Demolition Can't Destroy True Spirit of Peace

            The second largest nation in the world, India, proclaims its national motto proudly.

 

          "Truth Alone Triumphs"

 

          Unfortunately, sometimes whole nations fall short of this professed ambition.

 

          Recent news from Allahabad, India, tells a disturbing story.

 

          A peaceful ashram in this city of over one million  has had the unmitigated gall to refuse to pay the expected freight: bribes.

 

          The Kriyayoga Institute has for many years been an oasis for those dedicated to the Gandhian principles of nonviolence.

 

Citizens of the USA, Canada, Brazil, and many others join native Indians in quiet meditation.

 

 All religions are welcome.

 

 Christians, Hindus,  and Muslims share their quiet dedication together.

 

          The lion lays down with the lamb.

 

          Until the corrupt local police and their bulldozer arrive.

 

          Because this small compound refuses to pay the  graft, an entire building was destroyed by an armed mob who crashed the gates and destroyed  the structure housing disabled pilgrims.

 

          Local police led the attackers, despite a court order issued to stop such horrors.

 

If you can stomach it, watch the YouTube video that captures the callous  crooks of local government in India.

 

Go to YouTube and type in "India attacked by India".

 

          Women and children are forcibly removed by the corrupt officials. An American doctor from Florida suffers injuries at the hands of the determined thugs.

 

The rubble that remains at the site of the residence hall designed for the  wheelchair bound is all that is left of the building constructed without the payment of bribes.

 

          This modern Mafia story could come from the pen of the Godfather's Mario Puzo, but it is all too true.

 

We in America treasure our land as one in which our Constitution guarantees the Rule of Law.

 

Unfortunately, local life in India is highlighted by  a culture of corruption which must be embraced  even if you seek something as noble as a respite for the physically challenged.

 

          This occurs on a scale that would make Jimmy DiMora seem like a piker.

 

          Fellow Americans, our brothers and sisters in India are part of our human family.

 

Will you help?

 

          Send an e-mail to the Indian Prime Minister at manmohan@sansad.nic.in.

 

          Ask him to refer this matter to the Central Bureau of Investigation (the CBI, India's equivalent of our FBI) for a full inquiry.
        

 

          Let him know that we embrace justice everywhere and that the carnage in Allahabad  must stop.

 

Friends, I stayed at this ashram during my recent Indian excursion.

 

          I am shaken.

 

          Please join me in this international effort.

 

Peace doesn't just mean the absence of war.

 

          It also means defending truth and encouraging compassion.

 

          "Truth Alone Triumphs"

 

          Shame on you, Allahabad  Development Authority.

 

          Truth has not triumphed.

 

It has been destroyed by a bulldozer.

 

          Let's rebuild it.