Having been a witness to the ethnic cleansing of the Brahmins of the Valley of Kashmir, I took a special interest in this much vilified caste. Our foundation FACT, did a film on the plight of the Brahmins in India and my wife and I found out that they are a sorry lot: Hindu priests are very poorly paid by the Government; the Sulabh toilets in Delhi and elsewhere, are all manned by Brahmins; 50% of Rickshaw pullers in the suburbs of Delhi, such as Patil Nagar, are Brahmins; and in Andhra Pradesh, the cooks and helps mostly belong to the Brahmin caste. Indeed, a recent study showed that 55% of the Brahmins of India live below the poverty line!
So why did Udhayanidhi Stalin say that Santana Dharma, a sacred concept coined by ancient Rishi Brahmins, is worse than Corona and should be eradicated? We understand that Marxism, devised in its pure form by Marx and put into practice by Lenin and Mao Tse Tung, hates religions, because it considers them divisive. Maybe there is some truth in it, as all religions, at some point or the other, exploited people and even used the might of their armies to convert entire nations. Indeed, Christianity wiped out entire civilisations in South America, such as the Incas. We will not dwell too much here on the Islamic onslaughts on many people, such as Hindus and Buddhists, which were extremely violent and brutal. In contrast, Hindus never tried to convert other nations and Hinduism went peacefully towards the East as the wonders of Angkor Vat testifies and Westwards - its philosophy and spirituality influencing Greece and later the Celts of France and Ireland.
I would like to point out to Mr. Stalin Junior, that Marxism and communism were also extremely violent towards their own people: Stalin killed millions of Russians in the name of his ideology ; Mao Tse Tung did the same to about 10 millions of Chinese and wiped out nearly a million harmless Tibetan people. And what about the genocide of Cambodians by the Khmer Rouge?...
I however have some respect for Indian Communists and Marxists, as generally they are less corrupt than other politicians and lead a simpler life ( but let us not forget DMK Central minister of Communication Raja, who siphoned 100 of crores of rupees in the 2G scam). Yet Stalin’s statement is utter nonsense: firstly at least 85% of Tamil Nadu belongs to the Santana Dharma religion and this state possesses some of the most beautiful Hindu temples, as well as the most refined Hindu practices, not only religious, but also in many social and cultural traditions, whether it is the kolams in villages, or adornments and clothing of women and girls. Secondly, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi rightly pointed out during this G20 year, the ancient concept of Vasudeva Kutumbakam is unique and makes of Hinduism a universal religion in its outlook, non-sectarian, the only one in the world that still accepts, that God, He or She, may manifest at different times, using different names and scriptures. Indeed, the Spirituality that props up Hinduism from behind as defined in the Bhagawad Gita, maybe the future religion of the world, as it accepts all and provides answers to the eternal questions of Mankind: Who am I? What happens when I die? What is Karma, What is Dharma? How can I lead a better life? Etc.
Undeniably, this Spirituality has already invaded the world, as Swami Vivekananda and Sri Aurobindo predicted: 2 Americans out of 3 practice Hatha Yoga, medical studies have shown that meditation is extremely beneficial for both the body and mind; Sri Sri Ravishankar’s pranayama techniques are used in 144 countries; and Ayurveda, the most ancient medical system still in practice, which 3000 years ago performed plastic surgeries and knew that many illnesses have a psychosomatic origin, is slowly penetrating the West.
So Udhayanidhi Stalin, at best you have made this statement out of complete ignorance without knowing the facts about your own culture and religion; and at worst, it is a childish slander.
Francois Gautier
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