31. March 2010 by admin.

This is outrageous…!!! This is blatant and demeaning portrayal of Hindu Gods and Goddesses. Nina Paley has graphically projected  Lord Rama kicking Sita. 

What is the difference between Nina Paley and an Islamist?

Protest against Nina Paley’s outright denigration of The Ramayan

Revolting Scenes from the Film

	1. False representation:The commentators say that the Ramayana is not as true a story as the Bible. Spiritual fact: This seems to be an attempt to portray the Bible as being more trustworthy than the Ramayana. Yes, propaganda to prove Christianity’s superiority over Hinduism. This movie is part and parcel of the anti-Hindu movement and propagation of Christianity. This movie violates the religious feelings of Hindus. The Government must ban this film.
	2. False representation: Ravan was a good king and the only wrong thing that he did was steal Sita. (Editors comment: Like attracts like and so quite naturally anti-Hindu Neena Paley supports Ravana.) Spiritual fact: Such remarks show Ms. Palay’s anti-Hindu mentality by demeaning the Holy Scriptures of Hindus. For this she must apologise to all Hindus.
	3. False representation: Ravan’s sister tells Ravan about how beautiful Sita is and says that her breasts are like big round juicy lotuses. Sita is shown wearing a cholie that reveals her breasts in one outfit from above, and in another outfit from below the blouse. Spiritual fact: Such remarks shows her anti-Hindu mentality of criticizing Hindus Holy Scriptures. For this she must apologise to all Hindus.
	4. False representation: The commentator says that Ravana played the veena for Lord Shiva with his intestines and she shows Ravana’s intestines tumble out of his stomach and they play the veena. (Editors comment: Such spiritual ignorance on the part of Neena Paley makes her seem comical. This harms the religious feelings of Hindus. She should be prosecuted for this.) Spiritual fact: Actually what is mentioned in the Ramayan is that Ravana’s devotion was such that the 72 thousand nadis or energy channels in his body created a sound (Anahat nada) and this pleased Lord Shiva.
	5. False representation: Sita sings with her love for Ram in the forest. The words of her song were… ‘He is not an ang or a Saint and I know that with all his faults, he will still get by’. Then she imagines carrying Ram piggy back. After that she stands on all her fours (like a horse or a dog) and Ram is shown sitting on her back. (Editors comment: This is outright insulting to the faith of Hindus and destroys the reverence for the Ramanyan in children’s minds.)
	6. False representation: When Ravana speaks to Sita she speaks in an uncouth manner telling him, “Your ass is grass once Lord Ram comes here.” (Editors comment: Why has this cartoonist been allowed to spew out the filth in her mind and superimpose her nasty foul-mouthed words onto revered Divine beings ?)
	7. False representation: Sita is shown wearing a ridiculous amount of jewellery as the commentator says she dropped her jewellery to show the way to Lanka when she was abducted by Ravana. The commentator ridicules the Ramayan by questioning how Sita had so much jewellery when she had taken up the life of a sanyasi. Spiritual fact: Sita was only in exile. She was not a sanyasi. She dropped jewellery like her ring, anklets and earrings at strategic points on the path.
	8. False representation: One commentator viciously says that one needs to ‘give her one little tight thing’ for not returning with Lord Hanuman when he came to rescue her. Another says that Sita stayed back as she wanted Lord Ram to rescue her and defeat Ravan due to the ego of wanting ‘Her husband’ to be her rescuer and so she is called a ‘bloodthirsty’ woman and is depicted with blood coming out of her mouth and blood on her hands. Spiritual fact: Sita could not allow herself to be carried by Lord Hanuman as it is a Hindu woman’s Dharma not to be touched by any man other than her husband.
	9. False representation: When Hanuman reports to Ram about what he saw in Lanka, Lord Ram begins to sweat and then faints in fear.     Spiritual fact: Lord Ram’s arrow never missed its target no matter where the target was. How could such a Divine warrior who was an incarnation on earth be afraid of a mere demon ?.
	10. False representation: When Lord Ram comes to rescue Sita, he says that she is impure and unfit to be his wife and that he had terrible suspicions about her character and conduct to the extent that the sight of her was painful to him. He dismisses her ends with the crushing statement, ‘I have no more use for you.’ Spiritual fact: Lord Ram says the opposite in the Ramayan. In addition, the Ramayan states that Lord Ram surrendered to Agni devata and she sent an illusionary form of Sita to Lanka so that the real Sita was kept safe and after the ‘Test by Fire’ that Sita underwent successfully, Agni devta returned the real form of Sita to Lord Ram.
	11. False representation:Sita sings a song saying ‘Ram is mean to me’ and Lord Ram is depicted kicking Sita into the fire at the time of her agnipariksha (Test by fire) and He kicks her at the time of banishing her from the kingdom. Lord Ram nonchalantly also walks over Sita’s pregnant stomach  (Editors comment: The way to extinguish a religion is to first create utter disrespect for it in the minds of people about their faith. Then ridicule the followers so that they are downright ashamed of being Hindu. Then the lost directionless Hindu populace will be soft targets to defeat on any front.)

Our fellow Hindu Brothers and Sisters, lodge your protest !

Are you going to blindly allow this unrighteous strategy to work ? Or are you willing to stand up for Dharma and realise that in this increasingly unrighteous world, ‘Only Dharma protects the Dharmic’. Ultimately Dharma will be established in the world and evildoers will be destroyed. But each Hindu is now being called upon to play his/her part and do something to stop this outright denigration.

Become a ‘vanar’ of Lord Hanumans army ! Make your small offering towards Dharma by lodging your protest with the US Embasy.

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31. March 2010 by admin.

A Week in the War: Afghanistan, March 24-30, 2010

Sights on Kandahar

Indications emerged March 29 that the long-anticipated U.S./NATO offensive in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar would begin in June and last at least two months. While the action will not commence until more surge troops arrive in the country, preparations are already under way, including securing key routes, moving foreign and Afghan security forces into the area and talking with local elders. Kandahar has had a constant foreign military presence since the 2001 invasion, but it also has a population of nearly half a million people and sits at the ideological heartland of the Taliban, which have maintained their own presence, especially in areas surrounding the city.

The offensive to establish firm control over Kandahar will be different than the recent offensive in the farming community of Marjah. Kandahar is a bigger, denser city, and the operation there will be less of an intense urban assault and more of a slow and gradual expansion of security throughout the city, with Afghan forces taking more of a leading role. But the Kandahar operation is being telegraphed every bit as publicly as the February assault in neighboring Helmand province. The value of this is that it allows time to consult with local leaders and get their buy-in. The theory is that this will involve them in the process early on and strengthen subsequent efforts to force out Taliban shadow governments and establish civil authority, all while reducing civilian casualties.

This effort is still a work in progress in Marjah, where last week the Taliban were continuing to emplace improvised explosive devices and employ intimidation and subversion tactics. Locals have complained that during the day, U.S. and Afghan forces are the reality, while at night the reality is the Taliban. Residents say they feel trapped between the two forces, unable to side with either for fear of provoking the other’s wrath. There are certainly reports that the seizure of Marjah has indeed put a squeeze on local Taliban commanders in terms of resources and manpower, but the speed and extent to which a more fundamental shift in local politics and perception will occur — which is central to the U.S. strategy — remains to be seen. How long this transition will take in Kandahar, Afghanistan’s second largest city and one the Soviets never fully controlled, is anybody’s guess.

At the same time, the United States is attempting to force the Taliban to the negotiating table, but this will take time. On March 24, in testimony before a U.S. House of Representatives committee, Defense Secretary Robert Gates admitted it was too soon for talks with the Taliban. A central part of U.S. strategy is to win the hearts and minds of the people, deprive the Taliban of popular support and thereby bring them to the negotiating table. The first step in that process is communicating with the people, hence telegraphing the assault on Marjah and the forthcoming offensive in Kandahar. Presumably, this tactic will be employed in subsequent operations in the main area of U.S. focus, the 80 key districts along the Ring Road

that represent about a third of the country and two-thirds of its population.

With its population-centric approach, the United States obviously wants to avoid destructive urban battles like the twin 2004 battles of Fallujah in Iraq. But by announcing its planned Afghan offensives, the United States sacrifices the ability to trap key Taliban leaders and hard-line fighters. Some do stay and fight, but tipping the Taliban off gives them a great deal of freedom of action in terms of choosing how, when and where they will continue the battle. And the Taliban continue to demonstrate their skill in classic guerilla warfare, resisting and wearing down their opponent without allowing themselves to be engaged decisively — and while waiting out the inevitable withdrawal.

The Seizure of Shah Karez

More details have emerged about the seizure of the Shah Karez area outside the district capital of Musa Qala. Taliban fighters wearing the uniforms of foreign and Afghan national security forces overran a police checkpoint and beheaded five policemen. But it remains unclear whether this act of intimidation itself prompted the withdrawal of Afghan police from the town (which reportedly lies outside the security bubble provided by the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in the district capital). It is also unclear whether the police offered stiffer resistance before falling back (reports of Taliban casualties vary, from the Taliban’s claim to have lost only two fighters to government reports of more than 40 Taliban casualties).

It is clear that the ISAF cannot move forces to counter every flare-up without engaging in a futile game of “whack-a-mole,” which would disperse its limited forces too widely and undermine attempts to mass forces and provide sustained security in key areas such as Marjah and Kandahar. More Taliban attacks on peripheral areas such as Shah Karez will likely occur, and how the ISAF manages this Taliban tactic will be of central importance to its wider efforts in Afghanistan.

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