This refers to the article ‘In Search of Indian Roots’ by Vivek Shukla in Organiser. It took a decade coming but the victory of the Indian Hockey team in the Asia Cup including a clinical demolition of old foe Pakistan in the semi-final en route to glory is the result, above all, of the commitment demonstrated by the players. The hard work put in by the Hockey India coaching, support and administrative-strategic heads to ensure we are on the way to being recognised as a hockey power house once again, however, should not be ignored. India is ranked sixth in the world and is champion of Asia. It was a perfect start for coach Marine Sjoerd, as the Asian Cup was his first tournament in charge, and he seems to have put together a mentally tough and physically very fit team the augment the traditional skills Indian players have always possessed. The recent string of good performances also augur well for the next year’s world Cup on home soil though we must be careful not to overburden the team with expectations.
M C SHARMA, Panki, Kanpur
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Truth Must Prevail
Is it not true that in 2013 the UPA Government at the Centre pressurised the Uttarakhand Government to decline the request of the Gujarat Government for reconstruction of Kedarnath Temple? In June 2013, then Chief Minister Bahuguna and the Congress Party had rebuffed Shri Modi’s offer for redevelopment of Kedarnath and his Rs 3 crore cheque, which was in addition to a Rs 2 crore his State had donated for rain disaster relief. If a fact has been stated by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, it is not proper for those who chose not to believe him to prove that Shri Modi has something which is not true. Or will they just shoot and scoot again?
SUSHIL KUMAR, Delhi
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Kerala Becoming Kashmir
This refers to the article ‘Deadly Design’ by T Satisan in Organiser dated Oct 15. It is a matter of great concern that Kerala is becoming a breeding ground for jihadi elements . It needs to be noted that the State Government ruled by the Left Front is shamelessly turning blind eye towards the ongoing radicalisation of Muslim youth. Kerala has been admired by many as a secular society. But due to Muslim vote bank both the Congress and the Left, keep silence on various important issues like Love Jihad, hawala funding of certain radical organisations and its alleged links to ISIS. Central Government should immediately intervene to prevent Kerala from becoming another Kashmir. Muslim clerics should come to the public domain and openly denounce terrorism in the name of religion. Out of hundreds of young people who crossed the sea to join IS majority of them hailed from Kerala and many of them had links with the PFI. It is a known fact that the IS was behind many communally sensitive issues that rocked Kerala, like chopping of prof T J Joseph’s hand for alleged blasphemy and forcefully converting Hindu girls to their fold. I congratulate Organiser for its brave efforts to expose such radical outfits that have the power to demolish the very idea of Bharat.
GANESH PUTHUR, Kerala
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Keep It Up
Kudos to Organiser for bringing out a wonderful special issue on the occasion of Deepawali, issue dated Oct 22.I got thoroughly impressed by the two articles published in the issue, titled ‘Way to Clean our Inner Cores’ by Dr Ashish Barua, and ‘Pious Symbol Distorted by West’ by Hemant Padhya.The first one is on Gyatri Mantra and the second one is on Swastika symbol. Gayatri mantra is a prayer which is directed towards the supreme Brahman, asking to illuminate our intellect. Gayatri mantra is considered as the most important mantra in Sanatana Dharma and it can be chanted by anyone at anytime. Chanting of the Gayatri mantra gradually illuminates our intellect. Gayatri Mantra has a special spiritual significance. Its jap gives us spiritual strength. I learnt Gayatri Mantra from one panditji and since then I have been reciting it every morning. In the article ‘Pious Symbol Distorted by West’ the writer Hemant Padhya has rightly written that Swastika is the only symbol in the world which has no barriers of culture, religion, race, language and civilisation.
-AMAR JIT SINGH GORAYA, Australia
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The Reality
At a time when Sir Syed Ahmed Khan’s 200th birth anniversary is being celebrated with ‘tributes to a legend’, it was heartening to read Balbir Punj’s article demolishing “the charade of secularism” with regard to the “father of Muslim Separatism” and the “Two Nation Theory”. Sir Syed Ahmed Khan was also the founder of the Aligarh Muslim University which was considered as the nursery of the idea of “an independent sovereign nation of Pakistan”. With all the publicly available material on Sir Syed perfidy in building a British-Muslim union against the majority community in the 19th century, one has no doubt that talk of promoting Hindu-Muslim unity attributed to Syed Ahmad Khan by his admirers is just a façade. Ashok Patnaik in a review of BR Nand’s book Witness to Partition – A Memoir, noted that “…a movement for Muslim separatism has been gathering strength since 1877, the year Syed Ahmed Khan founded the Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College… Jinnah and other heavyweights of the Muslim League carried forward the (Syed Khan’s) idea of a separate Muslim nation.”
-M RATAN, Via Email
Maintain Decorum
This refers to Shri Rakesh Reddy’s article, ‘Abusing the Narrative’ published in Organiser dated Oct 8. In the article Shri Reddy has commented on Prof Kancha Illiah Shepherd (KIS)’s description of Vyshyas as smugglers. One can dissent on any issue but that should be decent. Prof KIS forgot that abusing others does not enhance one’s prestige. After all, having embraced Christianity, he is following what the missionaries have been doing for centuries vis-a-vis Hindus. For his information, Vyshyas were not only doing business within India but around the world much before the birth of Christianity. Before the Muslim invasion of India, Arabs came to India as traders and besides trading, they were also converting some locals to Islam. Europeans, including the British, also came as traders and later became rulers of the country. Vyshyas, though did international trade, did not colonise and become rulers in foreign lands and on the contrary, enriched the local cultures. One could have considered Prof KJS’s criticism, had he been in the Hindu fold. Since he left this, he has lost all moral rights to criticise Hindus of which Vyshyas are a part. I feel necessary to remind him what Prof Arnold J Toynbee (1889-1975), a famous British historian, said in India in 1950s, (sic) “Whatever the origin of human civilisation, it should end in an Indian way.” Many born Christians of the West had/have either embraced Hinduism or have become admirers of Hinduism. Therefore, I pity Prof KIS for leaving Hinduism and becoming its enemy.
SC PANDA, Bhubaneswar
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