Poison on the Platter - an eye-opening film on Genetically Modified (GM) Foods

'Poison on the Platter', is an eye-opening film, made by Mahesh Bhatt and Ajay Kanchan, illustrating how all of our lives are gonna be (adversely) affected by genetically modified foods. It is no more a farmer’s issue alone, it’s a matter of the consumers’ right to food safety. You and I wouldn’t even be able to separate/choose a normal Brinjal from/over a GM one, if Bt Brinjal - a GM crop produced by the mighty agri-MNC Monsanto - is let through by our corrupt regulatory body. Let’s put up strong resistance, demanding a ban on GM food/crops for 5 years, until they are proven safe for human consumption by independent, long-term studies.

26/11 could not have happened sans local support: slain NSG commando’s father

Times of India, 12th June, 2009

The kin of security personnel killed in Mumbai terror strikes on Friday suspected that gunmen who carried out the attacks could have had local support.

K Unnikrishnan, father of slain NSG commando Sandeep Unnikrishnan, and Kavita Karkare, wife of slain ATS chief Hemant Karkare, said there might have "sleeper groups" of terrorist oufits in the city.

"I can't believe that only ten people came and did so much damage in a city like Mumbai. There must have been support for them and there are sleeper groups which might have helped them," Unnikrishnan said at a function organised by Sahara India.

Kavita Karkare also criticised the security establishment for its shortcomings and said it was likely that there was an element of local support.

"There are many people supporting them (terrorists) and we should bring about a change," she said.

Karkare blamed the political establishment, state government, Intelligence machinery and Coast Guard for "lapses" which led to the attacks in which over 180 people were killed.

Sahara India pledged financial support to the next of kin of the 18 police and security forces personnel who were killed while taking on the terrorists in the city on November 26.

The wife of encounter specialist Vijay Salaskar, Smita, rued that society had already "forgotten" the lessons from the terror strikes.

Source

Shahrukh Khan (Rare Photos)

Above: A drunk Shahrukh Khan abusing officials after an IPL match

Above: Shahrukh Khan kissing British actor John Barrowman

Above: Shahrukh Khan inspiring young children into smoking

Lessons from Pakistan

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

When we retrace our steps in history perhaps we can learn some lessons from the unfortunate situation Pakistan is in today.

After partition Pakistan's population had 15 percent Hindus and 2 percent Christians. If Pakistan had promoted diversity then, the next generation would have grown up in a multi-cultural, multi-religious society and exercised more tolerance.

General Zia-ul-Haq during his tenure as President systematically erased this multi-cultural heritage replacing it by radical 'Islamicisation' of civil society and the army. The rich Hindu, Buddhist and Sikh legacy that was common between Pakistan and India was forgotten. Had they recognised that their ancestors were also part of these traditions, they would have imbibed and kept alive some of those values and that perhaps would have made them more tolerant and less violent. When people dispose of their own heritage it makes them intolerant and fanatical.

Pakistan, a land where many an ancient university existed and Ayurveda texts were written, where Hinduism and other religions flourished, has today seemingly forgotten its tradition with little respect for these religions. Unlike India, where the contribution of the Mughal empire is recognised and honoured, in Pakistan, honouring its diverse traditions and culture has been ignored. The result of this has been a mono-cultural, mono-religious education that has made them radical. Lack of exposure to her own heritage has cost Pakistan dearly.

When I visited Pakistan, I met with several journalists and interacted with thousands of people. To my amazement they seemed to know very little about India's freedom movement or Mahatma Gandhi and his principles.

The young people that I met there had very little knowledge of either ayurveda, yoga or our rich Sanskrit and Vedic heritage that is common to both countries. Tolerance and appreciation of other cultures have to be developed from a very young age. Children in Pakistan know nothing about the Bhakti movement, the spiritual renaissance which the continent once witnessed.

Their knowledge of Mahatma Gandhi is limited to the fact that he was a Hindu saint and a freedom fighter and not much beyond that. And they lack knowledge of many other saints and Sikh gurus who have traveled to and lived in Pakistan; even of people like Chanakya who wrote the Artha Shastra, and lived most of his life in a university in Taxila.

By tampering with history books educationists have done great damage to the society. The soft power they appear to wield ultimately brings out a hardened attitude in the people.

Extremist groups, who, by and large, comprise people not educated in the broad spectrum of knowledge, tend to be very insular. Unfortunately today, even in India, seeds of these tendencies can be seen in protests about "Vande Mataram" being sung in schools and colleges or a fatwa issued to an actor for visiting a Ganesh festival or objections about Valentine's Day celebrations.

This should be unequivocally condemned by society as a whole. A composite society will always promote harmony and peace and put a check on extremism. It is clear that people who espouse violence today such as Naxalites and religious extremists in India and across borders have little respect for Gandhi.

Since partition, the growth of the minority population in India has been manifold while Pakistan's minority population has dwindled from 15 percent to just 1 percent. The biggest mistake that Pakistan made was in not supporting its minority communities. Fifteen percent Hindus would have turned the country into a more democratic, liberal society. But when this 15 percent was annihilated, converted or sent out of Pakistan and were replaced by mono-religious zealots and it has weighed heavily on Pakistan, leading to total chaos and fundamentalism.

Though India also has seen communal tensions, by and large the society is tolerant. Extremism in one religion does not remain contained in one. Its shadow spills over to others as well which is evident in Buddhist monks taking to the streets in Thailand, Malaysia and Myanmar.

Honouring the Hindu minority would not have been a threat to its Islamic identity, particularly because in Hinduism there is nothing such as proselytizing or conversion.

The two countries born to freedom over sixty years ago clearly took different paths.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar is the founder of the Art of Living

Hindu Temples in Pakistan

Above: Katas Raj Temple is situated in Chakwal district of Punjab in Pakistan. Dedicated to Lord Shiva, the temple has existed before the days of Mahabharata and the Pandava brothers spent a substantial part of their exile here.

It is said that the five Pandava brothers, heroes of the Historical epic Mahabharata, stayed here four out of the 14 years that they spent in exile.

Its origin involves the death of Shiva's wife Satti. When she died, Shiva cried so much and for so long, that his tears created two holy ponds - one at Pushkar in Ajmer, India and the other at the Katas Raj Temple.

Watch the complete Photo-essay by clicking: Hindu Temples in Pakistan