India Herald122414

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In a glittering function organized on December 14 at the Royal Albert’s Palace, Fords, New Jersey, Pranathy Gangaraju of Georgia was crowned Miss India USA 2014. Miss Teen India New York Riya Kaur, left, Miss India USA Pranathy Gangaraju, Chairman and Founder of IFC,Dharmatma Saran and Mrs. India USA Namita Dodwadkar. Story on Page 10.

Miss India USA 2014

Mala Gopal and Dr. T. Gopal as dancers and Mahesh Iyer, right, with Nadhaswaram and Sundar Arun, left, with Thavil staged an entertainment item during the Founders Day celebration at Si Meenakshi Temple in Pearland recently. Story on Page 12.

HOUSTONWith well over a hundred

thousand and steadily growing population, Hindus are distinctly the third largest religious community in the Greater Houston area.

The last four decades witnessed the creation of several temples and organizations catering to the spiritual, social and philosophic needs of the faith, engaging various sections of the community. Since Hindu faith has not been formulated on any regimented guidelines and had functioned serving selective groups with discrete interests, most of these organizations have remained independent yet open to all.

Hindus of Greater Houston adopts wider agendaAbout twenty fi ve years ago

some of the wise and visionary stalwarts in the community made an attempt to bring all the Hindus under one umbrella, celebrating Janmashtami, the birth of God Krishna, the universal Hindu deity, revered by all sections of the faith.

The brilliant concept got established and got expanded, creating a feeling of unity and camaraderie between the several factions of Hindus in Houston.

Two years ago, Hindus of Greater Houston committee

See HGH, Page 11

Indian History Awareness and Research (IHAR), an initiative of Arsha Vidya Satsanga (AVS), organized a lecture and discussion by renowned public scholar Rajiv Malhotra and Prof. Christian Eberhart of the University of Houston on Saturday, Dec. 1h at India House.

Arsha Vidya Satsanga aims to establish the cultural self-identity of the people following Sanatana Dharma through the study of the Vedas, Allied Texts, Sanskrit, Child Education and Indian History. IHAR supports and promotes research into Indian History,

Scholars debate Hindu-Chrisitain compatibility

See DEBATE, Page 7

PAGE 2 • INDIA HERALD • WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 24, 2014

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“Look at this room,” said Charles Foster driving home the point that American comepetitive-ness was built on the immigration theme.

The noted immigration advo-cate and attorney was speaking at a meeting on Dec 18 at the HESS club, organized by the In-do-American Chamber of Com-merce of Greater Houston about President Barack Obama’s execu-tive order on immigration.

Foster is chairman of Foster LLP and has 30 years experience representing and advising multi-national companies on U.S. im-migration law.

After every immigrant wave, the opponents have said, “That’s enough,” and yet, every group of immingrants has contributed to America’s progress. Everyone wants people to immigrate legal-ly, yet some will oppose any pro-gram with even minor tweaks to immigration policy, he said.

The immigration reform bill that was passed with bipartisan support in June 2013 in the U.S.

that must change. Foster, who has advised Presi-

dents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush on immigration matters, felt that Bush had his heart in the right place as far as immigration was concerned.

Bush, he said, was looking at accommodating 1.5 million ille-gals. Foster rubbished the notion that we have a “wide open bor-der” to the south and said that the wide open border is to our north - with Canada.

Senate is stalled in the House, where Speaker John Boehner has not even brought it up for vote. Texas Senator Ted Cruz and oth-ers have mischaracterized it as an amnesty program when in fact it is nowhere near what President Ronald Reagan passed in 1986. Now, that was amnesty, Foster said.

Foster traced the history of immigration legislation from the country-based quota system which heavily favored Europe — 65,000 visas were alloted to Eng-land, 44,000 to Germany and only 100 to India.

President John F Kennedy, deeply aware of the anti-Irish sentiment that had dictated im-migration policy for a long time, removed the country-based allot-ment system. The law, as it stood then, excluded Asians and Afri-cans and preferred northern and western Europeans over southern and eastern ones. At the height of the civil rights movement of the 1960s the law was seen as an embarrassment by President Ken-nedy, who called the quota system “nearly intolerable”. After Ken-nedy’s assassination, President Lyndon Johnson signed the bill at the foot of the Statue of Liberty as a symbolic gesture. The Hart-Celler Act abolished the national origins quota system that was American immigration policy since the 1920s, replacing it with a preference system that focused on immigrants’ skills and family relationships.

Foster said the backlog to get a green card for professionals is over ten years, even for those with advanced degrees and said

To a question on Mexico’s im-migration policy, Foster said it was based on job skills. He added that the U.S. works closely with Mexico to ensure that Mexico follows its immigration laws. To a question on work permits like in the Middle East, Foster said they were part of the comprehensive immgration reform bill.

When asked how many of the 5 million undocumented people will actually come forward to reg-ister, Foster said that was indeed

uncertain, but expected that about two-thirds of them will take advantage of the proposed changes.

Then there is the question of an estimated 250,000 Indians who have overstayed their visas and their Indian passports have long expired. They must get a new Indian passport if they hope to become legal in the U.S. Fos-ter said he will try to work with the Indian consulates to help such people. — R.G.

Charles Foster

IA Chamber’s seminar on immigration


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TOPIC OF THE WEEK

THE LIGHTER SIDE

VOICES

By Husain Haqqani

Pakistanis are still grapplingwith the tragedy of the Talibanattack on a school in Peshawarthat left at least 141 people, mostof them children, dead and scoresinjured. There has been an out-pouring of grief internationally, andthe Pakistani public is visibly out-raged.

But the question being widelyasked is whether Pakistan's mili-tary and political leaders can trans-form grief and outrage into a clearpolicy that would rid the countryof its reputation as both a victimof and magnet for terrorists.

Even before this incident, Pa-kistan had one of the highest ca-sualty rates at the hand of terror-ists. About 19,700 civilians and6,000 security force personnelhave been reported killed in ter-rorism related violence in Pakistansince 2003.

But the country refuses to de-velop a comprehensive approachto fighting or containing the 33-oddterrorist groups believed to be op-erating on Pakistani soil.

The latest attack is the Taliban'sresponse to the Pakistan army'smilitary operation against the ter-rorist safe haven in NorthWaziristan, part of the tribal re-gion along the border with Af-ghanistan. Jihadis from all over theworld had congregated in the tribalareas to fight as Mujahedeenagainst the Soviets during the1980s. After the Soviets left, Pa-kistan used the militants for its ownobjectives of expanding Pakistaniinfluence in Afghanistan, leadingto the rise of the Taliban.

After 9/11, Pakistan cooperatedwith the United States in dislodg-ing the Taliban from power inKabul, only to give them sanctu-ary on its territory.

Gen. Pervez Musharraf, whoruled as military dictator from 1999to 2008, crafted a graduated policythat differentiated between vari-ous terrorist groups. While manyforeign (mainly Arab) terroristswith links to Al-Qaeda werehanded over to the United States,local jihadis as well as the AfghanTaliban were left alone.

Covert support for the AfghanTaliban was Pakistan's insurancepolicy to deal with the aftermathof a U.S. military withdrawal fromAfghanistan.

While the Afghan Taliban mayhave felt indebted to Pakistan'sintelligence service, the PakistaniTaliban had no such feelings. In-spired initially by Al-Qaeda andmore recently by Daesh (the Is-lamic State), various factions ofPakistani Taliban have waged waragainst the people and state ofPakistan. While they have beenconsistent in their savagery, Paki-stani authorities have not beenconsistent in their response to theirthreat.

In 2008, Pakistan's militarycleared out the Taliban from theSwat valley, home of Nobel lau-reate Malala Yousafzai. More re-cently, new Army Chief GeneralRaheel Sharif ordered his troopsinto North Waziristan. Althoughthe Pakistanis have routed and dis-placed several jihadi groups based

in the tribal areas, the terrorists retain the ability to regroup and resumeoperations in other parts of the country.

The savage attack in Peshawar demonstrates the futility of attack-ing one group of jihadis while leaving others in place. But there is stillno sign that Pakistan will give up its policy of embracing some jihadisfor regional influence against India and Afghanistan while fighting oth-ers.

Pakistan's military and intelligence service still hold on to the notionthat the country faces an existential threat from its much larger neigh-bor, India, out of which Pakistan was carved out in 1947. The divisionof Pakistan and the birth of Bangladesh, with support from India, in1971 also still loom large in the Pakistani elite's imagination.

Although nuclear deterrence should have bolstered Pakistan's na-tional self-confidence, the nation feels more insecure now than it did inits early years. Pakistanis readily believe conspiracy theories about theUnited States and Israel, in addition to India, wanting to take away itsnuclear weapons.

Jihadi militancy and terrorism have traditionally been ways of en-abling Pakistan to stand up to a bigger and increasingly powerful Indiathrough asymmetrical warfare. During the war against the Soviets,Pakistan used American money, weapons and training not only to equipfighters for fighting the Soviets in Afghanistan, but also to raise bri-gades of irregular fighters for Indian-controlled Kashmir.

The policy of allowing militant groups to operate on Pakistani soilhas proved disastrous. The jihadi militants do not accept the neat divi-sions between global, regional and local conflicts. Once they are con-vinced of the righteousness of their cause, they are willing to fight andblow themselves up anywhere.

Rising militancy and a significant decline in the capacity of the statehas enabled Pakistan-based jihadi groups to wreak havoc not only inIndia and Afghanistan but also in Pakistan and its friendly neighbors,Iran and China.

Extremist Islamists and jihadists have benefited from Pakistan's self-definition as an Islamic state. Given the centrality of Islam in Pakistan'snational identity, secular leaders find it difficult to create national con-sensus against groups that describe themselves as soldiers of Islam.

But a consensus against militancy is what Pakistan badly needs. Onseveral occasions during the last few years, Taliban atrocities haveresulted in backlash that has subsequently abated as a result of propa-ganda against India or the West.

In October 2011, Hillary Clinton had told Pakistani officials that "youcan't keep snakes in your backyard and expect them only to bite yourneighbors."

Her dire prediction that "eventually those snakes are going to turnon whoever has them in the backyard" has been coming true withconsiderable regularity.

The massacre of schoolchildren represents a new level ofatrociousness in the Taliban's behavior. Will it finally convince Paki-stanis to hunt down the snakes in their backyard?

(Husain Haqqani, director for South and Central Asia at theHudson Institute, was Pakistan's ambassador to the United Statesfrom 2008-11.)

Tolerance of jihadis backfires badlyBJP Still in Campaign ModeBharatiya Janata Party president Amit Shah says he is learning

Tamil. Even as he apologised to locals for speaking in Hindi at his firstpublic rally in Tamil Nadu, his message on Saturday was unambiguous:“The reign of DMK and AIADMK is set to end.” It was a clear signalof intent with BJP hoping to expand its base in the state ahead ofassembly elections in 2016. BJP’s push into Tamil Nadu is in concertwith a similarly aggressive thrust into Kerala, where Amit Shah toldreporters in Kochi that his party was looking to enrol 40 lakh membersand targeting local body elections in 2015.

For a party president who began his tenure by calling for a “Con-gress-mukt” Bharat, BJP’s pincer moves into south India are a crucialelement of a ruthless party machine that remains relentlessly in cam-paign mode, looking to capitalise on the momentum of its Lok Sabhavictory. The plan to expand south of the Vindhyas, in tandem withShah’s ‘Mission 44' in Kashmir and outreach efforts in the northeast,are part of a larger design to overcome BJP’s image of being a partyof the Hindi heartland.

It is no coincidence that after challenging Mamata Banerjee inKolkata last month, Shah fronted high-profile political functions in Keralaand Tamil Nadu over the weekend. He will be in Andhra and Telangananext week, before heading to Odisha in the new year. BJP senses anopportunity, winning 21 of 61 seats it contested across four southernstates in the Lok Sabha polls. This was much better than 2009, when itwon 19 of 106 seats it contested.

BJP’s 43.37% vote share in Karnataka was not surprising, but italso increased its vote share to 10.3% in Kerala (up from 3.9% in2009), 8.5% in Andhra (up from 2.8%) and 3.2% in Tamil Nadu (upfrom 2.3%). Just like it emerged from nowhere to grab power inHaryana earlier this year, and now looks set to make big gains inJharkhand and Jammu & Kashmir elections, BJP is looking to repeatthe pattern in southern states where it has never been more than amarginal player. BJP is challenging entrenched regional parties butmust remember that a lot will depend on how well it performs in NewDelhi. — The Times of India

The Other Border IssueBy directing the Union Government to secure the India-Bangladesh

border, the Supreme Court has made a timely intervention which, ifcarried out effectively, will result in improvements on the social, eco-nomic and political fronts. Currently, the 4,096 km India-Bangladeshborder, which runs through the States of West Bengal, Assam, Tripura,Mizoram and Meghalaya, is an especially porous one.

The two countries have almost no natural barriers, and just a hand-ful of pillars mark the dividing line for the most part. Also, the borderareas are fertile and densely populated, with the dividing line cuttingthrough buildings even, making it impossible to implement proper bor-der control. As a result, large-scale illegal movement of people, live-stock and commodities has been rampant for decades.

This has led to a horde of problems. First, illegal immigration, en-couraged by vote-bank-seeking politicians on this side of the border,has put enormous pressure on the limited resources of Indian States.Second, the influx of millions of Bangladeshi Muslims has threatenedthe ethnic identities of indigenous populations who fear being relegatedto the position of minority communities in their ancestral homeland.

In 2005, the Supreme Court warned that Assam, especially, faced“external aggression and internal disturbance” as it was being swampedby people “who have no right to continue to live in this country.” A thirdproblem of the porous border is illegal trade: Just about everything —from cows to saris, narcotics and weapons — pass through here.

Efforts to firm up border security have been underway since 1986,when Parliament approved of a plan to fence the border as part of theAssam Accord. However, almost three decades and billions of tax-payer rupees later, the fence is yet to be completed.

The Government continues to deploy a large contingent of the Bor-der Security Force, but that is hardly adequate. Also, clashes betweenthe Border Security Force, its Bangladeshi counterpart and illegal im-migrants have become a thorny bilateral issue.

Another issue that the apex court has highlighted is the legality ofSection 6A in the Citizenship Act of 1955. Introduced in 1985, underthe Assam Accord, it gives citizenship to Bangladeshis who came toIndia before 1966, refers those who came between 1966 and 1971 toa Foreigners Tribunal, and calls for the deportation of the rest. A con-tentious piece of legislation, it will be interesting to see how the matterplays out, both politically and legally. — The Pioneer

Taliban fighters ... snakes in the backyard


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By Seema Jain

The greatest mistake of a soulis non recognition of real selfand can only be corrected byrealization of self. — LordMahavir

Preksha means to perceivedeeply within and Meditation in-volves engaging the mind fully inthe perception of the subtle, inter-nal and innate phenomenonof consciousness to control pas-sions and purify emotion.

To help the Houston Commu-nity in leading a happy, healthy andpeaceful life, JVB Preksha Medi-tation Center under auspiciouspresence and motivation ofSamaniji Sanmati Pragyaji andSanmati Jayant Pragyaji con-ducted a one day preksha medita-tion camp titled “Opening the win-dow for 2015” on Saturday, De-cember 20 .

About 40 Meditators took partin this unique camp to experiencethe serene and blissfulenvironment. Both Samanijis aredeep practitioners of meditationand masters in Preksha Medita-tion technique and philosophy.

This unique camp kicked off inthe morning with taking Dikshafrom Saminijis which means mak-

ing resolution for one day to iso-late oneself from outer world andperceive own self.

It is not an easy task to “seeyourself through yourself”. But atthe end of the day all participantswere completely relaxed, full ofenergy and looked very positiveand confident for welcoming NewYear differently.

This camp has created a stronghope in the participants mind to-wards a peaceful and productivelife. The preliminary round of “Un-loading the mind” session beganwith exchange of impromptu ques-tions and answers between curi-ous meditators and Saminijs tounfold various perspectives ofmeditation. A special Yoga,Pranayam and Stretching sessionswere conducted by PratimajiDesai and Kokilaji Bhavsar, ex-perts in their field.

All meditation sessions wereconducted by Samani JayantPragyaji.

Samini Sanmati Pragyaji’s one

JVB conducts Preksha Meditation camp

hour presentation on learning tolive one day titled “A.W.A.R.E.-N.E.S.S” was all about bringingawareness in our overall persona(actions, words, ambitions, reac-tions, emotions, nature, enemies,senses, self). In closing, medita-tors shared their overall joyful andpeaceful experience of the dayand left with an open positive win-dow of mind and body.

On the first and third Sundayof the month there are pravachansby Samaniji at the center. SamaniJi’s also offer individual or one-on-one counseling (confidentially) tothose who are in need of such help.

In addition to the offsite camps,or fund raising events like playsetc., most of JVB’s programs areoffered free of charge. To coverthe costs of running the center ona day to day basis, donations areaccepted.

The center is open to all irre-spective of their religious beliefs.For more information, visitwww.JVBHouston.org

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By Sanchali Basu

This year Alok Utsav, the an-nual festival of Odissi dance pre-sented by Kalaangan at the SugarLand auditorium on Nov 22 waseven better organized and con-ducted than years prior.

Parents, students and wellwishers alike carried out all theirresponsibilities to a tee to make theevening run like a well oiled ma-chine.

What had started out 5 yearsago in a small way by GuruSupradipta Dutta for Alok Utsavto showcase the talent of her stu-dents, from Kalaangan and HDBSKala Bhavan has taken wingssince, and had 50 plus dancers thisyear. Of special note this year was

Kalaangan students show dedication at Alok Utsav

the fact that a student fromKalaangan, Simantini Behura hadparticipated in the prestigious In-ternational Odissi Dance Festivalin Bhubaneshwar.

Even though she was theyoungest dancer at the Festival,she was acclaimed to be one ofthe best by critics.

The other feather in their capwas the joint collaboration withKanniks Kannikeswaran, “TheMagical Music Man from Ma-dras,” in their production Chitram,this year.

Performances by Kalaanganstudents were specially recognizedfor their grace, elegance and mas-terful technique. It has also takena step to give back to the dancecommunity by introducing the

Kalaangan Nritya Pratibha Award(institute with a conscience) whichprovides a scholarship for a de-serving upcoming dancer in India.

The program started with abrief welcoming speech by artis-tic director, Supradipta Datta.Shyama Mishra, the emcee for theevening was introduced and theprogram started with theinvocatory piece Jaya Jagannathin praise of the presiding deity ofOrissa.

The dances then exponentiallyincreased in the level of difficultyand expertise and students rang-ing from the ages of five to overfifty gradually took the stage todance to Namo Ganesha,Mangalacharan, Aradhana andNritya Bilas.

Some students were invited to speak about their experiences whilelearning the dance form and one senior college going student alsomentioned how dancing Odissi provides her a stress-relieving outletfrom her didactic studies.

The dancers in Dasavatar, personified the grace and valor of theten incarnations of Lord Vishnu. Saraswati Bandana was an ode tothe goddess of learning. Two Abhinaya pieces followed, the first de-scribing the cosmic dance of Lord Krishna, and the second,Ardhanariswara depicting the contrasting yet complimentary attributesof the masculine (Shiva) and the feminine (Shakti) energies.

The evening ended with Mokshya Mangalam as is customary in aOdissi recital, where the dancers attempt to reunite the soul with theabsolute. Mrs. Datta in her vote of thanks thanked everyone involvedin making the evening possible.

Kalaangan has definitely made strides in the Houston community inits pursuit of promoting and bearing the torch of Odissi under the ableguidance and leadership of Supradipta Datta.

Photo by Jit Biswas

Bangladeshis celebrate Victory DayBangladesh American Society of Greater Houston (BASGH) cel-

ebrated the 44th Victory Day on Saturday, December 13, 2014 withelaborate programs to pay deep homage to the 3 million martyrs wholaid down their lives for the country. On this day in 1971, Pakistanioccupation forces surrendered after a nine-month war resulting in free,independent and sovereign Bangladesh.

BASGH have chalked out a vibrant cultural program, recitation,drama etc. to pay tribute to their heroes. This event reflected the di-versity and cultural richness of Houston, as well as the USA. Theprogram began with rendition of the national anthems of Bangladeshand USA. President of BASGH, Imtiaz Ahmed Pavel, delivered hiswelcome speech.

Kids aged between 6 and 13, in colorful attire, presented a wonder-ful program with different spirited patriotic group songs like ‘Shurjodoey tumi’, ‘Polash dhaka kokil daka’ etc. Smita, Purnata, Puspita,Sedra, Shawon, Tithi, Maisha, Polin, Arita, Gronti, Prionti, Tinni, Sharoni,Shyon, Rafid participated in this session. The second segment wasgroup songs by seniors. They also performed a series of patriotic songslikes ‘Ek nodi rokto periye’, ‘Ekti bangladesh’ etc. The third sessionhad two group dances choreographed by Modhumita, Shawon andSunan.

The program was ended with a short drama-‘Paer Awaz Pawa Jai’written by Syed Shamshul Haq and directed by Ali Tareque. The ex-cellent acting with appropriate background audio-visual effects wasreally a wonderful experience which was presented by BangladeshTheater Houston. — By Anik Sarkar

COMMUNITY NEWS INDIA HERALD • WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 24, 2014 • PAGE 7

Dharmic traditions and modern issues that infl uence their understanding and practice in a globalized world.

In the lecture Western Dichotomy towards Dharma: Appropriate, Assimilate, Reject and Vilify, Malhotra makes a strong argument that western institutions have traditionally followed the practice of a synthetic unity, where their intent is to blatantly appropriate what is of high value in the narrative of other cultures and at the same time totally reject the customs and traditions intrinsically associated with the local civilization through a process of slander and vilifi cation. Malhotra quotes the example of ancient Greek civilization that was once considered oriental. Through conquest, the west appropriated the philosophy, logic and other scholarly ideas associated with ancient Hellenistic culture, and in course of time slowly morphed them into western thoughts. By the same token, forms of worship prevalent in the ancient Greece were considered by the west to be pagan and therefore to be discarded. Through a constant reinforcement of the pagan narrative, this terminology has been gradually universalized to the extent that the word pagan is now widely accepted today in modern Greek culture.

Malhotra makes the point that Indian civilization by contrast is a product of integral unity that is coming from within. Unlike in western civilization, where there has been a constant controversy between science and religion, this does not exist in the Indian narrative.

Malhotra warns that India is at the cutting edge of “knowledge digestion”, where western institutions have every desire to appropriate practices from our ancient Dharmic traditions. He cites “Christian Yoga” as an example of such an appropriation from India and warns that this is just the tip of the iceberg. He urges Indian scholars to fi rst ideologically “decolonize themselves” to maintain their identity and not seek academic endorsement from western institutions as a stamp of authenticity. The talk by Malhotra is particularly important for followers of Dharmic traditions in the current time, as there are several examples of western literature that attempt to provide a derogatory depiction of ancient Dharmic traditions and practices nurtured over centuries. For example, the AP World History textbook in Katy ISD introduces Hinduism to children with the following case study “Inequality as a norm in Hindu Society”.

In his opening remarks on the Compatibility of Christianity and Science, Prof. Christian Eberhart, Director of Religious

Studies at the University of Houston, described the two stories of creation from Genesis 1; the fi rst in which humans were created after animals and the second in which Adam was created from dust in the Garden of Eden. God created the animals from dust after creating Adam, and Eve was created from his ribs. Although both theories have little scientifi c relevance, they serve as a discourse to create a relationship between God and humans. Dr. Eberhart accepted that it is diffi cult to reconcile faith in God from the creation theory with the modern theory of evolution as proposed by Darwin. Still he believes that Science and Christianity are compatible.

The discussion on Hindu Christian Interface: Promote conformity or Preserve Diversity? featured a lively dialog between Malhotra and Eberhart, where Dr

Eberhart defended that many churches with the exception of the Catholic church are not institutionalized as many here believe, and do not have a hidden agenda or the resources to appropriate practices from other faiths. This was in particular reference to the churches of the reformation that were formed by the early protestant reformers.

The question on Hindu-Christian Coexistence drew a strong comment from Malhotra that Christian theology needs a major re-thinking in their attitude towards other religions. He cited for example Dalai Lama’s proposal on a moratorium against conversion, which was not adopted by either Islam or Christianity, while Dharmic faiths such as Hinduism and Buddhism did not see any need for conversion.

Malhotra feels that without a fundamental realignment he sees very little opportunity for

coexistence of the two faiths without controversy. Prof. Eberhart took the alternate view that the foundation of Christianity per se has not been very dogmatic. This faith was founded by followers getting together for a feast. It is inherently accommodative and respectful towards other cultures and traditions. Dr Eberhart did not necessarily see a confl ict as articulated by Malhotra.

In response, Malhotra argued that the ideas of western scholars residing in academic institutions are not necessarily the same as those of evangelist who strongly advocate conversion. He provided the analogy of a good cop / bad cop; the interfaith groups being the good cop, while the evangelist is the bad cop, but the outcome is still the same – unfettered conversion. The liberal views of Christian scholars residing in academia

are not necessarily aligned with that of the institutions; and mutual respect can only come about through a formal institutional reformation in the West towards recognition of non-Abrahamic religions.

The program was presided by the Consul General of India in Houston, Harish Parvathaneni who characterized the Indian civilization as an ethos on diversity. In his speech he quoted from the seminal book on Indian philosophy by Dr. Radhakrishan, the philosophy of Ramana Maharishsi and the teachings of Ramakrishna Paramahamsa.

The event culminated with a prayer song “Bhaarata Desha Hitaaya” a rendition composed by Swami Dayanada Saraswati. About 250 people both local and out of town attended the event to make it another successful full house program organized by IHAR.

—RAJA DHARMARAJAN

DebateFrom page 1


COMMUNITY CALENDAR

or call for info.(713) 665-4665

Chandra & David Courtney Tabla and Vocal

Classes in Houston,Mission Bend,& Sugar Land

Visit www.chandrakantha.com

Classesnow ongoing

COMMUNITY CALENDARMakar Sankranti

Sun., Jan 18 @ 10 a.m.Annual celebration of Makar

Sankranti and SwamiVivekananda’s birthday. Picnicsponsored by VHP America(Houston), Gujarati Samaj, EkalVidyalaya and other organizations.At George Bush Park, 16756Westheimer Pkwy (offWestheimer, west of Hwy 6).From 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Kiteflying and other sports. For moreinfo call Girish Naik 281-851-6866or Sharad Patel 713-261-9400.

Arya Samaj SatsangWeekly Havan Satsang every

Sunday from 10 a.m. to 12 noon.DAV Sanskriti School Sundays 10a.m. to 12 noon. - Havan, Hindiand Naitik Shiksha classes. DAVMontessori School for ages 2 to 7years. Call Arti Khanna 281-759-3286. Free Yoga classes on Sat.Sanskrit & Upanishad classesTue. 6-8 p.m. At 14375 SchillerRd. (bet Westpark & Bellaire offHwy 6). 281-752-0100.

Chinmaya MissionSunday satsangs for adults,

youth, and children. A unique BalaVihar program for each grade,from PreK to Grade 12. Satsangsin two sessions between 8:35 a.m.- 10:15 a.m. and 11:20 a.m. -1p.m. Bala Vihar students cantake shloka, bhajan and orchestraclasses or language classes forHindi, Telugu, Marathi, andGujarati. Located at ChinmayaPrabha, 10353 Synott Road,Sugar Land, TX 77498. Newmembers may visit the welcomedesk between 8 a.m. - 8:45 a.m.or 10:15 a.m.-11:30 a.m. Visitwww.chin mayahouston.org orcall Bharati Sutaria 281.933.0233.

Vedanta SocietyVedanta Society of Greater

Houston, 14809 Lindita Drive(77083) has classes every Sun-day from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.on Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, 1st& 3rd Sunday; Bhagavad Gita,2nd Sunday; on works of SwamiVivekananda, 4th Sunday; HolyMother Sarada’s Gospel, 5th Sun-day. Swamis of Ramakrishna Or-

1635 or [email protected]

Gandhi LibraryMahatma Gandhi Library Book

Club: Meets 2nd Sunday of eachmonth; 12:30 PM at Arya SamajGreater Houston, 13475 SchillerRd. Join the discussion of the greatman’s autobiography – The Storyof My Experiments with Truth.Call Manish Wani 713-829-6979.

Saumyakasi SivalayaSri Saumyakasi Sivalaya is lo-

cated at Chinmaya Prabha, 10353Synott Road, Sugar Land, TX77478. Temple timings: Monday toFriday: 9:00 AM - 12:00 Noon and5:00 - 8:00 PM Saturday and Sun-day: 8:30-2:00 PM and 5:00 - 8:00PM. Contact Bharti Sutaria 281-568-1690 or Jay Deshmukh 832-541-0059 or visit www.saumyakasi.org.

Veerashaiva SamajaVSNA Houston is a group of

families who believe inVeerashaiva dharma (Basavadharma). Monthly Mahamane pro-gram for prayer and discussion onVachana Sahitya followed byPrasada. Contact: [email protected] or JagadeeshHalyal 832-744-4166.

Shiv Shakti MandirSanatan Shiv Shakti Mandir,

6640 Harwin. Open daily 7 a.m.to 8 p.m. All major festivals, as wellas birthdays, naam karan, engage-ment and other ceremonies. CallPandit Virat Mehta 713-278-9099or Hardik Raval 361-243-6539 forpuja or other ceremonies.

Houston NamadwaarA prayer house where the Hare

Rama Hare Krishna Maha-man-tra is continuously chanted. Week-ends: 8-11 AM & 4-7 PM, Week-days: 7-8 AM & 6-7 PM. Weekly“Gopa Kuteeram” children’s heri-tage classes and SrimadBhagavatam classes. Call 281-402-6585; visit www.godivinity.org(Global Organization for Divinity).

Mar Thoma ChurchTrinity Mar Thoma Church ev-

ery Sunday at 5810 Almeda GenoaRd. Sunday School at 9:15 a.m.Malayalam service at 9:30 a.m. on1st & 3rd Sunday. Adult Bibleclass at 9:30 a.m. English serviceat 10:30 a.m. on 2nd & 4th Sun-day. Call 713-991-1557 or 281-261-4603.

Sri GuruvayurappanTemple

Hours: Mon to Fri 6 a.m. -8a.m. and 5:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.Weekends & Holidays: 6 a.m. tonoon and 5:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.Bhajans Saturdays 7 p.m. to 8p.m.; Sundays 9 a.m. to 1 a.m.Special poojas (weekends andholidays) Choroon (Annaprasam)for kids, Thulabharam, VahanaPooja, Nirapara. Temple is locatedat 11620 Ormandy St (77035) Tel:713-729-8994 email: [email protected]

Arsha Vidya BharatiSanskrit classes and special

worship sessions for all ages. At

2918 Renoir, Sugar Land (77479).Call 281-606-5607 or [email protected]. Web: https://sites.google.com/site/avbtexas/classes

Preksha MeditationNew facilities of JVB Preksha Meditation Center. Classes for Yoga

and Meditation under guidance by Samani jis and discourses. At 14102Schiller Road (off Hwy 6 bet Bellaire and Westpark - 77082). Tel281-596-9642.

Patanjali YogpeethFree Yoga Classes every Sat/Sun at Arya Samaj from 8 am to 9:30

a.m. Call Anil 281-579-9433. For other free classes, call Indra 281-537-0018. For Yoga/Herbal products, call Shekhar 281-242-5000. Web:www.pyptusa.org and www.DivyaProducts.com.

Sadhu Vaswani CenterSadhu Vaswani Center of Houston holds regular Satsang on 3rd

Thursday of the month and daily Arti at 7.30 p.m. Call 281-463-0379or e.mail [email protected]

Sathya Sai centersSunday program held at two locations (North Houston: 12127

Louetta Rd, Houston; South Houston: 246 Fluor Daniel Dr, Sugarland,TX, 77479) from 3:00 pm to 5:30 pm. Sai Spiritual Education classesfor children; study circle for adults. Service programs - food distribu-tion & food drives; nursing home visits, tutoring at schools etc. Con-tact Sanjay Gupta (North) 832-687-6766 or Sondip Mathur (South)832-215-8675 www.sairegion10.org.

Gaudiya MathSri Govindaji Gaudiya Matha at 16628 Kieth Harrow Blvd., Hous-

ton 77084. Satsang Sundays 5 to 7 pm. Mantra meditation, kirtan,Sanatan Dharma classes. Vedic Education and Hindi classes for kids.Gita classes noon - 1:30 pm Wed. Hanuman Chalisa and RamcharitManas on Tue. 7:30–8:30 p.m. [email protected] or 281-499-3347.

Swaminarayan (ISSO)International Swaminarayan Satsang Organization (ISSO). Daily

aarti 7:45 a.m. and 7 p.m. Sunday satsang sabha from 5:30 to 7:30p.m. Temple is located at 10080 Synott Road (77498). 281-530-2565.

der visit to conduct retreats andlectures. www.houstonvedanta.org or 281-584-0488.

Durga Bari TempleDurga Bari temple is open from

9 to 11 a.m. and 4 to 7 p.m. Mon.thru Sat. Sandhya aarti at 6:30p.m. Temple closes at 7 p.m. Sun-day special from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.Puja services - Priest BishnupadaGoswami 281-597-8100 Templeis located at 13944 Schiller Rd (offHwy 6 bet. Bellaire & Westpark).Call Ganesh Mandal at 713-797-9057 / 832-423-8541.

Telugu FellowshipTelugu Christian Fellowship

meets every third Saturday of themonth at Triumph Church, 10555W. Airport Blvd., Stafford TX77477 at 6:30 p.m. Join us for atime of praise, worship and fel-lowship. Worship is in English.Call Chris Gantela 281-344-0707,or Rev. V. Gurrala 281-997-0757.

‘The Universe Within’Sahaj Marg is a natural and

simple system of heart-centeredmeditation and spiritual practicethat helps one realize the utimatepotential within oneself. The medi-tation is available to anyone whowishes to practice. Weekly medi-tation sessions held throughout theHouston area. Web: www.sahajmarg.org Email: [email protected].

Heritage ClassesAshirwad’s Heritage Classes

in Katy, Cypress and Sugar Landfor kids 4 to 18 yrs - meditation,Yoga, slokas, stories from scrip-tures, Vishnu Sahasranam,bhajans, competitions and fun ac-tivities. Adult meditation classes.Register atwww.ashirwadablessing.org orSri Ravula 281-995-0930.

Hare Krishna DhamHouston’s original Vedic

temple, ISKCON of Houston. At1320 W 34th St. (77018). DailyDarshan & Arati Times: 4.30am,7am, 8.30am, 12noon, 4.30pm,7pm, 9pm. Sunday Festival: 5.30pm to 7.30 pm. Weekly Gitaclasses for adults; call 281-433-

Open Forum Radio ProgramKGOL 1480 AM • Saturdays 4 to 6 p.m.

Informative programs with doctors,lawyers, politicians and other

newsmakers.Call 713-784-1480

Where Your Opinion Counts

Hosts: Dinkar Chheda, Jagat Kamdar & Subodh Bhuchar

FEEDBACKGet off the conversion bandwagon

When a Christian or Muslim is reconverted into Hinduism, whatVarna, Jaati, and Gotra is she/he admitted to? The reconvert is un-likely to remember or claim allegiance to any particular Varna, Jaati,or Gotra. So, who decides which ones to assign to the reconvert.

Progressive thinking in Hinduism not withstanding, as a practicalmatter, Hindus even today identify with a particular Jaati and Gotra'label', and tend to socialize with their own kind. The Gotra is reli-giously recited in marriage ceremonies, even when a Hindu marriesa non-Hindu.

So, what kind of a Hindu status will the zealots of reconversionconfer on the reconverts?

The more I think, the more I am convinced this whole reconver-sion deal, the ghar wapsi, is ill-conceived. It has practical and logisti-cal holes. It does no good to anyone- not to Hindus and certainly notto the reconvert. The sooner Hindus get off this bandwagon, thebetter.

Hari H Dayal, Friendswood, TX

OBITUARYDr. Lal Chand

SardanaDr. Lal Chand Sardana, retired

Professor of Political Science atTexas Southern University, passedaway in Houston on Dec 3, 2014.The cremation took place on Dec8. Dr. Sardana had been a veryrighteous human being and astaunch believer in the Hindu reli-gion and culture.

Born in the Sindh province ofpre-partition India, Dr Sardanamoved to India in his early lifealong with parents and siblings.Later, he migrated to the US in the1950's, completed Ph. D. in Politi-cal Science from SMU and joinedthe Texas Southern University inHouston, from where he retired asProfessor of Political Science.

Dr. Sardana was a devoted

Hindu and always talked aboutpreserving the Hindu way of lifeand was vocal against the atroci-ties against minorities, speciallythe Hindus in Bangladesh and Pa-kistan.

May his soul find eternalpeace by the grace of the Al-mighty! — By Ashok K Ghosh


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RANCHI: The BharatiyaJanata Party on Tuesday, Dec 23,emerged victorious and preparedto form its government inJharkhand, with Prime MinisterNarendra Modi saying the peoplehave "voted for stability which isessential to realise the true poten-tial of the state".

The BJP won 30 seats and wasleading in eight seats, while its pre-poll alliance partner the AllJharkhand Students Union(AJSU) got four seats and wasleading in a fifth -- taking themcomfortably past the magic half-way mark of 41 in the 81-mem-ber assembly.

"People of Jharkhand have

Jharkhand will get BJP government

voted for stability which is essen-tial to realise the true potential ofthe state. I congratulate them,"said Modi who had campaignedvigorously in Jharkhand, a statethat is home to 3.2 million.

The vote share of the BJP wentup from last time's 24 percent to31 percent now. The party alsodid remarkably well in the tribalSanthal Pargana region that has18 assembly segments. The BJPwon seven seats in the tribal belt,a marked improvement from justtwo seats it held earlier.

The ruling Jharkhand MuktiMorcha (JMM) failed to improveits performance, winning 17 seatsand leading in just one -- a tally

that was same as last time.The Congress-RJD combine

bagged a miserable three seats anda lead in four constituencies. Con-gress spokesperson KishoreShadeo said the results show thattheir organisation has improvedand they have managed to snatchseats from the JMM.

BJP cadres were ecstatic inJharkhand as well as in Delhi. Thecelebrations began soon after thetrends indicated that the party wascoasting home to victory. A beam-ing BJP chief Amit Shah said inDelhi: "It is for the first time thatpeople of Jharkhand have given aclear mandate in an assembly elec-tion to the BJP. We will form amajority government."

Jharkhand, which became astate in November 2000, has richmineral resources including ura-nium. The state has a third ofIndia's coal reserves and a quar-ter of India's copper reserves.

BJP national vice presidentRaghbubar Das, who is a con-tender for the chief minister's postand has won from EastJamshedpur constituency, toldIANS that they will form the gov-ernment in the state.

He said that the BJP parlia-mentary board will take a call onwho will be the chief minister.Arjun Munda, considered a strongcontender for chief ministership,was defeated in Kharsawa con-stituency.

The other former chief minis-ters who lost include BabulalMarandi and Madhu Koda.Marandi, the first chief ministerand president of the JharkhandVikas Morcha, lost from both theDhanwar and Giridih. Jai BharatSamanta Party candidate Kodalost the election from the Majhgaoconstituency. Chief MinisterHemant Soren won in Barhait butlost from Dumka.

Hung assembly in J&K

Jharkhand voters defeated three former chief ministers

SRINAGAR: Jammu and Kashmir got a hung assembly Tuesday,with the PDP becoming the single largest group and the BJP makinghistory by finishing a close second in a verdict that exposed the deepdivide between the largely Muslim Kashmir Valley and Hindu-major-ity Jammu region.

With no single party in a position to form a government on its own,the Peoples Democratic Party with 28 of the 87 seats hinted it was notaverse to sailing with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which baggedall its 25 seats from Jammu region.

The National Conference of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah -- whowon from Beerwah but lost in Sonwar -- won 15 seats, disprovingcritics who felt it might be wiped out. Its estranged ally Congressfinished with 12 seats -- five less than last time.

Seven seats went to smaller parties and independents including twobagged by the People's Conference of Sajjad Lone, a former separat-ist leader. Yusuf Tarigami, a veteran Marxist, won again from thevalley.

While Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed the record voter turn-out in Kashmir as a sign of people's faith in democracy, BJP presidentAmit Shah credited the unprecedented showing by his party in thestate to the six months of good governance by Modi.

Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office Jitendra Singh, aLok Sabha member from Udhampur in Kashmir, said: "This will be aturning point for BJP and for Jammu and Kashmir politics."

The BJP, until now considered a bit player in Kashmir that too onlyin Jammu region, not only increased its seat tally from 11 in 2008 to 25now, but polled the maximum votes - over 23 percent.

The BJP had hoped to win 44 seats -- enough to take power on itsown in Jammu and Kashmir. That did not happen. But a PDP-BJPcoalition would give them the numbers to comfortably form a coalitiongovernment.

PDP leader Mehbooba Mufti said it would take time to form agovernment to provide "good governance". Her party spokesman SamirKaul, however, said that "an alliance with the BJP is not ruled out".

Mehbooba added: "It is not a decisive mandate. It is not even ac-cording to our expectations. We could not get the kind of result we hadexpected." She refused to say if her party would prefer to sail with theBJP or the Congress.

"It will take time to find out what formulations can give good gov-ernance. We will take our time... We are not in a hurry." Although thefinal decision on forging an alliance would rest on Modi and Shah, BJPsources said opinion within was split on who the party should go with-- the PDP or National Conference.

The BJP did not field any senior leader or known face in the elec-tion. Instead, the party projected Modi as the answer to Kashmir'slong-standing problems. Modi visited the state six times to campaignand focussed mainly on issues of development.

Outgoing Chief Minister Abdullah said the best possible combina-tion would be one with the BJP and PDP and chided the Congress formaking overtures to the PDP for the sake of tripping the BJP.

"I have accepted the people's verdict," he said. "But those whothought we would do badly very badly have been proved wrong."Riding on the Modi wave, the BJP won its 25 seats in the Jammuregion, where only six Congress candidates won. But the BJP got onlytwo percent of votes in the Kashmir Valley.

Mufti Mohammed Sayeed’s PDP, may form a government with the BJP

48 dead in rampage by Bodo militantsGUWAHATI: The death toll in Assam militant attacks has risen to

48 with the recovery of more bodies. The victims are adivasis. Theyhave been shot dead by Bodo militants of Songbijit faction of NationalDemocratic Front of Boroland (NDFB) at five different locations acrossthe state on Tuesday, Dec 23.

The attacks started at around 5 evening at Maitalubasti in Sonitpurdistrict where worst attack took place. Police are recovering the bod-ies in this area inside the Pabhoi reserve forest.

Within few minutes of the attack, the militants struck at a villagecalled Pakhriguri in Kokrajhar district in the western part of the statewhere three people were killed.

The next three attacks were carried out again in Sonitpur district attwo other places. So far 10 people have been found dead in Phulbariand another six at Batasipur. All the places of incidents are in BodolandTerritorial Autonomous Districts (BTAD).There was no casualty atUltapani in Kokrajhar district.


Suite 127

COMMUNITY NEWS

In a glittering function orga-nized on December 14 at the Royal Albert’s Palace, Fords, New Jersey, Pranathy Ganga-raju of Georgia was crowned Miss India USA 2014. Miss India USA is the oldest run-ning Indian pageant outside of India. The thirty third annual pageant was organized by the New York-based IFC, headed by Dharmatma Saran, Founder and the Chief Organizer of the Pageant.

Riya Kaur from New Jersey was crowned Miss Teen India USA and Namita Dodwadkar of Massachuseets was also crowned the First Ever Mrs. India USA in the same pageant.

Pranathy, 19, is a student ma-joring in Film Acting and Pro-duction. Her hobbies include dancing, singing, writing and swimming. She was crowned by outgoing queen Monica Gill. Pranathy will represent USA in the Twenty Fourth An-nual Miss India Worldwide Pageant, also organized by IFC, to be held in Goa, India in June of 2016.

Monica Shah, 24, of Florida and Angela Nand, 27, of Ha-waii, were respectively de-

clared fi rst and second runners up among 21 contestants from various parts of the country, in the gala event attended by over fi ve hundred people. The other two fi ve fi nalists were Nisha Kamaldani from New Jersey and Shivali Marwaha from Vir-ginia.

Riya, 15, is from New Jersey and she would like to become an actress or a doctor. She was crowned Miss Teen India USA among eighteen other contes-tants. The fi rst runner up in Teen was Karishma Malhotra, 15, from New York and the second runner up is Harika Tal-luri, 16, from New Hampshire. The other two fi nalists were Shavi Sikaria from Washing-ton State and Nicky Kandola from Virginia. The sub contest winners in Teen section were – Karishma Malhotra from New York – Miss Talented, Harika Talluri from New Hampshire – Miss Photogenic, Nidhi Patel of Georgia - Miss Congeniality and Akila Narayanan of Massa-chusetts – Miss Facebook.

The First Ever Mrs. India USA is Namita Dodwadkar, 28, is a Senior Scientist at Novartis and holds a Ph. D. in Pharma-

ceutical Sciences. Namita’s hobbies include modeling, Lat-in and Bollywood dancing and teaching. The fi rst runner up is Sheetal Kelkar, 35, from New Hampshire and the second runner up is Rupal Patel, 25, from New York. The other two top fi ve fi nalists were Rakashi Chand from Massachusetts and Tapasya Srivastava , also from Massachusetts. The sub contest winners in Mrs. Section were Namita Dodwadkar from Mas-sachusetts – Miss Photogenic, Purvi Ragoowansi of New Jer-sey – Miss Congeniality and Geet Kaur of Washington State – Miss Facebook.

The pageant started with a stunning performance by all the contestants led by the outgoing queen Monica Gill choreo-graphed by Shilpa Jhurani. All contestants presented their best in the Indian and the Evening Gown segment after which the top ten were selected. The top ten contestants from Miss sec-tion then amazed the audience with their talent which includ-ed Bollywood dances, Indian

classical dances, singing and karate. In the Miss sec-tion Amritha Mangalat from

New Hampshire was awarded Miss Talented. Winners of the other various sub-contests were Aamy Kuldip of Illinois – Miss Photogenic, Nandini Aiyer of New York – Miss Beautiful Eyes, Rupinder Raj of New York – Miss Beautiful Skin, Nisha Kamaldani of New Jersey – Miss Beautiful Hair, Angela Nand of Hawaii – Miss Congeniality, Pranathy Gan-garaju from Georgia – Miss Beautiful

Smile, Monica Shah of Flor-ida – Miss Bollywood Diva, Angela Nand of Hawaii - Miss Catwalk, Nandini Aiyer – Miss Facebook and Angela Suresh of Washington State – Miss Popularity.

Dharmatma Saran, Chair-man & Founder, presented an appreciation plaque to Mr. H. R. Shah, Mr. Albert Jasani, Mr. Satya Shaw, Ms Nishi Bahl and

Shilpa Jhurani for their support in organizing this year pageant. “I am very thankful to the In-dian community for its support through the years,” said Dhar-matma Saran, “and especially thankful to H.R. Shah and Al-bert Jasani for supporting the pageant.”

Stacy Issac – Miss India USA 2001 and Roshi George – Miss FOKANA were emcees for the function and Nishi Bahl dwas the choreographer.

The panel of judges includ-ed Dr. Ravi Jhagirdar – Presi-dent of AAPI, Satya Shaw a cultural activist from Florida, Dr. Binod Sinha – a medical doctor from Edison, Susmita Patel – celebrity make up artist and Ines Hernandez a fashion designer from Dominican Re-public. The crowning was fol-lowed by a lavish dinner and dan

Pranathy Gangaraju crowned Miss India USA 2014

The opening number with all the contestants

Miss India USA Pranathy Gangaraju being crowned by outgoing queen Monica Gill.


COMMUNITY NEWS

DAV Sanskriti SchoolRegistration Open for 2015

Class room

Havan for children by section

Shlokathon

Spring Semester starts on Jan 4, 2015 for 20 Sundays - 10 am to 12 noon. We teach children ages from 5yrs to 17yrs Hindi, Vedic Education and one Elective from below:

Public SpeakingVedic MathMusic/Dance/TablaYoga

Fees per child- $250 for Spring Semester (Full refund for perfect attendance)

Enroll at http://www.bmpsys.com/davss/Or send an email to [email protected] byDec 31st, 2014

From top left Richa Dixit , Vinod Mantri, Partha Krishnaswamy, Swapan Dhairyawan Sanjay Jain, Atul Kothari, Anshuman Desai. Vijay Pallod, Girish Naik, Venugopal Menon, Dev Mahajan Tupil Narasimhan and Sharad Amin. Photo Bhagwan Bhutada

formed an Advisory Board, consisting of primarily, heads of temples/ organizations with the objectives of functioning as a link to the several units, incorporating the interests of every group, enhancing their effi ciency and minimizing possible duplication.

The need and urgency of such unity was felt essential for several reasons: to create harmony among all the Hindus to approach and handle situations of common interests

in a collective fashion, to raise the younger generation as belonging to one faith beyond the barriers of language, states, customs and factions and to establish an awareness in the mainstream about Hindu religion on equal footing as a major, recognizable, global religion with about a billion followers and fl ourishing since antiquity.

Hindus of Greater Houston adopted the following renewed mission statement: •to uphold the lofty ideals of ‘Sanatan Dharma’ (Eternal Consciousness), •to respect

the divinity in all humans, •to promote Hindu solidarity, •to inspire Hindus of the splendor of our convictions, •to propagate understanding and dispel misinformation about our faith, •to provide guidance and to function as an umbrella organization protecting the needs of all the Hindus in the greater Houston area and beyond, and •to coexist with camaraderie and compassion with factions of other faiths.

To fulfi ll the above goals, HGH committee decided to expand to include fi ve new members with established,

HGHFrom Page 1

Senthamizh Sivanery Chelvar Sri Arumugam Pillai passed away at age 97 in India. He was a saintly Siva devote, a scholar and a Hindu visionary. Pillai was a former administrator of Houston’s Meenakshi Temple. He is the father of Mrs. Rajam Appan. His life and contribu-tions to Hindu religion and Tam-il language were celebrated at the Meenakshi Temple on Dec. 11. A rare blend of a true scholar of Hindu scriptures and an ar-dent lover of Tamil language, he was a giant in the community. His passion for the scriptures was self-evident when he un-dertook to a gargantuan task of publishing a series of volumes of the Panniru Thirumurai. His vision for these publications was very unique. In addition to the original verses, he included transliterations and translations in Tamil and English with pre-cise explanations. This is in-deed a rare accomplishment. Two volumes Sage Manickka Vacheker’s Thiruvachakam and Thirugnana Sambandar’s The-varam are very well received by the Hindu community. This was his divine inspiration- to leave such great works by Tamil

saints for the next generation by including explanation in Eng-lish with original verses. He built a bridge for future genera-tions to be aware and be proud of their Hindu religion, Tamil language and Indian heritage. He did all this in his retirement years- old age was not a obsta-cle. His divine inspiration gavehim passion and energy to un-dertake this voluminous work. At the Athma Shanthi pooja at Meenakshi temple, Arumugamwas remembered and honored and his life was celebrated.

—By Dr. Kamalesh Lulla

impeccable credentials of commitment in the community, thus complementing the present, already proven, competent group of leaders. The following are the members of HGH Board: Sharad Amin, Vijay Pallod, Partha Krishnaswamy,

Thara Narasimhan, Richa Dixit, Vinod Mantri, Dharminder Dargan, Sanjay Jajoo, Radha Dixit, Bhagwan Bhutada, Girish Naik, Swapan Dhairyawan, Sanjay Jain, Atul Kothari, Tupil Narasimhan, and Anshuman Desai .

Obituary: Arumugam Pillai

Arumugam Pillai


COMMUNITY NEWS

Sri Meenakshi Temple Society 17130 McLean Road, Pearland, TX 77584

Invites you to Celebrate

New Year's Day &

Vaikunta Ekadashi On Thursday January 1st, 2015

Start your New Year with the blessings of Sri Meenakshi, Sri Sundareswara, Sri Venkateswara and Sri Padmavathi

on December 31st, 2014 – New Year’s Eve - Midnight Aarathi

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------

8:00 AM – 9:30 AM Ganesha Homam and Abhishekam for Prasanna Vinayagar at the Ganesh Temple

Sponsorship $51 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

10:00 AM: Puja for Maha Ganapathi & Sri Ayyappa. Sponsorship $21

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------

9:00AM - 9:30 AM Laksharchana for Sri Venkateswara & Muthangi Seva for all Pradhana

Murthis followed by Deeparadhana. Sponsorship $51 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------

9:30 AM: VaikuntaDwara/SwargaDwara Darshanam (Vaikunda Ekadashi)

10:30 AM: Sri Venkateswara Procession on GarudaVahanam ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Grand Sponsorship for all New Year Day Poojas $101 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2 PM - 5:00 PM. Cultural Program at Kalyana Mantapam --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

5:00 PM Sri Meenakshi Sundareswarer Pallakku Processsion ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Breakfast will be available at Temple Kitchen between 8:00 AM - 10:00 AM

Indian Restaurants Food Booths from 10:00 AM – 8:00 PM ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

To volunteer for the New Year's day, Please contact: Murali Ravoori ([email protected]) , P. Vaduganathan( [email protected]) , S. Narayanan([email protected])

and for Cultural : Mala Gopal ([email protected]) (or) call the temple office at 281-489-0358 ext. 100, 110

Founders’ Day Celebration at Sri Meenkashi

TempleSri Meenkashi Temple cel-

ebrated Founders’ day as aformal dinner event on Sat-urday, December 13th, 2014. The evening was dedicated by the current Board to honor all those who have worked hard inthe Board and advisory council since 1979.

This year was special be-cause of a special skit and mu-sical program called “Melodies and Memories”. The templechairman Dr. P. Vaduganathanwho wrote the skit , had actedas a Swamy Vaduganantha and narrated the 35 year story of Sri Meenakshi temple to a few vil-lagers in India as to how thisfi rst Shakthi temple in USAserves as a model to many tem-ples. As the story evolved Mala Gopal, the cultural coordinatorhad choreographed songs anddances to portray each stage ofthe temple.

As part of the program sev-eral steering committee mem-bers, Dr. KR. Thiyagarajan, Dr. Venugopal Menon, Dr.Bala Ayer, Dr. A.P. Raghutha-man, Padma Anantha for herhusband Anantha and Dr. S.G. Appan for his late father Subra-manian were brought on stage along with several past chair-men , Board and council mem-bers and honored. The evening ended with a delicious dinner.

The founders were verypleased that the current lead-ership did not forget the sac-rifi ces made by so many over the years and complemented the efforts of the current Boardespecially the chairman P. Va-duganathan, Secretary Srikanthand Treasurer Padma Golla forarranging this nice evening.

The temple leaders, past and present.


Sanatan Shiv Shakti Mandir of Houston Inc. 6640 Harwin Dr, Houston, TX 77036

Please Note: We do not have any other Temple at 5645 Hillcroft Ste: 701

Devotees who desire to sit in Pooja may give their names to our Priest Shri

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713-278-9099

A Hearty Invitation to all Hindu Devotees on the occasion of the celebration ofA Hearty Invitation to all Hindu Devotees on the occasion of the celebration of

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Our New San Antonio offi ce opened on June 1.

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Astrology & Vaastu Shastra are Science of Nature, and are not related with any religion, caste, or community. It is an Occult Science and gift of nature for the welfare of the people.

Astrologer Hardik Vyas, a famous young face in Vedic Astrology from India is in Houston. Call for guidance on Health, Wealth, Education, Career, Business, Property, Love & Passion, Marriage & Compatibility, Horoscope-Making, Child Problem, Luck & Fortune, Peace & Prosperity, Karma & Economic success.

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The organization serv-ing Asian Pacifi c Americans known as OCA-Greater Hous-ton recently celebrated 35 years of leadership and em-powerment at a gala organized at Ocean Palace in Houston Texas.

Cecil Fong, a retired Shell executive, the President of OCA for 2014 led the celebra-tions and organized the “They

Serve With Honor” awards cer-emony.

The Event was Co-chaired by Rogene Gee Calvert and Elizabeth Hwong.

This award is presented to Asian American professionals from diverse professional ca-reers and commercial, indus-trial and public sectors.

NASA’s Dr Kamlesh Lulla was presented with “They Serve with Honor” award for his outstanding life time con-tributions to our nation’s space program and his long involve-ment in the Asian American and Indian American commu-nities.

Dr Lulla is an internationally acclaimed space scientist, au-thor, motivational speaker and a leader in the federal govern-ment for enhancing the diversi-ty and inclusion in our nation’s workforce.

Dr Lulla has been a long res-ident of Houston and is proud of his Indian heritage and roots.

Kamlesh Lulla

Dr. Kamalesh Lulla honored

NEW YORK: An Indian-American attorney and his wife have been charged in the US with insider trading after they used confi dential information obtained from a corporate cli-ent about a pharmaceutical company and avoided thou-sands of dollars in losses.

California-based Shivbir Grewal and Preetinder Grewal agreed to pay $90,000 to settle the federal regulator US Secu-rities and Exchange Commis-sion’s charges, and Shivbir also

agreed to be suspended from practicing as an attorney before the SEC on behalf of any pub-licly traded company or other entity regulated by the agency.

“An attorney owes a client a duty of trust when presented with confi dential information,” said Michele Wein Layne, Di-rector of the SEC’s Los Ange-les Regional Offi ce.

“Shivbir attempted to avoid personal fi nancial losses by breaching his duty to protect that nonpublic information,

Indian-American attorney, wife charged with insider trading

and in the end he pays a heavier price for exploiting it.”

The SEC alleges that while serving as outside counsel to a pharmaceuticals company last year, Shivbir learned that the company was on the brink of announcing a signifi cant de-cline in expected revenue due to an unanticipated drop in or-ders for its top-selling drug.

Shivbir sold his entire in-vestment in the company’s stock within 48 hours of getting the nonpublic information from

company offi cials who sought the disclosure advice of his law fi rm. He tipped his wife, who also sold all of her shares on the basis of the nonpublic informa-tion.

The day after they sold their stock, the company issued a statement revealing the expec-tation of decreased sales of a drug and the consequent expec-tation of reduced revenue, and the company’s stock price fell more than 35 per cent.

The couple avoided losses

of nearly $45,000 by selling ahead of the bad news.

The SEC’s complaint alleges that the Grewals violated provi-sions of the Securities Act.

Without admitting or deny-ing the allegations, the Grewals agreed to be permanently en-joined from violating these pro-visions of the securities laws.

Shivbir agreed to pay dis-gorgement and penalty of $30,343 each. His wife agreed to pay disgorgement and a pen-alty of $14,400 each.


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Cast: Aamir Khan, Anushka Shrma. Director: Rajkumar Hirani.First things fi rst. All those guesses about who PK is were right after

all. Aamir Khan’s bulging eyes, pointy ears and unblinking stares do mean that he is an alien from a planet far, far away, who lands on earth to “research” us human beings.

He appears stark naked in an arid desert, and soon discovers that earth is not a very friendly place.

His only means of going back home is stolen, people keep slapping him for holding hands with them, and when he fi nally turns to the mysterious entity called God, who everyone seems to trust to solve their problems, he doesn’t seem to be heard at all.

Through this alien, fi lmmaker Rajkumar Hirani presents his latest social cause – religion and the commercialization of it. He references the Hindu-Muslim divide, conversions, and rich godmen.

There are broad, ambiguous questions about religion, and the fi lm tries to provide simplistic answers. But you don’t mind because it is all done with a touch of humour … until the end of the fi rst half, that is.

Post-interval, Hirani and his good intentions seem to have run out of steam. Aamir’s wide-eyed look gets repetitive, and it feels like some-one is chanting the same mantra over and over again. We get it, Mr. Hirani and Mr. Khan. God is one, godmen are fake, and Aamir Khan is the greatest actor in Bollywood. Can we move on, please?

But Hirani seems to be in no mood to oblige. He uses all the tried-and-tested tropes to further his plot.

There are media houses which ignore bomb blasts and instead focus on PK and his questions about religion; and reporters who don’t seem to have much news sense.

Like his past fi lms, Hirani makes his main protagonist an outsider, places him in a corrupt environment, and then lays the onus on him to change the system by constantly questioning tradition.

As with most good things, the trick lies in knowing when to stop. Hirani, and at times, Khan, don’t. They seem so enamored with their idea and so intent on hammering the message home that it hampers the cause more than helping it.

After a whole song where PK explores Hinduism, Christianity and Islam – rolling on temples fl oors, fl agellating himself at Mu-harram processions and offering prayers at a Gurudwara – Hirani chooses to insert a scene where PK chases someone dressing up as Hindu god Shiva because he thinks he has fi nally found God. At this point it gets exhausting.

The message might be noble, but the narrative is weak, and this is perhaps the weakest of Hirani’s fi lms. His trademark humour is sparse; and in spite of Anushka Sharma’s spirited portrayal of a reporter who helps PK, and Khan’s over-earnest performance as the protagonist, the fi lm is a tedious watch. -- Shilpa Jam-khandikar for Reuters

PK: Preachy and tiresome alien

Priyanka signs 1-year deal with ABC

Priyanka Chopra, who has al-ready made inroads into foreign shores with her music, has signed a one-year TV development deal with US-based ABC Television Studios. “A new step ... An evolu-tion of my creative self ... yikes ,,, Here we go,” Priyanka tweeted.

The 32-year-old National Award winning actress, known for Hindi blockbusters such as Krrish 3 and Barfi !, is to topline an ABC series developed for her or star in an existing project tar-geted for next fall, according to a report by variety.com.

ABC head of casting Keli Lee

especially came down here to sign Priyanka.

“I’ve been a longtime fan of ABC shows, and an admirer of how the network has changed the landscape of TV through the diversity of their lead characters,” the former beauty queen said in a statement.

At home, she is also set to turn a producer with Madamji, to be directed by Madhur Bhandarkar.

FIR, Twitter wars over PKAamir Khan is known for being very selective about the fi lms he acts

in. He makes sure his fi lms make headlines, and this year’s Christmas release PK is no different. Although the fi lm opened to impressive col-lections at the box-offi ce (over 92 crore in three days), the fi lm is also in the news for other reasons.

FIR for hurting religious sentiments. Some are blaming the makers for being insensitive towards religion and portraying it in a wrong way. Social media is abuzz with mixed reactions from the audiences. An FIR has been lodged against the fi lm under sections 153A and 295A of the Indian Penal Code. The secretary of Hindu Legal Cell, Prashant Patel, has apparently lodged an FIR against director Rajkumar Hirani, Aamir Khan, producer Vidhu Vinod Chopra and Sidharth Roy Kapur. He claims that Lord Shiva has been portrayed in a bad light in PK.

Some slammed PK for promoting love-jihad. Speaking to DNA, Aamir Khan said that the crew of PK consisted of a majority of Hindusand none of them felt offended. Aamir Khan went nude for the fi lm’s fi rst poster covering his modesty with a transistor. The makers of the fi lm faced wrath on charges of obscenity. However, the supreme court dismissed the PIL which sought a ban on the fi lm’s posters saying, “If you don’t like it, don’t watch the fi lm but don’t bring religious facets in it. These are matters of art and entertainment and let them remain so.” While speaking to businessofcinema.com, Aamir said, “The message of this fi lm is that the biggest thing is humanity. There is no difference between Hindus and Muslims... ”

Director Rajkumar Hirani told DNA, “We have not done anything for which people can tell we have deliberately hurt anyone’s religious sentiments. The core idea of the fi lm is just that we are not born with a birthmark proclaiming we are Hindus or Muslims or Sikhs or Chris-tians. It is just that like a baby is born without any per-conceived no-tions and is made to follow a certain lifestyle and perform certain ritu-als... Aamir as an alien did not have any idea or notions about what religion is here on Earth.

Liar’s Dice is out“Liar’s Dice”, which tells the

story of a young mother who takes her daughter in search for her missing husband, was chosen by the Film Federation of India (FFI) to represent the country at the Oscars in the for-eign language fi lm category.

“Liar’s Dice” has failed to make its way into a list of nine feature movies, which will ad-vance to the next round of voting by the jury for the 87th Acad-emy Awards, says an update on the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences website.


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To continue my tribute to LataMangeshkar who turned 85 lastSept. 28, it is not about a favoritetune or lyrics or orchestration ofthe songs I write about but onLata’s rendering of them. If anyother singer had sung the twosongs I mentioned in my lastMusings (Ayega Anewala andDheerese Aja Re) it would havebeen worse. Perhaps ‘Ayega,Ayega’ could still sound hauntingin Noor Jehan’s voice but then youwould miss the stream-like soundof pure and clean water that youhear and feel in Lata’s voice.

Lata sang her songs in such away that she could sing for thesame actress within 2-3 monthsor even 2-3 years and still soundlike the actress yet also like a to-tally different person(a). TakeIchak Dana (Shree 420-1955)and O Mere Lal (Mother India-1957). Same actress, same singerbut what a difference in voice!Ichak Dana not only sounds likeNargis but also like the young,playful, full of dreams characterNargis played.

And O Mere Laal, a maturemother, hard done by life, beggingher son for HIS life. If we closeour eyes and listen to those songs,seeing Nargis before our eyes maybe psychological because wehave seen the movie, we KNOWit’s Nargis but listen to the differ-ence in the tone and timber ofLata’s voice in those two songs.

That difference is not the tune,the lyrics but the magic of Lata’srendering. Like an actor deliver-ing a role through his/her voice andgestures aside from facial expres-sions, Lata renders the lyrics witha personal touch, not her own per-sonal touch, but the personal touchof actress/character she is play-ing. The magic of her rendition ishow she combines both the ac-tress and the character. In theabove two songs, it is the samesinger singing for the same actresssounding like two different per-sons, even if you didn’t knowHindi.

When I heard those two songsfor the first time, I was already ahuge fan of Hindi film songs, start-ing to identify the singers but I hadnot started seeing films yet. I wasin school. No money. Plus how doyou explain over three hours’ ab-sence at home? Truth – went tosee a movie - wasn’t safe as itwould lead to ‘where did you getthe money’ and worse, ‘whom didyou go with because you’re notold enough to go by yourself’.

So without having seen thefilms, when I first heard thosesongs, I thought it was a differentsinger.

voice sounding exactly likeVyjayantimala. And, still, she’ssinging, not talking.

There are so many Lata songsthat I could mention here that haveunique and Lata-specific contribu-tion – from Jago Mohan Pyare(Jagte Raho-1956 - SalilChoudhary) to Gori Gori Gori MeinPariyon Ki. (Begunah-1957 –Shanker-Jaikishen), to Mora GoraAng Layee Re (Bandini-1963-SDBurman) and ... oh so many.

However, despite these and somany other Lata gems that haunt,entertain and delight millions of lis-teners, I just realized that the oneLata song everyone will talk aboutin any tribute to her, is not a filmsong. You guessed it (I hope). Thesong which also won the heartsof all of Bharat is Aai Mere WatanKe (lyrics by Kavi Pradeep, com-posed by C. Ramchandra).

It is such a simple compositionwith simple orchestration. Latahad only the words to hang on towith a simple melody. No chorus,no orchestral embellishments.How perfectly she brought out thenuances of the words – the slighttaan on the word (Jhara) Yaad(Karo Kurbani), the climactic end-ing with Khush Rehna Desh KePyaron... Khush Rehna Desh KePyaron, Ab Hum To SafarKartein Hein.

Those words and Lata’s sing-ing together put the song right nextto Jana Gana Mana and VandeMataram.

To put Lata’s class in perspec-tive, Vladimir Horowitz played thepiano and so did Liberace. One agreat pianist. The other a greatentertainer. A great pianist inter-prets. An entertainer performs toentertain. Lata did not disdain en-tertaining but her forte was on in-terpretation.

Composer C.Ramchandrashowed great insight choosing afemale singer for it. There was asong in a male voice at the timethat had become a rallying cryafter the 1962 Chinese invasion –the Rafi song Kar Chale Hum Fidafrom Haqeeqat but Lata’s AaiMere Watan Ke changed that.

The irony is Kavi Pradeepwrote a profound song. C.Ramchandra composed a simplebut moving tune and now we callit Lata’s Aai Mere Watan Ke. Themagic is the combination of C.Ramchandra composing a tunethat an average Bharatiya couldsing and Lata knocking it out ofthe park with her voice. She sangour emotions represented by KaviPradeep’s divine lyrics.

And the song has brought usall to tears ever since. Havingheard her create so many ac-

FEEL the difference in the thick-ness of the voice in the two dif-ferent songs.

And you CAN imagine the lossif someone else had sung them.

Like Ichak Dana, Lata hassung many naughty songs - LikhaHei Teri Ankhon Meri -TeenDeviyan (1965), SD Burman isone - but she stayed away fromoomph. That was Asha’s domain.Asha delivered the sexy – Yeh HaiReshmi Zoolphon Ka Andhera(Mere Sanam-also 1965) as eas-ily as Xerox copies but reportedlyLata refused to cross over fromnaughty to oopmph. That almostcost us a landmark song that atfirst (reportedly) she refused tosing because it was beyondnaughty for her taste.

The tune by Shanker-Jaikishenfor Sangam (1964) was Mein KyaKaroon Raam. Raj Kapoor is sup-posed to have promised Lata thathe would film it tastefully. Thereis ample proof of Raj’s musicalclass in all RK films with the spe-cial kind of music he got fromShanker-Jaikishen.

Neither Jaikishen nor Rajwanted anyone else for Mein KyaKaroon. It’s not an extraordinarytune. It was comedy, not melody.But it required a certain kind ofvoice modulation and Raj is re-ported to have heard it in his earsin Lata’s voice.

That voice – Lata - that finallysang that song didn’t sound likeLata. That was her talent. It evenfit Vyjayantimala. We never seeVyjayantimala that naughty inSangam, before or after thatscene.

She was playful in Bol RadhaBol but not naughty. That song isthe perfect example of what Lataand only Lata can do. We can’timagine anyone else signing thatsong. If Asha had sung that song,it would have crossed over to sexi-ness maybe even with some yo-deling. It is also shows how anordinary tune was turned into anextra-ordinary song by Lata.

Lata has been creating differ-ent singing voices to fit the ac-tresses AND the characters, longenough to make it look easy. It’snot easy. It’s an in-born uniquetalent.

The best example of that skill,is her song from the film Sadhana,singing for a differentVyjayantimala character, ‘AuratNe Janam Diya Mardon Ko’. Thiswas not a conventional tune. It’sa complaint against society. It’sloud thinking, almost a speakingsong making it even more diffi-cult to sound like the actress.

It’s like Lata ‘delivering’Vyjayantimala’s lines AND her

MUSINGS By GadflyLata - Naughty songs, yes; oomph, never

Lata Mangeshkar and C. Ramchandra collaboratedfor the iconic patriotic song “Aai mere watan kelogon”

When I learnedit was Lata singingfor the same ac-tress, I made thenatural conclusion– that the charac-ter must be totallyopposite. Ofcourse, they were.With all the detailswe now have ofthe songs, filmsetc. listening toboth these songs,one can’t help

tresses’ voices for so many beautiful songs, under numerous musicdirectors, I often wish I could ask her whose voice did she imaginewhen she sang THIS song, perhaps the most important song she eversang in her long and distinguished career? Did she think of a simpleIndian woman? Mother India?

After the final ‘draft’ of the column, I went to dinner with an Americanfriend. Mentioning Lata’s Aai Mere Watan, I was in superlatives aboutLata. So my friend asked me to translate a few lines.

It was my first time translating this song. That was easy. I wassurprised when I choked in the midst of it. With the words Jab AntSamay, my mind went back to the helpless and suicidal position theIndian soldiers found themselves in – lambs to the slaughter - by thenaiveté of Prince Jawahar and the ineptness of the indefensible Min-ister Krishna Menon. — Send responses to [email protected]

India loses in 2nd test by 4 wicketsBRISBANE: Mitchell Johnson delivered an inspired spell to help

Australia win the second Test and take a 2-0 series lead, despite a lateIndia fightback.

Johnson took four wickets for 61 runs, including 3-10 in 11 balls, asIndia collapsed to 224 all out after resuming on 71-1 on day four inBrisbane.

Australia lost three quick wickets but chased down 128 for the winand now cannot lose the four-Test series.

Johnson said, "It's my job to be aggressive and take wickets."His performance revived memories of his match-winning display at

the Gabba just over a year ago, when his 5-42 and 4-61 helped Austra-lia win the first Ashes Test by 381 runs.

The only Indian batsman to resist during their collapse of 9-148 wasShikhar Dhawan, who hit a stubborn 81 after playing with a wristinjury he sustained in the practice nets before the start of play.

Dhawan was initially unable to resume his innings at the start ofplay and was replaced by Virat Kohli, who also suffered an injuredwrist batting in the nets.

The injuries prompted India's team management to claim they hadbeen asking for better practice pitches.

"Instead of that, they have asked us to practice on worn out wick-ets, which have uneven bounce. Because of that two of our batsmengot injured," said the statement.

Chasing a modest target, Australia's reply began badly with seamerIshant Sharma claiming two wickets before tea, but Chris Rogersgave the innings some impetus with 55 off 57 balls including 10 bound-aries. Sharma also dismissed Rogers, leaving Australia on 85 for three,and as they closed in on victory Shaun Marsh, stand-in captain SteveSmith and Brad Haddin fell in quick succession before Mitchell Marshhit the winning runs.

Smith was named man of the match following his first innings cen-tury. He also scored an unbeaten 162 and 52 not out to help Australiawin the first Test in Adelaide.

India 1st innings 404 all out (Vijay 144, Dhawan 24, Pujara 18,Kohli 19, Rahane 81, Ro Sharma 32, Dhoni 33, Ashwin 35; Hazlewood5 for 68, Lyon 3 for 105) and 2nd innings 224 all out (Dhawan 81,Vijay 27, Pujara 43, Kohli 1, Rahane 10, R Sharma 0, Dhoni 0, Ashwin19, Yadav 30; Johnson 4 for 61, Hazlewood, Starc, Lyon 2 wkts each)

Australia 1st innings 505 all out (Rogers 55, Watson 29, Watson25, Smith 133, Johnson 88, Starc 52, Hazlewood 32; I Sharma 3 for117, Yadav 3 for 101, Aaron and Ashwin 2 wkts each) and 2nd in-nings 130 for 6 (Rogers 55, Smith 28, S March 17; I Sharma 3 for 38,Yadav 2 for 46)

Axar Patel to replace JadejaMELBOURNE: Left-arm spinner Axar Patel will replace an in-

jured Ravindra Jadeja, who was on Monday ruled out due to a shoul-der injury from India’s remaining two cricket Tests against Australia,according to a media release by the BCCI.

The injury will also raise question marks over whether Jadeja willrecover in time for the ODI tri-series in January.

The opportunity couldn’t have come at a better time for the 20-year-old Axar, who has already played 9 ODIs for India taking 14wickets with best figures of 3/40 against Sri Lanka.

Axar is currently playing for Gujarat against Saurashtra at Rajkot inan ongoing Ranji Trophy match where he emerged as the most suc-cessful bowler for his team in the first innings grabbing 4/72.

He is expected to reach Melbourne in time before the Boxing DayTest match starting Friday, Dec 26.

RELIGION/ SPIRITUALITYINDIA HERALD • WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 24, 2014 • PAGE 17

By B S Nishkinchan Maharaj

Indic scriptures reveal that the Supreme is sat-chit-anand, eternalbliss. All of us have three desires in common. No one wants to die. Noone wants to be known as a fool and no one wants misery, that is,everyone wants to live forever, be knowledgeable and happy. Thesethree desires relate us directly to the Supreme. We are part of thepotency of one organic system. Jiva or individual conscious units arethe outcome of the marginal potency of the Supreme. As such theyare prone to go either way, that is, to the spiritual or material realms.

Definition of a jiva in the Naradiya Pancharatra is: "Spiritual entitieswhich have emanated from the potency of the Absolute spiritual sub-stance and have their existence in the marginal potency when theybecome tinged with the three qualities of maya of sattva, rajas andtamas, are designated as jivas."

In one sense the jiva-soul is identical with the Supreme as potencycannot be separated from substance or potency cannot be conceivedof without the substance. In another sense the jiva-soul is distinct fromthe Supreme as it is an atomic part of the potency of the Absolute andnot the substance itself. Even the summation of all potencies of thesubstance cannot become the substance.

Krishna is the infinite Absolute entity while jivas are the absoluteinfinitesimals or spiritual atomic parts of the marginal potency of theAbsolute, just as the particle of the ray of the Sun is distinct from theSun itself. So jivas are simultaneously distinct and non-distinct fromSupreme. This is inconceivable. As the real Self of the jiva is tran-scendental (nirguna) — beyond the range of mundane mind and intel-lect and as Paramatma is also transcendental (nirguna), the relationbetween the two is nirguna or transcendental, that is, inconceivable.So the relationship between the Absolute truth and the jiva and theworld is known as achintya bheda-abheda, inconceivable simultaneousdistinction and non-distinction.

A living being strives to fulfil his desires, come what may. The worldis hankering for the fulfilment of desires. A minor mistake is that thedirection is incorrect. When the soul is eternal, desires have to beeternal. Hence fulfilment of desires should also be eternal.Worldlysolutions for fulfilment of desires will bring short-loved satisfaction.

Hence we have the option to move away from the misery of birthand death. We call it mukti or liberation. We have a better option aswell. Realising that mukti does not allow us to go and live with theSupreme, though it will liberate us from the cycle of birth and death,we have more options namely sarupya, salokya, samipya and sharashti.

Sayujya is merging in the Supreme, samipya is living near the Su-preme, salokya is living in the abode of the Supreme, sharashti is beingas powerful as the Supreme and sarupya is body as transcendental asthe Supreme. There are also twelve mellow states with five on topsuch as shanti, dasya, sakhya, vatsalya and madhurya. There are twotypes of madhurya – svakiya and parakiya. Parakiya is best amongstall. A relatively easy way to attain any of these is chanting the Name.

Any of these goals is eternal and is the final goal of all souls with aninbuilt desire for eternal living in the blissful, knowledgeable abode ofthe Supreme.

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A different kind of learningIt is important to learn about oneself, because it is only then that the

mind can be emptied of the old, and unless the mind is emptied of theold, there can be no new impulse.

It is this new, creative impulse that is essential if the individual is tobring about a different world, a different relationship, a different struc-ture of morality. And it is only through totally emptying the mind of theold that the new impulse can come into being, give it whatever nameyou like — the impulse of reality, the grace of God — the feeling ofsomething completely new, unpremeditated, something which has neverbeen thought of, which has not been put together by the mind.

Without that extraordinarily creative impulse of reality, do what youwill to clear up the confusion and bring order in the social structure, itcan only lead to further misery… So it is important… that the mind be

emptied of all knowledge becauseknowledge is invariably of thepast; and as long as the mind isburdened with the residue of thepast, of our personal or collectiveexperiences, there can be nolearning.

There is a learning which be-gins with self-knowledge, a learn-ing which comes with awarenessof your everyday activities… Ifyou are not aware of your re-sponse to every challenge in life,there is no self-knowledge. Youcan know yourself as you are onlyin relation to something, in rela-tion to people, to ideas, and tothings. If you assume anythingabout yourself... your mind is in-capable of learning.

When the mind is burdened witha conclusion, a formulation, thereis the cessation of inquiry. And itis essential to inquire… into one-self and to know the totality ofone’s being… Unless the mind isaware of the totality ofitself...there is no possibility of thecoming into being of this new, cre-ative impulse of reality. — Apassage from the teachings ofJ Krishnamurti

Way to attain supreme stateBy Anoop Kohli

Two thousand years of re-corded or authenticated humanhistory, may be the same numberof years of some faith, belief andreligion, around 250 named andun-named wars, and to date, most,if not all attributable to the real-ization of the wisdom parted byreligion – that’s as far as we pil-grims have progressed!

After the evolution of the mind,or call it intellect, the first cel-ebrated tools were the spear, knifeand dagger, to hunt lesser speciesfor food.

With the wheel and the domes-ticated horse, came the next bigidea to slaughter your ownbrother for money, land, lust andpower. Just to remind you, peopleof wisdom and science werethere. The Nobel Peace Prize,was after all classified by the in-ventor of the dynamite!

Lesser mortals took a full fiveyears, presuming the intentions ofa demon, to believe and declareit! There was a rider too. ThePeace Prize would be decided bya Norwegian jury, as that wasbelieved to run on more demo-cratic norms.

Not that the planet was aban-doned by Gods, as Gods de-scended on earth, or as humanitybelieved it to be, mostly in retro-spect, further clashes were justi-fied as “holy wars”, “dharmayuddha”, “Jihad”, that were ratherself serving names. Religion wasused beyond the defined purposeof religion enunciated.

How power plays aroundgreatness, is to be perceived, inorder to be believed. Conquestsas of Alexander, or Ceasar wereconcluded as true signs or great-ness. The Pharaohs believed intheir own form of immortality, thatonly the Ramses would have aneternal post life, well equipped intheir tombs. The kiss of themonarch’s toe could cure syphilis(or even impart one). Lesser re-gional saints could cure pimples,and divine witchcraft could exor-cise schizophrenia.

I wonder, who passed the or-ders, that after the passage ofeach divine emissary of God, aswas understood, maybe under-stood even now, that belief andritual (again as understood by theforemost in progeny) should bespread across the world, by love,affection, and the sword, thesword being the foremost on oc-casions.

The messages imparted by di-vinity, though similar in essencehad enough reasons to take oneach other in the bloodiest ofwars. Worldly concerns andpower again appeared to be themain reasons. Christianity took itsadministrative form in the thirdcentury, with Constantine shiftingthe capital to Constantinople, butnot without a war with his brother,and severe differences with hismother. More than ten decadeslater, with the advent of Islam,King Sulaiman of Turkey tookcharge, and established“Istanbul”.

That sparked another set ofwars, including the Spanish Cru-saders, and the Islam took hold ofsouthern European Mediterraneancountries, as far as Austria. In arepeat of the earlier propagation,was regional hegemony a greaterreason, that the belief of a spreadof faith!

Christianity too was to have itssplits. The Church of Englandcame into existence because themore that flamboyant and ambi-tious Henry the VIIIth refused tomarry his brother’s widow, thedaughter of the Ferdinand of Spain,that was , against the Catholicrules. I suppose, there were rea-sons for Christians to choose theirown Bibles, and propagate newmoral rules and religious dogma!Be a catholic, or choose to be aProtestant. Lesser confrontationswere seen here, though the recentIRA uprise (thankfully over), doesidentify religious animosity as amain cause, I can’t comment onreligious undertones, if any be-tween Napoleon and Duke ofWellington confrontations. WWIIand the “ethnic cleansing” of acertain race, has raised questions,but there are others who haveworked it out! One unansweredquestion remains at the end ofevery war! Could the truce not

have been reached any otherway?

One good that came of Henrythe VIIth efforts was a bettercompiled Bible, close to the “Lin-coln Bible” that President Obamachose for his oath taking cer-emony.

In essence, all faiths, no matterhow noble and visionary in beliefof their first followers, were trans-formed by succeeding generationsto enhance numbers, land undercontrol, absolute powers by theterm called “conversion”. Philoso-phy of brotherhood, peace, merit,though same in definition, couldonly be rewarded, even recog-nized, only if you belonged to aparticular school of religion.

I believe there are tactical sig-nals that the right to conversion,with constitution guarantees inplace, are valid for all religions. Aland, liberalized just more thansixty years back, is realizing howso much of its population was con-verted to any religion, because ithad no powers, little resources,and perhaps much less will to takecare of its have-nots. I would takethe mixture of all religions as oneof our biggest assets. India, on theother hand, was the cradle ofmany religions, and a place of op-portunity for others.

Buddhism, the only example ofa human that aspired to be at parwith God, grew here. Today,rather appropriately it has becomethe guiding philosophy for the restof the world. It has done awaywith the constraints of religiongenerally defined as sin and pun-ishment. In the background wasa bloody war, where the greatEmperor Ashoka eliminated thekingdom of Kalinga for his ownaggrandizement. So remorselesswas he, that he could only findsolace in the principles of Buddha.There could not have been forceas a modem of propagation of hisnew found faith. He instead senthis son Mahendra, and daughterSanghmitra to the south-east tospread the message. No armedaccomplices were sent. Buddhismis a main religion, in its manyforms in Japan, and most of south-east Asia. No wars though, andother religions survive on theirown beliefs. Jainism. A minorityreligion, exists peacefully, some-how breeding the world’s bestbusiness minds. The land pros-pered.

The migrant Parsees today arethe topmost industrialists in theland, command brand loyalty fromevery citizen, and are the world’slargest employers in software.They can only go further.

For quite some time we haveto concentrate on prosperity, andcreate an undying one-nation, onepeople feeling.

Behind political posturing, Indiahas a better insight into all ofworld’s religions. As a somewhatless developed of the developingcountries, this political show hadto come. Much is changing though.Religion and militancy are beingdissociated rather speedily.

Waiting for the time when ev-eryone has enough, and enoughto live by. You would never wantto know your colleague’s religion!

The Pilgrim’s ‘progress’


INDIA

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Book on Nathuram Godse is backIndia may endsupport of

Palestine at U.N.NEW DELHI: In what could

amount to a tectonic shift in thecountry’s foreign policy, the Modigovernment is looking at alteringIndia’s supporting vote for the Pal-estinian cause at the United Na-tions to one of abstention.

Two sources within the govern-ment confirmed to The Hindu thatthe change, which will be a fun-damental departure from India’ssupport to the cause of a Pales-tinian state, was under consider-ation.

“Like other foreign policy is-sues, the Modi government is look-ing at India’s voting record at theUnited Nations on the Palestinianissue,” a government source toldThe Hindu. The change onlyneeds an administrative nod, thesecond source said.

Despite the growing defenceand diplomatic ties with Israel, theUPA government, which junkedtraditional ally Iran to vote with theUnited States at the InternationalAtomic Energy Agency in 2005,had baulked at making any changein India’s support to Palestinians.

Even former Prime MinisterA.B. Vajpayee’s government,which invited Israeli Prime Min-ister Ariel Sharon to India in 2003,did not amend India’s voting recordat the U.N.

India’s stance at the U.N. hasbeen an irritant in Indo-Israeli re-lations, with Tel Aviv frustratedthat close bonds had not resultedin any change in the stance onPalestine.

A senior Israeli interlocutor tolda visiting Indian External AffairsMinister some time ago that NewDelhi treated Tel Aviv like a “mis-tress” – by keeping the bilateralrelationship away from the publicgaze.

CONG SLAMS SHIFTMeanwhile, the Congress on

Monday demanded a statementon the issue in Parliament.

Asked about the Congressstand on the government alteringIndia’s supporting vote for thePalestinian cause at the UnitedNations to one of abstention, Con-gress spokesman RandeepSurjewala: “We would like thegovernment to inform Parliamentand tell us outside if there has beena shifting of the goalpost on Pal-estine.” He pointed out that India’sposition on Palestine had notchanged for over six decades, ir-respective of which governmentwas at the Centre.

Former Congress MinisterMani Shankar Aiyar told TheHindu: ̀ `It’s deeply shocking butnot unexpected. I condemn it be-cause it introduces communalisminto foreign policy. It shows theBJP Government’s justification fora state based on religion.’’

Communist Party of India(Marxist) leader Sitaram Yechurysaid India would be letting downthe people of Palestine. “It runscompletely against the ethos of ourfreedom movement and is com-pletely against the consistent po-sition India has taken ever sinceIndependence.”

NEW DELHI: Over two de-cades after it was first published,the first revised English edition of“Why I Assassinated Gandhi” –which includes Nathuram Godse’sstatement before the court at theRed Fort trial in its “unabridgedform,” the judgment and his will –is back in circulation.

The revised edition has beencompiled and edited by VirenderMehra, who, in his note, said: “Af-ter having read Nathuram Godse’sstatement reproduced by hisbrother Gopal Godse, I felt theneed to compile Gopal Godse’swork with Justice [G.D.] Khosla’snarrative.”

Farsight Publishers and Distribu-tors — which brought out the re-vised edition six months ago in ar-rangement with Surya BhartiPrakashan, the original publishersof the book in 1993 — maintainedthat they took up the task because“both sides” of the assassinationshould come out. The ban onNathuram Godse’s statement tothe special court was lifted by theBombay High Court in 1968.

Gopal Godse brought out thebook to present his brother’s state-ment at the trial in its “unabridgedform” on the premise that the lawgives a “special kind of sanctity”to dying declarations. “The state-ment of Nathuram Godse, in thecircumstances in which it wasmade, commands itself to no less

a sanctity,” said the book.Recent statements relating to

Nathuram Godse by members ofthe Sangh Parivar have helpedmove the book to prominent spotsin book stores. Vijay Goel, ownerof the Delhi-based Farsight Pub-lishers and Distributors, told TheHindu: “We brought out this booksix months ago. Surya BhartiPrakashan deals in Hindi booksand so their English version of‘Why I Assassinated Gandhi’ hadmistakes. As a result, it was notselling well. We have been pub-lishing in English and, so, I offeredto clean it up and bring out a re-vised edition.”

Surya Bharti Prakashan rep-resentatives confirmed Goel’sversion. The revised edition is al-ready into its second print run.

AP Congress leader Venkatswamy diesHYDERABAD: G. Venkatswamy (85), senior-most Congress

leader from undivided Andhra Pradesh, died after prolonged illness ata corporate hospital here on Monday evening. He is survived by twosons – G. Vinod and G. Vivekanand – and three daughters, one ofwhom is the wife of former Minister P. Shanker Rao. His wife Kalavathipassed away in April 2006.

Venkatswamy, popularly known as “Kaka,”held several importantpositions in the Congress as its working committee member, UnionMinister, State party president and member of several Parliamentarystanding committees in his five-decade long political career. He waselected to the Lok Sabha seven times. Except at the height of Telanganaagitation in 1969 when he parted ways with the Congress and sailedwith former Chief Minister M. Channa Reddy, Venkatswamy wasalways a party loyalist.

He won as a candidate of Telangana Praja Samiti (TPS) headed byChanna Reddy in the 1971 Lok Sabha election from Siddipet. He alsowon recognition when he received an injury in police firing nearMusheerabad jail in 1969 when he rushed there on learning aboutpolice excesses on agitators.

Venkatswamy was an active trade unionist and headed the IndianNational Trade Union Congress from 1961 to 1964. He founded theB.R. Ambedkar Education Society which was converted into a publiceducation trust . The society runs nine educational institutions from itshuge campus at Bagh Lingampalli here. As the general secretary ofNational Huts Union, he provided accommodation to 75,000 hut dwellersand earned the sobriquet “Gudisela Venkatswamy”.

Uncertainty over special status for AndhraThe Special Category status that the previous UPA government

had promised to Andhra Pradesh on the grounds of loss of revenuemay not come, as the Centre told the Lok Sabha earlier this monththat neither Andhra Pradesh nor Telangana meet the criteria for thatstatus. Telangana, too, has demanded the Special Category status.

With the Centre having dismantled the Planning Commission – whichhad the authority to alter the criteria – both Andhra Pradesh andTelangana will have to wait until a new planning mechanism is formed.

The Special Category State status makes a State eligible to receiveadditional funds from the Centre. It is granted to States on grounds ofhilly and difficult terrain, low population density and/or sizable share oftribal population, strategic location along borders with neighboring coun-tries, economic and infrastructural backwardness and non-viable na-ture of State finances.

Recently, representations/demands have been received “again” fromOdisha, Rajasthan, Jharkhand and Bihar, as well as from Chhattisgarh,Telangana and Andhra Pradesh for grant of Special Category status,Planning Minister Rao Inderjit Singh said in a response to a questionfrom Lok Sabha MP Dr. Boora Narsaiah Goud. “These demands areunder consideration,” the Minister said.

Singer trashes ‘ghar vapsi’ claimRAJKOT: The VHP on Monday controversially announced that

the family members of prominent Gujarati folk singer Farida Mir hadreturned to the Hindu fold. A shocked Farida told TOI that her sister,Abida, had gone to a VHP function to merely perform and was takenaback when the announcement regarding her and her family's con-version to Hinduism was made by VHP functionaries.

At the function, a VHP functionary, Bakul Khakhi, told reporters,"The Mir family was Hindu and somehow they became Muslims someyears ago. It is their ghar wapsi."

At least eight people, including the Mir family members, were giventraditional welcome with saffron scarves, at the VHP event. Immedi-ately afterwards, there was an announcement about their 'ghar wapsi'.There was no information about other Muslims who were broughtback to the Hindu fold, as claimed by the VHP.

"We're seeing a terrible time. My elder sister Abida, who lives inSurendranagar, was invited as an artist to perform. The VHP an-nouncement is a blatant lie. My sister and her in-laws were not told bythe organizers that such an announcement would be made," Faridasaid. "Our family members are under stress due to this lie. Although Iam a Muslim, I have great respect and regard for Hinduism. For me,Navratri is upasana (meditation). I am a president of a group thatprotects cows," said the popular bhajan and garba singer.

Surendranagar district collector K B Bhatt said, "We did not re-ceive any application for conversion or any report from police.'' VHPofficials, including district president Vasant Patel, were unavailable forcomment.

Voting rights for NRIs mulledNEW DELHI: Ahead of the annual Pravasi Bhartiya Diwas (Jan

7-9), the government on Monday assured the NRI community that it isworking on providing them voting rights.

"EC is working on it, there are two suggestions - proxy voting orElectronic Voting Machines (EVMs) be kept in embassies or theymay come and vote. They will soon come up with a solution," externalaffairs minister Sushma Swaraj said while addressing a press confer-ence on the upcoming event. An estimated 11 million NRIs are livingin various countries across the world. The 13th edition of the three-day PBD event beginning January 7 has a special significance thisyear as it will also commemorate the centenary of Mahatma Gandhi'sreturn from South Africa.

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AHMEDABAD: Hardline Hindu groups came under fire Sunday,Dec 21, after some 200 Christians were converted here, in PrimeMinister Narendra Modi's home state, amid increasing concern at thegovernment's perceived pro-Hindu tilt.

The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP or World Hindu Council) said itconverted Christian tribal people to their original Hindu faith. The massevent drew widespread criticism from Christian groups and Modi'spolitical opponents on Sunday. They accused radical organizations linkedto Modi's ruling party, like the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS),of forcing or enticing religious minorities to convert to Hinduism.

"Extreme right wing is flexing its muscles. VHP/RSS throughHindutatva ("Hinduness") ... rewriting history and economic policies,"Digvijay Singh, a leader of the opposition Congress party, posted onTwitter.

A Gujarat-based priest said he could not "accept that anyone whohas been a Christian will convert to other religion by personal choice."

"VHP is forcing people and luring them to convert their religion,"Father Dominic was quoted as saying by Zee News.

Saturday's mass ceremony took place in a tribal village 215 milessouth ofAhmedabad. It happened hours after the ruling Bharatiya JanataParty (BJP) and its ideological mentor RSS called for a new law toban "forced religious conversions".

"Over 200 people were asked to throw their religious pendants in aholy fire and were given new pendants with the image of (Hindu)Lord Rama," Ajit Solanki, a Gujarat state VHP secretary, told AFP.

Solanki, however, denied using any kind of force or monetary prom-ises, maintaining that the conversions were voluntary.

The issue of mass conversions has paralysed India's parliament,with opposition lawmakers demanding Modi make a statement onearlier reports of poor Muslims being coerced into Hinduism.

Bajrang Dal, the hardline youth group linked to the BJP was ac-cused of converting some 50 slum-dwelling Muslim families about aweek ago in the Taj Mahal city of Agra.

One of the converts told AFP they were promised ration cards andother financial incentives if they switched religions.

Critics say Hindu hardline groups have become emboldened to pusha Hindu-dominant agenda after the BJP came to power,

Christians converted in Gujarat

Bills caught in coversion rowIn a coordinated effort on Monday, a united Opposition paralysed

the Rajya Sabha, disrupted the Lok Sabha, held noisy demonstrationsin front of Gandhiji’s statue in the Parliament House complex andaddressed a well attended public meeting at Jantar Mantar seekinganswers on the twin issues of black money and religious conversion.

The penultimate day of the winter session ended with little officialbusiness transacted, the government’s legislative reforms agenda stillon hold, and no hope of completing it on Tuesday, as the Oppositionmade it clear that it was unwilling to extend any cooperation unlessPrime Minister Narendra Modi came to the House to explain hisgovernment’s stand on religious conversions and “ghar vapsi” camps.

The government has now given up all hope of clearing the Insur-ance Bill that has not yet been passed even by one House; as for theCoal Mines Bill, it has been approved by the Lok Sabha, but consider-ing the current mood, it is unlikely to make it through the Upper House.

The government is almost certain to bring an ordinance on the CoalBill, official sources said, while it remains undecided on the InsuranceBill, The Hindu reported. Besides, no one planning to make an invest-ment in the insurance sector would do so on the basis of an ordinancethat would eventually have to be approved by Parliament.

The parties of the Janata Parivar — the Janata Dal(U), theSamajwadi Party, the Rashtriya Janata Dal, the Janata Dal(S) andthe Indian National Lok Dal — had already planned to stall Parlia-ment and hold a rally outside on the government’s failure to honour itselection promises to bring back black money, create jobs and give 50per cent profit over input cost to farmers.

They found ready support from other Opposition colleagues.In the RS, SP, JD(U) and Trinamool MPs shouted slogans and held

up placards that read, “Pradhanmantri kala dhan wapas lao” and“Pradhanmantri jawab do, jawab do.”

Some Congress MPs were also on their feet, chanting, “No PM,No House.”

NEW DELHI: Had British,American and Indian intelligencepooled together all the informationthey had, they could have avertedthe Mumbai attacks of 2008, con-cludes a stunning new investiga-tion carried out by the New YorkTimes, ProPublica and PBS in theU.S.A.

The revelations, that caughtsome in India’s intelligence estab-lishment by surprise, throw upquestions on whether their west-ern intelligence partners couldhave cooperated more closely toavoid what the New York Timessaid was among the most devas-tating near-misses in the historyof spycraft.

The report, published in theNew York Times on Sunday, alsolays bare the hollowness of thePakistani government’s claims ofnot having sufficient evidenceagainst the 26/11 planners now incustody, including Zaki-ur RehmanLakhvi, as it itemizes all the elec-tronic intercepts that connect theten attackers, the planners, andofficers of the ISI and PakistaniArmy named already by UScourts.

Speaking to The Hindu, NewYork Times reporter James Glanzsaid: “I personally hope that what-ever the end results of the case,our investigation forces Pakistanto own up to and to have anotherlook at its trial in the case thathasn’t concluded yet.”

The report, published in theNew York Times on Sunday said,British intelligence at GCHQ hadbeen tracking the Lashkar-e-Taiba“technology chief” Zarrar Shahfor “several months” in advanceof the attacks.

They were able to, accordingto the intercepts, follow him as heused google maps, wikimapia andmapsofindia.com to plot the routefor the ten Mumbai attackers in-cluding Ajmal Kasab to take.

They were also able to trackall his google searches for possibletargets, and trace his purchase ofVoIP (Voice over internet phone)connections, used to contact theattackers during the three-daysiege of Mumbai.

While the US NSA operativeswere able to track Shah and oth-ers involved in the planning likeDavid Headley and Sajid Mirthrough other methods , the NewYork Times report says theyweren’t aware of the extent ofBritish intelligence ahead of theattacks.

“The British had access to atrove of data from Mr. Shah’scommunications,” notes the re-port, “But contend that the infor-mation was not specific enoughto detect the threat. The Indiansdid not home in on the plot evenwith the alerts from the UnitedStates.”

But senior Indian intelligencesources have told The Hindu thatBritish intelligence never directlypassed on any information to them,and that it was a surprise to notethat they had “real-time” evidenceof the planning on the Mumbaiattacks.

They also insist that while theUS intelligence passed on three

alerts -- once in September 2008 of a threat to the Taj hotel and other“iconic targets” in Mumbai, once in October of a possible attack onOctober 27, and once in November of a ‘6-grid’ reference of a Lashkarboat off the Karachi coast -- they never shared the origins of theintelligence.

This has been a particularly sore point for India, given that eventhough the US agencies had been tipped off by David Headley’s ex-wife of his activities, they didn’t alert their Indian counterparts abouthim till nearly six months later, even when he visited India again inFebruary 2009.

Speaking to The Hindu Mr. Glanz of the New York Times said itwas surprising that even the US was not aware of the British investi-gations before the attacks began.

In response to the New York Times investigations, the British gov-ernment bristled at suggestions it could have shared more informationwith India, saying: “We do not comment on intelligence matters. But ifwe had had critical information about an imminent act of terrorism ina situation like this we would have shared it with the Indian govern-ment. So the central allegation of this story is completely untrue.”

The report takes on new meaning as US intelligence agencies haveshared alerts with India in the past few weeks, and will be coordinat-ing very closely ahead of President Obama’s visit on January 24 toIndia.

The question that remains is whether the new intelligence alertssignify that there is more information that is not being shared in themanner of what the New York Times report calls the “hidden historyof the Mumbai attacks.”., now revealed by the NYT-Propublica-PBSinvestigation.

UK, US, India had many leads, but failed to stop 26/11

A man takes part in a ceremony for the conversion at Aranai Villagein Valsad district of Gujarat state on December 20.


SOUTH ASIAWill school massacre end myth

of the ‘good Taliban’?It is not just the survivors of the assault on Peshawar’s Army Public

School who have been reliving the nightmarish attack that left 132teenage boys dead. The entire country has been traumatised by graphicaccounts of gunmen spraying bullets into a hall full of children and thenlater sadistically killing others after checking whether their parents servedin the military.

On Wednesday, Dec 17, Pakistan’s army made a point of lettingscores of television crews trample over the crime scene in order thatthey could broadcast pictures of rooms blasted by suicide bombers,floors covered with pools of barely dried blood, and the sad detritus ofan ordinary school day suddenly interrupted by seven terrorists.

Rifaat Hussain, an academic, said the military was trying to gener-ate a commodity that has long eluded Pakistan: a national consensus tofight terrorism. “The army had decided Pakistan will never know peaceor become a normal country unless these guys are put out of business,but they are using this horrific event to drive the point home,” he said.

That Pakistan should need any encouragement to tackle a problemthat has claimed 50,000 lives since 2001 baffles outsiders. But de-cades of state support for jihadist groups, combined with reluctance bypoliticians to confront violent groups, has led to a national confusionover who Pakistan’s enemies are.

In the aftermath of Tuesday’s attack, politicians and many membersof the public were unwilling to say publicly whether they thought theTaliban had really carried out the atrocity, even though the Islamistmovement’s franchise in the country – the Tehreek-e-Taliban Paki-stan (TTP) – had wasted no time in claiming responsibility.

At Friday prayers few mullahs dared utter the word “Taliban”, withmany shifting the blame on vague conspiracies hatched by the west.“May God bless the departed souls and give courage to bereavedfamilies,” the cleric of one unexceptional mosque in a prosperous areaof Islamabad told the worshippers, before adding: “May God foil theconspiracies of the Jews and infidels aimed at dividing the Muslims.”

Such statements are what Pakistani journalist Ejaz Haider calls“whataboutery”. “When you say we have a real problem here, theother side will say ‘what about the Americans in Afghanistan?’, or‘what the western world is doing’, or ‘what the Israelis are doing’,” hesaid. “It is part of the extremist mindset which has seeped deep intosections of society.”

Many blame Zia ul-Haq, the 1980s military ruler and hardline Islam-ist who massively increased Pakistan’s use of militants as proxy war-riors in its struggle to dominate Afghanistan and win control of Indian-controlled Kashmir. Pakistan repeated the trick in the 1990s, sendingjihadists to stoke insurgency in Indian-held Kashmir and giving mas-sive assistance to the Taliban, the once lowly mullahs’ movement thathad seized control of Afghanistan in 1989.

This is the bizarre-sounding phenomenon known as “good Taliban”and “bad Taliban” that for a decade has sown deep confusion amongthe Pakistani public and infuriated western powers. As Hillary Clintonput it in her 2011 warning to Islamabad, “you can’t keep snakes in yourbackyard and expect them only to bite your neighbors”.

Some are now daring to hope that Pakistan has finally learned itslesson. Sartaj Aziz, Pakistan’s acting foreign minister, described theattack as “our 9/11” and a “game changer” that has finally exposedthe futility of targeting some groups but not others.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif announced that “there will be no dif-ferentiation between ‘good’ and ‘bad’ Taliban”.

The end of Pakistan’s disastrous “double game” has been predictedbefore. This time around, optimists are encouraged by new leadershipin the region. The Afghan president, Ashraf Ghani, is determined toimprove relations with Pakistan, which under Sharif also has a civiliangovernment interested in trade rather than proxy wars.

There are also high hopes for General Raheel Sharif, the powerfularmy chief appointed last year, who in June sent troops into northWaziristan, where many politicians had long dreaded a showdown withthe TTP.

For all the action against the TTP, sceptics point out that there is nosign of the “good Taliban” being inconvenienced. In an attempt toremain in official favour, several groups responsible for atrocities againstcivilians rushed to denounce the Peshawar attack, including the Af-ghan Taliban and even a vicious TTP splinter group called Jamaat-ul-Ahrar. And in an astonishingly ill-timed move, a court on Thursdayordered the bailing of Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, mastermind of the 2008attack on the Indian city of Mumbai, which killed 166 people. Thegovernment quickly promised to try to get the decision reversed afterNew Delhi expressed outrage.

Few analysts believe Pakistan is ready to take on Lashkar-e-Taiba(LeT), the militant group that Lakhvi co-founded and which is devotedto “liberating” Kashmir. With its huge corps of jihadists hardened byyears of fighting in Kashmir, it is arguably too big to confront at a timewhen Pakistan is battling the TTP.

In a country with weak public services, the LeT has worked hard toingratiate itself with ordinary Pakistanis through its welfare organiza-tion, the Falah-e-Insaniyat Foundation (FIF). It is now one of the larg-est charities in the country, running ambulance services in nearly 200cities and towns, as well as six hospitals and hundreds of schools. InPeshawar last week hundreds of FIF activists wearing fluorescent

See Page 21

NEW DELHI: India has con-veyed to Bangladesh that it is will-ing to work on mutually beneficialprojects during a meeting betweenPrime Minister Narendra Modiand visiting Bangladesh PresidentM. Abdul Hamid here on Dec 19.

During talks between Modi andHamid, both sides warmly recol-lected their joint endeavors duringthe Liberation struggle of 1971,according to tweets posted by theministry of external affairs spokes-person Syed Akbaruddin.

Modi conveyed to Hamid that"India's Act East Policy starts withBangladesh. India is ready to workon mutually beneficial projects,"said a tweet. He told Hamid that"India is willing to be a catalyst inboosting regional cooperation".

Hamid also reiterated an inviteto Modi to visit Bangladesh. Modisaid he is keen to visit Dhaka andwould do so at an early date nextyear, said sources.

Earlier in the day, External Af-fairs Minister Sushma Swarajcalled on President Hamid and toldhim that India is keen to strengthenbilateral ties.

Hamid arrived here Thursdayon a six-day official visit - the firstvisit by a ceremonial head of stateof Bangladesh since 1972.

He is here on the invite ofPresident Pranab Mukherjee, andwill be a guest in RashtrapatiBhawan. President Mukherjeehad paid a state visit to Bangladeshin March 2013.

The visit of the Bangladeshpresident will contribute to furtherstrengthening and expanding theclose bilateral relations betweenthe two countries, the external af-fairs ministry said.

Hamid will visit Amjer, Agra,Jaipur during his stay. He will visitKolkata before returning to Dhakaon Dec 23, the Bangladesh mis-sion here had announced earlier.

The visit comes as the

Narendra Modi government is readying to go ahead with the India-Bangladesh land swap agreement.

Under the swap, India will exchange 111 enclaves measuring 17,160acres with Bangladesh and receive 51 enclaves covering 7,110 acres.Almost 51,000 people reside in these enclaves. The territories involvedin the exchange are in the states of Assam, West Bengal, Meghalayaand Tripura.

VISIT TO AJMERAbdul Hamid Sunday visited the Dargah of Khawaja Moinuddin

Chishty in Ajmer, and prayed for peace and harmony in the subconti-nent, the shrine's officials said.

"He (Hamid) visited the dargah at around 3.35 p.m. and stayed for15-20 minutes, offering prayers," Syed Manovar Chisty, a khadim (ser-vitor) at the dargah, over 140 km from here, told IANS.

"He prayed for peace and harmony in the subcontinent and strongbilateral relations between India and Bangladesh," said a source closeto Syed Akil Ahmed Chisty, the khadim who helped the president tooffer prayers.

President Hamid, along with a 25-30 member delegation, reachedAjmer by helicopter and went straight to the state government's circuitHouse where after some rest he went to the dargah where the dargahcommittee welcomed him in traditional style.

He also offered a maroon-coloured chadar at the dargah.Looking to the visit of Bangladesh president, the administration had

beefed up security arrangements at the dargah, which was vacatedfully. Hamid was accorded a warm welcome earlier on his arrival atthe Jaipur's Sanganer airport by state minister Arun Chaturvedi andsenior police and administrative officials.

Abdul Hamid arrived in Kolkata on Monday, Dec 22, on a two-dayvisit to West Bengal. Governor K N Tripathi hosted a dinner in honorof the Bangladesh President at Raj Bhavan. Chief Minister MamataBanerjee attended the dinner. Hamid visited Santiniketan before flyingback to Dhaka.

Delhi, Dhaka to work on mutually beneficial projects

Muslim party deserts RajapakseCOLOMBO: Sri Lanka's President Mahinda Rajapakse suffered

a setback to his re-election hopes Monday when a key minister and hisminority Muslim party quit the coalition government.

Industry and Commerce Minister Rishad Bathiudeen said he wasswitching allegiance to Maithripala Sirisena, the main opposition candi-date seeking to topple Rajapakse in a January 8 election.

It is the latest in a series of blows for the 69-year-old president, whowas seen as the favourite when he called snap polls last month but hasseen his former health minister Sirisena garner significant support.

Bathiudeen accused Rajapakse of failing to restrain a radical Bud-dhist group accused of attacking mosques, churches and businessesrun by religious minorities in the Buddhist-majority country.

"I asked the president to stop these religious hate attacks, but hefailed to take action against offenders," Bathiudeen told reporters inColombo. He accused the government of being behind an attack onMuslims in the coastal resort town of Aluthgama in June that left atleast four people dead.

And he said some 69 elected representatives from his All CeylonMakkal (People's) Congress (ACMC) were joining the opposition in amass defection of Muslims politicians from the government.

Muslims, the second largest minority in the island after Hindu Tamils,account for about 10 percent of the electorate and could emerge asking-makers in January's presidential election if the majority Sinhaleseare split down the middle.

Both Rajapakse and Sirisena are members of the majority SinhalaBuddhist community. However, Sirisena is seen securing the supportof ethnic and religious minorities who feel alienated during Rajapakse'srule in the past nine years.

The Tamil National Alliance, the main party representing HinduTamils, has not formally pledged support to either of the two mainSinhalese candidates, but has strongly hinted that it will support Sirisena.

That would make it even more difficult for Rajapakse to win anelection that he himself called two years ahead of schedule.

The country's main party of Buddhist monks, the JHU, supportsSirisena, while a more radical outfit known as the Bodu Bala Sena, orBuddhist Force, favours Rajapakse.

Opposition will cancelcasino tax breaks

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka'smain opposition says it will with-draw generous tax concessions forcontroversial foreign-funded re-sorts aiming to make Colombo agambling hotspot in South Asia ifit wins next month's elections.

President Mahinda Rajapakse'sgovernment is facing an unexpect-edly tough challenge in the nationalelections from MaithripalaSirisena, who has united opposi-tion forces.

In his manifesto, Sirisena saidthe special tax status granted tothree planned casino resorts wouldbe withdrawn -- a promise thattargets the Buddhist vote bank inan attempt to erode Rajapakse'srural support base.

"I will withdraw the conces-sions given to the casino projects,"he said in his manifesto which alsovowed to launch a major offen-sive against narcotics.

Sri Lanka's influential Buddhistclergy had opposed allowing threecasino resorts, including one withinvestments from Australia's gam-bling mogul James Packer.

But Colombo gave them taxholidays in December 2013.

President Abdul Hamid with Prime Minister Narendra Modi

PAKISTANINDIA HERALD • WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 24, 2014 • PAGE 21

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan onSunday executed four more mili-tants after ending a six-year mora-torium on the death penalty follow-ing a Taliban school attack that killed149 people, officials said.

The hangings follow those of twoconvicted militants on Friday, Dec19, after death warrants for the sixmen were signed the day before.

"Ghulam Sarwar, Rashid Tipu,Zubair Ahmed and Akhlaq Ahmedhave been hanged for an assassi-nation attempt on General PervezMusharraf", Pakistan's formerleader, said a prison official inFaisalabad.

The government ended the six-year ban on capital punishment forterror-related cases followingTuesday's bloody rampage on anarmy run school that killed 148 per-sons, most of them children.

Unchastened by criticism fromall corners of the globe, the Talibanthreatened earlier Friday to kill morechildren if executions were carriedout as promised.

"We can create a mourning situ-ation at the homes of many armygenerals and politicians," spokes-man Mohammad Khurassani saidin a statement emailed to reporters.

Capital punishment had been sus-pended since 2008, though therewas one execution in 2012 by themilitary. The reinstated death pen-alty affects both civilian and mili-tary cases.

On Friday Aqil, alias DoctorUsman, and Arshad Mehmoodwere hanged in Faisalabad jail. Aqilwas convicted in an attack on the

army headquarters inRawalpindi in 2009. ArshadMehmood was convicted for hisrole in the assassination attempton Musharraf in 2003.

A key question now iswhether attacking children willundermine the sympathy manyPakistanis have for the militants.Analysts say the Islamabad gov-ernment needs strong public sup-port to continue the fight againstinsurgents in the northwest.

Many Pakistanis believe themilitants are holy warriors tak-ing up arms against Pakistan onlybecause the government aligneditself with the unpopular U.S.-led war in Afghanistan.

A network of seminaries andreligious schools promote reli-gious hate, and some of theirleading clerics command wide-spread respect in the country.

Maulana Abdul Aziz, a radi-cal cleric in Islamabad, warnedin his Friday sermon at the fa-mous Lal Masjid mosque abouta backlash in the event of ex-ecutions.

Aziz expressed sorrow overthe schoolchildren's deaths butalso called for ending the opera-tion against the Taliban in thetribal regions of North Waziristanand Khyber.

He called the Taliban "ourbrothers" and warned that if themilitary continues its bombard-ment, "there will be a reaction."

But there were signs, albeitsmall, that this type of speechwill find a tougher audience in

Pakistan's decision to reinstitute executions was slammed by human rightsgroups, with the United Nations also calling for it to reconsider the move.

Govt resumes executions after school carnage

Pakistan after Tuesday's attack,when militants strapped with ex-plosives broke into a military-runschool in Peshawar and killed 148people — most of them children.

A few hundred people pro-tested Friday night outside the LalMasjid mosque, calling for an endto support for the militants.

"We wanted to also send thismessage that it's not enough forthe government to take actionagainst terrorists but it's equallyimportant that we should also takeaction against these supporters ofthe Taliban," said human rightsactivist Farzana Bari.

In schools across Pakistan,special classes were held Friday,with schoolchildren chantingprayers in memory of the victimsof the Taliban slaughter.

In mosques throughout thecountry, worshippers also offeredspecial prayers for the massacredinnocents in Peshawar.

Another challenge for Pakistanwill be creating a criminal justicesystem that can properly handlethe militant networks.

There are few convictions inmilitancy cases, partly because ofa lack of protection for witnessesand judges.jackets were helping survivors in hospital and hanging around funerals.

The group’s leader, Hafiz Saeed, is subject to a $10m US bounty, buthe moves around Pakistan freely. This week heclaimed India wasresponsible for the attack in Peshawar.

Then there are Pakistan’s vicious Sunni supremacist groups respon-sible for killing minority Shias. Despite their crimes, Sharif’s faction ofthe Pakistan Muslim League has been accused of striking electoralpacts with them in his heartlands of Punjab province. The biggest battleof all, though, will be to overcome decades of pro-jihad propagandathat has made many Pakistanis susceptible to conspiracy theories, suchas the view that the shooting in the head of schoolgirl Malala Yousafzaiwas a “drama” staged by western powers.

Last week a couple of hundred people attempted to push back againstsuch noxious narratives by protesting outside Islamabad’s Red Mosque,a bastion of Taliban sympathisers that could not bring itself to unequivo-cally condemn the Peshawar attacks. But as the night echoed withchants denouncing Taliban apologists as traitors, some in the crowdquietly admitted their doubts. “We’ve been at this point before,” saidSarwar Bari, a journalist, recalling a similar outrage sparked in 2009 bya video of a Talib in Swat flogging a woman who was accused ofadultery. “There was a great hue and cry and everyone came out –but pretty soon the mullahs sabotaged the consensus and it all wentquiet again.” — John Boone in The Guardian

The ‘good’ Taliban and ‘bad’ TalibanFrom Page 20

Pakistan’s most hated manDERA ISMAIL KHAN:

The most hated man in Pakistanis a 36-year-old father of threeand volleyball enthusiast nick-named "Slim".

His real name is Umar Mansoorand the Pakistani Taliban say hemasterminded this week's massa-cre of 132 children and nine staffat a school in a Peshawar school.

A video posted on Dec 18 on awebsite used by the Talibanshows a man with a luxuriantchest-length beard, holding an ad-monishing finger aloft as he justi-fied the Dec. 16 attack.

The caption identified him asUmar Mansoor.

"If our women and children dieas martyrs, your children will notescape," he said. "We will fightagainst you in such a style thatyou attack us and we will takerevenge on innocents."

The Taliban say the attack wasretaliation for a military offensivecarried out by the Pakistani army.They accuse the military of car-rying out extrajudicial killings.

The accusation is not new.Many courts have heard caseswhere men disappeared from thecustody of security services.Some bodies have been foundlater, hands bound behind the backand shot in the head, or dismem-bered and stuffed into sacks.

Some security officials say pri-vately the courts are so corruptand afraid, it is almost impossibleto convict militants.

"You risk your life to catch ter-rorists and the courts always re-lease them," said one official. "Ifyou kill them then they don't comeback."

Six Pakistani Taliban inter-viewed by Reuters confirmed themastermind was Mansoor. Fourof them said he is close to MullahFazlullah, the embattled leader ofthe fractious group who orderedassassins to kill schoolgirl activistMalala Yousafzai.

"He strictly follows the prin-ciples of jihad," one said. "He isstrict in principles, but very kindto his juniors. He is popular amongthe juniors because of his braveryand boldness."

Mansoor got a high school edu-cation in the capital, Islamabad,two Taliban members said, andlater studied in a madrassa, a reli-gious school.

Mansoor has two brothers andspent some time working in the

city of Karachi as a laborer be-fore joining the Taliban in late2007.

"He was very strict from thestart when he joined," a com-mander said. "He left many com-manders behind if they had a softcorner (of their heart) for the gov-ernment."

His nickname is "nary," a wordin the Pashto language meaning"slim", and he is the father of twodaughters and a son, said anothercommander. "(Mansoor) likes toplay volleyball," said one of theTaliban members.

"He is a good volleyball player.Wherever he shifts his office, heputs a volleyball net up."

AL-QAEDA GRIEVESThe Sout Asia branch of Al-

Qaeda on Sunday said its heartswere "bursting with pain" over theTaliban's massacre at a Pakistanschool and urged the militants totarget only security forces.

"Our hearts are bursting withpain and grief over this incident,"Osama Mehmood, spokesman forAl-Qaeda South Asia chapter saidin a four-page emailed statement.

Al-Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri announced the creationof the new South Asia branch inSeptember to "wage jihad" inMyanmar, Bangladesh and India.

"There is no doubt that the listof crimes and atrocities of the Pa-kistani army has crossed the limitand it is true that this army is aheadof everyone in America's slaveryand genocide of Muslims... but itdoes not mean that we should seekrevenge from oppressed Mus-lims," Mehmood said.

"The guns that we have takenup against Allah's enemy Americaand its pet rulers and slave armyshould not be aimed towards chil-dren, women and our Muslimpeople," he added.

Umar Mansoor

Pakistan plans to executearound 500 militants in comingweeks, officials said Monday.

"Interior ministry has finalizedthe cases of 500 convicts whohave exhausted all the appeals,their mercy petitions have beenturned down by the president andtheir executions will take place incoming weeks," a senior govern-ment official told AFP on condi-tion of anonymity. A second offi-cial confirmed the information.


• INDIA HERALD • WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 24, 2014 • PAGE 23


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