Dear All: I am opening this thread to carry forward the discussion generated on the guest post by Sh Krishen Kak. Please use this thread for all comments that may not be directly related to the post. Thank you.
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1. Comment by Bhagwad Jal Park:
@Sid
Come – this should be obvious. When parents kill their adult children from marrying whomever they please, is that not a violation of the principle “Do what you want as long as you harm no one?”
When the crazy “darul ul uloom” tells women …

Thanks to JKV and Sudhir Kumar for alerting me to this nugget (UPDATE: Credit for picking this story must go to Venkat Kumar. Thanks).
From a PTI news-story filed by a staff writer (6th Aug ‘10; 14:21 hrs IST; emphasis added):
Alappuzha (Ker), Aug 6 (PTI) The right hand of a 24-year-old man was nearly severed by a gang, allegedly to wreck revenge for his questioning one of them for teasing his cousin sister near Cengannur here, police said here today.
Abhilash, an autorickshaw driver, was waylaid and attacked by the gang on …

I am grateful to Sh Krishen Kak for giving me permission to publish his article titled, “MOTHER INDIA and MODERN INDIA – The Mother Tongues or a National Language?”. The article first appeared in Eternal India (India First Foundation), June 2010:77-90. This is a slightly revised version.  Please read on and share widely (emphasis mine).
*** CAUTION: Long Post ***
MOTHER INDIA and MODERN INDIA: the Mother Tongues or English? by Krishen Kak

Each and every window in the house of language opens to a different …

Thought for the week by F Scott Fitzgerald:

The test of a first rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposite ideas in the mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function.

Past quotes are here.
Picture of F Scott Fitzgerald: Courtesy Wikipedia

Dear All, it is my pleasure to publish this brilliant satire by Pankaj Saksena on William Dalrymple’s foray into international politics and foreign affairs (first published on his blog, “The Literary Falcon“). Read and share widely. ..
*** …and Dalrymple gives Kashmir to India! by Pankaj Saksena ***

It has been proved once again that violence is not the key to any solution. Guided by secular wisdom, peaceful negotiations will solve any problem.
In a brilliant intellectual coup, William Dalrymple, the brave defender of downtrodden Indian Muslims, the upholder …

Please join us on Monday, 2nd August if you can at this discussion jointly organised by the IIT Delhi Alumni Association and Freedom Team of India.
6:30pm – 9:30pm
August 2nd (Monday) 2010
Location:  7th Floor Main Building, IRD Hall,
Indian Institute of Technology, Hauz Khas

The discussion will focus on issues in “governance” in India, the present situation and how can it be improved. As one of FTI’s founder-members Sanjeev mentioned:
India’s governance shows no sign of improving, stumbling from one crisis to another. Our security is threatened, our economic growth stumbles every few …