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LIVE! Merely crying out ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’ not patriotism: VP

08:06  Activist Trupti Desai reaches Kerala, unable to exit airport as protesters swell:  

Activist Trupti Desai has reached Kochi International Airport in the early hours of Friday to visit the Sabarimala temple but she could not come out of the domestic terminal following protest by devotees opposing the entry of menstrual women into the Lord Ayyappa temple.

  

Tension prevailed at the airport as protesters announced that Desai and her colleagues, who reached here around 4.40 am from Pune, would not be allowed to go out of the airport.

The temple opens Friday evening, for the third time since the apex court verdict on September 28 allowed women of all age group to offer prayers at the hilltop Lord Ayyappa temple though none could do so following stiff resistance from devotees and activists, opposing any change in the temple traditions.

Protesting local BJP leaders at the airport said the devotees would not let Desai and her colleagues, reportedly total six in numbers, to come out of the airport and proceed to Sabarimala temple.  

They alleged that Desai and her team came here to violate the centuries–old custom of the temple that prevents entry of women and girls in the age group of 10 and 50.

“She (Desai) came here not for darshan but for disturbing a peaceful Sabarimala  pilgrim season beginning Saturday,” they said.

The Ayyappa devotees comprising women and BJP workers, assembled in large numbers outside the airport, continued their protest chanting Ayyappa mantra.

Talking to media over phone, Desai said she would not go back to Maharashtra without a darshan at the Lord Ayyappa temple.

Taxi drivers at the airport said they would not take Desai and her colleagues outside the airport.

Police in large numbers were present in the domestic terminal of the airport to deal with the situation.

Desai, who spearheaded the campaign for women to be allowed into various religious places, including Shani Shingnapur temple, the Haji Ali Dargah, the Mahalakshmi Temple and the Trimbakeshwar Shiva Temple, had sent an email to Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan seeking security as she fears an attack on her life during her visit to the hill shrine.

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00:09  Merely crying out ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’ not patriotism: VP:  

Merely crying out “Bharat Mata ki Jai” does not represent patriotism, Vice President Venkaiah Naidu said Thursday, adding real nationalism is to work towards the upliftment of “all 130 crore Indians”.

He was speaking at the annual Jamnalal Bajaj Awards presentations ceremony, where awardees were feted for their outstanding contribution to society.

“Patriotism does not mean crying out ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’ or crying out ‘Jai Hind’ after watching a movie,” Naidu said, after referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s definition of patriotism where everybody does his/her work dutifully.

Naidu said ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’ means the upliftment of all the 130 crore Indians. “This is the meaning of Bharat Mata Ki Jai, that is “deshbhakti”, that is patriotism, that is nationalism. That sort of attitude has to be there,” he said.

Making a strong pitch for things “Swadeshi”, Naidu said even in the era of an interconnected world and liberal foreign direct investment, we have to support local enterprises as recommended by Mahatma Gandhi.

He also hit out against growing “materialism” and “selfishness” in society and underlined the need for taking a wider view of things.

The vice president said the nuclearisation of families from the earlier joint family system may be resulting in some of the degradation in society.

Lamenting that “we are sans morals and only behind science”, he pitched for a need to “overhaul the education system to restore the value systems”.

The colonial English mindset was akin to a “disease” which has continued even after the British left India, Naidu said.

“We need more of culture than religion in our discourse,” Naidu said, adding “Google cannot replace the guru’s place in our society”. — PTI

Source: Rediff