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

Chan Mahanta cmahanta at charter.net
Fri Jul 6 13:02:28 PDT 2007 

Well, well, well!

I guess what WAS good for the gander will have to BE good for the 
goose too :-).



















At 8:53 AM -0600 7/6/07, Ram Sarangapani wrote:
>I know Moses looks like Charlton Heston, the Virgin Mary like the 
>one I saw in a grotto at a cathedral inShillong, and Jesus looks 
>like that actor from Passion of the Christ :)
>
>Jesus!....:)
>
>Ram
>
>
>
>On 7/6/07, Dilip/Dil Deka 
><<mailto:dilipdeka at yahoo.com>dilipdeka at yahoo.com> wrote:
>
>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" <<mailto:mrpallet at ncsu.edu>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
>>  :-)?
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>  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> 
>>>>>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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>>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
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