\ SAMVAD संवाद
श्री विश्व निकेतन SHRI VISHWA NIKETAN
Ashadha Krishna 10, Vik. Samvat 2077, Yugabda 5122:16 June, 2020: SM 2006 (For Private Circulation Only)
1. FESTIVALS : RAM MANDIR CONSTRUCTION BEGINS IN AYODHYA WITH 'RUDRA ABHISHEK' CEREMONY: About 25 priests led by Mahant Kamal Nayan Das, spokesperson for Mahant Nritya Gopal Das who is President Shri Ram Janambhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust, participated in the ''Rudra Abhishek'' ceremony, followed by an ''aarti'' held at the Kuber Tila temple in Ayodhya on 10th June morning to mark the beginning of temple construction. The ceremony was held to pray Bhagwan Shiva and seek his protection from any obstacles that may come in the way of temple construction. The preliminary work on the temple site will begin now though the actual construction will start much later. --GoTop
2. OXFORD JOURNAL LOOKS TO SRIMADBHAGAVAD GITA FOR 'COVID
LESSONS': “Now, in the midst of a pandemic, the Bhagavad Gita is more
relevant than ever — the healthcare worker is Arjuna, hospitals are
battlegrounds for the war against the virus and misinformation, the lack of a
cure or an effective containment strategy, and a system that has failed us.
Amidst this chaos, the healthcare worker is being guided by dharma and a deep
sense of purpose to do what is right and not become paralyzed by the outcome,”
says the article "Lessons from the Bhagavad Gita (the ‘Lord’s Song’), from India
during these difficult times" by Ankur Kalra, MD, FACP, FACC, FSCAI, Erin D
Michos, MD, MHS, Kavitha M Chinnaiyan, MD in The European Heart Journal, a
peer-reviewed journal of cardiology published by Oxford University. The article
called the healthcare workers today’s Arjunas, comparing the Kurukshetra
battlefield to hospitals.
"COVID-19 has challenged clinicians’ professional commitment to their
communities and to humanity, accompanied by a sacrifice of their own safety and
of the safety and needs of their families. It has become a litmus test of our
character, our focus, our strength, and our passion to care for the sickest, in
the sincere hope that even amidst despair and desperation, we are somehow making
a difference in every life," the article adds.
--GoTop
3. USA'S TALLEST SHRI HANUMAN JI INSTALLED IN DELAWARE:
The largest Hanuman statue in the USA, that is 25 feet in height has been built
in Delaware. It is the tallest statue of a Hindu God in the country. It has been
carved from a solid block of black granite and took over a year to complete the
work. The statue is the second largest religious statue in Delaware after Our
Lady Queen of Peace statue at Holy Spirit Church in New Castle.
--GoTop
4. BHARATIYA-ORIGIN SURGEON PERFORMS FIRST DOUBLE LUNG
TRANSPLANT ON COVID-19 PATIENT IN US: A double-lung transplant on a COVID-19
patient was performed by surgeons led by a Bharatiya-origin doctor Ankit Bharat
in the United States. The surgery is believed to be the first of its kind since
corona virus pandemic began in America. In her twenties, the Chicago patient was
on a ventilator and heart-lung machine for almost two months before she
underwent this complicated operation at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, Chicago.
The 10-hour procedure was challenging as the corona virus had left her lungs
full of holes and almost fused to the chest wall, Dr Ankit Bharat, who performed
the operation, said. Dr Ankit Bharat is chief of thoracic surgery and surgical
director of Northwestern`s lung transplant programme.
--GoTop
5. HSS USA PRESS RELEASE ON CURRENT US SCENARIO:
Shocked, troubled, and saddened by the painful killing of George Floyd, Breonna
Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and so many others, the Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh-USA
stands in solidarity with our fellow citizens, especially African American
brothers and sisters, who are demanding justice for George Floyd and reform of
our justice system so that the law is fairly applied and enforced. History tells
the tragic tale of racial injustice and selective enforcement of the law in this
country for too long. Thus, we stand against racism and discrimination. We
condemn police brutality while expressing gratitude to the hardworking and
caring police officials who believe in protecting the community. HSS supports
the peaceful protests, as practiced, and promoted by Mahatma Gandhi and Martin
Luther King, Jr., and hence we do not condone violence, arson, and looting. We
are committed to universal (Dharmic) values such as vasudhaivakutumbakam (the
entire world is one family) and ahimsa (non-violence) and celebrate diversity.
We firmly believe that all lives are equal.
--GoTop
6. SHIVAJI STRIVED FOR CREATING A HINDU EMPIRE- BHAIYYAJI
JOSHI: “Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj dedicated his life to the interest of
the nation and Hindus. The goal of his life was to create a Hindu empire. He did
not have any selfish interest. He placed national interest above other things,”
said RSS Sarkaryavah Bhayyaji Joshi while speaking during Facebook live
programme to mark the anniversary of coronation day of Chhatrapati Shivaji
Maharaj, celebrated as ‘Hindu Samrajya Din’.
“His national vision is reflected in his letter to Mirzaraje Jaisingh. He never
thought of caste, religion, or sect while entrusting various responsibilities to
people. He always took decisions depending upon quality and performance of an
individual. Hence, his idea of Swarajya included people from all walks of life,”
he said. --GoTop
7. UNLOCK 1.0+ PLACES OF WORSHIP REOPENED AFTER 75 DAYS:
With places of worship being allowed to re-open after nearly 80 days of
lockdown, several temples, mosques and churches throughout Bharat cautiously
opened their doors to devotees. The Venkateswara temple at Tirumala in Andhra
Pradesh opened for darshan at 6 am on 8th June with a restriced entry. The
Srisailam temple in Kurnool district has decided to allow only 3000 devotees per
day. In Uttar Pradesh’s Mathura, many of the prominent places of worship
remained closed over concerns over the pandemic. The Eidgah mosque in Lucknow
opened with the Shahi Imam leading the morning prayers in a group of five. In
Tamil Nadu religious places continue to remain closed. In Karnataka, places of
worship opened to the public, with restrictions in place and new protocols like
the use of sanitizers. Many devotees thronged at religious places in the
national capital following the social distancing and sanitization measures put
in place by the management committees. The holy Sikh shrines saw religious
fervour and devotion when people reached in early morning to offer prayers at
Gurudwaras. The devotees continued to reach all gurudwaras later in the day
also.--GoTop
8. OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY BHARATIYA AMERICAN SOIL PROFESSOR
NAMED RECIPIENT OF 2020 WORLD FOOD PRIZE: Dr. Rattan Lal, a professor of
soil science at Ohio State University and founding director of the university's
Carbon Management and Sequestration Center has been named this year’s recipient
of the World Food Prize. “Dr. Lal is a trailblazer in soil science with a
prodigious passion for research that improves soil health, enhances agricultural
production, improves the nutritional quality of food, restores the environment
and mitigates climate change,” World Food Prize Foundation president Barbara
Stinson said in an online ceremony June 11.
Dr. Lal has developed and promoted the idea that healthy soil must not only have
the usual nutrients, including Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Potassium, but must have
depleted Carbon restored by leaving crop residue.
Dr. Lal, 76, was born in Bharat and studied soils from his earliest days at
Punjab Agricultural University. His pursuit of higher education led him to Ohio
State University for a doctorate. He established the Carbon Management and
Sequestration Center in 2000.
The World Food Prize was created by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Norman Borlaug in
1986 to recognize scientists and others who have improved the quality and
availability of food. The foundation that awards the $250,000 prize is based in
Des Moines. --GoTop
9. HSS USA SEWA MAKES MASSIVE DONATIONS TO GURUDWARAS:
Spearheaded by Southern California Bharatiya American motelier Pravin Patel, the
HSS and SEWA USA partnered a massive grocery donation drive on 22nd May wherein
several thousand pounds of goods were given away. The beneficiaries were the
Riverside Gurdwara, Santa Ana Gurdwara, Gurdwara Buena Park, and those in need
from the cities of Artesia, La Palma, and Cerritos.
Dr. Amit Desai of HSS spoke of the aims of his organization and Sewa
International, reminding everyone of the Sanatan tradition, “Seva Paramo
Dharma.” He also remembered the teachings of the Sikh gurus, expressed continued
willingness to work with the gurdwaras, and applauded their service of providing
food to those needing it the most. --GoTop
10. PENANG HINDU ASSOCIATION PROVIDES SUPPORT TO NEEDY:
Penang Hindu Association distributes groceries , other basic food items such as
milk powder, medicines, medical items and wheelchairs to more than hundred
single mothers, needy families, senior citizen homes, orphanages, poor patients
in hospital and medical items for the hospital during the spread of corona virus
on the island. On the humanitarian ground, PHA was also able to extend help to
refugees and jobless foreign workers stranded in Penang island and on the
mainland Malaysia with basic necessities to families of all races. PHA provided
packed lunch to medically unfit poor families and hot meals to the Persatuan
Penganut Thiru Arut Praskasa Vallalar, Penang. PHA provides nutritious food to
malnourished or medically unwell lactating mothers who are unable to breastfeed
their children. This help was only made possible with the kind assistance given
by the public and well-wishers in the form of foodstuff and cash donations.
--GoTop
11. HINDUS MAKE MASKS FOR AUSTRALIAN COMMUNITY:
Volunteers of HSS Australia in Queensland are stitching and distributing masks
to taxi drivers, rideshare drivers and others in need. To provide maximum
protection to the wearer, the volunteers made these masks of vilene fabric,
polyethersulfone as filter and 100% cotton finished off with 6mm elastic bands
and nose crimp. These masks were of three layers as well as five layers. Most
#masks are washable and reusable. --GoTop
12. IAF ARPIT FOR EVACUATION OF CRITICAL PATIENTS:
Indian Air Force (IAF) has designed, developed, and inducted an Airborne Rescue
Pod for Isolated Transportation (ARPIT) in order to airlift critical patients
from high altitude area, isolated and remote places. These patients with
infectious diseases including COVID-19 could be airlifted through this
evacuation system. The IAF is inducting a total of 7 ARPITs as of now. The
indigenously designed system has been developed as a lightweight isolation
system made from aviation certified material at a cost of Rs 60,000, which is
very less as compared to the imported systems costing up to Rs 60 Lakh.--GoTop
13. 500-YEAR-OLD TEMPLE FOUND SUBMERGED IN ODISHA’S
MAHANADI: The 60-feet ancient temple that remained submerged in Mahanadi in
Odisha, believed to be around 500 years old, was located recently during an
exercise of documentation project of submerged temples in the rive valley, said
Anil Dhir, project coordinator of the Indian National Trust for Art & Cultural
Heritage (INTACH) in Odisha.
The temple was found in the mid-river near Baideswar in the Padmavati area in
Cuttack.
The temple dates back to the late 15th or early 16th century, considering the
construction style of the Mastaka and the materials used for the construction.
The temple was dedicated to Gopinath Dev. The region used to be known as
“Satapatana” in the early days. However, with the river changing its course due
to catastrophic floodings, the entire village was submerged.--GoTop
14. BHARATIYA TWO-WHEELER MANUFACTURERS BEAT BACK CHINESE
COMPANIES IN AFRICA: Bajaj Auto and TVS Motors two-wheelers are called
BodaBoda in Africa and are mainly used for commercial purposes to transport
people and goods. In the face of strong opposition from them, as many as 200
Chinese two-wheeler manufacturers, initially present in the continent, are now
down to 40. They shared almost 90-95% of the market ten years back and now
Bharatiya companies remarkably have almost 50% of the market. Bajaj Auto sold
almost a million vehicles on the continent in the fiscal ended March 2020. TVS
said Africa provided structural growth opportunity owing to the “rising demand
for last-mile connectivity in rural and semi-urban areas.”
--GoTop
15. BHARATIYA-ORIGIN HIV SCIENTIST GITA RAMJEE PASSWS AWAY
DUE TO CORONA VIRUS: World-renowned virologist Gita Ramjee has become the
first Bharatiya-origin South African to have died on March 31 after contracting
the novel corona virus. Ramjee, 64, was the Clinical Trials Unit Principal
Investigator and Unit Director of the HIV Prevention Research Unit of the South
African Medical Research Council (SAMRC) offices in Durban. In 2018, Ramjee was
presented with the Outstanding Female Scientist Award in Lisbon by the European
Development Clinical Trials Partnerships (EDCTP) for her lifetime commitment to
finding new HIV prevention methods, which are conducive to the lifestyles,
circumstances and perceived risk factors that South African women are faced
with. --GoTop
16. BHARAT'S FOREX RESERVES SURGE TO ALL-TIME HIGH OF
$493.48 BN: Bharat's foreign exchange reserves surged by 3.43 billion
dollars to reach a fresh all-time high of 493.48 billion dollars in the week
ended 29th May. The government sources say that foreign currency assets, a major
part of the overall reserves rose by 3.50 billion dollars to 455.21 billion
dollars. --GoTop
17. UN WEATHER ARM WMO PRAISES IMD FOR ACCURATE PREDICTION
OF CYCLONE AMPHAN: United Nation’s weather arm World Meteorological
Organisation (WMO) Secretary-General E Manaenkova lauded the Indian
Meteorological Department (IMD) in his letter dated June 2 for its “accurate
prediction” of Cyclone Amphan."WMO secretary-general used the information from
the bulletins to communicate with the UN secretary-general about Amphan…..” the
letter said. Amphan was a powerful and deadly tropical cyclone that caused
widespread damage in Eastern part of Bharat and Bangladesh in May 2020 with
winds up to 185 km per hour. --GoTop
18. SHRI VISHWA NIKETAN: Pravas: Saumitra Gokhale,
samyojak Vishwa Vibhag returned to USA. Visitors:
--GoTop
FOOD FOR THOUGHT: All that we are is the result of what we have thought.
The mind is everything. What we think we become. - Gautama Buddha
JAI SHREE RAM
----
RACIAL DISCONTENT AND DHARMA
Avatans Kumar
In Basant of 1994, I
had to face the biggest dilemma of my adult life to date. I was accepted in more
than one graduate program of foreign universities across two continents, and I
had to make a choice. I sought counsel from some of my closest gurus and
acharyas in JNU's linguistics department. To make things easier for me, they
were all unanimous in their recommendation. Following their advice, I ended up
in a large swath of cornfield -- a sleepy campus town of Champaign-Urbana,
Illinois -- that August. One of the primary reasons for them recommending an
American university over others was racism. In their judgment, and they were all
'foreign returned' high-profile professors in their own right, the US ranked
much lower on the racism spectrum.
Almost a quarter-century later, and after a full two-term presidency of a
bi-racial black president, the US is still grappling with the question of race,
racial prejudice, and individual as well as institutional discrimination of
blacks and other minorities. There are individual, psychological, and cultural
reasons for racism. Society, media, judiciary, the education system -- they all
play a pivotal role in shaping racism. Just as in Hinduphobia, it is entirely
possible that much of the racism manifests itself at the subconscious level and
most people are not aware of it unless it is pointed out as such. Historically,
most blacks were sold in open markets to their owners and brought to America as
slaves. During slavery, most southern states of the US had Black Codes to
regulate slaves. After slavery was legally abolished, not much changed for the
'emancipated' slaves; neither could they return to their ancestral homeland from
where they were uprooted without consent, nor did their owners get out of their
hair. In the absence of institutional slavery, however, people found other
measures to perpetuate their racism just as some European colonisers found a way
in the institution of Girmitiya (indentured) labour of its subjects. In the US,
Jim Crow laws were one such measure. There were separate drinking fountains for
blacks and whites. Blacks could not eat in public and could not go on the
streets after dark. Blacks had separate schools as well.
Rampant discrimination even after the abolition of slavery sent blacks flocking
to cities in big numbers looking for greener pasture. Farming during the 1920s
was increasingly getting mechanised. Those blacks who found employment as
sharecroppers for subsistence wages and did household chores for their masters
were suddenly rendered jobless. City life was miserable for most of these
migrants, yet they urged those who were left behind to migrate to cities of the
North - "Your neck has been in the yoke. Will you continue to keep it there
because some "white folks nigger” wants you to?" (Terry Jones, 1974)
The root of racism in the US lies in the basic institutions - in workplaces,
banking, housing, education, judiciary, etc. Often, individual and institutional
racism seem one and the same. However, it is crucial to recognise the
differences. Racism is neither isolated nor self-sustaining. A racist individual
depends on the institutional framework for his/her racist behaviour, and
institutions need willing individuals to perpetuate discrimination.
Stokley Carmichael and Charles V Hamilton, in their book Black Power (1967) talk
about two kinds of racism - overt and covert. For them, the acts of individual
racism committed by individual whites against individual blacks are overt
racism. The overt racism mostly involves acts by individuals that cause "death,
injury, or the violent destruction of property." They are also more visible
through media reporting, etc. The covert racism, on the other hand, is less
identifiable but no less harmful and destructive. This kind of racism -- the
institutional racism -- authors observe, "originates in the operation of
established and respected forces in the society, and receives far less public
condemnation than the first type."
Institutional racism establishes and sanctions unequal treatment for a given
race or people. To understand institutional racism and how it permeates American
society, it is essential to understand that, to a certain extent, every major
institution in the US functions based on some amount of racial discrimination.
What happened to George Floyd in Minneapolis on the fateful evening of May 25,
2020, can be called a blatant act of racism of both kinds - individual as well
as institutional. The 46-year-old Texan had moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota, for
employment and to start a new life after a run-in with the law that saw him
incarcerated for five years. One of the store clerks of the Cup Food store in
Minneapolis had called the cops on suspicion of Floyd passing a counterfeit $20
bill. Floyd died after Derek Chauvin, a white officer of the Minneapolis Police
Department, pressed his knee to Floyd's neck for close to nine minutes. All this
while, Floyd was handcuffed and face down in the street. In the last three
minutes of this ordeal, Floyd's body remained motionless and lifeless. A few
bystanders filmed this episode on their smartphones. Some of them tried to
intervene, as well. But three other Minneapolis Police Department comrades - a
Somali, a Hmong, and a Latin American - watched from the sidelines as Floyd
begged for mercy saying "I can't breathe." The incident sent a shockwave across
America and the world. The angered protestors filled the streets and alleyways
of their towns and cities, and "I can't breathe" became the catch slogan of the
protests across the globe. "We are deeply saddened and outraged by what happened
to George Floyd in front of our store," Cup Foods owner Mahmoud Abumayyaleh
wrote on his Facebook wall. "The tragic cold-blooded murder of Mr George Floyd
is one of the countless examples in which African-Americans have been treated as
less than human," said Vishal Agarwal, a Minneapolis resident whose family has
been involved in post-riot cleanup and fundraising. Anger then turned into
violence as the radical leftist Antifa and other vested interest groups soon
appropriated what started as a just and peaceful movement. Most of these
radicals are affluent, educated, 'progressives'. Among those arrested by the
police for the ensuing violence were two lawyers who allegedly threw Molotov
cocktails, also known as petrol bombs, into a police car. Colinford Mattis is a
New York University and Princeton University graduate while Urooj Rahman is a
Fordham University graduate. "The far Left's strategy to turn this into a class
war deploying violent means has hurt the movement," opined Ram Prasad, a
Chicago-area based behavioural science specialist. "There is a lot of dissonance
people are having to deal with. They find cops at fault, but they also find
fault with violence and destruction," said Prasad.
In the time of such dissonance, a call to Dharma is the most logical step.
Dharma, a central tenet of the Hindu faith, is the universal Truth that connects
individuals to the rest of the world in a quantum way. The Mahabharata defines
Dharma as something that sustains and upholds the people as well as the universe
we live in. Dharma is a means of securing the good of all living beings. This
goodness comes from love and compassion. The ethical ordering of Dharma is
geared towards maintaining natural harmony. One man's conduct towards another is
contingent on retaining this harmony with the universal law of man's being.
Dharma sees conflicts and dissonance as 'burdening of the earth'. Such
conflicts, according to Dharma, are a product of one's relationship with one's
self as well as other elements of the cosmos. Hence a solution to such conflicts
must also arise from that relationship. The ultimate Dharma, however, lies in us
as individuals transcending ourselves. This transcendence can only be achieved
through numerous acts of our daily living, including acts of kindness and
compassion towards each other's sufferings and navigating complicated
relationships in this quantum universe.
Dharma also recognises that each individual has different physical, mental, and
spiritual capabilities as well as varying levels of development. Dharma calls
upon individuals to follow the righteous path and do the righteous deeds based
on her/his abilities for the overall wellbeing of our society. We all need to
embrace Dharma to root out inequality, injustice, disharmony, and discrimination
from our community.
Inaction is not an option.
(The writer is a JNU and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign alumnus and
writes frequently on the topics of Indic Knowledge Tradition, language, culture,
and current affairs)
https://www.organiser.org//Encyc/2020/6/10/Racial-Discontent-and-Dharma.html
--GoTop
SHRI VISHWA NIKETAN vishwav@bol.net.in http://shrivishwaniketan.blogspot.com
