Jawaharlal Nehru To GB Pant New Delhi April 17, 1950 My dear Pantji, Thank you for your letter about Shahjahanpur. I am quite sure that your Government has taken strong and effective action during these recent troubles in the U.P. I am glad to learn that as a result of that action as well as…

Ram Puniyani This August 25, 2013, it will be five years, since the biggest anti Christian, violence, biggest communal violence in the Adivisi area, will complete five years. What has been the plight of the victims of the violence after this ghastly tragedy? What is the state of justice to the victim? Kandhamal violence began…

Jawaharlal Nehru In the course of less than four months, we have put up, declared open or are going to declare open three national laboratories. I suppose before this year is out some more national laboratories will also be started. This is a great venture testifying to the faith which our scientists and, I hope,…

Ram Puniyani Last three decades have seen an unprecedented presence of religion in social and political space. Somewhere the acts of terror, somewhere communal violence and somewhere the political influence of religious right on society and political processes, all these phenomenon have overshadowed the deeper inequities in the society, the aspirations of people for dignity…

AN Moorthy Rao Let us consider how some people explain the existence of evil: “God bestowed on man, right at the time of creation, all the powers and qualities that man needed. He does not want man to be a puppet in His hands. He has, therefore, given man freedom of will. Man is free…

Jawaharlal Nehru I shall now come to the proposal which touches upon the exchange of population. In the present context this can only mean a forcible exchange of population. As far as voluntary exchange is concerned, it is already taking place. The doors are open and people come and people go. In fact, it taking…

Ram Puniyani A friend with dogged determination to show that the BJP is a lesser culprit of communal violence and that Congress is the major party to be blamed, listed the major communal riots in India and showed that most of the time when violence took place, it was Congress which has been the ruling…

DD Kosambi In what follows, some social aspects of religion are considered in so far as they serve to keep India a backward country. The methods of cure suggested are by legislation, education and improved social conditions, with a brief example or two to bring out the basic idea in each case. Reports by great…

Ram Puniyani The debate around Hindu Nationalism and Indian Nationalism is not a new one. During colonial period, when the rising freedom movement was articulating the concept and values of Indian nationalism, the section of Hindus, keeping aloof from freedom movement asserted the concept of Hindu Nationalism. The debate has resurfaced again due to the…

Madhav Gadgil Date: Fri, May 17, 2013 9:39 pm Dear Dr. Kasturirangan, JBS Haldane, the celebrated 19h century scientist and humanist who quit England protesting its imperialistic invasion of Suez to become an Indian citizen has said: Reality is not only stranger than we suppose, but stranger than we CAN suppose! I could never have…

Ram Puniyani In most communities youth have a serious struggle on hand to look beyond the present for the future, especially their careers, longing for dignity and a decent existence. While this applies to all the youth, the struggle of youth from marginalized and discriminated against communities are much more. It is on this terrain…

Ram Puniyani Since last two decades terrorist violence has been added on to the weapons for polarizing communities along religious lines. In Mumbai for example, we first witnessed the major blasts in the wake of 92-93 post demolition violence, then blasts in the aftermath of Gujarat carnage of 2002 and then 26/11 2008 attack from…

Margaret Bhatty There was a time when we depended on little green men from Mars for a world-view. After Mars probes debunked them, we now have ETs – computerised caricatures of ourselves. If these voyagers from outer space are as perceptive as Martians were, they too must marvel that as a species we call ourselves…

Ram Puniyani The nomination of Narendra Modi as the chief of campaign committee of BJP for 2014 elections (June 2013) has created more than a storm in the tea cup. Incidentally it is the first time ever that such a nomination has created 24×7 news and controversy. It has a lot to do with the…

Ramkrishna Bhattacharya “Why do you study ancient philosophy?” I have faced this question so often that it is high time to give a reply in print. The question may be answered rather tartly, following a famous mountaineer: ‘Because it’s there.’ 800×600 Normal 0 false false false EN-IN X-NONE ML MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable…

Ram Puniyani Mahatma Gandhi, who laid down his life for communal harmony, who was murdered because he was espousing the cause of building bridges of amity between different religious communities had a statuette with three monkeys. One of the monkeys in this puts his hand on his mouth, signifying that we should not speak evil.…

A psychic inflates some balloons. He requests the volunteers to come to the stage and gives them the balloons along with needles. He asks them to prick the balloons with the needles and they all burst. Then he takes a balloon and pierces it with a needle. Nothing happens. Thee balloon retains its shape. Experiment:…

Ram Puniyani We lost Asghar Engineer on 14th May 2013. It is an irreplaceable loss to human rights movement, anti communal struggle, to the movement for preservation of secular values. This is a small tribute to my esteemed, close and very dear friend. The events of last over three decades have shown us, more than before…

The Practice: Eating Hot Chillies Without Sensation — Charvaka.net Science versus Miracles Deconstructing Supernatural Claims T A B L E   O F   C O N T E N T S 01The Practice: Eating Hot Chillies Without Sensation 02 The Experiment • Effect • Props & Materials • Method (as practised by performers) •…

Ram Puniyani Mr. Narendra Modi, for whom some countries are warming up to relate to him in Europe and in the East; the latest report from US must be very disheartening. Despite a strong lobby for pressurizing to grant him Visa, the United States Commission for International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), has called on the Obama administration…

Many psychics claim to move things by psychic power. They keep a pencil balancing on the edge of a table and through the psychic power, make the pencil turn and drop. Experiment: 113 Effect: Moving objects by mental power. Props: One round pencil, a table and a chair. Method: Sit on the chair with table…

Ram Puniyani We have witnessed number of acts of terror in India, during last two decades. While those involved in the acts of terror have been coming from individuals of different religions, the net outcome of the actions of investigation agencies and police has been to arrest Muslim youth, to put charges against them and…