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RSS ideologues ‘wrong’; Sati wasn’t product of ‘Muslim’ rule, it existed in ancient India too

sabrang — Fri, 15 Sep 2023 09:31:36 +0000

There is evidence to suggest that violence against Indian Muslims in the name of cow was provoked by his deliberate move to distort the history of cow-slaughter. He reportedly told the RSS cadre that “it began with the coming of foreign invaders to our country. In order to reduce the population to slavery, they thought that the best method to be adapted was to stamp out every vestige of self-respect in Hindus…In that line cow slaughter also began”. [MS Golwalkar, “Spotlight”, Bangalore, Sahitya Sindhu (RSS publication house), 1974, p. 98]

There could not be a more blatant lie than this one as Vedic scriptures are full of references of large scale cow-slaughter while throwing grand feast for Brahmanical gods and sages.
Swami Vivekananda, regarded as a philosopher of Hindutva by the RSS, while addressing a meeting at the Shakespeare Club, Pasadena, California, USA (February 2, 1900) declared: “You will be astonished if I tell you that, according to old ceremonials, he is not a good Hindu who does not eat beef. On certain occasions he must sacrifice a bull and eat it.” [Vivekananda, “The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda”, vol. 3, Advaita Ashram, Calcutta, 1997, p. 536.]

While addressing a gathering of Brahmins at Madura (now in Tamil Nadu), he stated: “There was a time in this very India when, without eating beef, no Brahmin could remain a Brahmin; you read in the Vedas how, when a Sannyasin, a king, or a great man came into a house, the best bullock was killed…” [Ibid., p. 174.]

The latest addition in this criminal trait of RSS functioning was witnessed at the University of Delhi on September 3, 2023. Krishna Gopal, Sah Sarkaryawah (general secretary), RSS addressed a gathering on women’s empowerment under the aegis of Naari Shakti Sangam.

While referring to the disempowerment of women [he meant Hindu women] in Indian history, he stated that prior to the 12th century, women were reasonably free to a great extent but with the ushering of the middle ages [medieval period]. It was a very difficult time… the entire country is struggling with subjugation.

“Temples were broken, universities destroyed and women were in danger. Lakhs of women were kidnapped and sold in international markets. (Ahmed Shah) Abdali, (Mohammed) Ghouri and (Mahmood of) Ghazni had all taken women from here and sold them…. It was an era of great humiliation. So, to protect our women, our own society put multiple restrictions on them.”

He continued to enlighten the women’s gathering that “to ensure that our girl children were safe, child marriages started. Our country had no ‘Satipratha’. There may have been a couple of examples… but (after the advent of Islamic invaders), a large number of women started committing ‘jauhar’, ‘sati’…there was no restriction on widow remarriage either”.

It is interesting to note that no female ideologue of the RSS came to deliver main address in this women’s conference. Apart from holding ‘Islamic invaders’ for evils like Sati, child marriages and opposition to widow remarriage, he warned Hindu women present at the University of Delhi conclave not to ape the Western culture, stating “kitchen was as important as becoming a scientist”. Of course, no such advisory issued to Hindu men by any of the RSS ideologues.

Krishna Gopal hid the reality that hundreds of years after the ‘Muslim’ rule, the organizations associated and affiliated with the RSS have been preaching Sati, opposing widow remarriage and human rights for Hindu women. The epic “Mahabharata” records incidents of Sati: when Pandu, a patriarch, died, his wife Madri mounted her husband’s pyre and performed Sati. And when Vasudev (father of Lord Krishna) died, his four wives immolated themselves with him.

Geeta Press, recently awarded Gandhi Peace Award by the BJP-led government has published in millions books like, “Nari Shiksha” (Education of Women) by Hanuman Prasad Poddar, “Grahsth Mein Kaise Rahen” [How to Lead a Household Life] by Swami Ramsukhdas, “Striyon ke Liye Kartawya Shiksha” (Education of Duties for Women) and “Nari Dharm” (Religion of Woman) by Jai Dayal Goindka and a special issue of magazine “Kalyan” on women. Many of these are available in English and other Indian languages.
The authors extensively quote from ancient texts like Shiva Purana and Manusmriti.

They borrow heavily from these and other ‘holy’ texts, upholding a subservient woman/wife as the ideal Hindu woman. For instance in the book titled How to Lead a Household Life which is in question-answer format, when a question is posed, ‘What should the wife do if her husband beats her and troubles her?” Swami Ramsukhdas offers the following sagely advice to the battered wife and her parents:

“The wife should think that she is paying her debt of her previous life and thus her sins are being destroyed and she is becoming pure. When her parents come to know this, they can take her to their own house because they have not given their daughter to face this sort of bad behaviour.”

And if her parents do not take her back to their house, learned Swamiji‘s pious advice is: “Under such circumstances…she should reap the fruit of her past actions. She should patiently bear the beatings of her husband with patience. By bearing them she will be free from her sins and it is possible that her husband may start loving her.”

RSS leader told women’s gathering, to ensure that our girl children were safe, child marriages were started

And there is another piece of heavenly advice for a rape victim and her husband. “As far as possible, it is better for woman (rape victim) to keep mum. If her husband also comes to know of it, he too should keep mum. It is profitable for both of them to keep quiet.”

Can a woman remarry? The answer is very straight forward, “When once a girl is given away in marriage as charity by her parents, she does not remain virgin any more. So how can she be offered as charity to anyone else? It is beastliness to remarry her.”

But can a man remarry? No problem. “A man can have a second wife for an issue in order to be free from the debt which he owes to manes (pitr-rin) according to the ordinances of the scriptures, if there is no issue from the first wife.”

But this is not the only reason for which a man is allowed re- marriage. A man, “whose desire for pleasure has not been wiped out, can get remarried because if he does not get remarried, he will indulge in adultery and go to prostitutes and will incur a badly sin. Therefore, in order to escape the sin and maintain the decorum he should get remarried according to the ordinance of scriptures.”

Of course, no widow is allowed to remarry. However, she may be allowed to choose to be some male’s concubine. “If she cannot maintain her character, instead of indulging in adultery here and there, she should accept her affinity for a person and live under his protection.”

Is it proper for woman to demand equal rights? The sagely answer is quite unambiguous: “No, it is not proper. In fact, a woman has not the right of equality with man…in fact it is ignorance or folly which impels a woman to have desire for the right of equality with man. A wise person is he/she who is satisfied with less rights and more duties.”

This literature about Hindu women openly preaches and glorifies the ghastly practice of Sati. To the question: “Is ‘Sati Partha’ (viz., the tradition of the wife being cremated with the dead body of the husband on the funeral pyre) proper or improper?” The sagely answer declaring that Sati is ‘Back-bone of Hindu religion adds:

“A wife’s cremation with the dead body of her husband on the funeral pyre is not a tradition. She, in whose mind truth and enthusiasm come, burns even without fire and she does not suffer any pain while she burns. This is not a tradition that she should do so, but this is her truth, righteousness and faith in scriptural decorum…It means that it is not a tradition. It is her own religious enthusiasm. On this topic Prabhudatta Brahmachariji has written a book whose title is ‘Cremation of a Wife with her Husband’s Dead Body is the Backbone of Hindu Religion’, it should be studied.”

Swamis in this series of literature while demanding the restoration of practice of Sati go on to tell us that:
“There is absolutely no doubt that a woman who happily follows her dead husband to the cremation ground receives on every step benefits of Ashawmedh Yagya [Ashvamedha means horse in Sanskrit and Ashawmedh Yagya was a sacrifice of a horse in the Vedic tradition used by the ancient Indian kings to prove their imperial sovereignty]…It is a Sati woman who snatches her husband from the hands of yamdoots (angels of death) and takes him to swarglok (Paradise). After seeing this pativrata lady the yamdoots themselves run away.”

It is not only Nari Shiksha which starts with a chapter captioned Sati Mahatmmey or ‘greatness of Sati‘ but Gita Press also published a special issue of its Hindi journal Kalyan in which stories of 250 women who committed Sati were glorified and Hindu women decreed to emulate these worshippable Sati Matas.

If such Sanatan Dharm religious decrees dehumanizing Hindu women are being preached by Hindutva flag-bearers in an Independent India, will Hindutva zealots like Krishna Gopal also argue that the ‘Muslim’ rule still continues? The reality is that RSS represents a perverted male chauvinistic ideology; ‘Muslim’ rule or no rule could not have made any difference.

One example from RSS organizational set-up would be sufficient to show how deeply it believes in the infirmities of Hindu women. The male RSS organization is known as Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (National Volunteer Union) but its women appendage is known as Rashtriya Sevika Samiti (National Committee of Maids). Male members are volunteers and women members as maids/servants. Mind it that RSS has no ‘Muslim’ past or present.

Formerly with Delhi University, click here for some of Prof Islam’s writings and video interviews/debates. Facebook: https://facebook.com/shamsul.islam.332. X: @shamsforjustice. Blog: http://shamsforpeace.blogspot.com/

Courtesy: CounterView

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Sitapur, UP: Muslim couple beaten to death as son had eloped with Hindu woman years ago

sabrang — Mon, 21 Aug 2023 07:31:12 +0000

On August 18, Abbas and Kamrul Nisha, a middle-aged Muslim couple, were allegedly beaten to death in Sitapur, Uttar Pradesh. The grisly crime, according to media reports, was committed in vengeance for their son eloping with a Hindu girl a few years prior.

The Indian Express reported that the woman’s family members, who come from the same area as the pair, are suspected of carrying out the attack. The woman’s brother, brother-in-law, and a family friend have all been taken into custody. According to the IE story, the girl’s parents are still being sought by the authorities. The five accused have been booked for rioting, murder, and assault. The police have extended protection to the interfaith couple and refused to divulge their location. It has been provided that the latter left the village a day before the parents of the man were attacked.

Speaking on the case, Sitapur Superintendent of Police (SP) Chakresh Mishra provided that “We got information that there was a fight between the two sides and two people died. The police reached the spot and found that a couple aged around 50 years had been killed. Their neighbours told us that another family in the neighbourhood attacked the couple with iron rods. The couple died on the spot. We are getting the post-mortem done. A police force has been deployed in the village.”

The police said the rivalry between the two families started after the adult son of the deceased couple eloped with the girl for the first time. As per the report of the IE, the inter faith couple had eloped for the first time in the year 2020. Reportedly, the girl was a minor then. The Muslim boy had been booked under charges of kidnapping, rape, and sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO), and had to spend more than one year in jail. Pursuant to this, the couple eloped for the second time when the girl turned 18. She had also given a statement to the court that she was leaving her family of her own volition when another case had been lodged against her partner.

“The son, 28, of the deceased couple, was booked in 2020 for eloping with a minor girl. The case was lodged after a complaint was received from the girl’s family. He was subsequently arrested and spent 13 months in jail. A few months ago, the girl turned 18 and became an adult and the two again ran away. Another case was lodged and they were found, but this time the girl gave a statement in court in favour of her partner. The man was again arrested around two months ago in connection with a separate case and released on bail just a few days back,” Mishra stated as he provided a background of the case, as per the IE.

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False Twitter post claims Muslim man killed Hindu wife: Local News Channel Sets Record Straight

sabrang — Mon, 08 May 2023 12:24:15 +0000

Claim: A Hindu woman was killed by her Muslim husband in Bihar

Busted!

It was being claimed on Twitter that a Muslim man murdered his wife because she was Hindu, in Samastipur, Bihar. This news was being spread on social media platforms and was busted by a local news channel in Samastipur called Insaaf24live. The reporter did an interview with the mother of the deceased woman and the mother was demanding that her daughter’s husband should be punished for his crime and was crying because of the death of her daughter.

The reporter clarified that it was false that the wife was a Hindu. The reporter spoke to the family and the father said the deceased woman’s name was Yasmin Khatoon and they are Muslims.

The reporter pointed towards the tweet spreading misinformation about the interview by him of the accused husband who said to the reporter that he killed his wife and that he would do it again. However, the video was shared and it was being claimed that the woman who died was Hindu, in a bid to create hatred and disharmony based on the man’s religious identity. To clarify this, the same reporter visited the deceased woman’s house to confirm that she belonged to a Muslim family.

The post claiming that the deceased woman was Hindu has been deleted from Twitter.

Meer Faisal, journalist with Maktoob Media, tweeted this news report of Insaaf24Live, to clear the air that the deceased woman was not Hindu.

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Yati Narsinghanand calls Hindu women snakes for not having enough children

Sat, 23 Apr 2022 08:01:11 +0000

Image Courtesy: shethepeople.tv

Serial hate speech maker Yati Narasinghanand has once again targetted Hindu women and men for not having enough children. He called single childem “insects and worms”, and said men who father only one child “are not men, they are a burden on earth”. However he had saved the worst for women, saying they were “not doing the work of mothers, you are doing the work of serpents.”

In a video widely shared online, Narasinghanand says, “What does Maa Kali do? If her child is in danger, she beheads the enemy and drinks the blood from his neck. And what does the serpent do? She eats her own children. Today I want to say with great sadness, my mothers, sisters and daughters, you are not doing Maa Kali’s work. You are doing the work of a serpent.”

He then tells them they were Kafirs according to his reading of the Quran, and told the women in the audience that “rape was a religious” virtue according to the holy book. Narasinghanand also did some publicity for The Kashmir Files and told the women it speaks of rape too.

It is not known where and when the speech in these latest videos shared online where he spews women against Hindu women and men, are from.

Who the f*** are these perverted sick criminals and where is the Police, law enforcement, judiciary or any sign of Rule of Law??? WTF is going on India???? https://t.co/jDKngbhkzg

— Swara Bhasker (@ReallySwara) April 22, 2022

According to a report in Jansatta, recently, the saffron clad hate speech maker had given an anti-Muslim speech in Una, Himachal Pradesh and had been warned by the local police not to do so. He was speaking at yet another ‘Dharma Sansad’ of Akhil Bharatiya Sant Parishad in Una district, and repeated his imaginary theory of an “increasing population of Muslims in the country” and that this was “indicating the decline of Hindus. Once again, Yati, a ‘monk’ therefore celibate, and with no children, said “Hindus should produce more children to protect their family and Sanatan Dharma.”

Yati, who is out on bail, has reportedly already violated bail conditions, with his repeated calls for communal violence, earlier this month at the ‘Hindu Mahapanchayat’ held in Delhi.

A First Information Report (FIR) was then registered against Yati Narsinghanand and other speakers who raised hate speeches at a “Hindu Mahapanchayat” held in Delhi on, April 3, 2022. This hate speech was peppered with fake claims such as “50% of Hindus will convert in 20 years if a Muslim becomes the prime minister of the country” and calling Hindus to “take up arms”. Narsinghanand, told his followers to “take up arms”. Narsinghanand, who heads the Dasna Devi temple in Uttar Pradesh, is currently out on bail granted by the Haridwar Sessions Court.

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Kerala: Hindu women marrying non-Hindus being “held captive, tortured” to leave their husbands

Tue, 26 Sep 2017 06:53:18 +0000

The police in Kochi, Kerala have registered a case against a Hindu charitable trust following a complaint by a 26-year-old woman on Monday, alleging that she was forcibly detained at the yoga centre near Tripunithura, physically and mentally tortured for marrying a Christian man. While the police have reportedly arrested one person, while the four yoga teachers at the Yoga Vidya Kendra are absconding.

In an affidavit filed in the Kerala High Court, the complainant identified as Dr Shweta has said that over 60 Hindu women who had married men from other religions were similarly illegally detained, some of them for long periods. Dr Shweta who managed to escape from the centre filed her affidavit in support of a habeas corpus petition filed earlier by her 29-yearold husband from Thrissur, Rinto Isaac.

According to Dr Shweta, a young woman, Athira from Kasaragod, who had chosen to convert to Islam on her own who recently ‘returned’ to ‘Sanatana dharma’ with much fanfare, was in this place for twenty-two days and that she had continued to insist on her preference for Islam.

Shweta and Isaac who married following Hindu ceremony at a temple subsequently registered their marriage under the Special Marriages Act.

According to a report in the Times of India, Dr Shweta was forced by her parents to go to the centre for “counseling”. She told the Times of India that at the centre her hands were often bound and the “counseling” was limited to pointing out the pitfalls of Christianity and Islam.

“We were forced to sleep on the floor of dormitories and the doors of bathrooms did not have locks. There were [those] who had [been] confined for years… Most of the inmates were ill all around but no treatment was given,” Dr Shweta said in her affidavit.

The yoga centre evidently functioned as a torture camp to ensure the ‘ghar wapsi’ of Hindu women who marry men from other religions. Some years ago, similar kidnap and illegal detention centre was being run in Gujarat from girls from the Patel caste who married outside her caste or community.

The Udayamperoor panchayat has issued a closure notice to the Yoga Vidya Kendra run by one Manoj, alias ‘Guruji’.

The story was first broken by the Malayalee news channel Media One.

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