The Charity Work of RSS and Missionaries of Charity – A comparison By Rohini Verma

In the light of recent comments by the RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat about the work of Mother Teresa, there has been a wide spread criticism among people and electronic media. The so called “liberal and secular” Hindus are at the forefront of this criticizing exercise. This criticism is the result of ignorance among people about their own religion. They sing songs of praise for Christian missionaries but have they ever tried to know what great work is done by Hindu Organisations and Hindu people in general?

We do not demean the work done by organisations like Missionaries of Charity but in this age, there is a great need to make people aware about work done by Hindu organisations. According to Hinduism “Daan” is a virtue of generosity. In Hinduism, it is believed that Daan leads to one of the perfections - the perfection of giving - dāna-pāramitā. It means unconditional generosity, giving and letting go.

Support of Daan in Vedas and Hindu religious texts:

 Rig veda has the earliest mention of Daan. Rig veda compares Daan to satya i.e. truth. Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, in verse 5.2.3, states that:

तदेतत्त्रयँ शिक्षेद् दमं दानं दयामिति

This verse directs human beings to learn three cardinal virtues - self restraint, charity and compassion for all life.

Bhagavad Gita also describes the right and wrong forms of Daan in verses 17.20 through 17.22. Hinduism also gives special significance to Go Dāna - donation of a cow, Bhu Dāna - donation of land and Anna Dāna - Giving food to the poor and needy. 

Al Biruni, the Persian historian, who visited India for 16 years from about 1017 AD, mentions the practice of charity in his records. He wrote:

“It is obligatory with them (Hindus) every day to give alms as much as possible.”—Tarikh Al-Hind, 11th century AD.

Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh:

Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh is charitable, educational and volunteer Hindu nationalist non-governmental organization. It is the world's largest voluntary NGO. It follows the principle of selfless service to the nation and society. RSS was founded 89 years ago in 1925. Its founder was Keshav Baliram Hedgewar. It has 50,000 shakhas to spread its ideological beliefs.

Role played by RSS at the time of partition:

The RSS played a very active role in independence movement. At the time of partition of India when millions of Hindus and Sikhs fled Pakistan to find refuge in India, the RSS played an active role in helping these people. The RSS arranged for food, medicines, shelter, tents etc. The RSS participated in movement to decolonise Dadra and Nagar Haveli, which was ruled by Portuguese colonists.

Sewa activities:

Whenever there was any need of relief work in country, the RSS was at the forefront of such work. The disaster relief provided by the Sangh in Jammu and Kashmir floods was enormous. The Hindu organisations organized free medical camps in the flood-hit state and provided medical aid to around 1,400 patients in different areas of Jammu district. Around 2,000 kg of cattle feed was distributed among villagers for their livestock and it was assured that cattle feed for one week would be supplied in Hamirpur village of Akhnoor free of cost. The activities of the Sangh are spreading to distant parts of the nation. The Sangh welcomes even people other than Hindus who join the Sangh. 

Work in education sector:

Samvedana Rehabilitation Centre has been set up for the rescue of handicapped children. This organization enables them to lead a normal life by boosting their confidence. With the coming together of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh Jankalyan Samiti Maharashtra Prant and Vivekanand Medical Foundation & Research Centre, the Samvedana Rehabilitation Centre for Physically Handicapped was started at Latur. The RSS has started many hostels in many parts of our country for students to provide them free accommodation and educational facilities. Various
Bal Sanskar Kendras, primary schools, secondary schools, night schools, libraries and residential schools are run all across India.

Role of Arogya Rakshaks:

Arogya Chetna Shivirs are organized in various parts of India. The Arogya Rakshaks are rendering primary health services in remote villages of the nation, where people do not have any access to health facilities. They provide people the basic health care facilities and essential medicines that too free of cost.

Role in Health sector:

Various projects in the field of health have been launched by the RSS and Vishav Hindu Parishad. These projects include dispensaries of English medicines, homeopathy, ayurveda, naturopathy and panchgavya (medicinal products from cow urine and dung), mobile medical clinics, hospitals, and ambulances. Trained aarogya sewaks and sewikas are there to provide primary health care. At many places free Vyavyaam shalas (gyms) are set up to promote good health. Medical & Health Camps are organised from time to time. Various hospitals, Mobile Dispensaries and ambulances are also run.

Environment conservation:

In the view of need to conserve the environment, the Hindu organisations are planting trees in every village of the nation. Apart from this, people are encouraged to plant Tulsi in their homes.

Employment generation:

The Hindu organisations are running self-employment training centres at many places in India. The people, especially women are given useful training in occupations like farming, bee-keeping, agriculture, animal husbandry and sewing. It helps them to supplement their family income.

Social work:

Birth sanskar are conducted in orphanages. Mass or group marriages are arranged for those couples whose parents cannot afford to arrange wedding ceremonies. Those who are unable to perform the last rites of relatives due to financial constraints, they are helped to do so. Apart from this, orphanages, Legal Help Centres, Woman Rescue Centres and Working Women Hostels are run to help people. Hundreds of Drinking Water Centres have been set up in India. The help provided by Hindus during natural calamities is indispensible. Various old age homes, inns and community centres are also run. Free food is provided to people taking part in various religious pilgrimages like Amarnath Yatra and Mata Vaishno Devi Yatra. People are given free blankets and medicines.

Cow protection:

All across India, various goshalas are run to save cows from Muslim butchers. These cows also include non-milking cattle which are easy targets for butchers. The Hindus consider cows pious and donate generously to Goshalas so that these poor animals can be fed and provided medical help when need be. Every year trucks full of cows being sent to butchers are saved by the Hindu activists. The proactive Hindu warriors are working to stop illegal cow transport, cow trading, cross border cow smuggling and cow slaughtering.

Now, let us see what work has been done by the Missionaries of Charity

Missionaries of Charity were established in 1950 by Mother Teresa. It is active in 133 countries. Missionaries work for ex-prostitutes, mentally ill, sick children, abandoned children, lepers, and people with AIDS.

They run schools to educate street children. They have 19 homes in Kolkata which include homes for women, orphans, and for the dying people. They also have a leper colony. In all these places, services are provided without charge. People regardless of their religion or caste are treated here. Several clinics were formed which provided medication, bandage and food to people suffering from leprosy.

Quality of care provided:

The quality of care offered to terminally ill patients in the Home for the Dying in Kolkata is a subject of controversy. Many international observers drew unfavourable comparisons with the standard of care available in West. Dr. Robin Fox commented about the lack of full-time medically-trained personnel and the absence of pain killers. These views were published in a memoir in an issue of The Lancet in 1994. A British former volunteer at the Home objected that syringes were rinsed in cold water and reused and inmates were given cold baths. Another objection was that aspirin was administered to people with terminal cancer.

The enormous funds that the charity received were majorly spent on nuns and brothers. There was no audit of the funds. But despite all the criticism, Mother Teresa is considered a person who sacrificed her life for poor and destitute. She was awarded Padma Shri in 1962 and Ramon Magsaysay Award in 1962. For her service to the humanity she was honoured with Nobel Peace Prize in 1979.

Now after reading the article we can conclude that if Christians are doing good work then the Hindus are not behind in any way. It is just that the Hindus do not sing songs of self praise. The organisations that are considered Right wing, they have contributed enormously in development of our nation and society. The need is to highlight the work done by them that goes unnoticed in this world of self styled “liberal and secular” people.

Courtesy: http://www.thefamouspeople.com, http://www.heaven4sure.com, http://en.wikipedia.org, http://vhp.org, http://www.dnaindia.com, http://rashtriyasewa.org , http://rss.org

The Hidden Truth of Mother Teresa by Rohini Verma

The hidden truth of Mother Teresa

Recently, Mother Teresa was brought back to our collective memory. The issue started with RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat’s statement about Mother Teresa that conversion to Christianity was the objective behind Mother Teresa’s service to the poor. 

Religious conversions or social service?

There is a need to look in to the facts that becomes even more important when the whole media is declaring Mohan Bhagwat’s statement a “disgrace and insult” to Mother Teresa. Religious conversions are not something new in India. But doing it under the garb of social service is more demeaning.

Mother Teresa was born Agnes Gonxha in Albania and founded the Missionaries of Charity in Calcutta. There is no doubt that Mother Teresa rendered a great service to poor and sick people. But she was also instrumental in converting poor Hindus into Christians. A large number of people, who were converted, did not know anything significant about Christianity. It proves that many times conversion was done by lure of money.

Rather than worshipping human beings as gods, one should try to look at the material facts as well. People like TV anchors, Arvind Kejriwal and Digvijay Singh have condemned the statement and lashed out at RSS chief and asked him to apologize publicly. The RSS chief has not questioned Mother’s service to poor he has opened our eyes on the hidden side of service – Conversions.

“Self styled Mother”:

The "beatification" of Mother Teresa was questioned by Christians themselves. Many of them called her “self styled Mother” and some called her beatification surrender on the part of the church to superstition and populism.

False miracles:

In regard to claims for Mother being a saint, there is a fact that one should read. A Bengali woman Monica Besra claimed that a beam of light emerged from a picture of Mother Teresa that she had at her home. She claimed that the beam relieved her of a cancerous tumor. Her doctor, Dr. Ranjan Mustafi said that she did not have a cancerous tumor and the tubercular cyst she had was cured by medicines.

Opposition with in the Church:

According to a report in an Italian paper L'Eco di Bergamo, the Vatican's secretary of state sent a letter to senior cardinals, asking whether they favored making Mother Teresa a saint. It is astonishing that the response was in the negative. Mother Teresa was beatified to sainthood in 2003 by Pope John Paul II. Mother Teresa was nominated by the Pope for sainthood in 1998, a year after her death, instead of five years which is the usual practice.

Fanatic views:

 She was against abortions, divorce and remarriage. Like the Muslim fanatics, she was against contraception. After receiving the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979, she said, “...I feel the greatest destroyer of peace today is abortion”. Later in 1996, she told Ladies Home Journal that she was pleased by the divorce of her friend Princess Diana, because it was an unhappy marriage. So, she had different rules for rich and the poor.

Hypocrisy:

She treated poor in her set ups but she preferred California clinics when she got sick herself. Her patients did not have access to pain-relieving and illness-combating medical support in her charitable organisations. But Mother Teresa herself used to check into costly and sophisticated hospitals in the West.

Lack of financial audit:

Her order always refused to publish any audit. According to her own claim she opened 500 convents in more than a hundred countries. From where the funds came and where were they spent is a cloudy mess of information which is not disclosed completely. There was suspicious management of the enormous sums of money she received.

The large amount of money that Mother Teresa received was not meant for poor. Evidently very little of this money actually went to the poor. A large sum of money was used in the upkeep of Nuns and Brothers and the training of priests around the world. In an interview she said, “We are not nurses, we are not doctors, we are not teachers, we are not social workers. We are religious, we are religious, we are religious." This statement sums up her agenda. Her main mission was to spread Catholicism and her strong anti-abortion beliefs. She had overly dogmatic views regarding abortion, contraception and divorce.

Support for corrupt businessmen:

Mother Teresa was accused of hypocrisy on many occasions. She had once said, "I think it is very beautiful for the poor to accept their lot, to share it with the passion of Christ. I think the world is being much helped by the suffering of the poor people." She openly supported corrupt businessmen Charles Keating and Robert Maxwell as well as dictatorial family Robert Duvalier. This stand of hers received harsh criticism. She had a dubious way of caring for the sick. She had questionable political contacts.

'Homes for the dying':

 At the time of her death, Mother Teresa had opened 517 missions for the poor and sick in more than 100 countries. But these missions are described as 'homes for the dying'. Doctors observed a significant lack of hygiene, unfit conditions, and shortage of actual care, inadequate food, and no painkillers. 

Mother Teresa and her nuns have secretly baptised dying men and women without their consent. This is a charge denied by the Missionaries of Charity. But they were involved in Baptisms of dying people. So, one can decide whether it was a service in true sense or Baptisms of poor dying souls.

Also Published on  - http://shankhnaad.net/index.php/heritage/subversion/item/202-the-hidden-truth-of-mother-teresa , https://www.facebook.com/iSupportSwamy?fref=nf

Sources : http://www.hindutav.com,  http://www.slate.com, http://www.dnaindia.com 

“Baptisms of the dying souls” – By Rohini Verma

In regard to the recent controversy about the work of Mother Teresa, there are certain points that are hidden from the general public. One of the truths is – “Baptisms of the dying people”.

Mother Teresa directed members of her order to baptize dying patients, irrespective of the fact that person belonged to which religion. In a speech at the Scripps Clinic in California in January 1992, she said: "... not one has died without receiving the special ticket for St. Peter. We call baptism ticket for St. Peter.”

Dying people were asked whether they wanted a blessing by which their sins would be forgiven and they would meet God. The dying people never refused. Thousands of people have died in Kalighat since 1952. So the number of people converted can be well imagined.

The patients were not given essential information which could help them in making an informed decision about conversion. So what was this? Service or “Baptisms of the dying souls.”