Australia faces a rising threat from home-grown "violent jihadists", Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said on Tuesday, unveiling a counter-terrorism blueprint which increases security measures for visitors from 10 countries.
Rudd announced security improvements, including face-screening and finger-printing, to better monitor visitors from countries assessed as a serious security risk. He did not name the targeted countries.
The new biometric checks come amid heightened security concerns in Western countries following the failed attempt by a Nigerian man to bring down a commercial airliner bound for the United States on Christmas Day.
Rudd said recent counter-terrorism successes in Asia and elsewhere had been offset by the rise in the number of local groups inspired by radical Islam.
"Australia now faces an increased terrorist threat from people born or raised in Australia who take inspiration from violent jihadist narratives," Rudd told reporters. (Source: Indian Express Feb 23, 2010)
BJP on Sethu: Your trust is misplaced! Come down to earth!!
Do not expect people to jump into fire
People are not so much religious minded as the political and religious leaders believe who want to capitalize on the people’s sentiments. This is applicable to all societies in the world. People want to treat the religion as ‘fire’. They want to use it by going near the fire, if it is cold, but, only to the extent to keep them warm. Don’t expect them to jump into it.
Whether there are brokers to God or not they won’t give up their faith. Yes, they are trained to believe not by Mosques, Churches and Temples but by their parents as of now. They are opportunists like politicians and religious leaders; for that matter like any other fellow member of the society in general. They would like to keep away from fire when it is not cold, only to come back when they are bitten by the cold.
Factors like poverty, pain and depression bite them like cold. Many people who were atheists throughout their life develop faith when they are bed ridden. Without any company to share their grief and sorrow, they turn to warmth of God. The most severe pain is felt when one’s existence is ignored by the fellow human beings. Especially it descends on the people when they are aged. When people are ignored by their family, friends and the society, trampled under the feet of fate, even the most courageous atheists turn to God, at least temporarily when their mind is clouded in confusion.
Doubts in the minds
The faith is instilled in young minds in all the societies. It is not an instinct by birth, because a child by birth has no notion about God. Many people believe in God with a doubt lurking in their minds. Nevertheless, they believe in need of a God, but fashionably call themselves ‘Agnostics’. They don’t want any arguments over God, existent or non existent.
Therefore, the religions are alive not because of the religious leaders and their service to the religion. As long as there was no direct or indirect compulsion on the people to give up God as in the erstwhile USSR, the need for organized religion at the national level with vigorous programs and propaganda to protect the religion is very limited. Its role is restricted to the level of giving only guidance to the community, leaving the rest to the local communities.
Believing in God is one thing, and remaining faithful to the religion is a different thing. Do the people believe in God because of religion? Many peoples who believe in God pay no attention to religion. They are not atheists or agnostics. Let us not overestimate the influence of religions in human life, and religions are not at par with God.
BJP: Misfortune was due to miscalculations
Religious culture as it is perceived to exist in society by the religious and political leaders no longer exists in the world. Otherwise, if it is so, in India which is considered as a predominantly a religious country, the BJP would have come to power in the central government with thumping majority during the last elections. Their misfortune was due to their miscalculations.
Come down to earth
In spite of the severe drubbings in the last elections, the BJP has never learned a lesson. Their causes are linked to the God in heaven or the creation of God on the bottom of the ocean. Dear Babus, when are you going to come down from heavens or come out of ocean to earth and fight for the causes related to our society? Can we understand their logic in opposing the Sethu Samudram Canal Project that involves dredging a canal between Sri Lanka and India in the Indian Ocean to avoid sea travel around Sri Lanka?
The BJP has condemned the project on the grounds that Rama Sethu is considered the most ancient heritage of our country, and the UPA government in unabashedly proceeding with the implementation. The bridge said to have been constructed by Rama was drowned, and our Babus are protecting a drowned bridge in the name of religion and culture in the back drop of Sri Lankan campaign against the project. Whether there is evidence or not to this story, instead of convincing the religious leaders about the importance of the project to the nation, the BJP joined the religious forces and headed the opposition.
In the various parts of the world, the political structure prevents the rulers from understanding the real feelings of the people towards the religion and its oppressive and orthodox practices. If they are harping more and more on religion and putting unnecessary and unreasonable pressures on the people without understanding the ground realities, the pent up feelings would surely erupt as ‘revolution against religion’.
Change is inevitable
Change is inevitable in every field, be it religion or politics. Be warned. If the change is not accepted the religion would be neglected and loses its utility to the society. The leaders should also braze themselves not only for changes but also for continuous review of the system. The system properly and regularly overhauled will work for a longer time.
When the compulsion knocks at your door, the readjustment will be painful and it will accompany with the loss of values. The developed countries should enlist the support of the relatively advanced countries and United Nations Organization to spread the awareness. The less developed countries need some leads to pick up the thread, and the momentum will gather on its own thereafter. A series of conferences and meetings of the world leaders as in the case of ‘global warming’ or ‘WTO’ are the needs of the hour.
Pottanna
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