COMMUNITY


Bullet-for-bullet can end terrorism, says ex-CBI chief

By Narain Kataria

New York: The Hindu Temple Society of North America, the Indian American Intellectuals Forum and several other Hindu organizations joined hands to celebrate with pomp, pageantry and enthusiasm the 14th Hindu Sangathan Divas (Hindu Unity Day) on Hindu Temple Auditorium in Flushing, here on August 10.
The auditorium was packed to capacity and more than 1000 Hindus attended the celebration. Putting aside their caste, creed, color, and national identities, the Hindus from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Guyana, Trinidad and many other countries, participated in the unique event.
The dignitaries, who addressed the huge audience, were Dr. Subramanian Swamy, president of Janata Party from India, who was the chief guest; Sardar Joginder Singh, former Chief of India’s Central Bureau of Intelligence, who was the keynote speaker; Rajeev Malhotra, founder of Infinity Foundation and a philanthropist; Nithya Bhaktananda Swamy, a very successful business professional-turned-spiritual master, and Dr. Uma Mysorekar, president of Hindu Temple Society of North America.
The Hindu public and the assembled leaders deliberated over the serious problems of the persecution of Hindus in Bangladesh, the terrorist bomb blasts in mega Indian cities such as Bangaluru, Jaipur and Ahmedabad, the forcible conversion of Hindus to other religions, the acquisition of Hindu temple lands by the government in India, the return of 100-acre land to the Amarnath Shrine, widespread terrorism, and rampant corruption in governmental agencies. Numerous resolutions were proposed and were passed unanimously by voice vote.
In his hard-hitting speech supported by facts, Dr. Subramanian Swamy said that the anti-Hindu focus of the present UPA government in India has become abundantly obvious, especially in the case of Sethusamudram Ship Channel Project that was supposedly needed to accomplish certain maritime objectives. All along, the government was insisting to follow one particular route that required destroying the historical Rama Setu, the ancient bridge built by the army of Lord Sri Rama in order to reach the island of Lanka.
That was despite the fact that there were five other alternative routes available to accomplish what was needed. Yet, the government was hell-bent on breaking the Rama Setu and hurting the sentiments of nine hundred fifty million Hindus. “Why?” Dr. Swamy asked and answered: “It is because Karunanidhi, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, and Sonia Gandhi, Congress Party chairperson, hate the Hinduism.”
For the first time since 1947, Hindus have won a court case for Hinduism, by having the Supreme Court direct the national government look for another route because, as the judges observed, “Where the faith is hurt, development project has to give way.” Now the government is exploring an alternative route, which was Dr. Swamy’s demand in his writ petition.
Dr. Swamy argued that the terrorists have political objectives that every Indian must act to nullify. For example, he cited the fact that terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir have killed the Hindu Pandits and driven out 375,000 Hindus to create a Caliphate there. “Retaliate,” he thundered, “by sending one million ex-servicemen to settle in the Valley for good. Give them the necessary weapons to defend themselves and also an amount of Rs. 5 lakh each to build their homes.”
Dr. Swamy said: “If the terrorists bomb our temples, then send the army to take over the mosque built on the Kashi-Vishwanath temple, and restore the entire area to Lord Shiva.” “If the Bangladeshis infiltrate into India as they have,” Dr. Swamy pointed out, “then demand the territory from Bangladesh.” “Let us send a column of Indian army from Khulna to Sylhet in Bangladesh and annex the top one-third of that nation as the compensation,” he said.
The jam-packed auditorium roared with approval at every punch line and gave Dr. Swamy a standing ovation for five minutes when he finally finished his talk.
Speaking on the menace of terrorism, former CBI chief Sardar Joginder Singh said: “Nowhere in the world was the problem of terrorism ever tackled through talks with the terrorists.” Quoting Gulam Nabi Azad, a Congress veteran leader and an ex-Chief Minister of the state of Jammu and Kashmir, Sardar Joginder Singh said, “He (Azad) had once said that ‘bullet-for-bullet’ was the only way to solve the problem of terrorism. You have to kill the terrorists or else they will kill you.”
“Thousands of innocent people have been killed in India due to terrorism,” lamented Joginder Singh, “We should follow the Israeli model to handle terrorism. In Israel, citizens have been trained to be vigilant about the suspicious activities of anti-national elements. Hence, it is the duty of government to encourage citizens to cooperate with it. At the same time, it is the responsibility of every citizen to cooperate with security agencies in capturing terrorists.
Rajeev Malhotra, a highly acclaimed intellectual and a philanthropist, was honored at the event for his exceptional services to the Hindu society. Malhotra emphasized the importance of maintaining the Hindu identity.
Nitya Bhaktananda Swami said that Hinduism believed in giving, loving, sharing and caring. Temples played very important role in uniting the Hindu people. Scriptures, Guru-shishya tradition, temples and society were the four pillars of Hindu Dharma.
Dr. Uma Mysorekar said: “It was wrong to say that Hinduism is merely a way of life. Hinduism is a full-fledged religion and has its own scriptures, methodology and identity.”
Earlier, Indira Narasimharajan welcomed the audience. Narain Kataria, president of Intellectual Forum, said that Hindus and Sikhs have suffered immensely at the hands of invaders while they have also rejoiced together. Hindus consider Sikhs as their blood brothers. “The system of Roti” and Beti is still prevalent between the Sikhs and Hindus in Punjab. Guru Arjun Dev, Guru Teg Bahadur and Guru Gobind Singh and his four sons sacrificed their lives for the protection of Hindu Dharma. Contributions of Sikhs in the struggle for India’s freedom were unparalleled in the annals of history,” he said.
Arish Sahani, vice president of the Forum, proposed a vote of thanks. Rene Lobo, a distinguished journalist and director of community news at television channel ITV, emceed the event.
The gathering passed 12 resolutions that included seeking to abrogate the Article 30 of the Indian Constitution, implement Uniform Civil Code, repeal Article 370 of India’s Constitution, expel all illegal infiltrators, free all Hindu temples from the government control, ban cow slaughter, build Ramjnmabhoomi Temple at Ayodhya, restore the land allotment to the Board of Amarnath Shrine in Jammu, and no reservations of any kind on the basis of religion.