The biggest challenge yet to the reading habit may come from You Tube. When we can select the subject we want to hear, with the bonus of seeing the speaker or the background being described. The book, at least to new readers, may seem too much of a bother. But no one having gone through the thrill of snuggling into bed and into a mystical world with a promising book would trade their book for anything else - the You Tube challenge notwithstanding.
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Wednesday, July 04, 2007
Response to a typical Muslim blog
[NDTV these days have so mined their comments slot that it is difficult to get a comment through unscathed. I post my comments to a typical Muslim blog here]
You say if you consider leaders, scholars and scientists proportionate to their population, Muslims have produced more leaders than any other ethnic group. Here, I think you are forgetting the Jews. And if you consider over the entire span of human civilization, then it has to be the Hindus, because they are the longest surviving cultural group. Again, if you consider just the so-called modern period, then the contribution of Muslims to modern science, discovery and technology is almost zilch.
About fundamentalism being present in all religions, it is only Mohammad the founder of Islam who showed his fundamentalist (intolerant) tendencies by destroying the idols of others’ religions.
The RSS is a nationalistic organization and just because India does not find a mention in the Quran, do not think she is not sacred. India is the field of mankind’s most successful spiritual quests and therefore India is sacred and believing so is nationalism. There is nothing fanatical about it. It is all about reverence.
Many Hindus oppose secularism because in India secularism has come to mean appeasing the Muslims for votes.
Godse is a hero because he saw the partition of India as an unforgivable sin. But he erred in holding Gandhi responsible for it. He should have bumped-off Jinnah, one of the persons who have made it to your ‘Great-Muslims’ list. Maybe he thought that Jinnah stands exposed anyway and it is Gandhi that needs to be exposed. He chose to do it, unfortunately, rather dramatically.
Muslims have never co-exited peacefully with other faiths. Jinnah’s two-nation theory is proof of it.
When I comment, I reiterate, I do not mean Muslims as individuals or even as a community. I only refer to Muslims who portray themselves as blue-blooded products of Islam. In this respect I see neither Dr. Kalam nor Azim Premji as products of Islam. It is their excellence in the secular fields that has made them what they are. Moreover, their mindset is unlikely to invalidate others’ religions, unlike a loyal Muslim who insists only Islam is valid.
About fundamentalism being present in all religions, it is only Mohammad the founder of Islam who showed his fundamentalist (intolerant) tendencies by destroying the idols of others’ religions.
The RSS is a nationalistic organization and just because India does not find a mention in the Quran, do not think she is not sacred. India is the field of mankind’s most successful spiritual quests and therefore India is sacred and believing so is nationalism. There is nothing fanatical about it. It is all about reverence.
Many Hindus oppose secularism because in India secularism has come to mean appeasing the Muslims for votes.
Godse is a hero because he saw the partition of India as an unforgivable sin. But he erred in holding Gandhi responsible for it. He should have bumped-off Jinnah, one of the persons who have made it to your ‘Great-Muslims’ list. Maybe he thought that Jinnah stands exposed anyway and it is Gandhi that needs to be exposed. He chose to do it, unfortunately, rather dramatically.
Muslims have never co-exited peacefully with other faiths. Jinnah’s two-nation theory is proof of it.
When I comment, I reiterate, I do not mean Muslims as individuals or even as a community. I only refer to Muslims who portray themselves as blue-blooded products of Islam. In this respect I see neither Dr. Kalam nor Azim Premji as products of Islam. It is their excellence in the secular fields that has made them what they are. Moreover, their mindset is unlikely to invalidate others’ religions, unlike a loyal Muslim who insists only Islam is valid.
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