculations, based on daily water requirements of these cities and the latest available population figures.

The–officially set–rural-urban water imbalance

A village with less than 20,000 people should get 40 litres of water per person per day, five litres less than the water prescribed to flush a toilet in a city such as Mumbai—these are the standards set in 1993 by the Bureau of Indian Standards in its Code of Basic Requirements.

The standards also recommend reduced water supply to poorer localities in urban areas.

In 2015, the Kelkar Committee on balanced regional development in Maharashtra recommended 140 litres per capita per day across rural and urban Maharashtra.

The recommendation has not yet been included in the state’s water policy.

(Waghmare is an analyst with IndiaSpend.)

Courtesy: IndiaSpend.com

Prepare, the Muslims are Coming

May 31, 2016

Not having brought the least redress to the people at large, tall promises in the 2014 elections notwithstanding, the BJP and the Sangh that now rules it with an iron fist has one done-to-death recourse, namely, to give out the call for the “nationalistic” Hindu nation to keep the swarm of skull caps and beards at bay, or else all may be lost.

Photo credit: Indian Express

While Donald Trump forges ahead to be the world’s most powerful CEO and then to keep the world’s Muslims from entering America, India’s own Sangh Parivar “trains” its young saffron shirts to do one better—namely to prepare, rifle and lathi in hand, against our own Muslim Indians.

Last week saw a clutch of Bajrang Dal fasios in fierce drill to ward off possible attacks from an enemy who was represented as a man with a beard and wearing an unmistakable Muslim skull cap.

Noticeably, the target was not sporting either a Pakistani or an ISIL flag, leaving one in no doubt that Muslims in general and our own Muslims in particular were meant to be the enemy. Had the target been terrorists or terrorism, surely the additional symbols would have been imperative to the purpose of representation; and one might have expected to see not only saffronite warriors but perhaps a pluralist group of Indian citizens setting shoulder to the patriotic wheel.

When quizzed about the event — which has now thankfully drawn legal notice from the local authorities in Uttar Pradesh where elections are due in six to eight months (whereby hangs the true tale of the Sangh’s predictable resort to communal polarisation ahead of time) — spokespersons of the Parivar have been saying how routine an exercise such a thing is; after all, such “self-defensive” drills are habitually imparted in schools and colleges, don’t we know.

Indeed we do, but in none of those habitual exercises is a bearded man with a skull cap shown to be the enemy. To put the matter starkly: suppose for a moment that such a drill were to be performed by some Madrassa-going young Muslims, showing the target to be a man with a vermillion mark on the forehead, what might the Sangh have said.

What clearly should have worried the mighty BJP-led government at the Centre is the inference that its own young satraps do not trust it to protect them from the Muslims of Ayodhya and Uttar Pradesh. Not so; because more than you or I the mighty Central government knows for sure what these shenanigans are about and why they are necessary to the Sangh’s burning desire to capture Uttar Pradesh, come the elections. Do remember that in the elections just concluded in five states, the BJP could only win one — a wholly expected change of government after a 15-year-long stint by the Congress in power. Much as that “victory” is sought to be peddled as a globe-shaking triumph, the reality is that the supposedly defunct Congress has won both a larger share of the vote across the five states, and a considerably larger number of Assembly seats.

And the further bleak prospect of, in all likelihood, having no success in the forthcoming elections to the Punjab, Uttarkhand, Uttar Pradesh and, cuttingly, Gujarat Assemblies. Note that in the last state mentioned the Congress recently swept to victory in some 80 percent of seats in local elections.

Not having brought the least redress to the people at large, tall promises in the 2014 elections notwithstanding, the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Sangh that now rules it with an iron fist has one done-to-death recourse, namely, to give out the call for the “nationalistic” Hindu nation to keep the swarm of skull caps and beards at bay, or else all may be lost.

Fortunately, this wretchedly destructive gimmick has been yielding fewer and fewer dividends and it is to be hoped that the coming year will see a saner politics gather sufficient force to defeat the Sangh’s cynically divisive and potentially violent tactics — all of which, don’t we know, is marketed under the rubric of “nationalism.”

A hope must also go out to the United States of America that either Hillary Clinton or the inspiring Bernie Sanders will put paid to the Trumpet that blares doom for politics of reason and universal human values.

Look where you will, and the world seems to be teetering on the edge of that burning lake of fire. Do not forget either that 100,000 Jihadis worldwide remain committed to cast the rest of the recalcitrant world into that lake — a reality that can hardly be met through the politics of imitation.

Centre’s go Ahead to Gujarat Government to go after Retired IPS Officer, Rahul Sharma, Yet Again

May 30, 2016

Rahul Sharma: IPS officer turned lawyer

The Union home ministry has approved a request by the Gujarat chief minister to restart disciplinary proceedings against an outstanding IPS officer of the Gujarat cadre, Rahul Sharma, who in sheer disgust took voluntary retirement last year and is now a practicing lawyer in Gujarat. The state government is bent on initiating punitive measures against Sharma for allegedly not responding to show cause notices issued to him on petty grounds.

When contacted for his comments, Sharma told Sabrang India that he had not yet received any communication from the government. In any case if reports in a section of the media are true, it pertains to a minor matter, he said, adding, “I will fight it out”.

The latest petty move against Sharma is one more example of what is often said about Modi: he never forgets, he never forgives.

Ever since former Gujarat chief (and home) minister Narendra Modi moved to Delhi in 2015 to occupy the PM’s chair, the Union home ministry and the Gujarat government seem to be acting in perfect sync. At least this is so when it comes to vindictive action against all those, including police officers, who did not see the state-sponsored 2002 communal carnage in Gujarat through Modi’s eyes.

The latest petty move against Sharma is one more example of what is often said about Modi: he never forgets, he never forgives.

Either an effective communication channel is in place between the PMO and the Union home ministry, or the bosses in the latter ministry are very good at reading the PM’s mind. PM Modi does not seem to have forgotten Sharma who, to the great annoyance of Modi and his sangh parivar, insisted on behaving as a loyal upholder of the Indian Constitution instead of acting at the behest of the political masters. How then can the Gujarat government forget Sharma?

On January 28, 2016, disregarding a severe reprimand from the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) five days earlier quashing the charge sheet filed by the Gujarat state home department against Sharma as “tainted by mischief” and “coloured by malafide”, the home department had issued a fresh show cause notice to him asking him to explain why action should not be taken against him for making “unnecessary” payment of a little over Rs 3,000 to his driver and gunman while in service.

Sharma was charge sheeted in January 2011, while the investigations into the Zakia Jafri case were still being conducted by the Special Investigation Team (SIT), soon after he had met the Amicus Curaiae, Raju Ramachandran. The Zakia Jafri criminal complaint seeks to prosecute those in positions of power, politically and administratively, for acts of commission and omission in the handling of the violence in 2002. The matter is presently being heard in the Gujarat High Court.

As reported by Sabrang India, in their speaking order delivered by Dr KB Suresh and KN Shrivastava of CAT had declared that the charge sheet against Sharma “is tainted by mischief, mala fides and malice and coloured by arbitrariness, illegality and designed to defeat proximate and pertinent matters blessed by constitutional compulsion and designed as an engine of oppression”. The motive behind the issuance of the charge sheet was to suppress the mobile tracking records in the CD which in turn was to benefit the actual perpetrators of brutal and violent crimes through which hundreds of innocents died a needless and violent death. The full text of the CAT order may be read here.

What obviously riled the Gujarat government (and the Union home ministry) is the fact that early this month, the Gujarat High Court directed the state government to respond to a PIL filed by retired ‘supercop’ Julio Ribeiro challenging the government’s decision to appoint as the acting head of the state police, PP Pandey who following a High Court appointed investigation had only a fortnight earlier been charge-sheeted by the CBI for offences under the Arms Act and for offences of abduction, wrongful confinement, and premeditated murder of four persons.

The lawyer who argued Ribeiro’s PIL was none other than Rahul Sharma.

Appointment of Brahmins Only to Government Managed Temples in Gujarat Mocks Ambedkar, Violates Constitution: Former DGP to Gujarat CM

May 30, 2016

Former DGP, Gujarat, RB Sreekumar, in a letter to Gujarat CM, Anandiben Patel calls for an end to the criteria of born Brahmins alone being appointed as priests in government managed temples in Gujarat..

In a detailed letter addressed to Gujarat chief minister Anandiben Patel, the former DGP, RB Sreekumar has pointed out that by appointing Brahmins only in nearly 80 state-managed temples as staff engaged in ceremonial, ritualistic and religious functions, the government is violating the Indian Constitution and making a mockery of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s claim of being “A torch bearer to carry on the work and principles of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar”.

Making references to Dr BR Ambedkar’s writings (’Annihilation of Caste’, ’Riddles of Hinduism’, The Untouchables’, ’Buddha and Karl Marx’) the letter points out that, “Ambedkarism is not a set of metaphysical concepts or dogmatic socio-political theories. It is a product of application of lofty Indian spiritual ethos of Buddhism, and liberal western political ideas from the days of the French Revolution (1789), the anti-colonial struggles and upheavals for establishment of representative democracy guaranteeing fundamental human rights, inclusive distributive justice and equitable service delivery to the people by the State”.

The letter notes with regret that “those engaged in performing ritualistic worship and ceremonial duties along with temple staff employed for auxiliary services like providing articles of worship, preparation of prasad etc, are appointed to those posts exclusively from certain families from the caste of Brahmins”. What’s more, “Many devotees complain that some priests do not know and comprehend the conceptual, metaphysical and spiritual import of many Vedic Suktas and Slokas from Tantra Samucchaya of Parashurama, chanted during pooja (worship)”.

Citing slokas from the Vedas , Upanishads, Brahma Sutras, Bhagwat Gita and other Hindu scriptures, the letter argues that no one is born a Brahmin but becomes one through acquiring education and culture.

Maintaining that “the present system of illegal monopoly of one caste in temple worship service is obnoxiously obscurantist, besides being repugnant of basic structure of the Indian Constitution and pre eminent Hindu scriptures”, the letter urges the Gujarat chief minister to “constitute a Gujarat Temple Service (GTS), on the pattern of any self-contained government service cadre” and to ensure that “qualified women should also be inducted as priests in GTS”.

The full text of the former DGP’s letter may be read here.

After Bajrang Dal, UP police take a close look at Durga Vahini’s ‘self-defence’ training camps

May 30, 2016

Weapons training at an earlier Durga Vahini camp. Photo credit: Photoagency.com

Last week it was the Bajrang Dal, the militant men’s wing of the VHP that was in the news for holding weapons training camps for its cadre in UP. It now turns out that the UP police are taking a close look at parallel training camps being held for members of the VHP’s women’s wing, Durga Vahini.

The Indian Express has reported that on Sunday a police team made a surprise visit to a Durga Vahini training camp being held at the Bharti Siksha Mandir school in Varanasi and later reported that the women were only being taught judo. “We did not find any firearm… not even airguns and lathis,” the Sigra police station officer Anupam Srivastava told the media.

Curiously, while the police claimed to have found nothing, VHP office bearers spoke in different voices. VHP’s Kashi Prant Organisation Secretary Diwakar said 125 volunteers, including nine members of Matra Shakti, are being trained at the camp. “Senior workers of Durga Vahini are training them… Such training is important for the security of women,” he said.

Excerpt from the film 'The World Before Her' on the Durga Vahini by Nisha Pahuja

However, VHP joint secretary for Kashi region, Anand Singh, sang a different tune: “Airguns are being used to train the volunteers at the camp. Temporary structures have been erected and volunteers are using airguns to target these. Whatever they have learned, the volunteers will display the same on Monday before senior leaders in Varanasi.”

The Ayodhya convenor of Bajrang Dal was arrested on May 26 for holding a weapons training programme and charged under section 153(A) of the Indian Penal Code (Promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony).

While the VHP leaders have sought to explain away these camps as annual programmes that are no different from similar camps held by all kinds of civil society organisations, the BJP president Amit Shah sought to distance his party by falsely claiming that the Bajrang Dal has nothing to do with the BJP.

For earlier reports on the use of such camps for weapons training and the role of the Bajrang Dal militants in communal violence see below:

Sangh’s Sinister Drive to Militarise ‘Hindu’ Society ahead of 2017 UP Polls.

Bajrang Dal convenor arrested for arms training camp, spreading communal hatred in Ayodhya.

If Bajrang Dal is not BJP, what of the RSS, Mr Shah?

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50,000 Signatures and Counting: Muslims Support BMMA’s Campaign to Abolish Triple Talaq

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Ulema warn Indian Muslims to Beware of a ‘False Prophet’ in Their Midst

How Water Inequality Governs Drought-Hit Maharashtra

Prepare, the Muslims are Coming

Centre’s go Ahead to Gujarat Government to go after Retired IPS Officer, Rahul Sharma, Yet Again

Appointment of Brahmins Only to Government Managed Temples in Gujarat Mocks Ambedkar, Violates Constitution: Former DGP to Gujarat CM

Former DGP, Gujarat, RB Sreekumar, in a letter to Gujarat CM, Anandiben Patel calls for an end to the criteria of born Brahmins alone being appointed as priests in government managed temples in Gujarat..

After Bajrang Dal, UP police take a close look at Durga Vahini’s ‘self-defence’ training camps

Sangh’s Sinister Drive to Militarise ‘Hindu’ Society ahead of 2017 UP Polls.

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