Archive for May, 2012

Dr. Manzer Durrani · Mohan Guruswamy | November 02, 2010

President Barack Obama’s visit to India on November 6th comes under the best possible circumstances. There are few expectations of any consequence in India. The United States off-course, as it is increasingly wont to these days, has a big wish list. A large part of which is made up of military equipment it wishes India to buy. After for long being on the asking side, India is happy to be on the giving side. India will try its best to oblige. India has several reasons to be gratified to President Obama, for it is his administration that has effectively de-hyphenated India and Pakistan by not visiting Pakistan in the same trip. In other circumstances this should have had the same electrifying effect, as President George Bush’s one line put down of a complaining Pervez Musharaff with the words “You are not India!” But some how it has not, possibly reflecting how much the worlds has changed since the US economy’s near death experience and India’s continued economic buoyancy after the turn of the millennium.

Interestingly, the rise of India is matched by somewhat diminished expectations from the outside world. This newfound confidence coincides with a relatively muted clamoring for the baubles of global power like a permanent seat in an expanded UN Security Council. This also owes a good deal to the increasing realization within India that it needs to put its house in order to win the worlds respect. The untidy run up to the recently concluded Commonwealth Games and the accompanying exposures of huge malfeasances; the fact that in terms of critical human development indices such as infant mortality, malnutrition and poverty India is worse off than many African countries; and that a surging China has widened the gap with India have contributed to temper down India’s expectations for world status.

President Obama came to office with the somewhat premature and mistaken notion that the road to extrication from Afghanistan lay through Kashmir. He immediately appointed Richard Holbrooke as Special Representative for South Asia, only to limit him to Afghanistan and Pakistan after India noisily made known its reservations. Secretary Clinton’s first visit to Asia excluded India and this was also taken note off and interpreted as the USA’s reduced interest in India. Obama compounded these early missteps by suggesting a role for China in South Asia. India was, both, mortified and infuriated. With the United States’ optimism now waning about China playing a helpful and responsible role in the world by refusing to revalue the Yuan, by becoming more assertive in its dealings with its neighbors and in world forums, and by its self centered pursuit of its narrow interests in North Korea, Burma, Sudan and even Iran, India sees a reversal of US policies with a more balanced and nuanced approach towards it. This also now works in Obama’s favor.

What still works against him are his somewhat strident and shrill attacks on “loss of jobs to India” ignoring the somewhat obvious economic imperatives that force American corporations to entrust American workers with less work. The visiting President will hear about this and will also be reminded that India also contributes to the USA’s productivity with its brainpower, to the USA’s economy with its growing investments, and to the USA’s industry by placing orders for aircraft such as the C-17 Globemaster and P-8 Poseidon from Boeing, and C-130 Hercules from Lockheed. These and other orders save thousands of American jobs, given that equivalents can be bought elsewhere.

India has given as much as it can on the civilian nuclear deal but Obama will press for more. But the psychological moment is not right given the shocking realization in India in the wake of the Indian judicial system’s long delayed judgment on the Bhopal disaster that Indian lives and environment were valued so pitifully low while the US valued its coastline and animal life so high in the wake of the BP oil spill. Most Indians will not like to see another US corporation get off as cheaply as Union Carbide did. And with the French and Russians quite willing to accept the conditions of India’s existing law, the USA would be well advised not to dwell too much on this during the visit. India would on the other hand appreciate US ideas on how it could help India improve the quality of its higher education and public administration. Both subjects are high on India’s domestic agenda and its leadership is intently grappling with the issues involved.

But President Obama comes with advantages that the earlier visiting Presidents did not enjoy. Not since John Kennedy has an American President generated as much excitement and interest in India with his personal charisma and his great personal achievements. His oratory and soaring idealism, his optimism in the human spirit, and his transparent decency and goodness have caught the average Indian’s imagination. The President will like what he will see here. Indian public opinion has a way of bucking the American trend. George Bush ruled the rarefied heights of popularity here when he was down in the dumps there. And so will Obama. All this only suggests that India admires America and values its friendship more than it generally admits. The United States is still working on how to reciprocate. India expects that day will soon be at hand. India awaits Obama with this expectation.

Mohan Guruswamy is a Non-resident Senior Fellow of the South Asia Center of the Atlantic Council.This article is part of the Atlantic Council web forum “Obama’s First Tour of India.”

Dr. Manzer Durrani

Comment: Please take this article with a grain of salt. Indians have a perpetual thirst for high technology weaponary. A kafir is forever in a state of panic. Their desire to buy weaponary is like a swamp, the more (weapons) they (acquire) yell and scream, the deeper they sink (the more insecure they feel). India needs to realize that it is not a numbers game. It is not the gun, but, the man behind the gun, what counts. The as Kargil War has proved this syllogism to India’s dismay. Stop wasting money and take the olive branch. Or the Dove of Peace, by its pohchul (tail), and live in an Ashram. Otherwise, the next Indo-Pak War will leave a radiation filled gaping hole, in the ample rear end of Mother India. The euphoria of the 1971 War chicanery will evaporate in a radiation filled mass exodus in a smoky plume.”

Ghauri, Ghaznavi, Ra’ad, Abdali, and Tipu are waiting in the wings,

To do their thing!

The Indian media has expressed shock and dismay over the revelations that the IAF will lose its superiority to the PAF within the next one to two years.
The crisis hit Indian Armed Forces, rocked by various scams, corruption allegations and infighting, seems to have overlooked the procurement of much needed fighter aircraft, which is needed to guard its skies.

At present, the IAF is operating 34 fighter jet squadrons, as compared to the 26 operated by the PAF. However, the IAF needs to operate 39.5 squadrons to maintain its superiority over the PAF, due to a wide variety of issues like geographical disadvantage. The squadron strength of the IAF will drop to just 31 during the country’s 12th five year plan (2012-2017). The IAF also plans to phase out around 125 Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 fighter jets during 2014-2017. It plans to replace them with the HAL Tejas, whose induction is likely to get delayed.
On the other hand, the PAF is moving forward with a number of high profile aircraft deals. Pakistan recently received 14 General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon (Block-52) aircraft from the US. It is likely to acquire 14 more within a short time. PAF is also actively pursuing aircraft dealings with Chinese aerospace companies. It has finalized a deal to purchase 36 Chengdu J-10 multirole fighter aircraft, from the Chinese aircraft manufacturer Chengdu Aircraft Industry Corporation. PAF is likely to induct these aircrafts in 2014. Sources within the PAF claim that as many as 150 of these fighter jets will be purchased from China in the long run.
Recently India had finalized a defence deal with the French aerospace manufacturer Dassault Aviation for the delivery of 126 Dassault Rafale Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft. But the deal has come under increasing scrutiny after allegations of kickbacks being given to Indian defence officials. Even if the deal goes forward, the delivery of the fighter jet is expected to take a long time. Earlier the Dassault Rafale was rejected by nations such as Singapore, South Korea, Morocco and Switzerland, citing lack of advanced technology and cost.
Ever since the current Prime Minister Man Mohan Singh took his office for a second term in 2009, the defence scene has remained murky and problematic for the Indian government. The Army chief, Gen. VK Singh, who undertook a number of reforms within the armed forces, was asked to resign this month by the defence minister, citing an error in his officially reported date of birth. The opposition claims that the government terminated Gen. Singh’s service since he was opposed to the corruption in the Armed Forces. A loyalist of the ruling Indian National Congress party, Lt Gen. Bikram Singh will take over the leadership from Gen. VK Singh on June 1, 2012.

Ref

Related Article

IAF seems to be in “very bad shape”, observes Tribunal

PTI
It seems the Indian Air Force is in a “very bad shape” and there is “petty-mindedness” among its authorities, the Armed Forces Tribunal observed today citing the kind of cases that are being filed by the air warriors against the Service. The Tribunal’s Principal Bench headed by

Chairperson Justice A K Mathur made the remarks while issuing notice to
the IAF and asking it to file a reply in a pension-related plea filed by a Corporal.

While hearing the case, he said that with the kind of cases being filed by the service personnel, it seems that the

IAF was in a “very bad shape” and showed the “petty-mindedness” of the authorities.

The case was filed by Corporal Chanderbhan Dhankar, who has been refused pension by the IAF even though he has served only five days less than the mandatory pensionable service of 15 years.

The Tribunal had last week too slammed the IAF authorities for their “arbitrary” approach against airmen and
asked them to be more “humane”.

Hearing a plea by Corporal Ashit Kumar Mishra, who was not given an NOC by the Indian Air Force to join a group ‘B’ civil service job in Uttar Pradesh, the Tribunal had termed such an approach as “suicidal”.

Dr. Manzer Durrani

CRAFTINESS OF A HINDU MIND

Sam, the primary principle, implies the use of rationalization but if this technique does not work then the second implement is Kam i.e. bribery. If this does not produce the desired result, then the tertiary principle is Dand or the vehement use of violence. If all three fail then the last machination is Bheet or sowing seeds of dissension and discord.

IN QUEST OF
CHANAKYA’S DICTUMS

Group Captain SULTAN M HALI continues his exhaustive

study of principles and pratices of 1000 years ago,

still current in the present era

Chankya a.k.a. Kautilya have been introduced in the previous article Chanakya and the Taxila Traditions of Defence Management carried by Defence Journal’ of March, 1998.

Treatise of Wealth or Arthashastra of Chanakya, the famous treatise on state craft composed some twenty-three hundred years ago was also dealt with in detail in the above- mentioned article.

It may be recalled that Chanakya provides detailed guidance on state craft by integrating the discussions on State Policy, Civil Administration, Financial Resources and their management, and the art of war in a highly systematic manner. Chanakya presaged the concept of the use of the weapons of diplomacy and force with a strong preference for the former in all its forms so as to make state administration essentially a work of art requiring the utmost deceit and guile.

Of the numerous crafty lessons taught by Chanakya, one of more prominent ones to achieve one’s end is the principle of:-

* Sam
* Kam
* Dand
* Bheet

Sam, the primary principle, implies the use of rationalization but if this technique does not work then the second implement is Kam i.e. bribery. If this does not produce the desired result, then the tertiary principle is Dand or the vehement use of violence. If all three fail then the last machination is Bheet or sowing seeds of dissension and discord.

This last stratagem has been explained in great detail by Chanakya, who attributes prevarication, falsification, fraud, deception, hypocrisy and propaganda to be time-tested devices to ensure total success. Indian’s late Prime Minister, Mrs Indira Gandhi, after the successful dismemberment of Pakistan, in 1971, in her moment of glory, boasted that she is an ardent follower of Chanakya and follows the Arthashastra in letter and spirit. Her reputed father Pundit Jawahar Lal Nehru was known to consider the Arthashastra as his bible and Chanakya his mentor. Even Rajiv Gandhi, on numerous occasions had referred to the Arthashastra, stating that the Hindus have a guiding principle and philosophy of life, which if followed diligently, will ensure them certain success like the Jews.

Indian’s 50-year old history clearly illustrates the insidious use of the above mentioned principles of Sam, Kam, Dand and Bheet to outwit its ethnic minorities and ward off every crisis. Sometimes it entrapped them in the web of Sam i.e. Mother India, Indianism, Yakta and Greater Bharat. At other junctures it enamored them with Kam and offered minor bribes and minority leaders including those of Muslims, Sikhs, Christians and Harijans (untouchables) were given higher appointments or job-quotas and even more tangible endowments.

Next came the use of Dand and sometimes they were fined and sometimes unbridled and vehement force and violence was unleashed over them through Hindu militant groups like RSS, VHP, Bajrang Dal, BJP and Shiv Sena. Muslims were exposed to vicious and demoniac use of terror and brute force through its militants as well as its paramilitary militia. Later, shedding crocodile tears, a couple of ministers were made to resign and so- called inquiry commission was installed to hoodwink the world.

The sly use of the fourth ruse of Bheet is currently being applied. The employment of deception and guile through false propaganda has been so cunningly used that even the wisest observers have been duped by this drama. A careful student of military history can easily observe that India has used all four techniques to its advantage. Take the example of Sikhs, how they were perfidiously manipulated to carry out genocide of Muslims at the time of India’s partition in 1947 and later when some Sikh leaders discovered that they were victims of an abject plot and were being used to serve the ends of Hindus, they were silenced by the offer of two ministries. Simultaneously, contingency plans for the use of Dand were being hatched and the operation Blue Star in the Shape of the heinous attack on the holiest of Sikh shrines, the Golden Temple followed. Since that day. Sikhs were alternately being subjected to selective use of Dand and Bheet. Seeds of dissension and discord were being sown amongst various groups to weaken their movement while force was continued to be used.

After continuous use of unabated force against Sikhs, the Indian Government realized that brute force alone would not crush the Khalistan movement. Thus a new plot was hatched. One of the deceptions employed was the use of infiltration of RAW (Research and Analysis Wing) agents to form a fragment group of Sikh extortionists, who blackmail well-to-do Sikhs to pay extortion money in the name of Khalistan movement. If they pay up, the police is informed and they are arrested for abetment to conspiracy. If they refuse, they are assassinated in the name of the movement. This continued with success till the Sikhs got wiser and started exposing the RAW agents. Meanwhile, Sikh missions in USA, Canada and Britain actively began an expose of Indian atrocities against its minorities. Hindus fought back by resorting to the Chanakyan principles again. Employing their wiliest machinations, they not only created difficulties for Sikhs in UK, they cajoled the British Government to sign an extradition treaty with them. When the British Prime Minister visited India on 25 January, 1993, displaying the best examples of Chanakyan Principles, Hindus staged a well orchestrated drama. The Commissioner of Indian Police at Delhi was made to appear on Door Darshan (Indian TV) and declare that on 24 January, four Sikh terrorists have been arrested. They belong to the Khalistan Commando Force Panjaur and have been trained in Pakistan and have brought the latest weapons in terrorism from Pakistan. Their task was to assassinate the visiting VIPs and create chaos and disorder. The visiting British Prime Minister was communicated the same and he was so concerned at the Sikhs’ callousness and lack of compassion that he wasted no time in ratifying the extradition treaty. This brought an end to the safe haven enjoyed by the Kashmiris and Sikhs in Britain. To the USA, Hindus successfully canvassed the plea of terrorism by Pakistan and its interference in Kashmir and Punjab. This has successfully taken the focus from the gross atrocities being committed by Hindus in Indian held Kashmir.

The tale of Kashmir is much more macabre and gory. Volumes can be filled with how the Kashmiri leaders were initially snared in the webs of Sam and Kam and are now victims of Dand. So ferocious is the fury and so vicious the violence let loose on the Muslim of Kashmir that even Changez and Hulaku Khans would be turning in their graves. It is only the steadfastness of the Muslims, the tenacity of their faith and immensity of their cause that they have not succumbed.

The December 6th, 1992 desecration and destruction of the Babri Mosque and the barbaric terror unleashed on the Muslim of India followed by the January 4th 1993, writ petition in the Indian Supreme Court to ban the Holy Quran in India on the plea that it exhorts Muslims to wreak havoc on non-Muslims by propagating Jihad’ are all moves to subjugate the Muslims. Under the same sinister logic, it will not be surprising if Hindus lay claim on the Khana-e-Kaba stating that it once housed idols of worship.

The Arthashastra gives us valuable clues to their political aspirations. We see that the Indians have in a typical Chanakyan manner, canonized their Kautilya. The Diplomatic Enclave of their capital city is named Chanakyapuri. The Basic ingredients of their weapons of diplomacy to achieve the goal of Vishal Bharata (Greater Indian) have been unabashedly borrowed from Kautilya’s Arthashastra. It makes it imperative for us Muslims to acquaint ourselves with these Hindu weapons of diplomacy.

Reference

Dr. Manzer Durrani

Subterfuge: How Brahmins Destroyed The Bhagavata Revolution

In the previous article, we read how Bhagavatism, the religion centered on Krishna-Vaasudeva, promised people that if they took refuge in him, he would fulfill their desires (9:22) and liberate them from all evils of Brahmanism, namely doctrine of the Gunas of Prakriti (7:14), Law of Karma (9:28), and Shokam, Dwandwam and Samsara (arising from Karmaphalam). In other words, this Dharma’s goal was to end the elitist Brahmanism obsessed with Kamya Karma (corrupted Yajnas) and hierarchical Varna Dharma (class and caste system), and establish in its place Bhagavatism resting on ritual-free Bhaktiyoga (9:26) andequality of all classes based on the premise that the same god resided in everyone’s heart (10:20; 15:15). The essence of Bhagavata Dharma as well as its revolution to overthrow Brahmanism was stated in the form of a Sutra -the Secret Code of the Bhagavad Gita: 18:66: Abandon all Dharma and surrender unto me alone; I shall liberate you from all evil (aspects of Brahmanism). Do not grieve (for its demise).

In this article, we will study how Brahmins converted ‘The Manifesto Of The Revolution To Overthrow Brahmanism’ into ‘The Handbook Of Brahmanism’; and literally beat a petrified Krishna over his head with thoroughly corrupted form of Bhakti. Such is the genius of Brahmanism.

1. Brahmanism’s Predicament

After Bhagavatas took over the Gita, decadent Brahmanism found itself in great quandary. Accepting Krishna’s recommendation meant certain death for ritual-obsessed Brahmanism. Brahmins made their living by performing complicated Kamya Karma for Kshatriyas as well as other classes obsessed with gaining wealth, power and heaven, and maintained their high status in the society by being the creators, interpreters and guardians of sacred scriptures. If Brahmanism were to survive, they must accept Bhagavata Dharma but somehow subvert its anti-Brahmanic tenor and Brahmanize Bhakti.

2. Extreme Editing

Brahmanic loyalists always had two secret weapons in their armory by which they dealt with their opponent’s literature: Destroying the literature they hated, and interpolating pro-Brahmanism verses into the literature they feared. In the case of the Bhagavad Gita, however, they could not resort to either of these tactics for fear of getting their “heads crushed to powder and stuck in the gap between the Krishna’s teeth.” Nor did they want to be like the “moths rushing headlong into the blazing fire for their destruction.” They had no choice but to come up with a new tactic, which looked perfectly innocent and legitimate to the naïve: Extreme editing.

The goal of extreme editing was nothing short of Mission Impossible: To convert ‘The Manifesto of Bhagavata Revolution to Overthrow Brahmanism’ into ‘The Standard Handbook of Brahmanism.’ This meant:
Hiding two successive revolutions to overthrow Brahmanism.
Hiding the fact that decadence of Brahmanism was the cause widespread Shokam, Dwandwam and obsession with Karmaphalam.
Preserving all aspects of Brahmanism: The doctrines of the Gunas of Prakriti and Law of Karma; Varna Dharma based on these doctrines; Yajnas to fulfill desires and protection from evil; supremacy of Brahmins, and sanctity of the Vedas.
Creating the false impression that the Bhagavad Gita represented one consistent philosophy without any internal conflict.
Hiding the fact that Bhagavad Gita identified Brahmanism as the evil.

Hypothetically this was no different than Germans resorting to extreme editing of a book titled ‘The History of World War II: How Americans and Allies Defeated Germans.’ If one reads this hyper-edited hypothetical book, one would find no evidence of World War II, and Germans, Americans and British are all portrayed as living in perfect harmony as brothers. Who were the ‘Gestapo’ the original authors were referring to in this book? Well, they were some unknown demons that came to the earth from another planet.

Extreme editing resulted in the text of the Bhagavad Gita coming across as incoherent, repetitive, illogical, confusing, self-contradicting and almost incomprehensible. This did not bother the editors one bit because it served the purpose of Brahmanic loyalists extremely well, indeed. Obfuscation and confusion are the strategies of all frauds that want to hide their misdeeds. They simply passed a dictum that the Bhagavad Gita should not be studied except under the supervision of a Guru. And they lined up a whole cadre of Gurus to bewilder even the most erudite among scholars. Here are various editorial steps they took to conceal the true intent and spirit of the Bhagavad Gita:

A. Isolating Anti-Brahmanic Shlokas

Brahmanic editors neutralized the impact of Krishna’s harshest criticism of Vedic ritualists by putting those shlokas in Chapter Sixteen, innocently titled ‘The Yoga of Division Between The Divine and Demonical.’ This chapter consists of shlokas chastising Kshatriyas (16:11-20) and scolding Brahmins (16:21-24) in the harshest language possible. We read these shlokas in the previous article. Chapter Sixteen should have followed Chapter Seventeen as it contained harsh response to the resurgent Brahmanism’s shlokas 17:1-4; 7-28. By putting Chapter Sixteen before Chapter Seventeen, no one could know whom Krishna was scolding. Just in case anyone wondered who were these “cruel haters, worst among men and evildoers” whom Krishna threatened with “eternal damnation in the wombs of demons,” they created elaborate myths of various demons that Krishna killed during his illustrious career as Slayer of Foes (2:4). However, they could not explain why in the face of Magadha king Jarasandha’s repeated attacks the great Slayer of Foes fled Mathura lock, stock and barrel, and retreated to Dwaraka, which was as far to the southwest from Mathura as he could go! In this particular case Brahmins could not go back and rewrite Mahabharata without looking rather stupid.

B. Switching Chapters To Confuse Readers

They switched the order of presentation of chapters Three and Four. Logically Chapter Four should have preceded Chapter Three as Guru Krishna announces in that chapter that he takes birth whenever there is decay of Dharma and rise of Adharma to reestablish Dharma, and to protect the good and destroy the evildoers (4:7-8). Also Chapter Four begins with Lord Krishna announcing that it was he who taught Sun god the imperishable Yoga referred to in Chapter Two. Besides, Chapter Three starts with references (3:1-2) to issues raised in Chapter Four, as if it followed Chapter Four. For example, he refers to himself as the Lord of beings who gave to the world two paths of Yoga (3:3). This switch of chapters created a whole lot of confusion in readers, which served Brahmins well. Now they could brainwash people by means of long-winded explanations, which, luckily, never fail to put one to sleep.

C. Scrambling Chapters

The Brahmanic editors carefully scrambled chapters belonging to the three separate sects, making it almost impossible to figure out their chronology. Chronologically all Bhagavata chapters (Seven, Nine, Ten, Eleven, Twelve and Sixteen) should have come after all resurgent Brahmanic chapters (parts of Fourteen, Seventeen and parts of Eighteen). Unless the reader is thoroughly familiar with the three distinct pairs of doctrines of the three distinct Dharmas, he is certain to be thoroughly bewildered by this Brahmanic sleight of hand. For example, most students of the Gita do not know that Krishna retired Brahman and replaced him with himself.

D. Scattering Shlokas

They scattered Brahmanic, Upanishadic and Bhagavata shlokas all over the text in bits and pieces. Shlokas on Prakriti and Purusha were scattered incongruously in chapters Eight (8:4, 8-10, 22), Thirteen (13:1-23) and Chapter Fifteen (15:16-18). They scattered shlokas promoting the Gunas over three chapters (3:5, 27, 33; 14:5-18; 18:17, 18:40-45, 59-60). They scattered Bhagavata shlokas into essentially Upanishadic chapters (2:61; 3:22-23; 4:3, 9-11). Unless one is thoroughly familiar with the distinct core doctrines of these three Dharmas, one would be totally bewildered. This, of course, was the goal of the final editor.

E. Using Opponent’s Shlokas To Legitimize Their Own

The final Brahmanic editors of the Bhagavad Gita deviously attempted to legitimize the doctrine of the Gunas by transposing the following four Bhagavata shlokas (14:1-4) before the fourteen Brahmanic shlokas (14:5-18) embellishing the three Gunas. These four Bhagavata shlokas most likely preceded shlokas 7:4-14 dealing with Bhagavata Krishna’s Lower and Higher Prakriti. By doing so, they created the illusion that Krishna was telling the readers that the Knowledge of the Gunas helped one to attain Moksha. The main goal, however, was to establish supremacy of Brahmins (14:6, 11, 14, 18).

14:1-4: Lord Krishna said: I shall again declare that supreme knowledge, the best of all forms of knowledge; by knowing which, all the sages have passed from this world to the highest perfection (attained Moksha). They, who, having devoted themselves to this knowledge, have attained to unity with Me (attained Moksha), are neither born at the time of creation, nor are they disturbed at the time of dissolution. My womb is the Mahat Brahma (Prakriti); in that I place the germ; thence, O Bharata, is the birth of all beings. Whatever forms are produced, O Kaunteya, in any wombs whatsoever, the great Brahma (Prakriti) is their womb, I the seed giver.

Naïve readers could believe that the above four shlokas were meant to say that Knowledge of the Gunas led to Moksha. How do we know that this tactic was blatantly deceptive? Well, read shlokas 14:19-27. These nine shlokas describe these very Gunas as evil, recommend that they should not be allowed to move one, and that one could transcend them by taking refuge in the Lord.

3. Beating Krishna Over His Head With Ritualized Bhakti

Pretending to be great Bhaktas of Krishna, Brahmins infiltrated the Bhagavata Dharma. They deleted Yoga(Sanyasa and Tyaga) from Bhaktiyoga, and attached Yajna to Bhakti. Since Krishna hated Yajna (11:48), they introduced Yajna in its disguised form: Pooja. They replaced the detachment from sense objects part (Sanyasa) of Yoga with attachment to wealth, power and heaven. They replaced the renunciation of fruits of Yajna (Tyaga) with desire to gain these fruits by Pooja. In other words, just as they corrupted selfless Yajna (Nishkama Karma) into selfish Yajna (Kamya Karma, 2:43), they corrupted selfless Bhakti into selfish Bhakti (Kamya Bhakti). Now in this corrupted form of Bhakti, which I refer to as Bhaktipooja, one dedicates mindless rituals to various gods with the intention of gaining money, power, title, promotion, son, son-in-law, heaven, etc. seeking protection from evil.

In this Brahmanized Bhagavata Dharma, Brahmanism no longer identified itself as the evil. So they had to invent new evil. Now the evil was some unseen misfortune (Adrashta). They created obstacles (Vighna) produced by unknown evil forces. They created a whole new god -Ganesha- to take care of any Adrishta and Vighna. Thus another money spinning business was invented. Then they came up with bad planetary movements (Grahachara) as the cause of misfortunes. Now Astrology became a “science” by which thousands of Astrologers made their living. Then Brahmins started spinning more and more superstitions so people could perform various rituals to ward of evil spirits. So thousands of superstitions sprouted across India the sole goal of which was for Brahmins to make money. Today crooked Brahmins routinely dupe even highly educated Hindus into performing various fraudulent and worthless rituals.

A. Taking Krishna Literally

When Bhagavata Krishna rhetorically said, “Whoever offers me with devotion a leaf, a flower, a fruit or water, I accept that as the pious offering of the pure in heart (9:26),” he was merely telling Vedic ritualists“Bhakthi -sincere devotion with purity of heart- is more important than ostentatious rituals. If you feelcompelled to offer me something as a symbol of your Bhakthi, just a leaf, a flower, a fruit or even a spoonful of water would do. Even poor people could afford them.” To those who insisted on performing Yajna he said:9:27: “Whatever (Yajna) you do, whatever (remnant) you eat, whatever (material) you offer in Yajna, whatever (customary) gift you give away, whatever Tapas (austerity) you practice, do it as an offering to me and no one else, for I am the enjoyer and lord of all Yajna (9:24).”

This was all these ritual-obsessed Brahmins needed to hear.

B. Yajna Infiltrates Bhakti In Disguised Forms

Since Krishna was nowhere to be seen, they created idol to represent him. Now a whole new business venture began: Carving idols of Krishna in clay, wood and stone.
To house these idols they built temples of mud bricks, wood and stone, which became increasingly ornate over the centuries. Now temple building business gave a lot of people jobs. Just as they convinced kings in ancient times to perform ostentatious Yajnas, Brahmins convinced various kings to build magnificent temples dedicated to gods such as the ones in Belur in Karnataka, Puri in Orissa and Tanjavoor in Tamil Nadu. Some of these temples stand to this day as testament to man’s creative energy motivated by devotion.
They replaced worship by Yajna with worship by Pooja. The Poojari (priest) warmed the idol by moving the fire of Aarthi round and round in front of it.
Since Krishna told them to offer him leaves, flowers and fruits, they offered him Tulasi leaves, marigold, coconuts and bananas during the Pooja service.
In the place of remnant (Yajnashista) of Yajna, they distributed Prasadam of Pooja for devotees to eat.
Since water was needed to wash Prasadam down devotee’s throat, they served Theerth, sacred water, which they generously adulterated with cow’s urine. Why cow’s urine? Well, the cow was the living symbol of cowherd Krishna, and since Krishna’s urine was not available, cow’s urine would do just as well.
Since Krishna asked them to offer him water, they started giving his idol baths several times a day, which they called Abhisheka. They built ponds next to temples to assure regular water supply.
After the bath with the dirty temple pond water, they anointed his idol with sandalwood and Chandan paste as deodorizer.
Following Krishna’s instruction in 9:27, before every meal, they said “Krishnarpana” (“I offer this meal to Krishna”).
Since Krishna said that donations that were customarily made to Brahmins after Yajna should be made as an offering to him, they installed a big donation box in front of god’s image in every temple. You see, temples need a lot of money to keep Krishna bathed, clothed, fed and protected. They made provision for tips for Poojaris also. Poojaris sat at the foot of the idol with plates holding coins and notes, seeking tax-free donation in Krishna’s name.
They offered a small amount of sandalwood paste to devotees to apply it over their forehead as Nama, the symbol of Krishna’s name. Thus Nama became the outward sign of every Bhakta of Brahmin Krishna.
Instead of chanting Vedic Mantras, they told devotees to chant Krishna’s name bobbing their heads left and right, which they titled Bhajan, meaning devotional singing, “Hare Rama, Hare Krishna…”

4. Bhakti Rituals Become Ostentatious

Now greed sprouted in the hearts of Brahmins. Just as in the ancient times Yajnas became more and more ostentatious, Bhaktipooja also became more and more ostentatious. Brahmins tempted rich people to sponsor ostentatious rituals in the temple. They gave devotees a long list of complicated Poojas, Abhishekas and other rituals with a price tag.

On the pretext of displaying their extreme Bhakti for Krishna, they offered him emerald leaves, ruby flowers, and diamond studded fruits and nuts.
Instead of bathing Krishna with just dirty temple pond water, they decided to bathe him with milk, honey and coconut juice. The stench of this decaying syrup became the olfactory evidence of holiness of Hindu temples.
Just in case Krishna wanted to go for a ride to escape from the stench of temple, they built him a golden palanquin and a silver chariot.
Just in case some deranged atheist or fanatic of another religion attacked him during his sojourn they covered his chest with gold armor studded with precious stones.
They installed big diamonds in Krishna’s eyes to intimidate any impertinent Bhakta who dared to cast an evil eye on him.
To make Krishna feel quite at home, they plated the whole temple with gold.
For a fee the priests offered to place the lord’s crown on the head of Bhaktas. This became the ultimate symbol of dupe of Brahmanism.

5. Corrupted Bhagavatism Evolved Into Vaishnavism

Over the centuries, this thoroughly corrupted Bhagavatism evolved into Vaishnavism in which Krishna was reduced to being just one of nine Avataras of Vishnu. He now stood side by side with a fish (Matsya), a tortoise (Coorma), a pig (Varaha), a midget (Vamana), half-lion (Narasimha), a quintessential Kshatriya-hating Brahmin (Parashurama), and a quintessential Kshatriya king (Rama) and the Buddha. Vaishnavism in turn became a sect of a newly evolving inclusive Dharma, which foreigners labeled as Hinduism -that which is practiced by people living beyond the Sindhu (Indus) River. Brahmanism infiltrated this Dharma also, kept their doctrines of the Gunas and Karma alive and well; and promoted Varna, Jati and Kula Dharmas based on these discredited doctrines, if only to maintain their superiority among the four classes. They kept stigmatizing those born from Varnasankara (class admixture), which resulted in burgeoning of a whole class of untouchables. Today millions of these people, who go by the epithet of Dalits, suffer the same injustice in the hands of the upper classes as they did centuries ago.

6. The Business Of Temples

Today Hindu temples have become the hotbeds of moneymaking rituals of Brahmanism. Visit any of the famous temples of India, and you will see evidence of degradation of Hindu Dharma. The behavior of Hindu priests in these temples is despicable. The Tirupati temple is an example of this decadence par excellence. Here one can buy preferential viewing of the Lord’s idol by buying a special ticket. Krishna temple of Udupi is another classic example of corruption of Bhagavatism. Until recently, this temple forbade entrance to people of “lower classes.” Yet, the temple credits it fame to a “miracle” performed by a shepherd Bhaktiyogi by the name of Kanaka Dasa about four hundred years ago. If there was ever a god in these and other temples, he ran as far away as he could from them, and I won’t be surprised if he is now hiding on the Chinese side of the Himalayas! And now both the naïve and the crooked, the meek and the mighty, flock by the millions to these symbols of religious decadence in India.

7. Class And Caste System: A Slap In The Face To Krishna

The hallmark of Bhagavatism was egalitarianism. Because Bhagavatism destroyed the doctrines of the Gunas and Karma, Varna Dharma became irrelevant. However, Brahmins carefully hid this fundamental aspect of Bhagavatism from the public and continued to practice the Varna Dharma. Ignoring the egalitarian messages of both Upanishadic (5:18-19) and Bhagavata (9:29-33) parts of the Bhagavad Gita, they focused on the importance of continuing the class system and performing one’s Duty as per his class as enunciated in its Brahmanic part (18:42-45). They continued to harp on the dangers of class-admixture (Varnasankara, 1:38-44; 3:24), thus condemning millions of so-called outcastes to miserable life here on earth. They destroyed Krishna’s call to abandon all Dharma by declaring that it was meant for Arjuna and not for them!

The net result of all these tactics is that today Hinduism is steadily decaying just as Brahmanism did in the post-Vedic society. That is why today we see in India widespread Shokam (grief) in the disenfranchised; andDwandwam (mental unrest) in the upper classes due to their entanglement with wealth and power; and obsession to gain these Karmaphalam by hook or by crook in almost everyone else.

In the next article, we will study how Shankaracharya singlehandedly revived Brahmanism from its deathbed by means of his duplicitous commentary on the Bhagavad Gita.

(To be continued)

Dr. Prabhakar Kamath, is a psychiatrist currently practicing in the U.S. He is the author of Servants, Not Masters: A Guide for Consumer Activists in India (1987) and Is Your Balloon About Pop?: Owner’s Manual for the Stressed Mind.

Dr. Manzer Durrani

The Missile that Cannot Fire

Long delays, cost escalation damage DRDO’s reputation
The Missile that Cannot Fire
Long delays, cost escalation damage DRDO’s reputation

MOS defence Pallam Raju (centre) launches DRDO’s herbal formulation.

The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) was set up in 1958 with a vision to “provide our defence services a decisive edge by equipping them with internationally competitive systems and solutions”. The DRDO has clearly failed in its mission.

There is no bigger indictment of India’s premier organisation for research and development in military hardware than the fact that 54 years after its establishment, India still imports 70 per cent of its defence equipment requirements. In 1997, India’s best-known defence bureaucrat and the then scientific adviser to defence minister, APJ Abdul Kalam, had said that India should bring the share of imports in defence equipment purchases down to 30 per cent by 2005. No progress has been made. The percentage is still 70-30 in favour of imports.

DRDO’s list of successes is short-primarily the Agni and Prithvi missiles. Its list of failures is much longer. The Light Combat Aircraft (ICA) project, which was commissioned in 2001, is running late by four years. The costs have gone up from an original estimate of around Rs.3,300 crore to over Rs.5,780 crore. The Kaveri Engine for ICA is running late by 16 years and the cost has escalated by around 800 per cent (see box).

Gen V P Malik

“The problem with DRDO is that it is big on promise and small on delivery. There is no accountability. Nobody is taken to task for time and cost overruns.”

Gen V.P. Malik, Former Chief of Army Staff

In 2011, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) put a serious question mark on drdo’s capabilities. “The organisation, which has a history of its projects suffering endemic time and cost overruns, needs to sanction projects and decide on a probable date of completion on the basis of a conservative assessment of technology available and a realistic costing system,” its report stated.

The CAG report also revealed that not all technologies developed by DRDO were suitable for use by the armed forces. The three services have rejected 70 per cent of the products developed at the Armament Research and Development Establishment (ARDE), Pune, in the last 15 years costing Rs.320 crore because the products did not meet their standard and requirement. The CAG report stated that in order to form a fair and balanced view of the success of the projects undertaken by drdo, 46 completed and nine ongoing projects worth Rs.387.35 crore were scrutinised in February 2011. Of the 46 completed and closed projects, only 13 closed projects, wrapped up at a cost of Rs.68 crore, underwent production. “Without close synergy between the users and the technology development agency, much of the development efforts would go in vain, as the success rate of projects in ARDE amply demonstrates,” the report said.

The army is not impressed by DRDO’s performance either. Says Major-General S.V. Thapliyal, a former deputy director-general for perspective planning at army headquarters in Delhi, “DRDO promises to manufacture. It nixes our plans to acquire from abroad. It does not meet the deadline. Worse, it does not maintain quality either. The soldier, the end user, is the worst sufferer.”

V K Saraswat

We have a requirement of about Rs.14,000 crore against an indicated allocation of Rs.10,640 crore from the Government.

V.K. Saraswat, DRDO chief

General V.P. Malik, who was chief of army staff during the Kargil War, has an interesting incident to narrate in his book Kargil From Surprise to Victory. In 1997, the army finalised plans to acquire the AN/TPQ-37 Firefinder radars from the US. Prices were negotiated and just before purchase, drdo offered to manufacture them at half the price and within two years. The government shot down the army’s plans to buy these radars. In 1999, during the Kargil War, the radars were desperately needed. Neither had DRDO manufactured them nor could they be procured from the US (post-1998 Pokhran tests there was an arms embargo). Several lives were lost in Pakistani shelling. When Indo-US relations improved, India did buy these radars in 2003, but at almost twice the initial price. “The problem with drdo is that it is big on promise and small on delivery. There is no accountability in the system,” says Malik.

DRDO continues to mislead. On April 4, it claimed it had achieved a major milestone on an “indigenous” programme to develop a sophisticated radar to monitor the Indian airspace. The aircraft on which the radar is mounted-a modified Embraer EMB 1451-is imported from Brazil. drdo had to resort to the Embraer aircraft because its own efforts at producing an indigenous carrier had ended in disaster. Project Guardian Airawat was stalled in 1999 when its HS-748 turboprop aircraft crashed, killing eight crew members-engineers, scientists and Indian Air Force (IAF) officers-on board.

Under a Rs.1,050 crore agreement, Brazil’s Embraer will now act as the overall systems integrator for the “indigenous” project, supplying the three jets, mounting the radar and electronics onto the plane’s fuselage and ensuring that the altered jets retain acceptable flight performance.

According to its original 2004 timeline, this project was to be completed by 2011. Now the delivery of the remaining two modified Embraer aircraft is only expected by mid-2013. The project will not be complete until 2014. Even then there are serious flaws in the project. IAF has pointed out that the Embraer EMB 1451 cannot fly above 40,000 ft and therefore is only of limited use in surveillance. “DRDO has a history of claiming foreign designs as its own, like the Arjun tank which is a derivative of the German Leopard,” says a source in the agency.

The technology development agency is also largely responsible for the fact highlighted by General V.K. Singh that 97 per cent of the army’s air defence is obsolete. The CAG report lists seven requirements of the army for air defence guns and the project status report. CAG notes the end result: “Even though three R&D projects and one staff project were undertaken, the air defence gun system could not be developed by DRDO to satisfy the frequently revised requirement of the user.”

Army air defence sources say DRDO is tinkering with World War II equipment instead of working on cutting-edge technology. “The chief downplayed the state of affairs. It is in dire straits,” says a top-ranking air defence officer.

Air Marshal A K Singh

Even if systems are acquired from abroad and DRDO is meant to service them, it fails. This leaves critical gaps in national defence.

Air Marshal A.K. Singh Former air officer commanding-in-chief, Western Air Command

“The air defence is in a very sorry condition,” says Air Marshal A.K. Singh, former air officer commanding-in-chief, Western Air Command. “DRDO is not able to service the equipment. Even if systems are acquired from abroad and DRDO or Hindustan Aeronautics Limited is meant to service it, it fails. This leaves critical gaps in national defence,” he says.

The Government had constituted a committee for the first-ever external review of the agency in February 2007. The committee chaired by P. Rama Rao, ex’secretary, Department of Science and Technology and former director, Defence Metallurgical Research Laboratory, Hyderabad, suggested that DRDO be restructured to make it a leaner organisation. It also recommended the setting up of a commercial arm of the organisation to make it a profitable entity, besides cutting back on delays in completing projects. “Delivery delayed is delivery denied,” said Defence Minister A.K. Antony on delays in DRDO projects. But little progress has been made in the last five years on implementing the committee’s suggestions.

DRDO chief V.K. Saraswat is eager to put his house in order. He has called for the setting up of a Defence Technology Commission as well as a bigger role for DRDO in picking production partners for products developed by the agency. Instead of the current practice of the Ministry of Defence arbitrarily nominating a defence public sector undertaking or an ordnance factory to build the product, usually when development is almost complete, DRDO would be able to select a capable partner company from the outset, from the private sector if necessary.

The defence organisation, which has an annual budget of over Rs.10,000 crore, now has no choice but to reinvent itself. The agency’s research has drifted away from its core competence in recent times. It has been accused of “wasting time and precious resources” being engaged in research and development of technique for detection of pesticides in fruits, technology for dengue control, dental implants, foldable stretchers and berry juice.

The moribund agency is also suffering from employee attrition. Over the past five years, while the report of the Rama Rao Committee has languished, around 1,700 of its 7,900 engineers and scientists have left for better opportunities in private companies. The depletion of talent will be the last stage in what cynical insiders say is the process of converting DRDO into a dodo.

Reference (i)

Acknowledgement India Today

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Archive for May, 2012

SUPER VIDEO: AN AMERICAN’S HOMEBOY’S “LOVE” FOR INDIA AND INDIANS

India’s Lovefest with America?

India Awaits Obama

CHANAKIYA’S VIEW: Pakistan Air Force to gain superiority in numbers over the Indian Air Force in the skies

IN QUEST OF CHANAKYA’S DICTUMS, BASIS OF HINDU CRAFTINESS

KNOW THINE ENEMY: The deceptive mind of the Indian pervades Brahmanic “scriptures.”

Subterfuge: How Brahmins Destroyed The Bhagavata Revolution

The Missile that Cannot Fire : Long delays, cost escalation damage DRDO’s reputation

The Missile that Cannot Fire