An estimated 500 inauthentic accounts that called for violence and promoted memes, as well as incendiary videos, were created on Twitter Inc. during riots in Leicester between late August and early September this year, according to the Network Contagion Research Institute at Rutgers University.

Hundreds took to the streets in the days following a cricket match between long-held rivals India and Pakistan on Aug. 27, with some rioters carrying sticks and batons and throwing glass bottles as police were deployed to calm the masses. Homes, cars and religious artifacts were vandalised during the clashes, which went on for weeks and resulted in 47 arrests, according to Leicestershire police.

Social media was rife with videos claiming to show mosques being set alight and claims of kidnapping,forcing policeto issue warnings that people should not believe misinformation online.Many of the Twitter accounts that amplified the unrest originated in India,researchers said.

Anti-Muslim sentiment has been rising in India under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, leading to a narrative that Hindus outside the country, some of whom are not Indian, subscribe to Hindutva, a kind of Hindu nationalism. An initial video purporting to show Hindutva Hindus attacking Muslim men sparked uncorroborated claims that local, politically motivated activists amplified, researchers said. The video sparked the interest of a foreign influence network, the involvement of which contributed to real-world violence, according to the findings.

US technology companies played a key role in fanning the confrontations, according to Leicester Mayor Peter Soulsby, numerous media reports and participants including Adam Yusuf, a 21-year-old who told a judge that he brought a knife to a demonstration and was influenced by social media.

Our research finds that both domestic networks of assailants and foreign actors now compete to use social media as a weapon in the midst of heightened ethnic tensions, said Joel Finkelstein, founder of NCRI. Our methods highlight a process and technology that democracies need to learn to take preventative measures and protect themselves and their communities.

Using data collected from Googles YouTube, Meta Platforms Inc.s Instagram, Twitterand ByteDance Ltd.s TikTok the NCRI report published Wednesday provides one of the most detailed views of how foreign influencers spread disinformation at a local level, transpiring intoclashes in one of the most diverse cities in the UK.

Mentions of Hindu exceeded mentions of Muslim by nearly 40%, and Hindus were largely depicted as aggressors and conspirators in a global project for international dominance, NCRIs linguistic analysis found. They found that 70% of violent tweets, using sentiment analysis from Googles Jigsaw service, were made against Hindus during the Leicester riot timeframe.

One particularly effective meme, eventually banned by Twitter,circulated under the hashtag#HindusUnderAttackInUK, researchers said. The cartoondepictedthe Muslim community as insects, alleging that different aspects of Islam werecombining together to destroy India.

Researchers also found evidence of bot-like accounts which disseminated both anti-Hindu and anti-Muslim messaging, each blaming the other for the violence. The bots were identified based on the time of account creationand the number of repeated tweets, with some tweeting 500 times per minute, accordingto the findings.

Its not Hindus versus Muslims its Leicester versus extremist Hindus who came here through fake Portuguese passports, they started coming here 5 years ago, before the Hindus and Muslims lived peacefully, wrote one account flagged by NCRI. Another, which has been banned, said that Hindus were trying to mobilise a global genocide.

Largely, the researchers found that UK-based assailants used social media platforms as a weapon to organise attacks and amplify conspiracies against British Hindus, which in turn caused a tit-for-tat relationship between these two forces, said Finkelstein.

After the first instances of fake videos spread on Twitter, ahighly orchestrated echo chamber,from India kicked into amplifytweets solely blaming Muslims for the events in Leicester, the report claimed, which in turned spurred even more violence against Hindus in Leicester.

This suggested thatlocal community tensions were ripe for exploitation on Twitter by external nationalist groups, the researchers warned. The BBC and disinformation research company Logically also found evidence that a lot of the social media posts during the unrest hailed from India, some 5,000 miles away.

Fiyaz Mughal, an author of the report and the founder of Tell MAMA,a service that allows people in the UKto report anti-Muslim abuse and monitors Islamophobic incidents, said he was shocked at how quickly social networks could jump on these issues. Mughal said the events in Leicester proved the risk to the national security of any country today.

Twitter didnt respond to a request for comment.

Claudia Webbe, the MP for Leicester East,told Bloomberg Newsthe riots were undoubtedly sparked by social media. Although hundreds of police were deployed to areas around the West Midlands to monitor the demonstrations, she said she believed most of her constituents within the Hindu and Muslim community had largely been affected through their phones.

Even the people who didnt take to the streets were in fear because of what they were receiving through WhatsApp and Twitter they were afraid to go outside for weeks, she said.

Youve got these overseas influences who are trying to drive political hate and the desire to sow division, she said.

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India-based Twitter accounts fanned Hindu-Muslim unrest in Leicester UK, say researchers - The Indian Express

Acting on this complaint, the police launched a search for Shraddha, which led them to the revelation that Aaftab had murdered her in May.

Aaftab was arrested on 11 November and sent to judicial custody three days later. As per police, Aaftab told them that he strangled Shraddha in a fit of rage on 18 May.

To dispose of her body, he looked up the Internet and took inspiration from a web-series named Dexter. He bought a 300-litre refrigerator and chopped Shraddhas body into 35 pieces using a butchers knife.

He stored the pieces in the refrigerator, using a chemical named formaldehyde to preserve them. Every night after midnight, he would go out and throw some pieces in the jungle or feed them to stray dogs. This is how he disposed of the entire body in the next 18 days.

To keep up the pretence that Shraddha was alive, he would chat with her friends through Instagram.

The complaint by Shraddhas father says that while her family lost all contact with her for her refusal to break up with Aaftab, they got information from a friend of Shraddha on 14 September that for the last two months, she had been unreachable through phone.

The father lodged a missing person complaint at Manikpur Police Station of Vasai (West) in Palghar district of Maharashtra, where he lives.

The police told him that they had communicated about Shraddhas disappearance to Mehrauli Police Station in New Delhi as their investigation had revealed that she was currently living with Aaftab in Mehrauli.

The complaint offers some insight into the behaviour of Aaftab with Shraddha: It says that Shraddha had confided in her mother in 2019 that Aaftab used to physically assault her.

At that time, Shraddhas father was living separately from his wife and children while Shraddha had begun living-in with Aaftab. The father and the mother advised Shraddha to break up with Aaftab. She paid no heed.

In 2020, Shraddhas mother passed away. After a month, Shraddha came to her fathers house, telling him that Aaftab had assaulted her again. While her father advised her to leave Aaftab, she got back with Aaftab after he apologised to her. This episode led to total collapse in communication between Shraddha and her father.

As per the complaint, Shraddhas father did not know that she had left Vasai and moved to New Delhi with Aaftab.

The Delhi police told the media on Monday that they had recovered 18 pieces of Shraddhas body. Aaftab killed Shraddha as she was pressuring him to marry her, the police told the media citing Aaftabs confession.

However, The Times of India has quoted an unnamed friend of Shraddha, saying that it was unlikely that she was pestering him for marriage.

Shraddha was from Koli caste of Hindus while Aaftab is from Khoja caste of Muslims. Their families live in Vasai (West). Both Shraddha and Aaftab left their graduation course mid-way.

Shraddha studied at a convent school and joined BBM course at Viva Institute of Technology, but dropped out in final year. Aaftab enrolled in a Bachelor of Management Studies at a Santacruz college, but left mid-way.

After leaving college, Shraddha began working at a call centre, where she allegedly met Aaftab. He and his brother Ahan ran an Instagram account by the name Hungry Chokro, where they published their work in food photography.

This case is yet another addition to a series of cases where Muslim men trap non-Muslim women in relationships for purposes of conversion or sexual exploitation, often murdering them if they resist.

Various religious groups affiliated to Christians, Buddhists, Jains, Sikhs and Hindus have termed this pattern of preying as love jihad.

Swarajyahasreported a large number of cases of a similar nature. Here is a brief list:

Ground Report: Hill TownIn Himachal Worried About Growing Radicalisation After Chilling Murder Of Hindu Girl

She Was Called Kaafir Ki Aulaad: Family Of Hindu Woman Who Committed Suicide A Year After Marrying Muslim Man Tells Court

Nepalese Man Living In India Using Fake Aadhaar Card Kills His Second Wife, A Hindu, Who Converted To Marry Him

Love Jihad Victim Shot Six Times After Her Wedding In Haryana, Continues To Battle For Life After Two Weeks

Sher Khan Killed Naina Kaur For Turning Him Down. So Which Family Left The House In Fear?

She Would Cry For Hours; Never Told Us Why. Two Years After Her Murder, Ekta Jaswals Family Has No Answers To HowSaqib Trapped Her

Before Killing Her, Tausif Kidnapped And Confined Nikita In HisHouse So She Would Become Unmarriageable

Hyderabad: Another SC Woman Killed By Muslim Boyfriend; Butchers Knife Used For Slitting Throat

Another Interfaith Love Ends Up InMurder: Shamshad Kills Priya And Her Daughter, Buries Bodies In Own House

My Daughter Fell Prey To Love Jihad, Say Parents Of Tribal Woman Found Dead Seven Months After She Eloped To Become A Mans Second Wife

Interfaith Love: Rachna, Who Eloped With Irfan And Accused Him Of Forcible Conversion, Is Dead

Five MonthsAfter Woman Was Found Murdered, Key Accused Surrenders; Hindu Outfits Were Demanding Arrest

Three Years Ago, Uma Eloped With Arif. Today, She Is Fighting For Her Life After Being Burnt By Him

-Hindu Woman Beheaded For Turning Down Stalker In UP; Accused Was Already In Relationship With Her Mother

-Minor Schoolgirl, A Hindu, Attacked With Blade By Stalker Danish Khan In Jhansi

-Protests Against Love Jihad In Rajasthan After Minor Girl Is Killed By Stalker She Met Through Instagram

-All Political Parties Visited Us, But We Got No Justice, Says Family, A Month After Their Daughter Was Allegedly Raped And Killed In UPs Lakhimpur

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Told My Daughter We Are Hindus, Aaftab Is Muslim, Cannot Accept Relationship. She Said She Was No More Our Daughter: FIR by Shraddhas Father -...

Religion is an important component of the modern life of every human being and plays an important role in the understanding of the world for both individuals and communities. Religious views and religious institutions have directed and dictated political, social, economic and other trends for centuries. With the passage of time, the dominant global religions have changed. Once upon a time, before the spread of Christianity, paganism dominated in Europe, and elsewhere religions domintated local religions like Buddhism and Hinduism. Since its appearance more than two thousand years ago, Christianity quickly became the most popular Abrahamic religion in the world. And this has been convincingly since medieval times until the beginning of the 21st century. However, current trends show that Christianity will lose its position as the worlds most populous religion to Islam in the second half of the 21st century. Moreover, Islam is currently the fastest growing global religion.

Like other Abrahamic religions, Judaism and Christianity, Islam also appeared in the Middle East and is connected in a special way with the Holy Land (the areas of modern Israel and Palestine). There is a consensus among Islamic theologians, both Sunni and Shia, that the three holiest places in Islam are Mecca, Medina and Jerusalem. Depending on the theologians, the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus and the Ibrahim Mosque in Hebron alternate in the fourth holiest place. Muslims worship the same God, commonly referred to as Allah, as do Christians, Jews and Bah believers. While Muslims acknowledge that spiritual figures such as Adam, Moses and Jesus were prophets, they believe that the prophet Muhammad was sent to convey the final teachings of God. These teachings are contained in the Koran, the Islamic religious text, which Muslims believe is the literal word of God, revealed to Muhammad. Muslims follow a specific religious rulebook known as Sharia law, a faith-based code of conduct that includes guidelines for almost every aspect of daily life.

There are five fundamental pillars of Islam, or the practical duties of a Muslim: Shahadat (revelation of belonging to Islam), Salah (praying five times a day), Ramadan fasting, Zakat (giving part of ones wealth to charity) and Hajj (an individual must make a pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in his life). In addition to obedience to one God, belonging to Islam also implies following the way of life (Sunnah) of the last prophet of God, Muhammad, as the first and inevitable interpreter of Gods Word.

Although the Muslim population continued to increase in large parts of the world in the modern era (the Middle East, North Africa, South Asia), its interesting that the political power of the Islamic-dominated states, from the Mughal to the Ottoman Empire, gradually weakened. Mughal power on the Indian subcontinent disappeared in the middle of the 19th century, while the end of the Ottomans came after the First World War in 1918. At the beginning of the 20th century, Christianity had the largest number of followers, numbering almost 560 million, while Muslims then numbered 200 million. In 1900, Christians represented 34% of the worlds population, while Muslims made up only 12% of all believers worldwide. However, the difference between the Christian and Muslim populations changed dramatically during the 20th century in favor of Islam as Islam became the worlds fastest growing religion. This trend continued in the 21st century.

Studies by the American Pew Research Center from 2015 and 2017 present interesting data on current trends. If current trends continue, by 2050 the number of Muslims will almost equal the number of Christians worldwide. If this happens, for the first time in history, both religions will have an equal population. The Pew report predicts that in 2050, 30% (2.8 billion) of the population will identify as Muslim, as opposed to 31% (2.9 billion) Christians. Muslims will grow in percentages in all regions of the world except Latin America and the Caribbean, where a small number of Muslims live. Between 2010 and 2050, in Europe, Muslims will increase from 5.9 to 10.2% of the population, in the Asia-Pacific region from 24.3 to 29.5%, in the Middle East and North Africa from 93 to 93.7%, in Sub-Saharan Africa from 30.2 to 35.2%, North America from 1 to 2.4%. In the region of Latin America and the Caribbean, Muslims will remain at 0.1% of the population.

Although migration flows are not the most important and only generators of Muslim population growth, due to political and economic instability, many Muslims from the Middle East, Africa and Asia tend to migrate to majority Christian countries in Europe and North America, where they increase the share of the Muslim population. The same thing applies to developed East Asia where immigrants from Muslim countries come. This is exactly why Islam is the fastest growing world religion and in some majority non-Muslim countries. Estimates that in 2050 as many as 10% of Europeans will be Muslim, while in the USA Islam will then be the second largest religion (2% of the population) do not leave anyone indifferent.

Predictions by the Pew Center say that in the period from 2015 to 2060, the number of Muslims will increase by 70%, from todays 1.8 billion to 3 billion. At the same time, Christianity will grow by 34%, and Hinduism by 27%. In that period, the total population of the planet should increase by 32%. In 2015, Muslims made up 24% of the worlds population, and in 2060, they are expected to make up 31% of the worlds population. Estimates are that sometime in the second half of the 21st century (around 2075), the number of Muslims will exceed the number of Christians. By 2100, about one percent more of the population will be Muslims (35%) than Christians (34%), concluded experts from the Pew Center.

According to data from 2021, Indonesia is the most populous Muslim country with about 231 million believers. The top 10 countries with the largest number of Muslims also include Pakistan (212 million), India (200 million), Bangladesh (153 million), Nigeria (103 million), Egypt (90 million), Iran (82 million), Turkey (74 million ), Algeria (41 million) and Sudan (39 million). Estimates by the Pew Research Center say that in 2050, India will become the country with the largest number of Muslims, 310 million, although it will still remain a predominantly Hindu country.

The main reason for the rapid spread of Islam is demography. Namely, Muslims have more children than members of the seven other major religions. Muslim women give birth to an average of 2.9 children, which is quite a higher number than the next largest religion, Christians, whose believers give birth to 2.6 children. The other seven major world religions have an average of 2.2 children per woman. It is evident that the fertility of the Muslim population exceeds the fertility of non-Muslims. Apart from the larger number of children, the Muslim population is the youngest religious population, on average seven years younger than the non-Muslim population. The median age of Muslims in 2015 was 24 years, Christians 30 years, and Hindus 27 years. The median age of other significant religious groups exceeds 30 years.

The conversion factor also favors the spread of Islam. It is predicted that in the area of Sub-Saharan Africa and Europe, in the period from 2010 to 2050, more people will convert to Islam than to other religions. The growth of Islam is also matched by religious indecisiveness or the decline of religiosity, which occurs primarily in the West, and not in the states that make up the Muslim world. The number of Christians is projected to continue to decline over the next several decades as a significant number of individuals who were born into Christian households cease to be practicing Christians or leave Christianity altogether. These individuals also tend to have fewer children. On the other hand, in Muslim countries, people from Muslim households very rarely stop being religious or convert to another religion. On the contrary, they continue to practice Islam all their lives.

The question of all questions is: why is Islam so attractive to Westerners and other people to whom Islam is not a close religion, given that they come from quite different cultural and social environments? It is well known that all the great religions of the world, including Islam, have laid the foundations for moral and ethical principles and beliefs that shape societies in a positive way. Essentially, Islam has enormous potential to solve problems such as social injustice, racism, social inequalities and national conflicts. Islam brings calmness and tranquility to its true believers, peace with God and other people. Its about the fact that as time goes by, people are less prejudiced, they are more willing to listen and explore what Islam is in its essence. It is the appeal and quality of the content that has made Islam the worlds fastest growing religion. The simplicity, rationality and universal character of Islamic teachings attract many people who are either disillusioned with Christianity or were previously not believers at all.

The data that Islam is the fastest growing religion in countries such as Japan and Canada is surprising at first glance, but when you look a little deeper, such trends are logical. In Japan, between 112 and 230 thousand inhabitants accepted Islam. Despite Japan not being so hospitable to Muslims in the past, in recent years Japanese people have become more tolerant of different religions and cultures and this is the main reason for the spread of Islam. For example many restaurants offer halal food. Muslims come to Japan from different civilizational environments such as Indonesia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Iran. Most often, these are workers from the construction sector or IT experts. Some Japanese Muslims strictly follow their traditions such as prayers and fasting, while others are more liberal. In Japan, approximately half of Muslims have started a family, suggesting that in the future the country will be home to authentic second and third generation Japanese Muslims.

The situation is similar in Canada. Official statistics confirm that Islam is the fastest growing religion in that western country. StatCan stated that the Muslim population has more than tripled from 1996 to the present. Until 1985, there were so few Canadian Muslims that Islam was categorized as other in a federal survey. The Muslim population in Canada is 4.9% in 2021, up from 3.2% in 2011. In total, about 1.7 million Muslims live in the country. Its interesting how Islam is spreading while overall religiosity in Canada is declining. In 2003, 71% of Canadians said that religious belief was important, while in 2019, only 54% of respondents said the same. Recently, there was an increase in anti-Islamic violence in the country, so Prime Minister Justin Trudeau himself had to react, declaring that Canada is not a place for Islamophobia.

Despite Islamophobia and the often negative depictions of Muhammads faith in the Western media, the growth of Islam is steady and the faith is attracting new followers again and again. Islam is a religion that governs the entire life of the individual and the community, the private and public sphere. In a certain sense, it can be said that Islam doesnt know the division into sacred and secular. Besides, of course, religious beliefs and rituals, with its teachings Islam regulates the entire social life, starting with family, business, civil and criminal law, nutrition, clothing and personal hygiene. In the Islamic worldview, there are few (if any) aspects of individual and social life that are not considered an expression of Islam as a complex civilization in which individuals, societies, and governments should reflect the will of God. That is why it can be said that Islam is much more than a religion, in fact it represents the totality of human behavior and actions.

Islam is a religion that, unlike Christianity, doesnt try to adapt to current trends, but adheres to fundamental principles that have been in force for centuries. The principles of Islam such as strict rules, norms and prohibitions attract people who previously had no connection with Islam. Simple doctrine, equality of believers, practice of faith and clear religious hierarchy favor the attraction of new believers. Believers in Islam must follow the guidance of Gods law in order to get to heaven.

For many in developed countries, Islam can provide an attractive alternative because it gives meaning in this life and the afterlife. Such an alternative provides a new outlook on the world and spiritual peace in the modern world where uncertainty is the only constant. Islam, as a thoroughly elaborated religion, has a universalist character that can be accepted by people all over the world. With all the above, Muslim religious missionaries as well as ordinary believers strive to spread Islam more than Christians or Jews do in spreading their faiths. Also, Muslim communities are very happy to accept new members. All these are the reasons why Islam is the fastest growing world religion.

*Matija eri is a geopolitical analyst and journalist from Croatia and writes on foreign policy, history, economy, society, etc.

Link:

The Rapid Rise Of Islam In The West: Will Islam Become The Leading World Religion? OpEd - Eurasia Review

The Supreme Court on Wednesday passed an order to try one of the accused, Shubham Sangra, in the Kathua case, who had claimed to be a juvenile, as an adult. The Supreme Court set aside the order of the Chief Judicial Magistrate of Kathua and the Jammu and Kashmir High Court that had held that one of the accused in the case was a juvenile. The order was passed by Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice Ajay Rastogi.

It is held that the respondent accused was not a juvenile at the time of the commission of the offence and should be tried the way other co-accused were tried in accordance with law, Justice Pardiwala read out the operative portion of the order.

Pronouncing the verdict, Justice Pardiwala stated that a medical experts estimate regarding the age of the accused is not a statutory substitute for proof and is only an opinion.

In the order, however, the Supreme Court identified the perpetrators of the heinous crime as Hindus and the victim as a Muslim girl.

This litigation originates from the most unfortunate Kathua rape case. The Kathua rape case involved the abduction, gang rape and murder of an eight year-old Muslim girl by name X by six Hindu men and the respondent herein (claiming to be a juvenile) in January, 2018 in the Rasana village near Kathua in Jammu & Kashmir, the court said in the second para of the order passed on 16th November 2022.

While the court has chosen to identify the victim of the brutal crime as a Muslim girl and the perpetrators as Hindus, in 2018, the prosecutors who were assigned to the case were Sikhs so that communal division can be checked.

The Indian Express had reported in 2018 thatthe J&K Police want the Crime Branch case to be represented by Bhupinder Singh and Harminder Singh. The newspaper further quoted its sources saying the police want to have prosecuting officers from their own ranks but from a neutral faith to avoid further communal division. Eventually, the two had formed a part of the prosecution team along with Santok Singh Basra and one Mr Chopra.

While the police had reportedly wanted the inclusion of the Sikh lawyers to ensure that the communal divide was not depended, the Hindu-Muslim angle was reintroduced in the case as the court branded the victim as a Muslim and the perpetrators as Hindus.

When the case had come to light, of the brutal rape and murder of a minor girl from Kathua, the case was given a communal twist by several individuals who had chosen to focus on the fact that the heinous crime took place inside a temple rather than the barbaric crime itself. When the case was being used to tarnish the Hindu community, a debate had come to the fore, with several people condemning the communal colour given to the case.

The prevalent objection to the communal colour was that this was a heinous crime and should be viewed as such instead of trying to use it to show the Hindu community as a whole down.

Many individuals have questioned the need to mention the religion of the victim and the perpetrator in a brutal case of rape and murder such as that of the Kathua case. It is not often that the court mentions the religion of the accused and the victim unless there is a clear communal angle, like in the case of Delhi Riots, for example. In most cases, the court merely states the facts of the case, said one lawyer.

Even if the chargesheet says that there could be a possible motive of the crime could be community level discord, the order may mention the theories mentioned in the chargesheet, but there is no reason to identify the religion in this manner, he added.

The case relates to the brutal gang rape and murder of an eight-year-old girl in Kathua village in 2019. In June 2019, a Special Court at Pathankotsentencedthree men to life imprisonment in the case. The Court also sentenced three police officers to 5 years imprisonment for causing the destruction of evidence. The trial of Shubham Sangra was shifted to the Juvenile Justice Board. Shubham Sangra was the nephew of the main accused Sanji Ram.

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Kathua case: SC order to try the accused as an adult identifies the victim as a Muslim girl and the perpetrators as Hindus - OpIndia

Significance of number 108

Photo : iStock

The number 108 has always been a highly revered number. The number 108 refers to spiritual completion. Even sun salutations are often completed in nine rounds of the 12 postures, which when multiplied, adds up to 108. The number 108 is considered important in mathematics, geometry, astrology, numerology as well.

Why do Japa Mala have 108 beads

There is a 109th bead that hangs at the bottom of a mala - guru bead. This often symbolizes the guru from whom the student received the mala or mantra, paying homage to the student-guru relationship. It is never counted among the repetitions but used as a marker for a start and end of a cycle.

108 types of feelings in a humanBoth Buddhism and Hinduism believe that every human being has 108 different types of feelings. 36 of these feelings revolve round their past, 36 revolve round the present, and the remaining 36 are based on their dreams and future ambitions.

108 in numerologyThe number 108 consists of the individual numbers 1, 0 and 8. The number 1 represents authority and leadership. The number 0 represents both nothingness and eternity, but when combined with other numbers it will amplify the vibrational influence of the other numbers. The number 8 is related to power and influence, abundance and achievement.

108 in astrologyThere are 12 zodiac signs and 9 planets and when multiplied, we get 108. Additionally, there are 27 lunar mansions, and they are divided into 4 quarters. When 27 is multiplied by 4, the result is 108.

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Why do Japa Mala have 108 beads? Is there a scientific significance of number 108? Read on - Times Now

Indonesia is a country with which India has had relations dating back millennia. The country is one of Indias maritime neighbours and is a strategic partner today, thanks to its vast geographic expanse from Banda Aceh, just a few hundred miles south of the Indira Point in Indias Andaman & Nicobar Islands, all the way to the island of Guinea, just north of the Australian territories of Northern Australia and Queensland. However, due to the stability in the relationship between the two countries, Indonesia hardly features in popular discussions domestically. Nevertheless, it is essential to look at Indonesia as a country that has gone beyond its Islamic identity to embrace its Hindu past and to the Muslims of the Indian subcontinent, it has many lessons to offer. Although of late there has been a rise in radical Islamist elements, Indonesia has been able to thwart any such radical outfits from threatening the broader and tolerant Indonesian society.

Indonesia has had Hindu influence for more than two millennia now, with the religion and cultural practices arriving with trade. Hinduism encountered the local Javanese and Balinese religions in the region, leading to the emergence of a syncretic culture in the Indonesian Islands, even under the Srivijaya and Majapahit empires. However, with the decline of these empires and the arrival of Islam, Hinduism got restricted to a few pockets, especially on the island of Bali, which has the largest Hindu population of more than 4 million in Indonesia.

Although Indonesia today remains the largest Islamic country in the world, Hinduisms influence in the society is immense. Hinduism finds place in the cultural ethos of the land and Hindu gods are still vastly revered in Indonesia. Both Ramayana and Mahabharata have a special place in the hearts of Indonesians and are viewed as sacred scriptures. Evidence for this can be found in the form of the magnificent Arjuna Wijaya chariot statue and fountain in Central Jakarta. The statue depicts a Mahabharata epic with Sri Krishna riding the chariot with Arjuna holding, who is wielding a bow and arrow, while the chariot is being pulled by eleven horses.

In the case of Ramayana, one of the most common female names in Indonesia even today are Siti (noble virtuous woman) and Dewi (Goddess). Apart from epics, ancient Indonesian site excavations show how Shiva Lingam and its worship were commonplace in the Indonesian archipelago. Apart from Shiva, Parvati, Ganesh, Kartikeya idols have also been excavated. Even today, in Hindu majority Bali, the islands major temple called Prambanan temple demands a must visit, to get a glimpse into the Hindu way of life in Indonesia.

The Hindu influence in Indonesia is far from over. Indonesias national air carrier is named Garuda Indonesia, after the mythical bird from Hindu scripture, called Garuda. A majority Islamic country with a flag carrier named after Garuda! Even as the debate in India rages on post Arvind Kejriwals suggestion of introducing the images of Hindu gods and goddesses, Indonesian 20,000 Rupiah banknotes already sport the picture of Ganesha.

The reverence for the Sanskrit language in Indonesia is immense and the word Bahasa for the Indonesian language comes from the word Bhasha. Sanskrit lines used as Motto are used by various government organisations. For example,

i) Indonesia National Police: Rastra Sewakottama (Serving the Nation)

ii) Indonesian National Armed Forces: Tri Dharma Eka Karma (Three services, one determination)

iii) Indonesian Army: Kartika Eka Paksi (Unmatchable Bird with Noble Goals)

iv) Indonesian Navy: Jalesveva Jayamahe (Victorious on the Sea)

v) Indonesian Air Force: Swa Bhuwana Paksa (Wings of the Motherland)

Many Indonesians, irrespective of their religion, use Hindu names such as Wisnu, Surya, Indra, Arya, Putra, Aditya, Sita, etc. This is very unique especially given the country is known to be the home to worlds largest number of followers of Islam. Indonesia is showing the world a path away from radicalised and violent Islam. Countries like Pakistan, Bangladesh, etc, which were once homes to Hinduism and Sanatana Dharma are today far removed from it. What is worse is how even in India, the vast majority of followers of Islam do not identify themselves with the ancient civilisational ethos of India. How can Aftab meaning Sun find adoption so easily by practitioners of Islam in India, while the word Aditya with the same meaning cannot? How is Fatah okay while Vijay is not?

These questions are indicative of the deep generational brainwashing and deracination of the common Muslim in India. Just a few generations ago, the ancestors of most Indian Muslims must have been undoubtedly Hindu. However, for various reasons including fear for life under the Islamist tyrants have resulted in a situation where they inhabit a land, whose ethos they are not even aware of. Nehruvian secularism post-Independence has further kept them away from the mainstream. A Punjabi Hindu up North will not have any problem visiting a Hindu temple in Tamil Nadu and will coexist with Hindus from other parts of India, without any issue. But a Punjabi Muslim in Pakistan and a Bengali Muslim from Bangladesh cannot coexist with Punjabi Hindus and Bengalis Hindus. This is precisely where the crux of the issue lies.

Time has come for Indian Muslims realise how they have been manipulated by so-called secular politicians for decades to be kept deliberately away from joining the larger mainstream of Indian society. These divisions are becoming starker, thanks to social media and propaganda-filled content from across the border. More importantly, it is necessary to break the mullah nexus for Indian Muslims to be liberated from the clutches of the clergy.

Indonesia, a neighbouring Islamic country with its respect for diversity, tolerance and cultural roots based in Hindu ethos, shines as a beacon of hope. After all, India is from where these unique ideas made their way to the Indonesian Islands. It is high time Indian Muslims learnt from their Indonesian counterparts and contributed positively to the development of India.

Zeba Zoriah writes on politics, policies, culture and womens rights. The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not represent the stand of this publication.

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Opinion | What Indian Muslims Can and Should Learn from their Indonesian Counterparts - News18

For quite some time I have been getting requests to write a detailed account on Gopal Mukherjee (Gopal Pantha), in the context of the Direct Action Day, where his resistance against the Muslim League not only saved many Hindu lives but also stopped Jinnah and the Muslim League from getting their desired results. While researching on the internet it was pretty disheartening to find that not much has been documented about the man who had once singlehandedly saved the Hindus in Kolkata during Direct Action Day. Only in India and perhaps only among the Hindus (a large section of which has been systematically brainwashed by the Marxists to hate their own religion) it is possible to find such apathy, almost bordering on irreverence, towards their own savior heroes.

Gopal Patha (Mukherjee) making the idol of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose. Patha always addressed himself as an admirer & ardent supporter of Bose. Image courtesy Anuj Dhar/Twitter

The bloodied history of Indias Partition will remain incomplete without a mention of the Direct Action Day or the Great Calcutta Killings of 1946, when Calcutta was in the grip of fanatic Muslim mobs that ran riot killing and raping Hindu men and women. In retaliation a group was formed by the Hindus led by Gopal Chandra Mukhopadhyay that effectively managed to save Calcutta from falling to the well-chalked out plans of the Muslim League to separate the whole of Bengal from India; a plan that was indirectly backed by the British colonial government.

What led to the Direct Action Day

Uncontrolled and brutal communal violence in Calcutta, Noakhali, and parts of Bihar forced the Congress leaders to accept the partition of India based on religious lines. Prior to the partition, the British colonial government with their divide and rule policy helped in the formation of the Muslim League, and soon inevitably it led to the establishment of the Two Nation theory by the Muslim League. By the 1930s the Muslims in Bengal had already accepted the Two Nation theory as their political doctrine, and were ready for a division of Bengal based on religious lines. The Muslims in Bengal believed in the Muslim League propaganda which said by virtue of ones religious belief, a Punjabee or an Uttar Pradesh Muslim is closer to him than his next door neighbor who belonged to some other religion (Hinduism) (Barkat, et al., Deprivation of Hindu minority in Bangladesh: Living with vested property, 2008, p. 45).

The Muslim Leagues demand and stubbornness for a separate nation for the Muslims not only fractured India in 1947, but also caused a huge bloodshed in 1946 undivided Bengal and Bihar with the start of the Direct Action Day riots. The seeds of the Direct Action Day communal riots were sowed when the Cabinet Mission in India (1946) that was formed to arrange transfer of power from British authority to Indian leadership proposed a plan for the formation of the new Dominion of India, which failed to address the Muslim Leagues proposal to divide the country into a Hindu-majority India and a Muslim-majority Pakistan. To protest against this proposal exclusion, the Muslim League decided to call for a hartal (general strike) on 16 August 1946, and named it as the Direct Action Day, wherein the League decided to show its muscle power and assert its demand for a separate nation for the Muslims.

A Muslim League Council Meeting was held from 2729 July 1946 where a resolution was passed stating that the Direct Action Day aimed at unfolding a direct action to force the creation of a Muslim majority Pakistan. Jinnah was clear enough in his indications of his intentions when he boldly stated he will have India divided or India burned, and the Muslim League had said goodbye to Constitutional methods and was ready to create trouble. Adding further fuel to the already charged up Muslim communal sentiments were the pamphlet writings by the then Mayor of Calcutta, Syed Mohammed Usman, that declared, We Muslims have had the crown and have ruled. Do not lose hearts, be ready and take swords. Oh kafir! Your doom is not far (ref: Yasmin Khan, The Great Partition: the making of India and Pakistan, 2017, p 64). This was supported by Husseyn Shahid Suhrawardy, the then Bengal chief minister, who in his speech indirectly promised no actions were to be taken against the armed Muslims should they decide to unleash their activities in the city (Yasmin Khan, ibid, p 65). Jinnah specifically used the religious and communal symbols and idioms to charge up the Muslim community into starting violence for a forced carving out of a separate nation as a Muslim homeland. There are also claims that the Bengal Chief Minister Suhrawardy during the communal violence of 16th August forcibly removed Hindu policemen from their jobs (Yasmin Khan, ibid, p 184-185).

DN Panigrahi, the author ofIndias Partition: The Story of Imperialism in Retreat, also confirmed the inaction of police and army on those ghastly days, after speaking to a foreign journalist present in Calcutta on that day, when unabated killings and rapes were carried on by Muslim mobs for 48 hours. It is said that the army was brought in only after it was felt that the Europeans might be attacked, showing the collusion between the League and the British colonial government. It was this Direct Action Day or the Great Calcutta Killings on 16th August 1946 that finally marked a psychological break between secular Hindus and the communal demand by the Muslims for a separate Islamic state named as Pakistan.

As per Nishad Hajari, author on the Partition, no one knows the death toll in what would become known as the Great Calcutta Killings. Many bodies were washed down the Hooghly or consumed in fires. The generally accepted estimate is five thousand Calcuttans were killed, while another ten to fifteen thousand had their bones broken, limbs hacked off, or bodies charred (Midnight Furies: The Deadly Legacy of Indian Partition, 2015, p. 33). The entire objective of the Direct Action Day was to flex the muscle power of the Muslim League, and to show that Hindus and Muslims were incompatible.

Gopal Mukherjee

The killing of Hindus started with the murder of two Bihari milkmen in Beliaghata on Friday 16th August early morning, and soon Hindu owned movie theatres, hotels, and shops were attacked and set on fire by Muslim mobs. Motivated by Suhrawardys assurances in the Leagues Rally, violent Muslim mobs led by criminals like Munna Chaudhary and Meena Punjabi started widespread attacks on Hindu homes and shops. There were reports of rampant killings of Hindu men and boys while Hindu girls were kidnapped and raped or kept as sex slaves. As per the reports by a police officer, Golok Bihari Majumder, bodies of naked and hacked Hindu girls were seen hanging from a slaughterhouse in central Calcutta.

As the murders and rapes continued, on 18th August Gopal Chandra Mukhopadhyay (or GopalPatha) decided to stand up against this State sponsored Muslim violence on Hindus. He belonged to a family of freedom fighters and was the nephew of the revolutionary, Anukulchandra Mukhopadhyay. Gopal Mukhopadhyay was joined by Jugal Chandra Ghosh, Basanta (a wrestler), and Vijay Singh Nahar, and together they formed the Bharat Jatiya Bahini, an organization that armed Hindus with weapons like with pistols (sourced from American soldiers), lathis, spears, knives, swords, and also acid bombs. Hundreds of Hindus (Bengalis, Sikhs, Odiyas, Biharis, and UP-ites) from the various Vyayam Samitis of Calcutta and its adjoining areas, along with Arya Samajis and members of the Hindu Mahasabha came forward to take part in the resistance.

As the Hindu resistance gained ground, the numbers of Muslim casualties rose, and soon the latter panicked and started leaving the city, even though the clashes continued for nearly a week. From 18th to 20th August Gopal Patha and the other Hindu leaders specifically identified and killed the Muslims who had taken part in rapes and killings of the Hindus. Members of the Muslim National Guard, a militant body associated with the Muslim League, were killed in large numbers; however no Muslim women or children were touched by the Hindus during the resistance. By 20th August Suhrawardy realized he couldnt displace the Hindus from Calcutta, and his dreams of making the entire Bengal along with Calcutta a part of Pakistan would not be fulfilled.

In order to save himself and his government, Suhrawardy along with G G Ajmiri and Sheikh Mujibur Rehman (the founder of Bangladesh and a member of the Muslim League), appealed to Gopal Mukherjee to end the killings. Gopal Mukherjee agreed on the condition that the Muslim League would first make its members lay down their weapons and promise to stop all killings of Hindus. Finally, on 21 August, Bengal came under direct Viceroys rule and the army was deployed in the city. To save his chair Suhrawardy had agreed to all of Gopal Mukherjees conditions; however on 21 August 1946, once the army was deployed, the British Viceroy, Lord Archibald Wavell dismissed Suhrawardy and his Muslim League government. Later Gopal Mukherjee also refused to surrender arms to Gandhiji, when the latter came and asked Hindus to surrender their weapons, few months after the riots. Gopal Mukherjee bluntly said he will not surrender his weapons to Gandhiji who was nowhere in sight when Hindus were being killed and raped during the Great Calcutta Killings.

Gopal Mukherjee

Gopal Mukherjee

It goes beyond saying that if Gopal Mukherjee had not spearheaded the Hindu Resistance from 18 August 1946 onwards against the State sponsored Muslim mob violence, the entire area now known as West Bengal would have become a part of Pakistan in 1947, and Calcutta would have been a city in the newly formed Islamic majority state of Pakistan, which was the desired objective of Jinnah and the Muslim league in their Direct Action Day plan.

(Note: There are interviews of Gopal Mukherjee and discussions on him on few Youtube channels. Do take some time out and check these videos. You just need to type Gopal Mukherjee or Gopal Pantha. While listening to these, please keep in mind the horrific situation at that time created by the Muslim League and the violent Muslim mobs, and understand why he was forced to create the Hindu Resistance, without which the Hindus in Bengal would have had no future).

Some personal details on Gopal Mukherjee as I found on the internet:

Gopal Mukherjee was born on 13th May 1913 in Malanga Lane of Bowbazar, Kolkata. His family was originally from the Chuadanga district of East Bengal (now Bangladesh), and had moved to Kolkata in the 1890s, where they owned a meat shop. Gopal Mukherjee died in Kolkata in 2005.

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Gopal Mukherjee: The man who led Hindu resistance and saved Calcutta from falling into Pakistani hands - Firstpost

In less than a fortnight, Gujarat will vote to elect its new Assembly. Opinion polls suggest the Bharatiya Janata Party will likely return to power all over again. This testifies to the possibility that the partys Hindutva ideology has increasingly become Gujarats common sense. Against this common sense even the two other contenders in the electionsthe Congress and the Aam Aadmi Partydo not argue or campaign. In 2017, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi visited several temples during his campaign, offering to the people what is, rather erroneously, described as a softer version of Hindutva. This time round, it is AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal who has gone out of his way to flaunt his Hindu identity.

Is it right to say Hindutva is now Gujarats common sense? Through what processes did Hindutva acquire hegemony? NewsClick turned to Achyut Yagnik to answer these questions. Yagnik was a journalist until 1980 and also taught in Gujarat University. Thereafter, he established the Centre for Social Knowledge and Action, which works for marginalised groups. He has written several books, none as important, relevant and readable as The Shaping of Modern Gujarat: Plurality, Hindutva and Beyond, which he co-authored with Suchitra Sheth. Excerpts from an interview:

Your book, The Shaping of Modern Gujarat, speaks of Kshatriya ruler Siddharaj Solanki who ordered the rebuilding of a mosque that was destroyed in Cambay (Khambhat) in the 12th century. Do you envisage such a scenario in todays Gujarat?

No, no, no way. The distancing between the communities is enormous today. I live on the other side of the Sabarmati River, in the citys modern quarters. You find the Muslim locality of Juhapura at one end. Then there are Hindu areas. At the other end, you will find Dalit housing societies.

By the way, Siddharaj also punished the culprit responsible for destroying the mosque. This seems unthinkable today. For instance, those convicted in the gang-rape of Bilkis Bano and killing of four members of her family were given life imprisonment. Yet their sentence was remitted and they walked out of jail. The Bharatiya Janata Partys candidate from Naroda in the forthcoming Assembly elections is Payal Kukrani, whose father Manoj was among the 32 people convicted for their role in the Naroda Patiya massacre. The conduct of the state government is reverse of that of Siddharaj. The people of Gujarat, today, do not talk of Bilkis Bano and the torture she underwent. There is no sense of remorse in Gujarat about the grisly violence of 2002.

In your book, you discuss the geography of violence in 2002. You write that the areas where the most intense violence took place in 2002 also happened to be the places where the Assembly seats were dominated by the Congress. There seems to be an obvious connection between violence and Hindutva or BJP mobilisation.

There is just no doubt about that. Violence spawned a Hindu vote-bank. But obviously, it is difficult to prove whether the BJP sponsored the violence, or only some elements in the party.

In your book, you trace the creation of boundaries between Hindus and Muslims from the late 19th century.

These boundaries were created and became rigid in post-Independence India. Thereafter, more and more distancing has progressively happened between the two communities. There was a big riot in 1969. The widespread sentiment then, as I point out in my book, was that it was time the Muslim were taught a lesson. For the first time, the unwritten norm that lives of women would be spared was broken and instance of attacks on women were reported. By 1986, the existence of such a norm in the past was forgotten. The first instances of mass burning took place in Surat city and Mansa town in north Gujarat in 1992. The first instances of violence on women taking the form of sexual abuse with sticks and poles were reported during this time from Surat. Every riot hardened the boundaries, reaching an apogee in 2002.

Would it be correct to say that the 2002 riots have changed the very quality of relationship between Hindus and Muslims?

The process started earlier, but, yes, after 2002, it can be said that the distancing of Juhapura is complete in every sense of the word. It is a separate place now.

Have the 2002 riots left no possibility of re-building the bridges between the two communities?

Earlier, Ahmedabad was a textile centre. Textile workers lived in proximity to the textile mills where they were employed. The working class drew people from both the religious communities. They lived together. You had mixed neighbourhoods. But textile mills closed down. Mixed neighbourhoods have gradually become a thing of the past.

Has Hindutva become Gujarats common sense and acquired hegemony?

This is particularly true of the Gujarati middle class, which has become Hindutva-ised. By Hindutva-ised, I mean the middle class has become Hindu fundamentalist. For them, it is also a matter of importance to them that two of their ownNarendra Modi and Amit Shahare calling the shots at the Centre.

Various modern sects, such as the Bochasan sub-sect of the Swaminarayan sect, Swadhyay Parivar and Asharam Ashram, have also played a significance role in making Hindutva hegemonic or Gujarats common sense. Earlier, caste was central in the lives of people. For instance, the Brahmins are divided into 84 sub-castes. In rural Gujarat, in the earlier decades, when all Brahmins were called for a feast, they would say. Aaj chaurasi haiToday is chaurasi (84). Sub-castes are no longer important. The people, particularly the middle class, now operate under the larger Hindutva identity. So, yes, Hindutva has become hegemonic.

Do you think Hindutvas hegemony will be again reflected in the forthcoming elections?

Certainly. The Gujaratis are very happy that two Gujjus are occupying the two highest positions in the country. They would not want Modi and Shah to be weakened.

In your book, you write that equating Gujarat with Hindutva is an oversimplification of a complex web of Gujarat polity and society. Your book was published in 2005. Do you think the situation has changed from what it was in 2005?

It has changed in the sense that more and more middle class has been Hindutva-ised. The newly urbanised people join sects. It is a case of doctors getting patients and patients getting doctors.

What is the role of sects in the spread of Hindutva in Gujarat?

Gujarat is a highly urbanised and industrialised state. [According to the 2011 Census, Gujarats urban population was around 42.6% of the states.] The two processes create anxieties in them. Life in cities is inherently insecure. But the people do not have a caste network to rely upon. They joined the sects. They provide their members with a social and psychological support, and give them a sense of belonging to a community, heightened by the congregational prayers these sects hold. The sect network helps them to get employment or financial help. These sects, too, are Hindutva-ised.

How have these sects been Hindutva-ised?

To begin with, for very obvious reasons, you will not find Muslims in these sects. Their outlook is very similar to that of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). For instance, one of these sects say on their website that they aim to preserve Indian culture and the Hindu ideals of faith, unity and selfless service in diverse communities. They speak about the glorious Hindu past, the need to rediscover that past, and Hindu pride. They speak of Hindu assertion. They do not discuss the different systems of Hindu philosophy. But these sects also volunteer humanitarian and charity service, run programmes in rural Gujarat, and have also established educational institutes.

You can very well see a close overlap between their outlook and that of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. At times, it is difficult to speak to members of these modern sects.

The upwardly mobile members of the middle class join influential, modern Hindu sects to validate their newly acquired status and to gain entry into new networks of social security and patronage. The Gujarati diaspora, too, has been drawn to these new sects as many immigrants became increasingly conscious that children born in America are losing touch with their culture and the sects become the route for a cultural journey in search of their roots. The sects also fulfil their need for a fraternity and other needs such as finding grooms and brides for their children or support for children who come to India to study. That the Swaminarayan sect of Bochasan, known as BAPS, built more than 30 magnificent temples in in the United States speaks for itself.

And these sects gained from their western connection?

The Western connection of these sects has enriched them in more than one way. They have become powerful and prestigious at home and attract a large number of OBC, Dalit and tribal middle-class families to their fold. Although the Sangh Parivar has been preaching Hindu unity from the beginning, in day-to-day practice they support sect and sub-sect identities, and make no attempt to transcend these inherent hierarchies and divisions in any manner. Thus the Sangh Parivar achieved the status of a Mahakumbh where every Hindu, with new or old socio-cultural ties, finds self-validation and space in the holy congregation.

Is there in Gujarat a Hindu vote-bank? How is it mobilised during the elections?

The riots of 2002 did expand and consolidate the Hindu vote-bank, which was spawned and built upon through successive riots post-Independence. In urban Gujarat, the Hindu vote-bank is held together by the sects. But it is also true that the BJP is organisationally far stronger than the Congress. That is because of the wide network the RSS has in the state. The Seva Dal, the youth wing of the Congress, could have been a counter to the RSS. But you hardly find a significant presence of the Seva Dal in the state. They are barely visible. Therefore, the relationship between the Congress and the younger generation has broken down.

Why is it that the Congress could not build upon the tradition of Gandhi to mobilise people against Hindutva?

It is because of the Congress leadership in the state. Earlier, for instance, the Congress had Madhavsinh Solanki and Jinabhai Darji. They knew every constituency very well. You do not find such leaders now. The current Congress leadership is without any imagination.

You mean the leadership in the state or in Delhi?

Both. But particularly the leadership in Gujarat.

The commitment of Congress members to the party is weak. So many of its members who won in 2017 left the Congress to join the BJP.

The BJP won 127 seats in 2002, 117 in 2007, 115 in 2013 and 99 in 2017. On the other hand, the Congress won 51 in 2002, 59 in 2007, 61 in 2013 and 77 in 2017. While the seats of the Congress have been increasing, its influence has been decreasing. This is largely because of the growing strength of sects, which indirectly support the BJPs ideology. The Hindu middle class is enamoured of the BJP, largely because of the influence of these sects on this class.

Could Hindutva have become hegemonic or strong without Modi?

The rise of Modi and Shah in Gujarat could not have happened without the rise of Hindutva. And the rise of Hindutva could not have happened without the rise of sects in urban Gujarat. The 2002 riots yielded enormous political benefits for Modi. You can say the ascendancy of Hindutva is the most important factor why the 2002 riots did not lead to revulsion among the people.

More disturbing than the callousness witnessed during the 2002 riots was the utter silence of spiritual leaders of most modern sects in Gujarat, including the Jains for whom ahimsa is the cardinal principle. The larger ethical and moral questions raised by the epics were conveniently ignored by them. For instance, the famous dictum ahimsa paramodharmanon-violence is supreme religionwas preached by Bhishma after the great battle of Mahabharata.

This central principle of Hindu tradition was effectively sidestepped and the pertinent question of non-violence was scarcely mentioned. In fact, just as the lines between the state and the Sangh Parivar were blurred, so was the demarcation between the Sangh Parivar and the Hindu sects.

This development was reflected in a newspaper announcement on the day of Assembly elections in December 2002 when Fulchhab, a widely circulated Gujarati daily from Saurashtra, carried a prominent advertisement by the VHP (Vishwa Hindu Parishad) which exhorted all Hindus to vote for the protectors of Hindu culture. In the list of signatories to the advertisement, the local swamis of the Swaminarayan sect topped the list, followed by the local head of the Asharam.

I am 77 years old. The Hinduism as we understood is very different from how Hinduism is understood today.

Can you mark out the distinction between these two types of Hinduism?

I, for instance, was more engaged with the Hindu philosophy. We imbibed the Hindu spirit reflected by the term Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam, or the whole world is one family. This spirit I conveyed to the students in Gujarat University, where I taught. Today, people are more engaged with the philosophy of sects, which emphasise the greatness of Hindus and how they are destined to rule the world.

It is clear from your book that the upper castesBrahmins, Banias and Patidarswere instrumental in the rise of Hindutva, largely because they saw the idea of uniting Hindus as a way to thwart the challenge to their control over power by the KHAM (Kshatriya, Harijans, Adivasis and Muslims) social alliance. How come the subaltern groups, like Dalits and Adivasis, were unable to comprehend the BJPs game?

One reason is that the three social groupsBrahmins, Banias and Patidarsplayed a major role in the urbanisation of Gujarat. The caste contradictions were papered over by the presence and activities of sects. Solanki was a lower Kshatriya, essentially belonging to the Bariya caste, which is an OBC. He and Darji gave importance to marginalised groups, underscored by the Congress partys decision to extend reservation to the OBCs in the 1980s.

But we must not ignore the factor of education. Sayajirao Gaekwad [1863-1939], the ruler of Baroda, spread education in the area he ruled. His state had better educational attainment than the areas ruled by the British. He focussed on the tribal belt as well. When Brahmins refused to teach in the tribal belt, he appointed Muslim teachers. He concentrated on the education of women also. Education helped spawn a middle class among tribals as well. They migrated to urban Gujarat in search of jobs. And they too joined various sects. They, too, have increasingly taken to talking of Hindutva, as have their leaders.

So, essentially, the battle in Gujarat is over defining or re-defining Hinduism. We have, let us say, Gandhis idea of Hinduism on one side, and on the other side, we have the Sanghs conception of Hinduism.

The ideas represented by the Sangh Parivar was given a boost because of the series of riots Gujarat witnessed since 1947. Their network in the state expanded. In contrast, the Gandhian ideas have declined. The Gandhian institutions, such as Gujarat Vidyapeeth, which was established by Gandhi in 1920, are no longer playing the role they didor as they should have now. The current Congress leadership has no imagination to fight this battle. The RSS-type institutes have prospered. This has enabled the RSS to preach and propagate its idea of Hinduism without any robust challenge.

(Ajaz Ashraf is an independent journalist.)

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Sects and Riots Have Led to Hindutvas Rise in Gujarat: Writer-Activist Achyut Yagnik - NewsClick

BEDFORD, PA. The Organic Snack Co. (TOSC), a privately-held food manufacturer and producer of Kates Real Food, broke ground Nov. 16 on a 30,000-square-foot expansion project at the companys site in Bedford. The company said the expansion will include upgrades to production lines as well as additional space for warehouse capacity and fulfillment operations.

We couldnt be more excited to begin this next chapter of growth for The Organic Snack Co., said Mark Thaler, chief executive officer. Since we opened our doors in March of 2020, the Bedford community has welcomed us with open arms, and we couldnt be happier to invest more back into this location that has facilitated our explosive expansion. We look forward to continued success for The Organic Snack Co., Kates Real Food, and in our mission of spreading the word on the benefits of outdoor play and organic food.

TOSC earlier this year acquired 82 acres in Bedford to expand the companys operations as well as begin the construction of additional manufacturing and warehousing space, with a total build-out of up to 750,000 square feet. At that time, TOSC said it expected to invest more than $75 million and create more than 500 jobs as part of the project. The latest expansion is not part of the project announced in March.

Formerly known as Tram Bar Co-Packing, LLC, The Organic Snack Co. partnered with Kates Real Food in 2019 to build a 20,000-square-foot facility in Bedford that allowed Kates to increase production from 1 million bars to 12 million bars per year. The expansion was completed in the summer of 2020. Today, TOSC is the exclusive producer of Kates Real Food energy bars and bites.

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Organic Snack Co. breaks ground on expansion project - Food Business News

Over the past decade, appetites for organic products have ballooned past the point of trendinesscementing the idea of going organic as a healthy, sustainable lifestyle. Proudly burnished labels can be on nearly anything these days, from produce and cosmetics to wine and even pet food. Nearly anything we put into, or onto, our bodies have shifted away from the use of harmful pesticides, so why does organic spirits still sound like such a novel concept?

Its hard to believe, but less than one percent of liquor available in todays market is certified organic, according to the Land Institute, despite organic food sales in the U.S. showing double-digit growth during most years since the 1990s, with no chance of slowing any time soon. Reaching organic status isnt as easy as flipping a switch, and distilleries desiring to make that shift must contend with everything from logistical and cost-related issues to the painstaking, time-consuming process of attaining a federally recognized certification.

The booze companies that have decided to create organic spirits, whether from the time of their inception or with intentional maneuvers over the years, must start their process at the source.

Courtesy of Hanson Vodka

While we were doing research and development, my parents were really adamant there was a market for the products we were trying to create, says Alanna Hanson of Hanson of Sonoma, which produces vodka from organic grapes, and was the first distillery in Sonoma County, CA, to complete the USDA certification process.

We grew up in the Bay Area surrounded by the slow-food movement, tons of farmers markets, and this really, very conscious farmer-driven lifestyle. So, we knew originally that we wanted to produce an organic vodka, and we actually approached a couple of the major distributors that all said Don't waste your time with organicnobody cares.

Spoiler alert: People do care. In fact, the certified organic industry is currently in its twelfth consecutive year of growth. A recent survey showed that around 82 percent of Americans buy organic food now and, according to estimates, the number of U.S.-certified organic acres reached 9.1 million in 2021, representing a 123 percent increase from the official estimate back in 2008.

Story continues

Regardless of this apparent demand, going organic isnt a quick shift, or a cheap one at that. In order for U.S. distilleries to label their product as such, they have to undergo testing and meet rigorous standards to get a stamp of approval from the USDA. The process is different in every country, making it even trickier when it comes to imports.

Courtesy of ENGINE

Even before I built the brand, I knew I would incorporate a strong commitment to sustainability and a big part of that is being respectful to both our environment and our heritage," says Paolo Dalla Mora, ENGINE founder and CEO. That meant producing an authentic Italian organic gin and making sure every part of the process was done intentionally to meet standards.

Dalla Mora adds: Otherwise, we're just another brand putting buzzy words on our label. Not only are our production methods fully certified, but the provenance of each botanical in ENGINE is certified. We distinguish ourselves as an Italian organic liquid, and its important we certify every single small organic farmer that's producing our botanicals.

Just as natural wine is a direct representation of its terroir, organic spirits pay a similar homage. For instance, botanicals found in ENGINE include organic sage from Langhe, lemon from Sicily, licorice from Calabria, and juniper from Tuscany. The wheat they distill with is sourced from Piedmont, and their water is from the Alps.

So when the label says, "made in Italy," it truly is.

"No bullshit, Dalla Mora says.

Courtesy of Waterford

For the majority of organic distillers, it all begins with the grain. Regardless of whether a company is located in the U.S., Ireland, or Italy, grains grown without the help of pesticides are an absolute must for attaining certification, though the use of some synthetic substances is allowed, as long as they don't contribute to the contamination of crops, soil, or water.

In general, organic grain production relies on biological pest control rather than the blanketed use of chemical pesticides. Once harvested, conventionally grown grains and flours are fumigated, not only while in storage but also in transit. Organic grains present a lowered risk of contamination from mycotoxinssecondary metabolites produced by fungi, which are resistant to technological processes such as distilling, and can have serious adverse health effects.

For many years, spirits have been produced in mass production focusing on yields rather than flavor," says Neil Conway, head brewer at Waterford Whisky. "It's our mission now to educate the consumer to understand how terroir, organic farming, biodynamic farming, and the use of old heirloom varieties can greatly improve quality. The consumer can see for themselves how enhanced the flavors are in our organic spirits that come from different ways of growing barley.

Waterford recently introduced the worlds first biodynamic whisky, Biodynamic Luna, which earned Double Gold at the 2022 New York International Spirits Competition. The distillery is so serious about how organic and biodynamic practices can better showcase terroir, they conducted a scientific study on the matter. Its terroir specialist, Angelita Hynes, also runs an ongoing series of blind sensory panels, which have shown that imbibers can taste more depth of flavor in Waterfords biodynamic distillations.

"Theres a lot of complexity. Its almost like the attributes are speaking much louder, says Hynes. While a conventional farm on the very same soil might have a score of seven for floral notes on our sensory analysis scale, which ranges from zero to 15, maybe organic would fetch a nine and biodynamic would get an 11."

It makes sense in theoryif one were to think about comparing the taste of, say, a tomato from a large chain supermarket, versus one sourced from an organic stand at a farmers market.

I would invite organic naysayers to Barbaresco, where they can see our production process, challenges Dalla Mora. They can experience our sage harvest in June, and smell and taste it compared to a non-organic farmed sage.

Salvia Panda

In the U.S., products vying for certified organic status must contain at least 95 percent organically produced ingredients. They must also be made using production methods that dont give off pollution residues, including pesticides, fertilizers, and chemicals that can increase the risk of cancer and other health risks. These standards consider all stages of the production process, meaning production, processing, and packaging.

Attaining certification also takes time, as the USDA requires farmers to follow organic standards for three whole years before they gain their stamp of approval. During that time, farmers cant market themselves as organic but are still required to pay the certification fees, expect visits from certification agents, complete paperwork, and more. Once they finally have a certificate in-hand, theyll still have to deal with yearly audits and inspections to maintain the status.

The EU takes steps even further, demanding crop rotation for efficient use of resources and severely restricting the use of antibiotics, along with banning chemical pesticides, synthetic fertilizers, and GMOs.

There are not substantial differences between organic wines and organic gin, apart from the fermentation process to obtain wine in contrast with the distillation process for gin," says Dalla Mora. "For both, the entire production chain must be certified organicthe farm, the distillery, and the trade company. Furthermore, even if we're certified in Europe, we must also obtain a certification by the USDA, because rules differ between the two continents.

Organic-minded consumers should also be aware that distilleries and the spirits they produce are individually certified, meaning a certified-organic distillery can actually produce non-organic products alongside their organic ones. For instance, Hanson of Sonoma produces a non-organic whiskey, and Waterford tells us that in total only around 20 percent of their whisky production is organic and/or biodynamic.

It's our vision to increase this over the next few years as more and more growers convert to both organic and biodynamic farming. A win-win for us, the grower, the environment and, ultimately, the consumer, says Conway.

Courtesy of Waterford

When it comes to the health of the local environment, organic tends to reign supreme. For one, the prohibition of genetically modified grains means naturally heartier and more diverse crops. With the correct methods, organic farming also helps to improve soil fertility and maintain water quality, among other bonuses. When biodynamic processes are brought into the mix, the land is given even more opportunities to prosper, thanks to the elimination of monoculture planting, which can lead to soil degradation and is detrimental to pollinator populations.

The matter of our own physical health, on the other hand, is a trickier topic to tackle. Alcohol itself is not healthy, and no matter how you slice itorganic or non-organic, drinking alcohol is not advisable for good health.

But if you do indulge, Hanson makes a pitch for organic liquor as quality control, due to the ambiguity of alcohol labels. By her logic, an organic certification can, at the very least, put the consumers mind at ease regarding the addition of sketchy preservatives and sweetening agents post-distillation.

The main thing about spirits is that, unlike any other consumable or even makeup products, there are no ingredient lists on labels. There arent a lot of ways to verify what's in the bottle, she says. Being an organic product, you go through such rigorous audits and testing, which keeps you really authentic to what the product is. You literally can't put anything in the bottle that people shouldn't be consuming. To me, that drives a better product because you have so many more standards you have to hold yourself to.

Salvia Panda

Its clear consumers are interested in seeing more organic products enter the spirits market, and that the average imbiber is becoming increasingly conscious of the where, what and who behind their favorite tipples. Just like produce and wine before it, the liquor market is one driven by consumer demands.

While not all distillers can afford to make the jump to organic just yet, many are acknowledging concerns around the environment, and feeding into a growing demand for small batch bottles. Like the craft beer and natural wine movements before it, the driving force for consciously crafted spirits is coming from small production distilleries willing to take a chance.

I'm not sure if the industry is ready, particularly the bigger players who are driven by spirit yield and obtaining the cheapest raw material from wherever they can get their hands on it, says Conway. I would hold up more hope for the next generation of drinkers and distillers who might turn the table. It's up to us and other like-minded people in the industry to educate and spread the word.

For many of these distillers, a mindful shift to organic is not just about what the customer wants, but the (hopefully) lasting impact their craft can have on the environment.

We have a debt to pay in terms of the work we do, says Della More. "For sure, it's easiest for a small producer to start or restructure distilleries with an organic vision. ENGINE is currently in the process of certifying itself as a Benefit Corporation (B-Corp). We're putting in the work because I believe sustainability and the benefit to our people and our planet are more of a priority than the profits. I invite our biggest competitors to consider this a priority as well, as these are changes that need to be made across the board.

Read more from the original source:

Meet the Organic Spirits Distillers Revolutionizing the Industry - Yahoo Life