From the first part of this story:
As Guru-ji returned to Punjab in 1670, news of his increasing influence reached Aurangzeb. Royal reporters mentioned how “For years by now…he (Guru Tegh Bahadur) has been conducting an extensive whirlwind tour of the country. He has been going about with many thousand men. He is also collecting funds”
Aurangzeb received these reports in the North-west where he was dealing with the rebellion of Pathans. As Kartar Singh-ji notes:
He (Aurangzeb) had no time to make intensive enquiries about allegations. …

Many of you would remember the promise I made some days ago to share  the inspiring story about the life of Guru Tegh Bahadur-ji on this blog.
I was hoping to do last week but my visit to North-East delayed this post. That said, Guruji’s story is timeless…and will no doubt be retold many many times…What follows is my humble attempt at depicting the life of this saint.  Although we are all very familiar with Guru Tegh Bahadur’s name, his deeds – like hundreds of other proud chapters from Indian history …

I first became aware of Mata Gujri after reading a poem by my friend Gurmeet which she shared on Facebook. The poem was a tribute to Mata Gujri-ji on the occassion of Mothers’ Day. It was enough to spark my curiousity. I decided to find out more…and was not disappointed. Here – in excerpts – is the extraordinary story of Mata Gujri Ji, from the almost forgotten pages of Indian History.
In a talk Gurmeet delivered in 2004, she called Mata Gujri a  perfect woman,a “Puran Istree“.
The word “Stree” originates …

Some of you may have already read this post from Atanu which he published in early Feb ‘10. In this deeply thought-provoking and remarkably forthright post, Atanu explained his views on Islam (strong) and discussed related issues including that of Islamic terrorism. He has been kind enough to allow me to post excerpts on my blog (added emphasis is mine). Without further ado,
*** Excerpts from The Distinction between People and Ideologies by Atanu Dey ***

…my claims that Islam brainwashes people to become terrorists and suicide killers is supported by …

Start this weekend with excerpts from Kashmir: Propagation of Islam and the Terror of the Sufis” by M A Khan (emphasis mine):
How did Islam come to Kashmir?
“It came through the peaceful missionary preaching of the Sufis,” comes the answer.
Sufis have been universally credited with the peaceful propagation of Islam around the world. An Islamic legend tells us that there was a king in Kashmir, at an unknown point in time, who had no religion. One day, he wished to adopt a religion. Both Muslims and Hindus came to convince him. …

In the first part of this post, I cited evidence contrary to Sh Sanghvi’s assertion that “Hindu kings destroyed Buddhist monasteries…”
Sh Sanghvi’s second point was that, as a consequence of such destruction (which we now know is not supported by historical records) Buddhism declined in India – that land of its birth.
Let us start by what Dr B R Ambedkar had to say on the decline of Buddhism in India:
“..There can be no doubt that the fall of Buddhism in India was due to the invasions of the Musalmans…Islam came …

This post was triggered by Vir Sanghvi’s misleading article “Ayodhya for dummies” that he wrote in response to his “younger readers…(who are) mystified by the fuss and annoyed by the refusal of journos to tell them what it (Liberhan Report) was all about”
RC has already done a masterful dissection of Vir Sanghvi’s seemingly clever play with words. So I will limit myself to a specific flippant remark made by Vir Sanghvi viz. “…Hindu kings destroyed Buddhist monasteries, more or less throwing Buddhism out of India”
Before I begin, I must stress …

Yesterday morning, while reading Jamiat has undone its past good work by Javed Ansari, I got stuck at the very first sentence:
The Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind is one of countless organisations that claim to represent Muslims in India. However, unlike most others, the Jamiat stands out because of its track record. It was at the forefront of the freedom movement and vehemently opposed the country’s partition
This was not a *new* statement. Hon Sh Chidambaram had said something similar at Deoband last week:
The Home Minister lauded the role played by Jamiat during …

From First stop Sangli, as media body vows not to air inciting footage (emphasis mine):
The newly formed body of television journalists, Broadcast Editors’ Association (BEA) has decided its members will not air any ‘sponsored’ acts of violence or protests. As a consequence, it did not air the “inflammatory” CDs distributed by some Maharashtra BJP leaders in connection with the communal tension in Sangli and Miraj towns.
…While Zaman and Pachauri (BEA President and Vice President respectively) refused to disclose the content of the CD, two persons close to the development said …

I first heard about “Sharada Tirtha” (Sharada Temple) when I stumbled on these photographs on the net. A search led me to Varnam’s post from which I learnt that while “Sharada Peeth” was as important as Somnath, Multan and Thaneshvar in olden times, it does not find any mention in History books (nor does it find any mention in the Wikipedia list of Hindu Temples in Pakistan) .
Curious to find more, I ended up on this site which noted:
Kashmir contains the famous Sharda Temple where Sankara ascended the Sarvajna Pitha(the …

Readers would remember that in Part – I of this series, I had promised to share some notes on this issue and a summary of historical/ archaeological evidence.
In this Part (Part – II), I have made an attempt at explaining the backdrop to a very complex situation in an easy-to-understand and hopefully well articulated, manner citing historical and archaeological evidence. Most of what I have noted below is extracted from various arguments that have been put forward in support of reclaiming the Janmabhoomi.
In the following part (Part III), I will …

For the past several months, I have been thinking of digging up some old articles from this blog on the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi issue.
Then, this not-so-widely-reported news from last week finally forced me into action (Hat Tip: Sanjay)
From The Telepgraph story titled, Azad brother for Ram temple (the bit that caught my attention is in bold):
Srinagar, April 12: Top Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad’s younger brother today announced his entry into the BJP with support to the Ram temple. Ghulam Ali had joined the BJP some days ago allegedly after he …

*** UPDATED ***
One article and one post…both pointing to an alarming trend of increasing radicalisation in south India. I would really value opinions and thoughts from those in the region or familiar with it.
If what is mentioned in these two articles/reports is even half-true, we should be seriously worried about these developments.
Unfortunately, this topic is off the national agenda…and besides, as long as we have “peace and tranquility” under the UPA regime, who really cares?
First, some excerpts from “Is talibanised South the Swat Valley of India?” by Sh …

Many many years ago when my hair was still mostly black, I remember reading somewhere that parallel lines are those that never meet but are identical in terms of direction (slope) etc.
As I read about incidents of the past few days, I was reminded of this definition. But first a flashback…
Clad in all-enveloping burqas, the Dukhtaran-e-Millat, or Daughters of the Nation, have sought to impose their version of Islam on the city of Srinagar. They have closed restaurants where they found unmarried couples together, smashed alcohol bottles and ordered Internet cafes …

Start this weekend by reading Sandeep’s views on the Hindu Holocaust. 
Next an impassioned plea for broadminded, enlightened Indian Muslims to speak out. Amazingly, it was written more than 16 years ago! Unfortunately I have no URL link to this article, so I am reproducing it in full below.
Finally, a thought-provoking essay on Interfaith Marraiges by Dr Dilip Amin. It is a long article but I have reproduced excerpts below.
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Excerpts from a superb post by Sarvesh Tiwari on how a handful of “gAzIs” paralysed a medieval city:
…That band of gAzI-s was not unlike this one, with only dozen and half mujAhidIn riding on Arabic horses, wearing the cloak of merchants and carrying leather sacks on horseback concealing large-scale weaponry. With Muhammad Bakhtiyar Khalji, the trusted turuShka-Afghan lieutenant of Qutb-ud-deen Aybak at their head, gAzI-s swiftly rode eastwards deep into the delta of ga~NgA, and it was approaching dusk as they entered the market streets of nAdiyA, the sena capital …

Thanks to Krishen-ji for alerting me to this interview of Bill Warner, Director, Center for the Study of Political Islam (CSPI).  CSPI is devoted to the scientific study of the foundational texts of Islam, including the Koran and Hadith.
Its approach is unusual in that it relies on statistics to study the doctrines (e.g. see the discussion about “Jihad” below) and considers the Koran alongside the Sira and Hadiths as part of the Islamic Trilogy. Although published more than a year ago, large parts of it are still very relevant.
Excerpts:
…Our major intellectual breakthrough is to see that dualism …

Great article by Tarun Vijay in today’s TOI: Reclaiming India.
*** Excerpts below (emphasis mine) ***
“None should say Omar is not allowed in Jammu. Let him come, listen and speak. Like any other Indian should feel free to visit Kashmir or any other part of the nation. He is welcome to visit my home even if he denies me a piece of land in Kashmir. Why should a few words uttered by him make me change my Indian-ness? If he spoke in Parliament as a Muslim, asserting his Islamic identity, let …

Irfan Husain on how the intelligentsia in Pakistan�is blissfully unaware (or indifferent) to the threat from Taliban
Saurav Basu on Amir Khusro and the myth of composite culture
and Kapil Sibal on�how the ‘NDA ditched UPA after vowing to support the N-deal’�

Mufti Abdul Rehman Al Rehmani, head of Darul Ifta wa Al-Qazzath of the Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JD) Pakistan:
if…Indian Muslims…comply with Indian law, then the coming generations of Muslims in India will be involved in Hindu beliefs
Here is the story:
A few days ago, the mufti or head cleric of one of India�s biggest madrassas, the Darul Uloom Deoband (DUD), Mufti Habibur Rehman, said that Indian Muslims should take care when slaughtering the cow that is considered sacred by Hindus. He pointed out that the slaughter of the cow is prohibited under Indian law …