Islamic Version of the Gita Dham

The Bharatiya Chetna Kendra is working on an Islamc version of the Gita Dham, which may be creatd  in Muslim-majority vilages, and which will be more acceptable to the Muslims. The name is yet to be decided, but the objects are the same: harness the power of religions to bring enlightenment, remove poverty and  spread knowledge, social harmony and non-violence. The only difference will be that here the Qoran will be the principal guiding book. A Muslim friend Sheikh Badruddoja has offered land for this Centre. Though we always had it in mind to take up such endeavours after successfully putting in place a few Gita Dhams, it appears that there is no harm in starting the preparatory conceptual work now itself. I am in Delhi to talk to a few liberal Maulanas on the precise cconceptual architecture and name of the Centre.
The India  civilizstion is known for its tolerance, spirit of accommodation and respect for all modes of worship, and therefore of all religions. That all paths lead to the same goal and same God is one of the fundamental tents of the Indian culture.

Corruption and the Indian Civilization

India today is not only among the poorest countries of the world but also among the most corrupt. There was a time when, according the accounts of some foreign travelers, no man was found dishonest and no woman unchaste in India. The Gita explicitly says in the 16th Chapter that wealth earned through dishonest means blocks the paths to the heaven. Books like the Gita and the Ramayana have vanished from homes, and there are few leaders to teach honesty by example. Money has become the summon bonum of life. It has replaced God as the principal object of worship. All institutions in India today are neck-deep into corruption. Some of the reasons of this state of affairs are: impact of the consumerist culture combined with poverty and lack of education; leaders corrupted by the political and electoral system of India, and bureaucrats prepared to toe the line of their political masters.

On the 23rd of November, I came across a group of students sitting on fast-unto-death near Governor's House at Ranchi. I talked to them. The alleged that to favor a few for corrupt reasons they had been rejected on dubious grounds by the Jharkhand Public Service Commission - the statutory body for recruitment at the high levels of government service in the state. I talked to the JPSC Chairman and other officials, but their replies were mutually contradictory and unconvincing. They refused to be transparent. Then I also sat on a symbolic fast for three days with the students, but nothing moved. Then I finally filed a Public Interest Litigation in the hon’ble High Court and I myself argued the case before the bench headed by the Chief Justice. The PIL was admitted for hearing. The next date for detailed hearing is the 6th January, 2016. Let us see what the outcome is.

Coming out of the High Court after filing the PIL which was accepted for hearing.

On fast in support of the students 

Vivekananda's Chicago speech on India's tolerant character.

In today's raging debate on  India's tolerance and intolerance, it is important to read the first para of Swami Vivekananda's world-famous speech at Chicago Parliament of Religions.

"Sisters and Brothers of America,

It fills my heart with joy unspeakable to rise in response to the warm and cordial welcome which you have given us. I thank you in the name of the most ancient order of monks in the world; I thank you in the name of the mother of religions; and I thank you in the name of millions and millions of Hindu people of all classes and sects. My thanks, also, to some of the speakers on this platform who, referring to the delegates from the Orient, have told you that these men from far-off nations may well claim the honour of bearing to different lands the idea of toleration. I am proud to belong to a religion which has taught the world both tolerance and universal acceptance. We believe not only in universal toleration, but we accept all religions as true. I am proud to belong to a nation which has sheltered the persecuted and the refugees of all religions and all nations of the earth. I am proud to tell you that we have gathered in our bosom the purest remnant of the Israelites, who came to Southern India and took refuge with us in the very year in which their holy temple was shattered to pieces by Roman tyranny. I am proud to belong to the religion which has sheltered and is still fostering remnant Zoroastrian nation. I will quote to you, brethren, a few lines from a hymn which I remember to have repeated from my earliest boyhood, which is every day repeated by millions of human beings: "As the different streams having their sources in different places all mingle their water in the sea, so, O Lord, the different paths which men take through different tendencies, various though they appear, crooked or straight, all lead to Thee."