Tuesday, November 25, 2014

ISIS release shocking new video of child soldiers from Kazakhstan being trained with AK47s

ISIS release shocking new video of child soldiers from Kazakhstan being trained with AK47s

 
Margashirsha Shuklapaksha Tritiya, Kaliyug Varsh 5116

ISIS has released a shocking new video featuring children from Kazakhstan at a terrorist training camp
  New ISIS propaganda video shows young children training with firearms
  The video claims the children are first being taught to read and write Arabic
 • Then, the youngsters, who are from Kazakhstan, are given military training
A new ISIS propaganda video has emerged on social media showing the indoctrination and training of dozens of child soldiers from Kazakhstan.
Entitled ‘Race Towards Good’, the video was produced by the terror group’s main media branch, Al Hayat Media Center. The dialogue in the video interchanges between Kazakh and Arabic, with three sets of subtitles including English.
The high quality film opens with a slow motion sequence of two lines of armed Kazakh adult fighters jogging along in the desert. In between the two lines, a lone fighter wearing a peaked hat can be seen riding a white horse and carrying the black flag of ISIS.
Their teacher claims he is giving the children an education before they move onto military training

The video immediately cuts to a young boy, pictured, field-stripping and rebuilding an AK-47 assault rifle
All of the fighters are wearing matching grey camouflage uniforms, with the exception of the leader of the group who is wearing a black tunic.
The video claims: ‘Meet some of our newest brothers from the land of Kazakhstan. They responded to the crusader aggression with their hijrah and raced to prepare themselves and their children, knowing very well that their final return is to Allah.’
One of the Kazakh fighters said: ‘These brothers made hijrah recently and they’re now in training camp. They are preparing themselves to fight the kuffar (non-believers) and the mushrikin (polytheists) who are spreading their kufr and shirk, and to fight the tawaghit (sinners) in their various forms.’
The propaganda video shows a group of new adult ISIS recruits from Kazakhstan training in an assault courses and receiving specialist sniper training. Ranging in age, the adults are also shown in a classroom being taught about the firing range for different sniper rifles – including weapons from the United States.
The video states that ‘soon they will be ready to join the army of the Islamic State’ before shockingly revealing the role of Kazakh children in ISIS.
The video shows the youngsters shouting God is Great in Arabic.
The video states: ‘They begin their days in search of knowledge in the schools of the Islamic State where they are taught to hold firmly to this creed. This is coupled with a resolve forged in the midst of worldwide crusader aggression, which together form the ultimate base for raising tomorrow’s mujahidin (fighters).’
The video shows the children learning how to read and write in a classroom before military training

It also shows Kazakh men receiving instruction in the use of sniper rifles and other infantry tactics

Unlike the recruits, the sniper instructor is masked as he teaches the men how to deal with range
The young boys are shown catching the bus to their religious school. One of the boys mimics pointing a rifle towards the camera whilst others recite ISIS slogans.
The boys are then shown being taught the ISIS radical interpretation of Sharia’h law in a classroom. A Kazakh cleric is shown sitting in the classroom, where he tells the camera what it means to be a Kazakh in the Islamic State. ‘We spent our childhood far away from this blessing. We were raised on the methodology of atheism, and Allah’s refuge is sought.’
He goes on to denounce the West, claiming ‘the kuffar poisoned our minds.’ He insists ‘Our children are happy. They’re living in the shade of the Qur’an and Sunnah.’
After showing the Kazakh boys being taught to interpret the Qur’an and learn how to read and write Arabic, the children are shown undertaking military training.
The video cuts to the youngsters undergoing the same military drills practiced by the men

It is shows the young boys developing their hand-to-hand combat skills in the classroom

The propaganda video shows a toddler brandishing a toy sub-machine gun while wearing military fatigues
The boys are shown sitting in a group and are all wearing matching camouflage fatigues. One of the boys shows off his ability to strip apart and reassemble a machine gun whilst the other boys watch on with little interest.
The scene is narrated by an interview with the children’s Arabic teacher, who claims: ‘They will move on to do physical and military training until they get older and pound the thrones of the tawaghit. With Allah’s permission, they are the next generation. They are the ones who will shake the earth and spread this precious deen (religion) to all regions of the earth.’
The child soldiers are then shown carrying out gun manoeuvres and tactical formations. It also briefly shows shots of the boys working out in the gym and practicing martial arts.
One of the Kazakh children, who gives his name as Abdullah, is asked in an interview what he is doing. The boy replies: ‘I’m training in a camp.’ When quizzed about what he will do in the future, Abdullah chillingly declares with a smile: ‘I will be the one who slaughters you, O kuffar (non-believer). I will be a mujahid, insha’allah (God willing.)’
The boy is then shown as part of the Kazakh boys brigade sitting as a group. A toddler, wearing a balaclava is seen tottering nearby, carrying a mock machine gun and wearing military fatigues. One of the older boys leads a prayer before proclaiming the group’s message: ‘We’re going to kill you, O kuffar. Insha’allah we’ll slaughter you.’
At the end of the chilling video, one of the children is interviewed and explains that he is ‘training in the camp’

He then explains how he will go on to kill people claiming that he will become a fighter
The final scene shows the boys jogging with their rifles along a road like the adult fighters at the beginning of the video. The video’s final statement reads: ‘These youth are honoured with being the future flag bearers of Islam.’
It is thought that at least 300 Kazakh nationals have travelled to Syria and joined Islamic State, according to the National Security Committee of Kazakhstan. Nurtai Aykayev, chairman of the committee, wrote in a report that 150 of the 300 Kazakh nationals, who had joined Islamic State, were women.
Dr Andreas Krieg, Assistant Professor at the Department of Defence Studies in Kings College London said Kazakhstan was not a target area for ISIS.
He said: ‘They are currently concentrating on Iraq, Syria, Libya and Yemen. Although recently Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi recently said he was looking to franchise the organisation in different Muslim countries.
‘Teaching the foreign fighters Arabic is very important to them as they want to be able to win hearts and minds of the people in their core target areas. The reason they are training children, is the same reason the like of Hamas have been training children for the past 20 years. It is to indoctrinate them and create the next generation of fighter.’
Dr Krieg said the reason young men from Kazakhstan were willing to join ISIS is similar to those prompting British people to travel to Syria and Iraq.
‘Kazakhstan is a reasonably stable country. These men, like those in Britain and other western countries are disenfranchised by the society they live in. They are very susceptible to the ISIS narrative.’
Iraqi Shiite militia have joined with regular Iraqi forces around Tikrit, northern Iraq to fight against ISIS

The combined forces have had several successes against ISIS forces who had taken over the area

The major counter attack is believed to have killed ‘tens of terrorists’ in reclaiming a northern enclave
Meanwhile, ISIS has murdered 25 members of a Sunni Muslim tribe in the Anbar province in Iraq.
The bodies were discovered by members of the Iraqi army on the eastern edge of the Iraqi provincial capital Ramadi. Local officials believe the men were murdered because they opposed the ISIS incursion into their territory.
Hathal Al-Fahdawi, a member of the Anbar Provincial Council, said the bodies of the men, who are from the Albu Fahd tribe, were discovered after the Iraqi army launched a counter-offensive against ISIS.
He said: ‘While they were combing the territories they are liberating, security forces found 25 corpses in the Shujariya area
Albu Fahd tribal leader Sheikh Rafie al-Fahdawi said at least 25 bodies had been found and said he expected the total to be significantly higher. He said the bodies were found scattered around with no signs of weapons next to them, suggesting they were not killed during fighting.
Last month ISIS killed hundreds of members of the Albu Nimr tribe in Anbar in an attempt to break localresistance to their advances in the Sunni Muslim province they have largely controlled for nearly a year.
ISIS has also been attacked in the Anbar province where Iraqi troops have been supported by US air power
ISIS, which has seized control of large parts of Syria and Iraq, continues to gain territory in Anbar despite three months of U.S.-led air strikes launched against the group.
On Friday it launched coordinated attacks in central and outlying areas of Ramadi in an attempt to take full control over a city which is already mostly in its hands.
The road from Ramadi to the military airbase of Habbaniya, about 15 miles to the east, remained under ISIS control on Saturday, Hathal Fahdawi said, preventing the army from reinforcing security forces in the city.
He said tribal fighters backed by army tanks were trying to secure the road to allow forces through from Habbaniya.
The ISIS lightning offensive through northern Iraq in June plunged the country into its gravest security crisis since the U.S.-led overthrow of Saddam Hussein in 2003, and raised concerns that its radical ideology will spread.
In northern Iraq, a farmer near the city of Mosul discovered around 60 bodies believed to be those of prisoners killed by Islamic State fighters when they overran the city’s Badush prison on June 10, witnesses said on Saturday.
The bodies were found after heavy rain disturbed their mass grave. The United Nations said up to 670 prisoners from Badush were killed by Islamic state five months ago.
Source : Daily Mail

Sunday, November 23, 2014

Recover the kidnapped girl by tonight or we will come on streets: APMCC

Kashmiri Pandits stage massive protest against Jammu police
Recover the kidnapped girl by tonight or we will come on streets: APMCC
Jammu, Nov 22: Parents of a Kashmiri Pandit girl who is missing since November 15 and is believed to have been kidnapped by a Muslim Boy today staged a massive and unprecedented protest demonstration and later blocked Tawi bridge under the banner of All Parties Migrants Coordination Committee (APMCC) at Press Club of Jammu alongwith hundreds of Jammuites saying police was not doing enough to recover their missing daughter and demanded immediate measures to trace her.
The parents’ alongwith around 500 people including ladies and children lead by Senior Journalist & National Spokesperson APMCC King Bharati and Advocate Arun Kandroo General Secretary APMCC alleged that police was taking the case lightly even as their young daughter who was to get married on December 12 this year was still missing and her kidnapers are roaming free.
With tears rolling down their cheeks the parents of the girl Opinder Koul and Girja Koul were shouting slogans and carrying placards “bring our daughter back” seeking help from everyone to help them recover their girl who had called them last on November 15 asking them to save her from one Sahil (Rusman Bhat) of Paloura adding since then they have not heard anything from her.
They alleged that they were being mislead by the parents of the boy saying she has married their son adding if it was so why were they not producing the girl before police adding they suspect some foul play in the whole affair and fear she might have been killed or was being kept under some threat.
The father of the girl alleged that police was deliberately not using all its resources under their command under some pressure forcing them to come to streets to seek justice.
King Bharati while lashing out at the administration said that it was strange that a young girl was missing for the last so many days and police was still in dark adding they believe it was being done with some ulterior motive to force the girl to convert or marry under pressure.
Demanding immediate recovery of the girl Bharati said that once the girl comes in front of the parents and police the truth will be known adding any further delay may convert the whole affair into yet another case of Love Jihad.
He served an ultimatum of 24 hours to Jammu police to recover the girl or face direct action adding Kashmiri Pandit community as well as entire Hindu community was raging with anger and warned that any further delay will have serious consequences.
Later a heavy contingent of police force used mild lathicharge to lift the blockade from Tawi bridge road with demonstrators asking SSP to come to talk to them.
However SP City SK Chouhan arrived on spot and assured of prompt action taking a delegation with him to Police Control Room where concerned SDPO and SHO were also summoned. The police officers after listening to their grievances assured action and sought time upto this evening to recover the girl. Later the dharna was lifted with a clear warning that if the girl was not recovered by tonight the agitation will spill over the entire region which might take a communal turn.
Advocate Arun Kandroo said that if all was well why the girl was not being produced before the magistrate and the parents so that actual position comes to fore adding entire Hindu community was angered over the issue which might snowball into a major controversy in the days to come.
He said that APMCC will take the agitation to national level if immediate measures for the recovery of the girl are not taken.
Sanajy Koul, Chairman, All Displaced Youth Forum said that it was a serious matter for the community and youth will go for direct action if the police fails to bring the girl back to her parents.
Som Nath Saraf, GL Bhat, Rajinder Koul, TK Zutshi and Vimarsh Koul , Shalini, Archana etc also echoed similar views saying protests will spill over the entire Jammu region if Kashmiri Pandit community was not given justice.

Thursday, November 20, 2014

one kashmiri girl kidnapped

One Kashmirs  Hindu girl namely Semakhe kaul D/O opender krishan kaul R/O GURA KRAN ,BANTALAB ROAD Jammu left for her job on on15.11.2014 but the unfortunate girl did not return home.In the evening about 6 PM her mother received a phone call  from her daughter and said "Mumy (mother) save me" than they herd some
slapping sounds and the phone got disconnected.After hearing this her father went to Chinore Police, Jammu station to file FIR but the police refused to file FIR but on the intervention of some higher authorities Police was compelled to file a FIR but  the police is not taking any action as required under law  they have make mare formalities instead of capturing culprits they are harnessing  poor father.The father and mother has reached  near the death.The hapless parents also approached the J&K chief minister but gravely shocking he too is mum.As per  the  police  and some   news agencies  the girl has been kidnapped by two Muslim youths   of Janipur and police is giving them shield so the helpless parents have now appealed  honorable  prime minister which is only hope  for them  and they saw  a ray of hope from prime minister ..

Saturday, November 8, 2014

Article 370 - An Objective Assessment

Article 370 - An Objective Assessment

by Prashanth Vaidyaraj
Vipul Kaul, a 13-year-old son of a Class IV employee in Jammu and Kashmir's Public Works Department suffers from multiple diseases and is alive thanks to drugs that are costing his family a fortune. In 2001, Vipul's family had petitioned the J&K government for aid and a sum of Rs 20 Lakh was assured to them. But when the government changed, the aid stopped. The Home Ministry then intervened and advised the state to continue the aid. But all they got was a letter dated July 24, 2007 stating, “Under Article 370, the state of Jammu and Kashmir is under no obligation to oblige the home ministry’s instructions.” Vipul's is not a isolated case of abuse of Article 370. Since our Independence in 1947, Article 370 has been misused and abused repeatedly to cater to selfish motives that are against national interests.
Article 370 was incorporated in the constitution of India as a temporary measure in view of the prevailing circumstances then. Pakistan had attacked Jammu & Kashmir and had illegally occupied parts of the state by aggression. The matter was then taken to the United Nations and a plebiscite was agreed upon, pursuant to the condition that Pakistan would completely withdraw from all occupied areas and would dismantle any governance mechanisms it had put in place. Any measure on part of India to extend the constitution entirely would be deemed contradictory. It was under these circumstances, some temporary procedure was required for further extension of the union constitution in J&K and that is Article 370. The Article 370 specifies that the power of the Parliament to make laws for Jammu & Kashmir shall be limited to the matters specified in the 'Instrument of Accession'. It is to be noted that the schedule of the 'instrument of accession' mentions that except for Defence, External Affairs, Communications and ancillary subjects, the Indian Parliament needs the State Government's concurrence for applying all other laws. Article 370 was only an additional legislative mechanism to facilitate this transition. But political frauds and constitutional abuse of article 370 have been committed continuously. For example, the article does neither grant J&K the right to have separate flag nor a separate constitution that becomes an impediment in the application of nation wide laws in the state.
Constitutional validity of Article 370
Those who speak in support of continuation of Article 370, usually refer to the Article 35-A, which was added to Part III of the Indian Constitution through the 'Constitution (Application to state of J&K) Order, 1954'. But it should be noted that this introduction of Article 35A, exclusively for J&K state, is an addition and not a modification. The article specifies conferring special rights and privileges for permanent residents of J&K and imposing restrictions on people of other states regarding employment, settling down in J&K, acquisition of immovable properties in state, right to scholarship and other forms of aid which the government provides.
On closer scrutiny it appears that the 'Constitution (Application to state of J&K) order of 1954', in so far has abrogated article 14 in its application to the J&K state and is also ultra-vires of the power conferred on the president. No citizen of India can be deprived of the right to vote in the election to the state assembly and cannot be deprived of the right to equality. In Keshavananda Bharati v/s state of Kerala, the Supreme court ruled inter-alia that equality of status and opportunity promised to all citizens of India in Preamble of constitution of India was part of the 'basic structure' of our constitution and that any law made will be struck down as void if it violates the constitution's 'basic structure'. So the question arises as to how can the constitution promise justice, equality and fraternity to all its citizens and then go on to add monstrous sections on permanent residents for one particular state. This denies us the equality before law which is guaranteed in Article 14 to all the citizens of India. Moreover, discrimination on basis of religion, caste, sex, place of birth, race is prohibited by Article 15 of our constitution. Such ordinances hands the state to a few individuals without taking into consideration the changes that have occurred in the state and the country during the last 65 years. It fails to consider the Pandit's holocaust, issues of the refugees, vagaries of partition, dawn of democracy in India based on equality and adult franchise and the whole history of hundreds of years.
It is very important to note that in 1950, the GOI clarified the effect of Article 370 in a white paper on Indian states as below:
a) The effect of this provision (Article 370) is that the state of J&K continues to be part of India
b) It is a unit of Indian union and union parliament will have jurisdiction to make laws for this state on matters specified in the instrument of accession or by later additions with concurrence of the government of the state.
c) An order has been issued under article 370 specifying
1) Matters in respect of which the parliament may make laws for J&K state
2) The provisions other than Article 1 (Name and territory of the Union) and Article 370 which shall apply to the state
3) Constituent assembly will be convened to go into the matters in detail
4) When the assembly will come to the decision on all the matters, it will make a recommendation to the president who will either abrogate article 370 or direct that it shall apply with such modification and exceptions as he may specify.
Despite such legislative assurances and the “Parliamentary resolution on Jammu and Kashmir” of 1994, no action has been taken to undo the earlier mistakes that have only provided more fodder for mischief using Article 370.
Abuse and Misuse of Article 370
Focusing on the abuse and conscious misuse of Article 370 tells us that 6 entries of 99 provisions of union list and 21 entries from 52 entries of concurrent list are still excluded for J&K. J&K has a separate text for oath. The tenure of the state assembly is six years. There is no mention of the words of secularism and socialism in preamble of constitution of J&K. Prevention of corruption act of 1988, Indian Penal code, Domestic Violence Act, Religious institutions (prevention of misuse) act of 1988, Forests Rights Act, Protection of Wild Animals Act and the Urban land ceiling acts do not apply to J&K. CBI has limited jurisdiction in J&K meaning that if the CBI wants to exercise powers and the jurisdiction in any FIR registered in J&K State, then it needs the consent of the J&K Govt or the High Court. The Supreme court has only appellant jurisdiction here as it is not vested with the jurisdiction of a Federal Court and can only hear cases on appeal.
Further examining if indeed Article 370 has been beneficial to the people of the state themselves, proves that they have been mislead and misinformed. As the People representation act does not apply to the state, the center has no power to enforce delimitation of the constituencies in the state. In 2002 except for J&K delimitation was done in the whole country. The Article 370 has also been misused to further interests of select regions. Even though Jammu has more population, has a larger area and more voters, Kashmir has more assembly seats. While Kashmir has 47 assembly seats, Jammu has only 37. If proper delimitation takes place Jammu should have 48-50 seats and Kashmir would have 35-36 seats. There is no record of the number of OBC's in the state. Mandal commission report has not been implemented and hence the backward classes here have no reservations in various fields. Deprived sections of the society like SC/STs did not have any reservation in J&K till 1991. Though in 1991 they were provided reservation in employment and education they still do not have any representation in politics and in the state assembly. Its surprising that the Dalit and 'Bahujan Samaj' leaders have been silent on this. The State government also refused to enact laws that would give effect to the 73rd (provisions for Panchyat Raj, 1993) and 74th (provisions for Local Administrative bodies, 1993) Amendments in J&K and hence there is no devolution of powers or democratic decentralization at grassroots. Elections in the Panchayats are being held under the archaic Jammu & Kashmir Panchayati Raj Act, 1989. RTI act of J&K and its amendments are not on par with that of the central government. The J&K Right to Information Act vests more powers in the State government than provided in the Central Act. Its worth noting that the per-capita subsidy provided to J&K is 16 times more than West Bengal and 12 times more than Bihar. Allocation of financial resources for the Kashmir valley, varies between 65-69 percent, whereas both Jammu and Ladakh divisions put together get about 31-35 percent. J&K also gets special employment packages and prime ministers packages regularly but there is no accountability as none of these information is made public or is available under J&K's RTI Act.
Those who speak for continuation of Article 370 and the separatists make no mention of the minority Sikhs and Hindus who migrated to J&K in 1947 from West Pakistan. These minorities are not considered as citizens of Jammu and Kashmir under Article 6 of the state's Constitution as they came from outside of undivided Jammu and Kashmir. Contrast this with the rights guaranteed under the Jammu and Kashmir Resettlement Act, 1982 for those who had willingly left undivided Kashmir for Pakistan during partition. Such people can still come back and claim their properties or suitable compensation in J&K as per this act. The same J&K government refuses to accommodate the refugees staying in tents for 65 years, who are legitimately the citizens of India! The logic that granting of J&K citizenship to the West-Pak refugees, whose population currently is about 2,50,000, will change the demographic character of Jammu and Kashmir is absurd. J&K has more than 10 million people according to 2001 census and making an exception for those who came in 1947 i.e. before the drafting and adoption of the Constitution of J&K cannot change the demographic character of the State. Similar fraud has been committed with the Valmiki samaj from Punjab. About 150 families from the Valmiki Samaj were brought in 1956 for town municipal and cleaning works with the assurance of granting state subject-ship. But the state subject-ship was eventually provided to only those who were in the post of 'Bhangi's/Sweeper's. Presently there are approximately 600 Valmiki families in the state but even to this day their residential colonies have not been regularized by the government of J&K. In the debate over Kashmir imbroglio, the denial of rights to the Sikh and Hindu minorities has been consistently ignored. It is considered “politically incorrect” in the context of protecting “uniqueness” of J&K. Even the interlocutors report of the Government of India failed to raise the issue of State subject-ship of these minority Sikhs and Hindus in J&K. International human rights law unequivocally prohibits citizenship based on “jus sanguine” i.e. based on the nationality of their parents instead of where they are born. A number of countries including Germany, Japan and Cambodia were censured by the UN Human Rights Committee and UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination for practicing citizenship based on “jus sanguine”. Most countries have made suitable changes to their citizenship laws.
We regularly witness the champions of human rights going over the board when it concerns custodial deaths or illegal encounters in select cases in the country. But the same bunch of HR activists have been silent on the fact that the 'Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993' is not applicable to J&K. Even the J&K Human Rights Protection Act of 1997 was amended in 2002 to take away the powers of the State Human Rights Commission to hire its technical staff. Several cases of genuine Human rights abuses committed in J&K are away from scrutiny. In one such case, Mohan Lal, a resident of Punjab was picked up from Amritsar in 2003. He was inhumanely tortured and eventually breathed his last. When the National Human Rights Commission(NHRC) tried to intervene, the J&K State government sought immunity in the case by quoting Article 370. Though the NHRC set aside the immunity claimed by J&K government, the incident is of deep concern and is yet another example of abuse of Article 370.
Anti-defection law for anti-party activities where a member could be expelled is also diluted in J&K as the decision lies in the hands of the legislative party leader and not in the hands on the speaker. Article 361A which provides immunity and protects freedom of press to cover legislative assembly proceedings is also not extended to J&K state. While the ministers quota for various opportunities in education, employment, etc. is 15% elsewhere in the country, it is 30% in J&K. Who other than those select few ruling the state for 65 years can benefit from continuation of such laws?
Way Forward?
All the examples above prove that the Article 370 makes a complete mockery of ideas of democracy and notions of international law regarding citizenship. It reduces a substantial section of Indian people in state to the status of second rate and non-citizens of one state. Going back to the case of Vipul Kaul, any iota of hope for the Kaul family was cut short and stifled by the callous response from the then Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad's secretary who said, "The government of Jammu and Kashmir is not bound to obey the orders of the Home Department of India due to Article 370 which gives special status to the state. Hence your child's medical case cannot be settled.'' The apathy of the J&K state government has put the life of a hapless 13-year-old boy at risk.
Constitution does not decide the territory but its the people of India who create the constitution. Hence it is of paramount importance that temporary provisions made to mitigate a volatile situation must not legalize discrimination as has been done in J&K by using Article 370 as a tool. Jammu and Kashmir is a part of India due to accession and not Article 370. Essential feature of Article 370 is the necessity of concurrence of the state government and not of the constituent assembly for any amendments. Article 370 gives constitutional powers to president to make amends without going to the parliament. Article 368 gives the power to the Parliament to amend the Constitution and procedures with an additional provision in Article 370 (1)(b) and Article 370 (3). But for last 60 years, the procedure has not been laid for bringing about the concurrence of the J&K state government on this. It should be noted that J&K's own constitution in Part II categorically states that “The State of Jammu and Kashmir is and shall be an integral part of the Union of India”. It is the will in Delhi that is lacking in bringing about the change.
Vipul's mother, Usha Kaul was very scared. She feared that if he isn't given medicines, his life would be in danger. So is in danger the nation and the 'basic structure' of its constitution. To have a healthy nation, each state including J&K needs to be completely a part and parcel of the national mainstream. For this to happen and to rectify the state of affairs in J&K, it needs a medicine. That medicine is abrogation of Article 370.
POSTED  BY:VIPUL KOUL 
EDITED BY:  ASHOK KOUL

Thursday, November 6, 2014

Tulsidas

Tulsidas also known as Goswami Tulsidas;
  1497/1532–1623) was a Hindu poet-saint, reformer and philosopher from Ramanandi Sampradaya renowned for his devotion to the god Rama . A composer of several popular works, he is best known as the author of the epic Ramcharitmanas, an essence of all Sanatan dharma's literature in the vernacular Awadhi.
Tulsidas was acclaimed in his lifetime to be a reincarnation of Valmiki, the composer of the original Ramayana in Sanskrit. He is  also the composer of the Hanuman Chalisa, a popular devotional hymn dedicated to Hanuman, the divine devotee of Rama.
Tulsidas spent most of his life in the city of Varanasi. The Tulsi Ghat on the Ganges River in Varanasi is named after him.He founded the Sankatmochan Temple dedicated to Hanuman in Varanasi, believed to stand at the place where he had the sight of Hanuman. Tulsidas started the Ramlila plays, a folk-theatre adaption of the Ramayana.
He has been acclaimed as one of the greatest poets in Hindi, Indian, and world literature .The impact of Tulsidas and his works on the art, culture and society in India is widespread and is seen to date in vernacular language, Ramlila plays, Hindustani classical music, popular music,. Tulsidas, thus means a servant of the plant Tulsi.


Tulsidas himself has given only a few facts and hints about events of his life in various works. Till late nineteenth century, the two widely known ancient sources on Tulsidas' life were the Bhaktamal composed by Nabhadas between 1583 and 1639, and a commentary on Bhaktamal titled Bhaktirasbodhini composed by Priyadas in 1712. Nabhadas was a contemporary of Tulsidas and wrote a six-line stanza on Tulsidas describing him as an incarnation of Valmiki. Priyadas' work was composed around a hundred years after the death of Tulsidas and had eleven additional stanzas, describing seven miracles or spiritual experiences from the life of Tulsidas. During the 1920s, two more ancient biographies of Tulsidas were published based on old manuscripts – the Mula Gosain Charit composed by Veni Madhav Das in 1630 and the Gosain Charit composed by Dasanidas (also known as Bhavanidas) around 1770. Veni Madhav Das was a disciple and contemporary of Tulsidas and his work gave a new date for Tulsidas' birth. The work by Bhavanidas presented more narratives in greater detail as compared to the work by Priyadas. In the 1950s a fifth ancient account was published based on an old manuscript, the Gautam Chandrika composed by Krishnadatta Misra of Varanasi in 1624. Krishnadatta Misra's father was a close companion of Tulsidas. The accounts published later are not considered authentic by some modern scholars, whereas some other scholars have been unwilling to dismiss them. Together, these five works form a set of traditional biographies on which modern biographies of Tulsidas are based.
Tulsidas is believed to be a reincarnation of Valmiki. In the Hindu scripture Bhavishyottar Purana, the god Shiva tells his wife Parvati how Valmiki, who got a boon from Hanuman to sing the glory of Rama in vernacular language, will incarnate in future in the Kali Yuga (the present and last Yuga or epoch within a cycle of four Yugas).
Devanagari                      IAST
वाल्मीकिस्तुलसीदासः कलौ देवि भविष्यति ।                      vālmīkistulasīdāsaḥ kalau devi bhaviṣyati ।
रामचन्द्रकथामेतां भाषाबद्धां करिष्यति ॥                      rāmacandrakathāmetāṃ bhāṣābaddhāṃ kariṣyati ॥

Tulsidas was born on saptami, the seventh day of shukla paksha, the bright half of the lunar Hindu calendar month Shraavana (July–August). Although as many as seven places are mentioned as his birthplace, most scholars identify the place with Rajapur (Chitrakuta), a village on the banks of the Yamuna river in modern-day Uttar Pradesh. His parents were Hulsi and Atmaram Dubey. Most sources identify him as a Saryupareen Brahmin of the Parashar Gotra (lineage), although some sources claim he was a Kanyakubja or Sanadhya Brahmin.
There is difference of opinion among biographers regarding the year of birth of Tulsidas. Many sources rely on Veni Madhav Das' account in the Mula Gosain Charita, which gives the year of Tulsidas' birth as Vikrami Samvat 1554 (1497 CE) These sources include Shivlal Pathak, popular editions of Ramcharitmanas (Gita Press, Naval Kishore Press.....(presently Pakistan) and Venkateshvar Press), Edwin Greaves, Hanuman Prasad Poddar, Ramanand Sarasvati, Ayodhyanath Sharma, Ramchandra Shukla, Narayandas, and Rambhadracharya. A second group of biographers led by Sant Tulsi Sahib of Hathras and Sir George Grierson give the year as Vikram 1589 (1532 CE).] These biographers include Ramkrishna Gopal Bhandarkar, Ramghulam Dwivedi, James Lochtefeld, Swami Sivananda and others. A third small group of authors which includes H. H. Wilson, Garse De Tasse and Krishnadatta Mishra gives the year as Vikram 1600 (1543 CE).
The year 1497 appears in most current-day biographies and in popular culture. Biographers who disagree with this year argue that it makes the life span of Tulsidas equal 126 years, which in their opinion is unlikely if not impossible. In contrast, Ramchandra Shukla says that an age of 126 is not impossible for Mahatmas (great souls) like Tulsidas. The Government of India and provincial governments celebrated the 500th birth anniversary of Tulsidas in the year 1997 CE, according to the year of Tulsidas' birth in popular culture.Legend goes that Tulsidas was born after staying in the womb for twelve months, he had all thirty two teeth in his mouth at birth, his health and looks were like that of a five-year old boy, and he did not cry at the time of his birth but uttered Rama instead. He was therefore named Rambola (literally, he who uttered Rama), as Tulsidas himself states in Vinaya Patrika. As per the Mula Gosain Charita, he was born under the Abhuktamūla constellation, which according to Jyotisha (Hindu astrology) causes immediate danger to the life of the father. Due to the inauspicious events at the time of his birth, he was abandoned by his parents on the fourth night, sent away with Chuniya (some sources call her Muniya), a female servant of Hulsi. In his works Kavitavali and Vinayapatrika, Tulsidas attests to his parents abandoning him after birth due to an inauspicious astrological configuration.
Chuniya took the child to her village of Haripur and looked after him for five and a half years after which she died. Rambola was left to fend for himself as an impoverished orphan, and wandered from door to door begging for alms. It is believed that the goddess Parvati assumed the form of a Brahmin woman and fed Rambola every day.

At the age of five years, Rambola was adopted by Narharidas, a Vaishnava ascetic of Ramananda's monastic order who is believed to be the fourth disciple of Ramananda, an avtaar of Shri Rama Rambola was given the Virakta Diksha (Vairagi initiation) with the new name of Tulsidas.Tulsidas narrates the dialogue that took place during the first meeting with his guru in a passage in the Vinayapatrika. When he was seven years old, his Upanayana ("sacred thread ceremony") was performed by Narharidas on the fifth day of the bright half of the month of Magha (January–February) at Ayodhya, a pilgrimage-site related to Rama. Tulsidas started his learning at Ayodhya. After some time, Narharidas took him to a particular Varaha Kshetra (a holy place with temple dedicated to Varaha – the boar avatar of Vishnu), where he first narrated the Ramayana to Tulsidas.[34] Tulsidas mentions this in the Ramcharitmanas.
Devanagari                     
मैं पुनि निज गुर सन सुनी कथा सो सूकरखेत ।                     
समुझी नहिं तस बालपन तब अति रहेउँ अचेत ॥            
There are two contrasting views regarding the marital status of Tulsidas.
The marriage episode of Tulsidas is a later interpolation and maintain that he was a bachelor (brahmachari). Jagadguru Rambhadracharya ji, who comes in disciplic succession of Goswami Tulsidas ji, interprets two verses in the Vinayapatrika and Hanuman Bahuka to mean that Tulsidas never married and was a Sadhu from childhood. Goswami Tulsidas ji was never married. People confuse the story of Bilvamangal with Goswami Tulsidas ji.
Another story, that had been added as an interpolation is as follows. According to the Mula Gosain Charita and some other works, Tulsidas was married to Ratnavali on the thirteenth day of the bright half of the Jyeshta month (May–June) in Vikram 1583 (1526 CE). Ratnavali was the daughter of Dinbandhu Pathak, a Brahmin of the Bharadwaja Gotra, who belonged to Mahewa village of Kaushambi district. They had a son named Tarak who died as a toddler. Once when Tulsidas had gone to a Hanuman temple, Ratnavali went to her father's home with her brother. When Tulsidas came to know this, he swam across the Yamuna river in the night to meet his wife. Ratnavali chided Tulsidas for this, and remarked that if Tulsidas was even half as devoted to God as he was to her body of flesh and blood, he would have been redeemed. Tulsidas left her instantly and left for the holy city of Prayag. Here, he renounced the Grihastha (householder's life) stage and became a Sadhu (Hindu ascetic)
Tulsidas hints at several places in his works, that he had met face to face with Hanuman and Rama. The detailed account of his meetings with Hanuman and Rama are given in the Bhaktirasbodhini of Priyadas. According to Priyadas' account, Tulsidas used to visit the woods outside Varanasi for his morning ablutions with a water pot. On his return to the city, he used to offer the remaining water to a certain tree. This quenched the thirst of a Preta (a type of ghost believed to be ever thirsty for water), who appeared to Tulsidas and offered him a boon.[53][54] Tulsidas said he wished to see Rama with his eyes, to which the Preta responded that it was beyond him. However, the Preta said that he could guide Tulsidas to Hanuman, who could grant the boon Tulsidas asked for. The Preta told Tulsidas that Hanuman comes everyday disguised in the mean attire of a leper to listen to his Katha, he is the first to arrive and last to leave.
That evening Tulsidas noted that the first listener to arrive at his discourse was an old leper, who sat at the end of the gathering. After the Katha was over, Tulsidas quietly followed the leper to the woods. In the woods, at the spot where the Sankat Mochan Temple stands today  Tulsidas firmly fell at the leper's feet, shouting "I know who you are" and "You cannot escape me". At first the leper feigned ignorance but Tulsidas did not relent. Then the leper revealed his original form of Hanuman and blessed Tulsidas. When granted a boon, Tulsidas told Hanuman he wanted to see Rama face to face. Hanuman told him to go to Chitrakuta where he would see Rama with his own eyes.........
At the beginning of the Ramcharitmanas, Tulsidas bows down to a particular Preta and asks for his grace (Ramcharitmanas, Doha 1.7). According to Rambhadracharya, this is the same Preta which led Tulsidas to Hanuman 

Darshan of Rama

As per Priyadas' account, Tulsidas followed the instruction of Hanuman and started living in an Ashram at Ramghat in Chitrakuta. One day Tulsidas went to perform the Parikrama (circumambulation) of the Kamadgiri mountain. He saw two princes, one dark and the other fair, dressed in green robes pass by mounted on horsebacks. Tulsidas was enraptured at the sight, however he could not recognise them and took his eyes off them. Later Hanuman asked Tulsidas if he saw Rama and his brother Lakshmana on horses. Tulsidas was disappointed and repentful. Hanuman assured Tulsidas that he would have the sight of Rama once again the next morning. Tulsidas recalls this incident in a song of the Gitavali and laments how "his eyes turned his own enemies" by staying fixed to the ground and how everything happened in a trice. On the next morning, Wednesday, the new-moon day of Magha, Vikram 1607 (1551 CE) or 1620 (1564 CE) as per some sources, Rama again appeared to Tulsidas, this time as a child. Tulsidas was making sandalwood paste when a child came and asked for a sandalwood Tilaka (a religious mark on the forehead). This time Hanuman gave a hint to Tulsidas and he had a full view of Rama. Tulsidas was so charmed that he forgot about the sandalwood. Rama took the sandalwood paste and put a Tilaka himself on his forehead and Tulsidas' forehead before disappearance
In a verse in the Vinayapatrika, Tulsidas alludes to a certain "miracle at Chitrakuta", and thanks Rama for what he did for him at Chitrakuta. Some biographers conclude that the deed of Rama at Chitrakuta referred to by Tulsidas is the Darshan of Rama.

Darshan of Yajnavalkya and Bharadvaja

In Vikram 1628 (1572 CE), Tulsidas left Chitrakuta for Prayag where he stayed during the Magha Mela (the annual fair in January). Six days after the Mela ended, he had the Darshan of the sages Yajnavalkya and Bharadvaja under a banyan tree. In one of the four dialogues in the Ramcharitmanas, Yajnavalkya is the speaker and Bharadvaja the listener. Tulsidas describes the meeting between Yajnavalkya and Bharadvaja after a Magha Mela festival in the Ramcharitmanas, it is this meeting where Yajnavalkya narrates the Ramcharitmanas to Bharadvaja.

Attributed Miracles


A Mughal prince visits Tulsidas. Early 18th century Sisodia dynasty painting from Udaipur, Mewar.
In Priyadas' biography, Tulsidas is attributed with the power of working miracles. In one such miracle, he is believed to have brought back a dead Brahmin to life. While the Brahmin was being taken for cremation, his widow bowed down to Tulsidas on the way who addressed her as Saubhagyavati (a woman whose husband is alive). The widow told Tulsidas her husband had just died, so his words could not be true. Tulsidas said that the word has passed his lips and so he would restore the dead man to life. He asked everybody present to close their eyes and utter the name of Rama, on doing which the dead Brahmin was raised back to life.
In another miracle described by Priyadas, the emperor of Delhi, Akbar summoned Tulsidas on hearing of his bringing back a dead man to life.[ Tulsidas declined to go as he was too engrossed in creating his verses but he was later forcibly brought before the Akbar and was asked to perform a miracle, which Tulsidas declined by saying "It's a lie, all I know is Rama." The emperor imprisoned Tulsidas at Fatehpur Sikri, "We will see this Rama." Tulsidas refused to bow to Akbar and created a verse in praise of Hanuman and chanted it ( Hanuman Chalisa ) for forty days and suddenly an army of monkeys descended upon the town and wreaked havoc in all corners of Fatehpur Sikri, entering each home and the emperor's harem, scratching people and throwing bricks from ramparts.An old Hafiz told the emperor that this was the miracle of the imprisoned Fakir. The emperor fell at Tulsidas' feet, released him and apologised. Tulsidas stopped the menace of monkeys and asked the emperor to abandon the place. The emperor agreed and moved back to Delhi. Ever since Akbar became a close friend of Tulsidas and he also ordered a firman that followers of Rama, Hanuman & other Hindus, should not be harassed in his kingdom.
Priyadas narrates a miracle of Tulsidas at Vrindavan, when he visited a temple of Krishna. When he began bowing down to the idol of Krishna, the Mahant of the temple named Parshuram decided to test Tulsidas. He told Tulsidas that he who bows down to any deity except their Ishta Devata (cherished form of divinity) is a fool, as Tulsidas' Ishta Devata was Rama. In response, Tulsidas recited the following extemporaneously composed couplet[
Devanagari                      IAST
काह कहौं छबि आजुकि भले बने हो नाथ ।                      kāha kahau̐ chabi ājuki bhale bane ho nātha ।
तुलसी मस्तक तब नवै धरो धनुष शर हाथ ॥                      tulasī mastaka taba navai dharo dhanuṣa śara hātha ॥
When Tulsidas recited this couplet, the idol of Krishna holding the flute and stick in hands changed to the idol of Rama holding the bow and arrow in hands.[61][67][68] Some authors have expressed doubts on the couplet being composed by Tulsidas.[61][67]

Literary life


Tulsidas composes one of his works. Statue at Manas Mandir, Chitrakuta, Satna, India.
Tulsidas started composing poetry in Sanskrit in Varanasi on the Prahlada Ghat. Tradition holds that all the verses that he composed during the day, would get lost in the night. This happened daily for eight days. On the eighth night, Shiva – whose famous Kashi Vishwanath Temple is located in Varanasi – is believed to have ordered Tulsidas in a dream to compose poetry in the vernacular instead of Sanskrit. Tulsidas woke up and saw both Shiva and Parvati who blessed him. Shiva ordered Tulsidas to go to Ayodhya and compose poetry in Awadhi. Shiva also predicted that Tulsidas' poetry would fructify like the Sama Veda.[69] In the Ramcharitmanas, Tulsidas hints at having the Darshan of Shiva and Parvati in both dream and awakened state.

Composition of Ramcharitmanas

In the year Vikram 1631 (1575 CE), Tulsidas started composing the Ramcharitmanas in Ayodhya on Tuesday, Ramnavami day (ninth day of the bright half of the Chaitra month, which is the birthday of Rama). Tulsidas himself attests this date in the Ramcharitmanas.[71] He composed the epic over two years, seven months and twenty-six days, and completed the work in Vikram 1633 (1577 CE) on the Vivaha Panchami day (fifth day of the bright half of the Margashirsha month, which commenrates the wedding of Rama and his wife Sita).[46][69]
Tulsidas came to Varanasi and recited the Ramcharitmanas to Shiva (Vishwanath) and Parvati (Annapurna) at the Kashi Vishwanath Temple. A popular legend goes that the Brahmins of Varanasi, who were critical of Tulsidas for having rendered the Sanskrit Ramayana in the vernacular, decided to test the worth of the work. A manuscript of the Ramcharitmanas was kept at the bottom of pile of Sanskrit scriptures in the sanctum sanctorum of the Vishvanath temple in the night, and the doors of the sanctum sanctorum were locked. In the morning when the doors were opened, the Ramcharitmanas was found at the top of the pile. The words Satyam Shivam Sundaram (Sanskrit: सत्यं शिवं सुन्दरम्, literally "truth, auspiciousness, beauty") were inscribed on the manuscript with the signature of Shiva. The words were also heard by the people present.
Per traditional accounts, some Brahmins of Varanasi were still not satisfied, and sent two thieves to steal the manuscript.[69][74] The thieves tried to break into the Ashram of Tulsidas, but were confronted by two guards with bows and arrows, of dark and fair complexion.[69] The thieves had a change of heart and came to Tulsidas in the morning to ask who the two guards were.[74] Believing that the two guards could be none other than Rama and Lakshmana, Tulsidas was aggrieved to know that they were guarding his home at night.[69] He sent the manuscript of Ramcahritmanas to his friend Rai Todar Mal, the finance minister of Akbar, and donated all his money. The thieves were reformed and became devotees of Rama.

Last compositions

Around Vikram 1664 (1607 CE), Tulsidas was afflicted by acute pain all over his body, especially in his arms. He then composed the Hanuman Bahuk, where he describes his bodily pain and suffering in several stanzas.[ He was relieved of his pain after this composition. Later he was also afflicted by Bartod boils (Hindi: बरतोड़, furuncles caused by pulling out of the hair), which may have been the cause of his death.
The Vinaypatrika is considered as the last compositions of Tulsidas, believed to be written when Kali Yuga started troubling him. In this work of 279 stanzas, he beseeches Rama to give him Bhakti ("devotion"), and to accept his petition. Tulsidas attests in the last stanza of Vinaypatrika that Rama himself signed the manuscript of the work. The 45th stanza of the Vinaypatrika is sung as the evening Aarti by many Hindus.

Death

Tulsidas died at the Assi Ghat on the bank of the river Ganga in the Shraavan (July–August) month of the year Vikram 1680 (1623 CE). Like the year of his birth, traditional accounts and biographers do not agree on the exact date of his death. Different sources give the date as the third day of the bright half, seventh day of the bright half, or the third day of the dark half.

POSTED BY: VIPUL KOUL
EDITED BY :ASHOK KOUL 
SOURCES .............gita press goarkhpur  (U .P )