[Assam] From Tehelka---Manu's Memorial

Fri Jul 6 07:35:41 PDT 2007

If you want to go further - How did the followers come up with the icons for Jesus, Buddha, Mahavir Jain? 
  As you know there is no icon for prophet Muhammed because Muslims don't allow it. I was wondering if a movie was ever made where prophet Muhammed was a character. 
  Dilip
  =========================================================

"Mohan R. Palleti" <mrpallet at ncsu.edu> wrote:
  C' da:
The same way I guess as they made statue's of Ram, Krishna or Siva....
Hindu's identify the God's with the garb and paraphernelia of the idol.

Same goes with Lady Liberty....

Mohan

>
>> >I believe he is not one person, but many. There has
>>been many manu's who contributed to the manu shastra.
>
>
> I can believe that. But what I get more curious about, is how they
> decided what this Manu looked like to make a statue of his?
>
> Perhaps it was an abstraction? Like a body without a face ? Or a
> piece of stone with a nameplate at the bottom identifying it as Manu
> :-)?
>
>
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> At 8:41 AM -0400 7/6/07, Mohan R. Palleti wrote:
>>You are right! A government office should not be putting up a idol
>>pertaining to a particular religion.
>>
>>As regards to Manu. I believe he is not one person, but many. There has
>>been many manu's who contributed to the manu shastra.
>>
>>A manu is a person who is supposed to be casteless. He is supposed to be
>> a
>>offspring of a manov and danov. In today's parlance he is the product of
>> a
>>intercaste or inter-state/community marriage. He was vested with the job
>>of writing the hindu laws, because he was thought to be impartial, not
>>belonging to any particular caste or creed.
>>
>>But like any humane person, he too was falible. If a Manu was to rewrite
>>the manu smriti, he would definitely have written it differently..... -:)
>>
>>Mohan R. Palleti
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>> Is there not a separation of State and Religion in the seculiar Indian
>>> Constitution which prohibits such display of Hindu religeous figures
>>> in
>>> public place? How can the symbol of Manu harmless?
>>> I think he is the cause of the overall deteriation of the Indian
>>> civilization.
>>> RB
>>>
>>> ----- Original Message -----
>>> From: "Chan Mahanta" 
>>> To: 
>>> Sent: Thursday, July 05, 2007 2:01 PM
>>> Subject: [Assam] From Tehelka---Manu's Memorial
>>>
>>>
>>>> **** Is it a simple, harmless symbol of cultural heritage? Or is
>>>> there a whole lot more to it?
>>>>
>>>> cm
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> THE WORSHIP OF FALSE GODS
>>>>
>>>> http://www.tehelka.com/story_main31.asp?filename=Cr070707shadow_lines.asp
>>>>
>>>> When a new building was constructed in Jaipur for the state High
>>>> Court, the local Bar Association put forward a proposal for the
>>>> installation of a statue of Manu to beautify the premises. From
>>>> proposal to completion, the entire plan was kept a close secret,
>>>> never made public until the statue was in place. Manu was the creator
>>>> of the varna system under which Hindu society for centuries denied
>>>> all basic human rights and dignity to Dalits. For us, a statue of
>>>> Manu can only symbolise the unjust social structure imposed on us
>>>> from time immemorial. All the oppression we continue to suffer is
>>>> because of Manu and his treatise, the Manudharma Sastra.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> We turn to the courts when we are in trouble. Can we ever expect
>>>> justice from a court which we enter looking at Manu's idol?
>>>> The Constitution has attempted to improve the condition of Dalits
>>>> through law, but Manu's words have been an unwritten stricture the
>>>> law cannot touch. Had Manu's statue been installed anywhere else,
>>>> perhaps we would not have cared to react. But to see such homage paid
>>>> to a figure who represents all that is unjust in this society, and
>>>> that too standing proud in the premises of the Rajasthan High Court,
>>>> is shocking. It is beyond acceptance. We turn to the courts when we
>>>> are in trouble, which for us is almost perennial. What worse message
>>>> could we receive? Can we ever expect justice from a court which we
>>>> enter looking at Manu's idol? It only tells us that even the High
>>>> Court subscribes to Manu's ideology. On the other hand, the statue of
>>>> Dr BR Ambedkar, the father of our Constitution, has been shunted to
>>>> an invisible corner. It says a lot about the mentality of the
>>>> judiciary and the government in Rajasthan. How is such a system to
>>>> contribute to the constitutional ideal of a casteless society?
>>>>
>>>> The statue was installed on June 28, 1989, and we have been fighting
>>>> it ever since. There were huge protests all over the state soon after
>> >> it was put up, and a full bench of the High Court ordered that it be
>>>> removed within 48 hours. We were all happy, but soon after that the
>>>> Vishwa Hindu Parishad's Acharya Dharmendra filed a writ petition in
>>>> the court of Justice Mahender Bhushan, who passed a stay order on
>>>> July 27, 1989 - as a result the statue is there till date. There are
>>>> many cases dating back to 1989 that have seen their final hearings,
>>>> but not this one. Each time this case comes to a final hearing, the
>>>> bench postpones it on the grounds that it is a very sensitive issue.
>>>> But we will not give up easily - we haven't so far, and we will not
>>>> in the future. We will continue to file applications asking for a
>>>> final hearing in this case. We want to see how they will justify
>>>> their deliberate delays.
>>>>
>>>> We install statues of Ambedkar because that's our way of reclaiming
>>>> our lost dignity. But why is the government installing a statue of
>>>> Manu? The very government which is supposed to have no biases towards
>>>> any religion or caste. Let there be Manu statues wherever anyone
>>>> pleases, but the government should not be a party to it.
>>>>
>>>> Mimroth is a Jaipur-based advocate
>>>> As told to Praveen Donthi
>>>>
>>>>
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>>
>>
>>
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