On Bal Thackeray and his call for Hindu suicide squads/ Hindu terrorists: Nip it in the bud by Offstumped. A short excerpt:
Bal Thackeray�s remarks are reprehensible. There is no moral sanction for Terrorism by any tenet of Hindu Dharma. Those responsible for the Thane bomb blast must be brought to trial and any attempts by them to appropriate moral sanction under Hindu Dharma must be denounced unequivocally. There is no room or place for Terrorism by Hindus for Hindus with Hindu Dharma as moral cover.
Terrorism is Adharma let there be …

Many of you must have read the recent news-reports on the Kerala Catholic Bishops� Council’s�recent call to Christians to have more children. It has also been pointed out in�various discussions on this subject that�Christians in Kerala have been at the forefront of family planning and have generally had fewer children than the rest.
However, a fact that has been conveniently ignored by most reports is that�not only is�”the Christian and Muslim population in the state (is)…well above the national average”, it is also growing faster than the Hindu population (emphasis mine):
T.R. …

…Even as New Delhi talks of taking up the issue of border incursions with China at the “appropriate highest level”, up in the Himalayas, the Indian soldiers are using a Gandhian method to stop the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) troops from intruding into the Indian territory.
With the PLA making fresh incursions into the Fingertip Area of Sikkim, Indian troops are now blocking the Chinese soldiers by forming human chains.
“We are literally forming human chains to stop the Chinese from crossing over,” says a senior Army officer. “If they come in …

Surendra Srivastava of Loksatta�alerted me to this news: Chhattisgarh: People recall 3 local body chiefs
For the first time in the history of Chhattisgarh, people of three urban local bodies have recalled their chairpersons after a vote, a top election official said.
“As per Section 47 of the Chhattisgarh Municipality Act 1961 through recall votes three chairpersons of an equal number of urban local bodies had lost their seats on Tuesday,” Chief Election Commissioner of Chhattisgarh, Dr Sushil Trivedi told reporters.
…The Act says a president can be recalled through a secret ballot …

Thanks to Suneel who alerted me to this interview with prolific author, broadcaster and columnist Tarek Fateh (also author of “Chasing a Mirage: The Tragic Illusion of an Islamic State”)…
Two short excerpts:
How do you distinguish between an Islamist and a Muslim?
An Islamist is someone who believes in invoking Islam for a political agenda. A Muslim, on the other hand, uses Islam as a moral compass for his betterment and the betterment of his family. An Islamist is also a Muslim but a Muslim is not an Islamist.
India’s first …

Fellow blogger Varnam recently wrote two�posts on how learning Sanskrit is now considered to be a “communal” activity and something that might put you at odds with the “secular” brigade.
In the first one, he pointed out:
Usually you see the word saffronization associated with the Hindutva folks, not Sanskritization…the revival (of this word)�is with mischievous intent. Now the name of a language has become a synonym for communal politics.
In fact this attempt to brand Sanskrit as a non-secular entity happened once before, believe it or not – by the Central Board …

This analysis of�attitudes that the communist parties have�towards vital matters of national interest reveals why they are probably the most dangerous�element in the current political landscape…

Excerpts from Red Star over South Block�(emphasis mine)
As the Manmohan Singh government enters its last year in office, the contradictions in the approach to national security and foreign policy issues between a mainstream national party…on the one hand and the communist parties, which appear determined to make India a client state of China on the other, are becoming increasingly evident…There are…other serious differences between the …

I doubt if this piece will ever find its way to Hon. Thiru Karunanidhi but if it does, he will have good reasons to re-consider his earlier remarks (emphasis mine):
Who is this Ram?
From which engineering college he graduated? Is there any proof for this?
What follows is by far one of the best (and most extensive) piece of research I have yet come across on the historicity of Ramar Sethu and Lord Shri Rama.
It is a fairly long post (even though I have only taken�excerpts) – but please do read …

Came across this news-report yesterday and wondered whether there is now sufficient�evidence to�declare Pakistan a state-sponsor of terrorism?�
…Elements of Pakistan’s ISI and its paramilitaries are actively backing Taliban insurgents and if their sanctuaries in the country are not eliminated, the efforts of the US and its allies to stabilise and rebuild Afghanistan will be in jeopardy, a leading US think-tank has warned.
The study by Rand Corporation, funded by the US Department of Defence, finds that Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate and Frontier Corps have failed to root out Afghan insurgent groups…in …

Over the weekend, I came across this excellent�critique by Edward Hamala on the “caste system” in India and�how it is misrepresented in the West.� Excerpts below:
***
…The Indian �caste system� that has so outraged Mr. Roger Williams, makes me wonder if he is equally outraged by the British �caste system� that is even more prevalent, although it is well hidden and �invisible� in the British and some European societies, where the nobility still exist, than it is in India today, where all noble titles have been abolished.

I would like to ask …