http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/American-gives-Rs-27cr-to-TN-temple/articleshow/4531058.cms

American donates over Rs two crore to Tamil Nadu temple
14 May 2009, 2102 hrs IST, PTI

RAMESWARAM (TN): An American woman, who has become an ardent devotee of Lord Ramanathaswamy, has donated over Rs 2 crore to the famous Sri Ramanathaswamy Parvadhavardhini temple here, a senior temple official said.

The chairman of the board of trustees Bhanumathi Natchiar said that Elizabeth used to visit the temple every year and perform poojas to the presiding deities. She also used to spend Rs 4-5 lakh every year on poojas and providing free food to poor devotees.

He said Elizabeth had recently sent a cheque for Rs 2.07 crore which had been encashed, for performing daily poojas and preparing Aravanai(Milk rice-a dish offered to devotees)) among others.

The chairman also said the Archaeological Survey of India had been asked to provide an estimate for renovating the temple at a cost of Rs 20 crore. The temple also planned to build quarters for temple workers at a cost of Rs one crore. besides providing a cloak room for pilgrims.

Steel fittings in front of the temple's sanctum sanctorum would be replaced, he added


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http://www.thestar.com/comment/article/633990


OPINION
Economy and chauvinism on the ballot in India

May 14, 2009 04:30 AM

Haroon Siddiqui

One of the greatest democratic shows on Earth, the Indian election with its 714 million eligible voters, culminates Saturday with the counting of ballots.

The question is not so much whether the ruling Congress will lose, given the economic slowdown and the perils of incumbency, but whether the unapologetically Hindu chauvinist Bharatiya Janata Party can make a comeback.

The party advocates Hindutva (Hindu-ness), under which minorities, especially Muslims (145 million) and Christians (25 million), must accept the predominance of Hindu ethos and culture, despite India's secular constitution.

When the BJP last held power (1998-2004), its moderate prime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee curbed its extremism and concentrated on economic reform.

But the party's communal instincts came to the fore during a 2002 pogrom of nearly 2,000 Muslims in the western state of Gujarat, also ruled by the BJP.

Vajpayee has since retired. His successor, L.K. Advani, is a stalwart of the party's paramilitary organization, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (National Self-Help Front). It was an RSS devotee who assassinated Mahatma Gandhi in 1948.

More than guilt by association, Advani stands accused in the docket of public opinion for his role in another shameful chapter in modern secular India's history.

In 1991-92, he championed a demand by another BJP affiliate, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (World Council of Hindus), that a 16th-century mosque in the northern town of Ayodhya be pulled down because it ostensibly was built on the birthplace of the god Rama.

Mounting a vehicle resembling Rama's chariot, Advani took a 10,000-kilometre journey from the west coast to Ayodhya, making incendiary speeches along the way. The campaign ended with crazed young cadres climbing the mosque, planting a saffron flag and hacking away at the dome.

The episode, seared in the minds of zealot Hindus and shocked secularists alike, led to riots elsewhere, especially Mumbai, where 900 people, mostly Muslims, were killed. (A glimpse of that horror is shown in Slumdog Millionaire).

Among the instigators was Shiv Sena (the army of Shivaji, a 17th- century Hindu warrior who resisted Muslim kings). That regional group, whose leader admires Hitler, is a BJP coalition partner.

Christians have also been targeted. Last year in the eastern state of Orissa, ruled by a BJP coalition, at least 38 Christians were killed and thousands forced to flee.

BJP and Sena cadres have run vigilante campaigns against beauty pageants, Valentine's Day and other deemed Western perversions.

In this election, Advani has campaigned with his presumed successor, Narendra Modi, chief minister of Gujarat, under whose watch the 2002 riots took place, allegedly with his encouragement.

Modi has since been barred from the United States. The state department has refused to budge even though his fans in the Indo-American community have lobbied hard for his entry .

Sonia Gandhi, leader of the ruling Congress, called Modi \"a merchant of death.\" Other secular forces, in the media and the NGO sector, mostly Hindus, have been strongly critical of the Hindutva agenda.

When a BJP candidate, Varun Gandhi (an estranged member of India's first family), made virulent anti-Muslim speeches – promising to \"cut their throats\" and \"cut their hands,\" etc. – secularists hit back, hard. Even the Election Commission condemned him.

The BJP at first distanced itself from him. But seeing him energize its right-wing base, the party embraced him. He may yet win.

The BJP-led coalition should be winning this election, given the country's economic woes, especially huge job losses and the real estate crash. If it doesn't, we'll know why.

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Sunny Leone a true Canadian DESI now back in India !.

His views are not impartial.

A lot of what happens (BJP et al) in India, is a result (pent up frustration) of 800 years of Hindu slaughter by Muslim invaders.

see this link:


Writing in Toronto Life in June 2001, Robert Fulford maintained that "Siddiqui makes the most strenuous effort to bathe Third World countries in a soft light. No matter how outrageous its actions, a non-Western government can usually count on him for a little understanding."

HonestReporting Canada, a media watchdog group that monitors and reports on what it perceives as anti-Israel bias, accuses him of "one-sided criticism of Israel" in columns on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Critics also charge that Siddiqui harbors anti-American bias and that he is quick to dismiss the threat of Islamic terrorism or that he seeks to excuse it. Describing him as "the Toronto Star's resident Islamist," they accuse him of exploiting latent anti-Americanism in Canada to promote Islamist goals both there and abroad among them the withdrawal of Canadian forces from Afghanistan, which Siddiqui has advocated. The National Post has editoralized that "Siddiqui seems... to be advocating the agenda of the Islamists."

I am sure the lunatics () hiding in Afghan caves must be distributing Haroon Siddiqui's articles amongst the recruits and instructing them on the art of Taquiyya.

This moron is the resident jehadi of Toronto Star.

lately it is seen that this blog instead of helping fellow canadian immigrations has become an engine of spreading hate and mistrust between people of different religions. It is time that this blog should be brought to the notice of authorities in canada and banned for its members subversive and war mongering thoughts and ideas. Now this will be initiated and soon you will see the results .Such intolerance and blatant hatred cannot be tolerated and led to germintate in canada where we have all come to find peace and harmony.

Haroon Siddiqui should also be investigated by the authorities.

The Toronto Star has a wide audience. It has a duty to ensure that a columnist is reporting verifiable facts. In the past, countless people have complained to no avail about Haroon Siddiqui.

Spreading hatred, biased views against Western secular societies, Israel, India etc is a jihadist agenda.

Quote:

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Originally posted by sguk

Haroon Siddiqui should also be investigated by the authorities.

The Toronto Star has a wide audience. It has a duty to ensure that a columnist is reporting verifiable facts. In the past, countless people have complained to no avail about Haroon Siddiqui.

Spreading hatred, biased views against Western secular societies, Israel, India etc is a jihadist agenda.

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