All entries for May 2006

THE SECRET BROTHERHOOD OF INDIA AND ISRAEL

For 40 years, India did not have relations with Israel. Yet, India and Israel share so much in common and both can learn a lot from each other ! Hindus and Jews, far from being the persecutors of minorities, that the Marxist, Arab and INC lobby like to portray, have been persecuted for nearly two thousand years and have been the victims of the two worst genocides in the sad history of humanity : Hitler, in his monstrous quest for a “pure” Aryan race, murdered six millions Jews in his gas chambers during the Second World War; and Belgium historian Koenraad Elst estimates that between the year 1000 and 1525, eighty million Hindus died at the hands of Muslim invaders, probably the biggest holocaust in the whole history of our planet.

Read full article by Francois Gautier here.

Ashutosh Trivedi : 23 May 2006 13:57 | Comments (0) | Close comments |  Report a problem

Brahmins in India.

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François Gautier is a french journalist and writer. I really appreciate his understanding about India and like his writing style. I am reproducing an article from him that appeared recently in rediff about the plight of brahmins in India. To read his other interesting articles, please visit this.

[Ripped from Francois Gautier's article in rediff]

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At a time when the Congress government wants to raise the quota for Other Backward Classes to 49.5 per cent in private and public sectors, nobody talks about the plight of the upper castes. The public image of the Brahmins, for instance, is that of an affluent, pampered class. But is it so today?

There are 50 Sulabh Shauchalayas (public toilets) in Delhi; all of them are cleaned and looked after by Brahmins (this very welcome public institution was started by a Brahmin). A far cry from the elitist image that Brahmins have!

There are five to six Brahmins manning each Shauchalaya. They came to Delhi eight to ten years back looking for a source of income, as they were a minority in most of their villages, where Dalits are in majority (60 per cent to 65 per cent). In most villages in UP and Bihar, Dalits have a union which helps them secure jobs in villages.

Did you know that you also stumble upon a number of Brahmins working as coolies at Delhi's railway stations? One of them, Kripa Shankar Sharma, says while his daughter is doing her Bachelors in Science he is not sure if she will secure a job.

"Dalits often have five to six kids, but they are confident of placing them easily and well," he says. As a result, the Dalit population is increasing in villages. He adds: "Dalits are provided with housing, even their pigs have spaces; whereas there is no provision for gaushalas (cowsheds) for the cows of the Brahmins."

You also find Brahmin rickshaw pullers in Delhi. 50 per cent of Patel Nagar's rickshaw pullers are Brahmins who like their brethren have moved to the city looking for jobs for lack of employment opportunities and poor education in their villages.

Even after toiling the whole day, Vijay Pratap and Sidharth Tiwari, two Brahmin rickshaw pullers, say they are hardly able to make ends meet. These men make about Rs 100 to Rs 150 on an average every day from which they pay a daily rent of Rs 25 for their rickshaws and Rs 500 to Rs 600 towards the rent of their rooms which is shared by 3 to 4 people or their families.

Did you also know that most rickshaw pullers in Banaras are Brahmins?

This reverse discrimination is also found in bureaucracy and politics. Most of the intellectual Brahmin Tamil class has emigrated outside Tamil Nadu. Only 5 seats out of 600 in the combined UP and Bihar assembly are held by Brahmins — the rest are in the hands of the Yadavs.

400,000 Brahmins of the Kashmir valley, the once respected Kashmiri Pandits, now live as refugees in their own country, sometimes in refugee camps in Jammu and Delhi in appalling conditions. But who gives a damn about them? Their vote bank is negligible.

And this is not limited to the North alone. 75 per cent of domestic help and cooks in Andhra Pradesh are Brahmins. A study of the Brahmin community in a district in Andhra Pradesh (Brahmins of India by J Radhakrishna, published by Chugh Publications) reveals that today all purohits live below the poverty line.

Eighty per cent of those surveyed stated that their poverty and traditional style of dress and hair (tuft) had made them the butt of ridicule. Financial constraints coupled with the existing system of reservations for the 'backward classes' prevented them from providing secular education to their children.

In fact, according to this study there has been an overall decline in the number of Brahmin students. With the average income of Brahmins being less than that of non–Brahmins, a high percentage of Brahmin students drop out at the intermediate level. In the 5 to 18 year age group, 44 per cent Brahmin students stopped education at the primary level and 36 per cent at the pre–matriculation level.

The study also found that 55 per cent of all Brahmins lived below the poverty line — below a per capita income of Rs 650 a month. Since 45 per cent of the total population of India is officially stated to be below the poverty line it follows that the percentage of destitute Brahmins is 10 per cent higher than the all–India figure.

There is no reason to believe that the condition of Brahmins in other parts of the country is different. In this connection it would be revealing to quote the per capita income of various communities as stated by the Karnataka finance minister in the state assembly: Christians Rs 1,562, Vokkaligas Rs 914, Muslims Rs 794, Scheduled castes Rs 680, Scheduled Tribes Rs 577 and Brahmins Rs 537.

Appalling poverty compels many Brahmins to migrate to towns leading to spatial dispersal and consequent decline in their local influence and institutions. Brahmins initially turned to government jobs and modern occupations such as law and medicine. But preferential policies for the non–Brahmins have forced Brahmins to retreat in these spheres as well.

According to the Andhra Pradesh study, the largest percentage of Brahmins today are employed as domestic servants. The unemployment rate among them is as high as 75 per cent. Seventy percent of Brahmins are still relying on their hereditary vocation. There are hundreds of families that are surviving on just Rs 500 per month as priests in various temples (Department of Endowments statistics).

Priests are under tremendous difficulty today, sometimes even forced to beg for alms for survival. There are innumerable instances in which Brahmin priests who spent a lifetime studying Vedas are being ridiculed and disrespected.

At Tamil Nadu's Ranganathaswamy Temple, a priest's monthly salary is Rs 300 (Census Department studies) and a daily allowance of one measure of rice. The government staff at the same temple receive Rs 2,500 plus per month. But these facts have not modified the priests' reputation as 'haves' and as 'exploiters.' The destitution of Hindu priests has moved none, not even the parties known for Hindu sympathy.

The tragedy of modern India is that the combined votes of Dalits/OBC and Muslims are enough for any government to be elected. The Congress quickly cashed in on it after Independence, but probably no other government than Sonia Gandhi's has gone so far in shamelessly dividing Indian society for garnering votes.

The Indian government gives Rs 1,000 crores (Rs 10 billion) for salaries of imams in mosques and Rs 200 crores (Rs 2 billion) as Haj subsidies. But no such help is available to Brahmins and upper castes. As a result, not only the Brahmins, but also some of the other upper castes in the lower middle class are suffering in silence today, seeing the minorities slowly taking control of their majority.

Anti–Brahminism originated in, and still prospers in anti–Hindu circles. It is particularly welcome among Marxists, missionaries, Muslims, separatists and Christian–backed Dalit movements of different hues. When they attack Brahmins, their target is unmistakably Hinduism.

So the question has to be asked: are the Brahmins (and other upper castes) of yesterday becoming the Dalits of today?

Ashutosh Trivedi : 23 May 2006 13:42 | Comments (12) | Close comments |  Report a problem

Mail from AIIMS students

Follow-up to YFE blogs from Ashutosh's blog

—————————————— Original Message ——————————————

Friends,

Dear friends please spend some time to read this. U can make a
difference.

As u all guys know that there have beeen lot of protests going on
against the raise in reservations. All of us stuggle for months and years
to make our dreams come true; No body in the government is
bothered about that. This new policy of govt ll be a major road block in
the development of our nation and creation of a caste free society. I want
to share some developments occurring here with respect to this issue.

Abt 2 weeks back the Students Union ( SU ) of AIIMS ( UGs and
Interns ) started the protests. they held peaceful march. Their main
demand was to meet Honbl. Arjun Singh and to express their concern
regarding the hike in reservations. What they got in return. Water canons,
tear gas shells and Lathis. Some of the interns who were beaten were my
friends and i could see their injury marks. Worse, some were girls. Sad
isnt it ? Well next few days due to their constant struggle they could get
to meet Dr Arjun Singh. No positive response was
obtained. He however promised that before sending the bill to cabinet, he
would inform the SU. The students continued to boycott their classes.
Other medical colleges of delhi also joined. We Resident Doctors of AIIMS
however were not actively participating. We wore black badges and attended
few rallies.

12 th May saw a new beginning. Our medical students were brutally
assaulted by Delhi police. Injured were brought to AIIMS. Fracture hand
bone, head injury, blunt trauma abdomen with intra–abdominal bleed; > 300
students were manhandled including girls, stuffed in buses and taken to
police station. I remember the dialogue from RDB. This incident will prove
to be a final nail in coffin for our Congress Govt. At around 3 pm the
Resident Doctors Association ( RDA ) of AIIMS announced an
indefinite strike. All Junior Residents ( Acad or Non–acad ) & Senior
Residents boycotted. Protest rally was organized that day.

13 th may was the worst day in the history of our Indian
Independence and so called Democracy. Medical Students of Mumbai were
beaten like animals. Infact animals also are never treated like this.
Every body would have witness the brutality of the Mumbai Police.17 – 18
year old medical students were beaten up. Future of our country treated
like this? And these are the same Police Men who come to our OPD and ask
for peferential treatment. Shame on them. And listen to what Bhujbal said
on TV. I thought we need a real RDB now. This incident triggered the
suppressed fire in each and every individual. We at AIIMS went on
INDEFINITE HUNGER STRIKE from 14 th morning joined by medical students
from MAMC Delhi, Lady Harding, RML Hosp, Rohtak Medical College . Slowly
the fire spread to diferent states of our country. You know what
happened in Blore. Calcutta, Orissa, Chattisgarh, Gujrat, Himachal
Pradesh, Kerala boiled in protests. Students of Delhi University ( BSc
BCom…) also joined the strike

The hunger strike in AIIMS continues. More than 100 students and
residents are sitting in the heat since 14 th morning just on plain water.
Believe me we slept in the open last night empty stomach. Its only when
rain started pouring we had go inside the audi and slept there.

The IMA has announced comlete medical bandh today ( 15 th may ).
Doctors from all over delhi have come to AIIMS and are holding protests.
IITs and IIMs have joined the strike. Even patients and their attenders
were of full support towards this cause. One man said," My father is
admitted in NS department and is fighting for his life and death, but i
declare that i have no objection with ur strike. I support ur movement and
the cause for which u re fighting. Our country needed this."

All of us know what is right and what is wrong. Having said that i
feel that each one of us should follow our conscience. I ve written this
message because i felt there are many of who might not be aware of the
exact situation. I request each one of u to please forward this to all ur
friends, Medicos or Non–medicos. Every common man needs to be aware of the
injustice and should be involved in this effort.

This Movement will be a revolution in our independent country and
will be the most significant event after the British Rule. It ll be the
cause for the rewriting of Indian Constitution where just and
meritorious people are not singled out and put to taste the adversities
and someone else enjoys the benefit.

The government cannot hide its inadequacies in providing equal
opportunities to the under priviliged in rural areas by increasing the
reservations. They have ruled the country for so many decades and if in
this time they are not able to provide equalilty in primary and
secondary education for in dian citizens they cannot mask their failure by
providing reservations at each and every level. Its ridiculous. The whole
issue of reservations was a political gimmic of the present govt to garner
votes.

Its time that things are not taken for granted by any one. Let it be
a senior minister police or anyone else. Whole of our nation needs to get
aware of the amount of hardwork and sacrifice we put to achieve our
dreams. We should not allow anyone to make a mockery of our struggle in
future.

Thank U Friends.

Dr Kiran

Junior Resident,

Internal Medicine,

All India Institute Of Medical Sciences, New Delhi

Ashutosh Trivedi : 21 May 2006 12:12 |  Tags: Union | Comments (0) | Close comments |  Report a problem

YFE blogs

Follow-up to Khoon chala, Khoon chala….. from Ashutosh's blog

I extend my support for anti–reservation campaign by medical students/doctors and other students. For more information ,please visit their blogs at
Youth for Equality, Delhi
Youth for Equality, Mumbai.
Youth for Equality, West Bengal.
Youth for Equality, Press release, Mumbai.
Youth for Equality, Press release, New Delhi.

Latest:

DOCTOR ON HUNGER STRIKE –96 HRS.,

94 STUDENTS COLLAPSED.

MEDIA PROHIBITED FROM BROADCASTING.

PLEASE SPREAD IT LIKE FIRE & SUPPORT US BEFORE ITS TOO LATE…..

Ashutosh Trivedi : 19 May 2006 11:08 | Comments (0) | Close comments | Trackbacks (1) |  Report a problem

Khoon chala, Khoon chala…..

Here are some pictures of medical students protesting against reservation on last saturday, while police ordered the lathi–charge. This incident made me remember the movie "rang de basanti". While I was watching that movie, I thought that they made things a bit dramatic by showing police lathi charging against peaceful demonstrators. But no!! it wasn't dramatic. it happenes in India. What a shame for a country who considers herself free and democratic!!! Too much for freedom of expression.

From my personal experiences, the only thing reservation in academia and jobs has achieved is to increase caste based discrimination. In my generation, Indians do not care about caste system. For me being a Brahmin, Kchatriya, Viashya and Shudra was only limited to being a second part of the name, with absolutely no prestige or hierarchy attached. But eventually after suffering so much from reservation all my life, having friends and relatives who suffered because of it and reading news about quota scene in india, now I proud myself on being a bramhin. For that matter I respect anyone equally who live his/her life without expecting any favor from government because of his/her caste.

For the people who are unaware what I am talking about, in India we have nearly 50% reservation based on caste. Interestingly, in India there is a hierarchy in most of the religions — Christians, Muslims and what not. So only in India you can find a dalit muslim or a scheduled caste (lower caste) christian; and they all expexct reservations. Anyway, this is not directly related to the topic of this post, so i will leave this discussion for next posting.

In following pictures, medical students are protesting against a proposed increase in reservation in medical colleges and private jobs. I, from my whole life, wanted to go back to India to be a teacher after finishing my education. But now I do not want to teach in any university in which my daughter/son will be disallowed to get admission into, only because they are brahmins. I would reconsider my options, if such universities don't exist in India.

Ashutosh Trivedi : 16 May 2006 08:07 | Comments (2) | Close comments | Trackbacks (1) |  Report a problem

Online Jenga

Couple of weeks ago, I visited one of my friend's house and her house–mates were playing an interesting game with some wooden pieces. Later, I came to know that it is called Jenga. I found it quite amusing. In that game, players keep on increasing the height of a pillar made by wooden bricks, by taking bricks from the lower parts of the tower and put them on the top. As you must have guessed, if the structure is not stable, it collapses. The person who has successfully moved the bricks last, will be the winner. I also tried my luck and I found myself good in the game, so I ordered it from amazon for 10 £.

There is a very interesting simulation of the game available on the internet. This simulation is quite interesting, as it models real life phenomenon quite closely. Try it yourself:

[ http://www.unoriginal.co.uk/games/6Jenga%5B1%5D.swf ]

Ashutosh Trivedi : 15 May 2006 18:33 | Comments (0) | Close comments |  Report a problem

online shared drawing program

Have you ever felt the necessity of working with your friends/collaborators online in the same way as you do while working together over a blacboard?

Today my supervisor had this idea and asked me to look for some program like that, so that we can discuss while he is out of station. I googled several keywords like " drawing together", "online drawing" and thing like that. Finally I tried "online shared drawing" and to my great surprise, I bumped into imaginationcubed website supported by GE. It was, I should say, love at first sight :). As the flash player was initializing, I knew that I'm gonna love it. Why google has not come up with this idea first :).

Now only thing left is to connect this program with a latex engine in the background and I am sure it would be a killer application. To make it even more killing, they should add voice conferencing and this will be the application for the researchers.

Hello google, yahoo and MSN, are you listening?

Try yourself and see:

<<a href="http://www.imaginationcubed.com/LaunchPage" title="">imagination cubed >

Ashutosh Trivedi : 07 May 2006 23:23 | Comments (0) | Close comments |  Report a problem

And Now for Something Completely Different

[Ripped from here ]
Wife 'beheads husband' in Karachi
Police in the Pakistani city of Karachi say a woman beheaded her husband and chopped up his body after he announced plans to take a fourth wife.

Officers said Majeeda Khatoon killed her husband while he was asleep and cut him up, helped by two male relatives.

The dismembered parts were then dumped in a drain in the Gulshan–e–Hadeed area on the city's outskirts.

Police said the woman, arrested last week, had confessed to the crime. Islam permits men to take up to four wives.

[\Ripped]

Ashutosh Trivedi : 04 May 2006 12:02 | Comments (0) | Close comments |  Report a problem