VSK TN
Chennai Sandesh
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September 10, 2012
Retired civil servants chastise a Tamilnadu IAS Official who indulged in Christian propaganda
Umashankar, IAS. He is a serving Civil Servant in the capacity of Commissioner, Disciplinary Proceedings Department, Tamilnadu. Last week he addressed a Church meeting in Kanyakumari District propagating Christianity. Already he is being charged with securing bogus caste certificate to enable him to enjoy benefits of reservation applicable to Scheduled Caste. Members of public led by State BJP President Pon Radhakrishnan registered their protest by staging a demonstration. Over 400 persons were arrested in this connection. Umashankar says ‘I am a Dalit and no one can question my right of worship.’ Vijayabharatham (September 14, 2012), a nationalist Tamil weekly, invited opinions of three retired IAS Officials on this development. Smt Chandralekha IAS (retd.) wondered if a civil servant plays up a particular religion how the other religionists among members of public can approach him. Rules do not permit Government officials to engage in propaganda of a particular creed, she added. Sri N Murugan IAS (retd.) pointed out that Official turning propagandists are emboldened by the absence of stringent action by the Government. Sri V Sundaram IAS (retd), in his response, advised Umashankar to quit Government job if he was for becoming a full time Christian preacher. He cited pertinent Government rules forbidding Government officials associating with any particular caste, linguistic or political group. He demanded that the Government should dismiss Umashankar for indulging in Christian propaganda.
Ganesh Chaturthi verdict brings cheers;123 Hindus acquitted in a false case in Salem
Even as Ganesh Chaturthi (September 19, 2012) approaches the verdict by a Salem magistrate brought cheers to the hearts of 123 Hindus of Thammampatti in the district. The magistrate dismissed various cases filed against these Hindus in an incident that happened in 2007, when they objected to the protest by hundreds of Muslims against installation of Ganesh idols in public places in the village. The protesting Hindus were lathi-charged in 2007 and cases against only the Hindus were filed by police; the entire village observed a bandh; black flags were hoisted on Hindu buildings. The Hindu solidarity was maintained during the entire period of these five years, when the case dragged on.
An information-packed – cum – inspiring curtain raiser to Chennai’s 150th Jayanthi celebrations of Swami Vivekananda
The Parliament of Religions 1893 in Chicago has a peculiar background. American Industrialists wanted to boast of their achievements by arranging an industrial exhibition on the occasion of ‘The 400th year of Discovery of America by Columbus’. Of course Christian padris jumped on to the band wagon of the event and declared a parliament of religions on the occasion with the motive of flaunting the ‘supremacy of Christianity’ to the World. But it is history now that Swami Vivekananda’s Vedantic roar smashed all that machinations and swept the West in favour of Hindutva. (Curiously, 1200 years earlier, a Hindu by name Srichand accompanied by 30 persons sailed from India to China; he intended to take up a voyage to America. He achieved the feet and returned to China to spend the rest of his life. In the case of Columbus, on the other hand, he tumbled upon America instead of reaching in the Indian shore. Hindus had far superior navigational skill than Europeans in that distant past). That was one among the numerous inspiring anecdotes that came cascading, in a 3 day Swami Vivekananda lecture-series by Sri K Suryanarayana Rao, senior RSS Pracharak, in Chennai last week as a curtain raiser to 150th Jayanthi celebrations to Swamiji. Over 700 persons, both men and women, including large number of activists of several cultural organisations of the city benefited by Suruji’s inspiring and information-packed talks.
