Wed, 10/03/2010 - 1:33pm Why teach only Gita in schools: Madhya Pradesh minorities

10-3-2010
Bhopal: Minorities in Madhya Pradesh have criticised plans to introduce the Bhagvad Gita in state-run schools, saying the scriptures of other religions should also be part of the syllabus, even as a section of Muslim leaders sees nothing wrong with it.

The Catholic Church in Madhya Pradesh has said the government should, if it has to, teach the scriptures of all religions and not just the Hindu scriptures.

'We are not against introducing lessons from religious scriptures in schools. But all religions in the country should get equal representation,' Bhopal's Archbishop Leo Cornelio said.

Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan had declared last week that his government was contemplating introducing the Gita in the school curriculum as 'its study is necessary for moral education'.

'The Bhagvad Gita is a treasure of knowledge. Children should be imparted the knowledge of the Gita and there should be no politics over it,' Chouhan said.

But Cornelia said the move favouring just one religious text was against India's secular character which respects all religions equally.

The archbishop said the church supports the idea of having lessons from scriptures as they will help inculcate values in students, but the problem is 'ever since the BJP government came to power in the state in December 2003, it has made efforts to promote the Hindu religion alone'.

Madhya Pradesh Catholic Churches' spokesman Father Anand Muttangal said: 'We welcome the proposal of the government to include the religious scripture in the educational syllabus. We too have been asking the government to include religious education as part of the curriculum so that children will know about religions when they complete studies, but the thing is that here too it is selective.

Sun, 07/03/2010 - 10:39pm Human Sacrifice in Chhattisgarh on Mahashivaratri for power

Four held in Chhattisgarh for human sacrifice
Raipur, March 7 -

Four people, including two women, were arrested in a Chhattisgarh village for allegedly killing a six-year-old boy to obtain spiritual powers, a police officer said on Sunday.
Shobharam Sahu was arrested along with his wife Sonkunwar, son Visheshwar and daughter-in-law Kewra Bai, late Saturday from Banjari village in Dhamtari district, some 80 km from here, on charges of sacrificing their neighbour's child.

"Shobharam kidnapped the boy, Nohar, on the night of Feb 1 and the family kept the child in captivity till Feb 12 when Shobharam cut Nohar into pieces on Mahashivratri to obtain spiritual powers," Inspector General Mukesh Gupta told reporters Sunday.
He said Shobharam was arrested for murdering the child while his wife, son and daughter-in-law were held for being part of the criminal conspiracy. Gupta said the main accused had confessed to the killing during interrogation.

Sun, 28/02/2010 - 8:51pm If one is not Hindu he could not be Indian: Bhagwat

Bhopal, Feb 28 (PTI) RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat today said that those who were Indians were Hindus and if one was not a Hindu he could not be an Indian.

"For us the word Hindu did not mean any religion but a way of life," he said at an annual function of the RSS and the Hindu Samagam here.

The Union Finance Minister had in his budget speech quoted from Chanakaya but this was totally out of context, Bhagwat said, adding that what Chanakaya had said was valid for his times and not the present-day India.

The RSS chief hit out equally at America and China for trying to undermine India in a number of ways.

Bhagwat said that while America dumped rejected and cheap drugs in India, China was making attempts to make sure that it alone was the most powerful power in South Asia.

Sun, 28/02/2010 - 8:51pm If one is not Hindu he could not be Indian: Bhagwat

Bhopal, Feb 28 (PTI) RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat today said that those who were Indians were Hindus and if one was not a Hindu he could not be an Indian.

"For us the word Hindu did not mean any religion but a way of life," he said at an annual function of the RSS and the Hindu Samagam here.

The Union Finance Minister had in his budget speech quoted from Chanakaya but this was totally out of context, Bhagwat said, adding that what Chanakaya had said was valid for his times and not the present-day India.

The RSS chief hit out equally at America and China for trying to undermine India in a number of ways.

Bhagwat said that while America dumped rejected and cheap drugs in India, China was making attempts to make sure that it alone was the most powerful power in South Asia.

Sun, 28/02/2010 - 8:51pm If one is not Hindu he could not be Indian: Bhagwat

Bhopal, Feb 28 (PTI) RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat today said that those who were Indians were Hindus and if one was not a Hindu he could not be an Indian.

"For us the word Hindu did not mean any religion but a way of life," he said at an annual function of the RSS and the Hindu Samagam here.

The Union Finance Minister had in his budget speech quoted from Chanakaya but this was totally out of context, Bhagwat said, adding that what Chanakaya had said was valid for his times and not the present-day India.

The RSS chief hit out equally at America and China for trying to undermine India in a number of ways.

Bhagwat said that while America dumped rejected and cheap drugs in India, China was making attempts to make sure that it alone was the most powerful power in South Asia.

Sat, 20/02/2010 - 4:03pm Punjab , Hindu fanatics Vandalise Epiphany church

Punjab
Following the protests by Christians against display of Jesus Christ holding a cigarette and a beer can in Shillong , the Epiphany Church in Batala, has been attacked by some religious fundamentalists. It was one of the most beautiful historic churches built in Mughal style in 1893. The lock was broken open and the church was vandalized. The altar, pulpit and beautifully carved wooden furniture are burned down. This is the first incident of such kind in the region of Punjab. I would not be surprised if this is the handiwork of the right wing fundamental groups. The reason behind this is possibly that the Hindu right- wing political parties were losing popularity in the region. Christian leaders are meeting to discuss the matter and to plan actions to be taken. Leaders including Bishop Pradeep Kumar Samantaroy, Rev.Mrs. Lily Samantaroy, Rev.Bashir Masih and Rev. Vinita Roy are going to Batala to see the site but are not sure whether they would be allowed to, since curfew has been clamped and no one is allowed to visit the site of the church leave alone documenting the damage through photographs and video. Christians in the whole region are extremely hurt and agitated over this incident. It is uncertain as to how Christians would worship on Sunday tomorrow. Kindly pray for the leaders that right decisions can be made and that peace and solidarity may be restored.
GCIC condemns attack against Epiphany Church in Punjab

Wed, 27/01/2010 - 11:53am RSS plans to woo youth with 1 lakh teaching jobs?

RSS hopes to woo youth with 1 lakh teaching jobs

Piyush Srivastava / Mail Today

Lucknow, January 27, 2010

The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) is pushing its weight behind the
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to attract the youth to its fold.

The RSS has discovered a new way to deal with the problem of the
youth's lack of interest in its activities - woo them with employment
opportunities.

The RSS will open more than one lakh schools, called the Vanvasi
Kalyan Ashrams, in the hinterlands of the country where only young
people will be employed as teachers.

The Sangh has failed in all its recent endeavours to widen its mass
base and couldn't provide any support to the BJP, ostensibly a
political wing of the parivar. So now, youth who have a leaning
towards right wing ideology will be employed in these schools.

The Sangh will also help them look for other career prospects.

Ram Madhav, a senior RSS functionary who was in Ayodhya to attend a
programme of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad - the youth wing
of the BJP - confirmed they had been focusing on the youth.

"The RSS is running 70,000 single-teacher schools in the tribal areas
of the country. Now there is a plan to open one lakh more schools for
which we need energetic young teachers. These youth will also be given
an opportunity to shape their careers elsewhere," he said.

Madhav said the youngsters had to decide whether they wanted to work
for money or also contribute in nation-building.

For all these grand plans, the members of the Bharatiya Adhyapak
Parishad (BAP), a bank of teachers affiliated to the RSS, are mostly
overage.

The Sangh employs them in its Saraswati Shishu Mandir schools. But
they have mostly remained ineffective in giving any political boost to
the BJP. It is believed that the Sangh Parivar expects to 'catch'
maximum politically vibrant youngsters in Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh,
Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Orissa where the
tribal population is fairly high