A plot on the moon as b’day gift for Mayawati
http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/politics/a-plot-on-the-moon-as-bday-gift-for-mayawati_100304753.html
A plot on the moon as b’day gift for Mayawati
January 16th, 2010 - 4:05 pm ICT by IANS -
Lucknow, Jan 16 (IANS) To please “Behenji”, some Bahujan Samaj Party
(BSP) partymen are willing to go to any lengths. On her 54th birthday,
BSP boss and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati has been gifted a
three-acre plot - on nothing less than the moon!
The special gift was made by BSP leader from Kanpur, Mahendra Singh Sengar.
http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/politics/a-plot-on-the-moon-as-bday-gift-for-mayawati_100304753.html
He told reporters here Saturday that he purchased the lunar plot from
US-based Lunar Republic Society. The society openly sells plots on the
moon, said Sengar, showing the registration papers signed by its
member-secretary Margaret Hayes Barton.
The papers, however do not mention the price he paid for the plot.
Sengar took offence on being asked how much he shelled out for the
lunar plot.
“How does it matter how much it cost me; when I am gifting the plot to
my most revered Behenji, its price is immaterial. It is the feeling
that matters,” he said.
Mayawati, who was known for her ostentatious birthday parties in the
past, celebrated her 54th birthday Friday without the usual cultural
extravaganza, announcing welfare programmes and development schemes
worth a whopping Rs.7,312 crore (Rs.70.3 billion).
UP CM Mayawati releases 25 convicts on her birthday
STAFF WRITER 19:40 HRS IST
Lucknow, Jan 15 (PTI) On the occasion of her birthday, Uttar Pradesh
Chief Minister Mayawati has recommended release of 25 old and sick
convicts undergoing imprisonment in various jails of the state.
The government has already recommended it to Governor BL Joshi, CM
Mayawati said here.
The government has also decided to release of 26,336 poor inmates who
were languishing in jails due to non payment of bail amount while 960
other were also released on bail after completion of half of their
jail term.
Meanwhile, several welfare camps were organised across the state to
provide benefits of various welfare schemes being run by the state
government to people.
She also saw saw a colourful programme in which school children participated.
Mayawati also laid the foundation stones for 264 welfare schemes.
‘Landlords exploited SC/STs in Aldur’
‘’People with vested interests among the upper class are responsible
for the pathetic life condition of SC/STs in Machagondana Halli,'’
said BSP
Speaking, after listening to the grievances of SC/STs
in Machagondana Halli, BSP said that SC/STs in the region
were being exploited by landlords and people from upper class in the
region. Moreover, they were also trying to take away SC/STs land.
“Those people did not allow SC/STs, who live in huts without any basic
facilities, to come to the mainstreams of the society,” BSP charged.
There is no legal hurdle before the government to issue title deeds to
SC/STs. The SC/ST colony is situated outside the college campus, BSP
said adding that lack of political will is the only reason why title
deeds were not distributed to SC/STs.
At any cost, SC/STs, who dwell in the colony, should not be shifted.
Moreover, they should be given title deeds for their land and
infrastructure should also be provided for their colony, BSP
emphasised. Government should take initiative to reclaim land
encroached by upper class people in the region, BSP added.
Memorandum to DC
BSP workers submitted a memorandum seeking title deeds for
SC/STs of Machagondana Halli colony to the Deputy Commissioner R
Narayanaswamy. They alleged in the memorandum that a local person had
encroached about 10 acres of land near the SC/ST colony in
Machagondana Halli. They charged that those people’s representatives
neither raise voice against the land encroachment, nor help SC/STs in
the colony.
Tamil Nadu
MADURAI, January 15, 2010
Scheduled Caste (Aboriginal Inhabitant of Jambudvipa, that is, the Great Prabuddha Bharath treated as Untouchable)youth allegedly made to eat human excreta
A 24-year-old SC youth was allegedly made to eat human excreta at
Melakoilpatti village coming under Nilakottai circle and Batlagundu
police station limits in Dindigul district.
P. Sadaiyandi, in his complaint to the police, has said that on
January 7 a group of Thevar Christian youth stopped him near the
village salon and abused him by his caste name for daring to defy the
ban on SCs wearing footwear in the streets where upper castes live.
The group comprising Arockiasamy, David, Selvendran, Kennedy,
Kannadasan, Peter and Anbu beat him up. Two of them then forced his
mouth open and thrust excrement down his throat. They later smeared
his face with it.
The SCs of Indira Nagar in his village came to his rescue and took
him to the hospital where he underwent treatment. However, fearing
repercussion, Sadaiyandi did not file a complaint against them
immediately and waited till the next day.
The Batlagundu police on Friday, January 15, filed a case against
Arockiasamy and 20 others under Sections 147, 148, 341, 323, 355, 324,
506 (2) of the Indian Penal Code and Sections 3(1) (10) and 3(1)(3) of
Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities
Act),1989. No arrest has been made so far.
Madurai-based non-governmental organisation Evidence, which conducted
a field study, found that animosity between the SC/STs and Thevars had
been there for sometime after a ruckus on Christmas Day.
A. Kathir, Executive Director, Evidence, said that complaints had been
sent to National Human Rights Commission, State Human Rights
Commission and Chief Secretary.
Fact Sheet: No place for SC/ST (Aboriginal Inhabitants of Jambudvipa, that is, the Great Prabuddha Bharath treated as Untouchables) in JAC
SC/ST ) groups forming part of the Telangana Joint Action Committee are
fretting and fuming at the JAC leaders for ignoring them in taking decisions
on taking forward the Telangana movement.
The way the SC/ST was treated at the JAC meeting a couple of days ago
resulted in a lot of heart burn among the SC/ST groups. “He has every right
to express his opinion. Why should his mike be snatched away?
Would they do the same thing if TRS president K Chandrasekhara Rao was speaking?”
a SC leader said.
It was also pointed out that whenever the JAC leaders address
a press conference, they would not allow a single SC/ST leader to
speak. “Take any photograph published in the media. You would find
only upper caste leaders in the front row, while we are seen only in
the back rows”.
The SC/ST organisations are also threatening to go independently,
alleging that the political parties were fighting for one-upmanship
rather than fighting for the Telangana cause. “There is no proper
representation for SCs, STs, BCs, women and minorities in the JAC. All
those who are taking decisions are only from upper castes. How can
they ensure social justice in the Telangana? We will chalk our own
plans at the grassroot level.”
Cong leaders controversial ‘caste list’
Prevention of Atrocities Act, state Congress chief Anil Kumar Sharma
and AICC Bihar in-charge Jagdish Tytler are desperately trying to
wriggle out of the soup they find themselves after distribution of the
list of BPCC office-bearers with their castes affixed against their
names. They included Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar.
BSP adds that the best solution to stop such happenings is to make BSP as the
ruling community which is strongly working Social Transformation through social engineering
and for Economic Emancipation.People should work hard to make large number of
people at sector and booth level to strengthen BSP. Once the Master Key is got every thing
will become alright
YOUTH BUDDHIST SOCIETY OF
Ref. …………… Date
.12/01/2010
invitation
TO,
Dear
friends
6th
Universal peace march -2010
Srawasti – sankisa 28 jan – 8 fab 2010
Hello, Dear
Friends! Wish you a very Happy New Year 2010 in advance. Hopefully you all must
be very well as usual. I am very glad to tell you that as every year this year
also YBS is going to organize 6th Universal Peace March on 28th
January to 8th Feb. 2010.
Every year,
since 2005 under the cooperation between Youth Buddhist Society of India
(YBS) and International Work Camp Organization (IWO) S.Korea,
“Universal Peace March (UPM)” has been held in different parts of
sharing our ideas about global issues with youths from all over the world.
Within 12 days we will stay in different places and have meetings with
different religion, cast and rural village people. We will share how to make
peace to each other, how to be in peace between young people and how to be
aware and recover the humanity. In 2010, Foreign and Indian participants will
march from Shravasti, (
to Sankissa (
by walking. Local hosting condition will be inconvenient sometimes but it will
be a good opportunity to think and do for peace .
In
the present scenario we are facing so many problems such as Terrorism, war over
the land, war over the borders, war over the natural resources such as oil,
water etc, war over the development, war over the religion, cast, colors etc,
conflict over the education, technology. Domestic violence is also one of the
biggest increasing problems. Now we have started to face the effect of Global
Warming, pollution and effect of plastic problem. Because of developed science
and technology human is reaching on the moon but on the other side human is
killing to each other every day and every moment.
So
dear friends stand up for Peace, come and join us. We do hope people will be
encouraged by your representation and about your ideas and contributed sharing.
Please come and represent yourself, your country and the whole universe.
If
anyone who wants to put their holly step for peace during the March, please do
feel free to contact me. For more information you can also visit our website- www.ybsindia.org
Looking
forward to see you during the 6th UPM.
Pravin
Bauddha
Coordinator-
Universal
Peace March
Cell
No. +91 9897269184, 0091 9937393526
Email- ,ybsindia2003@yahoo.com
Infosheet for participants of UPM 2010
6th Universal Peace March in
28th
Jan – 8th Feb 2010 (12days)
|
YBS Youth Buddhist Vivek Vihar |
International 331-15, |
Universal Peace March 2010
- PEACE ON YOUR FOOT -
BACKGROUND
diverse religions,
cultures, casts, and climates. There
are many disputes due to religion and cast. As you know there also border conflicts between
and
as well. Once a year, we hold the Peace March project to help people
be aware of this situation.
YBS(Youth
Buddhist Society) is trying to create mutual harmony
and friendship in spite of their religion: Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim
or Christian. When national and international governments cannot stop the violence and conflicts, it is
time for youths in the
world to take action and put an end to one of the longest running conflicts in
history. This humanistic and peaceful march will give an opportunity to the
participants from various countries to be involved directly or indirectly in
global issues.
In addition, the each destination of the march is a holy site of
Buddhism in history. However, the activities and the objectives are not just
related with Buddhism but the peace.
OBjectives
What is the Universal Peace
March? What is the purpose of this march?
Since 2005, under
the cooperation between YBS(Youth Buddhist Society) and
(UPM)” has been held in different parts of
This year we are please announce that the 6th Universal Peace
March(UPM) will be held from sravasti to
We promote peace by sharing our ideas about global issues with youths
from all over the world.
During the 12 day march, we will stay in different locals and have meetings with various people no matter what their religions are or where they come
from. We will share ideas about how to promote peace with each
other, how there can be peace among young people, and how
to be aware and recover a sense of mutual
humanity. In 2009, foreign and Indian participants will march from
to
inconvenient during the march in general. However, this will be
a good opportunity to challenge yourself.
PROJECT INFORMATION…
*Duration: 28 Jan, 2009 – 8 Feb, 2009, (12days)
*Distance of march: About 500 km, from Sravasti to Sankisa in
*Organized
by: Youth Buddhist Society(YBS),
International
Workcamp Organization(
*Participants: -Those who are
more than 18 years old
-Those
who are interested in promoting world peace
*Language: English
*MEETING POINT & TIME - there will be two meeting point
1.
28, Jan 2010,
10:00am at Thai
Buddhist
.
: Please make sure to book your train before 40 to 45 days in advance otherwise you can’t get sits.
You can
come directly Sravasti from
2.
27. Jan
2010,5:00 pm in front of
Railway station near Bank of Barauda ATM
(pahargunj site ),
*Insurance: Insurance will not be provided. Participants
should prepare
overseas insurance from
their
countries.
3.Participants fee- 180 euro, food and accommodation will be covered
during UPM.
*Accommodation: Participants
will stay in local accommodation. Accommodation could be
schools, village community centers, or temples
(Hindu, Buddhist, Islam, Christian, Sikh, Jaina etc). Participants should not
expect convenient facilities like those in their countries, with amenities such as hot water, good toilet, beds, etc.
*Food: During the 12-day-peaceful journey,
participants will have local vegetarian food for their meals. Participants can cook vegetarian
food in their own style and share. Peace March is
not a picnic or a race but
instead a spiritual journey to foster a positive mentality in
young people and a peaceful future. It will
be a time to understand the diverse value of life.
* Non-vegetable food and alcohol
is not allowed during the march.
*Daily distance to march:
We will move approximately 50 km a
day. Participants will walk 15-20 km in a day and take a public transportation for the rest of the
distance
*Urgent Contact in
Cell Number. 0091
9937393526
*Special Remark*
During the 12-days of journey,
participants are asked to interaction with local people.
Therefore, people who take part in UPM are asked
to have OPEN-MIND, TOLERANCE.
The success of UPM project depends on the volunteer being prepared to take
responsibility for her/himself. The volunteer should not only be able to work
independently but also be able to work well as a part of the group. To take
part in a camp also means to organize the
camp TOGETHER.
*Daily
Schedule
|
Time |
Activity |
|
6:00 – 7:00 |
Yoga & Morning Gathering |
|
7:00 – 8:00 |
Breakfast |
|
8:00 – 8:30 |
Start the March |
|
12:00 –13:00 |
Lunch(on the way) |
|
18:00 – 19:00 |
Dinner(at the destination of the day) |
|
20:00 – 21:30 |
Culture exchange program & meeting |
SC stay on Noida park statues causing Rs 3 lakh loss per day: UP govt
PTI, 15 January 2010, 07:02pm IST
NEW DELHI: Uttar Pradesh government today told the Supreme Court that
its order to stop the work for construction of statues and memorials
for Scheduled Caste (Aboriginal Inhabitant of Jambudvipa, that is, the Great
Prabuddha Bharath treated as Untouchable)leaders, including those of Mayawati and her political
mentor Kanshi Ram at a park in Noida near here, was causing a loss of
Rs three lakh everyday.
“All work has been held up. We are losing Rs three lakh everyday,”
senior advocate K K Venugopal, appearing for Uttar Pradesh government,
told a Special Forest Bench headed by Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan.
The Bench, also comprising Justices S H Kapadia and Aftab Alam, had on
October 9 directed Uttar Pradesh government to stop the work at the
site and allowed NOIDA authorities only to continue with other work
like planting of trees.
However, later the Centre in its affidavit had said there was no need
for environmental clearance for the controversial project.
The Centre’s view was in response to the apex court notice asking it
to respond to the Central Empowered Committee report stating that the
state government should seek environmental clearance for the Rs
650-crore project in the 33.43 hectare.
The Centre had earlier opposed the project on environmental grounds.
When the matter came up for hearing, Venugopal said the Centre’s
affidavit was in favour of Uttar Pradesh government and it should be
given permission at the earliest to go ahead with the construction
work.
The Bench posted the matter for further hearing on February 5 as the
state government itself has sought adjournment.
Mayawati releases book on birthday
Agencies
Lucknow, Jan 15 – On her 54th birthday Friday, Bahujan Samaj Party
(BSP) boss and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati released the fifth
volume of her book detailing her political struggles. In it, Mayawati
has claimed she would have become prime minister but for the ‘ganging
up by Congress, BJP and Samajwadi Party’.
The BSP chief released the book, titled ‘Mere
Sangharshmay Jeevan Evam BSP Movement ka Safarnam’, at her official
residence here.
Releasing the book, she said: ‘This volume has a detailed account of
the progress made by the party togther with whatever I have done over
the past one year.’
In this 1,100-page volume, Maywati flays the opposition for criticising
her decision to dedicate and build memorials for leading SC/ST/OBC icons,
who she alleged were ’systematically ignored by successive ruling
parties over the years’.
Lashing out at the Congress party in particular, for what she termed as
its ‘anti-SC/ST mindset’, Mayawati writes in her book: ‘The Congress
party has made these memorials, built in the interest and for the use
of general public, as an excuse for their political animosity to us. In
addition to misusing the central government machinery for the purpose,
they are also opposing these vehemently in the court of law.’
She goes on to add: ‘These historic construction works executed by my
government in Uttar Pradesh are like a thorn in the flesh of the
Congress party.’
Referring to her book, she said: ‘I am able to write this for the
readers because it has been a very old hobby of mine to get up early in
the morning and do some reading and writing. That was how many
documents related to the BSP movement are now treasured by the party.’
She also made it a point to claim that she would have become the
country’s prime minister ‘if it were not for the ganging up by
Congress, BJP and Samajwadi Party.’
Mayawati paints Lucknow BSP blue on her birthday
The Uttar Pradesh capital was literally covered under a blue blanket - from blue lights to blue buntings - to mark the 54th birthday Friday of Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) president and state Chief Minister Mayawati.
Long strings of tiny blue lights were draped around each of the
monuments erected by the Mayawati government in the name of different SC/ST/OBC icons, including Babasaheb Ambedkar, Shahuji Maharaj, Narayan
Guru, Ramaswamy Periyar, Jyotiba Phule and of course Kanshi Ram, the
BSP founder and Mayawati’s political mentor.
Mayawati’s half a dozen statues erected at different places across
the city were bedecked profusely with exquisite flowers, ordered
specially from Delhi and other places.
Millions of tiny blue bulbs were used to lend the city a BSP blue
hue. The city sure wore a new look with the new
kind of illumination.
The decoration and illuminations on the birthday of “Behenji”, as
she is known to her followers, were as on a grander scale than the
adornments on Independence Day or Republic Day.
While the chief minister confined herself to the four walls of her
heavily guarded official residence, people thronged the memorials for a
glimpse of the decorations.
Security was beefed up in and around each of the memorials since Thursday.
Mayawati announces welfare schemes worth Rs 7,312 crore on her birthdayThe Chief Minister of the country’s most populous state Uttar Pradesh, Mayawati while celebrating her 54th birthday announced welfare schemes worth Rs.7,312 crore today.
Mayawati kept the celebration low key at her official residence. The
main event was the unveiling of 265 foundation stones and plaques by
the minister.
The various inaugurations included foundation stone laying of new
bridges, construction of new roads, installation of new ambitious power
projects, drinking water and sanitation projects under development schemes while she also announced a host of schemes for the poor.
A pension of Rs. 300 a month for the poor was also announced, and is
expected to cost the government around Rs.1,100 crores. Explaining the
need for the pension scheme she said the centre programmes had a cap on
the number of beneficiaries and thus a large number of poor could not
be covered. She said that her government has requested the centre on
many occasion for increasing the cap on beneficiaries as it proposes to
cover about 30 lakh BPL people who are without specified cards. The
pension is to be given in six-monthly cycles.
Mayawati said, ‘These welfare programmes, schemes and development projects were, in all, worth Rs.7, 312 crores.’
She also announced the release of 25 mentally handicapped prisoners
and undertrials while proposing to release 26,335 undertrials who have
completed 50 percent of the jail term to which they could be sentenced
for their alleged crimes.
She distributed tri-cycles to the physically challenged while also
marking the start of the new pension scheme handed out some cheques to
the BPL families.
Mayawati announces 264 welfare measures
Special Correspondent
LUCKNOW: Reiterating her commitment to the welfare of the
downtrodden and deprived sections of society on her 54th birthday,
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati on Friday launched a new scheme:
“Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mahamaya Gharib Arthik Madad Yojana”, the
beneficiaries would be entitled to Rs. 300 per month. The amount would
be deposited in two half-yearly instalments in their bank accounts. The
scheme was granted Cabinet approval on Thursday.
A special cell has been created in the Chief Minister’s secretariat
in the Lal Bahadur Shastri Annexe Bhawan in the State capital for the
implementation of the scheme. It would be directly monitored by the
Chief Minister’s Office. About 30 lakh poor families would benefit in
the first year of the scheme and the remaining would be covered
subsequently.
The scheme for the poor is among the 264 new public welfare measures
and programmes worth Rs. 7312 crore, which were launched by Ms.
Mayawati at a function to mark her birthday at her 5, Kalidas Marg
official residence here on Friday. The English and Hindi editions of
the fifth volume of Ms. Mayawati’s book , “ A Travelogue of My
Struggle-Ridden Life and BSP Movement” was released by her on the
occasion. Running up to 1100 pages, the anthology is also known as the
“Blue Book” of the Bahujan Samaj Party.
People’s welfare day
Unlike in the past, Ms. Mayawati’s birthday this year is being
celebrated as “people’s welfare day” with public welfare camps
supervised by the district magistrates being held in the 71 districts
of Uttar Pradesh on Friday. Earlier, January 15 was celebrated as
“arthik sahyog divas” (financial help day). In her brief address, the
Chief Minister described the launch of the new welfare measures as a
“gift to the people on her birthday.” Ms. Mayawati said the financial
help scheme for the poor and needy has been launched to fulfil their
needs of livelihood. Ms. Mayawati said under the Government of India’s
programme, 1.7 crore BPL families were entitled for 35 kilogram of
ration, whereas in U.P. alone the number of BPL families had crossed
1.7 crore.
Ms. Mayawati regretted that the Centre had still not acted on her
request for a Rs. 80,000 crore special incentive package and said the
welfare measures have been launched with the State’s own resources. The
Chief Minister said the beneficiaries of “UP CM Mahamaya Gharib Arthik
Madad Yojana” would be selected through open meetings in gram sabhas
and urban areas.
The meetings would be supervised by the DMs and objections would be
invited against the names published in the beneficiaries’ list and the
final list would be declared after thorough examination. The CM
promised complete transparency.
The other projects included in the 264 schemes related to 111 new
bridges, about 50 new roads, bus stations, sewerage schemes in several
towns, critical care unit in Chhatrapati Shahuji Maharaj Medical
University in Lucknow, 27 power sub stations and agriculture reform
programmes.
On Thursday, the Cabinet had given its nod to additional five per
cent dearness allowance to state employees with retrospective effect
from July 1, 2009.
Leaders
and members of BSP celebrating 54th Birthday of Uttar Pradesh CM and
BSP Leader Mayawati at Shikshakara Sadan, in Bangalore on Friday 15th
January 2010
The event was marked by Dollu Vadhya and Mayawati’s songs by Kala Mandira. Leaders cut cake and distributed to the BSP members.Distribution sweets by Mr.J.Chandrasekharan. Presentation of cash awards to the poor and disabled people. Mr.Jainlal presented Saries to all the women participants. Mr.R.Muniappa welcomed the gathering. Dr.Ashok Sidharth, Mr.Udha, Koramangala Muniappa. Mr.Gopinath and Karnatak President Mr.Marasandra Muniappa gave wonderful speech on the occassion.
Shikshakara Sadan was filled with BSP members. Youths from Kadugondana Halli, City Market joined in large numbers to BSP.Daily News Events 15th January 2010
 |
Event Name :
BSP Members Celebrate 54th Birthday of Uttar Pradesh CM Mayawati Event Date :
15th January 2010 Event Description :
BSP Members Celebrate 54th Birthday of Uttar Pradesh CM Mayawati Photo Date :
15th January 2010 Photo Caption :
Leaders and members of BSP celebrating 54th Birthday of Uttar Pradesh CM and BSP Leader Mayawati at Shikshakara Sadan, in Bangalore on Friday 15th January 2010 Photo Cre
|
BSP sweeps Uttar Pradesh council polls
January 13th, 2010 - 8:01 pm ICT by IANS
-
Lucknow, Jan 13 (IANS) The ruling Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) made a
clean sweep in the Uttar Pradesh legislative council polls, winning 31
of the 33 seats, counting for which was held Wednesday.
According to sources in the State Election Commission, of the 33 seats
for which counting was held, the BSP won 31, the Congress and the
Samajwadi Party (SP) could get only one seat each, while the Bharatiya
Janata Party (BJP) could not even open its account.
.
Polling for the Uttar Pradesh legislative council to elect 36
representatives from 35 local authority constituencies took place Jan 7
with around 90 percent of the electorate exercising their franchise.
Of the 36 seats, the results for 33 seats were declared Wednesday,
while those of the other three seats - Aligarh, Meerut-Ghaziabad,
Bulandshar - will be announced Thursday as re-polling was held
Wednesday following some complaints with the Election Commission.
The Uttar Pradesh legislative council (Vidhan Parishad) has 100
members. Of these, 36 are elected by the local bodies. Other members
are elected by graduates, teachers and legislators of the lower house,
while some members are nominated.
BSP wins remaining seats in Uttar Pradesh council poll
Lucknow, Jan 14 (IANS) The ruling Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) won all the
three remaining seats of the Uttar Pradesh legislative council,
counting for which was held Thursday.
Aligarh, Meerut-Ghaziabad, and Bulandshahr, sources in
the poll panel said all the three seats went to the BSP, taking its
total to 34.
Re-polling for the three seats took place Wednesday after some complaints were registered with the Election Commission.
Results of 33 seats were announced Wednesday with the BSP
registering victory on 31, the Congress and the Samajwadi Party (SP)
won only one seat each, while the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) could
not even open its account.
Polling for the Uttar Pradesh legislative council to elect 36
representatives from 35 local authority constituencies took place Jan 7
with around 90 percent of the electorate exercising their franchise.
Press Information Bureau
(C.M. Information Campus)
Information & Public Relations Department, U.P.
Interests of cane growers
accorded top priority by state government
— Chief Minister
Raw sugar will not be imported in U.P.
until cane crushing is totally completed
— Mayawat
Lucknow: 12 January 2010
The Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Ms. Mayawati said that the interests
of the farmers had been accorded top priority by the state government.
Keeping this in view, it had been decided that the raw sugar would not be
imported in U.P. until the crushing of cane is fully completed. She said that
all the farmers of the state had supported the decision of the state
government. She said that the state government had taken this decision in
favour of the consumer as well.
It may be recalled that the Union Agriculture Minister had requested
the state government to restart the import of raw sugar, but the state
government, keeping in view interests of the cane growers, had requested
the Central Government that the import of raw sugar was not suitable in
the state. The import of raw sugar may ignite unrest among the cane
growers and it may create few other problems as well.
Ms. Mayawati said that the state government was fully aware and
sensitive towards the cane growers. The officers had been directed from
time to time to solve the matters related with the interests of the cane
growers in an effective manner, she pointed out. Besides, all the divisional
Commissioners had already been directed to coordinate with ganna vikas
samitis/ganna kisan pratinidhis and sugar mills, so that the cane growers
were provided facilities and were also given impetus besides the state
advisory price. Following these orders, the cane growers were being
provided various facilities.
*******
Mayawati’s big birthday bash has cash concessions for poor
Mayawati’s big birthday bash has cash concessions for poor
Sanjay Singh Posted online: Wednesday, Jan 13, 2010 at 0406 hrs
Lucknow : Plans to launch new scheme for those without BPL cards
The latest entrants to Chief Minister Mayawati’s birthday party are
those who do not have the below poverty level (BPL) cards.
On January 15, her birthday, Mayawati is likely to announce a new
scheme for this section — one that will entail financial help through
cash doles. The scheme is to be named “Uttar Pradesh Mukhya Mantri
Mahamaya Garib Arthik Sahayata Yojana”.
Officials are busy working out the details, but sources said a few
things have already been settled. Each family will get Rs 300 per
month, 50 per cent of the beneficiaries will be Scheduled Castes and
Scheduled Tribes, and families headed by women will get preference.
Only families which do not get the benefit of any existing scheme for
the poor will be entitled to avail this scheme.
Sources said the idea was to launch the state’s own pro-poor
initiatives which reaches out to those who do not get any benefit from
existing schemes like old-age or widow pension and antyodaya. Almost
all existing schemes are funded by the Centre and in each a BPL card
is the ticket to the benefits.
The state government has made several requests to the Centre to
increase allocations for various pro-poor schemes, arguing that
surveys of BPL families were faulty and did not reflect the correct
picture.
“The Union government has not paid any attention to these requests. As
a result, a large number of poor people do not get any benefit because
their names do not figure on the BPL list,” said an official.
The new scheme is expected to serve two purposes. It will help the
chief minister counter the Congress which has been trying to get
political mileage out of all pro-poor schemes by telling the people
they were being financed by the Centre and that the state was just
implementing them.
Besides, it is expected to build pressure on the Centre to accept the
state’s figure of poor families and increase allocation to various
schemes.
An official said the survey to identify beneficiary families under the
new scheme will be completed in four to five months. However, the
government is yet to identify the department that will conduct the
survey.
One option in consideration is to identify the beneficiaries in open
meetings of the gram sabha.
Mayawati offers Rs.5 crore to Indian hockey team
January 14th, 2010 - 3:35 pm ICT by IANS -
Lucknow, Jan 14 (IANS) Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati Thursday
offered Rs.5 crore to the Indian hockey team, along with a sponsorship
for the next two years, a day after the crisis between the players and
Hockey India ended.
The players had marched out of the preparatory camp in Pune for this
year’s World Cup over non payment of dues.
“Besides giving a sum of Rs.5 crore to the Indian hockey team, we are
also ready to take care of the sponsorship of the team for the next
two years,” Mayawati said here.
“I am doing it for my love for sports and I cannot see our national
team losing their morale simply for want of finances, when they should
be preparing for the World Cup to make the nation proud,” she added.
This is said to be a gift to the hockey players by the UP CM on her
54th birthday this January 15.
Sources said that UP government has also offered to hand over the
money as a sponsor for next two years.
The announcement from Mayawati should come as a great help to warring
sporting authorities over payment to players.
Press Information Bureau
(C.M. Information Campus)
Information & Public Relations Department, U.P.
C.M. severely criticises Union Agriculture Minister
for his irresponsible and insensitive statement
People facing problem of inflation owing to
wrong economic, export and import policies of Centre
Without assessing demand, Centre exported
sugar on lower prices to benefit sugar mills
— Mayawati
Lucknow: January 11, 2010
The Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Ms. Mayawati, while reacting sharply
over the statement of Mr. Sharad Pawar, Union Agriculture Minister of the
Congress led UPA Government, in which he said that ‘he did not know
when the prices would come down – he is no astrologer’– said that it was
a highly irresponsible and insensitive statement by a person, who happens
to be a Minister of the Government of India. She said that the Union
Agriculture Minister, in his statement, was holding UP Government
responsible for the rising prices of sugar, which showed that he was
shirking away from his responsibilities.
The Chief Minister said that owing to wrong economic, export and
import policies of the Centre and its mentality to benefit capitalists, the
prices of food grains, pulses and edible oils had been rising day after day
and it was affecting the life of people adversely. She said that the Central
Government should have timely assessed the situation and taken steps,
but the Government of India neither made any effort to control prices of
the edible articles nor it fulfilled its responsibilities. Instead it remained
fully insensitive towards its duties, she pointed out.
Expressing her surprise, Ms. Mayawati said that on one hand the
Government of India did not pay any attention towards the rising prices of
food grains and sugar, while on the other its ministers were issuing
irresponsible statements that encouraged forces which were responsible for
rising prices. Owing to these statements, these forces were now indulging
in increasing the prices of essential commodities without any fear.
The Chief Minister regretted that the ministers of the UPA
Government, instead of checking the rising inflation, were issuing
irresponsible statements that encouraged hoarders and black marketeers.
She said that the hoarders and black marketeers took advantage of the
statements of the Union Ministers which said that the rise in the prices
would continue for two years. Owing to these statements, such forces
stored edible articles including sugar and created artificial demand. She
demanded from the Central Government that such mentality should be
checked immediately.
Ms. Mayawati said that the crushing season 2006-07 was best for the
sugar production, during which 283 lakh MT of sugar was produced, while
during 2007-08 season 264.16 lakh MT sugar was produced. She alleged
that the Central Government did not keep the sugar requirements of the
country in mind and it did not create adequate buffer stock in the years
2006-07 and 2007-08. She said that the Central Government, without
assessing the future sugar demands of the country, allowed export of
sugar on minimum prices for two years continuously to benefit the sugar
mills. She said that owing to this wrong decision of the Centre, the sugar
was imported from the international market at higher rates during the year
2009-10, which caused huge financial losses to the Government of India
and the people were forced to face rising prices.
Rubbishing Mr. Pawar’s statement that the state government had
banned import of raw sugar, the Chief Minister said that the state
government had advised the Railway Board to postpone transportation of
raw sugar through railway racks for a limited period only. The state
government had taken this step to save the railway property from the
resentment of the cane growers. She said that her government had taken
this action with an objective to protect the interests of the farmers during
the current crushing season.
Ms. Mayawati said that her government had taken several steps to
check the prices of foodgrains and sugar. She said that the officers had
been ordered to take stringent action against hoarders and black
marketeers, so that the people got relief from inflation. She said that on 25
November 2009 her government had set the stock limit for sugar and
khandsari at 2000 quintals and the stock turnover limit had been fixed at
30 days. Besides, the DMs had been ordered to ensure its compliance
strictly.
The C.M. said that the officers had been directed to monitor the
prices of sugar and other essential commodities on daily basis. Besides, the
difference between the wholesale and retail prices of edible articles should
be studied on monthly basis and if price rise was detected in comparison to
last month, then the issue should be discussed with the Vyapar Mandal and
other business organisations and distribution of articles should be ensured
at adequate prices. She said that the DMs had been directed to submit a
detailed fact report with clear recommendations to the government through
divisional Commissioners to take action against hoarders/artificial demand
creators under Essential Commodities Act 1955. She said that around 1200
quintals of sugar was being sold through all the 140 outlets of the UP Rajya
Karmchari Nigam all over the state. She said that it was cheaper by Rs. 10
than the market price of the sugar.
*******
Press Information Bureau
(C.M. Information Campus)
Information & Public Relations Department, U.P.
C.M. greets people on Guru Govind Singh Jayanti
Lucknow: January 04, 2010
The Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Ms. Mayawati has greeted
people of the State, specially the Sikh brethren, on the occasion
of Guru Govind Singh Jayanti.
In a greeting message, Ms. Mayawati said that Guru Govind
Singh, who established Khalsa Panth, had set an example of
supreme sacrifice, which was a source of inspiration to all of us.
She said that Guru Govind Singh, throughout his life, waged
battle against discrimination, useless traditions and other social
evils and the society drew inspiration from his personality and
deeds. She said that establishing an egalitarian society would be
best tribute towards Guru Govind Singh.
On the occasion, Ms. Mayawati offered her good wishes to
people and appealed to maintain an atmosphere of peace and
harmony to mark Guru Govind Singh Jayanti.
********
DMs should take all necessary steps immediately
to provide relief to poor and destitute from cold wave
— C.M.
CM reviews situation arising out of cold wave
Lucknow: January 04, 2010
Keeping in view the intense cold wave that has enveloped the State; the
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Ms. Mayawati has directed the officers to ensure that
bonfires were lit up at the public places in all the 312 tehsils of the State. To
save children from the cold wave, she has also ordered closure of all the schools
up to class 8 till Saturday, 09 January 2010. She said that the State Government
was committed to save poor and destitute from the cold wave.
The Chief Minister was reviewing the situation arising out of cold wave in
the State at a high level meeting held at her official residence here today. She
directed all the DMs to take steps to save poor and destitute people from the
intense cold wave immediately. She asked all the DMs to ensure that bonfires
were lit up at rural/urban public places in all the 312 tehsils of the State, so that
poor and destitute people got relief. She also directed the DMs to ensure
distribution of blankets free of cost to the poor and needy.
Ms. Mayawati said that adequate amount had been arranged for the
bonfires and distribution of blankets among the poor and destitute all over the
State. The Government had sanctioned Rs. 10.84 crore for bonfires and
distribution of blankets. She said that the DMs could withdraw additional amount
if needed to provide relief to the people. This additional amount could be
withdrawn from TR-27, so that the poor and needy faced no difficulty.
The Chief Minister asked the officers to ensure that adequate number of
bonfires was set up in urban and rural areas of every tehsil. She said that the cooperation
of local urban bodies should also be sought in it. She further directed
the officers to set up rain-basera¼jSu&clsjk½, so that the poor and destitute did not
face any difficulty.
Following the orders of Ms. Mayawati, the Chief Secretary has also directed
all the DMs to set up bonfires in rural and urban areas of all the tehsils of the
State and also ensure free distribution of blankets.
It may be recalled that the State Government has allocated about Rs. 9.28
crore for the distribution of blankets among the poor which comes around Rs.
2.57 lakh per tehsil. Besides, it has also sanctioned Rs. 1.56 crore for setting up
bonfires in all the tehsils of the State which comes around Rs. 50,000 per tehsil.
It may be recalled that the State Government has purchased blankets
(1000 blankets per tehsil) from U.P. Handloom Corporation and U.P. Export
Corporation to provide the same to the poor and needy in all the tehsils of the
State.
*******
Large number of people greet C.M. on New Year
Officers should work with new zeal — C.M.
Lucknow: January 01, 2010
A large number of prominent citizens, belonging to
different sections of the society, arrived at the official residence
of the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, Ms. Mayawati to greet her
on the occasion of New Year.
Ms. Mayawati while accepting the greetings of the New
Year said that the state government was committed for the
welfare and betterment of deprived and exploited people of
Sarva Samaj. She said that officers related to public welfare
programmes should work with new zeal and ensure to fulfil the
targets of their departments at all costs. She also said that
more works for the welfare of poor and weaker sections of
society were still needed.
Those who greeted the Chief Minister were - Chairman
State Advisory Council Mr. Satish Chandra Mishra, Cabinet
Secretary Mr. Shashank Shekhar Singh, Additional Cabinet
Secretary Mr. Vijay Shankar Pandey, Media Advisor to C.M. Mr.
Jameel Akhtar, Chief Information Commissioner Mr. R.S.
Pankaj, Chief Secretary Mr. Atul Kumar Gupta, Principal
Secretary Home Kunwar Fateh Bahadur, D.G.P. Mr. Karamveer
Singh, Principal Secretaries/Secretaries to C.M. including other
senior officers, party office bearers and workers and eminent
citizens.
*******
C.M. reviews law and order
situation at a high-level meeting
Brijlal gets the charge of ADGP,
law and order of east and west zones
Lucknow: 31 December 2009
The Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Ms. Mayawati has strictly directed for
taking effective action against notorious criminals, mafias and anti-social
elements. She has emphasised to improve the functioning of police stations,
so that complaints of poor and weaker sections could be listened and they get
justice. She said that any slackness in this regard would not be tolerated. The
rule of law by law was included among the top priorities of the government,
she added.
The Chief Minister was reviewing the law and order situation and control
on crimes at a high-level meeting here today at her official residence. She has
underlined the need to keep strict vigil on bordering districts.
During review, the Chief Minister found that for better co-ordination
between east and west zones which had been made for effective control over
crimes and law and order in the State, the charge of both the zones should
remain with only one additional D.G.P. of law and order. Keeping this fact in
view, she decided to give the charge of both the zones to ADGP, law and
order, Mr. Brijlal. Besides, the process of change to review the law and order
situation and control over crimes by the Chief Minister has also been started.
The Chief Minister also directed that ADGP, law and order would hold
review meetings for east and west zones with all range in-charge police IGs
and DIGs in Allahabad and Meerut respectively. She directed that ADGP, law
and order would make surprise inspection of east zone districts every month
for two days. Similarly, two days surprise inspection would be made in the
districts of west zone. Besides, these surprise inspections, on the spot visit
would also be made.
Ms. Mayawati also directed that besides the surprise inspections of
ADGP law and order, Principal Secretary Home and DGP would also review the
law and order situation and control over crimes in the districts of east and
west zones for two days by making visit in districts.
The action report in view of these directives would be presented to the
Chief Minister by Principal Secretary Home and DGP in the end of every
month.
On this occasion, Principal Secretary Home Kunwar Fateh Bahadur and
DGP Mr. karamveer Singh were present, besides ADGP law and order, first
and second.
********
Mayawati asks officials to ‘expedite’ action against corruption
Lucknow, Dec 29 (IANS) Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati Tuesday
asked officials to expedite action in all pending cases of corruption.
Chairing a law and order review meeting at the Yojana Bhawan here, she
expressed deep concern over the long pendency of corruption cases
against government officials.
“The vigilance department needs to gear up its working so that all
pending corruption cases could be expeditiously taken to their logical
conclusion,” she told top officials attending the meeting.
The chief minister also expressed her displeasure at the slow working
of the state Economic Offences Wing (EOW), where scores of cases
including one of fraud and money laundering against Samajwadi Party
general secretary Amar Singh were pending.
Mayawati further asked officials to prepare a blueprint for improving
the living conditions of police personnel, particularly those of the
Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC), who had to carry out duties in
inhospitable and hostile conditions.
She also stressed the need to strengthen the police force in the
Maoist-affected areas and issued directives for early filling up of
vacancies in various wings of the state police.
Mayawati also called for strict enforcement of the provisions related
to fire security, particularly in high-rise buildings, and also
emphasised the need for construction of proposed fire stations in a
time-bound manner.
Among other things, she asked officials to improve the purchase system
for buying various articles and equipment required for modernisation
of the state police force.
Among others, the meeting was attended by Cabinet Secretary Shashank
Shekhar Singh, Additional Cabinet Secretary Vijay Shankar Pandey and
Principal Secretary (Home) Kunwar Fateh Bahadur.
Mayawati, among 50 people who shaped decade’
Agencies Posted online: Tuesday , Dec 29, 2009 at 1632 hrs
London : Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati is among Indians named in the Financial Times list
of ‘50 People Who Shaped the Decade’.
SC/ST women find their voice through a newspaper
Indian
tribal and so-called untouchable (Aboriginal Inhabitants of Jambudvipa, that is, the Great Prabuddha Bharath) women, overcoming social hurdles,
write and run their own weekly newspaper in northern India. Their own
stories are as compelling as their reports.
BANDA, INDIA — The pen, it’s sometimes said, is mightier than the sword. For these women, it’s also a ticket to respect.
Khabar
Lahariya, or “News Waves,” is India’s first newspaper written, read and
run by tribal women and those from the SC/ST (Aboriginal Inhabitants of Jambudvipa, that is, the Great Prabuddha Bharath, or so-called untouchable,
caste.)
While most readers know only of the politics, crime or education
news in the 8-page weekly, each of the writers has a story of her own
about struggling against life’s harsh challenges.
Many of
the dozen or so women on staff were beaten or sexually abused as
children, married off young, endured abusive marriages and fought
mightily for an education and a divorce. Often, the newspaper provides
them with a voice on important issues for the first time in their lives
along with a sense of confidence and purpose.
The paper is also a
labor of love. Not only do the women write the stories, which appear in
a local minority language, Bundeli, they edit, handle layout, proofread
and solicit ads for its two editions. And staff members, paid between
$60 and $140 a month, spend several days each week lugging copies to
distant villages, some accessible only by hiking trails, to flog what
they’ve produced.
“We take buses, cars, motorcycles until the
road stops, then we walk,” said Meera, 23, who like many here uses only
one name, while sitting beside a whiteboard with the week’s stories
mapped out. “It’s hard enough to reach many of these remote areas. Then
you have to stay and sell the papers.”
In the remote communities,
they pick up stories from readers or from residents petitioning for
justice in courts and government offices. Thus armed, they return to
their weekly editorial meeting with a minimum of five ideas and hash
out among themselves what stories will make it into print.
The
paper’s recent stories included alleged bribery at health clinics, a
bureaucrat reported to be siphoning off money meant for widows and a
piece on the brother of a powerful politician who built a house,
blocking water that had gone to SC/ST (Aboriginal Inhabitants of Jambudvipa, that is, the Great Prabuddha Bharath, or so-called untouchable,
caste.) farmers nearby and destroying
their livelihood.
A few years ago, the paper did a story on a
groom who had refused to marry his fiancee because her family wouldn’t
give him an appliance he wanted. Their story — under the headline “Do
you want a wife or a TV?” — got huge attention. Today the couple are
happily married and joke about the incident.
Mayawati’s 54th b’day to be celebrated as People’s Welfare Day
The
54th birthday of Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati will be
celebrated as People’s Welfare Day on January 15, a party spokesman
said.
Kumari Mayawati’s e-governance in Uttar Pradesh through Convergence of Three
Jewels:
Information Technology (IT)
Bio-Technology (BT)
Nano Technology (NT)
The great people of Uttar Pradesh (Buddha Pradesh) is the only
State, without any Caste and Creed bias elected a Scheduled Caste (Aboriginal
Inhabitant of Jambudvipa, that is, the Great Prabuddha Bharath) Ms Kumari
Mayawati as the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh.
Now she wants to e-govern emphasizing that information technology (IT) was on the
top of her agenda, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayawati today directed the
officers for effective implementation of e-governance system.
Mayawati said during a high-level meeting. “IT should be put to
optimum use in the government’s working, and its process should be simplified
and made transparent so as to facilitate common people.”
She said programmes being implemented by IT department should be made
better and public-oriented.
“Electronic delivery through public service centers should be made
available to all, and these centers should be set up at the earliest,” she
directed.
“Electronic delivery through public service centers should be made
available to all, and these centers should be set up at the earliest,” she
directed.
The chief minister said with the setting up of service centers, people
will not be required to take rounds of tehsil and district headquarters for
their works.
“The government is committed to provide all facilities to attract
investment in IT sector and the investors are free to set up a unit in any part
of the state,” she said.
Directing the officers to expedite implementation of State-wide Area
Network (Swan) project, she said networking work should be completed at the
earliest.
“E-district scheme being implemented as a pilot project in six districts
of the state should be made more effective and delivery system should be
improved,” she said.
This is the first
time in the world that a Chief Minister talked about implementation of
e–governance that will reach and facilitate common people and wanted IT
department to be made better and public-oriented. She wanted Electronic delivery through public service centers
to be made available to all, and these centers should be set up at the earliest.
She did not want people to take rounds of tehsil and district headquarters for
their works.
Her Government is committed to provide all facilities to
attract investment in IT sector and the investors are free to set up a unit in
any part of the state.
Directing the officers to expedite implementation of State-Wide Area
Network (SWAN) project, she said networking work should be completed at the
earliest.
“E-district scheme being implemented as a pilot project in six
districts of the state should be made more effective and delivery system should
be improved,” she said.
Now is all that you have
All the IT, BT, NT experts supporting the cause of welfare and happiness
of the entire people (Sarvajan Hithay, Sarvajan Sukhay) must wake up like the
sleeping elephant and make use of the opportunity provided by the Chief Minister
to attract investment in IT sector and the investors are free to set up units
in any part of the State.
It is suggested that the experts who know the value of convergence of
Information Technology, Bio-Technology and Nano-Technology form a world class
forum to help the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh to enable her to serve the
common people for their welfare and happiness.
And this will be the best way for
Mayawati’s 54th b’day to be celebrated as People’s Welfare Day
VR1
(WE ARE ONE )
+VE NEWS
MAY YOU BE EVER HAPPY, WELL AND SECURE!
MAY YOU LIVE LONG!
MAY ALL BEINGS BE EVRER HAPPY, WELL AND SECURE!
MAY YOU ALWAYS HAVE CALM, QUIET, ALERT, ATTENTIVE AND
EQUANIMINTY MIND!
WITH A CLEAR UNDESRSATNDING THAT
NOTHING IS PERMANENT!
MERITS makes us HAPPY
MORALITY makes us HAPPIER
MEDITATION makes us
HAPPIEST
Venerable Bodidatta Bhante’s collection:
“Hatred is never appeased by hatred in this world. By non-hatred alone is hatred appeased. This is eternal”.
- Lord Buddha
“Just as a solid rock is not shaken by the storm, even so the wise are not affected by praise or blame”
- Lord Buddha
1st Boudh Mahoutsav 2010
UTTARKHAND National Seminar on Buddhism its Origin and Development
Dear
Friend in Dhamma,
You will be happy to know that we are going to hold a two day BUDDHIST
CULTURAL FEST (1st BAUDHA
MAHOTSAV-UTTRAKHAND) along
with ICHR Sponsored
National Seminar on “BUDDHISM
: ITS ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT”, 30-31 JANUARY, 2010 at DAKHPATHAR, DEHRADUN,
UTTRAKHAND. It is
estimated that Buddhists all over the country will participate in the ceremony
by which the culture of Buddhists will get global
attention.
We want to take the opportunity to invite you as delegate/observer for
the same. Hon’ble Ramesh Pokhariyal ‘Nishank’, Chief Minister, Uttrakhand
has consented to inaugurate the
fest and seminar. The fest is being organized by Hon’ble M.K. Otani, Member
(Buddhist), Minority Commission, Govt. of Uttrakhand, Dehradun. Please send
your confirmation through e-mail, fax or surface mail at your earliest so that
we able to make proper arrangements for you. If you want to present paper during the seminar,
please send it before 10th
January 2010 by e-mail so that we able to include it in the proceedings of the
seminar.
With Thanks!
Yours in Dhamma
(Heero Hito)
Managing Director
TENTATIVE PROGRAMME-DAY 1
Saturday 30th January ‘2010
08.30
am.
Arrival of delegates
09.30
am.
Registration of participants
10.00
am.
Breakfast
10.30 am.
All delegates to be seated
10.30
am.
Arrival of Chief guest and other invited guests
11.00
am.
Observation of Tri-saran pancasila led by Rev. LAG M.N.M.T.
Theravada Buddhist Prayer by Buddhist Monks & Mahayani Buddhist Prayer by
Lamas
11.30
am.
Welcome Speech by the organising CHAIRMAN and Introduction of Guests
11.45
am.
Inauguration Ceremony : Fest Inaugurated by Hon’ble Dr. Ramesh Pokhariyal
‘Nishank’
Chief Minister, Govt. of Uttrakhand
Plenary Session-I
12.00
noon
Address by Organising Committee
12.30
pm.
Reading of Message (if any)
01.00
pm.
Group Photograph
01.15
pm.
Formation of Group and presentation on “BUDDHISM IN UTTRAKHAND : AN
OVERVIEW AND IMPACT OF BUDDHISM ON ASIAN CULTURE”
02.30
pm.
Lunch
03.00
pm.
Formation of group and group discussions “IMPACT OF
HIMALAYAN CULTURE AND PRESERVATION AND CONSERVATION OF BUDDHIST MONUMENTS IN
UTTRAKHAND”
04.00
pm.
Presentation of group recommendations and papers
04.30
pm.
Tea
04.45
pm.
Formation of group and group discussions “BUDDHA THE GAUTAMA AND HIS PHILOSOPHY
FOR WORLD PEACE”
06.15
pm.
Presentation of group recommendations and papers
06.30
pm.
Formation of group and group discussions “BUDDHIST RITUALS AND
SCRIPTURES” Presentation of group recommendations
07.00
pm.
Cultural Programmes followed by dinner
TENTATIVE PROGRAMME-DAY 2
Sunday 31st January ‘2010
08.00
am.
Breakfast
08.30
am.
Buddha Puja
Plenary Session-II
09.00
am.
Formation of groups and group discussion “ESSENCE OF BUDDHISM IN THE
CHANGING SCENARIO”
10.30
am.
Presentation of group recommendations and papers
11.00
am.
Formation of groups and group discussion “RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN HINDUISM
AND BUDDHISM : PAST PRESENT FUTURE”
12.30
pm.
Presentation of group recommendations and papers
Plenary Session-III
01.00
pm.
Formation of groups and group discussion “BUDDHISM FROM
OVERSEAS”
02.30
pm.
Lunch
03.00
pm.
Presentation of recommendations and papers
02.30
pm.
Lunch Break
Plenary Session-IV
03.00
pm.
Formation of groups and group discussions “TRADITIONAL AND CULTURE OF
HIMALYAN BUDDHISTS IN THE ERA OF GLOBALISATION”
04.30
pm.
Tea Break
05.00
pm.
Formation of groups and group discussions “HIS HOLINESS THE DALAI LAMA
AND
ISSUE”
06.00
pm.
Presentation of recommendations and papers.
06.30
pm.
Cultural Programmes
07.30
pm.
Vote of Thanks
08.00
pm.
Dinner
Respected Heero Hito
I thank you for your kind invitation to participate as a delegate
in the BUDDHIST CULTURAL FEST (1st BAUDHA MAHOTSAV – UTTARKHAND)
along with ICHR Sponsored National Seminar on “Buddhism : ITS ORIGIN AND
DEVELOPMENT”, 30-31 JANUARY,2010 at DAKHPATHAR, DEHRADUN, UTTARKHAND.
I hope and suggest that an invitation be extended to Maha
Bodhi Society, 14, Kalidasa Road, Gandhinagar, Bangalore – 560009, India
Tel:080-22250684 Email: info@mahabodhi.info
and Bhante36@yahoo.com.
Maha Bodhi Society is doing a yeomen service with
its branches at Arunachal Pradesh, Ladakh, Mysore etc.
I WISH TO CONFIRM THAT I AM WILLING TO
PARTICIPATE IN THE ABOVE EVENTS AND ALSO WISH TO PRESENT A PAPER DURING THE
SEMINAR.
I am herewith submitting my first PAPER to be
published during the Seminar
BUDDHISM ITS ORIGIN AND
DEVELOPMENT
Though
a lotus flower grows in the murky water, it breaks the surface and fragrantly
blooms. Thus the wise are born in worldly society yet they rise above it and
realize Nibbana - The Buddha.
Be
a Lotus Flower; follow The Buddha’s Five Precepts and Eightfold
Path.
The Buddha was well-acquainted with all this diversity and
tried to provide proper guidance to the society. His ideas were at
once traditional and revolutionary, transformative and emancipating.
That is why he
became easily acceptable to the masses and the elites. Many kings like Pasenadi
of Kosala came to him to seek advice and tranquility and peace of mind.
There are many
stories available in the early literature about Pasenadi’s marriage with a
woman of low caste by deceit and Buddha’s advice to the king to adopt the
policy of ‘forget and forgive’. The Buddha opposed jativada. He was well steeped in the Vedic lore. The
contribution of Buddhism to jambudvipa, that is, the Great Prabudha Bharathian
thought and culture is immense. Buddha was born and brought up in the cultural
soil of Jambudvipa, that is, Prabuddha Bharath, purified the soil to enable
blossoming of the best flowers and fruits in the cultural garden of Jambudvipa, that
is, Prabuddha Bharath. Buddhism has not only awakened Jambudvipa, that
is, Prabuddha Bharath, but also the whole of
in the ancient times, and now it is awakening the whole world in the modern
times. Buddhism has been the best product of Jambudvipa, that is,
Prabuddha Bharathian culture to be offered to the world at large. There is a
need to re-establish Buddhism in its pure and pristine form, and that will help
Jambudvipa, that is, Prabuddha Bharath and also the world.
Buddhism had an extremely humble beginning for a religion
that is now known throughout the world. Having its origin in the 6th century
B.C.E., makes Buddhism one of the oldest religions in the world as well.
The teachings of Buddhism
developed, in many ways. From one man’s awakenment to our modern world of
today, Buddhism has evolved and adapted to the various cultures and
countries it has encountered, which has enabled it to survive into the 21st
century.
In 563 B.C.E.,
a prince was born into the clan of the Shakyas at the beginning of the
Himalayan town of
which is in Southern Nepal/Northern Jambudvipa, that is, Prabuddha Bharath. His
name was Siddhartha Gautama, but he would later be known simply as the Buddha,
which means “the awakened one.” Gautama’s father sought to keep his son
isolated from the realities of the world - including old age, death, and
suffering - and he succeeded for approximately 30 years. Despite the best
efforts of his father, he began to come into contact with the outside world and
the realities of human existence.
Siddhartha Gautama discovered the
of self-indulgence and self-mortification.
Siddhartha Gautama attained awakenment sitting under a pipal tree, now known
as the Bodhi
tree in Bodh
Gaya, India.
Gautama, from then on, was known as “The Perfectly Self-Awakened
One,” the Samyaksambuddha.
Buddha found patronage in the ruler of Magadha, emperor Bimbisara. The
emperor accepted Buddhism as personal faith and allowed the establishment of
many Buddhist “Viharas.”
This eventually led to the renaming of the entire region as Bihar.
At the
India, Buddha set in motion the Wheel of
Dhamma by delivering his first sermon to the group of five companions with
whom he had previously sought awakenment. They, together with the Buddha,
formed the first Saṅgha, the
company of Buddhist monks, and hence, the first formation of Triple Gem
(Buddha, Dhamma
and Sangha) was completed.
For the
remaining years of his life, the Buddha traveled in the Gangetic
Plain of Northeastern India and other regions.
Buddha
attained Parinibbana
in the abandoned jungles of Kuśināra.
Just before
Buddha died, he told his followers that thereafter the Dhamma would be their
leader. The early arhats considered Gautama’s words the primary source of
Dhamma (doctrine, teaching) and Vinaya (rules of discipline and community
living), and took great pains to formulate and transmit his teachings
accurately. Nonetheless, no ungarnished collection of his sayings has
survived. The version of the Canon (accepted scripture) preserved in Pali,
Sanskrit, Chinese, and Tibetan are sectarian variants of a corpus that grew and
crystallized during three centuries of oral transmission.
The Buddha
did not appoint a successor, and asked his followers to work for personal
salvation. The teachings of the Buddha existed only in oral
traditions. The Sangha held a number of Buddhist
councils in order to reach consensus on matters of Buddhist doctrine and
practice.
According to
the scriptures, a monk by the name of Mahakasyapa
presided over the first Buddhist council held at Rajgir. Its purpose
was to recite and agree on the Buddha’s actual teachings and on monastic
discipline. Some scholars consider this council fictitious.
The Second Buddhist Council is said to
have taken place at Vaishāli. Its purpose was to deal with questionable monastic
practices like the use of money, the drinking of palm wine, and other
irregularities; the council declared these practices unlawful.
What is
commonly called the Third Buddhist Council was held at Pātaliputra,
and was allegedly called by Emperor Ashoka in the 3rd
century BCE. Organized by the monk Moggaliputta Tissa, it was held in order to rid
the sangha of the large number of monks who had joined the order because of its
royal patronage. Most scholars now believe this council was exclusively
Theravada, and that the dispatch of missionaries to various countries at about
this time was nothing to do with it.
What is
often called the Fourth Buddhist council is generally
believed to have been held under the patronage of emperor Kanishka at Jālandhar,
though the late Monseigneur Professor Lamotte considered it fictitious. It is
generally believed to have been a council of the
Following
the Buddha’s passing, many philosophical movements emerged within Buddhism. The
first of these were the various Early Buddhist Schools (including Theravada).
Later Mahayana Buddhism and Vajrayana Buddhism arose.
The Early
Buddhist Schools were the various schools in which pre-sectarian Buddhism split in the first
few centuries after the passing away of the Buddha (in about the fifth century
BCE). These schools have in common an attitude to the scriptures, that doesn’t
accept the inclusion of the Mahayana
Sutras as valid teachings of Gautama
Buddha. It accepts the Tipitaka as the final recension of the teachings of the
Buddha.
- Theravada
is the single remaining representative of the Early Buddhist Schools of
Indian Buddhism. Theravada is now practiced mainly in Sri Lanka,
Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia,
and Laos. - Another prominent Nikaya school was the Sarvastivada,
and much of its doctrine was incorporated into Tibetan Buddhism. It included one of the main
branches of Indian Abhidhanmma that was instrumental in the
creation of the Yogacara doctrine. Its system of monastic rules Vinaya
is still used in Tibetan Buddhism and has also been
influential in monastic Chinese Buddhism.
The Mahāyāna
branch of Buddhism popularized the concept of a Bodhisattva
(literally enlightened being or “a Buddha-to-be”) and the
worship of the bodhisattvas. Bodhisattvas like Mañjuśrī, Avalokiteśvara,
and Maitreya
became the focus of popular devotional worship in the Mahāyāna sect. According
to the Mahāyāna tradition, the key attributes of the bodhisattvas are
compassion and kindness.
Mahayana
Buddhism includes the following Indian schools:
- Mādhyamaka (Middle Way), a Mahāyāna tradition
popularized by Nāgārjuna and Aśvaghoṣa. - Yogācāra (Consciousness Only), founded by Asaṅga
and Vasubandhu.
A form of
Indian Buddhism that emerged in the 4th century AD and later became widespread
in Tibet, and
The Vajrayana developed in
but was spread to
has also been practiced in
This school
emerged from forest meditation traditions in northern
the entire emphasis of teachings was on practice, using skillful means to
attain the goal of awakenment in one’s present lifetime. This form is also
known as Vajrayana (The Diamond Vehicle). Tantrism is an esoteric
tradition. Its initiation ceremonies involve entry into a mandala, a mystic
circle or symbolic map of the spiritual universe. Also central to Tantrism is
the use of mudras
and mantras.
Vajrayana became the dominant form of Buddhism in Tibet and was also
transmitted through China to Japan, where it continues to be practiced by the Shingon sect.
It is
generally accepted that the spread of Buddhism from India to Tibet and then to
the wider regions of Central and East Asia took place mainly via the trade (and
religious) route that went through the valley of Kathmandu, situated in
present-day Nepal. The valley, forms the cradle of the Nepali state, and since
the farthest point in historical time, has found itself under the cultural
influence of the South Asian Hindu (and also Buddhist) civilization. However,
being a distant outpost of Hinduism (and Buddhism), it was spared from the
ravages of later conquests and social upheavals. Even after Buddhism died in
the heartland, it survived in
valley. Monastic records in the numerous monasteries show that till the
mid-medieval period in Nepali history, Tibetan students regularly came there
for learning Buddhism from the local spiritual masters. The Tibetan religious
scripts Lantsha and Vartu are variants of the Ranjana system used by the Newars
of
economic and political factors prominent among which was declining patronage
from the Hindu rulers, Buddhist monasticism in the valley died. By then Tibetan
Buddhism had already gained prominence in the region. Today, in the urban
centres of
Indian Mahayana Buddhism, modified through mixing with Vajrayana, practiced by
the local Buddhist Newer population.
Asoka and
the Mauryan Empire
The Maurya
empire reached its peak at the time of Emperor Asoka, who himself converted
to Buddhism after the
of Kalinga. This heralded a long period of stability under the Buddhist
emperor. The power of the empire was vast—ambassadors were sent to other
countries to propagate Buddhism. Greek envoy Megasthenes
describes the wealth of the Mauryan capital. Stupas, pillars and edicts on
stone remain at Sanchi,
Sarnath and Mathura, indicating the extent of the
empire.
Emperor
Ashoka the Great (304
BCE–232 BCE)
was the ruler of the Maurya Empire from 273 BCE to 232 BCE.
Ashoka
reigned over most of
after a series of military campaigns. Emperor Ashoka’s kingdom stretched from South Asia
and beyond, from present-day Afghanistan and parts of Persia in the west, to Bengal and Assam in the east,
and as far south as Mysore.
According to
legend, emperor Ashoka was overwhelmed by guilt after the conquest of
Kalinga, following which he accepted Buddhism as personal faith with the
help of his mentors Radhasvami and Manjushri. Ashoka established monuments
marking several significant sites in the life of Shakyamuni
Buddha, and according to Buddhist tradition was closely involved in the
preservation and transmission of Buddhism.[18]
He used his position to propagate the relatively new philosophy to new heights,
as far as ancient Rome
and Egypt.
Graeco-Bactrians, Sakas and Indo-Parthians
Menander
was the most famous Bactrian king. He ruled from Taxila and later from Sagala (Sialkot ). He rebuilt
Taxila (Sirkap)
and Pushkalavati. He became Buddhist and remembered in Buddhists records due to
his discussions with a great Buddhist philosopher in the book Milinda
Panha.
By 90 BCE
Parthians took control of eastern Iran and around 50 BCE put an end to last
remnants of Greek rule in Afghanistan. By around 7 CE an Indo-Parthian
dynasty succeeded in taking control of Gandhara. Parthians continued to support
Greek artistic traditions in Gandhara. The start of the Gandharan Greco-Buddhist art is dated to the period
between 50 BCE and 75 CE.
Kushan Empire
Kushan
Empire under emperor Kanishka was known as the
Buddhist art spread outward from Gandhara to other parts of
He greatly encouraged Buddhism. Before Kanishka Buddha was not represented in
human form. In Gandhara Mahayana Buddhism flourished and Buddha was
represented in human form.
This tower
was reported by Fa-Hsien,
Sun-Yun and Hsuan-Tsang. This structure was destroyed and rebuilt
many times and remained in semi ruins until it was finally destroyed by Mahmud
of Ghazni in 11th century.
The Pala and Sena era
Under the
rule of the Pala and
Sena kings, large mahaviharas
flourished in what is now Bihar and Bengal. According to Tibetan sources, five great Mahaviharas
stood out: Vikramaśīla, the premier university of the era; Nalanda, past its
prime but still illustrious, Somapura, Odantapurā, and Jaggadala.[19]
The five monasteries formed a network; “all of them were under state
supervision” and their existed “a system of co-ordination among them
. . it seems from the evidence that the different seats of Buddhist learning
that functioned in eastern India under the Pāla were regarded together as
forming a network, an interlinked group of institutions,” and it was
common for great scholars to move easily from position to position among them
Dhamma masters
Jambudvipa,
that is Prabuddha Bharath shramanas propagated Buddhism in various reigons,
including East
Asia and Central Asia.
In the
Edicts of Ashoka, Ashoka mentions the Hellenistic kings of the period as a
recipient of his Buddhist proselytism. Emissaries of Ashoka, such as Dharmarakkita,
are described in Pali
sources as leading Greek (”Yona“) Buddhist monks, active in Buddhist proselytism (the Mahavamsa,
XII).
Roman
Historical accounts describe an embassy sent by the ” Jambudvipa, that is
Prabuddha Bharath king Pandion (Pandya?), also named Porus,” to Caesar
Augustus around the 1st century. The embassy was travelling with a
diplomatic letter in Greek, and one of its members was a sramana who
burned himself alive in Athens to demonstrate his faith. The event made a sensation
and was described by Nicolaus of Damascus, who met the embassy at Antioch, and
related by Strabo
(XV,1,73)[23]
and Dio
Cassius (liv, 9). A tomb was made to the sramana, still visible in the time
of Plutarch,
which bore the mention:
“ΖΑΡΜΑΝΟΧΗΓΑΣ ΙΝΔΟΣ ΑΠΟ ΒΑΡΓΟΣΗΣ”
(”The sramana master
from Barygaza
in India“)
Lokaksema is
the earliest known Buddhist monk to have translated Mahayana Buddhist
scriptures into the Chinese language. Gandharan monks Jnanagupta
and Prajna contributed through several important
translations of Sanskrit sutras into Chinese language.
The Jambudvipa, that is Prabuddha Bharathian dhyana master Buddhabhadra
was the founding abbot and patriarch of the Shaolin
Temple. Buddhist
monk and esoteric master
from North India
(6th Century CE), Bodhiruci is regarded as the patriarch of
the Ti-Lun school. Bodhidharma (c. 6th century) was the Buddhist Bhikkhu
traditionally credited as the founder of Zen Buddhism in
In 580, Jambudvipa, that is Prabuddha Bharathian monk
Vinitaruci travelled to
This, then, would be the first appearance of Vietnamese Zen, or Thien Buddhism.
Padmasambhava,
meaning “lotus-born”, is said to have brought Tantric
Buddhism to
in the 8th
century. In Bhutan
and
he is better known as “Guru Rinpoche” (“Precious
Master”) where followers of the Nyingma school
regard him as the second Buddha. Shantarakshita,
abbot of Nalanda
and founder of the Yogachara-Madhyamika is said to have helped
Padmasambhava establish Buddhism in Tibet.
Indian monk Atisha, holder of
the mind training (Tib. lojong) teachings, is considered an indirect founder of the Geluk
Buddhism. Indian monks, such as Vajrabodhi,
also travelled to Indonesia to propagate Buddhism.
Revival of Buddhism in India
Anagarika Dharmapala and the Maha Bodhi Society
A revival of
Buddhism began in
in 1891, when the Sri Lankan
Buddhist leader Anagarika Dharmapala founded the Maha Bodhi Society. Its activities expanded to
involve the promotion of Buddhism in
Buddhists took place at Darjeeling. Dharmapala spoke to Tibetan Buddhists and
presented a relic of the Buddha to be sent to the Dalai Lama.
Dharmapala built many viharas and temples in India,
including the one at Sarnath, the place of Buddha’s first sermon. He died in 1933,
the same year he was ordained a bhikkhu.
Bengal Buddhist Association
In 1892,
Kripasaran Mahasthavir founded the Bengal Buddhist Association (Bauddha
Dharmankur Sabha) in Calcutta. Kripasaran (1865–1926) was instrumental in uniting
the Buddhist community of Bengal and North
East India. He built other branches of the Bengal Buddhist Association at Shimla (1907), Lucknow (1907), Dibrugarh
(1908), Ranchi
(1915), Shillong
(1918), Darjeeling
(1919), Tatanagar Jamshedpur (1922), as well as in Sakpura, Satbaria, Noapara,
Uninepura, Chittagong
Region in present day Bangladesh.
Tibetan Buddhism
Following
the Dalai
Lama’s departure from Tibet, Indian Prime Minister offered to permit him and
his followers to establish a “government-in-exile” in Dharamsala.
Tibetan
exiles have settled in the town, numbering several thousand. Most of these
exiles live in
Ganj, where they established monasteries, temples and schools. The town is
sometimes known as “Little Lhasa“, after the Tibetan capital city, and has become one
of the centres of Buddhism in the world.
Aboriginal Inhabitants of Jambudvipa, that is, the Great Prabuddha
Bharathians (Scheduled Caste) Buddhist movement
A Buddhist
revivalist movement among Aboriginal Inhabitants of
Jambudvipa, that is, the Great Prabuddha Bharathians (Scheduled Caste) was initiated in 1890s by Aboriginal Inhabitants of Jambudvipa, that is, the Great
Prabuddha Bharathians (Scheduled Caste) leaders such as
Iyothee Thass, Brahmananda Reddy, and Dharmananda Kosambi. In the 1950s, Dr. B. R.
Ambedkar turned his attention to Buddhism and travelled to
Buddhist scholars and monks. While dedicating a new Buddhist vihara near Pune,
Dr. B. R. Ambedkar announced that he was writing a book on Buddhism, and that
as soon as it was finished, he planned to make a formal conversion to Buddhism.
Dr. B. R. Ambedkar twice visited
in 1954; the second time in order to attend the third conference of the World
Fellowship of Buddhists in
In 1955, he founded the Bharatiya Bauddha Mahasabha, or the Buddhist Society of
He completed his final work, The Buddha and His Dhamma, in 1956. It was
published posthumously.
After
meetings with the Sri Lankan Buddhist monk Hammalawa Saddhatissa,Ambedkar
organised a formal public ceremony for himself and his supporters in
1956. Accepting the Three Refuges and Five Precepts from a Buddhist monk in the
traditional manner, Ambedkar completed his own conversion. He then proceeded to
convert an estimated 500,000 of his supporters who were gathered around him.
Taking the 22 Vows, Ambedkar and his supporters explicitly condemned and
rejected Hinduism and Hindu philosophy. He then traveled to Kathmandu in
World
Buddha or Karl Marx on December 2, 1956.
Vipassana movement
The Buddhist meditation tradition of Vipassana
meditation is growing in popularity in Jambudvipa,
that is, the Great Prabuddha Bharath. Many institutions—both government
and private sector—now offer courses for their employees. This form is mainly
practiced by the elite and middle class Indians. This movement has spread to many
other countries in Europe,
America and Asia. And through the
Internet to all over the world. Attemps are being made to celebrate Buddha Jayanthi
in all the countries in general and White House in particular to spread the
teachings of Buddha non-violence and peace for the welfare and happiness of all
beings.
References:
http://www.flipkart.com/origin-development-buddhism-india-geeta/8188629472-ew23fvt8ef
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/13229/buddhisms_origin_and_development.html?cat=34
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Buddhism_in_India
With lots of Metta
Yours in Dhamma
Jagatheesan
Chnadrasekharan
Appeal to Request His Excellency The first Pacific President Obama obama.barack@fcboe.org and
Heads of All Countries in the world in general and China,
Taiwan,Japan,Korea,Thailand,Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos, Sri Lanka and the future
First Pacific Prime Minister Ku.Mayawati in particular to Celebrate Buddha Jayanthi at White House and all other
Capitals of the world on 27th May 2010
Politics and
political matters in Buddhism are considered worldly concerns, yes. But the
Buddha did not ignore such worldly concerns, because as a Prince estranged and
removed from his prior worldly concerns, still He was living in society. Alms
food comes from vast numbers of people constituting society. So should not we
work to elevate society to evolve into a higher form, to be more effective and
more just? The monks were also told by the Buddha to work for the good of many,
for the benefit of all beings and for the betterment of society. The intent
behind the founding of the community of monks (Sangha in Pali, Pali being the
original language of the Buddha) was entirely for the benefit of the people.
In the life of Buddha, we find that the Buddha often discussed politics with
the rulers of realms in his time, such as King Mala, King Kosala , King
Licchavi and King Ajatasattu . The Buddha always preached the kings that they
must rule their kingdoms with dasarajadhamma. The dasarajadamma in Pali is
based on ten precepts, in order for the king to best rule the country. They
are: (1) be liberal and avoid selfishness, (2) maintain a high moral character,
(3) be prepared to sacrifice one’s own pleasure for the well-being of the
subjects, (4) be honest and maintain absolute integrity, (5) be kind and
gentle, (6) lead a simple life for the subjects to emulate, (7) be free from
hatred of any kind, (8) exercise non-violence, (9) practice patience, and (10)
respect public opinion to promote peace and harmony. Any government who wishes
to peacefully rule any nation can effectively apply these 10 precepts even
today; they haven’t yet and never will “go out of date.”
The Buddha preached non-violence and
peace as a universal message. He did not approve of violence or the destruction
of life, and declared that there is no such thing as a ‘just’ war. From his own
words, He taught: “The victor breeds hatred; the defeated lives in misery. He
who renounces both victory and defeat is happy and peaceful.”
Not only did the Buddha teach non-violence and peace: He was perhaps the first
and only religious teacher who went to the battlefield personally to prevent
the outbreak of a war, when He diffused tension between the Sakyas and the
Koliyas who were about to wage war over the waters of Rohini River. He also
dissuaded King Ajatasattu from attacking the Kingdom of the Vajjis
He showed how countries could become corrupt, degenerate and unhappy when the
head of the government becomes corrupt and unjust. He spoke against corruption
and how all governments’ actions must be based on humanitarian principles.
The Buddha once said, ‘When the ruler of
a country is just and good, the ministers become just and good; when the
ministers are just and good, the higher officials become just and good; when
the higher officials are just and good, the rank and file become just and good;
when the rank and file become just and good, the people become just and good.’
Clearly, religion and politics are
something analogous to paper money having two sides. The front can be regarded
as religion and the other side can be regarded as politics. They cannot be
separated from each other. Otherwise the value of money is nothing. Similarly,
Buddhist monks and other religious leaders also should not be separated from
politics. I don’t mean to imply that they should rule the country, but just to
present and to advance their Buddhist precepts throughout the workings of a
government in order to prevent so many wars and conquests, persecutions, such
egregious atrocities, rebellions, and the destruction of works of art and
culture.
Better than a thousand hollow words, Is one
word that brings peace.
In separateness lies the world’s great misery;
in compassion lies the world’s true strength.
Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it
at someone else; you are the one getting burned.
Teach this triple truth to all: A generous heart, kind speech, and a life of
service and compassion are the things which renew humanity.
He who can control his rising anger as a coachman controls his carriage at full
speed, this man I call a good driver; others merely hold the reins.
Gautama
Buddha
Desappriya
jayasuriya
0n Subject: Buddha mentioned Remarks by President Barack Obama at Suntory
Hall”……. It is wonderful to be back in
aware that when I was a young boy, my mother brought me to
great bronze Amida Buddha……” Now Barack Obama is been described as one of the
greatest leaders. All the Pacific leaders as Visionary. Like the captain of a ship, they
have a definite goal to chart their course and steer their ship in the right
direction. They have one goal - to find the cause of suffering and a way out of
suffering. Despite much hardship and setback, they never veered from their course
but persevered till they gained awaken-ness after they got chosen as leaders.
Guided by
this vision, their mission is an all-embracing one. It is a mission founded on
compassion and love for all beings, regardless of race, creed or status quo.
The Leaders as Role Models
They have exemplary
figures, someone we can respect and emulate. They are extraordinary, virtuous
and righteous in every thought, word and deed. They say as they do and do as they
say. Such integrity and consistency won them the trust of their followers. They
are aware of the ten principles which a ruler ought to be possessed:
1.
Alms giving
2.
Morality
3.
Unselfishness
4.
Integrity
5.
Gentleness
6.
Self-restraint
7.
Non-anger
8.
Non-violence
9.
Patience
10.
Agreeability
The Leaders as Mediators
As leaders, they demonstrated
both skills in mediation and impartiality in judgment, showed their ability to
resolve problems and arguments.
Hence
Jagatheesan Chandrasekharan suggested “…..Let all
of us request His Excellency the first Pacific president-barack-obama and Heads of All Countries in the world in general and China, Taiwan,Japan,Korea,Thailand,Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos, Sri Lanka
and the future First Pacific Prime Minister Ku.Mayawati in particular to Celebrate
Buddha Jayanthi at White House and all other Capitals of the world to celebrate next (27-May 2010)Buddha Jayanthi at White House and other capitals of the world to spread the
message of non-violence and peace by chanting relevant gathas by Maha theras
for the happiness and welfare of all…..”
MAHINDA 
welcomed the same by saying “…..DEAR FRIENDS
…ABSOLUTELY WONDERFUL!!!
WHAT MARVELOUS IDEA. WE SHOULD ASK THE ENTIRE BUDDHIST WORLD TO RESPECTFULLY
REQUEST FROM PRESIDENT BARAK OBAMA TO COMPLY WITH OUR HUMBLE IDEA AND
HONOR IT.
The main reason being THAT THERE WERE NOT SINGLE A DROP OF
BLOOD WAS SHED IN THE NAME OF THE BUDDHISM
BUDDHA PREACHED ABSOLUTE NONVIOLENCE ,THE
UNBOUND LOVE AND COMPASSION TOWARD EVERY LIVING CREATURE.
MOST LIKELY THE PRESIDENT MAY NOT BE FULLY AWARE OF
THE DETAILS OF THIS PARTICULAR ASPECT OF BUDDHISM.
FURTHER MORE THE BUDDHA TOLERATED ALL BELIEF SYSTEMS AND NEVER
CONDEMNED OR PUT DOWN OTHERS’ FOR THE PURPOSE OF PROPAGATION OR
PROSYLITIZATION /FOR HIS OWN. HE WAS THE MOST TOLERANT TEACHER OF DARMA
WHICH ADVOCATES THE TOTAL OPENNESS LIKE MAMMOTH TENT WITHOUT DOORS AND
WINDOWS WHERE EVERY ONE IS WELCOME AND NO ONE IS ASKED OR
REQUIRED TO GIVE UP THEIR BELIEF.
HE INVITED THE FOLLOWERS TO CAREFULLY INVESTIGATE HIS TEACHING, LIKE GOLD
DIGGER TRYING FINDING THE PURE GOLD, BEFORE MAKING ANY HASTY DECISION TO BECOME
A BUDDHIST.
SO LET US
SEND OUR REQUEST THE WHITE HOUSE AS A UNOFORM VOICE. LET US
ALSO REQUEST HIS HOLINESS DALAI LAMA TO JOIN US … “
Venerable Ananda Bhante of
Mahabodhi Loka Shanti Vihara, Bangalore suggested to appeal all the Buddhist
organizations in general and Americans in particular to make a request to White
House to Celebrate Buddha Jayanthi on 27th May 2010. Accordingly
emails are being sent to all Buddhist organizations through the world.
Similar suggestion was made by
Sashikanth Chandrasekharan from Cleveland .
P.P.
Lakshman
Email: pplakshman08@ gmail.com
Tel: 917-664-6566
suggested as follows:
Dear Jagatheesan,
There is no doubt that the case for celebration of Buddha Jayanti at
White House is inherently strong, more so in the wake of the inspiring
speech at Tokyo, earlier this month, by President Obama who called
himself the ‘first Pacific President’. We all should be thankful to
you and the other Buddhist friends for bringing this up.
As you know, most of the Buddhist countries in the world are in the
Pacific region, and they all will be ecstatic about the idea of
celebrating the next Buddha Jayanti at the White House - on May 27,
2010. China, Taiwan, Japan, Korea, Thailand, Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos,
have all very many devoted Buddhists.
Their governments are likely to
make the suggestion to the Pacific
President in the U.S.
This is true of India as
well despite the fact
that India
has a Buddhist symbol as its national emblem and Buddha
Dhamma Chakra embedded on its national flag. There are many Indian
nationals in the Obama administration including the White House. They will also
support the idea.
The memorable Tokyo speech of the U.S. President provides
an excellent
background to make the case for a White House celebration of Buddha
Jayanti. Obama will most certainly get a hearing for the Buddha
Jayanti proposal from leaders like Dalai Lama, the Chinese Buddhist
leader Ven Hsing Yun. Buddhist activist Richard Gere the famous actor,
and Buddhist Professor Robert Thurman and others. I am very optimistic
that with their voicing support, the White House celebration of Buddha
Jayanti on May 27, 2010 would be a done deal.
Dear JC,
I appreciate that you are making great
efforts to propagate Buddhism in general, and the celebration of
Buddha Jayanthi at the White House in particular.
Let the idea flare up from our small base
to fill the entire public space. Let newspaper columns be filled
with letters to the editor, articles, editorials; let parliament and all
representative bodies at the Centre and the States reverberate.
I hope our prayers will be
answered.
Thanks for all you do. The reproduction of
Richard Reoch’s “Personal and social radicalism of the Buddha” has
also been great and very enlightening. It is worthy of repetition.
With much metta,
Lakshman
Let
us make our appeals to His Holiness Dalai Lama 
, Chinese Buddhist
leader
Venerable
Hsing Yun
,
|
Budddhist activist Richard Gere the famous actor |
and others for voicing their support for celebration of Buddha Jayanthi at White
House on May 2010
Therefore
I request you in general and American in particular to kindly take steps from
your end to request His Excellency President Barack Obama to celebrate Buddha’s Birthday on 27th
May 2010 at white house. Let us not miss this golden opportunity where His
Excellency started celebrating Dipavali and Guru Nanak Birthday at White House
in the interest of peace, happiness and welfare of entire people.
Effective implementation of e-governance in Uttar Pradesh: Mayawati to officers
Lucknow: Emphasising that information technology (IT)was on the top of her agenda, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayawati
today directed the officers for effective implementation of
e-governance system.
“IT
should be put to optimum use in the government’s working, and its
process should be simplified and made transparent so as to facilitate
common people,” Mayawati said during a high-level meeting.
She said programmes being implemented by IT department should be made better and public-oriented.
“Electronic
delivery through public service centres should be made available to
all, and these centres should be set up at the earliest,” she directed.
The
chief minister said with the setting up of service centres, people will
not be required to take rounds of tehsil and district headquarters for
their works.
“The government is committed to provide all
facilities to attract investment in IT sector and the investors are
free to set up a unit in any part of the state,” she said.
Directing
the officers to expedite implementation of State-wide Area Network
(Swan) project, she said networking work should be completed at the
earliest.
“E-district scheme being implemented as a pilot project
in six districts of the state should be made more effective and
delivery system should be improved,” she said.
(C.M. Information Campus)
Information & Public Relations Department, U.P.
Naseemunddin Siddiqui releases special
‘Shakeel Badauni Number’ of Urdu Monthly Naya Daur
Lucknow: 23 December 2009
U.P. Senior Cabinet Minister Mr. Naseemunddin Siddiqui
said that the present Government was doing all possible efforts
to promote Urdu language and linking it with employment. He
said that with a view to encourage Urdu writers and litterateurs,
the Government was giving awards on the publication of their
writings. Besides, the Urdu poets and students were also being
provided financial assistance by Urdu Academy and Fukhruddin
Ali Ahmad Committee. He said that the U.P. Chief Minister Ms.
Mayawati was fully committed for the development of Urdu.
Keeping this in view, the Government had increased the budget
of Urdu Academy for the first time. Besides, the students were
also being encouraged for research in Urdu, he added.
Mr. Siddiqui was releasing the ‘Shakeel Badauni Special
Number’ of Urdu monthly ‘Naya Daur’ published by Information
and Public Relations Department, U.P. here today at Suchna
Bhawan. He said that nearly each and every aspect of Shakeel
Badauni’s personality and works had become a part of this
special number. The gazals and film songs of Shakeel Badauni
were popular even today and his classical poetry had found a
special place in this number, he added.
The Cabinet Minister said that many famous poets, who
belonged to U.P. had given the message of love and brotherhood
through their genres. He said that the Urdu lovers and research
students would definitely become inspired by this special number
published on Shakeel Badauni, who also belonged to U.P. He
appreciated the efforts of Information Department, especially the
officers related to Naya Daur for publication of special numbers
on several litterateurs and poets.
The Media Advisor to C.M. and Chairman, Science and
Technology Council Mr. Mohd. Zameel Akhtar, while presiding
over the programme, said that in future efforts should be made
for publishing at least one special number on famous poets/
litterateurs in a year, so that Urdu literature and language could
be developed and the younger generation could get inspired from
the life and works of these poets/litterateurs. He said that the
present Government was making all efforts to give Urdu its due
place for which it had taken historic decisions which were never
given a thought by the pervious governments. He congratulated
the Information Department for the publication of this special
number successfully.
Addressing the programme, Additional Cabinet Secretary
Mr. Vijay Shankar Pandey said this special number based on
personality and works of Shakeel Badauni would become a
milestone for Urdu lovers. He said that Urdu monthly Naya Daur
had a special identity among the magazines published by the
Government Departments. He said that Shakeel Badauni created
a new literary genre in film lyrics. He said that the special
number on Shakeel Badauni was a part of the series published by
Information Department form time to time on several famous
great persons, who served literature and society.
On this occasion, the famous poet Dr. Malik Zada Manzur
Ahmad appreciated the efforts of Information Department for the
publication of special number on Shakeel Badauni and said that
for the first time, the Government had increased the budget of
Urdu Academy and several awards and scholarships to promote
Urdu language and litterateurs. He remembered his meetings on
several occasions with Shakeel Badauni and said that he became
a separate identity among film lyricists.
Welcoming the guests, the Information Director Mr. Ajai
Kumar Upadhyaya discussed the contribution of Shakeel Badauni
for films and literature. He said that Information Department
would continue the efforts of publishing the special numbers on
famous poets and litterateurs as earlier. He appreciated the
efforts of editor of Naya Daur Dr. Wazahat Husain Rizvi and his
colleagues for brining out this special number on Shakeel
Badauni.
On this occasion, famous Urdu and Hindi poets, litterateurs
and teachers were present, besides eminent citizens.
********
CM requests to give opportunity to Justice P.D. Dinakaran
to put his own version in cases related with him
Natural justice being overlooked in the case of Justice Dinakaran
—Mayawati
CM writes letter to Prime Minister
Lucknow: 19 December 2009
The Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Ms. Mayawati has written a letter
to the Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh today to give an opportunity
to the Chief Justice of Karnataka High Court Mr. Justice P.D. Dinakaran
so that he can put his version in the matters related with him. She said
that the theory of natural justice was being overlooked in his case,
which was not correct in any way. She said that he should be given an
opportunity to put his version in the cases related with him before
considering any action against him.
Ms. Mayawati said that this was a very important case and
demanded immediate intervention in this case. She said that according
to the theory of natural justice the accused person is given an
opportunity to put his version before taking any decision. She said that
the way Justice Dinakaran’s case was being handled was not justified,
as he was not being given any opportunity to put his version and
consider it with full seriousness, the action was being taken, which was
not correct.
The CM requested the Prime Minister that Mr. Dinakaran should be
given an opportunity to put his version and after that all the facts
should be considered seriously and impartially and thereafter any
decision should be taken.
Karnataka State BSP under the leadership of Marasandra
Muniappa have come out against the impeachment motion moved against Justice P D
Dinakaran, chief justice of Karnataka High Court, alleging that he was being
persecuted for being from the Scheduled Castes.
On 26-12-2009 the BSP in front of Basaveswara statue
came out strongly against the impeachment move which, incidentally, has been
admitted in Rajya Sabha.
Mr. Gopinath, R.Muniappa, Muniswamy, Chikkanna, Advocate Nagaraj, Chengappa,
Lakshiminarayan Calling it “discrimination”, the leaders passed a
resolution condemning the discriminative attitude of the Manuvadis, the
Karnataka Bar Association, Advocates, Shanth Bushan, Jetmalani and
others.During Rajiv Gandhi’s tenure no action was taken on Military personnel
who leaked out vital secrets, George Fernandez was not impeached for his
activities.to give an opportunity
To the Chief Justice of Karnataka High Court Mr. Justice P.D. Dinakaran
so that he can put his version in the matters related with him. They said
that the theory of natural justice was being overlooked in his case,
which was not correct in any way.
Mr. Dinakaran should begiven an opportunity to put his version and after that all the facts
should be considered seriously and impartially and thereafter any
decision should be taken.
After the rally they submitted a memorandum to the Governor of Karnataka. Chief Justice was thankful to BSP for their support.
Press Information Bureau
(C.M. Information Campus)
Information & Public Relations Department, U.P.
Formulate strategy for doubling agricultural
production and present it before Cabinet within a month
Utilise irrigation capacity to the fullest
Prepare action plan for better transport facilities in rural areas
Orders issued to fill all vacancies of HODs/Additional HODs
through promotion within a month
Review meeting of Principal Secretaries/Secretaries held
Lucknow: 16December 2009
The Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Ms. Mayawati directed the officers
to formulate strategy for doubling the agricultural production of the
state and present it before the State Cabinet within a month. She
directed the officers to take punitive action against those who had
furnished wrong income certificates to avail government facilities. She
also decided to replace Jal Nigam with other department or any other
agency for the installation of hand-pumps under the rural drinking water
programme, so that its resources could be fully utilised for the large
projects.
The C.M. gave these directives when the Cabinet Secretary Mr.
Shashank Shekhar Singh, Chief Secretary Mr. Atul Kumar Gupta and
Additional Cabinet Secretary Mr. Vijay Shankar Pandey apprised her of
the feedback of the monthly review meeting of the Principal
Secretaries/Secretaries of all the departments.
Ms. Mayawati said that her government wanted to make the
farmers of the state prosperous and happy and with this view it had
taken several important decisions. She asked the officers of all the
related departments to prepare a strategy for doubling agricultural
production and present it before the Cabinet within a span of one
month. She said that a consolidated action plan should be formulated
with the coordination between agriculture and related activities, so that
the farmers got various agricultural inputs/facilities like fertilisers,
certified seeds, soil testing and irrigation timely and also in a smooth
manner, so that the income of the farmers could be increased twice in
next three years. She said that adequate quantity of fertilisers should
be stored before the start of the crop cycle, so that the farmers had no
difficulty in getting fertilisers. She directed the DMs to keep a check on
the distribution of fertilisers by private sellers. She said that priority
should be accorded to such proposals to be sent to the Government of
India under the Backward Area Grant Fund in the next fiscal, which
ensured creation of enough agricultural infrastructure in the rural areas.
She said that the number of Mandis should be increased, so that the
farmers got fair prices of their produce.
The C.M. said that the officers of the Medical Department should
review the number of operations being undertaken by all the surgeons
everyday and ensure that the set parameters were strictly adhered to.
She also asked them to review the parameters set for operations by the
surgeons and set new parameters for the same. She directed that the
utilisation of beds available in all the hospitals should be improved, so
that the people of the rural areas got better medical facilities. She
further directed that the facility of OPD, x-ray and pathology should be
made available round the clock at the hospitals. She said that the
National Health Insurance Scheme should be extensively reviewed by
the Health Department to assess its viability for BPL families.
Ms. Mayawati also directed the officers to prepare an action plan
for increasing transportation facility in the rural areas. She asked the
officers of the Transport Department to immediately issue permits for
plying of buses to the small private transporters and take action for
plying of buses on the newly identified routes.
Reviewing the programmes of Social Welfare Department, Ms.
Mayawati directed to constitute a committee under the Chairmanship of
Principal Secretary Social Welfare, in view of complaints with regard to
benefits being received by ineligible beneficiaries on the basis of false
income certificate. Secretary/Principal Secretary of Revenue, Rural
Development, Planning, Finance, Food and Civil Supplies Departments
will be the members of this committee, which would ensure a fool-proof
arrangement for issuing income certificate considering all the facts, so
that eligible persons could get the benefit of departmental schemes.
The Chief Minister directed to computerise the data of destitute
women pension and physically handicapped pension beneficiaries
besides, getting the amount according to fixed number by Government
of India in these two heads. Expressing concern over the number of few
beneficiaries of Mahamaya Gharib Balika Ashirwad Yojna, she directed
that this scheme should be publicised on a large scale and certificate
should be taken every month from district programme officer for no
pending of application and all the applications available had been
forwarded. She said that all scholarships and pension schemes second
instalment should be released compulsorily by December 31, so that all
the beneficiaries could be benefited by schemes timely.
Ms. Mayawati directed to fulfil the vacant posts of HODs/AHODs of
departments at all costs by January 15, 2010, so that works of
departments could not be affected. She also directed to fill the posts of
SC/ST in several departments. She said that ST people were living in a
large number in Sonebhadra and Mirzapur. Large scale publicity should
be made in these districts keeping in view to fill these vacant posts
especially, so that the people of naxal-affected areas could get
employment opportunities.
The Chief Minister said that several officers were not visiting fields
to verify development works. She directed that officers should visit
twice a month on regular basis to ensure the verification of
development works and make the report of spot verification available to
the Government. She said that only few months had been left in the
closure of financial year, therefore the remaining amount against the
programmes and schemes should be released soon to speed up
development works. She directed to take action against the
departments, which had slow pace for development works despite the
availability of money.
Ms. Mayawati directed the Electricity Department to speed up
revenue realisation and prevent power theft by examining the data
electricity sub-station wise. She directed for taking stringent action
against the responsible officers/employees failing in it. She said that
several projects of Electricity Department were being held up due to non
supply of materials on time. She directed the officers of Electricity
Department to ensure the supply of materials timely. Directing to
increase the revenue realisation, she said that if needed, policy should
be made to simplify one-time settlement scheme.
Reviewing the works of Irrigation Department, the Chief Minister
directed that work on projects, which had been sent to Government of
India should be started by getting immediate sanction to prevent floods
in future in areas affected last year. She directed the Irrigation
Department to implement the action plan for better use of available
irrigation capacity.
Ms. Mayawati, while reviewing the primary education directed to
make arrangements for assessment of students. She also directed to
complete the urban infrastructure facilities timely.
Keeping in view, the large difference between the wholesale and
retail rates, the Chief Minister directed to take action against the officers
responsible for it. She said that action should be taken under Essential
Commodities Act, if needed. Directing to check the construction of
religious spots on public places/properties, she said that regular
monitoring should be done at district level for it.
********
C.M. requests Centre to reorganise Uttar Pradesh on the lines
of Telangana and constitute Bundelkhand and
Western U.P. states separately
State Government not against creation of separate
Poorvanchal state, in fact it is with the people on this issue
— Mayawati
Our party supports smaller states
— Chief Minister
Lucknow: December 11, 2009
The Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Ms. Mayawati, keeping in view
the inspiration of the people of Bundelkhand and Western U.P.,
requested Central Government to give its consent to create two new
separate states of Bundelkhand and Western U.P. She said since she
accorded top priority to the interests of the people, therefore, she was
with the people regarding the formation of these two new states so
that better administrative management and all round development of
these areas could be encouraged.
The Chief Minister was addressing a press conference held at her
official residence here today to clarify her party’s and state
government’s stand on the creation of new states of Bundelkhand and
Western U.P. She said that her government supported smaller states
and districts, so that people could get better administration and all
round development could also be ensured.
Replying to a question she said that if the people of Poorvanchal
also demanded their state then the state government and her party
would not oppose it, instead she was with the people of Poorvanchal
on this issue. Answering another question she said that since Mr.
Rahul Gandhi’s Congress party was heading the Central Government,
therefore he should press Central Government to form separate
Bundelkhand state, instead of demanding it like a leader of opposition
adding that it was opposition which made such demands.
Ms. Mayawati said that she had written several letters to the
Central Government earlier regarding the creation of new states of
Bundelkhand and Western U.P. She said that she had written a letter
in this regard to the Centre today as well. Referring to the huge
population and area of Uttar Pradesh, she said that the formation of
Bundelkhand and areas of Western U.P. as separate states had
become imperative for ensuring better administrative management in
the interests of the people. She said that the people of both these
areas had been demanding for long to create separate states on the
lines of Uttarakhand State.
The C.M. said that as soon as the Central Government gave its
consent to create Telangana as a separate state out of Andhra Pradesh
and wanted that the Vidhan Sabha approved it, the people of these
areas also started pressing more for their demand of separate states
for the past 2-3 days. Therefore, her party and government also
demanded from the Central Government to give its consent for the
creation of two separate states of Bundelkhand and Western U.P. in
the same way.
Ms. Mayawati said that she had requested the P.M. through her
letter written on 15 March 2008 that to ensure all round development
of U.P. it should be divided into smaller states. Therefore, creation of
Bundelkhand and Western U.P. as two separate states would be
correct. She had also requested in her letter that the Central
Government should initiate action as per the constitutional procedure,
so that progress could be made for creation of new states.
The Chief Minister said that in this light she had written another
letter to the Prime Minister today to give consent for the creation of
Bundelkhand and Western U.P. as two new states like Telangana.
Ms. Mayawati made it clear that during her huge public meeting
organised in Lucknow on 09 October 2007, she had strongly and
publicly supported creation of Bundelkhand and Western U.P. as two
new states. She said that during her address she had expressed her
view that her party supported smaller districts and states. She said
that she had made it clear at the meeting if the Central Government
agreed, then the proposal for creation of Bundelkhand and Western
U.P. as two new separate states could be forwarded to the Centre.
The C.M. said that on 31 October 2007, her government had
expressed its view in the U.P. Vidhan Sabha that under Article-3 of the
Constitution, the Parliament had the right to create new states. She
said that her government had said that it was supporting creation of
smaller states, so that all round development could be ensured, and
when the Central Government initiated it, her government would
extend its support.
Ms. Mayawati appealed to the people of the Bundelkhand and
Western U.P. to strongly plead for the creation of new states before
the Central Government. She said that the people should put their
demand in a disciplined manner and within the limits of law. She urged
them not to get provoked and take law in their hands on this issue.
********
Conduct detailed survey to give rights to SC and Vanvasis on land,
their settlement claims should also be solved immediately
— Mayawati
Amend MNREGA scheme to provide infrastructure
facilities like irrigation to SC and poor people
— Chief Minister
Directives issued to provide X-ray and Pathology services in
government hospitals round the clock and improve operation system
Lucknow : December 10, 2009
The Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Ms. Mayawati directed the officers to
ensure transparency and quality in the implementation of programmes directly
related with the people. These programmes should be completed in a time
bound manner, she warned. She said that detailed survey should be conducted
to give rights to SC and Vanvasis on land and their settlement claims should
also be solved immediately. She said that the officers should visit villages for
this purpose. Directing the Principal Secretaries/Secretaries of Forest, Social
Welfare and Revenue departments to hold camps in the villages of Sonebhadra
and Mirzapur districts to ensure that the people got right/possession over the
land. This work should be completed in a time bound manner, she added.
Regarding the availability of fertilisers in adequate quantity, the C.M.
directed the officers to ensure that there was no paucity of fertilisers at any
cost. She asked the officers to ensure that the black marketing and stockpiling
of fertilisers was stopped and tough action should be taken against those
indulging in it. She further directed the officers to implement such a system
before the next Kharif season, so that there was no dearth of fertilisers. She
directed the officers to fix new routes for the newly constructed roads, so that
people of the rural areas got the facility of transportation. She asked them to
issue permits for the same. She directed the officers that all the construction
agencies ensured selling of tender papers through banks.
Ms. Mayawati gave these directives when the Cabinet Secretary Mr.
Shashank Shekhar Singh, Chief Secretary Mr. Atul Kumar Gupta and Additional
Cabinet Secretary Mr. Vijay Shankar Pandey apprised her of the feedback of the
review meeting held with the divisional commissioners and the senior officers of
the government here today. The officers had extensively reviewed the progress
of the development programmes accorded priority by the C.M. After going
through the inferences of the feedback the C.M. gave necessary directives for
the divisional commissioners. She directed the officers to complete construction
of 2000 community centres, being constructed in the Ambedkar villages all over
the state, by 31 March 2010. Besides, she also directed the officers to ensure
that works like construction of link roads, C.C. roads, K.C. drains, kharanja and
installation of sodium lamps, linking of majras and their electrification work was
completed by 31 January by all costs. The Commissioners should conduct on
the spot verifications, she said.
The C.M. directed the officers to distribute land pattas among people of
SC/ST category and ensure their cent per cent possession and if somebody
illegally encroached it then action should be initiated under section 198 against
the encroachers. Besides, she directed the officers to ensure distribution of
housing pattas and agricultural pattas and qualitative disposal of complaints
received at Tehsil Diwas. She asked the officers to verify these activities from
time to time through the competent officers. She directed the officers of the
Revenue department to speed up the pace of consolidation as it adversely
affected the farmers.
Expressing her displeasure over the slow pace of work being conducted
under MNREGA, Ms. Mayawati asked the officers to amend MNREGA scheme to
provide infrastructure facilities like irrigation to the SC and poor people. She
said that for the rapid construction of ponds and to accelerate the pace of
various development works being undertaken at the Panchayat level, a training
and awareness programme should be conducted at the block level for Pradhans
and Panchayat officers.
The C.M. said that about Rs. 2000 crore were being spent under ICDS
scheme for the welfare of women and children. She said that this scheme
should be implemented in an effective manner, so that the beneficiaries got
more and more benefit from it. She directed the officers to review the format of
ICDS scheme so that it could be made more effective. She directed the
divisional commissioners to carry out surprise inspections of the Anganbari
centres.
Ms. Mayawati said that the presence of the doctors should be ensured at
all the PHCs and hospitals, so that people got better health services at the local
level. She said that stringent action should be taken against the defaulters. She
said that it should be ensured that there was no scarcity of medicines in the
hospitals. Besides, she directed the officers to ensure that X-ray and pathology
services in government hospitals were provided round the clock and the
operation system should also be improved.
The C.M. directed that the officers to ensure that the complaints being
received in the distribution and purchase of bitumen (coal tar) were looked into
and solved at the earliest, so that construction of roads could be done in a
qualitative manner. Tender documents should be sold through banks so that
the e-tendering system could be implemented effectively, she stated. Moreover,
23 per cent reservation for the SC/ST in the government contracts should be
ensured at all cost. She expressed her displeasure over the slow progress of the
construction of link roads in the naxal affected divisions viz. Azamgarh,
Varanasi and Vindhyachal. She directed the officers to replace defunct
transformers immediately and energise the tube-wells on priority basis, so that
the farmers did not face any difficulty in their irrigation requirements.
Ms. Mayawati directed the officers to ensure that the maximum amount
received under the BRGF scheme under Panchayati raj was utilised in a time
bound manner and strict action should be taken against those Safai Karmcharis
who were not doing their duty properly. It was informed at the meeting that the
services of as many as 306 Safai Karmcharis had been terminated, 1120
suspended and salary of 2133 Safai Karmcharis had been held.
The C.M. directed the officers to improve the quality of primary education
and speed up the process of recruitment of teachers. She also asked them to
achieve the target of paddy purchase in a time bound manner. She directed the
officers to ensure that all the necessary preparations were completed for the
effective implementation of Secondary Education Campaign. Besides, effective
implementation of schemes like Education for All, Mid-day meal, Savitri Bai
Phule Balika Shiksha Madad Yojna and Mahamaya Garib Balika Ashirvad Yojna
and should be ensured. She also directed to ensure that the canals had water
till the tail end and plantation work was also carried out in an effective manner.
Ms. Mayawati directed the officers to ensure cent per cent distribution of
pre 10th and post 10th scholarships and furnish its report to the government.
She also directed the officers to verify the distribution of pensions like widow,
old age and disabled and eliminate the bogus candidates. She appreciated
some divisions for satisfactory work and warned some divisions and asked to
improve their functioning.
The C.M. directed the officers to utilise funds allocated by 12th Finance
Commission by February next and ensure that the schemes being conducted
under it were completed in a time bound manner and the reconstruction of
collectorate buildings of Azamgarh and Barabanki districts, which were 100
years old, should be completed at the earliest. Besides, various schemes being
implemented for rural and urban drinking water supply should be completed in
a time bound manner and the construction of solid waste management work,
being carried out in Agra, should also be completed at the earliest. She directed
the officers to speed up allotment of houses constructed under the Manyawar
Shri Kanshiramji Shahri Garib Awas Yojna and also to ensure effective
implementation of Sarvajan Hitai Shahri Garib Awas (slum area) Malikana Haq
Yojna.
The Chairman Revenue Board Mr. R. Ramni, APC Mr. V.K. Sharma,
Infrastructure and Industrial Development Commissioner Mr. Anup Mishra,
Principal Secretaries/Secretaries to C.M. and Principal Secretaries of all the
departments were present at the meeting.
*******
| Maya’s travails | |
| By Kancha Ilaiah | |
|
If a political issue is sought to be settled through the legal means, it would have different implications to our democracy. |
|
|
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati’s response to the legal hurdles to her plans to set up Ambedkar parks and Kanshi Ram memorials was quite brave and intelligent. A team of anti-Maya lawyers (belonging to both BJP and Congress ideology) filed a public interest litigation in the supreme court pleading to stop the construction. The supreme court constituted a committee, which held that there is great danger to the environment of UP because of these parks, though they are not polluting industries. There is not enough evidence that in order to construct these statue-parks, they had cut down any trees at all. Based on the recommendations of the experts committee, the supreme court ordered stoppage of work at all construction sites. The court threatened to forcefully stop the work or otherwise it would take over the sites by deploying special armed forces. Hence the work was stopped. However, While all her The recent byelections in UP have shown She has an ideological If Ambedkar parks that are coming up as |
|
The Bahujan Samaj Party has lost no time in expelling general secretary
Shahid Siddiqui, who dared to speak against party chief Mayawati.
Daily newspaper
The Indian Express quoted Siddiqui as saying that in party meetings,
“Mayawatiji comes, speaks, goes, there’s no discussion.” The BSP
expulsion came just a few hours after the newspaper had published
Siddiqui’s comments on Monday.
The party said in a press release
that it was expelling Siddiqui for indulging in anti-party activities
and that he had been warned a week ago to improve his way of working
. It said Siddiqui’s statements on party activities were baseless.
The
party also blamed Siddiqui for the loss of the Bijnor seat in the Lok
Sabha elections this year. Shahid Siddiqui had quit the SP to join the
BSP just before the parliamentary elections and lost to RLD candidate
Sanjay Singh Chauhan.
To the The Indian Express, Siddiqui also
said; “Decisions are taken somewhere else. People like Bal Thackeray,
Prakash Karat who have not been to Parliament, and those like Mayawati
and Chandrababu Naidu who are not MPs themselves, control party MPs.
They tell them what to say and what not to. Parliament is the
chessboard on which the pawns are moved, but the hands moving them are
elsewhere”.
Explaining Siddiqui’s expulsion following his interview in the Indian
Express, cabinet minister Babu Singh Kushwaha said that Siddiqui’s
irresponsible statement was the last nail in his coffin as the party
was annoyed by his errant ways.
‘Right from day one, Siddiqui
had been told in no uncertain terms to maintain discipline and not
indulge in self promotion as BSP was not like other political parties.
But he refused to mend his ways and was angling to get an entry into
the Rajya Sabha. However, our party president gave him a Lok Sabha
ticket for Bijnore that was BSP’s traditional stronghold. Yet he fared
poorly and failed to retain the seat, largely because he could not give
up his hobnobbing with SP,’ Kushwaha stated.
Dec 15. It was May 2007, when Ku. Mayawati led Bahujan Samaj Party
swept the Uttar Pradesh Assembly Elections,winning 206 out of 403
seats. The dalit czarina silenced all her critics by taking her party
to majority for the first time,becoming the first majority party in the
state since 1991.The social engineering agenda of the 52 year
politician had reaped huge dividends as Mayawati became centre of all
attention in the politics of India. Mulayam Singh Yadav and his
Samajwadi Party associates could never understand what had hit them.
As the recent results of the bye-elections to the 11 assembly
constituencies and a Lok Sabha seat is to be taken into account, BSP
has won 9 out of 11 seats.Now speaking about Mission 2012, BSP has managed to win 9 seats which
indicates that the BSP has still not lost touch with its voters.
Rise of the First Pacific Prime Minister
Now speaking about Mission 2012, BSP has still
not lost touch with its voters. Hence Ku. Mayawati will not only be the first
Scheduled Caste Prime Minister of Jambddvipa, that is, the Great Prabuddha
Bharath, but also rise to be the first Pacific Prime Minister.
Politics and
political matters are considered worldly concerns, yes. But Mayawati did not
ignore such worldly concerns, because as a Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh,
still she is living in society. Food comes from vast numbers of people
constituting society. So she is working to elevate society to evolve into a
higher form, to be more effective and more just?
The Ministers, MLAs and BSP Cadres are also told by Mayawati
to work for the good of many, for the benefit of all beings and for the
betterment of society. The intent behind the founding of the Bahujan Samaj
Party (BSP) was entirely for the benefit of the people.
In the life of Buddha, we find that the Buddha often
discussed politics with the rulers of realms in his time, such as King Mala,
King Kosala, King Licchavi and King Ajatasattu. The Buddha always preached the
kings that they must rule their kingdoms with dasarajadhamma. The dasarajadamma
in Pali is based on ten precepts, in order for the king to best rule the
country. They are:
(1) be liberal and avoid selfishness,
(2) maintain a high moral character,
(3) Be prepared to sacrifice one’s own pleasure for the
well-being of the subjects,
(4) be honest and maintain absolute integrity,
(5) Be kind and gentle,
(6) lead a simple life for the subjects to emulate,
(7) Be free from hatred of any kind,
(8) exercise non-violence,
(9) Practice patience, and
(10) Respect public opinion to promote peace and harmony.
Ms Mayawati’s government who wishes to peacefully rule her
State effectively apply these 10 precepts even today; they haven’t yet and
never will “go out of date.”
She follows
non-violence and peace as a universal message. She did not approve of violence
or the destruction of life, and aware that there is no such thing as a ‘just’
war. “The victor breeds hatred; the
defeated lives in misery. He who renounces both victory and defeat is happy and
peaceful.”
She is also
aware ‘When the ruler of a country is just and good, the ministers become just
and good; when the ministers are just and good, the higher officials become
just and good; when the higher officials are just and good, the rank and file
become just and good; when the rank and file become just and good, the people
become just and good.’
Now Ms
Mayawati is been described as one of the greatest leaders. The Leader as
Visionary. Like the captain of a ship, he has a definite goal to chart her
course and steer his ship in the right direction. She has one goal - to find
the cause of suffering and a way out of suffering. Despite much hardship and
setback, she never veered from her course but persevered till she gained
awaken-ness after she got elected as Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh.
Guided by
this vision, her mission is an all-embracing one. It is a mission founded on
compassion and love for all beings, regardless of race, creed or status quo.
The Leader
as Role Model
She has an
exemplary figure, someone we can respect and emulate. She is extraordinary,
virtuous and righteous in every thought, word and deed. She says as
She does and
does as she says. Such integrity and consistency won her the trust of her
followers. She is aware of the ten principles which a ruler ought to be
possessed:
1.
Alms giving
2.
Morality
3.
Unselfishness
4.
Integrity
5.
Gentleness
6.
Self-restraint
7.
Non-anger
8.
Non-violence
9.
Patience
10.
Agreeability
Father of the Prabuddha Bharath Constitution
Ambedkar proved right
After resigning from Nehru’s
Cabinet as Law Minister over the controversial Hindu Code Bill in 1951, Dr.
B.R. Ambedkar spent most of his time writing at his 26,
Fresh from drafting and the successful piloting of the Indian Constitution in
the Constituent Assembly, he entered one of his most productive writing phases
and left behind a great body of literature on a wide range of subjects.
Dr. Ambedkar, who remained a
Rajya Sabha member till his death in December, 1956, made occasional
appearances in the house of elders to express his views on contemporary issues
that exercised him. Though reading and writing on Hinduism and Buddhism
consumed most of his time, the everyday Indian political situation of the 1950s
did not escape his attention. Two of those issues that need to be relooked
today are the reorganisation of the states and his idea of the politics of
majority and minority castes.
As the issue of
reorganisation of Indian states on the basis of language raged in the 1950s Dr.
Ambedkar compiled his opinions into a book, Thoughts on Linguistic States,
which was published in 1955. The book is as relevant today as it was then. Dr.
Ambedkar felt that creation of states should be based on equal distribution of
population and their capitals should be centrally located in those states. Dr.
Ambedkar criticised the confusion prevailing in the ruling camp in the 1950s on
linguistic states.
He said that one language in
a state can unite people and two languages are sure to divide them. “Culture is
conserved by language”, he said. He supported linguistic states for two
reasons. One, to make the path to democracy easy and the other to remove racial
and cultural tensions.
His opinions find reflection
in today’s situations in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu,
or even
for division of states in his book now seems prophetic. He then had envisioned
the division of Bihar into two: north Bihar with
as capital and
The division did happen,
though it took almost fifty years. For him Andhra and
He always perceived them as two separate entities. The demand for a separate
Telangana never really died down.
More ominous seems to be his
prescription for Uttar Pradesh. He sought to divide Uttar Pradesh, which was a
six Crore population state in 1955 into three states of two crore population
each. Western Uttar Pradesh with
Uttar Pradesh with
Pradesh with
as capitals. He clearly conceptualised that smaller states were always better
administered.
Dr. Ambedkar’s
recommendations for
startling for today’s reader. He proposed the creation of a city state of
states he proposed to carve out of rest of
His proposal was for a western Maharashtra, Marathwada or central Maharashtra
and eastern
He had also wanted to split
Madhya Pradesh into north and south, which eventually became Madhya Pradesh and
Chhattisgarh many decades later. While accepting the linguistic states
as a matter of principle, he proposed further division of single language
states for better administration, access to administration for people of
various regions within the geographic entity and also their sentiments.
[ Excerpts from the Thoughts On
Linguistics States, By Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar
SUMMARY OF PRICIPLES
COVERING THE ISSUE
For the sake of the reader I summarise
below the principles which should underly the creation of Linguistic States which are
already enunciated In the foregoing pages but
which lie about scattered. These principles may be staled as below :
(1) The idea of having a mixed State must be completely abandoned.
(2) Every State must be an unilingual State. One State, one language.
(3) The
formula one State, one language must not be
confused with the formula of one language, one State.
(4) The
formula one language, one State means that all people speaking one language
should be brought under one Government
irrespective of area, population and dissimilarity of conditions among the
people speaking the language. This is the idea that underlies the agitation for
a united Maharashtra with
precedent for it. It must be abandoned. A people speaking one language may be
cut up into many States as is done in other parts of the world.
(5) Into
how many States a people speaking one language should be cut up, should depend
upon (1) the requirements of efficient administration, (2) the needs of the
different areas, (3) the sentiments of the different areas, and (4) the proportion
between the majority and minority.
(6) As the
area of the State increases the proportion of the minority to the majority
decreases and the position of the minority becomes precarious and the
opportunities for the majority to practise tyranny over the minority become
greater. The States must therefore be small.
(7) The
minorities must be given protection to prevent the tyranny of the majority. To
do this the Constitution must be amended and provisions must be made for a
system on plural member constituencies (two or three) with cumulative voting ]
The most fascinating
of Dr. Ambedkar’s proposal was about making
an obvious reason — this
southern city is equidistant from various regions of the country. The second
reason for mooting this idea was to ease the north-south tension.
[ Excerpts from the Thoughts On Linguistics
States, By Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar
THE NECESSITY OF A SECOND CAPITAL
AND THE SOUTH
Can
afford to have one Capital ? That
one capital does not close the question. If the Capital of India is not
satisfactorily located, now is the time for considering the question.
Since the departure of the British,
has only one capital and that is
Before the British,
has always had two capitals. During the Moghal
period,
in
British came they too had two capitals, one was
they left
Capital. The two capitals maintained by the Moghuls
and by the British were the results of climatic conditions.
Neither the British nor the Moghuls were able to
live in
summer months in
were unbearable to the Moghuls. They made Shrinagar their second capital for
summer months. The summer months in
were equally unbearable to the British. They, therefore, established a second
capital. To these climatic conditions must now be added three other conditions.
There was no popular Government when the Moghuls ruled or when the British ruled. Now we have popular Government and the
convenience of the people is an important factor.
inconvenient to the people of the South. They suffer the most from cold as well
as distance. Even the Northern people suffer in the summer months. They do not
complain because they are nearer home and they are nearer the seat of power.
Second is the feeling of the Southern people and the third is the consideration
of Defence. The feeling of the Southern people is that the Capital of their
Country is far away from them and that they are
being ruled by the people of
The third consideration is of course more important. It is that
place. It is within bombing distance of the neighbouring countries. Although
it cannot be assumed that
will not have to face war sometime or other and if war comes, the Government of India will have to leave
place for its location. Which is the place to
which the Government of India can migrate ? A
place that one can think of is
But
from
Although
friends, how long the friendship would last no one can definitely say. The
possibility of conflict between
and
remains. In that event
would be useless. The next town that could be considered as a refuge for the
Central Government is
is a port and our Indian Navy is too poor to protect the Central Government if it came down to
and Bolarum should be constituted into a Chief
Commissioner’ s Province and made a second capital of
to all States. Anyone who looks at the table of distances given below will
realise it:
|
|
From |
From |
|
To |
798 |
440 |
|
To |
868 |
715 |
|
To |
1198 |
330 |
|
To |
957 |
275 |
|
To |
1521 |
660 |
|
To |
124 |
990 |
|
To |
180 |
1045 |
|
To |
275 |
770 |
From the defence point of view it would
give safety to the Central Government. It is equidistant from all parts of
give satisfaction to the South Indian people that their Government is sometimes
with them. The Government may remain in
stay in
amenities which
City than
It has all the grandeur which
are really beautiful buildings, far superior to those in
that is wanting is a Parliament House which the Government of India can easily
build. It is a place in which Parliament can sit all the year round and work,
which it cannot do in
I do not see what objection there can be in making
should be done right now while we are reorganising the States.
should be constituted into a second capital of
to the whole of South India, to
the Andhras.
This is
another remedy for easing the tension between the North and the South ]
In
created 198 wards from just less than 100 wards. Even though the number of
seats reserved for SC/ ST is not proportionate to 198, the election is will be
held in February. The BBMP has been bifurcated to 20000 and 30000 population.
When such is the case why not States be bifurcated for every 2 crore
population? Already number of States have been created after
easy administration.
Request His Excellency The first
Pacific President
-barack-Obama to Celebrate Buddha Jayanthi at White House on 27th
May 2010
Politics
and political matters in Buddhism are considered worldly concerns, yes. But the
Buddha did not ignore such worldly concerns, because as a Prince estranged and
removed from his prior worldly concerns, still He was living in society. Alms
food comes from vast numbers of people constituting society. So should not we
work to elevate society to evolve into a higher form, to be more effective and
more just? The monks were also told by the Buddha to work for the good of many,
for the benefit of all beings and for the betterment of society. The intent
behind the founding of the community of monks (Sangha in Pali, Pali being the original
language of the Buddha) was entirely for the benefit of the people.
In the life of Buddha, we find that the Buddha
often discussed politics with the rulers of realms in his time, such as King
Mala, King Kosala , King Licchavi and King Ajatasattu . The Buddha always
preached the kings that they must rule their kingdoms with dasarajadhamma. The
dasarajadamma in Pali is based on ten precepts, in order for the king to best
rule the country. They are: (1) be liberal and avoid selfishness, (2) maintain
a high moral character, (3) be prepared to sacrifice one’s own pleasure for the
well-being of the subjects, (4) be honest and maintain absolute integrity, (5)
be kind and gentle, (6) lead a simple life for the subjects to emulate, (7) be
free from hatred of any kind, (8) exercise non-violence, (9) practice patience,
and (10) respect public opinion to promote peace and harmony. Any government
who wishes to peacefully rule any nation can effectively apply these 10
precepts even today; they haven’t yet and never will “go out of date.”
The Buddha
preached non-violence and peace as a universal message. He did not approve of
violence or the destruction of life, and declared that there is no such thing
as a ‘just’ war. From his own words, He taught: “The victor breeds hatred; the
defeated lives in misery. He who renounces both victory and defeat is happy and
peaceful.”
Not only did the Buddha teach non-violence and
peace: He was perhaps the first and only religious teacher who went to the
battlefield personally to prevent the outbreak of a war, when He diffused
tension between the Sakyas and the Koliyas who were about to wage war over the
waters of Rohini River. He also dissuaded King Ajatasattu from attacking the
Kingdom of the Vajjis
He showed how countries could become corrupt,
degenerate and unhappy when the head of the government becomes corrupt and
unjust. He spoke against corruption and how all governments’ actions must be
based on humanitarian principles.
The Buddha
once said, ‘When the ruler of a country is just and good, the ministers become
just and good; when the ministers are just and good, the higher officials
become just and good; when the higher officials are just and good, the rank and
file become just and good; when the rank and file become just and good, the
people become just and good.’
Clearly,
religion and politics are something analogous to paper money having two sides.
The front can be regarded as religion and the other side can be regarded as
politics. They cannot be separated from each other. Otherwise the value of
money is nothing. Similarly, Buddhist monks and other religious leaders also
should not be separated from politics. I don’t mean to imply that they should
rule the country, but just to present and to advance their Buddhist precepts throughout
the workings of a government in order to prevent so many wars and conquests,
persecutions, such egregious atrocities, rebellions, and the destruction of
works of art and culture.
Desappriya
jayasuriya
0n Subject: Buddha
mentioned
Remarks by first
Pacific President Barack Obama at Suntory Hall”……. It is wonderful to be
back in Japan .
Some of you may be aware that when I was a young boy, my mother brought me to Kamakura , where I looked
up at that centuries-old symbol of peace and tranquility — the great bronze
Amida Buddha……” Now Barack Obama is been described as one of the greatest
leaders. The Leader as Visionary. Like the captain of a ship, he has a definite
goal to chart his course and steer his ship in the right direction. He has one
goal - to find the cause of suffering and a way out of suffering. Despite much
hardship and setback, he never veered from his course but persevered till he
gained awaken-ness after he got elected as President of US.
Guided by this
vision, his mission is an all-embracing one. It is a mission founded on
compassion and love for all beings, regardless of race, creed or status quo.
The Leader as
Role Model
He has an
exemplary figure, someone we can respect and emulate. He is extraordinary,
virtuous and righteous in every thought, word and deed. He says as he does and
does as he says. Such integrity and consistency won him the trust of his
followers. He is aware of the ten principles which a ruler ought to be possessed:
1.
Alms
giving
2.
Morality
3.
Unselfishness
4.
Integrity
5.
Gentleness
6.
Self-restraint
7.
Non-anger
8.
Non-violence
9.
Patience
10.
Agreeability
The
Leader as Mediator
As
a leader,
He
demonstrated both skills in mediation and impartiality in judgment, showed his
ability to resolve problems and arguments.
Hence
Jagatheesan Chandrasekharan suggested “…..Let all of us
request His Excellency the first
Pacific president-barack-obama to celebrate next (27-May 2010)Buddha Jayanthi at White House to
spread the message of non-violence and peace by chanting relevant gathas by
Maha theras for the happiness and welfare of all…..”
MAHINDA
welcomed
the same by saying “…..DEAR FRIENDS …ABSOLUTELY WONDERFUL!!!
WHAT MARVELOUS IDEA. WE SHOULD ASK THE ENTIRE BUDDHIST WORLD TO RESPECTFULLY
REQUEST FROM PRESIDENT BARAK OBAMA TO COMPLY WITH OUR HUMBLE IDEA AND
HONOR IT.
The main reason being THAT THERE WERE NOT SINGLE A DROP OF
BLOOD WAS SHED IN THE NAME OF THE BUDDHISM
BUDDHA PREACHED ABSOLUTE NONVIOLENCE ,THE
UNBOUND LOVE AND COMPASSION TOWARD EVERY LIVING CREATURE.
MOST LIKELY THE PRESIDENT MAY NOT BE FULLY AWARE OF
THE DETAILS OF THIS PARTICULAR ASPECT OF BUDDHISM.
FURTHER MORE THE BUDDHA TOLERATED ALL BELIEF SYSTEMS AND NEVER
CONDEMNED OR PUT DOWN OTHERS’ FOR THE PURPOSE OF PROPAGATION OR
PROSYLITIZATION /FOR HIS OWN. HE WAS THE MOST TOLERANT TEACHER OF DARMA
WHICH ADVOCATES THE TOTAL OPENNESS LIKE MAMMOTH TENT WITHOUT DOORS AND
WINDOWS WHERE EVERY ONE IS WELCOME AND NO ONE IS ASKED OR
REQUIRED TO GIVE UP THEIR BELIEF.
HE INVITED THE FOLLOWERS TO CAREFULLY INVESTIGATE HIS TEACHING, LIKE GOLD
DIGGER TRYING FINDING THE PURE GOLD, BEFORE MAKING ANY HASTY DECISION TO BECOME
A BUDDHIST.
SO LET US
SEND OUR REQUEST THE WHITE HOUSE AS A UNOFORM VOICE. LET US
ALSO REQUEST HIS HOLINESS DALAI LAMA TO JOIN US … “
Venerable Ananda
Bhante of Mahabodhi Loka Shanti Vihara, Bangalore suggested to appeal all the
Buddhist organizations in general and Americans in particular to make a request
to White House to Celebrate Buddha Jayanthi on 27th May 2010.
Accordingly emails are being sent to all Buddhist organizations through the
world.
Similar
suggestion was made by Sashikanth Chandrasekharan from Cleveland .
P.P. Lakshman
Email: pplakshman08@
gmail.com
Tel: 917-664-6566
suggested as follows:
Dear Jagatheesan,
There is no doubt that the case for celebration of Buddha Jayanti at
White House is inherently strong, more so in the wake of the inspiring
speech at Tokyo, earlier this month, by President Obama who called
himself the ‘first Pacific President’. We all should be thankful to
you and the other Buddhist friends for bringing this up.
As you know, most of the Buddhist countries in the world are in the
Pacific region, and they all will be ecstatic about the idea of
celebrating the next Buddha Jayanti at the White House - on May 27,
2010. China, Taiwan, Japan, Korea, Thailand, Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos,
have all very many devoted Buddhists.
Their governments
are likely to make the suggestion to the Pacific
President in the U.S.
This is true of India as
well despite the fact
that India
has a Buddhist symbol as its national emblem and Buddha
Dhamma Chakra embedded on its national flag. There are many Indian
nationals in the Obama administration including the White House. They will also
support the idea.
The memorable Tokyo speech of the U.S.
President provides an excellent
background to make the case for a White House celebration of Buddha
Jayanti. Obama will most certainly get a hearing for the Buddha
Jayanti proposal from leaders like Dalai Lama, the Chinese Buddhist
leader Ven Hsing Yun. Buddhist activist Richard Gere the famous actor,
and Buddhist Professor Robert Thurman and others. I am very optimistic
that with their voicing support, the White House celebration of Buddha
Jayanti on May 27, 2010 would be a done deal.
Let us make our appeals to His Holiness Dalai Lama
ohhdl@dalailama.com,
Chinese Buddhist leader Venerable Hsing Yun
, Budddhist activist Richard Gere the famous actor
, and Buddhist Professor Robert Thriman
and others for voicing their support for
celebration of Buddha Jayanthi at White House on May 2010
The Non-Violence Ethic - A Noble Humanist Concept
|
|
Gautama Buddha propounded the philosophy of |
It is becoming increasingly ironical to talk about Non-violence in a
world of Inter-Continental Ballastic Missiles, Hydrogen Bombs, Nuclear
Submarines and the rest. But amidst all the dust that is kicked up by the
aggravating belligerence between the US and Iraq or Aboriginal Inhabitants of
Jambudvipa, that is The Great Prabuddha Bharath and Pakistan for instance, the
word Non-Violence brings to mind the name of Mahatma Gandhi in Aboriginal Inhabitants
of Jambudvipa, that is The Great Prabuddha Bharath along with the other
pacifist crusaders in different parts of the world.
Buddhism - the Pioneering Spirit of Non-Violence
Whatever one’s opinion on how far
India owes its independence to Mahatma Gandhi’s non-violent crusade against
British imperialism, even the Mahatma’s worst critics would admit that the
non-violent Satyagraha launched by him attracted millions of Indians into
India’s freedom struggle.
But the philosophy of non-violence
(ahimsa) in
is not a 20th century phenomenon, it has existed since the last three thousand
years right from the days of Gautama Buddha.
this pacifist philosophy official recognition for which he is remembered not
only by Indians but by pacifists all around the globe.
Origins of Non-Violence lie in Buddhism,
Lord Buddha was born in the year 563
BC in Lumbini in
Tarai near Kapilavastu in the Himalayan foothills and was named
Siddhartha. His father was King Suddhohana of the Sakya tribe and the
Gautam clan, and his mother Maya was a Licchavi princess. At age 19
years, he was married to princess Yashodhara and was later blessed with a son,
Rahul. At age 29 years, Siddhartha left his home for good to seek
enlightenment and peace. He received instructions from gurus at
Vaisali and Rajagriha and later practised penances and austerities at Uruvela
(near
six years but without any results. It was, however, at Bodh Gaya after a
period of seven weeks’ continuous meditation, sitting under a pipal
tree, that Siddhartha obtained supreme enlightenment at the age of 35
years. Thereafter, from that point, he became the Buddha—the enlightened
one.
He went on to Sarnath (near
where he preached his first sermon to five Brahmins who had been his companions
for six years at Uruvela. The five holy men of Sarnath who received these
instructions became Buddha’s first followers.
We remember both Lord Buddha and his
sermon at Sarnath with great reverence. His preaching is well-known as dhamma-chakka
pavatana (setting in motion the wheel of law).
Gautama Buddha explained the four
noble truths, the eightfold path of duty, the need to follow the middle path to
avoid the extremes of the pursuit of pleasure on the one hand, and worthless
austerities on the other.
The four noble truths are: (i)
misery (dukkha); (ii) cause of misery (dukha-samudaya); (iii)
negation of misery (duhkha-nirodha); and (iv) the path which leads
towards the negation of misery (duhkha-nirodha-gamini-patipada).
The Eightfold Path comprises (i) right speech, (ii) right action, (iii)
right means of livelihood, (iv) right exertion, (v) right mindedness, (vi)
right meditation, (vii) right resolution, and (viii) right point of view.
The first of these three paths lead to sila (physical control), the
next three to samadhi or chitta (mental control), and the last two to pajna
(intellectual development).
It may be recalled that in the
last 45 years of his life after attaining Awakenment with Awareness, Buddha
traveled around the country teaching the masses and debating with many other
religious teachers the four noble truths, the eight-fold path, and dhamma.
Buddha always spoke in the people’s language Prakrit and not in Sanskrit.
Many people became his followers but stayed with their jobs, homes, and
families. These lay followers provided food and shelter for others who
decided, like Buddha, to give up ordinary life and become wandering monks
wearing saffron robes. The community of monks and nuns became known as
the sangha.
The gospel of Buddha spread
rapidly. Buddha’s impressive personality, use of the common people’s
language, and his communication skills made his gospel spread fast. It is
another matter that Buddha’s dialogue and discussions were recorded well after
his maha pari nibbana in Pali and these formed the basis of Buddhism
in
and
where the Hinayana form of Buddhism prevails. Similarly, some
hundred years after Buddha, several scholars recorded the Buddhist precepts and
practices in Sanskrit. These Sanskrit writings of Buddhist scholars in
and provided the kernel for the growth of the Mahayana form of
Buddhism.
In fact, from among the galaxy of
Buddhist monks, Arahats and Rinpoches, starting from Ananda,
the principal associate and disciple of Lord Buddha to the present 14th Dalai
Lama, one name that stands out with great prominence is that of Guru
Padmasambhava, the lotus born who transmitted tantric Buddhism to
and
in the 8th century.
There are several legends and myths surrounding this great Guru including his
eight forms or manifestations representing different aspects of his being.
Several historians, however, describe Padmasambhava’s place of birth to be
Oddiyana (now believed to be the
in the spread of Buddhism in
and in other parts of the Himalayan region in the midst of different
conflicting philosophies.
Guru Rinpoche or the precious Master, is the Supreme Tantrik Master who through
his tantric power subdued evil spirits and demons and reformed them to guard
the religion and protect the followers of Dharma. He is profoundly venerated in
for establishing Buddhism there.
It is learnt that while he was on his way to
Guru Rinpoche visited
in 8th century A.D. Guru Rinpoche has a special connection with the
Dremojong (hidden land of rice).
Guru Padmasambhava is not only venerated as the guardian deity and the
protector of the land by the people following Buddhism but also held in high
esteem and profound reverence by Sikkimese of every faith.
Many believe that this Himalayan land continuing to enjoy peace, tranquility,
progress and social harmony in spite of chaotic and violent disturbances
prevailing all around is a testimony to the belief that Sikkim must surely have
been blessed and protected by Guru Rinpoche from misfortunes, calamities,
strife and destruction.
Unification of Buddhist Thoughts
An enormous corpus of literature on Buddhism is available today in the
world. We have to take note of the fact that literature on Buddhism has grown
in several parts of the world encompassing ideas expressed in different
languages and in distant lands with varied cultures and even several
civilizations.
Following are three aspects of
Buddhism which were very dear to Lord Buddha. These are namely; (i)
compassion and non-violence; (ii)avoidance of the extremes and pursuit of the
middle path; and (iii) inculcation of spirit of rationality and argument.
Compassion and Non-violence
In the light of Lord Buddha’s
teachings, the conflict resolution mechanism of the Aboriginal Inhabitants of
Jambudvipa, that is the Great Prabuddha Bharath society received new ideas and
institutions. This is reflected in the increasing importance of Karuna
or compassion and non-violence in our society.
Love and kindness are the very basis of
human society. Hatred, the Buddha said, was never appeased by more
hatred—it could only be defused by friendship and sympathy.
Compassion is the real essence of
religion. All religions emphasize betterment and improvement of human
beings, a sense of brotherhood and sisterhood, and love. If one can
practice compassion, then the essence of religion is automatically followed,
whether it is the Hindu, Buddhist, Christian, or Islamic way. The
important thing is that in daily life one must practice the essentials of
religion—non-violence, love, and compassion—and on that level there is hardly
any difference between Buddhism, Christianity, or any other religion.
Gautama Buddha’s ‘middle path’.
According to this doctrine of the
golden mean, the correct or right course of action is always some middle point
between the two extremes of excess (too much) and deficiency (too
little).
It is interesting to note that similar
approaches were propounded in
and
in the pre-Christian era. Confucius (550–479 BC) believed in virtuous
living by what he called the ‘doctrine of the mean’ (Chung Yang or ‘constant
middle’): for every action, there are two extremes which must be avoided, and
what lies at a proper distance between these two extremes is virtue, and the
right way to act. Lao Tze, an older contemporary of Confucius believed,
and accordingly advocated, that the right way (Tao) consists in reversion from
extremes.
In
developed this doctrine of the mean to be applied in determining what course of
action is right in a number of different situations.
There is nothing to indicate
that ‘middle path’ doctrine were known to the Chinese savant Confucius or to
the Greek philosopher Aristotle. This astonishing coincidence in approach
among the leading men of three civilizations (Indian, Chinese, and Greek)
establishes that commonality in findings about truth is independent of race,
environment, or age.
To arrive at the middle path is not to
effect a compromise but to attain a harmonious view among conflicting
interpretations. This is a difficult task. At a deeper level, it
denotes unity of mind and thought.
Rationality and Argument
Buddha attached great importance to
rational enquiry than perhaps any other religious leader in history. The
Buddha says in a sutta:
Monks and scholars should
Well analyse my words,
Like gold (to be tested through) melting, cutting and polishing,
And then adopt them, but not for the sake of showing me respect.
By this Buddha meant that even if a
particular doctrine is set forth in scriptures, one must examine whether or not
it meets the test of reasoning. If it comes in conflict with reasoning,
or is at variance with new realities, it is no longer appropriate to assert its
primacy and to follow its dictates. This applies to Buddha’s sayings as
well.
A fundamental change in attitude is
necessary. Basically a Buddhist attitude on any subject must be one that
accords with the facts. If, upon investigation, one finds that there is
reason and proof for a point, then one should accept it. That is not to
say that there are not certain points that are beyond human powers of deductive
reasoning—that is a different matter. However, when we investigate
certain descriptions as they exist in sacred texts and we find that they do not
correspond to reality, then one must accept the reality, and not the literal
scriptural explanation.
Buddha, like Socrates, was never
content to accept traditional certainties as final, however august they might
be. Buddha believed that every individual must find the truth in his own way,
and must question everything, even Buddha’s own words and sayings
himself. This new rationality had no place for blind faith.
The story of Gautama has particular relevance for our times. We too are
living in a period of transition and change, as was the Great Prabuddha Bharath
during the sixth and fifth centuries BC. Like Gautama, we live in an age
of political violence and have had terrifying glimpses of man’s inhumanity to
man. In our society too there is widespread malaise, urban despair and
anomie, and we are sometimes fearful of the new world order that is emerging.
Scholars have been re-examining the
history of the Buddhist doctrine in the light of modern ideas. Buddha has
been considered a rationalist, an empiricist, and a social prophet, and the dhamma
an ideology for a new age. Modernists feel strongly about the social role
religion should be expected to play. In the Great Prabuddha Bharath, for
example, a crusade was initiated in 1958 against the caste theory of
untouchability. The solution was presented in the form of a return to
Buddhism.
Buddha’s scrupulous empiricism, his
demand for intellectual and personal independence, his belief in dialogue, his
insistence on the ‘middle path’ are useful beacons to solve our present
problems. We may not be able to fully practice the method he prescribed
or raise ourselves to the level of his conduct but one can certainly move
towards building institutions and supporting individuals that make for a truly
compassionate political and social architecture which I call the Bahudhā
or pluralist approach in our society and politics.
The Buddhist approach of the middle
path, of non-violence, of love and compassion, influences people of a large
number of countries in the world. The Buddhist approach of rational
self-enquiry also enables a person to achieve a higher state of discipline and
harmony beyond narrow sectarian and national prejudices. All these become
axiomatic when seen in the light of the well-known Buddhist maxim: ‘Be a lamp
unto yourself’ (Appa Deepo Bhav).
There are three truths:
my truth, your truth and the truth.
Chinese Proverb
Ambedkar proved right
resigning from Nehru’s Cabinet as Law Minister over the controversial
Hindu Code Bill in 1951, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar spent most of his time
writing at his 26, Alipore Road residence in Delhi’s Civil Lines. Fresh
from drafting and the successful piloting of the Indian Constitution in
the Constituent Assembly, he entered one of his most productive writing
phases and left behind a great body of literature on a wide range of
subjects.
Ambedkar, who remained a Rajya Sabha member till his death in December,
1956, made occasional appearances in the house of elders to express his
views on contemporary issues that exercised him. Though reading and
writing on Hinduism and Buddhism consumed most of his time, the
everyday Indian political situation of the 1950s did not escape his
attention. Two of those issues that need to be relooked today are the
reorganisation of the states and his idea of the politics of majority
and minority castes.
the issue of reorganisation of Indian states on the basis of language
raged in the 1950s Dr. Ambedkar compiled his opinions into a book,
Thoughts on Linguistic States, which was published in 1955. The book is
as relevant today as it was then. Dr. Ambedkar felt that creation of
states should be based on equal distribution of population and their
capitals should be centrally located in those states. Dr. Ambedkar
criticised the confusion prevailing in the ruling camp in the 1950s on
linguistic states.
said that one language in a state can unite people and two languages
are sure to divide them. “Culture is conserved by language”, he said.
He supported linguistic states for two reasons. One, to make the path
to democracy easy and the other to remove racial and cultural tensions.
opinions find reflection in today’s situations in Karnataka, Tamil
Nadu, Assam or even Maharashtra. The formula he put forth for division
of states in his book now seems prophetic. He then had envisioned the
division of Bihar into two: north Bihar with Patna as capital and
Ranchi being the capital of south Bihar.
For him Andhra and Hyderabad (Telangana) were never one state. He
always perceived them as two separate entities. The demand for a
separate Telangana never really died down.
ominous seems to be his prescription for Uttar Pradesh. He sought to
divide Uttar Pradesh, which was a six Crore population state in 1955
into three states of two crore population each. Western Uttar Pradesh
with Meerut, Central Uttar Pradesh with Kanpur and Eastern Uttar
Pradesh with Allahabad as capitals. He clearly conceptualised that
smaller states were always better administered.
Ambedkar’s recommendations for Maharashtra will be too startling for
today’s reader. He proposed the creation of a city state of Bombay
(Mumbai) with a rider that the taxes collected from Bombay should be
equally divided among the three states he proposed to carve out of rest
of Maharashtra. His proposal was for a western Maharashtra, Marathwada
or central Maharashtra and eastern Maharashtra comprising Vidharbha.
had also wanted to split Madhya Pradesh into north and south, which
eventually became Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh many decades later. While
accepting the linguistic states as a matter of principle, he proposed
further division of single language states for better administration,
access to administration for people of various regions within the
geographic entity and also their sentiments.
For the sake of the reader I summarise below the principles which should underly the creation of Linguistic States which are already enunciated In the foregoing pages but which lie about
scattered. These principles may be staled as below :
(1) The idea of having a mixed State must be completely abandoned.
(2) Every State must be an unilingual State. One State, one language.
(3) The formula one State, one language must not be confused with the formula of one language, one State.
(4) The formula one language, one State means that all people speaking one language should be brought under one Government
irrespective of area, population and dissimilarity of conditions among
the people speaking the language. This is the idea that underlies the
agitation for a united Maharashtra
with Bombay. This is an absurd formula and has no precedent for it. It
must be abandoned. A people speaking one language may be cut up into
many States as is done in other parts of the world.
(5)
Into how many States a people speaking one language should be cut up,
should depend upon (1) the requirements of efficient administration,
(2) the needs of the different areas, (3) the sentiments of the
different areas, and (4) the proportion between the majority and
minority.
(6)
As the area of the State increases the proportion of the minority to
the majority decreases and the position of the minority becomes
precarious and the opportunities for the majority to practise tyranny
over the minority become greater. The States must therefore be small.
(7)
The minorities must be given protection to prevent the tyranny of the
majority. To do this the Constitution must be amended and provisions
must be made for a system on plural member constituencies (two or
three) with cumulative voting ]
— this southern city is equidistant from various regions of the
country. The second reason for mooting this idea was to ease the
north-south tension.
A WAY TO REMOVE TENSION BETWEEN THE NORTH AND THE SOUTH
Can India afford to have one Capital ?
That India has now one capital does not close the question. If the
Capital of India is not satisfactorily located, now is the time for
considering the question.
Since
the departure of the British, India has only one capital and that is
Delhi. Before the British, India has always had two capitals. During
the Moghal period, India had Delhi as one Capital and Shrinagar
in Kashmir as another Capital. When the British came they too had two
capitals, one was Calcutta and another was Simla. Even when they left
Calcutta for Delhi, they retained Simla as their summer Capital. The
two capitals maintained by the Moghuls and
by the British were the results of climatic conditions. Neither
the British nor the Moghuls were able to live in Delhi or in Calcutta
continuously for 12 months. The summer months in Delhi were unbearable
to the Moghuls. They made Shrinagar their second capital for summer
months. The summer months in Calcutta were equally unbearable to the
British. They, therefore, established a second capital. To these
climatic conditions must now be added three other conditions. There was
no popular Government when the Moghuls ruled or when the British ruled. Now we have popular Government and the convenience of the people is an important factor.
Delhi is most inconvenient to the people of the South. They suffer the
most from cold as well as distance. Even the Northern people suffer in
the summer months. They do not complain because they are nearer home
and they are nearer the seat of power. Second is the feeling of the
Southern people and the third is the consideration of Defence. The
feeling of the Southern people is that the Capital of their Country is
far away from them
and that they are being ruled by the people of Northern India. The
third consideration is of course more important. It is that Delhi is a
vulnerable place. It is within bombing distance of the neighbouring
countries. Although India is trying to live in peace with its neighbours it cannot be assumed that India will not have to face war sometime or other and if war comes, the Government of India will have to leave Delhi and find another place for its location. Which is the place to which the Government of India can migrate ?
A place that one can think of is Calcutta. But Calcutta is also within
bombing distance from Tibet. Although India and China today are
friends, how long the friendship would last no one can definitely say.
The possibility of conflict between India and China remains. In that
event Calcutta would be useless. The next town that could be considered
as a refuge for the Central Government is Bombay. But Bombay is a port and our Indian Navy is too poor to protect the Central Government if it came down to Bombay. Is there a fourth place one could think of? I find Hyderabad to be such a place. Hyderabad Secunderabad and Bolarum should
be constituted into a Chief Commissioner’ s Province and made a second
capital of India. Hyderabad fulfils all the requirements of a capital
for India. Hyderabad is equidistant to all States. Anyone who looks at
the table of distances given below will realise it:
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From Delhi – miles |
From Hyderabad – miles |