Withdrawal of The Hindu by Wendy Doniger and recently held controversy on attacking Mata Amrithanandmayi by Gail Tredwell alias Gayatri, in her recently published Holy Hellmay look two different incidents but the large picture shows that there has been clear tendency to target the larger Hindu ethos of assimilation, non-Semitic traditions and universal brotherhood.
Gail Tredwell hurts the hearts of Matha’s billions of devotees across the globe by publishing her book which does nothing but spits venom. Her intention is obvious: Malign Amma who propagates pure Hinduism throughout the world, of course not by mere lip service but by extending perpetual succor to millions of suffering souls cutting across religious and nationality lines.
Even though she is a spiritual leader for billions of followers, she is well known for her humanitarian approach towards the needy and for her service activities throughout the world. She believes in the legendary saying that “Maanav seva is Maadhav seva” meaning “serving the men is the best form of worship”. Naturally millions believe that she is their savior. Therefore, obviously Gail Tredwell’s missiles will not hit their targets.
Everybody knows that her poisonous book is the result of an international conspiracy. The Gail attempt looks like the top of the ice berg of a wider conspiracy hatched in the US. Because, lot of Christian Churches in USA have been trying to Christinise India since long, but all failed. One cannot be blamed for suspecting a hand of Islamic fundamentalists as well in the conspiracy. Because, Amma’s, Mission has got the most lively Hindu presence throughout the world; therefore, the conspirators selected it to weaken Hindutva.
Amma’s European disciple Swami Paramatmananda Puri (Neil Rosner alias Neelu) says that Gail was a sadist and mental pervert. She suffered from depression. She had misbehaved in the ashram several times while she was with Amma. But, Amma forgave her in all occasions and told others that she would change in due course. When she left the Mission for USA after living with Amma for nearly two decades, her mental health was not sound. So, Mission had made arrangements for her treatments and livelihood back home.
But, her allegations have got no serious takers. The only people who enjoy and propagate it are the forces who have always been in forefront to weaken and malign Hindutva forces. Because, the whole world knows Amma, not only through her spiritual activities and speeches and bhajans but also through the relentless social services her Mission has been accomplishing. Let us try to note a few of them in a nutshell:-
In Vallikkavu, where Mission’s nerve centre is situated, Amma personally led the relief activities when 2004 Tsunami waves hit those areas. She brushed aside the requests of her devotees to move to a safer location. After the 2004 Tsunami, Amma’s offer to the governments of Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Sri Lanka was to construct houses for all those turned homeless due to the onslaught of the killer waves. But, Kerala Government permitted Amrithanandamayi Mission to construct only a fraction of the requirement, thanks to the political compulsions the establishments always face!
Mission had sent the teams of doctors, social workers, psychologists and psychiatrists to the Tsunami affected areas for medical aid as well as counseling service as the people, especially children, were in mental trauma after witnessing the worst sort of calamity and deaths. Lot of bereaved mothers were given facility for undergoing fallopian-tube recanalisation to reverse their sterilisation surgeries. Yoga-Sanskrit-English camps were organised for children of Tsunami hit areas and thousands of children could make use of them. The evacuation bridge linking Alappad Panchayath and mainland in Kollam district of Kerala is another contribution of Amma.
Amma was invited by the Sri Lankan Government in 2006. Amma launched vocational training programmes in all Tsunami hit areas of India and Sri Lanka. As on October, 2008, 6,296 houses were completed for the Tsunami hit people in Sri Lanka, Tamil Nadu and Andaman & Nicobar islands. Dr APJ Abdul Kalaam visited the houses and the Ashram those days.
Lot of projects are being undertaken for self reliance, education and employment. Micro finance, Life-Accident Insurance for 100,000 women and their families, training for 100,00 home nurses, Amrita Kuteeram (home for homeless programme), relocating slumdwellers, adoption of villages in earthquake hit Gujarat, clean drinking water project in villages of Kenya, vocational training for slumdwellers in Nairobi, care homes for elders, hospital visits and “Meals on Wheels” programme, sponsored wedding for the poor girls, prisoners’ welfare projects, women’s hostels, Youth Action Projects in India, Africa, Europe, USA, Australia and Japan, Integrated Amrita Meditation Technique, vegetable seed distribution, orphanages, cleaning campaign called Amala Bharatham Campaign (ABC), Thousands of poor people are benefitted by the free treatment and heart surgery provided in Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences (AIMS), Kochi.
Now, those who love the motherland and “mother” have realised the motives behind the cheap modus operandi of Gail Tredwell. All know that this world needs Amma and her services. Amma translates Swami Vivekananda’s prophetic words that the hungry men need food. She stands head and shoulders above all spiritual leaders in view of the humanitarian activities she has been implementing for this world and people, that is “her children”. —T Satisan
“Everyone in the world should be able to sleep without fear, at least for one night. Everyone should be able to eat to his fill, at least for one day. There should be at least one day when hospitals see no one admitted due to violence. By doing selfless service for at least one day, everyone should help the poor and needy. It is Amma’s prayer that at least this small dream be realised.”
—Mata Amrithanandamayi Devi
AMMA’s contribution beyond the human power
—Justice Krishnayyer
Mata Amrithanandamayi who is the rare personality who have any enemy and it is the universal truth that Amma’s contribution we can’t count or calculate, it is beyond our imagination and limit, said by Former SC Chief Justice VR Krishnayyer. He was speaking in a function organised by all Amma Devotees and public figueres Including Local MLA and RSS Pranth Sanghchalak. Since last one week there is lot of debate going on in favour and against the alligation made by a lady who was a deciple of Amma.
Keeping the incident the Kochi city Citizen forum arranged a programme along with Dheevara Sabha (Organisation of Fishermen Community-from the same Community Matha Amrithanandamayi also got her devine birth and.)and other Hindu Communities, to gave all support to AMMA who is so precious by her selfless work on SEVA and Spirituality here in Kerala.
I always have full respect towards AMMA said by the Union Minister of Civil Supplies (state) Prof KV Thomas. AMMA is the wealth of All Humanity not only for Hindu said by AITUC State secretary.
Liberals' heart bleed against Hindus
As soon asthenews of withdrawal and pulping of all the copies of Wendy Doniger’s book The Hindus:An Alternate History came out, thewell-knownclass of self-proclaimed liberals and secularists started talking as if ‘Freedom of Speech’ in India was in danger.
On February 15, 2014, a few of these individuals also came to Pragati Maidan, New Delhi, right in front of the Penguin India stall, to read out from the book ‘The Hindus’. They named this event as a ‘Read-in for Banned Books’. They also circulated inflammatory pamphlets which claimed that there was no ‘reasonable offence’ done by Wendy in her writings, and that Hindus are ‘believers’ of unexamined beliefs.
The pamphletclaimed that the people who organised this read-in were in ‘solidarity with voices being muzzled’ and with ‘publishers’. They also then claimed that they were ‘independent’ but further research on these individuals showed otherwise. For instance, the event created on social media for ‘Read-in for Banned Books’ as protest was created by three individuals named Brinda Bose, Amit Sengupta, Manas Roshan. Manas Roshan incidentally, is involved with Caravan Magazine and is very proud of their big piece on “Aseemanand and Hindu Terror’. This big piece, also titled ‘Believer’, is the same article that falsely claimed that RSS top brass was involved in plotting attacks that killed 119 people based on ‘interviews’ done with Swami Aseemanand.
Onecannot emphasise enough that Swami Aseema-nand, in a press release, vehemently denies that such ‘interviews’ ever happened and he states that no closed door meetings with senior leaders of social organisations occurred. The same was also reiterated by NIA a few days after the release of this maliciously fabricated article by Caravan Magazine.
Ironically, in the banned book reading, there was no mention of books like the “Red Sari’ which is a fictional book based on Sonia Gandhi’s life. There was no mention of MO Mathai’s book ‘Reminiscences of the Nehru Age’ which contains a chapter titled ‘She’, which describesan account of his sexual relationship with Indira Gandhi. It is imperative to note that these book bans were consciously and deliberately enforced and endorsedby the same class of people who are now claiming to be defenders of ‘free speech’. Both the left “intelectuals” and the liberals like triamool’s artists disnt protest when Bangladeshi writter Tasleema sought to attend a literary conference in kolkatta and was blocked by Muslim orthodoxy. In the fact trinamool Congress Government told her to return right from the airport. Their hearts now so bleeding for Doniger had gone cold.
When the book reading started, some students and professionals came along and protested.All of these students and professionals hailed from from premium institutes like IIT, IIMC and others. Apart from the individuals, members from the Hindu Sena had turned up, upset, because of Wendy’s constant denigration of Hindu Gods. A handful of peaceful protesters, standing with
handwritten posters, were also joined in by passersbywho saw the media and commotion.
Ajay, a Charted Accountant, who joined the protest against the reading of ‘The Hindus’ noted that when the book reading was going on, the protesters made repeated appeals to stop the reading of the book, but the organisers of the event continued reading the book from their Ipads. But when the police arrived to disperse the protesters and the protesters explained to the police that‘The Hindus’ was being read, the members of ‘Read-in for Banned Books’ started flashing books of other authors like Premchand to deceive the police and prevent the stoppage of reading.
Pandey, a Post Graduate from IIT who was also a part of the protest said that he was shocked when an old woman with white hair, named Geeta Patel had challenged him and other protestors by shouting ‘Who are you to speak on behalf of Hindus’? He replied by saying ‘Who are you to defame Hindus?’ for which he got no response. The question raised by the old woman involved in the book reading is rather grave, as it seems like this class of ‘defenders of free speech’ require Hindus to carry certificates of ‘Hinduness’ to protest against hate writings and speeches.
The February 15 protest and the newspaper articles that followed, again, stand to expose the hypocrisy of the intellectual class which time and again defends denigrating attacks on Hindus by repeatedly stating that the voices of protest are uneducated and ignorant. All across the world, the modus operandi of individuals involved in defaming Hinduism and Dharma is to position themselves as scholars, intellectuals, thinkers and secularists. And, those who challenge these voices are to be immediately struck down by labelling them as ignorant, extremists, fundamentalists, sanghis and saffron terrorists.
—Neena Rai
Lies, utter lies and absolutely no truth—P Parameswaran
Various Hindu leaders including Bharateeya Vichara Kendram Shri P Parameswaran. Shri Kummanam Rajasekharan and Shri O Rajagopalvisited Amma on February 25 and enquired about the situation developed after the recent onslaught against the Math by some vested interests.
Commenting on the development Shri P Parameswaran said: “The barrage of vicious propaganda unleashed by a section of the visual and print media in Kerala against Mata Amrithanandamayi Math is obviously motivated to bring down the high respect and reputation with which millions of people across the world hold that spiritually oriented service organisation. There is a method in this madness. Any flimsy excuse is good enough for them to slander the Math and the highly revered Matha Amrithanandamayi Devi. The unfortunate Sathnam Singh incident, which took place in a mental hospital where two inmates physically clashed leading to the death of Sathnam Singh was construed so as to blame the Math and then start a hate campaign. It miserably failed, but hostile forces have a systematic design to spread canard against the Math. Recently they have caught hold of a book published by a long-time back inmate of the Math full of lies, utter lies and absolutely no truth, to once again unleash the campaign of hatred. Freedom of expression cannot be interpreted as freedom to spread lies which hurt religious sentiments of large sections of people.”
TheVHP demanded withdrawal of the controversial book written by a former disciple of spiritual leader Mata Amrithanandamayi. “We are a civilised society and request withdrawal of the book from electronic systems. Nobody should provoke Hindu society,”said VHP general secretary Shri Champat Rai.Various Hindu leaders including Bharateeya Vichara Kendram Shri P Parameswaran. Shri Kummanam Rajasekharan and Shri O Rajagopalvisited Amma on February 25 and enquired about the situation developed after the recent onslaught against the Math by some vested interests.
Commenting on the development Shri P Parameswaran said: “The barrage of vicious propaganda unleashed by a section of the visual and print media in Kerala against Mata Amrithanandamayi Math is obviously motivated to bring down the high respect and reputation with which millions of people across the world hold that spiritually oriented service organisation. There is a method in this madness. Any flimsy excuse is good enough for them to slander the Math and the highly revered Matha Amrithanandamayi Devi. The unfortunate Sathnam Singh incident, which took place in a mental hospital where two inmates physically clashed leading to the death of Sathnam Singh was construed so as to blame the Math and then start a hate campaign. It miserably failed, but hostile forces have a systematic design to spread canard against the Math. Recently they have caught hold of a book published by a long-time back inmate of the Math full of lies, utter lies and absolutely no truth, to once again unleash the campaign of hatred. Freedom of expression cannot be interpreted as freedom to spread lies which hurt religious sentiments of large sections of people.”
TheVHP demanded withdrawal of the controversial book written by a former disciple of spiritual leader Mata Amrithanandamayi. “We are a civilised society and request withdrawal of the book from electronic systems. Nobody should provoke Hindu society,”said VHP general secretary Shri Champat Rai.
Shiksha Sanskrit Utthan Nyas condemns misuse of Freedom
of Expression
Shiksha Sanskrit Utthan Nyas condemned the attempts by some pseudo secularists, who in the name of Freedom of Expression are justifying the insult of Hindu Gods and Goddeses and great personalities of the country including the freedom fighters by US controversial writer Wendi Doniger in her book The Hindus: An Alternative History. Publisher of the book, Penguin India, has decided to withdraw this book from the market following a compromise in a Delhi court on February 10. After this agreement the pseudo secularists are pressuring the Penguin to go to the High Court against the Delhi court compromise.
The Shiksha Sanskrit Utthan Nyas, in its meeting held in Amritsar from February 22 to 23 appealed to the people of the country to expose and oppose the pseudo secularists and pressurise the government to punish such elements for their anti-national crime.
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