LEND ME YOUR EARS

US, stop arming Pakistan with the tools of terrorism. They have dealt you so hard on September 11, 2001, and, yet, you do not realise. Their agenda is malefic and it is for you to wake up to the hard reality from your snowflake dreams to face the brute. Only then will this menace of global terrorism be wiped out for good.

P.S. : Although the 9/11 terrorists were Saudis mainly, yet, Pakistan gave refuge to Osama Bin Laden and remained quiet about it till he was hunted down. Pakistan pulls the strings, provides the brains trust and remains the global hub of Islamic terrorism. India is ever at the receiving end of this nuisance in the shape of this noxious neighbour of hers. Europe is now suffering and so is the US, yet, such is their cultural hypnotism that they refuse to wake up to this terrible threat, perhaps, because they feel secure in their superior armament which, though, can fain save their population from continuous jihadist suicidal attacks. China, superpower that she is, also ought to behave in a more responsible manner and help secure global peace by stopping the armament of Pakistan and other perfidious States whose agenda is world-destruction. Finally, it is time India, growing global economic powerhouse that she is, asserts her weight in international politics, takes positions on international issues and stops assuming the decades-old non-aligned status regarding everything vitally international, for the Cold War is over and in a globalised scenario she can ill-afford to isolate herself on global issues without risking consequential damage to her national interests. But in this newly charted foreign policy she should be guided still by her age-old spiritual values, both idealistic and pragmatic, for her to emerge as the Voice of the Vedanta which is her destiny on earth.

IN RESPONSE TO THE NARRATIVE OF THE LIFE-STORY OF SWAMI ATMASTHANANDA BY SWAMI EKARTHANANDA

Lovely, lucid narrative, Maharaj (Swami Ekarthananda). Brings Revered President Maharaj's whole career to light in a trice save for the post-presidency part which, of course, is still unfolding and cannot form part of the narrative for reasons obvious. Looking forward to similar luminous posts on other sages sand saints of the Order as well. They will be educative and inspirational for the people at large who are lost today in a sea of sensory delusions. Do oblige, for this is the plea of many a known and unknown aspirant who like the blossoming bud will seek nourishment from the dewdrops at dawn as are the lives of these children of light. My humble prostrations at your blessed feet and at the Cosmic Mother-heart whence spring these passages of pristine poesy.

PLIGHT OF THE PUNDITS ... 4

PLIGHT OF THE PUNDITS ... 4

The apathy of the administration to address issues of gross violation of Hindu rights is tantamount to appeasement of pernicious elements in our society with the sole aim of securing popular mandate in a perverse way as has become the wont of perfidious politicians these days. The Hindu remains marginalised in Muslim-majority Kashmir and it is a sorry state that they thus find themselves in, for after all, Pakistan was created to make room for the malefic elements within the Indian Muslim population who would not subscribe to the 'abhorrent' condition of co-existence with the Hindu in independent India.

A separate landmass was allotted to such seditious separatists by the debilitated leadership of the day and the poison State of Pakistan was born, the seed of all future trouble for India and the world, the hot-bed of jihad and all that is pernicious in theocratic politics.

The Hindu Pandits of Kashmir have been driven out of the Valley in a massive murderous eviction of them in 1990, a staggering number of them totalling no less than 450,000 and perhaps more, losing home and hearth and honour overnight, in a carefully orchestrated Islamic fundamentalist manoeuvre. Successive governments of Jammu and Kashmir and at the Centre have been mute spectators to this genocide of the Hindus in Kashmir and their subsequent horrendous refugee-status in Jammu for over 29 years now. If such apathy is not appeasement politics, then what is it?

Have the Hindus no rights in their own land? Are we living in a civilised democracy where hundreds of thousands of Hindus suffer such persecution and neither the offenders are brought to book nor the victims restored to their rightful status? Is not India a free country where all her citizens have equal rights? Then why this step-motherly treatment to the Kashmiri Pandits whose sole offence to deserve eviction from their homeland by the extremist Muslims of Kashmir is their being Hindus, infidels and what not? Why is the Government of India not expediting the process of rehabilitating the displaced Pandits in their homeland? That the situation in the Kashmir Valley is too hot for the Hindus to resettle is not a worthwhile argument, for these Hindus have belonged to Kashmir since time immemorial, even before Islam had been born and a single Muslim had breathed in the holy air of this paradise on earth. The population of Kashmir then was purely Hindu and to attempt to appropriate the territory today in the name of Islam, aided and abetted by perfidious Pakistan, that foul foster-son of India, is blasphemous.

Kashmir is an integral part of India and must subscribe to the laws of the land. The political problems in Kashmir will have an Indian solution and not a Pakistani one, and what better a way to initiate the process than to begin the resettlement of the Hindu Pandits in their homeland? Appeasement of evil is vile and must not ever be resorted to, although political expediency of sorts must be the watchword to avoid a second genocide. The proposed colony of the Pundits where they will live together in a massive block is the only pragmatic solution to the problem and must be adhered to despite protestations from Islamic opponents to the project. Only thus may the Hindus be able to defend themselves in case of any assault as in 1990 and not otherwise. Hindus must unite the world over to reclaim their lost rights in their own country and prevent the sell-out of their motherland to noxious Islamic elements as in the Valley of Kashmir.

In conclusion let us invoke the syncretic spirit of India and dedicate ourselves to the working out of our nationhood along the lines laid down by Swami Vivekananda who had succinctly summed up the future of renascent India as having the universality of the Vedanta and the solidarity of Islam in his celebrated pronouncement, ''For our motherland, a conjunction of the two great systems, Hinduism and Islam --- Vedanta brain and Islam body is the only hope.'' Jai Hind!

Written by Sugata Bose

THE WAY THEY ARE

As Justin jokes

And Marcus pokes

And Dylan smiles the while,

Sahil starts

And Amir parts

And Darsh holds rank and file.

Adora wins

Over the twins

In lovely L.H. style,

Ayush eases,

Saloni breezes

Past Adora by a mile.

Prantik, Neel,

Now frantic feel,

The game doth well beguile,

The kids have reached,

Their deeds have preached,

The biggie's plight doth pile,

Oh! the biggie's plight doth pile.

An Open Letter To CBFC Chairman Pahlaj Nihlani by Meghnad Bose

http://www.news18.com/…/an-open-letter-to-cbfc-chairman-pah…

Brilliantly articulated and solidly argued, this letter deserves to be the talking point of the community at large so that greater democracy may prevail over absolutist trends sweeping through our society at a time when the people's power alone may stem the vicious tide. God bless you Meghnad Bose for positing such forceful views imbued with truth for this is the spice of democracy after all and young people like you are to carry the charge of taking the nation ahead with debate, discussion, deliberation and enlightened discourse that keep the spirit of freedom vibrant in what will otherwise decline into a decadent democracy!

REFLECTIONS ... 2

Let the self expand till it bursts into the Cosmic Self and dissolves into nought.

The touch of the holy man transmits power, the profane touch defiles.

Purity is the precursor to the perception of the perennial principle.

Out of the aeons lived in unconscious pursuit of truth, there comes but a moment when the truth flashes in all its glory. This moment encapsulates the infinitude of experience.

Realisation, not faith, holds the key to spiritual life; freedom, not fear is the impelling force en route to truth.

If fear of God is the beginning of wisdom, then love of God is the end of it.

Who cares for the tinsel things of the world when the Lord within shines in resplendent glory?

What is piety if it lacks concern for the suffering all around?

How does man emerge from the noxious cycle of archaic indoctrination?

The Vedanta stresses on the inherent freedom of the individual and is most compatible with the civic ideal of democracy.

CONVERSION IS VIOLENCE

Conversion is violence. To induce our innocent people to convert to Christianity or to Islam by offering the bribe of cheap access to heaven or salvation or material benefits here on earth is reprehensible and is totally opposed to principles of civilised propagation of religion. These monotheistic faiths are shallow philosophically and need to bolster their ranks through material conversion in order to survive. Philosophically bankrupt ideologies need to swell their ranks to gain confirmation of the supposed truth of their dogmas. Moreover, in a world increasingly tending towards democracy, increase in numbers through conversion, immigration and population explosion makes for favourable demographic shift for future domination of a nation’s politics. The European Union nations are facing a grave threat to their cultural identity on account of widespread Islamic immigration. India is facing localised demographic danger too as in Kashmir where the Muslim majority population has brutally driven out 350,000 Kashmiri Hindu Pundits from the valley which for ages has been their homeland. We must not forget the lessons of history but must ever woefully remember the horrors of Partition brought forth by a large section of the Indian Muslim population refusing to live with the Hindus and choosing to secede from the mother country by forcing the amputation of her limbs in connivance with the Machiavellian British. As the demography changes in Europe, America and elsewhere with the burgeoning Muslim population posing a real threat to European culture by its large refusal to integrate into European society and creating its own exclusive world within world, and, as extreme Islam, spreading terror instead of peace throughout the world, daily derails the rhythm of civilised living across the globe, one ponders the moot question whether conversion to Islam, after all, is a wise decision or not. A large negation seems to be the obvious answer and Hindus must under no persuasion give up the faith of their forefathers to buy quick salvation or a passage to paradise or earthly pleasure, for in it lies the most pernicious perfidy towards the motherland whose very pulsation sings out the hymns of the Vedas, that vast treasury of universal spiritual laws which are the inheritance of her children. Conversion is violent and if fanatical sectarian violence is to be eschewed from civic life for good, Christianity and Islam must stop their vile programmes of conversion, for the strength of a faith’s following depends not so much on its numerical count as it depends on the character of its adherents. But these are contentious issues which these Abrahamic religions will take aeons to comprehend and all present efforts seem to be exercises in futility. Till then the warring factions of the world will keep up their carnage and civilisations will be sent to ruin till kingdom come. It is here that the Hindu owes it to the world to take out his spiritual treasures from his coffers and offer them as a free gift to the world that the impending doom looming large in the face of humanity may be averted and a golden renaissance of human culture may be ushered in where every person may proclaim with voice of truth his inherent divinity in an intrepid spirit regardless of any overseeing human or so-called superhuman authority. May the Hindu guide humanity home and for this, pray, stop converting the Hindu! Hari Om Tat Sat!     

HINDUISM WILL HOLD HUMANITY TOGETHER

The space for the Hindu in India is shrinking by the day. We must be strong as a community and strength can come from the study of Sanskrit and the Vedanta. For those who cannot undertake such an arduous academic course, a thorough grounding in Vivekananda will be most beneficial. Not only does the study of Vivekananda inform us about the Sanatan Dharma (Hinduism), it also inspires patriotic feelings in us whereby we feel impelled to take up the cause of rebuilding our motherland along the lines laid down by the rishis (illumined sages/seers of Truth) of yore and by the modern sages like Sri Ramakrishna and Swami Vivekananda. Hindus are being decimated in Pakistan, Bangladesh and, horrendously, in India as well. Our ancient Bharatbhumi (the landmass of India) has been partitioned with both her arms amputated by the Machiavellian British in conjunction with the perfidious Jinnah and his cronies in the then Muslim League. Pakistan and Bangladesh are essentially India and must in due course of time reunite with partitioned India to become the ancient united motherland (Akhand Bharat) once more. Hinduism must come to the fore to reconvert her ancient adherents through the strength of its philosophy and the truth of its principles. Till the Hindus become spiritually vibrant again, such a day will not dawn and the plight of the world will continue with tribal barbarism masquerading as religion holding centre-stage. The Hindu owes it to the world to unfold her spiritual treasures and so save the world from annihilation at the hands of savages who have neither understanding nor higher information about God, soul, spirit or the Self but are conceited enough in their ignorance to think that they possess Truth in its entirety and need to proselytise by force or fraud to bring the world to enlightenment. Such a flawed perception of life and truth necessarily fuels fratricidal feud and humanity has been laid waste over centuries by the horrors of scriptural violence. But not all religions are dark and destruction. Some are benign as well, nay, illumining and universal in scope. The Indian dharma traditions of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism are highly scientific in their approach to the questions of life and truth and are palpably humanistic in their approach with their focus being the spiritual evolution of man and the worship of some extra-cosmic deity whose arbitration governs the life of man. Today, when there is a definite clash of civilisations between the West and the Islamic world, when global terrorism threatens a cataclysm given the fact that the world now has a wide enough access to nuclear weapons, it is the Hindu’s holy duty to present before the world his humanistic philosophy of life and living to save the world from imminent annihilation. If he fails to carry out this, his ultimate obligation to humanity, humanity may be no more in the near future or, if at all it survives, it may be severely maimed enmasse and civilisation may suffer a regression to the dark ages. Every Hindu child is thus enjoined to make a thorough study of the sacred texts of his forefathers, realise the essence of the same before embarking on preaching the gospel of divinity expounded therein and pulsating in his soul. Then alone will the world awake to the universal message of the Vedanta and with rapid strides hasten on to the eventual destination of life, freedom. Thus will the terrestrial mission of the Hindu race be fulfilled, that of discovering, preserving and disseminating the truths of the spirit for the wide world to benefit from, but for that it is imperative that the Hindu survives as a race and that the truths that he has guarded and saved from annihilation at the hands of foreign aggressors, Islamic and Christian, do not die with him. It is for the welfare of the whole of humanity that the Hindu has lived these millennia in patient pursuit of spiritual truth and it is in humanity’s interest to support the Hindu in his fight for survival against brutal Islamism pitted against it whose sole purpose is the destruction of whatever the Hindu stands for --- reason, enlightenment, catholicity, democracy, freedom. May the Hindu survive for the world to see a brighter day in much the same way as the seer of the Shvetashvara Upanishad beheld the world in the effulgence of the Atman! May good sense prevail! May peace belong to all! May diversity thrive amidst unity and not uniformity! Jai Hind!

TO DEVOTEES OF RAMAKRISHNA-VIVEKANANDA

A pertinent question to ask today is this: What ought we as Ramakrishna devotees to do to bring forth peace in a storm-tossed world where rampant radicalisation is causing the world to fracture along divisive lines of religion and hatred spewing venom, running through the mind of man made malevolent by primeval ignorance? When man kills brother man in the name of God and that too in the most horrendous manner, what ought we to do as missionaries of peace, upholders of harmony and worshippers of the divine manifest as man so that civilisation and culture are no more beset as they sadly are today? Are we, the children of Ramakrishna-Vivekananda, going to be mute spectators to the demise of all that humanity holds as true and good while we carry on with our passive piety, offering obeisance to our Lord and Master, Sri Ramakrishna, or, is there something more by way of active participation towards dousing the fire of human hatred that we ought to hold dear as our abiding duty? The problem of terrestrial existence in its current connotation is there before all of us and I need not dwell on the obvious. It is for us, devotees, and the enlightened citizenry of the world to do what they deem necessary to restore the harmony of life on earth. I have tabled the questions. Now, I await your response.

RAMAKRISHNA, THE ONE HOPE FOR HUMANITY

Seat of the sage of the age, the prophet of the times, the incarnation of the Most High, the Avatar in whom all diversities meet, the harmoniser of creeds, the confluence of all conflicting thought, Ramakrishna is now the one hope for humanity.

PAUSE AWHILE AND, PRAY, READ

1. Is terrorism the result of radicalisation or is it the result of discovery of theological facts as they are?

2. Maya covers up (Aavarani Shakti) and Maya deflects (Vikshep Shakti). Both these are being applied by apologists to defend indefensible theological positions which are bankrupt in philosophical content anyway.

3. Read more, like photographs less, for the text of an essay suffers from such apathetic attitude and the cause of propagation of the idea is, thus, thwarted as well.

4. We are no more free in a world bound by Islamic terror. Our rights to freedom of expression are severely curtailed and we remain mute spectators to the ghastly spectacle of innocence being bathed in blood. Whither humanity?

5. There can be no justification for the perpetration of terror even if so-called holy texts arbitrarily sanction such violence citing any supernatural or human authority. Life is to be valued above death and death cults cannot be permitted to assume preeminence in the thoroughfare of life even if they be the ardent adherents of some of the core teachings of major world religions. Life is sacrosanct and must be venerated as such.

THINK TWICE

Television anchors must be honest when they address Islamic terrorism and not be apologetic about fair criticism of its causes to sound nice.

Donald Trump is so vocal about tackling immigration issues as President of USA (in case he gets elected) but is it not merely a ploy to seek votes to achieve his end? Is he serious?

Tarishi's torture should keep us Indians awake to the reality of Islamic terror and we should equip ourselves with courage and fortitude to face it, to fight it and eventually to root out the menace for good. But will it be possible given the double standards of the times?

If the basic text of a religion is violent and intolerant of other religions, then a tradition of violence will be its natural corollary.

Conversion from one ‪religion to another is a violent practice and is tantamount to the offending religion being intolerant of other faiths.

WHEN OUR DAUGHTER LOST HER LIFE ... TARISHI, A TRIBUTE

In this world of fratricidal feud, where man has forgotten that in killing brother man he is essentially killing his own self, where the infidel and the faithful alike suffer at the hands of savagery relayed through ages by transmission of culture that breeds barbarism, in such a world where we all suffer the pangs of a Tarishi being tortured to death for no fault of hers, shall we be mute witnesses to the gory spectacle round the globe and give in tamely to the forces of terror? Or, shall we as awakened citizens of the world fight back force with force, dogma with reason and falsehood with the superior power of truth and enlightenment? Passive piety is unbecoming of genuinely pious people for to be unconcerned about the safety and welfare of others in critical danger of being harmed in body and in mind by the forces of evil and to respond by way of securing self-security only when the threat comes close to one's own self is reprehensible. To eat of the fruits of national security for which the soldiers die daily --- literal senseless deaths so often at the hands of perfidious perpetrators of terror --- and not to water the roots of the national tree is calamitous for the country and woeful for the world for in such indifference to others' agony breeds the virus of violence whose horrors are no more alien to any of us. Shall it suffice to offer floral tributes before Tarishi's image and shed a few emotional drops in much the same way as we shed after 26/11 or is a greater commitment to the cause of eradicating archaic absolutism from the planet an imperative now? When shall we wake up? When a suicide bomber has careered us to the other world or when there is life left in us yet to take affirmative action to tackle this global menace? Educate yourself about this global threat to civilisation. Read, reason, reflect and reject irrationality, dogma and absolutism. Tarishi, my child, those ruddy drops from your innocent form shall not go down the cosmic drain. They shall transfuse into the hearts of heroic souls like Faraaz Ayaaz Hossain who did not forsake you in your hour of death but bore the horror of it all, manfully, valiantly and, why, spiritually too, and out of your sacrifice of your dear life, so very dear to all of us who mourn today the loss of the pulsations of your spirit, shall be born heroes like your friend in finality who will purge the earth of such barbarism that snuffed the life out of you.
     

A RETURN TO ROOTS

Bangladesh is reeling under the Dhaka Terror Attack. Over the last three years this country, which won its independence in 1971 on the basis of the language movement (Bhasha Andolon), has been suffering from extreme Islamic violence. Rabindranath Tagore played a seminal role in inspiring the Bangladeshis to liberation with his inspirational writing although the poet was no more then in earthly coil. Today, when the Bengali people out there are enduring the terrible fate of cultural degradation whose noxious symptom is Islamic fanaticism which has literally held liberal thinking to ransom and reduced civic life to a travesty of what democracy aspires it to be, once more may the voice of Bangladesh seek utterance in the works of Tagore! So also the great revolutionary poet, Kazi Nazrul Islam whose vigorous poetry and fervent music sent the Bengali youth to the jaws of death to snatch for their motherland freedom. May the leonine patriot-poet once more invigorate the hearts and minds of millions of Bangladeshis with sublime love for their motherland and unity of spirit among citizens so that an integrated nation may overcome the challenges of the times and emerge triumphant to uphold the banner of democracy, freedom and civilisation! Taslima Nasreen, that fearless crusader for truth and justice, whose supreme sincerity of spirit does not allow her to be an apologist for extreme Islam but who, despite enduring personal persecution at the hands of the Bangladesh government leading to her banishment from her motherland, continues to expose the fault-lines in her home-society, may her countrymen restore her to her habitat and may they have the sanity to lend her a sympathetic ear! In so doing will Bangladesh be on track once more and instead of senselessly pursuing her ruin through divisive sectarian politics, she should emphasise the original principles of her national life which gave her a distinctive character in the world of Muslim-majority nations, a secular nation built on the basis of supreme love for the Bengali language which then defined her status and must define her status even today when the meter seems to have been lost in the melee of the rabblement. Jai Bangla!

THE CLOCK TICKS, 90 DAYS TO GO

Mark, the centenary is at our doorstep. He was born on October 4, 1916. What a momentous occasion this is, especially for us who are the initiated disciples of this great spiritual master who will turn 100 years old on October 16, 2016, barely three months away from this day. We ought to make it a grand occasion with celebrations in line with his philosophy of life which was dedicated to the service of suffering humanity. Ought we not to imbibe his spirit and as worthy disciples and followers tread in his footsteps in doing humanitarian work? Such an obeisance will be most befitting.

The first and foremost thing for us to do is to adhere to our spiritual practices on a  disciplined basis. Our spiritual lives strengthened, we will be forces potent to spread peace in a world ravaged by hatred, violence and war. Second, we ought to know the substance of our scriptures well and ought to make provisions in our daily lives for a systematic study of our spiritual texts. We may begin with The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna and The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda. Thereafter, we may move on to the study of the Bhagavad Geeta and the ten principal Upanishads. These are all readily available at Ramakrishna Mission Centres. Third, we must make it a point to save some money on a regular basis and contribute the same to the various welfare projects of  the Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission. Fourth, we must try to visit the different centres of the Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission so that we may be in touch with the pulse of the movement. Fifth, we must go out of our way to assist the Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission with whatever help we can by way of volunteering our services. Sixth, we should read the life-stories of the great sages and saints of the Ramakrishna Order beginning with the direct disciples of Sri Ramakrishna and keep reflecting on them so that our lives also catch the colour of the ochre, the colour of renunciation, the hue of the rising sun of knowledge.

Jai Gurudev! Jai Ramakrishna!

CONDOLENCES, JOHN

My condolences, John. May Sri Ramakrishna lead her unto His blissful abode and may He keep you in His care! We gratefully remember how you had helped us in our collection of funds for the Mobile Medical Van Project of Ramakrishna Mission Sevashrama, Muzaffarpur with your gracious contributions from afar America. The project has come to a successful completion and awaits its formal operational commencement. No good work ever goes in vain. Your wife was luminous and continues to abide in her luminosity. Bodies come and bodies go but the personality behind whose embodiment they are, that essential one never wanes with the dispersal of the elements that go to compose its earthly raiment. At a time of personal loss of this order when the mind full of old associations is rent apart, when memories awake from the depth of yesteryears and rush on to the shore of consciousness, at such an hour of even-tide when the boat doth set sail for a distant repose, the soul clears to reveal a life eternal and the sorrow of separation is redeemed in a sublime understanding of the true nature of things. My friend, may such a light dawn on you at this hour of reckoning and earthly association transcend territory unto the purified plane where all is one and integrated in the Lord! The dual tug of life leaves not a moment for reflection save when the sudden truth of transience strikes hard and one is left to ponder the deeper reality which holds and never fractures like the ephemeral dreams of life. So, my friend, grieve not when you know for certain that the wheel of life ever moves unto its final station where life itself is transcended and the Self revealed to have been its eternal status. Your wife is the imperishable Self, the radiant, blissful source of life. How can she ever cease to be when time itself springs from her being? She is where she was and will ever be, right in the core of your consciousness which is universal consciousness too. Existence she is, how may she ever non-existent be? Your love and your light will bestrew blossoms in her way towards the source of her being and blissful she will fill up with the fragrance of eternal life. My commiserations and my wishes for you and all the bereft ones she leaves behind as she proceeds along the radial line of her unfolding consciousness. May Sri Ramakrishna preserve you all at this moment of inconsolable grief is my earnest prayer unto Him!

BARBARISM IN BANGLADESH

Bangladesh ought to pursue her language movement (Bhasha Andolon) instead of the religious one for in it lies her redemption. Jai Bangla!

Basic scriptural tenets remaining exclusive and fanatical, it is but natural that extreme adherents of such will resort to literal pursuit of precepts. Time for fundamental change if fundamentalist barbarism is to be ended.

The problem with extreme religious dualism is that it awakens the meaner, the vicious, the violent elements of man which sooner or later can only perpetrate terror, especially, if backed by scriptural sanction. Today's global terrorism is not a novel phenomenon but is the revised edition of the long history of fundamentalist violence.

Right from its inception violence has been the dominant note of this fundamental faith which has rained terror on infidels and forcibly converted victims the world over. If, today, things are what they are, is it cause for wonder? Has it not been said : 'Yatha purvavat, tatha param' (As in the past, so in the future)?

Intolerance is basic to extreme dualism, exclusiveness is its very breath. Arbitrary pronouncements, archaic reactions and authoritarian principles are in the very fabric of this faith that deny its adherents the choice to rationalise and reject honourably its tenets and so, become fearless apostates. Instead, the one that dares dismiss the dogma as unworthy of acceptance through a refusal to submit one's faculties, runs into retrograde elements rife within the fold with its obvious consequences as is so much evident the world over.  

The horrific pictures released by the perpetrators of barbarism leaves one shuddering not with fear but with abhorrence at the depth of evil that goes by the name of this extreme culture of tribal origin. To what levels man may sink under indoctrination of a noxious kind is now being freshly revealed but is not a phenomenon new. It has a tradition in history when brutality spread through the world in the name of religion and everything that stood in the way of conquest for the Lord was swept aside and the human soul was sacrificed in much the same way as today when sanity seems to have have lost in the wake of primeval ignorance.