[Prev][Next][Index][Thread]

Re: ARTICLE : Amarnath tragedy : Solution in Hindu self-help



In article <ghenDxBv4t.4Ln@netcom.com>,
Global Hindu Electronic Network  <ghen@netcom.com> wrote:
[...]
>I am personally in disagreement with the above statement as well, but, 
>why blame it on VHP crowd (whoever that includes) and imply that it has 
>to do with the relationship between VHP and Shankaracharyas ?

That article was full of political overtones, and the person who
submitted to SRH has this tendency to send out pro-BJP material. Here
are a few interesting snippets from that article:

#This arrogant condescension - so visible during the  Home
#Minister's exchange with Atal Behari Vajpayee in the  Lok
#Sabha  should, by now, be familiar.

Hmmm... the Home Minister is being attacked, and look who's mentioned
in the same breath as the person opposed to the Home
Minister. Recognize the name of the person mentioned? I do.

Or, how about this statement:

#In  a macabre display of callousness, a combative  H.  D.
#Deve  Gowda  read  out  a  prepared  text  to  Parliament
#claiming  "we  have  done our best".

Hmmm... the Prime Minister is being attacked for being callous - how
convenient, but after reading some of the conditions on that
pilgrimage, it seems that hindsight is easy.

That article even makes the reasonable questions sound like political
attempts to push away guilt:

#As the scale of the tragedy unfolds, impertinent and silly questions
#are being asked.  Why were the elderly and physically weak allowed to
#undertake the difficult trek to the cave?  Since there was a carnival
#like atmosphere prevailing before the storm, were the pilgrims pious
#devotees of Lord Shiva or plain revellers?  Why should the Government
#be blamed for the sudden deterioration in the weather?

Look at that last question - the author would like to make it sound
like anyone asking that question is trying to protect the government,
but that question seems very reasonable.

Of course, the next paragraph states:

#The  scepticism  betrays a profound ignorance  of  Indian custom.

But it only discusses the issues of the elderly taking treks - it
doesn't mention the bad weather conditions at all. However, the
lumping of the questions seems designed to steer people away from
asking the reasonable questions - why _is_ the government being blamed
for something which was essentially a natural disaster?

Finally, the article closes with:

#The  time  has come for Hindu organisations to  take  the
#management of pilgrimages in their own hands, using their
#own resources.  Sensitivity can only come when there is a
#shared commitment to the worthiness of ritualised faith.

Interestingly, I don't recall reading anything which stated that the
Hindu organizations had been prevented from doing so all these years.

So what stopped them from acting?

-Vivek