Declaring Bhagavad Gita as national script

Email sent to Sushma Swaraj on 9-Dec-2014

Dear Sushmaji

You wanted to make Bhagavad Gita as national script. I have a few questions

1. How many Indians understand Bhagavad Gita, particularly 'Biswarup Darshan' and 'Nishkam Karma'?
2. How many Indians aged between 18 to 25 have actually read Bhagavad Gita at least once?
3. Why should Tripitaka not be declared as national script also? Is it because number of Buddhists in India is less or Tripitaka is inferior to Bhagavad Gita? In other words, you are either trying to bully Buddhists or presuming Bhagavad Gita is superior to other religious scripts. Can you please prove that Bhagavad Gita is absolute supreme? If not, you have to declare Tripitaka also as national script.

If PM Modi indulges such crazy ideas, tomorrow a crazier person will declare Physics as national subject, Gujarat as national state, Chess as national sports. There is no end to make things 'National'. Will the philosophical value of Bhagavad Gita increase by declaring it as national script? Does Bhagavad Gita need any kind of endorsement from Sushma Swaraj? 

I can clearly see a great element of fanaticism and complete ignorance in your desire to glorify Bhagavad Gita. I cannot believe anyone can dare to propose Bhagavad Gita for national script. I find it insulting for 5000 years old script. Are you suggesting that Bhagavad Gita has been ignored for so long and you want to rescue Bhagavad Gita? 

Declaring Bhagavad Gita as national script is not going to solve unemployment and poverty issues of India. Understanding of Bhagavad Gita requires great level of intelligence. You and I can never practice 'Nishkam Karma'. Because we need name, fame, glamour, claps, recognition and above all power. 

Let me tell you a story. During the construction of Birla Mandir in Kolkata a person asked one of the workers what was he doing? He replied ' breaking stone. Life is hell.' He asked the same question to another worker. He replied 'I am making world's best temple'. Second person was excited that he was part of a great architecture. He understood the essence of Bhagavad Gita.

Let's make India great together. Let's write a new script which is more powerful than any religious script for aspiring India.

My earnest request to you please don't embarrass PM Modi. Let's focus only on development, nothing else. You don't have to appease RSS. It is PM Modi who is bringing votes to BJP not RSS.

People are languishing in various jails all over the country‏

26-May-2008
Dear PM,

If you read the article (please follow the link below), you will be horrified with the tale of our prison cells and our justice system. One person spent 54 years in jail in Assam without trial because everyone forgot about him. I know you are extremely busy with 123 agreement, but if you spend some of your valuable time to look into such unpardonable injustice and take appropriate corrective action, it will bring smile to the faces of those unfortunates who are languishing in our jails for no reasons. Sir, why fighting injustice has never been the priority of our politicians? Perhaps you know that you and your family would never be the victim of injustice.

http://www.ahrchk.net/ahrc-in-news/mainfile.php/2004ahrcinnews/451/ 

Mohali cricket ground used for political tamasa‏

03-Mar-2007
Dear Sidhu,

CM of Punjab seriously damaged the Mohali cricket ground for his sworn in
'Ceremony'. Will you please show some of your sidhuism that you would have
displayed had it been done by non BJP/Akali CM? Mr Badal showed utter sense
of irresponsibility. At the age of 84 he lost his sense of what is good and
what is bad for his own state. Any self respecting man would have resigned
after this incidence.

Sir, would you please campaign against use of sporting venues other than it
is intended for?

Day of Shame

26-Jul-2007
Dear Prime Minister,

It is a day of shame for every Indian. Keeping in tradition with tainted ministers now we have tainted president. I fully agree with you that Mrs patil is innocent unless proven guilty. But it is whose responsibility to investigate the charges leveled against her? Of course CBI's. But you made CBI completely crippled. It is a great betrayal by you Dr. Singh, India’s economist prime minister.

Maut ka saudagar‏

14-Dec-2007
Dear Mrs Gandhi,

You called Mr. Modi 'maut ka saudagar'. May I remind you very politely that certain words are reserved for men only? I didn't expect that a dignified woman like you could use such a language. Perhaps you could ask Mr Dasmunshi to call Mr. Modi 'maut ka saudagar'. Can't politicians take Mr. Sachin Tendulkar or Mr. Rahul Dravid as their role model when it comes to dignity and sobriety? Mr. Abhishek Manu Singhvi had very hard times in defending his leader and in the process he talked all rubbish in the TV.

Yesterday you charged Mr. Jaswant Singh of carrying terrorist to Afghanistan. Would you please stop making meaningless political statement regarding that hijacked aircraft?  Mr. Singh risked his life to see safe release of all the passengers who spent 3 nights under extreme condition of cold, anxiety and nervousness? We criticized Mr. Vajpayee for delaying the decision of releasing the terrorists as demanded by the hijackers.

Take a moment to retrospect that what is happening to the Indian politics is definitely not for the good of the people. I wish election commission gives two prizes during election campaign – one for most noble and other for ugliest campaigner with respect to their election speeches.

Mr. Kashmir Singh‏

10-Mar-2008
Dear Dr. Manmohan Singh and Mr. Vajpayee,

Did you hear what Mr. Kashmir Singh has to say? The man who spent 35 years in Pakistani jail to serve the country. He remained chained for 17 years in a solitary confinement. What a great patriot he is. His ordeal is unthinkable.

He also mentioned that not a single government since his arrest in 1974 did anything for his family. His wife raised their three children working as a maid. You may argue that it is his duty to serve the nation. May I ask you what are the duties of our noble politician apart from taking bribe, stealing money, killing people, instigating communal riot, establishing dynastic rule and destroying the nation. Shame on every prime minister from Indira Gandhi to Manmohan Singh.

Will both of you please personally apologize to Mr. Kashmir Singh for doing nothing to his family when he was in jail?

Will you try to release other patriots languishing in Pakistani jails?

Forcing Taslima to leave the country‏

20-Mar-2008
Dear Mr. Prime Minister,

Ms Taslima has left the country. This is what she said to press.

I left New Delhi very early in the day and am now in London, but please don't ask me my destination for the sake of security - the same reason why I had withheld the date of my departure prior to leaving the country,

Even though they [the government] constantly pressured me mentally to leave the country, I refused to budge. I was determined I would not leave this country. When they saw it was pointless trying to destroy my mind, they attempted to destroy my body. In this they succeeded by ruining my health, which leaves me with no other alternative but to leave this country. I am forced to leave India. I used to call this [the undisclosed 'safe location' in New Delhi where she was put on November 23, 2007] the torture chamber. I gradually came to realise that it was the chamber of death instead.

What your government did to Ms Taslima is just shameful. You budged to the pressure of Muslim fundamentalist for Muslim vote. On Taslima issue Congress, Ms Mamata Banerjee and CPM are all united. You are indulging sick politics. Both BJP and Congress are destroying very basis of Indian secularism. Congress is behaving like a headless chicken like CPM when they opposed 123 agreement? 

Baby fell in bore well

26-Mar-2008
Dear PM,

There is another incidence of a baby falling into a bore well today. This is perhaps 8th such incident in last 18 months. I just do not understand what it takes to fill up all the bore wells in the country - one week, two week or may be a month? Why you politicians are so inhuman and incompetent? Can you just imagine that the baby is in the borewell for 23 hours? You cann't just pass the blame to state government and do nothing. It appears that state and central government do not work unless ordered by honourable court against a PIL.

Sir, will you pl. take it as your personal project to fill up all the bore wells in one month? I think it is just possible.

Ram Mandir

19-Jun-2008
Dear Mr Advani,

You are back with Ram card. I think you are one of the most destructive politicians in modern times. Building Ram Mandir all over India is not going to solve any of the burning problems of our country. You have caused enough harm to us by religiously poisoning young Hindu minds. Your infamous 'Rath Yatra' left a trail of destruction all over India. Now for  Lord Ram's sake stop playing with religion. It is a dangerous weapon which could kill you as well. My advice to you would be to see Lord Ram in your heart not in temple. I strongly recommend that you read 'Bhagavad Gita' one more time or read gospel of Sri Ramakrishna. This will purify your soul and you will stop exploiting Lord Ram to your political benefit.

Trust Vote

14-Aug-2008

Dear Mr. Somnath Chatterjee,

I do not vote for CPM or for Left front or for any communist party and I didn't like Mr Karat's decision to withdraw support from UPA govt. But I did support his decision to expel you from the party. Your refusal to step down from speaker's post is a gross indiscipline. The reason you became speaker of the house because congress wanted someone from CPM to hold that post. But you thought Somnath Chatterjee is bigger than the party. Perhaps by now you have realized the terrible mistake you did defying party ruling. One thing we all should learn what loyalty is from congress leaders. Will Dr. Manmohan Singh or Mr Abhishek Manu Singhvi ever dump Mrs Sonia Gandhi or Mr Rahul Gandhi? They will never. You are the third high profile communist leader who has been sacked by the party after late Mr. Nripen Chakraborti, ex CM of Tripura and late Mr. Jatin Chakraborti, RSP leader. I am not very sure why you wanted to continue as speaker during trust vote. You couldn't stop MPs being purchased by all political parties, you were helpless when hardcore criminals were bailed out from jail to participate in the vote, and you couldn't do anything when Mr Shibu Soren publicly bargained with congress for post of Jharkand CM and berth in the ministry. May be Mr Karat will show some leniency and revoke your expulsion from the party someday.

Terrible News - A Man in Jail for 38 Years

23-Jan-2006
Dear PM,

A man was in jail for 38 years without trial in UP for murder charge. How cruel we could be! We lost our  sensitivity. Can you please look into personally how many such unfortunate people are still languishing in different jails? Only you can save these helpless people because you have the heart. I am surprised what human rights activists are doing? We got to search every jail in India to find out how many prisoners are there without trial for more than 5 years. I believe along with economic reform we also need to have judicial reform

ACP sentenced to death

16-Dec-2006
A woman waited for 19 years to get justice for her son's custodial death by ACP Mr. Tyagi. The 32 year boy was arrested for alleged assault on a police officer. FIR was registered against the officer after several years by the intervention of honorable court. In these 19 years she has been threatened, tortured, harassed and tried to be bribed. But she fought relentlessly. Finally the killer officer is sentenced to death. If
politicians had 1% of her determination and honesty, India would have been a different country.

Today I saw in NDTV that UPA govt. decided not to celebrate Kargil day. So, you think 1971 war was Congress win and 1999 war was BJP win. You politicians are shameless. I thought you were different.

Baby fell in bore well

13-Oct-2010
Dear PM,

I sent this mail on 26-Mar-08. Within 7 months another tragic incidence of a 2 yr old boy falling in a bore well happened and his dead body recovered today after 4 days. It is dreadful, it is shameful. Do something urgently. For God's sake please don't show your helpless face to the nation. You went all out to ink N-Deal. Why can't you show similar determination to save our children from falling into bore well?

Vandalism by MNS Supporters‏

22-Oct-2008
Dear PM,
Arrest of Raj Thackeray is just a farce. Why chief minister Deshmukh didn't take adequate precaution to save public property of Mumbai from rampage of MNS supporters. It was known that MNS will vandalize public property. Mr. Deshmukh is trying cash in political mileage from hooliganism of MNS supporters. This country is run by bunch of irresponsible, incompetent idiots. Had I been the CM, I would have never arrested Raj Thackeray. I would arrest his supporters in hundreds and charges them under different IPC sections in fast track court. Politicians are powerless without supporters who are their wings. Clip the wings of the politicians who are creating nuisance.

Rahul Gandhi on education‏

24-Oct-2010

Dear PM,

Why Mr. Rahul Gandhi is talking on Education and attacking St Stephen college? He is not an educationist. Congress working committee is making a tremendous mistake in supporting family politics. It is self defeating in democracy. What joy you get in worshiping Gandhi family? It is unthinkable that people like you or Mr. Singhvi, topper in ICSE or Mr. Sibal kneeling down in front of Mrs. Sonia Gandhi or Mr. Rahul Gandhi all the time. I like both of them as individual. But no patriot will ever support dynastic politics, be it Gandhi dynasty or Abdullah dynasty in Kashmir or Scindhia dynasty or many other upcoming dynasties all over India. Do you like the fact that post of congress president or India’s prime minister should be reserved to Gandhi family? Sad part of the story is even if you don’t like it, you can’t do anything about it. You became prime minister because Mrs. Sonia Gandhi was extremely nervous and she was not ready for the unexpected opportunity. Today if Mr. Rahul Gandhi wants to be India’s PM, he can remove you very next day without asking any question. Does it look nice for you to say ‘Rahul is our future’. I thought you would say Mr. Singhvi is our future or may be Ms Jayita Natarajan is our future. They are young, they are professional. They are many dynamic honest young professional in congress who can lead India as PM or lead congress as president.

Dr. Singh when you are alone think of what I am saying. Please don’t betray your own country.

ABVP activists ransacked a missionary school in Bhopal‏

03-Feb-2009
Dear Mr. Advani,

ABVP activists ransacked a missionary school in Bhopal because they believe that school authority insulted national anthem. Sir, will you not protest and suspend those ABVP workers who are responsible for such hooliganism? Of course not because they belong to your party and they will try to make you next PM of India in the coming election. So they are your darling now.

You and Dr. Manmohan Singh are the weakest politicians in India as opposition leader and PM. Our PM is scared to take action against Raj Thackeray, Shiv Sena and now Ram Sena. These criminals are holding the whole nation to ransom. Let me remind you that inaction or silence is basically a stamp of approval of such lawlessness. No amount of criticism can arouse conscience of our politicians. It is so shameful!

Bhopal Gas Tragedy

28-Jun-2010

Dear PM,

It is welcome news that government of India has decided to pay 10 lacs to dead and 5 lacs to the injured in Bhopal gas tragedy. In a way it is an acceptance of the fact that Arjun Singh and Rajib Gandhi did nothing for the victims of the tragedy. However there are few concerns over recommendations in GOM report

 

1. Fund allocated for compensation is only Rs 1500 crore - this is peanut. Half million people was exposed to gas leak. All of them should get compensation. Those who were dead and those who were permanently disabled should get equal compensation. Please remember that they have been deprived of justice for 26 years. Let's not do any politics with the number. If government of India can waive Rs 70,000 crore farmer loan, FM can definitely allocate Rs 30,000 crore for Bhopal gas victims.

 

2. It is a good decision to clean up the accident site at last. Impose stiff penalty of 5 crore for every day of delay. In last 26 years childern are born as BLIND, LAME, LIMBS TWISTED or missing, deafmute, brain-damaged, with hare-lips, cleft palates, webbed fingers, cerebral palsy, tumours where should be eyes. They were damaged in the womb by chemicals leaking from the same Union Carbide factory that killed thousands in 1984. I am horrified by the pictures posted in the site http://www.bhopal.org/. Unfortunately Arjun Singh and successive CMs of Madhya Pradesh and Rajib Gandhi and his successors didn't have time to look at them. For 26 years our politicians fought for who should pay for cleaning up the site. I wonder why our top politicians are so evil. Arjun Singh, Motilal Vora, Shukla, Patwa, Digvijay Singh, Uma Bharati, Babulal Gaur, Shivraj Chauhan, Rajiv Gandhi, Narashima Rao, Vajpayee and you sir should be prosecuted for not cleaning the toxic site of union carbide factory and thus causing the death and injury of thousands more. Family of each child born with any kind of birth defect should get a compensation of Rs 25,000 per month for life of the child.

 

3. I don't think Government can manage extradition of Warren Andersen who is 90 years old and cannot stand trial. Let's not try to pacify the emotion of Indians and media by false hope. We know he is an evil man who is protected by US government.

 

4. Prosecute Arjun Singh for misleading people of Bhopal about the safety of the Union Carbide Plant. Let me list down some of the violations of safety norms in the plant. My source of Information is Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhopal_disaster).

• Greenpeace asserts that as the Union Carbide CEO, Anderson knew about a 1982 safety audit of the Bhopal plant, which identified 30 major hazards and that they were not fixed in Bhopal but were fixed at the company's identical plant in the US
• The use of hazardous chemicals (MIC) instead of less dangerous ones
• Safety systems being switched off to save money—including the MIC tank refrigeration system which alone would have prevented the disaster
• Poor maintenance after the plant ceased production in the early 1980s, leading to buildup of stores of unused MIC
• The MIC tank alarms had not worked for four years
• There was only one manual back-up system, compared to a four-stage system used in the US
• The flare tower and the vent gas scrubber had been out of service for five months before the disaster. The gas scrubber therefore did not treat escaping gases with sodium hydroxide (caustic soda), which might have brought the concentration down to a safe level.
• To reduce energy costs, the refrigeration system, designed to inhibit the volatilization of MIC, had been left idle—the MIC was kept at 20 degrees Celsius (room temperature), not the 4.5 degrees advised by the manual

 5. Strip off Bharat Ratna from Rajiv Gandhi. He completely failed to manage the disaster of this magnitude. Government of India failed to provide adequate compensation for the treatment and rehabilitation of thousands of injured people. Government of India waited 16 long years to get compensation from UCC. Instead they should have disbursed USD 3.3 billion compensation originally claimed by the government from UCC within months. Lets me list down some of the inactions and criminal apathy shown towards rescue operation by both state and central governments at that time.

• After the accident, no one under the age of 18 was registered. The number of children exposed to the gases was at least 200,000. It is outrageous.
• Relief measures commenced in 1985 when food was distributed for a short period and ration cards were distributed - after so many months. It is ridiculous.
• Widow pension of the rate of Rs 200/per month (later Rs 750) was provided - we had some shameless politicians.
• One-time ex-gratia payment of Rs 1,500 to families with monthly income Rs 500 or less was decided
• The final compensation (including interim relief) for personal injury was for the majority Rs 25,000 (US$ 830). For death claim, the average sum paid out was Rs 62,000. How heartless our politicians are.
• Till 1992, 44 percent of the claimants still had to be medically examined - It was a cruel joke.
• a sum as large as Rs 10 billion is expected to be left over after all claims have been settled

So, in short the GoM report conceals more than it reveals. It is mere eyewash. It is an attempt to safeguard the image of Rajib Gandhi which is heavily tarnished by the revelation of the then foreign secretary Rasgotra about safe passage promised by government of India to Warren Andersen.

Ayodhya Verdict

20-Sep-2010
Dear Mr. Ravi Shankar Prasad,

I am shocked that intelligent person like you can be carried out by religious sentiment. If we can live for six decades without knowing who owned the land in Ayodhya, what is the rush of knowing it now? What do you expect after the verdict - peace and tranquility? If there is a communal riot or a bomb blast, who will take the responsibility? Except for few religious lunatics who else are interested about Babri Masjid or Ram Temple? I think verdict should be deferred for next 100 years till we understand the true meaning of religion.

Rajiv Gandhi opened the Pandora box by allowing Hindus to worship, followed by infamous Ram Rath Yatra by Advani leaving a trail of destruction and finally demolition of the structure by some mad people in presence of top ranking politicians of the country. Since then it is a mutual destructive politics between Congress and BJP. Where the buck will stop?

If we admit that converting a temple into mosque 500 years ago was a mistake, you cannot correct that mistake by demolishing a 500 years old historical structure. It was a national treasure. I just don't understand why can't Muslins and Hindus practice their respective faith in the same Babri Masjid/Ram Temple structure side by side?

 Ayodhya is not restricted to just 70acre of disputed land. If Mr. Advani wants to build a grand temple he can do it outside demolished structure. Why is he so adamant?

All political parties appealed for calm and peace. But do they have control over right wing Muslim and Hindu organizations? Politicians will be protected by commandos. But who will protect common people?

I think congress, BJP and other political parties should ask for ideas from common people how the disputed land can be used other than constructing a temple or mosque. My suggestion would be to create a beautiful lake and a palace in the middle of that lake so that it becomes one of the finest tourist spot of India.

Building Collapsed in Delhi‏

18-Nov-2010
Dear Sheila Dikshit,

65 lives are lost and more than 100 people are injured when multi storied building collapsed in Lakshmi Nagar, Delhi. It is shocking to note that civil defence team arrived after 2 hours and disaster response team after 3 hours. It is the local people who jumped into action and saved as many lives as they could with bare hand. You mentioned in the TV that cranes are not able to enter narrow lanes. It was a known fact. Why you are not prepared with alternative arrangement? Is the disaster response team equipped with proper infrastructure? Apparently they are not. You have done your job visiting families of the victims, announcing compensation and arresting promoter of the building. You didn't dare to arrest those MCD officials who sanctioned illegal plans. Because you are hand in gloves with them. Shame on you Ms Dikshit.

CMs like you are disgrace for your democracy.