Press Statement on Modi Govt’s refusal of Visa to US Commission on Religious Freedom

New Delhi

09th March,2016

I fully support Modi Government’s refusal of Visa to US Commission on International Religious freedom ( USCIRF). This was in line with the earlier UPA government’s policy all these past years.

Disappointment of the Obama Government is understandable but totally unreasonable. Did they ever take stock of Religious Freedom in their allied countries such as Saudi Arabia and Pakistan? Why does US need to play the role of ‘big brother’?

As citizens of India, we have our unfettered constitutional rights to fight against all forms of unfreedom including religious bigotry and fundamentalism. I have even supported the J.N.U. S.U. demand to scrap colonial IPC section 124 A on sedition which was grossly abused by the British then and by our governments now. We have a proud long ‘Sanatan’ tradition of Shashtrarth – fierce polemical religious debates. Today masses enjoy and empower themselves through such debates on television and on social media. Violent intolerance is largely condemned across the board.

Just as Muslims or other progressive forces in India do not need RSS certificates of Nationalism, India as a whole does not need US certification of Religious Freedom. Instead the US commission should focus internally on ensuring more equality and freedom for  American blacks, hispanics and minors in prisons etc.

As a footnote, I want to record that couple of years ago, the same US Commission had invited me to depose in US but I had flatly declined.

Male Dominated 'Place of Worship ' are infact, place where god doesn't reside.

I am afraid the women of our country are getting it wrong. Temple entry has nothing to do with the right to pray. Equality with men, in all respects other than limited biological functions like childbirth, is a fundamental right of all women. There is no question that subjecting women to discrimination is a crime and a shame. It deserves to be denounced.
But equating the “right to pray” with temple entry is a different matter altogether. It is like equating entry, say, into somebody’s bedroom with the right to breathe — for air is also present in bedrooms.
The right to pray cannot be separated from two basic questions: Who are we praying to? What does it mean to pray? If it is to god that we are praying, it does not have to be done in a temple. Temple, kitchen and marketplace are all alike in respect of god’s presence. Men may be irrational enough to believe that god lives in only their temples and that they have a monopoly over such a god. That is why they are, quite rightly, worried about women entering their temples. They are right to worry that if women are allowed into these structures of make-believe, serious harm could come to their gods. The reason is that women are feared to be more rational. Rational creatures will know only too soon that omnipresent god does not stay confined to man-made temples.
If it is to the genuine god that we wish to pray, do we really have to go to a temple, church, mosque or gurdwara? Do we have to go to Bethlehem or Mecca to drink water or brush our teeth? Can’t these be done anywhere? Why is praying any different? No human being, male or female, with a modicum of commonsense should pray to a god who is imprisoned in a man-made structure. A god who is man’s slave is a poor, pathetic god indeed.
Now, what is prayer or worship? All religions are utterly corrupted by the domination of man. Religions, as feminists quite rightly lament, are patriarchal. But religion of this kind is the ghost of a religion, and not its true form. Guru Nanak did not have to pray in a temple. Prophet Muhammad was not enlightened in a temple, but on a mountain. The purpose of prayer is to attain the strength to lead a godly life. It is an insult to women to assume that they can receive it only from manmade temples with which god has nothing to do. Women should know that not only they but god is also not allowed in these temples and mosques.
Being denied entry into certain temples or mosques, therefore, is not a spiritual issue. It is only a legal issue. That so-called “places of worship” are man-dominated and seats of discrimination must open their eyes to the fact that these are places where god is routinely mocked. Practising discrimination in the name of god is the worst form of irreligion. A place where this is done has nothing to do with god or spirituality. Why do you want to waste your time and money there? I am sure that the women in this country have better sense than that.
The core issue today is not temple entry for women. It is the liberation of god from the pious prisons we have created for the divine. It is because god is confined to these quaint and funny places that the fear of god does not operate elsewhere. That is the curse of our country. If only we recognised the omnipresent god who is with us in our workplaces, in our relationships, in our marketplaces, this country would have been free from corruption, caste violence and systemic oppression. By creating man-dominated places of worship, we confine god to convenient spots and claim the rest of the country to practise corruption, injustice, violence and oppression.
Why did Gandhi give up on temples? Was it not because of his spiritual enlightenment? Which embodiment of spiritual light has ever associated temples or mosques with god? Who can claim that he has become a better human being because of a temple? It is a shame that even in the 21st century, we have not taken leave of superstition and obscurantism. The time has come for us to allow the light of reason into our religious life. God is light, not darkness.
 To Read More Go to This Link:-------
http://epaper.indianexpress.com/713561/Indian-Express/06-February-2016#page/14

Swami Agnivesh

Press Statement By Swami Agnivesh

“IMPLEMENTATION OF GADGIL REPORT: A CHALLENGE FOR THE WORLD ENVIRONMENT DAY”- SWAMI AGNIVESH

PRESS STATEMENT

“IMPLEMENTATION OF GADGIL REPORT: A CHALLENGE FOR THE WORLD ENVIRONMENT DAY”- SWAMI AGNIVESH

New Delhi, 4^th June, 2014

President of World Council of Arya Samaj Swami Agnivesh and Convenor of Sarva Dharma Sansad Manu Singh, met Mr. Prakash Javadekar, Information & Broadcasting, MOS (IC) for Environment, Forest & Climate Change and MOS for Parliamentary Affairs, GOI 2^nd June, 2014 regarding concerns related to the environment. He asserted that the policies regarding the Western Ghats should be made as per the Gadgil Commission Report also known as the Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel. The policy makers, under the influence of the corporate lobby would want to dilute the already diluted Kasturirangan Committee and then push it forward in the name of development, which would be disastrous for the eco-system of the Western Ghats.  Mr. Javadekar himself was very appreciative of the Gadgil Report on the Western Ghats. He said he would soon call on Mr Gadgil as they hail from the same town, Pune. He further reiterated that he would take into account the suggestions and concerns of all stake holders including members of the civil society and social activists, before arriving at any decision.  

Swami Agnivesh also proposed that the meat industry is the greatest contributor to the green house gases. This industry has been critically affecting the forests as well as the eco- system. He thus, proposed to Mr. Javadekar to take initiatives for the creation and promotion of an environment which encourages the inculcation of vegetarianism. Swami Agnivesh reiterated that our development should be ‘need-based’ and not ‘greed- based’. It should not be anthropocentric in nature but should holistically encompass the values of ‘Vashudhaiva Kutumbakam’. Mr. Javadekar showed his willingness to take this issue up as well and do the needful. All in all, the meeting seems to throw a positive ray of hope towards a paradigm shift in development- an issue close to the mission of Swami Agnivesh towards saving the Planet.

-Shilpi Singh

Swami Agnivesh’s Office.

AGNIVESH FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF GADGIL REPORT

PRESS STATEMENT
AGNIVESH FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF GADGIL REPORT

New Delhi, 2nd June
President of World Council of Arya Samaj Swami Agnivesh and Convenor of Sarva Dharma Sansad Manu Singh, met Mr. Prakash Javadekar, Information & Broadcasting, MOS (IC) for Environment, Forest & Climate Change and MOS for Parliamentary Affairs, GOI in the afternoon, today (2nd June, 2014) regarding concerns related to the environment. He asserted that the policies regarding the Western Ghats should be made as per the Gadgil Commission Report also known as the Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel. Mr. Javadekar himself was very appreciative of the Gadgil Report on the Western Ghats. He said he would soon call on Mr Gadgil as they hail from the same town, Pune. He further reiterated that he would take into account the suggestions and concerns of all stake holders including members of the civil society and social activists, before arriving at any decision.
Swami Agnivesh also proposed that the meat industry is the greatest contributor to the green house gases. This industry has been critically affecting the forests as well as the eco- system. He thus, proposed to Mr. Javadekar to take initiatives for the creation and promotion of an environment which encourages the inculcation of vegetarianism. Mr. Javadekar showed his willingness to take this issue up as well and do the needful. All in all, the meeting seems to throw a positive ray of hope towards a paradigm shift in development- an issue close to the mission of Swami Agnivesh towards saving the Planet.

-Shilpi Singh
Swami Agnivesh’s Office.

Brick kiln workers head back home without much assurance

The Hindu

Brick kiln workers head back home without much assurance

27th May,2014

After protesting continuously for four days at the Jammu and Kashmir Bhawan and Chhattisgarh Bhawan here to demand rehabilitation under the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act 1976, a group of 63 landless Dalit workers left for their homes in Janjgir Champa in Chhattisgarh on Sunday. The workers, including 25 minors, had arrived in Delhi last week after fleeing from brick kilns in Rajouri in Jammu and Kashmir where they said they had been coerced to work for eight months.

“The officials at Chhattisgarh Bhawan were at first indifferent to their protests and did not even allow them inside the building. The officials were reluctant to register even zero FIRs against their employer BBK brick kiln owner and the District Magistrate of Rajouri in Jammu & Kashmir where they had fled from. They have now given a verbal reassurance but still not done it,” said Nirmal Gorana, an activist with Bandhua Mukti Morcha (BMM) who had gone from Delhi to accompany the workers from Rajouri to Delhi.

Before this, National Human Rights Commission Chairperson Justice Balkrishna had served a notice on the Rajouri DM on May 22 responding to complaints filed by Mr. Gorana and Chandan Kumar, an activist with NGO Action Aid.

The workers’ protest was supported by the National Dalit Movement for Justice (NCDHR), Delhi Domestic Workers Forum, Dhani Om Charitable society, and Sarvadharma Sansad.

The group of workers, which included two pregnant women, said they had to work every day from 3 a.m. to 8 p.m. They alleged they had been promised an ‘advance’ of Rs.30,000 per couple and Rs.500 per thousand bricks they made, but even after working eight months they were not paid as promised by the owners of BBK brick kiln in Jangad village in Rajouri. They have been agitating for ‘release certificate’ which entitles those rescued from forced labour to a support grant of Rs.20,000 and State assistance to acquire land or skill-based alternate means of livelihood under the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) (BLA) Act 1976. Even after four days of protests in New Delhi, the workers were not given the “release” certificates making them ineligible for rehabilitation.

Press Statement