Rahul Gandhi from Indra Gandhi Clan, calls for Justice for Tamils in Sri Lanka while Dalits are being burnt alive in India.
Posted on December 28th, 2010
By Charles.S.Perera
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Rahul Gandhi the Congress Leader ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ tries out hisƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ancestral inheritance of interfering into political affairs of Sri Lanka, apparently imbibed into his gene system, even ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ beforeƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ reachingƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ political maturity.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ In hisƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ delayed rebellious adolescenceƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ heƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ tries out a dangerous manly statement which may have dangerous consequences saying “ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚¦.We are concerned that enough is not being done for Sri Lankan Tamils by the government there,” adding thatƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ he would take up the matter with “appropriate persons” at the Centre and see that Sri Lankan Tamils got justice.ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ His pompous declaration shows that he is ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ no where nearƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ political maturity.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Rahul Gandhi should look around him and first try putting his own house in order,ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ before looking through his looking glassesƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ into Sri Lanka to concern himself of what is going on there.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ So far Sri Lanka has managed itself well, and since 2005, even better than India. It has successfully fought ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ a ruthless terrorism, rescuing in a most daring humanitarian rescue mission ever undertaken by any Armed Force anywhere in the world, bringing to safety around 300000 Tamil civilians forcibly ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ kept under despicably degrading conditions as a human shieldƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ by the Tamil terrorists.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Rahul GandhiƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s uncalled for statement becomes all the more deplorable in the context of what is taking place under his very nose in the country of which he isƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ the President of the ruling political party.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Unfortunately for India Rahul Gandhi does not show any interest in ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ those important issues, the phantoms of the pastƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ still troubling a ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-developingƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Indian society, ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ for selfish reasons of his own, and instead he is feigning an interest in the Tamils of Sri Lanka to satisfy the TamilNadu political supporters.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Avinash Pandey Samar,ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Dalit,ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ India,ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Worldview had filedƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ the followingƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ report,
ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-The ghoulish killings of two Dalit girls in Moradabad, an industrial town not far away from the national capital Delhi, is yet another reminder of almost everyday recurrence of attacks on Dalit communities in India. They encompass, also the grim truth of the complete failure of the Indian state in containing, leave aside eradicating, violence committed against the Dalit communities. The incident is a sad indicator to the reality concerning the exceptional collapse of the rule of law institutions in the country.
The incident happened on 19 December. On that day, an angry mob burnt alive two young girls aged 25 and 22. The mother of the girls alleged that they were also raped by the mob. The crime they had committed to meet this ghastly fate was nothing more than the fact that they were Dalits and were sisters to two brothers accused in a double murder case. One of the brothers is absconding while the other, a sweeper by profession, is already in police custody.ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The failure to ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ establish Dalits as respectable citizens ofƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ a democratic India ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ is still a dark smear ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ despite ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ IndiaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s effort toƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ be the rising star of Asia.
Is Rahul Gandhi aware of the crimes committed against the Dalits which haveƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ not receivedƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ attention of the government with the police colliding to ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ mitigate the offences?ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ When Rahul speaks of justice to Sri Lanka Tamils he should ask himself, why he should not call for justice for the Dalits in his own India ?
i)ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ in Khairlanji a ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Dalit family is butchered for aspiring to escape the age-old dehumanisation forced on them.
ii)ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ in Gohana a whole community of Dalits find their houses burnt, their property looted and themselves chased out of their village for wanting to live a life with dignity.
iii)ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ in Jhajjar the Dalits were lynched on the suspicion of trading in cows and the survivors listened to a proud proclamation of the president of Vishwa Hindu Parishad, that the lives of cows are more important than that of the Dalits.
iv)ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ in Madurai, human excreta is forced down the throats of Dalits for committing the ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ crime of refusing to obey the orders of the ‘twice-born’
v)ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ in Chakwada, Rajasthan a secular government orders its police to open fire upon a Dalit procession that was asserting their right to drink from a common pond,
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Mr.Avinash Pandey Samar in his report to World View writes in conclusion:
ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…- This despicable failure of the Indian state in ensuring justice to one fifth of its population is not just a simple breakdown, but is a criminal dereliction of duty and violates the constitutional premise of legitimacy for any government to operate. A government that does not care for such a large proportion of its population cannot be expected to do justice to the rest, irrespective of caste or other denominators. Had India been a true democracy having a functioning rule of law setup, an event as gruesome as it happened on 19 December would not have happened. That it happened in this self-proclaimed largest democracy of the world proves that democracy and the rule of law are mere delusions in India.ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚
Does Rahul Gandhi still think that seeking to getƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ justice done to Tamils in Sri Lanka is more important than the justice denied to Dalits in his own countryƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ where he is ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ the leader of the Governing Party ?
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ In Sri Lanka the Tamils whether they are of lower caste or IDPs in shelters are not treated in the manner the great India treats its Dalit population.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ RahulƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Gandhi should be ashamed to call himselfƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ the ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ political leader of a country whichƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ despiteƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ having theƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ atomic bomb and adventured in to theƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ satellite age has still ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ failed to treat its own ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ people ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ with dignity, as human beings, andƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ offer ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ justice, sympathy, and generosity what ever their caste , class or profession.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Mr. Rahul Gandhi before he ventures out toƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ imprint his seal of importance in world politics should climb out of theƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ dark well of Indian politics to see what actually is happening in his India which is stepping out ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ to promote its importance as an emerging leader inƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Asia.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ A great leader would not seek popularity interfering into the internal affairs of a Sovereign State without paying attention to more urgent needs of its own people.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ For the Dalit population who are treated less than the animals in India , a new concept of political reality has to be imposed by this young ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ aspirant for leadership of the Indian Nation, before crying for justice for other people else where.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Rahul Ghandhi should as a respect to the name he bears, which reminds of the Great Mahatma Gandhi , should begin by assuring that all its citizens no matter their caste or creed is treated as equals before the law. This other Ghandi ClanƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ has been more interfering a lot , conniving with terrorist criminals to divide the nearbyƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Island of Sri Lanka.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ TheƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Indian expansionist dreamƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ began with Indira Gandhi , which was continuedƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ by Rajiv Gandhi who made the supremeƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ sacrificed in his misplaced political adventurism.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Rahula GandhiƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s grand mother Indra Gandhi created the terrosists for Sri Lanka with which it was burdened for 30 years, and RahulƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s father Rajiv GandhiƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ trespassed into Sri LankaƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ air corridors to drop ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-parippuƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ to sieged ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ terrorists in 1987 thus interrupting a decisive military operation against terrorism by the Sri Lanka Government Forces.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Rajiv Gandhi continued thereafter to impose the Indian Army as a peace keeping force and forced a naƒÆ’†’ƒ”š‚¯ve UNP president to accept as conditions ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ to maintain peace, ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ the merge of North and East andƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ introduce the 13 amendment to the Constitution of Sri Lanka.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ This gave a new ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-amunutionƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ toƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ 13 percent Tamils already askingƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ for equal rights with the Sinhala, to demand insteadƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ the establishment of a separate Eelam State.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚
Rahuls Mother Sonia Ghandhi as the Leader of the Congress party also playing to the tune of the Tamil NaduƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ asked the Indian Government not to sellƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ arms and ammunition to the Sri Lanka GovernmentƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ whenƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ requests were made by the Government of Sri Lanka during the military operations against the terrorists.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ To this Sri Lanka which has already been callously interferedƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ into ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ by his clan , Rahul Gandhi ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ seems toƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ be making his political ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-debutƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ of interference ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ by appealing ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ to the ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-CentreƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ to get justice to Tamils in Sri Lanka?
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Rahul Gandhi should know that his ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…- centre ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-to which he has ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ appealed , has failed yet to ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ do ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ justiceƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ in Jammu and ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Kashmir.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The People of your borderlands are suffering from the bombardments ofƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ American Forces, running after an Al Qaida, and Talibans.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ You have to wake up to problems with Pakistan.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Relations are gating stale with Sikh populationƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ in Punjab.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Rahul Gandhi has to wake up to other things than getting justice done to the Tamils in Sri Lanka.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The latest IƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ read is that the still ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-left overƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ terrorists after the leadership sank dead into Nandikadal are gathering somewhere in India, and they have the names of the Prime Minister andƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Karunanidhi in their death list.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ In the meantimeƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ in Orissa and Andrapradesh the Maoist movement is gathering force.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ There is trouble brewing in Punjab.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Your relations with Pakistan has to be re-established.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Pakistan is not ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-breedingƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ terrorists, if the terrorists occupies some parts of Pakistan. If the terrorists are hiding in the border villages of Pakistan,ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ you cannot say ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Pakistan is harbouring terrorists.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ You have to think of some means to bring the two governments India and Pakistan on to a civilised track of discussing the problems and settlingƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ them on friendly terms.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Such an arrangement will help both countriesƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ economically and socially and maintain a more peaceful relationship .ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Such a move by Rahul Gandhi will make him a National hero.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ That would be a far better investment thanƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ his attempt to get justice done for the Tamils in Sri Lanka.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Tamils in Sri Lanka is not Rahul GandhiƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s problem it is the problem for the President of Sri Lanka which he is quite capable settling, as he has so far settled greater problems with out any ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-young bratƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ from India or his ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…- centreƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚, having to prompt him what he should do.
December 28th, 2010 at 4:26 pm
Too Good reminder to Rahul son of the Father who helped & nourished LTTE world most notorious terrorist group. Rahul also can have same treatment from LTTE one day. Therefore be careful what you utter.
December 29th, 2010 at 1:54 am
I think Rahul is shiting in his pants thinking the LTTE will blow him into bits too if he does not blow their triumphant.
December 29th, 2010 at 6:42 am
” A man is what he eats and what his ancestors ate, and what he does and what his ancestors did.” I am not quoting anyone, I just made it up… don’t you think it is true!
Let us see who this Rahul Gandhi is? Do Indians know who he is? I don’t think so. What he stands for? Well,well his life story tells all. Let me enlighten few facts about this gentleman! In 1912, a baby boy was born to a Parsi woman named Rattimai Gandy. Her Muslim husbands name was Nawab Khan, grocer by profession. Some books list him as Jehangir Faredoon Khan. The little baby boy was named Feroze Khan. In 1930s, this handsome, dashing Feroze Khan fell in love with Indira Priyadarshani Nehru, daughter of Jawarher Lal Nehru. At the time of marriage, Miss Nehru, changed her name to Mainuna Begum, and became a Muslim. The marriage took place in a Mosque in London.
Now then, as usual, the son-in-law wants to do politics. Enter father of India, apostle of truth, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. ( aka Mahathma Gandhi ). He arranges to change Feroze Khan’s name to Feroze Gandhi by an affidavit. This Charade is organised by good old Mahathma himself. Some say Feroze took his mothers surname, just a minute, mother’s surname was Ghandy and not Gandhi. Didn’t he know how to spell his mother’s surname, or was this a mere political gimmickry? Wait, dear reader, good bits are yet to come!
Soon after, their son, Rajiv Feroze Gandhi ( Khan ) is born, the couple split, and forever live separately. Enter Mohammed Yunus from New Delhi, the second son is born and named Sanjiv. Remember not Sanjay, but Sanjiv.
The story goes that Sanjiv became Sanjay to obtain a new passport to get out from England. The details are murky and shocking! Once again affidavits are used to change names and identities.
Rajiv Feroze Gandhi ( or Khan or Gandy, god only knows who), grows up to be a handsome Indian in London in 1960s. How he became a Mechanical Engineer is another “God only knows” matter. He meets beautiful Italian Au Pair/Waitress Sania Maino. They fell in love and marry. Rajiv becomes a Catholic and marry in Church, now he is known as Roberto. Well, when in Rome do as Romans do….but for how long. Much later Sania became Sonia to be palatable to Indian public. This couple had two children, son is named Raul and daughter becomes Bianca. To the Indian gullible public they are known as Rahul and Prianka. Ha. Ha. Ha.
This gentleman who is advising Sri Lanka is Rahul Gandhi, or Raul Gandhi, or Gandy or Khan. Men should be judged only by what they so, and not by their birth. The problem of Rahul is he is confused from birth, he does not know who he is, or what he is doing and where he is going. Poor fella….
December 29th, 2010 at 9:14 am
Many thanks Mr Charles Perera for this article.
I would like to add that Mahatma Gandhi (Mahatma means Great Soul) is not a blood relation of the ruling Gandhi Family of India.
The other Great Souls of India who uplifted the Dalits of India are :
(1) Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, affectionately known as Babasaheb, was one of the most illustrious sons of India. He appeared on the Indian socio-political scene in early 1920s and remained in the forefront of all social, economic, political and religious efforts for upliftment of the lowest stratum of the Indian society known as Untouchables. Babasaheb was a great scholar who made outstanding contributions as an economist, sociologist, legal luminary, educationalist, journalist, Parliamentarian and above all, as a social reformer and champion of human rights. Babasaheb organised, united and inspired the Untouchables in
India to effectively use political means towards their goal of social equality. In his wisdom, Dr Ambedkar converted to Buddhism. He was main writer of the Indian Constitution which affords protection for Dalits under the Law. Thousands of his Dalit admirers converted to Buddhism too.
(2) Dr Narendra Jadhav (current Director of the Reserve Bank of India) is also one such person. His father broke away from his Dalit bondage by going to the big city of Bombay. He managed to educate some of his children there, and was a follower of Dr Ambedkar, and he too converted to Buddhism. Dr Narendra Jadhav is an exceptional person and is currently serving his country in the field of economics. He wrote the book “Untouchables” so that people could read about the Dalits of India. This book is written with great empathy & sympathy.
(3) The Buddha said, 2,500 yrs ago, in the Vassala Suthra that a “person is high born or low born only through his or her actions, and not by birth”, thus showing the right path of Liberation for Dalits of India. There were many Arahats of Dalit origin during the Buddha’s time.
Yes, Rahul Gandhi would do well emulate these Great Persons mentioned here if he wants to earn the lasting admiration from any sector of Indian society, without trying for the cheap ‘Divide & Rule’ tactics of the British.
December 29th, 2010 at 9:49 am
In 1983 Tamils were burnt by Sinhala racist mobs. Did any action taken by the state? No…. But in India in any case they take action against the suspects. At least a FIR (First Information Report) is filed. In Sri Lanka not a single criminal was brought to justice. So, better stop barking at Indian system or Indian politicians.
Rahul is not Namal. Namal is now joking that he will be elected from Jaffna. Rahul is the General Secretary of the INC which is the ruling party of India.
Rahul showed the guts to stay with poor people and shared the life of dalits for a day at least.
Charles Perera talk about “maturity”. Does he has any? He evade or hide why UNP and Catholic Church support LTTE terrorists. Are you morons telling here that UNP and Catholic church backed LTTE on behalf of India?
Now DALIT problem of India is a subject for the people who still support Sinhala racist thugs.
December 29th, 2010 at 11:52 am
“Now DALIT problem of India is a subject for the people who still support Sinhala racist thugs.”
Well Mudali, now thats a matter for laughing!
December 29th, 2010 at 5:35 pm
Mudali,
Welcome back. I knew this is your pet subject.
We should condemn all forms of violence. Sinhala thugs are no match to Indian thugs on Dalits.
Chrales is a peace loving person who wrote similar thing for a decade now.
You have matured a bit – your language is much better than initial “Expez buzz” language of India.
December 29th, 2010 at 6:46 pm
A big mountain is being made out of a mole-hill. Rahul was ONLY asking the voters of Tamil Nadu to voe for he Congress at the forth-coming election for the Tamil Nadu State Assembly. The words he used was to attract the voters of Tamil Nadu in favour of the Congress which has lost power in Tamil Nadu. That has NOTHING to do with the situation in Sri Lanka.
IF he wanted to do anything he could have done in the past OR at least within the last eighteen months when there were thousands pleading for food, clothing and shelter.
His talk is an “election gimmick” which need not be taken seriously
December 30th, 2010 at 7:41 am
Mudali : We now know that the 1983 Riots were well organised and not spontaneous acts of violence. The Riots were a prelude to the Tamil Exodus to the west and gave rise to the nascent ltte in the North. The Riots were videod and sent to 3 Tamil Lankan Ambassadors in London, Paris & Bonn, and shown to various western VIPs and public media. The Riots were organised for those purposes. Drugs were used on some rioters to numb their sense of judgment and some of the gangs were led by Tamil people to identify Tamil homes ! It also appears that only Tamil Hindu people and a few Sinhala people were killed, numbering between 300-400. Whoever who advised JRJ at that time meant to harm him & the GoSL, and bring disrepute to Sri Lanka & the Sinhala community, when actually many Sinhala people risked their lives to save Tamil people and their properties.
Question: Who gained from the 1983 Riots ? In the answer lies the Motive for these Riots.
Rahul’s comment appears mild. But in saying what he said, he falls into the category of the ‘divide & rule’ membership – an unhealthy approach to a fledgling leader.
That said, about a million Indians died during the separation of East & West Pakistan (Bangladesh) from India, whilst Lord Mountbatten looked on without saying a word to stop the massacre.
December 30th, 2010 at 9:01 pm
Aravinda’s comments are intriguing, and I have to believe it as well as all the readers. But I have few questions for Aravind. (Thanks for waking up from a deep dream of sleep)
1. Assumptions: AravindIs is not a Tamil Nadu Tamil or a Sri Lankan Tamil. He is an Indian because he has only one name.
2. Jawaharl Lal’s name only mentioned once. Who was Jawaharlal’s wife? How and when did she die?
This is what I know about the so called “Mahathma Gandhi”. He was an attorney in South Africa and represented many Africans successfully in the South African courts of law. So he was allowed to visit African Town ships without permits. He had craving for young South African girls of the age between 14 and 18. Not only his client gave him cash but also provided the girls of his choice. Why Gandhi ran away from South Africa was because he got an African Chieftain’s daughter pregnant. African chief asked Gandhi to get rid of his wife and get married to his 16 year old daughter. Gandhi refused the offer and gave enough money to her father to keep it quiet, which he did. Then told his wife that there was an urgent need for his services in India and got on to a ship next day. After that Gandhi told his best friend, a Muslim, to travel with his wife to India on board another ship few months later. Both of them had a good time on board the ship. By the time they arrived in India Gandhi’s wife was pregnant. And that was the only child, a boy, Gandhi had.
Now why did Gandhi select Jawaharlal Nehru against a Gugarati (I cannot remember his name)? To be the first Prime Minister? Because this so called “Mahathma Gandhi” had a relationship with Jawaharlal’s sister Vijalakshmi (Who was a POT smoker). The story is that Gandhi had a back problem and Vijajalkshmi gave massages to him.
Believe it or not Gandhi wanted to annex Northern and Eastern Provinces to Tamil Nadu and call it Greater Tamil Nadu. He also wanted Trincomalee Harbor for India.
M.S. Mudali, whenever Charles Perera writes about Sinhala you come out with some hilarious analogy and attempt to ridicule Charles. This is not gullible for the average Sinhala. What I get from the e-mails floating about is that; you are not even a Jaffna Tamil. You are from Negambo, a Catholic; you are a woman now living in Canada you are in your late 60s to close to 70 years.
Sie.Kathieravealu, this is not an Election gimmick as you state. India has nothing to do with the resettlement of Tamils. Indians want to confuse the average Sri Lankan, Rahul wants to shift the attention from repairing of houses to building of new houses where by blame is shifted to Sri Lanka government.
Mjaya, please understand who won the war? Yes racist part has to there to win a war, but it is no laughing matter may be for you and M.S. Mudali, but look at the poor Tamil who is putting together all he lost for the last 30 years, yet Tamil Nadu Karunanidhi do not want them succeed.
December 31st, 2010 at 12:12 am
Fran:
What ever justifications or reasons put forward, the remaining issue is NO ONE WAS ARRESTED on any charges by SL government.
Who were the Sinhalese killed in the 1983 riots? So far no Sinhalese claimed that their relatives killed.
Kit:
You are still in a coma.
December 31st, 2010 at 7:46 am
Mudali : A few poor Buddhist Sinhala people got killed too, mainly in the North, by the nascent ltte. No noise was made about it. When we think about those killed by the ltte, even the wealthy people’s families who lost their men folk to the ltte suicide killers, didn’t make a noise about it !
No one was arrested, but we heard, years later, that the Papal Nuncio of that time was evicted from Lanka a week after the Riots.
This should be checked up on. No one was arrested because the GoSL of that time hushed up the whole affair possibly feeling that the Riots were justified.. Even a prominent government Minister was involved, Cyril Mathew, the then Minister for Labor, as everyone knows. JRJ himself did not stop the Riots immediately, and for three whole days it was allowed to go on, though latterly it was mostly looting by the Colombo suburban poor.
(1) However, the Riots were justified on the grounds that the Tamil TULF Leaders at that time demanded a separate State in Lanka for Tamils Only. The TULF was the Powerful main Opposition party to the JRJ govt. of that time.
(2) Riots were also justified because the nascent ltte in Jaffna had gunned down 12 Army men whose bodies were brought to Colombo Kanatte for last rites, when the Army Commander at that time wanted the bodies taken to the villages as was customary.
(3) The Riots were orchestrated alright ! A large number of Tamils were ready with their passports to fly West during and after the Riots, and therefore had prior knowledge of events to come.
We do not agree that Riots are a way to settle problems. The only way to settle problems is through Dialogue and Discussion.
December 31st, 2010 at 12:59 pm
Kit
A master piece! (vis a vis Mahathma Ghandi)
Hope you get better soon
January 1st, 2011 at 5:41 pm
Mr.MUdali
Problem with you is, you ask a question and when an answer is given you do not take the trouble to read it. But comes back again to ask the same question accusing ” he evades and hides “. I answered you question which you keep on asking else where? I give it below for easy reference and you have my answer.
However we in this website are happy that you come into make your comments even if they are at times quite absurd and tinged with racism. That is how I think Tamils should interact with the Sinhala, without name calling sitting on the other side of the fence.
Here is my comment for you:
I will tell you why the Catholic Church helped LTTE.
The Catholicism as a religion is faith based. Therefore it has to have faithfuls. If there are no faithfuls the Catholicism falls apart like a pack of cards.
The Catholic Church has no love for a country or nation as such, but it has “divine” love for the faithfuls in a country and the faithfuls among the Nation of people.
Faith according to the Catholic church is to accept without question , not to be like Thomas de Apostle. It is said in the Bible “ blessed be those who believe without seeing”
That is why the Catholic Church is more active among the poor. They give gifts of money food and clothes to the poor, and say those are the gifts of divine love, trust in him- the God, and you will get more. They found fertile ground of possible converts in the North and among the poor people suffering under terrorism.
Suffering and poverty make it easy for the Church to sow the seeds of faith. The Catholic Church was also active with the fisher folk in the East and the South. They were people whose lives were uncertain battling with the seas for their catch of fish for existence, they will willingly kneel down to pray to God to make them the miracle of good catch of fish.
With Sri Lanka, poor and divided between the LTTE in the North , and the poor people in the South living in fear of terrorism, the Catholic church could have had a field day with increasing numbers of converts to its faith. That is what the Catholic Church want a weakend Sinhala Buddhist Community in a divided country
UNP is another story. UNP wants to have political power and to have it they will sign an MoU even with the Satan himself. Their love for the country is to the extent the UNP “Capitalist class “, could squeeze the poor masses to increase their financial benefits, for their luxury living conditions, and social status.
Integration is not what you seem to understand of it. Changing names is for personal identity. But social integration is different. Integration is defined as the action of incorporating a racial or religious group into a community or the act of combining into an integral whole.
The Tamils Mr.Mudali is a minority of 12 or 13 percent of the population in Sri Lanka. It is the Tamils who have to make an effort to “integrate”. If they show their good intention to “work together with the Sinhala as compatriots” without being arrogant and aggressive the Sinhala will have no problem accepting them with their arms wide open.
I do not want to make this any longer. Therefore, please drop using the word “racists” in your comments when speaking of the Sinhala and also please do not refer to each other as “guys”. It does not seem a decent way to address people.
January 2nd, 2011 at 5:48 am
Charles
You mentioned the Unethical conversions of the Religious kind.
I guess SL politicians must have learnt a few tricks from these unprincipled characters.
Unethical conversions of the Political kind.
Having hood winked the masses to get elected from one party, jump ship for the “divine” love of perks, Ministerial positions and power without any regard for their political beliefs and faithful voters.
Not sure who is worse
January 2nd, 2011 at 5:53 pm
I do not agree with Mudali brother and Charles brother
You can not say Catholism support violence. I am not a cathlic . Your statements will hurt people who are Catholics
There are thousands and thousands of Sinhala and Tamlil catholics in Srilanka who only want peace. I am sure There will be ministers, MPS , Officials, soldiers in Lanka who are Catholics
Just to comment on a religion does not make you guys superior
Mudali
Piraba and LTTE were violent . Most of LTTE were Hindus
Does that mean Hinduism support violence? . How do you feel if any one tells you that . I am sure you will be hurt if you are a Hindu right
Charles
During 1980s JVP was a very violent organization . So many innocent people from South were killed
Most of the JVP folks are Budhists
Does it mean Budhisim support violence?
A famous poet said
“He who knows not and knows not that he knows not is a fool , shun him”
January 2nd, 2011 at 7:52 pm
Jimmy,
But what Charles S Perera says are facts.
Rahul Gandhi did call for Justice for Tamils in Sri Lanka and Dalits are being burnt alive in India.
January 2nd, 2011 at 8:20 pm
Lorenzo
You mistook it
I am not at all commenting on the topic.
I am only commenting on what Mudali and Charles say about Catholisim . I am sure Charles might have made an honest mistake replying to Mudali about Catholisim
How can you say Catholisim supported Terrorists . That statment from Mudali Iyer is wrong and Charles Mathaya agreed with Mudali on this
They both are wrong
January 2nd, 2011 at 10:08 pm
Yes. Catholic church did not help LTTE. Only few Tamil bishops and fathers did. You cannot blame everyone for their sins.
January 3rd, 2011 at 1:15 am
Jimmy,
I do not speak of the Catholics, but the Catholism and the Catholic Church. Fr. Emmanual , Cardinals and Bishops like him are only paid servants of the Catholic Church. They have to do their job as any other paid workers. See how the our Cardinal is being tempted giving him responsibilities and perhaps hopes of being the next Pope if he could help to break the communities in Sri Lanka and weeken Sinhala Buddhist leadership.
Of course the Catholic people are innocent. Their forefathers were either Hindus or Buddhists, but they were duped by the Missionaries, and they were converted by tempting them with jobs, education, a foreign dress and all sorts of privileges.
The Catholic action against which Great Sinhala Buddhists like Mettananda, or even Olcott stood against was not the ordinary Catholics, but the Catholic Church. The ordinary Catholics who go to Church may not even, know the political implication of the Catholic Church
January 3rd, 2011 at 4:32 am
In the 80s a Catholic priest Anton Sinnarasaa directly involved in a Bank robbery and escaped through a jail break.
Money was given through the Christian churches to Tamil militant groups at the start of the EELAM trouble. Jaffna has ALL the churches of the Christian denominations.
Fr. Singarayar was involved in the bank robbery of Puttur with Prabhakaran.
Rayappu ran to the LTTE territory with the Statue of Mary when the army advanced against the LTTE.
Catholic priests holding pictures of Prabhakaran in Kilinochchi and demanding “justice”.
Fr. Emmanuel is the head of the Global tamil Forum which is the biggest mouth piece of LTTE terrorists.
Did any Catholic or Vatican ever condemn these priests?
One Sinhala Catholic priest was arrested when he tried to leave with anti-government DVD.
Fr. Pathinathan and his gang are still in the custody for helping LTTE during the last days of the war.
In Sri Lanka Catholic Church has the biggest following than the Anglicans. Anglican church always bend to anything Catholic Church preach.
Jimmy is now fooling others.
Minority is the easy target of the FOREIGN elements to work against Sri lanka. Christian churches tried to carve out an area to establish a STATE like EAST TIMOR in Sri Lanka but it was defeated with the help of India and other nations.
So, Christian designs will be met by iron hands in Sri lanka in the future.
Now all the parties accepted the UNITARY state of Sri lanka. The government and the people must find peaceful ways to solve the existing issues instead of giving chances to others to take those issues to make mockery again!
Sinhalese must remember that VATICAN is also a GUN producing nation. If peace exists everywhere, Christian nations, who are the biggest gun producers, cannot make any profit anywhere. Now they look for “troubles’ in Asia to expand their GUN business.
January 3rd, 2011 at 7:31 pm
Mudali
I am shocked to see the allegations against Cathlolic Religion . I never heard of it
I agree with Lorenzo You cannot blame everyone for their sins.
Lorenzo
You are a Gentleman
Verbal Attack on a Race or religion is totally unacceptable in the civilized world
I am not a Catholic . I was a hindu and converted to Christianity 15 years ago during my my college days here
Now I am a born again Pentecostal I enjoy every day being a christian . I love Jesus with all my heart
It is my belief . We all can practise any religion as long as it does not bother others
I prefer not to argue on this matter with you
Peace
Thanks
January 4th, 2011 at 3:17 am
Indian Dalits as well as several millions slum dwellers also living in subhuman conditions and may not a human and justice issue to Rahul and his New Delhi clans.
I happened to watch the Rahul Gandhi’s master America’s academy awarded best film in 2009 “Slum dog millioner” about Rahul Ghandi’s country. The living conditions in India’s commercial hub Mumbai’s slums are terrible and unbelievable and worsen than hell I recon. (Culcutta, Delhi and Chennai equally horrible). I noticed several million live without toilet facilities and drinking water even. Why don’t they consider to solve the problems of toilet and other basic hygienic issues of millions poor Indian slum dwellers in Mumbai and other cities. But they spent 30 Billion Dollars to Delhi common wealth games it self to entertain white masters but whites laugh on their a. h to Indians.
I had to close my eyes when I watch “Slum Dog Millioner” how Indians remove kids eyes by forks to make them beggars and chop hands and legs. This is really happens in all over the India as an on going large-scale business and one of my Indian friend confirmed it as a true scenario. Doesn’t Rahul think it is not a humanitarian catastrophe and injustice?
In “Slum Dog Millioner” how freely they kill Muslims and isn’t it a injustice for muslims. Is it true killing of muslim believers by hindus is legal in India ever since. I think Rahul has to solve it in his country. His dad Rajiv failed, his grand ma Indira failed and his great grand dad Javaharlal failed to solve it. It is more than 60 years since British left but in India, still Hindus can kill Muslims as much as they want. Killing of muslims very well encouraged by Nehru, Gandhi Hindu clique with the blessing of British invaders. Rahul’s great granddad’s era more than one million Muslims killed in India. I was shocked when I watch the film Deepa Mehta’s “ The Earth” and read “Last Train”. How Rahul classify when one million Muslims killed by Hindu racists. Is it justice or injustice?
Rahul know that in India still 75% living below the poverty line (750 million). In Delhi itself there are 60,000 beggars and pavement squatters and 800,000 slum dwellers. Mubai’s population is nearly 18 million and 75% lives below the poverty line. Rather than solve his 750 million Indians problems why this man tries to interfere our internal matters.
MUDali our topic is not on Catholics but on Rahul Gandhi who’s father Rajiv Gandhi burst in to pieces by tamil velupillai and gang. Tamils taught a great lesson to Gandhi family. Now his son follows his dad’s footstep and interferes to Sri Lanka.
January 8th, 2011 at 1:29 am
Sri Rohana has done well to remind MSMudali that this article is not about Catholics but Rahul Gandhi. Unfortunately, the writer of the article himself let the discussion get away from the topic when he sought to answer MSMudali’s comments of 29th December, which said in part,“Charles Perera talk about “maturity”. Does he has any? He evade or hide why UNP and Catholic Church support LTTE terrorists”.
It was also unfortunate that after telling Mudali how his comments are sometimes “absurd” (and that is true) Charles responded in no more sensible fashion, presenting his own skewed view of Catholics and the Catholic Church, with such statements as “The Catholicism as a religion is faith based. Therefore it has to have faithfuls. If there are no faithfuls the Catholicism falls apart like a pack of cards.” Really!
And then on 3rd January, we had Charles providing yet another response – this time to Jimmy. And his statements this time were just as ill informed. For instance, he said such things as “I do not speak of the Catholics, but the Catholism and the Catholic Church” and “ Fr. Emmanual , Cardinals and Bishops like him are only paid servants of the Catholic Church. They have to do their job as any other paid workers”. From where Charles got these ideas, I simply don’t know. He also went on to say, “Of course the Catholic people are innocent” adding, “Their forefathers were either Hindus or Buddhists, but they were duped by the Missionaries, and they were converted by tempting them with jobs, education, a foreign dress and all sorts of privileges”
As far as I am able to work out, “Catholic people” include “Fr. Emmanual, Cardinals and Bishops”. So, is Charles saying they are both ‘guilty’ and ‘innocent’ at the same time?
And how can he be sure the forefathers of today’s Sri Lankan Catholics were “either Hindus or Budddhists”? Could not some of them have been Muslims or Animists or plain atheists?
And is it not possible that some, at least, of them converted to Christianity because they genuinely found the new faith more appealing, just as King Devanampiyatissa did when he embraced Buddhism when Mahinda brought the new religion to the island? Today, many Westerners are turning to Buddhism in the same way.
If, as Charles states, the forefathers of today’s Sri Lankan Catholics converted to their new faith because of various inducements, how can we be certain that some of those who converted to Buddhism when it was first brought to the island, were not similarly lured? Consider, for instance, those in the service of the King. Under what pressures might they have been to adopt the new faith?
To me, all this is, however, only of academic interest. Does it really matter if some of the forefathers of present day Sri Lankan Catholics converted to their new religion for the sake of expediency just as some of their own forefathers may have embraced a new religion 2,000 years before? I don’t think it does.
In writing the above, I have been conscious I was not addressing the real topic of the article but the author has himself seen fit to stray from it and some of his statements warrant a response.
Now, to the real topic of the article. The old saying that those who live in glass houses should not throw stones applies very aptly in this instance. Charles is absolutely right in saying Rahul Gandhi has no right to be moralizing about the plight of the Tamils in Sri Lanka when conditions in India for those like the Dalits are worse. (Incidentally, I believe many Dalits have been converting to Buddhism because it allows them to escape the ‘caste trap’ in which they are caught under Hinduism.) Rahul Gandhi should first concern himself with the problems in his own backyard before worrying about what is happening in Sri Lanka. Indira and Rajiv Gandhi were no friends of Sri Lanka. It seems this Gandhi is no different.
It would be too much to expect Indian politicians to not meddle in the affairs of Sri Lanka. And we can be sure that the Congress Party will not hesitate to exploit the issue of the Tamils in Sri Lanka, just as shamelessly as the Tamil Nadu based political parties have been doing, if there are votes to be gained by it. Politicians, as we well know, can stoop to almost anything. And, that of course happens on both sides of the Palk Straits.
January 8th, 2011 at 2:11 pm
Cassandra
I commend you for the comment above.
It’s a common trait of Lankans to attack the writer and not deal with the content or go off in a tangent totally unrelated to the topic. (some i fear are tantamount to sheer racism through ignorance)
Relating to your final para.
Rahul is,was and will play to the TN galleries. Good luck to him. Yes, i agree Rahul should be dealing with affairs closer to home and not meddling with Lankan affairs. He is a Politician! They are strange creatures, and you dont have to look far from home to gather the irrational behaviour.
However, India will, call it meddle, influence, conspire or whatever word you wish to say because thats the way it was and it will how ever much we bash our keyboards. China , does it the subtle way, India does it the big mouth way.
Only recently the Tourism Ministry revealed the number of Tourist arriving in SL. Majority of those numbers were from India.
India has flooded SL with cheap plastics, paints,drugs, leather and rubber no other country wanted. More recently we have heard of Egg, Chicken, Onion and Coconut drops.
Let’s face it- blame India,the West, Tamil Diasporas, INGO, NGO and all and sundry (Catholic Church for Mudalli) for our insecurity and mistakes.
When will we ever learn?
January 11th, 2011 at 3:34 am
Cassandra
Mudali’s comments made me write about the Catholic Church, despite the fact that the article commented on was on Rahul Gandhi’s statement.
What was written about Catholism and the Catholic Church and its political interests do not come either from my absurd and skewed view, nor is the statement that the Catholicism is faith based.
There is ample evidence for it being a faith based religion in the Bible itself , the book of Job for instance. And again the words ascribed to Jesus Christ , “ blessed are those who have not seen yet believed”.
Bishop Hilarion Alfeyev says about faith “Unless I see I will not believe”. This is how people who demand from us logical, tangible proof of the Christian faith often answer us, the faithful. But there are not and cannot be such proof, for the Christian faith is beyond the grasp of rational thought, being super-rational. Nothing in the Christian faith, be it the existence of God, the resurrection of Christ or other truths, can be proven logically: one can only accept them or reject them on the basis of faith. “
Catholic Action is not unknown to Sri Lankans and it was not the ordinary Catholics who were responsible, but the Church.
About remuneration to the Christian priests, I have this extract: “The salary of a Roman Catholic priest depends upon many factors. In the United States, the first major factor is whether the priest is a diocesan (secular) priest or a professed (order) priest. Diocesan priests who live “in the world” and generally are responsible for taking care of parish churches receive a salary from their parish to keep for personal use (savings, retirement, automobile, vacations, charity, etc.). The diocese will set this salary and usually there will be a multiplier or other incentives for years served, the size of the parish, the oversight of a Catholic school, or other factors. In the U.S., priests pay taxes on this salary as everyone else does. (Actually, priests pay more than their share as they have to pay both halves of social security… strangely enough, they are ’employees’ with respect to federal and state taxes, but ‘self employed’ with respect to social security.) “
Read more: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_the_salary_of_a_Catholic_priest#ixzz1AgNu3VgZ
In Sri Lanka I think the majority of the Catholics are Tamils or Sinhalese, and they belonged to Hinduism and Buddhism. There was no animism as far as I know in Sri Lanka when Christianity was introduced to Sri Lanka, I have no evidence of Muslims converted to Catholicism. I have family members who are Catholics, their ancestors were Buddhists.
At the time the Missionaries were converting the people to their faith, those simple people may have found the converters kind and pleasing more than the religion about which thy were only informed by the converting priests or nuns. They may have liked the biblical stories, which were selected and read out to them, as the Bible has stories to satisfy every taste.
Jonathan Kirsch says in his book, “ The Harlot by the side of the Road- Forbidden Tales of the Bible” “…The stories you are about to read are some of the most violent and sexually explicit in all of Western literature. They are tales of human passion in all of its infinite variety: adultery, seduction, incest, rape, mutilation, assassination, torture, sacrifice, and murder. And yet every one of these stories is drawn directly from the pages of the Holy Bible.”
Even today in certain villages poor families are converted giving them gifts and financial aid, by Catholic Missionaries .
Following is an extract from an article on conversion: “Similarly the Catholic church also never gave up on conversion. This church has separate departments for the subject of conversion. Such as the ?Sacred Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples”. Evangelisation means ?to convert?. There is also the Catholic objective of ?Consecration Mundi” or the conversion of the whole world. »
http://www.christianaggression.org/item_display.php?type=ARTICLES&id=1058908729
Regarding King Devanmpiyatissa, Venerabl Mahinda was the son of his Friend King Asoka, and the King listened to the discourses of Venerable Mahinda was pleased with the teachings and accept the Teachings of the Buddha.
There was no pressure for the King to accept Buddhism. When the Royalty accepted Buddhism the laity too accepted it, as it happened in China and Korea. There was no pressure on the people to accept the faith of the King. There was no conversion in Buddhism. The teaching is there for any one to come and see and experience the truth of it before accepting it.
Yes, it does not matter that the fore father of the present day Catholics were converted to Catholicism , but I wish that they were not converted, as they were the heirs to Buddhism a far greater religious philosophy than Catholicism.
Buddhism is a pragmatic philosophy which can be tested for its validity. It begins from what is seen and known such as the suffering, to unseen and unknown- the Nibbana. Where as Christianity begins from an unseen , unknown God to an unseen, unknown paradise.
January 11th, 2011 at 4:33 am
Word Press I think I have right of reply to Cassandra. Please therefore accept my comment:
Cassandra
Mudali’s comments made me write about the Catholic Church, despite the fact that the article commented on was on Rahul Gandhi’s statement.
What was written about Catholism and the Catholic Church and its political interests do not come either from my absurd and skewed view, nor is the statement that the Catholicism is faith based.
There is evidence for it being a faith based religion in the Bible itself , the book of Job for instance. And again the words ascribed to Jesus Christ , “ blessed are those who have not seen yet believed”. Bishop Hilarion Alfeyev says about faith “Unless I see I will not believe”. This is how people who demand from us logical, tangible proof of the Christian faith often answer us, the faithful. But there are not and cannot be such proof, for the Christian faith is beyond the grasp of rational thought, being super-rational. Nothing in the Christian faith, be it the existence of God, the resurrection of Christ or other truths, can be proven logically: one can only accept them or reject them on the basis of faith. “
Catholic Action is not unknown to Sri Lankans and it was not the ordinary Catholics who were responsible, but the Church.
About remuneration to the Christian priests, I have this extract: “The salary of a Roman Catholic priest depends upon many factors. In the United States, the first major factor is whether the priest is a diocesan (secular) priest or a professed (order) priest. Diocesan priests who live “in the world” and generally are responsible for taking care of parish churches receive a salary from their parish to keep for personal use (savings, retirement, automobile, vacations, charity, etc.). The diocese will set this salary and usually there will be a multiplier or other incentives for years served, the size of the parish, the oversight of a Catholic school, or other factors. In the U.S., priests pay taxes on this salary as everyone else does. (Actually, priests pay more than their share as they have to pay both halves of social security… strangely enough, they are ’employees’ with respect to federal and state taxes, but ‘self employed’ with respect to social security.) “
Read more: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_the_salary_of_a_Catholic_priest#ixzz1AgNu3VgZ
In Sri Lanka I think the majority of the Catholics are Tamils or Sinhalese, and they belonged to Hinduism and Buddhism. There was no animism as far as I know in Sri Lanka when Christianity was introduced to Sri Lanka, I have no evidence of Muslims converted to Catholicism. I have family members who are Catholics, their ancestors were Buddhists.
At the time the Missionaries were converting the people to their faith, those simple people may have found the converters kind and pleasing more than the religion about which thy were only informed by the converting priests or nuns. They may have liked the biblical stories, which were selected and read out to them, as the Bible has stories to satisfy every taste.
Jonathan Kirsch says in his book, “ The Harlot by the side of the Road- Forbidden Tales of the Bible” “…The stories you are about to read are some of the most violent and sexually explicit in all of Western literature. They are tales of human passion in all of its infinite variety: adultery, seduction, incest, rape, mutilation, assassination, torture, sacrifice, and murder. And yet every one of these stories is drawn directly from the pages of the Holy Bible.”
Even today in certain villages poor families are converted giving them gifts and financial aid, by Catholic Missionaries .
Folloing is an extract from an article on conversion: “Similarly the Catholic church also never gave up on conversion. This church has separate departments for the subject of conversion. Such as the ?Sacred Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples”. Evangelisation means ?to convert?. There is also the Catholic objective of ?Consecration Mundi” or the conversion of the whole world. » http://www.christianaggression.org/item_display.php?type=ARTICLES&id=1058908729
Regarding King Devanmpiyatissa, Venerabl Mahinda was the son of his Friend King Asoka, and the King listened to the discourses of Venerable Mahinda was pleased with the teachings and accept the Teachings of the Buddha. There was no pressure for the King to accept Buddhism. When the Royalty accepted Buddhism the laity too accepted it, as it happened in China and Korea. There was no pressure on the people to accept the faith of the King. There was no conversion in Buddhism. The teaching is there for any one to come and see and experience the truth of it before accepting it.
Yes, it does not matter that the fore father of the present day Catholics were converted to Catholicism , but I wish that they were not converted, as they were the heirs to Buddhism a far greater religious philosophy than Catholicism.
Buddhism is a pragmatic philosophy which can be tested for its validity. It begins from what is seen and known such as the suffering, to unseen and unknown- the Nibbana. Where as Christianity begins from an unseen , unknown God to an unseen, unknown paradise.
January 11th, 2011 at 8:00 pm
Charles,
I note your comments.
About King Devanampiyatissa, I did not suggest he was under any pressure to embrace Buddhism. What I said was that just as he was attracted to Buddhism because he found the new religion appealing, some of those who converted to Christianity will also have done so for the same reasons – that is they found the new faith attractive, NOT that they converted because of inducements.
January 11th, 2011 at 8:30 pm
Charles
My humble opinion is we should never talk of Religion at all
No one should say one religion is better than other . It is a waste of energy and time to even discuss
You will say Budhisim is the best . Mudali will say Hinduism is the best . May be both me and Cassendra will say Christianity is the best . A Muslim will say Islam is the best
We all can practise any religion as long as we do not hurt any one in thoughts or in actions
Charles/
Will you pray for me please
I will pray for you
Good night Peace
January 11th, 2011 at 8:36 pm
Buddhism played a key role in creating a civilised unitary nation in this island. And it still does. So even if you are not a Buddhist you must respect it more than you respect any other religion (other than your own of course). Sri Lanka must always remain a Buddhist nation and the government should always give the supreme status to Buddhism (the religion not the practitioners). This was how SL was and this is how it should be.
January 11th, 2011 at 8:37 pm
I agree with Jimmy. We shouldn’t. No need. Lets look for common ground than reasons to differ.
January 12th, 2011 at 1:40 am
Jimmy,
Whether one religion is better than another is a matter of subjective view, and I agree that this is not a matter we should be discussing. We should indeed respect all religions and desist from making hurtful remarks about other people’s faiths.
January 12th, 2011 at 4:22 am
It is agreed that religion is subjective. Buddhism is not a religion in the sense of a belief in a creator God and of faith. Buddhism is a philosophy which can be followed without being a Buddhist, being a Catholic, Christian, Muslim or Hindu.
A life spent without harming others even an animal, without taking away anything that belongs to others with the intention of depriving the other of its possession, living a morally disciplined life, being truthful and keeping away from intoxicants one can while belonging to another religious faith accumulate kusala kamma ( wholesome action) to lead a good worldly life or even be born again to enjoy a good worldly life, with all its defects such as as endless suffering.
It is only to get way from suffering and end all after lives to attain Nibbana that one should follow the teachings of the Buddha.
Therefore there is no assertion that one religion is better than another .
But for a Buddhist, the greatest gift that one can give to another is the Gift of Dhamma.
January 12th, 2011 at 6:16 am
Charles,
I note your comments and must say I cannot quarrel with your sentiments. Cheers.