Disturbing Trend in Civilization - 4 (Last Part)

I had read about Nazism and holocaust in class 10th history book. The whole notion of racial supremacy appears highly irrational to my teenage mind. Hitler and Nazis rise on the wave of German Nationalism. Read in super short about history here :

" To secure their ability to create a totalitarian state, the Nazi party's paramilitary force, the Sturmabteilung (SA) or "Storm Detachment" used acts of violence against leftists, communist, democrats, Jews and other opposition or minority groups. Given the frustrations of the people (after World War I and during the Great Depression) it was easy for the SA to attract large numbers of alienated (and unemployed) youth and working class people for the party.he "logic" of keeping Germany small worked in the favor of its principal economic rivals, and had been a driving force in the recreation of a Polish state. The goal was to create numerous counterweights in order to "balance out Germany's power". The Nazis endorsed the concept of Großdeutschland, or Greater Germany, and believed that the incorporation of the Germanic people into one nation was a vital step towards their national success.

Racialism and racism were important aspects of society within the Third Reich. The Nazis combined anti-Semitism with anti-Communist ideology, regarding the leftist-internationalist movement—as well as international market capitalism—as the work of "Conspiratorial Jewry". They referred to this so-called movement with terminology such as the "Jewish-Bolshevistic revolution of subhumans".[49] This platform manifested itself in the displacement, internment, and systematic extermination of an estimated 11 million to 12 million people in the midst of World War II, roughly half of them being Jews targeted in what is historically remembered as the Holocaust (Shoah), 3 million ethnic Poles, and another 100,000–1,000,000 being Roma, who were murdered in the Porajmos. Other victims of Nazi persecution included communists, various political opponents, social outcasts, homosexuals, freethinkers, religious dissidents such as Jehovah's Witnesses, Christadelphians, the Confessing Church and Freemasons. "[Source: Wiki]



It was my first encounter with the monsters of the human civilization created on the name of belief. This homogeneous and state-sponsored strain of believe system will damage the whole civilization and Europe has taken lesson from it. I observe that when minority have much control on trade, education and jobs, This will provoke backlash of majority. Majority will rise either in the name of religious or ethnic nationalism. This has happened in Germany and it will happen in Africa soon.

A complete opposite matter in India that Muslims constitute highly uneducated, unskilled and poor part of population. Sachar Committee recommend for reservation that is opposed by majority of Hindus. They completely fail to see the concept of inclusive growth. A country can't develop with its one of the ethnic or religious group absent in the government jobs. Paramount position hold by few Muslims doesn't depict with honesty the position of backwardness of the Muslim.

If majority claims truth on the basis of their supposed superiority of the collective regime at the expense of minority, the society is on the path of decay and violence. Through the engineering of a single, wholesome notion of faith and nation as preached by RSS brand in India will put us more towards civil war than development and peace. And our habit of taking guidance with Islamic clergy for each decision in Muslim matters shows moral bankruptcy and tendency to ignore majority of Muslims for easy approach; The last person by merit whose opinion should be taken for progressive causes are given highest priority.

Muslim in minority voice for secular state while being in majority starts debating for sharia law. That is happening in Kashmir valley. Sometimes, I fear from the paranoid outrage against Muslims and immigrants by Shiv Sainiks and MNS. Long history of violence is overlooked by majority here in India to support their regional, ethnic and religious causes.

Why it becomes almost a matter greater than life and death to hide your faults? We stand proud for the positive qualities about our culture and religion but takes an irrational approach in its shortcomings. To be self centered and obsessed with greatness of own is the reason if fall of all men, societies and civilizations of the world. I want to end last part of the essay on optimistic note. But don't know what will happen to the world around us in the future. I want a change and a place where people understand value of Liberty, Equality, Fraternity...

Disturbing Trend in Civilization -3

I was trying to complete this series in the draft form long ago. Roshmi bombarded me with comments in 2nd part of the series and I became busy in reading history of Pakistan. While 3rd part of this trend comes to my notice during debate with my sister. There was talk about equality, merit and anti casteism without seeing the ground level discrimination's practised in the society. I recall only rough details of our conversation :

- She was clearly seeing the 'quota' as a toy given to each section of society who makes fuss about it. She was holding very strong points over implementation of the anti discriminatory laws and strict punishment to law breakers.

It is not about the implication of laws but raising of consciousness over these issue. Upper caste Hindus how much they shout will never take action against one of their own over dalit issues. It is that their conscience is not a public conscience but a caste conscience, imbued with values derived from caste.

- Quotacracy is indeed harming our Democratic model but this newly emerged middle class simply don't want to accept wrong doing of the past generations. She treat everyone without any caste and religion prejudice.

This is a nice ethical values emergence in our pro west oriented youths. But, simply you can't escape the right or wrong doings of the past. It is indeed endurance needed by the guys championing the merit case until everybody is bought to level field.

- The heavy argument against any reservation per se is that it compromises with the quality and merit. bring them at par with the privileged sections.

Those who enjoy subsidised public education catches the flight of private sector on first sight on high pay packages. Its right decision only. I am in support of it. But asking government to give them subsidized education and merit based job without reservation is wrong attitude. Such group never argues hard for the abolition of management quota in the private colleges despite of its non merit selection.

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Don't take sides in this arguments. The aim of our argument is to understand and reach the root cause of caste based discrimination. What I observe today an emerging middle class, resistant to a democratization that might jeopardize the social and economic privileges they enjoy in an undemocratic system. Even to this day, upper and lower caste do not eat in the same plate or drink from the same glass. And blindly accepted as a matter-of-fact social norm by majority. A few youth with equality crusaders are indeed needed if they just maintain their view after coming out of their ivory towers. Have a brief Look on the India Untouched ---



It is not just become a matter a religion now. This whole society is more of Caste-obsessed in India. Check : Caste system in Sikhism , Caste system in Christianity & Caste system in Islam . While the readers interested in more academic dissection of the topic, go through the article of Namit Arora : The Blight of Hindustan.

The story of Dalit oppression is not just about the occasional horrific incidents of lynching, rape and mass murder, but also about the everyday slights, the subtle and not-so-subtle process by which human beings were systematically reduced to an under-class, a sub-species that did not merit full human consideration. This prejudice cannot get reversed by a stroke of the pen, or the success of a single generation- it runs deep and howls wild. When someone like Shashi Tharoor gets himself weighed in money, we shrug it off as a quaint electoral practice. When Mayawati does so, we are offended. But then, she does not tweet. [SOURCE]

Disturbing Trend in Civilization -2

While I write about 2nd phase of article inquiring about disturbing trend in the civilization, I will emphasis on the countries governed by Islamic law. Personally, I don't see liberty, equality and a place for minority in the Islamic Law. This article is more based on the study of Pakistan that resembles us most in culture and traditions.

People who are ignorant to history can perish easily. That's why false notion of history creates a generation believing in conspiracy theories than scientic inquiry about religion. That what is happening to the generation of Muslim countries. And this excessive religious education corrodes the youth minds making them unaware of the worldly affairs. The tendency to see every act through the eye of religion tarnishes the viewpoint and starts the pointless debate to determine ‘true Islam’.

Romanticised version of Islam’s early history is constructed purely on memorised accounts. 'Glorious age of religious faith' is the imaginative concept of extremist. It baffles all rationality and history. Land of pure and one provides no space to diversity. This catalyzes the elimination of minority by extremist element in majority.

Meanwhile, Muslim countries continue to lag behind the rest of the world in almost every measure of human rights, scientific achievement, economic vitality, and standard of living. Take oil out of Arab countries and they would be the most corrupt and failed states. We all know about the reports of human rights violation in the countries governed by Sharia laws.

Tendency of feudal violence and gun culture is more seen in Islamic countries. The chance of fair discussion and democracy seems less feasible. Courts are overburdened with cases, land reforms pending, an Army that doesn't care about civilians and democratic leader chosen are either highly corrupt or elite. So majority of uneducated population has been left with no choice over all.

Propaganda of any religious group of the single correct path is a totalitarian act and that leads to the violent suppression of opposition camp. The competition in opposite camps is no longer a consensus-building exercise, but rather a zero-sum game. There is so much insecurity and mistrust that anyone criticizing with reason is consider as Zionist agent or atheist. The pursuit of only one religious view fuelled with elimination of other views lead by small faction of self righteous religious parties catalyzes the downfall of peaceful Islamic countries into chaos. There is a need to end the violent, psychopathic and totalitarian version of the faith.

There is a difference between getting people to think for themselves and telling them what to think. you can’t force people to acquire an opinion, they have to form their own opinion about issues. As in most conflicts, solutions can only come from within. There is lack of rational education in all Islamic countries governed under Sharia. And there is no distinction between teachings of the Quran and the anachronistic 7th century Arabian tribal customs. The solution to the turmoil gripping Muslim society today may be found in reintroducing ijtihad.

Ijtihad is a technical term of Islamic law that describes the process of making a legal decision by independent interpretation of the legal sources, the Qur'an and the Sunnah. It is not practiced in Sunni Islam anymore and notion that the "gates of ijtihad" were "closed" in the 10th century.

The ultimate clash is between the politicised Islam of a radical element which has turned to violence as a means of expressing itself, and the mainstream majority which remains largely silent defending Islam as religion of peace. Muslims as humans and individuals are obviously capable of changing their minds but no the Islamic Mullahs. We need to educate people about human rights, rational thinking and secular society for peaceful co existence.

Let me end the topic with talks of Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Dutch intellectual & feminist activist Must Read Interview : Unlike other religions that allowed for criticism, Islam brooks no questioning, Ali said. "In Islam you submit your will to a force outside yourself, to a collective will," she said. Describing the Koran as a book written within a certain cultural context in the 6th century, she said many values are outdated. For instance, she said, in Islam, men and women are not equal, homosexual relations are not tolerated, women found guilty of adultery are required to be stoned to death, and the list of obligations under Islam have led to an environment of bigotry where believers are obliged to distance themselves from non-Muslims...