Time is late breakfasts every Sunday. Nostalgia is watching recreated hour-long bow-and-arrow matches that took place 7000 years ago. Memories are the excitement of watching these hour-long bow-and-arrow matches with parents, siblings, uncles, aunts, cousins, neighbours, friends, and random strangers trooping into your house every Sunday at 9:30 AM.
Whatever you want to fault Decrepit Doordarshan, you can’t fault it for being a good example of the Law of Unintended Consequences. For the first time since its miserable beginnings as the propaganda machine of the Congress party, it hit pay dirt with what I retrospectively call Breakfast Gold. The 9:30 A.M. Sunday slot. This slot was at one time considered as being an unpopular time slot. However, it took Ramayan to turn this “unpopular” time slot around on it head and suddenly make it the most sought-after time slot. This remained the case for many years till the advent of private channels erased Doordarshan’s monopoly for good. However, almost all TV channels continue to vie for the “breakfast slot.”
Then on May 6 2012, Aamir Khan happened.
The early days saw a marked indifference of reigning Bollywood stars towards television. It was widely considered that the moment a Bollywood star of some standing began to host talk shows and acted in serials, it meant that their big screen fortunes had faded or were fast fading. The converse was equally true—a TV actor who began to be sought by Bollywood had arrived—there’s no bigger or worse example of this than having Shahrukh Khan thrust rudely upon us. He remains the television world’s most unforgivable sin committed upon the nation.
However, the corporatization of TV and Bollywood upset all calculations and changed pretty much everything. Film production houses now also sport mammoth TV arms and successful TV production houses have been equally successful in making significant dents in mainstream Bollywood. In other words: there’s serious money in Indian television.
Hence Satyamev Jayate.
If you think Satyamev Jayate is about doing good to society, raising awareness about social issues and such other good stuff, you’re stupid or naive or both. It is as commercial as Kaun Banega Crorepati. Only that KBC also helped a few people go home with substantial money while Satyamev Jayate helps only Aamir Khan and his team go home rich.
On principle, I refuse to watch it and thereby help contribute to its TRP. I’ve merely watched snippets on YouTube as part of my research, which reaffirms and leads me to conclude that my principle isn’t entirely unfounded. If anything, Satyamev Jayate is a well-thought farce unleashed upon millions of unsuspecting Indian middle class citizens so that Aamir Khan can make money. It gets everything wrong starting right from the title.
satyameva jayate n?n?ta?
satyena panth? vitato devay?na? |
yen?kramanty??ayo hy?ptak?m?
yatra tat satyasya parama? nidh?namTruth alone triumphs; not untruth.
(It is) through truth that the divine path is spread out by which
The sages whose desires have been fulfilled,
Reach the realm where the supreme treasure of Truth resides.(Mundaka Upanishad, 3.1.6)
The aforementioned verse is the complete context of the phrase Satyameva Jayate. Like so many things that have been perverted with regard to Hindu philosophical concepts, this one too, hasn’t been spared. The Truth here is not truth as is commonly understood (don’t tell lies, tell only the truth, etc); instead, it’s the Ultimate Truth or Self-Realization or Brahman.
It’s unlikely Aamir even knows this context let alone the subtleties and the philosophical school it is derived from. Yet that doesn’t prevent him from using it as the title of his show. Like how Patanjali’s original intent and philosophy of Yoga didn’t prevent charlatans like Deepak Chopra to proclaim themselves as Yoga Gurus. Thus, when Aamir Khan titles his show Satyameva Jayate, what Satya or Truth does he mean to say “Brahman alone triumphs?”
But let’s hear it from the man himself:
Aamir was quite adamant about naming his television show ‘Satyameva Jayate’ as it completely gelled with the theme, which clearly indicates that the show is of, for and belongs to people of India.
Of course, every 2-bit TV show maker will make the same claim: this is not for me, it’s for the people of India, I want to understand and identify with their causes, yadda yadda yadda. Even the maker of a porn movie can make that claim: porn is for other people and it does serve a useful purpose. But somewhere amid this lofty claim, Aamir lets out a secret:
Aamir Khan got to know about the fact that the title ‘Satyameva Jayate’ can’t be registered and as soon as the actor got aware of the fact that he can’t have copyrights of the title
Actually thank God for that. One can only imagine the consequences of having Satyameva Jayate copyrighted.
The “issues” Aamir Khan takes up are merely secondary. What’s alarming is the tenor of each show, which is both sinister and dehumanizing. It falls perfectly in the mould of making money out of other people’s misery. The impact of television/cinema compared to the written word is exponential: get a bunch of people in the studio (or on location), get them to narrate their personal tragedy, prod them with questions precisely targeted to get the tear glands working overtime and beam those images from a hundred different angles. The issue itself fades away into the background: the gory tales of a brutal mother-in-law who almost killed her own granddaughter because it was a baby girl, the heartless doctor for whom money is more important than a human life, the irreparably-burned dowry-victim daughter-in-law….the impact on the TV viewers is tremendous while Aamir & Co laugh happily all the way to the bank. Tragedy works. Every time. Ask Oprah Winfrey, the earliest milker of human misery. Aamir Khan has emerged as India’s Mister Oprah Winfrey albeit a few decades late. Or early if you look at the fact that milking-human-misery type talk shows are still in infancy in India. If Slumdog Millionaire was (rightly) termed “Poverty Porn,” Satyamev Jayate is Misery Porn.
I’ve always maintained that the middle class is a huge contributor to the mess India is in today. Which is why nobody has even bothered to ask what exactly are Aamir Khan’s credentials to sit there on the show and lend self-righteous running commentary about issues he doesn’t have the slightest inkling of? More importantly, the choice of issues he has selected so far—except Child Abuse and People with Disabilities—is revealing. Female foeticide, medical malpractices, dowry & love marriages. Really? Why not talk about abortion, which is also foeticide? He won’t because that’ll rile up the chest-beating, “pink panties” feminist brigade. And dowry, whatever its evils, has also another side: it has been grossly misused especially after Sections 495 & their allies came into being. Self-righteous moaning and screaming on TV in the guise of creating social awareness will get you more fans and TRPs but what that also does is tar the issue with a broad brush. That gets people upset.
And it did. The medical malpractice episode justifiably got the medical community riled up but Aamir being Aaamir, refused to apologize. But the problem with the episode is not who got upset but, again, credentials. A show that is praised for the “amount of research” didn’t bother to check on the misuse of dowry and domestic harassment laws? Or as this piece dissecting Aamir’s meaningless meanderings on medical malpractice shows, Aamir & Co have thrown logic, reasoning, and facts out of the window because…well, their researching eyes were firmly on the bank. They know the exact extent to which the Indian middle class has been dumbed down. Thus Aamir can afford to thunder about not apologizing to the doctors. Doctors are not Bollywoood stars whose every whim the dumbed down junta will indulge and whose every nonsensical uttering they will cheer as gospel truth.
There’s enough and more proof that shows the exact extent to which the TV-addicted middle class has mortgaged its mental faculties on the anvil of celebrity worship. During the prelaunch promos, the middle class refrain went, “Oh! if Aamir Khan is hosting it, it must be fantastic! Just see, it will have a tremendous impact!” and then, after we were collectively visually assaulted in our drawing rooms when the first episode was aired, this refrain became, “Oh man! Hard hitting! What a guy! He’s the only caring actor! He’s proved it again! We need more such shows! Only Aamir can do this! Now this is called a real TV show compared to the crap other channels give!” and in just over 3 episodes, he was firmly in the league of the Super Social Activists. All this when Aamir himself had said:
Through this show we understand the problem of the people, we are not here to make a change. I am no one to change anything. I don`t think I am in the position to change anything else. I feel understanding a problem and feeling it or holding one`s hand or hugging is also important. I may not have the solution, but at least I can hear and understand.
From such “humble” beginnings, he now writes a (puke) column in the Hindu.
It isn’t as if these issues didn’t exist. There’s voluminous documentation of all kinds on these issues. It isn’t as if nobody knew about them. Did it take an Aamir Khan to somehow descend from the Bollywood Heavens and joust the junta awake? If the answer is yes, it’s yet another proof of the junta’s dumbness. Actually (and sadly) the answer is yes and no. Has he jousted them awake? Yes. But only on Sunday between 11 AM – 12 AM. Then it’s business for the junta as usual. That’s the “no” answer.
The jousting-awake worked simply because of the packaging: the clever and purposeful jerking of tears, plus Brand Aamir that he and his team knew would make it a hit show. Besides, in the overall scheme of things these aren’t real issues as heartless as it may sound. These are symptoms of a deeper malaise, a near-total breakdown of ancient civilizational values, and a crude political debauchery that enables such symptoms to erupt into full blown diseases. But then these real issues don’t evoke tears and therefore don’t generate wads of money. If Aamir really wants to understand people, the way to do it is to actually be with them. To visit their houses. To learn their traditions. To eat their food. To talk/learn their language. He’s done none of that but that doesn’t prevent him from pontificating thusly:
Q: In everyday life, how do we treat disabled persons? What is our attitude towards them? What is our philosophy? In 2007, the World Bank conducted a huge all-India survey. It was revealed that about 50 percent people believe disability is a retribution for sins of past lives.
A: Look, this is about a way of thinking. Polio is a disease that cripples. There has been a government campaign for several years now, to provide medicines.The result of this campaign was the # of polio cases declined year after year.In the past 12 months not a single case of polio was reported anywhere in the country.
What does this mean? If it us retribution for past sins why are cases of polio dwindling? Have the tides of sin ebbed in the last decade? << the audience claps>>
Clearly, it has nothing to do with sins of past lives.Yet some cling to this belief. The outcome of this belief is, society becomes insensitive. Disabled persons are ill-treated.
In a line, he dismisses one of the central tenets of Hindu philosophy: the concept of Karma. What’s your bet that he knows zilch about karma? But the audience laps it up because…well, hey because it’s Aamir Khan. The reaction to this ill-conceived show was instantaneous, spontaneous, overwhelming, and widespread. And it’s alarming. And now it’s reached such sickening proportions that come Sunday 11 AM – 12 PM, the Twitter timeline turns into an ugly pukefest resembling a loathsome neighbourhood of gossipy aunties who feel they’re contributing to society by discussing what Aamir Khan is discussing right now on TV. Unsurprising given the crores he and his team have invested in promoting it by making it appear as if they are not promoting it: the pre-launch secrecy, the claim that it was made straight from the heart and every effort to make it an instant success. What belies these lies is slobbering reviews such as this:
His highly emotional chat show, aims at bringing a change in the society. Real people and real stories form the strength of ‘Satyamev Jayate’. First episode of the show aired today, focused on the issue of female foeticide in India. We come across such reports almost everyday in newspapers and news channels, but hardly pay any attention. Aamir Khan deserves an applause for bringing up such a sensitive issue and presenting it in a hard hitting way. The amount of research Aamir and his team has put into the show was clearly visible with the facts and figures presented. Every aspect of the issue was covered with great diligence. The show began with some shocking stories of mothers who struggled to give birth to their girl child and how they are bringing them up now.
For a talk show host who has now morphed into a columnist, social worker and activist of sorts, Aamir’s record of doing his bit on social issues is pretty illustrative:
- The politically-motivated Narmada Bachao Andolan where he identified himself with Medha Patkar who in turn had turned the movement into a personal fiefdom of sorts currying money and influence and now stands discredited.
- Doing a “protest” to get his film Fanaa released in Gujarat
- Supporting the ill-informed Anna Hazare movement
Aamir Khan is a talented actor (I refuse to buy the rest of the packaging that’s added to the “actor” bit: method, thinking, perfectionist, etc), a shrewd person, and quite a crafty businessman. The little-known thing is that he carefully chooses his causes and keeps his religious and political alignments as low key as possible.
He’s one of the staunchest devotees of Allah, is a proud Muslim who has no qualms in asserting that his wives maybe Hindu but he wants his children to always follow only Islam. This would’ve been perfectly all right except that in the same breath he also says:
I hate the division of religion in itself at the behest of mankind themselves…In my eyes religion is religion. I really hate its classification. Anyways…I would say that as far as I am concerned no I am not a highly religious person at all. I believe more in spirituality.
If religion is religion, if you hate classifying it, if you believe only in the Spirit, why do you even mention that your wife is a Hindu but you want your kids to follow only Islam, Mr. Aamir? Who’s doing the dividing now? How he views his wife and kids is his personal business. However, he has now assumed the role of judge and jury and wants only truth to triumph. Which is why it’s necessary to examine where his own life stands in relation to Truth. More importantly, it is snippets like this that give valuable insights into celebrity do-gooders or even ordinary do-gooders who later become celebrities. The innate hypocrisy that in some is evident on the surface hides just beneath it in calculative folks like Aamir Khan. Just like in his show.
Here’s a parting question to Aamir Khan: We always wish you to remain in the pink of health at all times but Allah forbid, if you seek treatment for an illness, where would you go? And if the treatment bill is given to you, would you label it as a medical malpractice? Satyameva Jayate.
Islam:as per holy book
Surah 2: ayat 193.
Fight against them until idolatry is no more and Allah’s religion reigns supreme.
Surah 8: ayat 39.
Make war on them until idolatry is no more and Allah’s religion reigns supreme.
Surah 2: ayat 216.
Fighting is obligatory for you, much as you dislike it. But you may hate a thing although it is good for you, and love a thing although it is bad for you. Allah knows, but you do not.
Surah 9: ayat 41.
Whether unarmed or well-equipped, march on and fight for the cause of Allah, with your wealth and your persons. This will be best for you, if you but knew it,
Surah 9: ayat 123.
Believers! make war on the infidels who dwell around you. Let them find harshness in you.
Surah 66: ayat 9.
O Prophet! make war on the unbelievers and the hypocrites and deal sternly with them. Hell shall be their home, evil their fate.
Surah 9: ayat 73.
O Prophet! Make war on the unbelievers and the hypocrites. Be harsh with them. Their ultimate abode is Hell, a hapless journey’s end.
Surah 8: ayat 65.
O Prophet! Exhort the believers to fight. If there are twenty steadfast men among you, they shall vanquish two hundred; and if there are a hundred, they shall rout a thousand unbelievers, for they are devoid of understanding.
Surah 8: ayat 66.
Now bath Allah lightened your burden, for He knoweth that there is weakness in you. So if there be of you a steadfast hundred they shall vanquish two hundred, and if there be of you a thousand steadfast they shall vanquish two thousand by permission of Allah. Allah is with the steadfast.
Surah 47: ayats 4-15.
When you meet the unbelievers in the battlefield strike off their heads and when you have laid them low, bind your captives firmly. Then grant them their freedom or take ransom from them, until war shall lay down her armour. Thus shall you do. Had Allah willed, He could Himself have punished them (without your help); but He has ordained it thus that He might test you, the one by the other. As for those who are slain in the cause of Allah, He will not allow their works to perish. He will vouchsafe them guidance and ennoble their state; He will admit them to the Paradise He has made known to them.
Believers! if you help Allah, Allah will help you and make you strong. But the unbelievers shall be consigned to perdition. He will bring their deeds to nothing. Because they have opposed His revelations, He will frustrate their works… Allah is the protector of the faithful; unbelievers have no protector. Allah will admit those who embrace the true faith to gardens watered by running streams. The unbelievers take their full of pleasure and eat as the beasts eat; but Hell shall be their home… They shall abide in Hell for ever and drink scalding water which will tear their bowels.
Surah 8: ayat 12.
I shall cast terror into the hearts of the infidels. Strike off their heads, maim them in every limb.
Surah 69: ayats 30-33.
We shall say, ‘Lay hold of him and bind him. Bum him in the fire of Hell, then fasten him with a chain seventy cubits long. For he did not believe in Allah, the Most High.
Surah 8: ayats 15-18.
Believers! when you encounter the armies of the infidels do not turn your backs to them in flight. If anyone on that day turns his back to them, except it be for tactical reasons, or to join another band, he shall incur the wrath of Allah and Hell shall be his home: an evil fate.
It was not you, but Allah, who slew them. It was not you who smote them; Allah smote them so that He might richly reward the faithful. He hears all and knows all. He will surely thwart the designs of the unbelievers.
Surah 25: ayat 52.
Do not yield to the unbelievers, but fight them strenuously with this Koran.
Surah 9: ayat 39.
If you do not fight He will punish you sternly and replace you by other men…
Surah 9: ayat 111.
Allah has purchased of the faithful their lives and worldly goods and in return has promised them the Garden. They will fight for His cause, slay and be slain. Such is the true pledge which He has made them in the Torah, the Gospel and the Koran. And who is more true to His promise than Allah? Rejoice then in the bargain you have made. That is the supreme triumph.
Surah 3: ayats 169-171.
You must not think that those who were slain in the cause of Allah are dead. They are alive, and well provided for by their Lord; pleased with His gifts and rejoicing that those whom they left behind and who have not yet joined them have nothing to fear or to regret; rejoicing in Allah’s grace and bounty. Allah will not deny the faithful their reward.
Surah 4: ayat 100.
He that flies his homeland for the cause of Allah shall find numerous places of refuge in the land and great abundance. He that leaves his dwelling to fight for Allah and His apostle and is then overtaken by death, shall be rewarded by Allah. Allah is forgiving and merciful.
Surah 48: ayat 29.
Muhammad is Allah’s apostle. Those who follow him are ruthless to the unbelievers but merciful to one another… Through them Allah seeks to enrage the unbelievers.
Surah 49: ayat 15.
The true believers are those that have faith in Allah and His apostle and never doubt; and who fight for His cause with their wealth and persons. Such are those whose faith is true.
Surah 2: ayat 154.
Do not say that those who were slain in the cause of Allah are dead; they are alive, although you are not aware of them.
Surah 3: ayats 157-158.
If you should die or be slain in the cause of Allah, His forgiveness and His mercy would surely be better than all the riches they amass. If you should die or be slain, before Him you shall all be gathered.
Surah 8: ayats 59-60.
Let the unbelievers not think that they will escape Us. They have not the power to do so. Muster against them all the men and cavalry at your disposal, so that you may strike terror into the enemies of Allah and the faithful, and others besides them. All that you give for the cause of Allah shall be repaid you. You shall not be wronged.
Surah 9: ayats 2-3.
…Allah will humble the unbelievers… Allah and His apostle are free from obligation to the idol-worshippers… Proclaim a woeful punishment to the unbelievers.
Surah 9: ayat 29.
Fight against such of those to whom the Scriptures were given as believe neither in Allah nor the Last Day, who do not forbid what Allah and His apostle have forbidden, and do not embrace the true faith, until they pay tribute out of hand and are utterly subdued.
Surah 8: ayat 67.
It is not for any Prophet to have captives until he has made slaughter in the land…
Surah 4: ayat 84.
So fight for the cause of Allah. You are accountable for none but yourself. Rouse the faithful; perchance Allah will defeat the unbelievers. He is mightier and more truculent than they.
Surah 29: ayat 6.
He that fights for Allah’s cause fights for himself…
Surah 29: ayat 69.
Those that fight for Our cause We will surely guide to our own paths. Allah is with the righteous.
Surah 61: ayats 9-13.
It is He who has sent His messenger with the guidance and the Religion of Truth, so that He may make it the conqueror of all religions, much as the idol-worshippers may dislike it.
Believers! Shall I point out to you a profitable course that will save you from a woeful scourge? Have faith in Allah and His apostle and fight for His cause with your wealth and your persons. That would be best for you, if you but knew it. He will forgive you your sins and admit you to gardens watered by running streams; He will lodge you in pleasant mansions in the gardens of Eden. That is the supreme triumph.
Surah 9: ayat 36.
Allah ordained the months twelve in number when He created the Heavens and the earth. Of these four (Dhi-Qa’ada, Dhul-Hajja, Muharram and Rajab) are sacred according to the true faith. Therefore do not sin against yourselves by violating them. But you may fight against the idolaters in all these months since they themselves fight against you in all of them. Know that Allah is with the righteous.
Surah 9: ayat 5.
When the sacred months are over slay the idol-worshippers wherever you find them. Arrest them, besiege them, and lie in ambush everywhere for them. If they repent and take to prayer and pay the alms-tax, let them go their way. Allah is forgiving and merciful.
Surah 9: ayat 14.
Fight them! Allah will chastise them at your hands, and He will lay them low and give you victory over them, and He will heal the breasts of folk who are believers.
Surah 9: ayats 20-22.
Those that have embraced the faith and fled their homes and fought for Allah’s cause with their wealth and their persons are held in higher regard by Allah. It is they who shall triumph. Their Lord has promised them joy and mercy, and gardens of eternal pleasures where they shall dwell for ever. Allah’s reward is great indeed.
Surah 4: ayats 95-96.
The believers who stay at home – apart from those that suffer from a grave impediment – are not equal to those -who fight for the cause of Allah with their goods and their persons. Allah has given those that fight with their goods and their persons a higher rank than those who stay at home. He has promised all a good reward: but far richer is the recompense of those who fight for Him: rank of His own bestowal, forgiveness, and mercy. Allah is forgiving and merciful.
Surah 8: ayats 72-74.
Those that have embraced the faith and fled their homes, fought for the cause of Allah with their wealth and their persons; and those that sheltered them and helped them, shall be friends to each other… they are the true believers. They shall receive mercy and generous provision.
Surah 3: ayat 142.
Did you suppose that you would enter Paradise before Allah has proved the men who fought for Him and endured with fortitude?
ANNEXURE‘B’
Sayings of ‘Koran’ which Promote, on Grounds of Religion,
Feeling of Enmity, Hatred and Ill-Will between different
Religious Communities in India
Surah 4: ayat 101.
It is not offence for you to shorten your prayers when travelling the road if you fear that the unbelievers may attack you. The unbelievers are your sworn enemies.
Surah 60: ayat 4.
…We renounce you (i.e. the idolaters): enmity and hate shall reign between us until you believe in Allah only…
Surah 58: ayat 23.
You shall find no believers in Allah and the Last Day on friendly terms with those who oppose Allah and His apostle, even though they be their fathers, their sons, their brothers, or their nearest kindred…
Surah 9: ayat 7.
Allah and His apostle repose no trust in idolaters…
Surah 8: ayats 13-14.
Thus We punished them because they defied Allah and His apostle. He that defies Allah and His apostle shall be sternly punished. We said to them, ‘Feel Our scourge. Hell-fire awaits the unbelievers.’
Surah 8: ayat 55.
The basest creatures in the sight of Allah are the faithless who will not believe…
Surah 25: ayat 55.
Yet the unbelievers worship idols which can neither help nor harm them. Surely the unbeliever is his Lord’s enemy.
Surah 5: ayat 72.
…He that worships other Gods besides Allah shall be forbidden Paradise and shall be cast into the fire of Hell. None shall help the evil-doers.
Surah 9: ayat 23.
Believers! do not befriend your fathers or your brothers if they choose unbelief in preference to faith. Wrong-doers are those that befriend them.
Surah 9: ayat 28.
Believers! know that the idolaters are unclean…
Surah 3: ayat 28.
Let believers not make friends with infidels in preference to the faithful; he that does this has nothing to hope for from Allah – except in self-defence. Allah admonishes you to fear Him; for to Him you shall all return.
Surah 3: ayat 118.
Believers! do not make friends with any men other than your own people. They will spare no pains to corrupt you. They desire nothing but your ruin. Their hatred is clear from what they say, but more violent is the hatred which their breasts conceal…
Surah 4 ayat 144.
Believers! do not choose the infidels rather than the faithful for your friends. Would you give Allah a clear proof against yourselves?
Surah 5: ayat 14.
…Therefore, We stirred among them (i.e. the Christians) enmity and hatred, which shall endure till the Day of Resurrection, when Allah will declare to them all that they have done.
Surah 5: ayat 64.
…That which Allah has revealed to you will surely increase the wickedness and unbelief of many of them (i.e. the Jews). We have stirred among them (i.e. the Jews) enmity and hatred, which will endure till the Day of Resurrection…
Surah 5: ayat 18.
The Jews and the Christians say, ‘We are the children of Allah and His loved ones.’ Say: ‘Why then does He punish you for your sins?’…
Surah 5: ayat 51.
Believers! take neither Jews nor Christians for your friends. They are friends with one another. Whoever of you seeks their friendship shall become one of their number. Allah does not guide the wrong-doers.
ANNEXURE‘C’
Sayings of ‘Koran’ which Insult other Religions as also the
Religious Beliefs of other Communities in India
Surah 5: ayat 17.
Unbelievers are those who declare: ‘Allah is the Messiah (i.e. Christ), the son of Mary.’ Say: ‘Who could prevent Allah from destroying the Messiah (i.e. Christ), the son of Mary, together with his mother and all the people of the earth?’…
Surah 4: ayat 157.
They denied the truth and uttered a monstrous falsehood against Mary. They declared: ‘We have put to death the Messiah Jesus, the son of Mary, the apostle of Allah.’ They did not kill him, nor did they crucify him, but they thought they did.
Surah 5: ayats 116-118.
Then Allah will say, ‘Jesus, son of Mary, did you ever say to mankind: “Worship me and my mother as Gods beside Allah?’ ‘Glory to You,’ he will answer, ‘how could I say that to which I have no right? If I had ever said so, You would have surely known it. You know what is in my mind, but I cannot tell what is in Yours. You alone know what is hidden. I spoke to them of nothing except what You bade me. I said, “Serve Allah, my Lord and your Lord.” I watched over them whilst living in their midst, and ever since You took me to You, You Yourself have been watching over them. You are the witness of all things. They are Your own bondsmen: it is for You to punish or to forgive them. You are the Mighty, the Wise one.’
Surah 98: ayat 6.
The unbelievers among the people of the Book (i.e. Christians and Jews) and the pagans shall bum for ever in the fire of Hell. They are the vilest of all creatures.
Surah 68: ayats 8-13.
Give no heed to the disbelievers: they desire you to overlook their doings that they may overlook yours. Nor yield to the wretch of many oaths, the mischief-making slanderer, the opponent of good, the wicked transgressor, the bully who is of doubtful birth to boot.
Surah 38: ayats 55-57.
…But doleful shall be the return of the transgressors. They shall bum in the fire of Hell, a dismal resting-place. There let them taste their drink: scalding water, festering blood and other putrid things.
Surah 22: ayats 19-21.
…Garments of fire have been prepared for unbelievers. Scalding water shall be poured upon their heads, melting their skins and that which is in their bellies. They shall be lashed with red iron.
Surah 22: ayats 56-57.
…Those that have embraced the true faith and done good works shall enter the gardens of delight, but the unbelievers who have denied Our revelations shall receive an ignominious punishment.
Surah 5: ayats 36.
As for the unbelievers, if they offered all that the earth contains and as much besides to redeem themselves from the torment of the Day of Resurrection it shall not be accepted from them. Theirs shall be a woeful punishment.
Surah 15: ayats 2.
The day will surely come when the unbelievers will wish that they were Muslims.
Surah 72: ayats 14-15.
Some of us are Muslims and some are wrong-doers. Those that embrace Islam pursue the right path; but those that do wrong (of not embracing Islam) shall become the fuel of fire.
Surah 41: ayat 33.
And who speaks better than he who calls others to the service of Allah, does what is right, and says: ‘I am a Muslim?’
Surah: 4 ayat 125.
And who has a nobler religion than the man who surrenders himself to Allah?…
Surah 25: ayats 27-29.
On that day the wrong-doer will bite his hands and say, ‘Would that I had walked in the Apostle’s path. Oh, would that I had never chosen so-and-so for my companion: It was he that made me disbelieve in Allah’s warning after it had reached me.’ Satan is ever treacherous to man.
Surah 26: ayats 96-99.
“By Allah”, they will say to their idols, as they contend with them, “we erred indeed when we made you equals with the Lord of the Creation. It was the evil-doers who led us astray.”
Surah 3: ayat 85.
He that chooses a religion other than Islam, it will not be accepted from him and in the world to come he will be one of the lost.
Surah 8: ayat 38.
Tell the unbelievers that if they mend their ways (i.e. embrace Islam) their past shall be forgiven: but if they persist in sin (i.e. idol-worshipping) let them reflect upon the fate of their forefathers.
Surah 31: ayat 13.
Luqman admonished his son. ‘My son’, he said, ‘serve no other God instead of Allah, for idolatry is an abominable sin.’
Surah 29: ayats 41-42.
The false Gods which the idolaters serve besides Allah may be compared to the spider’s cobweb. Surely, the spider’s is the frailest of all dwellings, if they but know it. Allah knows what they invoke besides Him; He is the Mighty, the Wise one.
Surah 37: ayats 22-25.
But We shall say: ‘Call the sinners, their wives, and the idols which they worshipped besides Allah and lead them to the path of Hell. Keep them there for questioning – But what has come over you that you cannot help one another?’
Surah 37: ayats 26-32.
On that day they will all submit to Allah. They will reproach each other, saying: ‘You have imposed upon us. It was you who would not be believers. We had no power over ‘ you; you were sinners all. Just is the verdict which our Lord has passed upon us, we shall surely taste His punishment. We misled you, but we ourselves have been misled.’
Surah 25: ayats 17-19.
On that day when He assembles them with all their idols, He will say: ‘Was it you who misled My servants, or did they wilfully go astray?’ They will answer: ‘Allah forbid that we should choose other guardians besides You. You gave them and their fathers the good things of life, so that they forgot Your warnings and thus incurred destruction.’ Then to the idolaters Allah will say: ‘Your idols have denied your charges. They cannot avert your doom, nor can they help you. Those of you who have done wrong shall be sternly punished.’
Surah 7: ayat 173.
‘Our forefathers were indeed, idolaters; but will You destroy us, their descendants, on account of what the followers of falsehood did?’
Surah 21: ayats 66-67.
He (Abraham) answered: ‘Would you then worship that, instead of Allah, which can neither help nor harm you? Shame on you and on your idols: Have you no sense?’
Surah 21: ayats 98-100.
You and all your idols shall be the fuel of Hell: therein you shall all go down. Were they true Gods, yours idols would not go there: but in it they shall abide for ever. They shall groan with pain and be bereft of hearing.
Surah 16: ayats 20-21.
But the false Gods which infidels invoke create nothing: they are themselves created. They are dead, not living, nor do they know when they will be raised to life.
Surah 6: ayats 22-23.
On that day when We gather them all together We shall say to the idolaters: ‘Where are your idols now, those whom you supposed to be your Gods?’ They will not argue, but will say: ‘By Allah, our Lord, we have never worshipped idols.’
Surah 6: ayats 40-41.
Say: ‘When Allah’s scourge smites you and the Hour of Doom suddenly overtakes you, will you call on any but Allah to help you? Answer me, if you are men of truth: No, on Him alone you will call; and if He please, He will relieve your affliction. Then you will forget your idols.’
Surah 6: ayat 148:
…The idolaters will say: “Had Allah pleased neither we nor our fathers would have served other Gods besides Him.’…
Surah 2: ayat 221.
You shall not wed pagan women, unless they embrace the faith. A believing slave-girl is better than an idolatress, although she may please you. Nor shall you wed idolaters unless they embrace the faith. A believing slave is better than an idolater, although he may please you. These call you to Hell-fire, but Allah calls you, by His will, to paradise and to forgiveness. He makes plain His revelations to mankind, so that they may take heed.
Surah 24: ayat 3.
The adulterer may marry only an adulteress or an idolatress; and adulteress may marry only an adulterer or an idolater. True believers are forbidden such marriages.
Some say it is british left over of managing temples.All the incumbent rulers after independence have dipped into the collections and made merry of it.Even these separate laws is an accommodation and a reminder for people who get nosey -to show there place.Though we might type out intelligent and thought provoking questions and answers,it should be known law is not an equalising force.It is to make few -first among equals.
I would like a TV show that hammers into people that there are 30 million street children in India, 25 percent of premature babies around the world are born in India, and that less than 50 percent of Indian children have access to milk. How much is their IQ going to be when they have stunted growths? How come the Indian media never reports scuh statistics in the raw? This is the legacy of Congress and they are still going strong feeding on people’s misery….Maino’s constituency is one of the most misery laden and backward in India, these people cannot even develop their own backward constituency, yet they claim they have a vision for Inda!
So you mean child marriages are allowed for Muslims in India by law or what? How come NGO’s never address these issues, if government interferes with the operation of temples, why are they so lax on madrasahs where things like child marriages are taught? Should they not be monitored for national security or is the government scared of these folk but only preys on and interferes with the operation of Hindu temples and picks on Hindus. Why are there different civil laws for Muslims in a democracy, what makes them a special category? Why can’t the same laws apply to their madrasahs and mosques and to their civil society, as is applied to the rest of Indians, can someone please expand on how the civil laws applies to Muslims differently and how polygamy and child marriages are condoned in their case while for Hindus these things are not legal?
As per the Indian laws, no girl below the age of 18 and no boy below 21 are legally permitted to marry.
Moreover, any kind of physical relationship with a girl below 18 is treated as “rape”, even if that relationship is with her consent. This law applies equally to all Indians, irrespective of caste, creed or religion.
“According to Mohammedan law, a girl can marry without the consent of her parents once she attains the age of puberty,” Justices S. Ravindra Bhat and S.P. Garg of the Delhi High Court said recently.
This is nothing but promoting ‘balika vadhus’ among the Muslims, while the same (child marriage) is illegal among the Hindus,”
@Prakash Iyer on June 12, 2012 at 10:39 AM
“HC did not say minors can marry. The consensual age of marriage is 18, but if the wedding has happened for a minor, it wont be considered null and void because she is a minor.”
You are contradicting yourself. Read again.
@Sandeep
Even i agree with you on Satyamev Jayate being a misery porn. But don’t you think you have also been too melodramatic in this article. Critical criticism is well appreciated but some of the parts have been a touch exaggerated. Anyhow this show does brilliantly at what it is supposed to do, make money.
But I am apprehensive about the bit where you write about Karma. I mean really?? Even I don’t know a zilch about karma but there are places where we should rely more on our reasoning then on our (blind) beliefs. The dialogue from Aamir in this context may well have been scripted to garner audience applause but with no disrespect to any of the Hindu philosophies, don’t you think there lies a murky truth behind it as claimed by the so cited world bank survey.
And one more thing. You bash the Khan for using “Satyameva jayate” mis appropriately. But I believe even our national symbol uses “Satyameva Jayate” in the same literal context as in Mr. Khan would have used i.e “Truth Stands Invincible”. It has been used by all in the somewhat the same context where “truth” stands for “truth” (opposite of “lies”, or meaning something like “righteousness”).
Pak cleric warns jihad against polio vaccination teams
http://www.rediff.com/news/report/pak-cleric-warns-jihad-against-polio-vaccination-teams/20120613.htm
@itachi
I am not a fan of anybody. I liked this article as it matched with my thought processes and sensibilities except the religion part which I feel is a matter between two people who enter into matrimony. A third person has no right to comment on it.
@Sandeep: Very interesting analysis, thank you!
@Bharatiya on June 12, 2012 at 7:32 PM;
@ItAcHi on June 13, 2012 at 1:07 AM:
Disclaimer: I am not speaking for the NGO, I am only clarifying the confusion about Humanity Trust and Humanity Hospital Trust.
The confusion lies in this paragraph on the Satyameva Jayate website and the website of the Humanity Hospital:
“Humanity Trust started Humanity Hospital in 1996, in a small village named Hanspukur in West Bengal, with the aim of providing medical care to those with no access to it, and especially to those who could not afford it.”
The Humanity Hospital website also mentions their trust as Humanity Trust. However, the donation page on the Satyameva Jayate website lists the charity as Humanity Hospital Trust.
Time will tell what the NGO is really upto.
to itachi
@Menka is only uncomfortable with respect to religion and modi.
Arent you @Menka?
Oh man. Only someone extremely daft would have to be explained that aamir is earning money from the show. I mean, obviously! How is that wrong? It is mainstream television ! Yet.. I bet it’ll make a significantly noticeable difference as compared to the senseless saas bahu sagas. So.. No matter what someone does, criticism is going to sharpen its talons all the same.
Aamir doesnt question why polio was inflicted on some human beings when he has created ALL to worship him.
Aamir doesnt seem to know the fact that a certain kid will be inflicted with polio was written down by Allah in Lohe Mehfooz, the book he keeps under his throne..talk about fatalistic nature of islam(the religion he wants his kids to be in)
Aamir is ignorant of the fact that being born with an infliction, while being a remedial result for the soul for his past accrued karma,is also THE FIELD OF ACTION/OPPORTUNITY TO ACT for the doctor/parent/third party to learn compassion.
Aamir may start questioning his unbreakable faith in Allah when he starts to ponder that in hinduism, the suffering can be attributed to one’s own actions while in Islam, it arises out of Allahs fancies.
Article opened my eyes to the hitherto unquestioning acceptance and lapping up of everything the khan says…but still, I would still root for him in actually discussing important issues and taking up a good cause. ( prone to change if above allegation of shady nature of NGO is proved
)
But what puzzles me most is menka’s changeover..apparently she seems to be a big fan of sandeep now.Time to see a racist pschyatrist,my friend?
I admire your article for not only exposing Amir Khan but also the Indian middle class which has totally failed India. Only because of failed and decadent middle class, Amir Khans thrive in India
G,
I know. All I was trying to say is that perhaps the wife is a passive Hindu as most Hindus are….no one can help when the mother is not assertive, no one can help Hindus when they themselves are passive and do not care either way….That is what I was saying. Look at Maino by contrast, she made her children Christians but this has to do with the fact that Rajiv did not care, most Abrahamics are assertive when it comes to these things…..
@Ava: There is a logical inconsistency between, on one hand, the position that the religion of the kids is only a matter between husband and wife, and on the other, the fact that Aamir’s wife chooses to remain Hindu. If she chooses to remain Hindu then it stands to reason that she sees benefits in doing so either generally or at a personal level or both. If there is a general benefit then she would want her kids to be hindus as well. If there is some personal benefit then she would at least want the kids to have the same choice that she had, rather then being strait-jacketed into Islam by a bigoted father.
The other angle of this issue is the position of Hindu society in general. The fundamental problem of this society is the apalling apathy that Hindus have towards other Hindus (that’s why we have even the Pandits as refugees in their own country) and the apathy or even hostility towards the Hindu tradition (an attitude glorified as “secularism”). Those Hindus who care need to take a position and not just stand by when any Hindu is being converted to an alien faith either by force or fraud or even freely. You and I have all the rights, perhaps even the obligation as Hindus, to cry foul.
@Maheshashur -deepak chopra unlike baba ramdev a charlatan since he has disowned the vedic roots of yoga .
Yeah . logical question. ! but call him Allah. For god’ s sake will you. ? You are in trouble if u call him ram. U just survive becos u are in Darul harb .in Darul Islam – god is one and is Allah only . The merciful.
to rv,
Inferring there is a difference from your comment.How come they are equating it?
“God is one, whether one calls Him Allah or Ram. ”…. If u call him Allah – u are faithful. If u call him ram u are a wretched kaffir ….
to Sandesh
“God is one, whether one calls Him Allah or Ram. ”
The above is your quote,will you further explain how is that?
I have read the above from my school up,even i have asked the teachers about it,the answers are varied.what is yours?
On this page… http://www.satyamevjayate.in/issue04/donate/ –
the NGO mentioned “Humanity Trust”, is it the same as this one?
http://www.humanitytrust.com/
Some info about the organisation:
Executive Committee:
1. Mr. Jagabar Ali.
2. Mr. R.Hakkim Ali.
3. Mr. Fazulutheen.
Members of the Board of Advisors are as follow:
1. Mr. M.L.Raja Mohamed
2. Mr. M.S.NASICK
3. Mr. A Ahmed Irzath
4. Mr. S.Abdul Basith
Objective:
·Free medical helps for people in emergency.
·Educational Scholarships/financial assistance for school students (Fees/Schoolbags/Uniforms/Accessories).
·Masjid Construction assistance. (Bore/construction helps)
·Etheemkhana (Feeding/helping/Sheltering the Orphan)
·Placement assistance for Islamic youngsters (notifications about jobs across various geographies)
·Counseling of school or college students regarding education or career guidance.
·Bore-Well in the most water scarcity areas.
·Widows, Old people rehabilitation programs.
Keep your SMS coming “Islamic youngsters”
Why do you want to distract by drawing unnecessary tangents? What aamir does in is personal life is unnecessary. It is fairly obvious that there is money to be made, but well, you cannot refute the fact that it spreads awareness and atleast in theory make people think. Better than saans-bhau crap any day?
If you want to criticize the data or something else, please be specific. Mis-interpretting the name of the show, or drawing conclusions about aamir wanting to refute karme is stupidity at best.
One of the funniest blogposts I have read in a long time. Keep it up, right winger. You are an endless source of entertainment.
Wonder why Deepak Chopra is a charlatan and not Baba Kamdev sorry Ramdev?
Very good Muslim-bashing article.
Well it is just television and dumb entertainment made for dumb people, that is what media is all about…..even in the USA intelligent people do not order cable as most of the programs are made for the entertainment of dumb people and those who profit from their dumbness are the business people that produce such shows….
The only solution is for Indians to get together and make shows that are of relevance to the majority and deal with real issues, that means having alternative TV channels….But this involves organizing and getting funding…..
Moreover, much of the incompetence of doctors might be coming from affirmative action and the establishment of quotas making merit irrelevant, as the government has already destroyed the health sector in this fashion, even Maino did not trust Indian doctors and went abroad for treatment, as the champion of affirmative action, one would think she would get treated by a doctor who got his education on some quota, but these people are too clever when it comes to their own health…..I bet Aamir Khan would never touch upon this kind of topic on his show…..The Bollywood movies the make these days are so dumb and grotesque, moreover, the dumbness is copied from Holllywood with little originality, which makes them double dumb…..
“Aamir & Co have thrown logic, reasoning, and facts out of the window because…well, their researching eyes were firmly on the bank.”
Once again I love this about Sandeep,-makes you thinks as why so many do not use logic,cannot reason and cannot present facts or facts without spin.
That applies to the Indian history department as well.In that case you can add power ,authority ,prestige as well as money for their writings.(not logic,reason or facts.)
The objection to the pulse polio scheme had in fact come from Muslim organisations who asked people not to inoculate their children on grounds that this was a conspiracy by the Govt to carry out family planning. Surprised that while on polio, Aamir did not mention this.
@menka:
Issue is not of mutual agreement between Aamir and his wives, but the duplicity displayed in his claiming to not be very religious on one hand, and insisting his progeny be brought up Muslims, on the other. However, I must also point out that somehow I didn’t find the last line of the cited inteview very convincing. The reason being, in the entire interview Aamir is clearly dilly-dallying, being tactful, whereas, the last line comes as a rude shock. Surely, he does not whatever he meant in the preceding portions of the interview, why such an acute need to be truthful just in the last line? I mean he could’ve been politically correct ansewring last line as well – saying something like, “I teach them good things from every religion. They’ll grow up and decide which faith appeals the most to them”? It’s possible santabanta.com might’ve miscievously added that last line. As it is what’s the level of verifiability in the Indian media?
Very well written and analyzed.
Where I disagree with you? Your belief that the system of ethics followed in ancient times was much better than the present times. I’ve no evidence to base my disagreement with you on that. At best I could call it a hunch that people in the past were lot more inconsiderate than in the present times. So, I don’t think going ‘back’ is the solution, but anyway this difference in our convictions is perhaps what most prominently makes you and me different persons and is largely irrelevant to the present discussion as well.
You’ve very well pointed out the thinking that’s gone into this show’s structuring. Trying to get title copyrighted, and yet clainming to have altruistic motives is cheap – as very well pointed out by you.
However, I feel what Aamir Khan’s aiming for is beyond the immediate earnings from ads (and, donations!!). Traditionally, Aamir & Shahrukh Khans have been seen as rivals. Till few years back, Aamir had been at loggerheads with almost the entire media, and that’s when I used to admire him (could have been my naïvette). Whereas, same was the period when SRK had been using the media to his greatest advantage. In particular NDTV had been at the forefront of pimping SRK. Whereas, with Satyameva Jayate everything’s changed! Although now NDTV is back to pimping SRK, while he was caught up in bad PR phase of his life during the recently concluded IPL, NDTV was almost at forefront of maligning SRK. At the same time they were all praise for Aamir & Satyameva Jayate. They were plugging the show by not missing any opportunity to mention it in their news! In fact, simply to grab an opportunity to mention Aamir they’d made huge noise about a an BAMS (practising Ayurveda) doctor getting caught doing illegal MTP. It’s not that such raids are infrequent. I admit that it’s possible that riding on Satyameva Jayate’s commercial success could make business sense, but such a concerted effort to plug Aamir & betray their traditional client, SRK, to promote show running on rival channels indicates something else to me. Of all the newschannels, I take NDTV as the indicator of Nehru-Ganghi family’s plans. At the cost of being of accused of reading too much into the situation, I feel The Family is going to use Aamir as a weapon against all their political rivals/competitors (which could very much include even Congress CMs like Ashok Gehlot & Sheila Dixit). When sizeable fraction of India’s population would be taken in by charms of Aamir because of credibility gained by touching upon ‘nonpolitical’ issues, he would be well poised to strike Narendra Modi. As must’ve become apparent, he need not even do it very blatantly. A single episode on “communalism” would be sufficient to give the English language media a chance to haunt Modi with even greater viciousness. I don’t think Modi’s prospects would be much influenced by such an episode, but difference between impacts – of the regular NDTV rudaalis & Teestas ranting against Modi & ‘apolitical’ Aamir interviewing a fresh face of communalism’s victimhood – beamed on multiple national and regional channels with dubbed translations – is going to be prominent. The format has been well established, it’s only the victims that are to be determined. Presently, the show is basically in its warm up phase & Aamir is doing time pass.
Again conceding my guess smacks of conspiracy theorization, I feel what I laid out above is the chief purpose of Satyameva Jayate. If my guess is correct, the planners have been a bit premature in launching the show if the next general electionr were to happen in mid 2014 cuz of the fatigue factor that would set in. Also, the longer the show runs greater’s the risk of Aamir alienating people and losing credibility cuz of some controversy or the other.
@Sandesh – Modern day Duryodhan BTW is AK . You’ve just shifted the goalpost glibly. If at all – ” God is one, whether one calls …..” is true why such upanishadic titles where the foundations of its philosopy – ie effects of Karma – is being mocked at ?? Will AK mock at the concept of 72 virgins / Jannat in his episodes…?? ever ???.. and also the 15 year marriage age vedict of HC and 4 marriages / talaq system ?? He suavely throws stones at the silent majority – and many can see through the grandstanding. Please reply on specifics if you still defend AK/ his episodes instead being jingoistic on the “”secular”" mumbo jumbo.
@Nagabhatta,
Please don’t cut and paste entire articles in the comment section.
I wondered who is this modern day Duryodhana who can only pick and glorify bad but cannot appreciate in something good being dome. Ah, now I know. The author of the article is a Hinduism-freak, and an Islam-hater as is evident by his hating not just Aamir, but Shahrukh too, and that tab, “Islam watch”, someone who thinks it is cool to flaunt his little knowledge of Hindu scriptures and that degrading Islam makes him a better Hindu. Pity on you, friend, real and deep pity. It is people like you who form impressions based on religion, who bring a bad name not only to their religion (Hindusim in your case), but also to religion and theists in general. God is one, whether one calls Him Allah or Ram.
Without a single doubt, I will rate Satyamev Jayate as a much more beneficial and meaningful program then KBC. Hands down. Like you said, KBC might have made more people richer than just Amitabh or Shahrukh. But is money everything? Come on, the show was just a quiz program and it has ‘money’ in its title, “Who wants to be a millionaire?” Can there be a better title to promote greed and lust for money? Aamir is raising crucial issues that are important to be dealt in today’s India. He is one of the most socially conscious actors India has ever produced. Lagaan (patriotism), Taare Zameen Par (Child educational pressures), 3 Idiots (wrong stress on career of youth) ….. May be Aaamir made a lot of money on all these including Satyamev Jayate but who is getting hurt by Aamir’s getting richer? You? Does it hurt real bad?
When I see this ill campaign against Aamir’s program, I realize how critics will always be ready to sling mud at, even when you do something good. I am sure these comments are made or supported by some doctors who were hurt by Aamir’s episode on doctors or some dowry-freak husband or a child-abuser whose ego was hurt. Do you remember the story in which when Dharmaraja was asked to find a bad man in the entire kingdom and he returns without being able to find one, and when Duryodhana was asked to find a good man, he too returns empty handed. It is all in the way we look at.
The day he does a show on Muslims – lack of education , the lack of a true middle class there, the mindset of getting girls married too early and the talaaq issue, then maybe i will watch the show, till then this kind of pseudo secularism and the raising of issues without knowing abut it completely and making it a tearjerker… sorry wont watch the show and help increase its TRP’s
>>The amount of
research Aamir and his
team has put into the
show…
Research? My foot! This two bit twat, alongwith that obnoxious nincompoop SRK & cassenova SK, can’t tell his head from his a**! I stopped watching his flicks after he sanctimoniusly prattled about Gujarat. Have stopped watching the crap churned out by M’bai film industry altogether. My reasoning: These obnoxious, self-righteous pr**** don’t put food on my table, and I have no intention putting food on their’s!
And about the current crop of female wannabes, the less said the better! They act – both onscreen and offscreen – and dress like wh***s and sl**s. Never seizes to amazes me as to how dumbed down janata takes these ‘bhaands’ seriously.
BTW, as always Sandeep Bandhu quite an insightful & piercing post. Dhanyavaad!
Which is why nobody has even bothered to ask what exactly are Aamir Khan’s credentials to sit there on the show and lend self-righteous running commentary about issues he doesn’t have the slightest inkling of?
Thank you very very much! No one, I mean no one asks this question of actors/activists. I remember Aamir Khan promoting something like each one teach one thingy. What are his credentials? Has he ever taught one? Does he mean that we, the middle class, who are working really hard to improve their life standards to take out enough time (teaching needs a lot of effort, its not wham bam thank you ma’am) and teach one, whereas he has to just stand in front of a camera and speak for 2 seconds and laugh all the way to the bank doing nothing else? Really???? This country (for that matter every country) is going straight down the drain.
Super effort ! You have brilliantly detailed the start to end story of Satyameva Jayate. It’ll be more interesting to see what comes next & how soon to replace this show and keep on damaging the thought process of a common Indian in different ways to hold them in Maya-Jaal forever.
Good one dear.
Some wonderful alankaras(figures of speech))/vakroktis listed:
1. Ask Oprah Winfrey, the earliest milker of human misery.
2. He remains the television world’s most unforgivable sin committed upon the nation.
3. If Slumdog Millionaire was (rightly) termed “Poverty Porn,” Satyamev Jayate is Misery Porn.
4. He won’t because that’ll rile up the chest-beating, “pink panties” feminist brigade
5. Aamir & Co have thrown logic, reasoning, and facts out of the window because…well, their researching eyes were firmly on the bank.
6. Doctors are not Bollywoood stars whose every whim the dumbed down junta will indulge and whose every nonsensical uttering they will cheer as gospel truth.
7. There’s enough and more proof that shows the exact extent to which the TV-addicted middle class has mortgaged its mental faculties on the anvil of celebrity worship. – my vote to this
8. Did it take an Aamir Khan to somehow descend from the Bollywood Heavens and joust the junta awake?
9. The reaction to this ill-conceived show was instantaneous, spontaneous, overwhelming, and widespread. And it’s alarming
Absolutely agree with everything you have to say. I agree that the naming the show ‘satyamev jayate’ was stupidity of the highest order. I can only think they wanted to market it with the ideal of patriotism and more pertinently ‘jingoism’ at the forefront. And maybe Aamir khan just another of naive imbecile who though the anna hazare movement was synonymous to “anti-corruption”
But i have a problem with people looking at this particular programme in a cynical manner. You need to look at this from the context of how abysmally pathetic indian television had been. Domestic broadcasting has been nothing but a squalid packaging of ‘what sells’ thereby feeding its economic determinants.
You also need to look at this from the context of what other celebrities do. Lets face it, you and me do not have the kind of power to sway an audience, let alone a large and incredibly heterogeneous one like ours. Hero worship has always been a huge and unfortunate part of india’s culture. If Rajinikanth stops smoking, his fans stop smoking. That is the reality. Blame it on the upbringing or the supposedly sacrosanct culture of placing our parents on a pedestal.
You mentioned the bane that is Shah Rukh Khan, but are the others far behind? The celebrity culture in india is the biggest sleazefest our nation has ever witnesses, and still is. It is your opinion that India’s middle class has contributed to the mess we find ourselves in. It is mine to point out how you are laziy and wrongfully homogenizing several strata of society. It is my opinion to look up to what aamir khan does in the context of all the rich spoilt kids that bollywood has inflicted upon us, the shenanigans and charades they indulge in. The kind of filthy television they grapple with.
With respect to your ad hominem to quoque, if you think only someone who has a clean sheet, immaculate reputation and is the reincarnation of a perfect God, only has the right to social activism, then God save the world. What i do IS as important as what i say, but just because i’m a hypocrite doesnt mean i’m wrong.
The entire doctor episode got me wondering about the ease at which we label pretty much everything of this sort as populist or sensationalist. The fact may very well be something entirely different. But would that (objective reporting) have an impact on people(in this context). There is a documented history such shows failing. I mean, isnt misinformation justified if it is on the right end of the moral compass? Especially in such a dystopian society such as ours?
“Sometimes the truth just isnt good enough, sometimes people deserve more. Sometimes people deserve to have their faith rewarded”
Well illustrated in a proper manner. Yes what amir is doing is more than Business in planned passion. I would say one thing that SatyamevJayate will reform our society the same way ’3 Idiots’ and ‘Taare Zameen Per’ reformed the education system.
I don’t really watch SMJ because I can think of more enjoyable things to do on a sunday morning. That said, I think you’re being too cynical about this. In doing so, you’ve twisted his statement on polio into a dismissal of one of the tenets of Hinduism. Ironically, the people who have commented here have lapped up your post just as readily as the audience laps up Aamir’s words
@Malavika: HC did not say minors can marry. The consensual age of marriage is 18, but if the wedding has happened for a minor, it wont be considered null and void because she is a minor. The problem is in the existing muslim personal law as defined in the constitution, the court can only follow it. It has been debated in TV by secularists, lawyers and right wing. And the lawyers clearly mentioned that the problem is the law, not the judgment of the court. Our constitution needlessly has separate personal laws for every group.
The program is the new rage amongst the lost Indian youth.
I questioned a few along the lines in your article till the penny dropped.
Thanks to D company and their own mafia, muslims have a stranglehold on the Hindi film industry.
The truth of these marriages will be known only to insiders.
@Sandeep,
I do agree that Amir Khan’s Satyamev Jayate is realty porn nothing else. It is intended for dimwits to watch and feel good about themselves. Nothing else explains some of his fans reactions. Some of these ???? blame satyamevajayate.org for cashing in on Amir’s popularity! Never mind the fact that satyamevajayate.org has been up and running for over 7 years!
However I disagree that he is India’s Oprah. Oprah, had to struggle really hard to move up, being black, over weight and coming from lower middle class and not being pretty were some of the hurdles she had to overcome. Compared to her AK has a very charmed life, with God fathers in the right place. To top it off we have self flagellating Hindus cheering him instead of …
Besides, Oprah never dissed WASP’s or ‘American Values’. Americans would never tolerate that. Meanwhile, don’t hold your breath on AK doing shows on triple Tallaque or child brides of Islam. Recently, Delhi HC ruled that according to Sharia a 15 year old Muslim girl can marry and stay with her in laws. And our ‘secularists’, ‘liberals’ are silent as usual.
Very good. Fully agree with everything except the religious part. It is a matter between the husband and wife. If the wife has no issues then no one else has any right to question it. Every relationship has certain conditions or expectations attached to it and if Aaamir’s wife has no issues with her kids being Muslims, then so be it. What is the need to even mention that part in this article beats me
If karmic philosophy justifies the thinking that sins of lives past result in handicaps, then that tenet should be dismissed or at least the interpretation should be. The show was critical of the resultant insensitivity not karma in general. You may choose to see it in a narrow way that aamir secretly dismisses karmic philosophy as a whole and intended to take potshots at it, but thats speculation.
This issues did exist and the voluminous evidence too, but there is no mainstream show that does discuss these issues. There is a huge volume of data on your blog as well but you know very well how many people you manage to reach.
Since its on national television, its hard to throw the punches hard on all issues; so given the restrictions and the fact that its for the masses, it is not that bad a show as you are making it out to be. If the research is incorrect, then be critical about it, but if you descend into the same melodrama with the kind of adjectives you used, its not different from oprah kind melodrama which is necessary for the shows. At least in case of a blog, those adjectives arent necessary.
What I meant to say is does the wife have no interest in what the kids become? If she does not care then why is there a problem? Some like Maino do care and she married her daughter to a Christian, but being married to Rajiv Gandhi who declared in a speech in Kashmir that he is not a Hindu…..So I do not see a problem if Hindus do not care……
Did not Maino make her daughter marry a Christian? That is fine but why must they have a Kashmiri wedding, is it to fool people, for clearly they are not attached to anything Hindu, except for show…..
Brilliant. I have to admire this article among all the circlejerking happening everywhere. Amir Khan is a smooth talking idiot with the mindset of a 10th fail reading too much Times of India. He is neither knowledgeable nor does he know the severity of the issues he is dealing with. He reminds me of the agony aunty or sex doctot columns found in newspapers. And please, will someone acknowledge that he is also quite a horrible actor. Can anybody call the lead of Ghajni a perfectionist actor? You have to be a retard to do such shit.
I wish there was more criticism of the show and less religious stuff. That might alienate some readers from reading this article. Be prepared for the hatemail shitstorm!
Well done Sandeep. As always you unhesitatingly display the courage to swim against the tide, in this case a veritable tsunami of dumbed-down emotionalism that has been the bane of Hindus. Aamir Khan’s forcible Islamization of a Hindu woman’s kids demonstrate the kind of Islamic bigot he is at heart, despite his elaborate liberal pretensions.