Bengaluru, July 02: Noted senior writer Prof Baraguru Ramachandrappa said that those who use the name of Swami Vivekananda should understand his words “Brain of Vedanta and body of Islam”.

Speaking at a programme organized to felicitate Padmashri awardee Ibrahim Sutra, by the Akhila Karnataka Mohemmadans Kannada Vedike at Press Club here on Monday, Prof Baraguru said that “today we have two options like united India and communal India. At this time, we should understand the broad meaning of brain of Vedanta and body of Islam of Swami Vivekananda should come together”, he said.

It was unfortunate that India today was changing negatively. Pushing the equality backward, caste, religion and communalism were coming forward. By using the positive aspects of the concepts like religion and God, the disease of caste and religion should be removed. The literature of Sufi saints would also give effective treatment to eradicate caste and communal diseases, he said.

In recent days, the devotion was made capital. One should see the God within himself and the God should not be brought on to the streets which is not devotion or spirituality. Communalism has replaced the humanity. “We are in a panic situation and we should ask ourselves that are we growing weapons in the land where crops were being grown”, he asked.

At the 500th anniversary of St. Kabeer, some national leaders have misused his name for political gains which is a tragedy. In recent years, the number of swamijis for each caste was increasing. Caste politics, religious politics and party politics have come together to exploit the common people. At this moment, there was a need to establish communal harmony, for which, the number of people like Ibrahim Sutara should be increased, he said.

After being felicitated, Ibrahim Sutara said that “one should understand his religion and philosophy. Besides reading our religious text, holy texts of other religions should also be read. Later, the religion of others should be respected. This is real harmony. But one should have broad mentality to achieve it”, he said.

“All religious scripts have mentioned the God. If all texts were read honestly and precisely, we can understand that everything is same. But nowadays, without understanding any religion, efforts are on to disturb the communal harmony between religions”, he said.

“Going in search of the God is not a religion. We should search the God within ourselves. We should understand that body is temple and life is God”, he said.

Retired IPS officer U Nissar Ahmed, former vice chancellor Prof KR Iqbal Ahmed, writer Dr K Sharifa and vedike president Samiullah Khan were present.

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Mumbai, Nov 25: Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut on Monday demanded a re-election in Maharashtra using ballot papers, claiming there were irregularities with the electronic voting machines (EVMs).

Talking to reporters, Raut alleged several complaints about EVMs malfunctioning and questioned the integrity of the recently held elections.

The BJP-led Mahayuti won 230 out of 288 seats in the assembly elections, while the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi managed 46 seats, with Shiv Sena (UBT) winning just 20 out of 95 seats it contested.

"We have received nearly 450 complaints regarding EVMs. Despite raising objections repeatedly, no action has been taken on these issues. How can we say these elections were conducted fairly? Hence, I demand that the results be set aside and elections be held again using ballot papers," Raut said.

Citing some instances, he said a candidate in Nashik reportedly received only four votes despite having 65 votes from his family, while in Dombivli, discrepancies were found in EVM tallies, and election officials refused to acknowledge the objections.

The Sena (UBT) leader also questioned the credibility of the landslide victories of some candidates, saying, "What revolutionary work have they done to receive more than 1.5 lakh votes? Even leaders who recently switched parties have become MLAs. This raises suspicions. For the first time, a senior leader like Sharad Pawar has expressed doubts about EVMs, which cannot be ignored."

Asked about the MVA's poor performance in the elections, Raut rejected the idea of blaming a single individual.

"We fought as a united MVA. Even a leader like Sharad Pawar, who commands immense respect in Maharashtra, faced defeat. This shows that we need to analyse the reasons behind the failure. One of the reasons is EVM irregularities and the misuse of the system, unconstitutional practices, and even judicial decisions left unresolved by Justice Chandrachud," he said.

Raut stressed that though internal differences might have existed within the MVA, the failure was collective.

He also accused the Mahayuti of conducting the elections in an unfair manner.

"I cannot call the elections fair given the numerous reports of discrepancies in EVMs, mismatched numbers, and vote irregularities across the state," Raut said.